Letter Eight and a question for y'all.

SO! It was my turn to write the letter, and yeah. It took me forever, because I'm terrible at organizing my time. And I'm lazy. But mostly I'm just terrible at time organizing time.

But anyway, I finally got around to it. Yay! I thought the letters were starting to get a little slow, so I decided to add some action.

I may have gone a little overboard. I was like, "BLOW UP ALL THE THINGS!"

Ahem.

You can find it HERE!

For those of you who are new, and have no idea what I'm talking about, you can find the explanation and all the other letters on the Letter Game page over on the right of the screen.

I'm a bit nervous and embarrassed about it, because it's out of the ordinary for me, so feedback would be nice.


NOW!! Here is the question I have for all you epic people out there in the blogosphere.

How  would  you  feel  if  I  did  another  vlog??

IF you like that idea.... I AM GOING TO NEED YOUR HELP!!! Ask me questions! All questions! Any questions! Weird questions! Random question! Personal questions! Basically any question you feel I have the brains to answer! Ask as many as you want! Ask away!

Put the questions in the comment box below, my dears.

And now I will leave you with a bunch of random pictures that I find amusing.

That's all I've got.

Cheers!

Letter Seven! {and an update}

So. Hello. How are you? Miss me?

Guess what!! Remember my laptop? The beautious thing that my uncle got for me for a Christmas/Graduation pressie?

I had to send it in to be fixed because it was overheating and the fan ran loudly all the time, and it had taken to turning off on its own. Which is.... you know.... a problem. So I wanted to send it in to get fixed before the warranty ran out.

So I have no 'puter at the moment.

Let us take a moment of silence for the absence of a dear friend. *bows head*

 

 

 

Alright, so you all see how I feel about my missing laptop. It's a tragedy, really it is. It's so sad.

 

 

AND seeing as I have no laptop on which to write blog posts and do other nerdy internet things, I have been using my dad's computer. Which is why my commenting on other people's blogs with be.... less now. Sniffle. You're so sad about that. I know you are. Hehehe.

 

Anyway, I thought I'd clear that up.

 

 

SO! I shall now proceed to let you read the next installment of the letter game. (The first of which, you can find on the letter game page on the right.) This was written by Amy as Peggy to me as Joan.

 

Cheers and God bless!

 

 

 



 

From: Miss Peggy Douglas To: Miss Joan MacTavish December 14th, 1924 Dear Joan. Thank you for your concern, but I’ve decided not to let your father, or mine for that matter, know about the bomb. My Father would worry so much, and I’d rather not drag you father into this. Don’t get me wrong, your father is wonderful—almost an Uncle to me—but you know as well as I do that he’d probably assign me a body-guard and that is too awkward for words. I will not be followed around for the unforeseeable future even if it is for my own safety. And you should know me well enough, Joan, to remember that I always carry my pistol with me. Mother was quite insistent on that point. But honestly, I don’t see what on earth that would do for me. I mean, I can shoot decently, but that doesn’t do me much good against an assassin. But never mind about that. Sean has been ‘detecting’, as he says, and so far has told me nothing. I don’t know if he just hasn’t come up with anything or if is just very guarded about how he does his job. It’s frustrating, though. He stops by at least twice a week to let me know he is still on the case, and to make sure his safety spell is still on. Oh yes, he came over shortly after I hired him and put a spell on the flat for me. He says he can’t have his clients die while he’s working a case. Apparently that sort of publicity is very bad for business. I wonder why? Thank you for doing a little research on him for me. I did some of my own, but I don’t have the resources you do and it does make me feel better to know that he is upstanding. Still, he is without doubt one of the most annoying people I’ve ever had to deal with. I’ve come close to firing him at least three times and I’ve only been acquainted with him for three weeks…slightly less, even! He’s just so—ooooh! He’s so, smart! I mean, I’m not all that dim myself, but when I’m around him, I feel like a nitwit! No matter what I say, he has a cleaver repartee to toss back, turning my words into dithering’s. I can’t stand that. But the more clever I try to get, the more he outdoes me. It is ever so vexatious. I pray he solves the matter soon, as I am beginning to feel warn thin. I won’t bore you with the details of work. Let’s just say that I am losing patience with humanity in general. People are rude, always in a rush, and never tip well. I want to strangle someone. A little part of me wonders what Mother would say to all this. She was always so convinced that I would follow in her footsteps. Funny how life makes its own decisions, isn’t it? Well, quite enough about me. Dominic sounds like a real bother. I am sorry that you are stuck working with him. One day you should let your left jab find its way to his nose. It might be good for him. Then again, I might not be the best person to take advice from right now. It is true, the whole city is abuzz with gossip about the King and his Board. People are afraid. If the Magicians gain control, the Philosophers will have no way to curb them or their control and the King will surely be dethroned. And still he does nothing? How could a man such as the King’s late father have produced such a weak son? He must put his foot down soon, and I pray that he does. The country wont be able to handle the unrest for much longer and I shudder to think of another civil war. Take care, my dear! And don’t worry about me. Nothing terrible has happened and I’m beginning to think that perhaps I over-reacted to the whole thing. And please don’t tell your father, or anyone, about that bomb. If word gets to my father he will definitely come rushing home and I can’t have that. He’s far too busy. I worry about him sometimes. I mean, with all the unrest in Parliament, being a Philosopher isn’t the safest of things. I don’t want him to be distracted. I will write you as soon as I know more about the bomb, who sent it and why. If, that is, I ever find those things out myself. I might strange Sean Stevens before he gets that far. Your friend, Peggy

 

 

Just a quickie---

Firstly! Just wanted to let you know that my letter is up on Pandy's blog! I must apologize for taking such a jolly long time to get it written and sent. I got busy and forgot about it. I'm being sheepish right now. =) If you are new here, (hi, you new followers! *waves*) and you want to get caught up on the game, you can get the first letter here.

Secondly! Remember that Hunger Games giveaway I was sort of obsessed with? I FREAKING WON IT!!!  *boing, boing, boing, boing, boing* I've never won a giveaway before! There will definitely be pictures uploaded when it arrives.

Thirdly! Do you like my new header? Do you huh? Huh? Huh?

And now I must go. I'm really busy lately. Methinks I must work on a particularly nice post to make up for the "here I am and now I'm gone!" ones that I've been doing lately.

Cheers and God bless!

~Treskie

Letter Five!!!!!!!

From: Miss Peggy Douglas

To: Miss Joan MacTavish

November the twenty-second, 1924

Dear Joan.

Joan, you should see the state of my drapery…and my poor, poor books! It’s a crime. There is soot everywhere and one of my windows has been shattered. It’s not so very warm out these days, and it’s a very heavy burden to have a gapping whole in your living room.

Alright, let me organize my thoughts and try to explain what’s happened.

I got a bomb in the mail. Yes, a bomb! Who would send me a bomb? I know I’ve made a few enemies during my life. But there are enemies and then there are.... enemies. I can’t think of a soul alive that hates me so much they want me dead. And that scares me.

I came home from work and there was a small, beautifully wrapped parcel in my box. There was no return address and something about it didn't seem right. I had enough foresight to mumble a Safety Spell as I ripped the wrapping paper off. Old habits from University, I guess.

There was a thundering “BOOM!”

I was thrown flat on my back, the window behind me shattered, the package flew into the air in a fiery ball and a gush of wind whooshed through the whole apartment, stirring the ashes in my fireplace into a gray snow that flittered around my apartment.

It was all over in a flash, quite literally. The box, still on fire, rolled across the floor and lit my drapery on fire as a last act of sabotage, flickered twice and hissed out.

I yanked the drape down, and smothered the flame before it could spread, but there is a massive burn in my beautiful, red cloth. Not to mention the fact that the carpet has a singed path where the box rolled and the ceiling as a great black mark on it.

 And my eyebrows are gone.

I was horribly shaken by all this. My thoughts were in a numbed state of shock. I covered the window as best I could with a blanket, curled up in the armchair by the fire and stared into the flames. I just sat and thought all night. The more I thought, the more raging mad I got.

Having my Powers suddenly change is one thing.

Getting thrown out of Uni. was one thing.

 Getting a bomb in the mail…well that’s pretty huge all by itself.

But put all these things together and it’s just too peculiar to be simple bad luck!

I made up my mind and the next morning I headed out, making a quick stop at the Library to use the Directory, and set out for 2433 Adder Street.

I took a truly rickety lift up to the tenth floor of an office building and found the office I was looking for:

Sean Stevens—Private Investigator

I squared my shoulders and went in.

The room was literally blue with smoke. It was like stepping into a dense fog. All the shades were lowered and only one desk lamp gave off a pathetic bit of light.

Sean Stevens was sitting back in his chair, feet up on the desk, arms crossed behind his head, smoking contentedly. It was too dim to make out much more than that.

   “Don’t bother knocking,” he muttered, “no one does.”
   I peered at him through the murk and tried to stop my eyes from watering.
   “Mr. Stevens?” I choked.
   “Congratulations, you can read,” he said. “Or was that just a lucky guess?”
   I glared at him. “I’d like to hire you,” I said.
   “I figured.”
   "Something is wrong with my life.’
   He smiled at that and removed the cigarette from his lips. “Well, I’m flattered. Not many people have enough faith in me to think I can fix their lives.”
   I coughed and fanned the air with my hand. “It’s a bit thick in here, don’t you think?”
   “Nonsense. It’s fake. I don’t smoke,” he said and snapped his fingers. The room was suddenly bright and clean. I could finally see Mr. Steven’s clearly. He is a short fellow with an average build and a positively youthful face. And he has the most intense brown eyes I have ever seen.
   I blinked. “Why on earth would you do such a thing?” I asked.
   “It gives the room a better atmosphere, I find.” he said frankly. “People have expectations, you see.”
   “Hmph,” I snorted. “You don’t really live up to them in this lighting,”. I was a bit jealous. You know how hard those sustained illusion spells are, Joan. That spell must have been first class for me to have believed it so completely.
   “You know, you’d be quite pretty with eyebrows,” he said smoothly and gestured to the open seat. “Sit down and tell me what seems to be the trouble, Miss…?”
   “Peggy Douglas,” I supplied, self-consciously brushing where my eyebrows should be . “As I said, I believe something is wrong with my life.”
   “I’m intrigued,” he said. “Do continue.”

   I explained everything that has happened from when my Powers shifted so suddenly, to being thrown out of Uni, to the bomb. The whole time I talked he watched me intently and nodded to himself every so often. I found it rather unnerving.

I got to the end and I shrugged. “That’s it.”

   He scratched his head thoughtfully. “I’ll take the job, Miss Douglas. And might I suggest you take the precaution of examining your mail before opening it for the foreseeable future? And you might consider caring a gun—or your weapon of choice—with you all the time, Miss Douglas. Someone is obviously out to kill you. Oh, and I fear you are cursed.”

He wouldn’t say more than that, merely quoting me his fees and promising to begin his investigation right away.

I left feeling more bewildered than I arrived.

Cursed.

What do you think, Joan? Do you think I’m cursed? I hadn’t considered that option before. People just aren’t cursed anymore these days. The Government has been so strict about such things. Why would someone risk execution to curse me?

I don’t know if I should trust Sean Stevens. But I do…just a little.

I’m sorry to spring this letter on you so, my dear. I know that you’re going to worry now, but I promise I will be very careful.

I hope you’re all settled in nicely at the Palace. Mr. Stewart sounds rather overwhelming to me. But how cleaver to enchant the castle so you can’t get lost! Now, if only they’d extend that spell over the city. I could use the help.

Write me again, soon, my dear. I do love to hear from you. It makes me feel a little less lonely.

Your friend,

Peggy

Letter Game {number 3}

So here we are!

Amy's reply to my letter! Just to reiterate and make things clear.... I am posting Amy's letters on my blog, and she is posting  mine on hers in an effort to try to get that real "letter" feel.

And if you're new and haven't read any of the story yet, you can find the beginning the the Letter Game page.


From: Miss Peggy Douglas
To: Miss Joan MacTavish
October the thirtieth, 1924




Dear Joan.

     I knew it! You took the hardest test and aced it. Really, my dear, must you show off? And me in such a dreary position?

     I do but jest... I am very proud of you. Congratulations! How grand to be a part of the Palace Guard! And it might just surprise you and turn out to be a very adventurous job. What with all the discontentment in parliament between the magicians and the philosophers. Trouble has been brewing for a while, my dear, and we both know that at some point, the King will have to step in.
     At any rate, I wish you all the best and hope you settle in quickly and without too much bother. It’s never easy being the new girl. Even if you are a Master Assassin now. In all events, it’s bound to be more exciting than working as a barista.

      Now, I’m not saying that I’m unhappy in my position. There are worse jobs than making coffee all day. But the longer I’m away from the University, the angrier I get. I mean, to go through three years of Uni, just to be kicked out right before my mid-point testing! It’s pretty hard to swallow.
Not that I’d have been likely to pass any test with my Powers being so wonky, but I’d have liked to have had the chance. I find it strange that no one has taken the time to try and figure out why my Powers have gone all out of control. I mean, am I the only one that finds it strange?
     I can’t help but wonder if I hadn't waited for three years to go to Uni... if things would have turned out differently. But I couldn't very well have just left with Mum being so ill. I had to be there for her. And then Dad was so grief-stricken I was worried to leave him…

     Oh well, never mind.

     I’m trying to keep my chin up in all this and enjoy some of the advantages of this new life. Such as exploring the city. I loved growing up in the country and hope to settle in the country again someday, but to live in such a busy, colorful city is exciting, especially after all the rules at Uni. They were rather up-tight about keeping to the school grounds. It is fantastic to not have a curfew.

     The thing is, I’m already becoming bored with my job and my life! And that’s not good. You know me, I've always needed interesting things in my life, otherwise I seem to get in trouble. You remember that deadly-dull summer when I accidentally set the hay-stack on fire? Being bored makes me do unpredictable things. It makes me play with my Powers.
     To help with the boredom, I’ve started to do some rather serious people-watching. It helps pass the time and I enjoy it. I’ve taken to carrying around a small journal and I jot down things I find interesting or unusual. Or rude. Joan, I never realized before how many people are rude! I don’t like rude people. They make me want to put some discomfort spell on them. But I can’t. While I’m at work, I have to wear a protective bracelet so that my Powers don’t interfere with the coffee machines and such. The downside is that I can’t actually work my Powers at all while wearing the blasted thing! I never thought it would come to this point—make coffee and have no Powers.

     Hey-ho, I don’t mean to gripe and I will stop this second!

     Let’s see…there must be something fun to tell you about. Ah yes, Dad came by for a visit a few days ago. He is such a dear. He was in quite a hurry since he was on his way to a conference, but he wanted to make sure I was getting along aright.

     “Things aren’t too bad for you, are they, my goose?” he asked as he straightened his wire spectacles to look at me better.
     I assured him that I am quite well and will figure out a new plan for my life as soon as I can. He smiled and patted my head in his absent minded way and muttered something about the many defects of the educations system. He sighed deeply and plunged his hand into his coat pocket. “Ah, never mind” he said and he handed me a small parcel. He got me a lovely pocket-watch with a tiny compartment hidden in the back. I don’t know what I could hide in a compartment that small, but it is still a lovely watch. Dad said it was once used by a spy (Whose name I’ve forgotten) to smuggle messages across the border during the War. I don’t know where he got it. Dad’s always finding these sorts of things.
     Then he was off. He’s promised to visit again as soon as he can. He has been unusually busy for the past few months. I can’t help wondering what it could be that keeps a humble historian so on his toes.

     Before I go, I have a confession to make. I have been asking around and doing some research of my own about wands, and though I haven’t found out anything useful, I did find out that occasionally a person will experience something known as a Power-Shift. Have you ever heard about this? It seems that once in a very rare while, someone’s powers change, either for good or ill, but no one seems to know why. Isn’t that strange?

      And now I must go. Good luck on your new job. I hope you have adventures in abundance. Perhaps someone will try and steal the crown jewels. I know I should not wish for such things, but it would make things lively for you.

I must sign off or I will be late for work.

Till next time,

Peggy.

Picture Saturday-- Joan

Because... it's been so long since my last post, right? *Smirk* Bet you guys didn't even notice I hadn't posted. =)

By the way, good news! Amy posted my letter on her blog, so if you haven't read it yet, you should check it out. I'm very 'cited and nervous. :)

So.... when I came up with the idea that my letter game character, Joan, was going to be a Master Assassin, the ideas of how she ought to look came flooding into my head. She was going to be on the short side of average height, very athletic, and a bit of a dry-humored smarty.

She sort of just... made herself up. She's that kind of character.

(By the way, she thinks Master Assassin is an utterly ridiculous title because everyone knows that Master Assassins haven't been used in years, so said title only means that she is a very talented martial artist...)

Just as an aside: my sister has the mother load  of Prisma colored pencils. 

I was in heaven.

News of EPIC porportions!!

Hello, you awesome people!

So, I have some very exciting news!

This is my hundredth post!!

But that's not the epic news. Amy and I decided to do a a Letter Game between our blogs. Actually... we decided a long time ago, but we're both self-conscious about putting our writing out there for people to see. And so, *cough* we've sort of been putting it off. 

Anyway, the gist of the game is that we will pick a character to 'become' and write letters to each other as that character. Cool, yeah? 

The way we're going to do it is, when Amy writes a letter, I will post it on my blog, and when I  write a letter, she will post it on hers, so that it seems like we actually receiving letters. (In actuality, we're just emailing. Hehehe.) And then the letters will be archived on the the letter game page on both blogs. 

The setting is a 1920-ish time frame... with a mix of Steampunkery (yes, I know Steampunk is technically Victorian era, but we're doing it in the 20s.) And a touch of magic. 

An alternate world. 

I'm excited. And really, really nervous. =)

Amy is Peggy Douglas and I am Joan MacTavish.

God bless and enjoy!

Cheers!

Treskie

From Miss Peggy Douglas

To: Miss Joan MacTavish

October the twentieth, 1924

Letter One

Dear Joan.

    I’m sure by now you've heard a great deal about my ‘disgraceful’ situation. It isn’t nearly as bad as it sounds…well, maybe it is, but it’s not all my fault. As your friend I think you deserve to know the best of me.

    Yes, I really did get thrown out of University. Well, the correct term is “Expelled” but it amounts to the same thing. I have been set up with the most tedious job at a coffee shop on Main Street. The good news is I get as much free coffee as I can hold. Anyway.

     I’m not sure when things started going so wrong. I did so well for the first two years of Uni, pulling ahead at my classes and thoroughly enjoying myself. It was this last year when my Powers began to get out of hand and I earned the wrath of Professor Whitt. The whole situation is miserably unfair! I worked and worked at my Craft and for those first years I had such high hopes of being graduated into an important job. Now I have an unpromising future as a barista! And my Powers-I can’t understand it. No matter what I do, I can’t get a charm or spell to do what it should. Something terrible usually happens…if not terrible than extremely inconvenient. Take that last, fateful week at Uni.- though if we could take it then forget it as fast as possible that might be best- when the ‘simple’ spell I was to work took that nasty turn and suddenly the piano started on fire. It’s not like I did a fire charm! I was supposed to water the plants in the music room using the cloud control spell and the next thing I knew; fire was curling rather magnificently around the baby-grand.

    Fire is so beautiful!

    I admit I did just stare at it for a minute or two, maybe three, before I called for assistance, but that’s hardly proof that I deliberately started it.

    The whole School Board was up in arms about it. The ‘investigation’ went on for almost a week. It turns out you never really know who your friends are until you’re being investigated. Not a single person there said a word in my defense. I was on my own. Apparently this last year over-rules all the progress and triumphs I had during the first two years.

    I personally think that the teachers just didn’t like me. I know for a fact that Professor Whitt has held a grudge against me ever since he lost all his hair. I didn’t realize that that bottle was his shampoo, but he never believed me. That, coupled with a few other things, made him far less than pleased with me. But those other things weren’t really my fault. After all, who knew that that TNT was so touchy? And I did have a ‘Do not enter’ sign outside my room when the perfume went wrong. If they had minded that sign, then the dorms would not have smelled like rotten eggs. I really was sorry about turning the water purple. It was devilishly inconvenient not being able to bath until the teachers got that spell sorted out. And those few unfortunates who happened to be in the shower when that all went down and were stained purple a full two weeks-well. I did try to make it up to them.

     Do you suppose that I might be one of those few people that actually need a wand? I brought this up with the Board, but they insist that if I never needed one before, I shouldn’t need one now. I wish I could find a way to get a wand and at least try my theory. If only they weren’t so heavily guarded by the Government.

     I must say, this has been a very trying few weeks for me. My mood, though not as low as depressed, is still rather melancholy. I am in a fix and I don’t know how to get myself out of it.

    On the brighter side, it is autumn and delightfully wet most days. Coats and scarves do much to lighten the load of life.

    And my flat is cozy- Extremely small and fifteen stories up- (There is no lift so I do keep fit. Fifteen flights of stairs are quite a lot.) but cozy. It has the nicest little fireplace and it’s been so long since I’ve been able to play with fire! The wallpaper is a rather overwhelming brown plaid, but I’ve moved in all my books—Dad bought me a set of bookshelves just to show that he wasn’t angry with me. He’s a dear.—and what with the bookshelves, some art and some lovely red drapery, I’ve created a wonderful atmosphere.
I was also allowed to take my desk from Uni. Apparently after I did that lock charm after my first year when Ronnie Morse kept trying to steal my work, it won’t open for anyone else and taking off the charm would cause the desk to collapse. I did that charm back in the day when my Powers where still well behaved.

    I hope you aren’t too disappointed in my, Joan. I am at a bit of a loss at this point and intend to take a few weeks to settle in to my new life a little before I try to sort out…well, my life! It is such a bother!

    You must write me back soon. I need all the cheering up I can get and I am dying of curiosity to know how yourplacement went. You have always been quite an overachiever and I know you probably took the hardest test. And Aced it, no doubt.

Take care of yourself, my dear. Though I really don’t have to worry too much about that, do I?

Your rather disappointed friend, 

Peggy