drop dead, moron

Name: Danielle “Dani” Dennison Species: Half-Witch Sexuality: Bisexual Pronouns: She/Her  Favorite Song: You’re On Your Own, Kid by Taylor Swift  Big Three: Leo sun, Libra moon, Scorpio rising Location: New Salem

“Always racking that big brain of yours,” she teased, flicking some of the ash off of her cigarette. “Just the classic tale of loitering. I was on my way home but…I dunno. The weird pull this place has pulled me in today. You know how that is.” She didn’t think it was because of any weird magic or anything like that. Then again, weird magic wouldn’t be far-fetched. Elsa has seen plenty of weird shit in this town. At least…she thought she did. Every time she really tried to remember she got a headache. Probably for the best. “You want a cigarette?” She couldn’t actually remember if Dani smoked, but hey, it didn’t hurt to ask.

Dani shook her head at the offer for a smoke; she had always thought it looked cool, but upon her first puff of one, she thought she was going to cough up a lung. Max probably wouldn’t remember that, though, since it was at about the same place they were standing now. “Yeah, I do. Why else do you think I keep finding my way here?” Dani agreed, giving her friend a small smile. “Maybe we should just rip the bandaid together. You know, holding each other accountable, some bullshit like that. I should probably get home for dinner, anyway.”

who: @daniiidenniiison where: sanderson museum 

Allison didn’t want to pry as they sat looking through books after making their way here again. She wanted to help look if Dani was willing and the fact they were able to get back here together brought a sense of joy to her. It felt like something was the way it used to be. A nostalgia for a time she couldn’t even remember. There had been an awkwardness between them all last time so she was a little glad for it to just be them. That way she was able to check in with Dani and see how she was feeling about this whole thing, especially since finding out that she had magic of her own. Looking up from a book she took a few steps closer to where her friend was flipping through pages herself. “So… Regardless of whatever Max says it’s really fucking cool that you’re a witch, don’t let his hocus pocus get to you,” she said giving her a smile as she used his own words against him. Allison thought it was awesome but knew he was hesitant about the whole thing. “He’ll warm up to it like always.”

Coming to the Sandersons with just Allison and without her brother in tow made for a much less stressful trip than the last. The two sat in silence for the most part, only pointing out things that Dani could remember or that had been marked by Alli and Max in the past. She hadn’t dared to come back to the museum alone to read through what her brother and friend had written down in the books in the past, but things were starting to come back to Dani now as she slowly recalled discussions from the past. “Hm? Oh, yeah, thanks. I kind of expected that outcome,” Dani admitted with a shrug, placing the book she was holding down on the table beside her. “I don’t know, I brought him to try and show him some stuff, but he kind of just made Ouija board jokes the whole time, so that was encouraging. I don’t know what the hell to say to convince him.”

closed starter @daniiidenniiison· location: ice & jay’s record store

Lilla has found herself in New Salem more and more these days. In part, it was thanks to her granny because deliveries had started to expand since the new areas were opened to her. Another reason was because she liked hanging out with Dani. Lilla actually met the girl during one of her deliveries and they have been becoming fast friends since. It was nice to be around another girl for once instead of Jack and his boyish nature. She knew a lot of small things about Dani, but not any big secrets or anything, which was fine because Dani didn’t know hers either. But she did know her disdain for the annoying ass guys who ran the record store in her town, and as she popped another piece of stolen gum she swiped on her way in into her mouth and chewed, she still grit her teeth whenever Jay or the other guy started laughing loudly over some stupid joke they saw over their shared laptop. “Dani, are we almost done? I’m about to tear these guys apart. I knew we should have pranked them better…they’ve already recovered!”

Lilla was a new friend, coming into Dani’s life once New Salem had been introduced to the rest of the world, it seemed. She somehow found herself with more friends in her life than ever, in part because there were people outside New Salem who didn’t think she was weird, and each of them had a little weirdness to them, too. Who knew all it took was a new pool of people to choose from to make her life that much less lonely? “I guess,” Dani groaned, rolling her eyes as she watched the idiots behind the counter laughing at who knew what on their laptops. “We need to come up with something better for them next time. I swear, the dumbest people are the hardest to prank.” Dani headed for the door, hearing the small bell ring as she stepped outside into the cold. “What should we do now? You don’t have to do anything for your granny today, do you?”

who: @daniiidenniiison· where: ice & jay’s record store

He’d found himself spending more time in New Salem lately, probably at the fault of Dani. She had been a pretty good tour guide and Bram had actually started to like this place more than he thought. There was something about it that made him miss Halloween a little less, filling a bit of the boredom the rest of the year brung. Even though she’d mostly stumbled into his life he wasn’t mad about it and had actually grown kind of fond of the girl. He knew she had something weird about her from the moment they met, that still drawing him in today, a curiosity he couldn’t describe. To make sure she didn’t get her throat ripped out though he kept his interactions with Dani away from Coolsville when he could. Selene was many things and jealous was at the top of the list, not that anything had happened between them but it wouldn’t matter. He pulled a record out of a bin and held it out for her to see. “Tell me you’ve listened to these guys, tell me you have taste, Shortcake,” he said with a serious expression. It was quick to turn into a laugh as he creased his lips in a smile, pulling out the record to put it on himself. Bram hopped over the counter that was left empty and switched them out. “No time like the present.” 

Dani wasn’t sure what was going on with Bram, but for now, she didn’t really care. It was nice to just have some company that was nice to look at, too. She had convinced herself that no matter what this was, that she could handle just being friends, as it wasn’t like she had an abundance of them to begin with. “You think I live under a rock?” she asked with a raised brow, watching as he carelessly hopped over the counter to put the record on. Dani used to consider herself adventurous and rebellious before she met Bram, and then she realized that to every quality she had, there was someone who was more extreme. “That doesn’t mean we can’t take this place over, anyway,” she agreed, a smile coming to her lips as the music began to play. “Care for a dance, sir?” Dani asked, bowing sarcastically.

“Well, to be completely candid, fuck them,” Dani said simply, giving a bit of a nonchalant shrug. Gwen was one of the most authentic people she had come to meet, but thanks to some stupid television editing and an even dumber guy on the other end of the camera, sh was somehow the villain? It didn’t sit right with her, knowing how she was as a person. Of course, Dani had done her research, but that hadn’t changed her opinion on the older girl at all. “I’m going to be so honest with you, I have always thought that reality television was the worst thing anyone could put out into the world, and after meeting you, it’s confirmed to be true. Like, I’m sorry if I’m overstepping here, but you’re like an extension of the sister I never had, in a way that my brother’s ex could never be--a story for another time, I promise--and I would never know based on how they portrayed you. So, truly, they’re dead to me, and they should be dead to you, too.”

@weirdgwen

closed starter location: outside of the sanderson museum @daniiidenniiison·

Elsa always hated this museum. It wasn’t because it was spooky or anything; in fact the creep factor was the only thing that really invited her to it half the time. It was just the fact that she couldn’t remember how long it had been there. A nagging voice in her head wants to say since forever but she knows in her soul that isn’t right. She can’t really explain it, but something felt off whenever she was near the place, so she tended to steer clear of it altogether. The only reason she was even outside it today was because she desperately needed a cigarette and this was the closest place to loiter on her trek home. She had just fished a cigarette out of her bag when she spotted a familiar redhead and she gave a small wave and a slight grin to the girl. “Hey Dani,” she said, bringing the cigarette to her lips. “What brings you to think old place? I thought you hated this place too.”

Dani had been hanging around the periphery of the Sanderson house more than she wanted to admit since Max had dragged her and Allison there. She had only run into one of the sisters once, so she would consider that a bit of a victory, but she hadn’t expected to see anyone else outside. Dani looked at one of Allison’s friends, who she recognized easily, with a smile, approaching the house. “Van Helsnig,” she greeted, leaning against the siding of the house. “You know, just a little solo research trip. My stupid brother brought Alli and I here last week, but I figured I could do more on my own. What about you?” Dani asked, nodding her head toward the house.

continued from here

Since the last few times they fought, Max was really trying to be supportive of Dani and whatever it was that she was trying to show him. He was still trying to wrap his head around all the magic and other hocus pocus, but he did his best to keep his mouth shut and not voice his complaints. He wasn’t sure how he felt about heading straight into the woods, though. “I’m trying,” he replied with a soft sigh and a shake of his head. “Levitation?” He repeated, surprised. “We might as well have just brought a Ouija board out here, don’t you think?” He ignored her question but continued to follow. “Even if all of this does work, how’s it gonna help us? Do you actually have a plan?” @daniiidenniiison·

Dani shot him a glare, unappreciative of the Ouija board comment that he decided was appropriate to make. “If you don’t want to witness it, you can go the hell home. I got a ride back from someone once,” she countered, thinking of when Bram was the one to invite her on his motorcycle to go back. “No, I don’t have a plan. That’s why I brought you out here, stupid. Also, you and Allison are way older than me, so you’re supposed to be the ones making the decisions.” Though neither of them had the memories to have the same level of judgement, she still trusted them (Allison, more so, but that would remain unsaid). “Just please don’t get freaked out, okay? I know this is a lot, but if they’re witches, at least we have one on our side, too.”

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve by Taylor Swift

“And now that I know, I wish you’d left me wondering”

Dani could tell that he had taken some sort of liking to her because she was a little dark on the inside, and he almost encouraged her to be that way. She wasn’t sure if that was supposed to bee a good thing, or if she was supposed to run far away and never look back. Crushes weren’t something that Dani had ever really developed before, and even the word kind of made her cringe inside. “I’m not mad, just, you know, siblings fight,” she said with a shrug, folding her arms over her chest in defense. “You know how it is. You have, um, what are they, really? They’re not your siblings, right? Your ... roommates?” Dani had no idea what the situation was with Bram’s living arrangements, but he had mentioned two different people before, one of whom was a girl. She hoped she wasn’t getting in the way of anything; the last thing she wanted was to get involved with some weird, secret relationship sort of thing. “There’s two of them, right?”

@barrelingthrough

With her book tucked under her arm, Dani closed the car door (gently, this time) and headed toward the woods, determined to show her brother that what had happened at the Sanderson house hadn’t been an accident. She had practiced long and hard for this day, and she was going to prove that she had been working on her magic, even if she wasn’t entirely sure what it was yet. “No, just trust me, okay? I don’t know why, but for some reason, the woods work the best.” It was where she had met Bram one night, after she had finally gotten something to levitate on her own. There was an added layer of pressure with an audience, comprised of a skeptic, no less, but Dani knew that she could get something to work. “I can do this little levitation thing, and it’s worked before. That, and I can kind of get a candle to light on its own, but that one’s a work in progress. It’s not as easy as it looks.” She looked back at him, placing a hand on her hip. “So, are you coming, or what?”

@mdennison

saltciircles·:

☾

This whole thing was over their heads but here they were. If they really had gone through it all before like Dani said then this should come back to them like riding a bike or so she hoped. Allison had been racking her brain trying to think of anything that could be beneficial as they figured this thing out, disappointed to come up with nothing again. If only this mind of hers could remember something. Sure she didn’t have all her memories from the aftermath of all Dani talked about but she knew enough lore to have picked up on the light. “Are we not going to talk about that?” She asked quickly throwing her hand out towards the light, looking at Max then back at Dani. “Of course, of course it all makes sense. This is why you remember everything, isn’t it?” Allison didn’t need much convincing but knew Max wouldn’t be as sure. “That is like, so cool,” she looked to the younger girl now with a smile so at least she knew one person was on her side.

Allison tried to not laugh but it couldn’t help but slip out. “She’s kind of like that and she’s been trying to like hang out with me all the sudden which is super weird.” Her voice trailed off as she thought about it to herself. Maybe more of the happenings around here made sense than she thought, pieces of this puzzle now starting to fall together. “I guess we better start looking,” she said while going to the self to grab her first book to flip through. 

.

Perhaps Max would have picked up on the flickering light quicker, if Dani hadn’t handed him the paper that linked him to all of this. Instead, Allison had to be the one to practically spell it out for him, along with his sister suddenly acting sketchy. His eyebrows narrowed, gaze moving between the two girls as he tried to figure out what the fuck was going on. Max’s mouth dropped. Allison seemed thrilled to hear about this, but Max was far from that.

“Hold on, hold on —” Max stopped the girls’ conversation, piecing everything together. “So not only are we basically on a witch hunt right now but … Dani’s also somehow connected to this? With magic? Dani, how long have you known?” He didn’t blame her for not going to him straight away, he wasn’t the easiest to convince, but how could he know if that was the only thing she was holding from him? There could have been all sorts of other things she was hiding, for all they knew. As Allison eagerly began looking through the books, all Max could do was huff a sigh. Even if they were getting closer to the truth, it felt like him and his sister were growing further apart. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really any way to get out of this; he’d been the one to drive them there, after all. He just didn’t expect things to take a turn this way. He grabbed a book and silently shuffled through it, ignoring his racing thoughts that were starting to give him a headache. @daniiidenniiison·

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Of course it took Allison for Max to actually take her seriously. Dani had tried to tell her brother about what she thought to be magic, but she hadn’t gotten the hang of any of it at the time, and she hadn’t been able to prove it. He wouldn’t have even noticed the lights flickering had it not been for Allison pointing out that she’d done anything to begin with. “Well, I--I tried telling you, in my defense,” she protested, pointing at Max. “You didn’t buy it, and I didn’t want to try and spill the beans again until I’d practiced enough.” Though Dani had been getting more of a hang of things, it still hadn’t been close enough for her to feel comfortable enough revealing that she had magic in her.

“Mom said there was witch shit in our genes, so I tried researching, and I didn’t really find much after that book went missing. So, I’ve kind of been practicing, okay? Not a big deal.” She shrugged it off, pulling down more books from the shelves. The best thing to do was play this nonchalant. It had been Max’s idea to bring them to the house, after all. What the hell did he expect to get out of it? “Look, I don’t know what you were looking to get from this little field trip, Max, but it’s nothing different from what I’ve been trying to tell you.” @saltciircles​

Max was frustrated, and clearly so was Dani. The curse really had torn the two apart, making them butt heads more than ever before. He almost wished he could just slap himself out of it — maybe a hard hit to the face would wake him up and he could remember everything again. That would surely get Dani to finally shut up. Instead, he was stuck with his sister’s constant bickering. He didn’t mean to raise his voice, but he just wanted it to be dropped already; it was still a touchy subject for him. “If we were so happy Dani, why didn’t we stay together then?! It doesn’t matter if things out of our control went to shit. If it was meant to be, we wouldn’t fucking be here now.” He shot her a look to show that he was serious. He didn’t want her to keep bugging him about this anymore. “No. You’re not fixing anything. There’s nothing to be fixed, alright?” She wasn’t getting the hint though, continuing to push and push. His mouth dropped slightly. “First of all, you don’t know anything about my life. How do you know she’s mediocre? You haven’t met her. Second of all, you don’t get to decide who I do or don’t belong with.” His knuckles were turning white as he gripped the steering wheel tightly, glad that they were finally about to pull up to the house. “I don’t care if you and Allison are all buddy-buddy again and want me to help solve some crazy ass mystery, but please for the love of God, stop trying to control my life.”

It seemed like the more that she pressed, the less Max wanted to even try with Allison. She recognized a healthy bit of rebellion, and Dani was afraid that, by trying to pull he and his new point of female interest away, he was going to be even more determined to get to know her better. Dani just couldn’t believe that he would be so petty and immature enough to actually pull that kind of shit on her. “I don’t know, because you can’t remember anything about it?” she asked, asa though it were obvious. Dani rolled her eyes, sinking into the passenger seat as she saw Max’s knuckles turning whiter in the street lights. 

“Oh, my god--it’s not a mystery, Max! This is life, I don’t know what else to do to fucking convince you! I’ve been miserable and lonely for the past year and nothing I say makes you believe me.” With her fingertips pressing into her forehead, Dani let out a frustrated sigh. “You don’t give a shit about my opinion on this girl, and I thought what I showed you at the house would make you see that I’ve been telling the truth about this whole Sanderson bullshit, but apparently, you don’t care about anything I say.” With a huff, Dani opened the door and slammed it, storming to the front porch where she stood helpless until Max trailed behind with the key to the house.

He stepped back and gave her a once over with his gaze before nodding. “Yeah, I guess you look more grown up tonight.” Since they met he hadn’t noticed that if she wanted to Dani cleaned up pretty nice. Bram was anything but, already causing enough chaos for the night and it hadn’t even hit 11 yet. It wasn’t expected from someone like him and yet he kind of enjoyed getting into a nice suit. They were fancy, uncomfortable, and everything that Bram stood against. That was until he put one on and suddenly he felt like a mob boss, ready to take on whoever came into his way which in this case was anyone here that he was able to bother. “Not a real snake, I wouldn’t put the poor fella through this.” Bram looked at her seriously, as if he was offended she thought he’d do that to an animal. The only time he did was when he had to feed and it was never because he wanted to. In fact, Bram actually hated it but kept that to himself. “Because I’m amazing at what I do, Shortcake,” he said giving her a wink. Bram looked down at the cup in front of him and laughed, knowing he would love his answer. “Water.” 

Dani wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or not, but she looked down to her outfit and back up again, almost self-consciously. “I could say the same for you, Bram muffin,” she shot back, eyeing his suit. He didn’t seem like the type to wear a suit to literally anything, nevermind a holiday party. Dani wasn’t the biggest fan of snakes, bugs, or anything of the like, but she wasn’t going to expose yet another one of her weaknesses to him when he already knew too much. “And what you do is torture people and trick them into getting you free drinks?” Dani asked, raising a brow. “No way,” she added, peering over and looking into his cup in disbelief. She took the glass from his hands, taking a sip of her own. “I mean, I can respect a guy who’s hydrated.” Dani handed the cup back to him, offering her beer bottle. “Want something stronger?”

saltciircles·:

☾

Allison knew this wasn’t anything that would interest Max but these had been stores she grew up hearing about. The Sanderson Sister’s were a legend around town and to hear confirmation from Dani that they’d been trying to uncover the truth behind it all made her feel warm. She was glad that even in the memories she no longer had that Allison never stopped believing. Max had been the skeptic, she was happy to confirm Dani wasn’t either. “Were we close? Do you think someone didn’t want us figuring something out we were getting close to?” Her tone picked up as she felt herself get excited at the knowledge she was gaining already. This was the break she’d been looking for and then it all halted. She saw it, only out of the corner of her eye and immediately she locked her gaze to Dani. Something strange as afoot. “What was that?” Allison listened to Dani as she continued to explain while stepping closer to the flame. “Did you do that?” She pointed before looking to her friend with a hint of curiosity and bewilderment in her eye. 

The note was what brought Allison back over to Dani’s side where she exchanged a quick glance with Max. That was his handwriting that was for sure, though she didn’t need much more convincing. “So what like they just appeared? No background information, nothing?” Maybe she could start digging around behind the scenes at work so long as she didn’t get caught. There had to be secrets there that could help them figure this out. “Even if we don’t have the memories we found the information once, guess we’ll need to again. There has to be something we left for ourselves here.” Allison was notorious for leaving herself breadcrumbs, maybe it was all the true crime she watched that influenced her own researching. 

.

Max had a feeling that the more that Allison got involved in all of this, the more she and his sister would be on the same page and outnumber Max. Part of him almost missed the simpler times, where he didn’t have to worry about being the only one who thought all of this hocus pocus was nuts. However, he knew this was better than suffering with the memory loss. For once, it sort of felt like they were getting somewhere, even if he was still pretty lost.

Distracted by Dani huffing and puffing about explaining things over and over again, he didn’t notice the flickering light as she grew frustrated. It wasn’t until Allison made a comment that he looked around, trying to pinpoint what she was referring to. It felt like there was so much happening, and soon enough Dani was shoving a paper into Max’s hands that, sure enough, had his own handwriting on it. It felt completely foreign to him, the paper in his hands, and he stared at the familiar writing. He didn’t get it — even if he was looking at the paper, why wasn’t any of it clicking? He handed the paper to Allison to check out herself, shrugging his shoulders. “Even if we find what we were looking for again, what are we supposed to do with it?” He said, unable to believe that he was sort of buying into this now. Maybe he really had hit his head and lost his sanity along the way. It would at least explain the missing memories, too. “It’s not like any of us have magic like some witches.” @daniiidenniiison·

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Dani knew from the moment Allison looked at her that she knew exactly what was going on. She wasn’t sure how to answer the question: was she supposed to just fess up to thinking that she was actually a witch, or would her friends think that she was crazy, dangerous, even? “Me? No. The lighting in here has to be faulty.” The way that the blonde pointed at her, then the lantern made her terrified to admit the truth, but it was clear that Allison saw right through her. There was no way Dani could lie her way out of this one and hope that she was dumb enough to buy it. “I mean--I didn’t mean to, okay? I don’t know, that ... it happens sometimes,” she argued, folding her arms over her chest defensively. The only person who knew about this was Binx, and with the way that Allison and Max had been reluctant to believe anything she was saying, she was sure at least Max would blame it on the house, not her. 

“Well, I went to the new museum part a while ago, and Sarah was there. I don’t know if she knew who I was, but she didn’t seem like she did. I mean, she’s kinda dumb, anyway.” She could tell that something was clicking with Max now that he saw his own handwriting on the paper. “I told you. There are probably more papers in these books, too, with Allison Dennison doodles in there, too,” she added, mumbling the last part to herself as Dani turned back to the bookshelf. Maybe there would be some sort of proof that they did love each other in there, too. 

“A project? How divine!” Sarah had a feeling there was more to it, but she brushed that thought away quickly. Dani was supposed to have no memory of her, right? So why did she waste her time thinking anything different? Winnie was brilliant and never messed up a spell. “Winnie got elected, well, almost overnight. A turn in the election once she had her marvelous speech! It was what brought this museum to what it is today. She is a wonderful leader and has brought life to New Salem.” She gave Dani a long look. “Why aren’t you writing this down? You are going to forget it if you aren’t careful!”

Dani remembered the speech for the town about the dawn of a New Salem and how Winifred and her sisters were going to change everything. She had stood there in shock while her entire family listened like everything was perfectly fine, despite trying to tell them that it was, in fact, the exact opposite. “Right, I remember that speech. Who could forget?” she said with a shaky laugh, hoping it was convincing enough. Thankfully, with her luck, she’d run into the most aloof of the sisters. “Sorry, yeah. Writing it down,” Dani apologized, pulling out her phone to take some semblance of notes. “She didn’t get elected overnight, though, did she? Not really. Who was she up against, again?”