there's a lot of love out there, man

princess-ting-ting​:

Ting hesitated. In her short time on the Wench, many had assured her of Jane’s hospitality and how the only time you had anything to fear is if you hurt the crew in some way or form. But still, Ting didn’t just want to invite this random man on board!

But also – well, her heart ached for his story. If there was a way for him to get back home, it’d be on the Wench.

“Jane of The Lost Wench,” she said. “It’s the schooner on the left side of the port with the green paint.”

.

Something like hope swelled in Fillmore. He still didn’t trust pirates, but this woman didn’t seem like his image of pirates. And perhaps Jane of The Lost Wench was similar. He could understand defending your ship, but he couldn’t understand raids and attacks and battles. Fillmore had only ever wanted a simple life on the farm. Maybe he would have to put up with some things he didn’t like if he was going to make his way back home. 

“Thank you, madame,” Fillmore replied, looking out at the harbor to try and find the green ship. “I think I see it. I don’t have much to pay with, but I have some savings. And of course I’d earn my keep. As long as I didn’t have to fight or kill.”

princess-ting-ting​:

Ting shook her head.

“Oh, oh no no, nothing like that. I mean, I couldn’t do any of that. I, uh, I help cook! And I tend to wounds. And sea sickness – a rough seas tough, you know. I know the best remedy for sea sickness and it just takes some ginger and some Calm—“ She cut herself off, not sure how a stranger would take to a sorceress, then cleared her throat a little. “But it’s been – well, peaceful for now. I don’t know how long that’ll last, I know everyone’s worried about… you know.”  

.

Fillmore nodded, not really sure whether this woman was a sorceress or just someone like himself who trusted herbs rather than doctors. Either way, he didn’t pass any judgment. Fillmore knew that many were afraid of witches, but Fillmore was only afraid of those who used their powers for evil.

“Well, that’s good to know...” he said pensively. “It’s why I’ve been stuck here, really. I’m far from home. Trying to get back. But all these ships are wrapped up in these battles, so much needless death and violence.” Fillmore knew he had said too much, but once he got started he couldn’t stop. “Anyway, I’m just trying to book passage some way. And your ship might be the best way there. Who is your captain?”

princess-ting-ting​:

“Oh well…” She laughed a little, trying to gather her thoughts. “That’s a long story – so you see, I was supposed to get married to this man I’ve never met and so was one of my sisters, but then on the way from England a freak storm hit our ship and it sank and I almost died but this…this pirate ship,” she lowered her voice dramatically – really there was no reason to be disclosing this, but Ting still thought it was one of the most exciting things that happened to her, “picked me  up and the captain’s actually very – well, she’s a good woman and let me stay on board as they go port to port so I can look for my sisters, as long as I help around. And I do! I’m not useless. I help!”

She smiled a little. She sounded like a heroine in one of her tales – so bold and brave and not at all as boring as she’d felt back in England. If only this man heard the brave version of Ting-Ting, so be it.

.

As a rule, Fillmore was anti-pirate. He was also anti-navy. He was really anti-anyone who believed that swords and cannons were the right way to solve a problem. And he was definitely against this pirate king thing. But for weeks, Fillmore had unsuccessfully tried to stow away on cargo ships. He knew the risk of trying to sneak on a navy ship, which was really like walking into a nest of vipers. So maybe... well, if this ship was letting this woman look for her sisters at different ports, maybe it would be the key to Fillmore finally getting to go home.

He paused to think about it, then lowered his voice to respond. “Huh. A good woman. And she’ll let people book passage?” he asked curiously. “What kinds of things does she ask you to help with? Fighting? Raiding?”

princess-ting-ting​:

Ting-Ting didn’t think much of this young man’s poetic waxing. Her gaze wandered though, surveying the crowds around her, hoping that she’d be able to catch a glimpse of her sisters. But each passing figure was just another face in the crowd.

“Oh? Oh – Mei and Su,” said Ting-Ting. “They’re 18 and 16. Younger than I am. Maybe that’ll help them stick out a little – don’t know how often you get young ladies wandering around here. I’d appreciate it if you kept an eye out. I think we’ll be back in port frequently enough? Well, definitely within the week.”

Ting didn’t really know, to be told. She knew the Lost Wench would return to Swynlake Port after the challenges, but the crew spoke so airily of them, she wasn’t sure what they entailed exactly. That scared her a bit – but also thrilled her, if she were being honest and she wanted to know more.

.

Mei and Su. Those names sounded a little common to Fillmore, if he was being honest, and he was sure he had heard of them passing through the port at some point. Maybe not the ones this lady was looking for.

“I certainly will. You’ve got my word,” Fillmore promised. This was a dangerous place, especially for young people out on their own with no one looking out for them. Fillmore had a bit of a protective instinct toward the young and vulnerable. “What brings you all to Swynlake Port? Not looking to be the Pirate King, I assume? Bit silly if you ask me.”

princess-ting-ting​:

“I’m looking for my sisters,” Ting-Ting admitted. This young man had been very vague and not much help at all, but maybe she could ask him to keep an eye out? Hopefully? It wouldn’t hurt anyway. “We were separated at sea about a month ago. Swynlake Port was supposed to be our destination, so I was hoping perhaps I’d come across them again. But I suppose many people come in here every day.”

.

Huh. “The sea can be cruel,” Fillmore mused, glancing out across the shipyard at the open harbor and feeling suddenly poetic. “Beautiful, but cruel. Just like love...” He wasn’t drawing on personal experience. It just sounded good to him. 

Was he blowing his cover by going on so long? Fillmore tried to rein it in. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll keep an eye out for lost people, but many a lost soul finds their way into this port. You’ll have to be more specific. Names might help?”

Shipping Up to Swynlake | Open

The Lost Wench had docked and after a short speech from the Captain about meeting back on the boat in two hours, most of the crew – and Ting-Ting – dispersed.

If there was a place she was statistically going to find her sisters, it would be at Swynlake Port. That was their final destination, anyway, and she could only hope that Mei and Su had been picked up by ships that were going in the same direction, or else wouldn’t mind a quick pitstop to save a noble lady and reap a handsome reward.

If they were going to come in, it would be by the docks, so Ting did not stray far from the ship, wandering the busy area, perhaps a bit more to the cargo side, and –

Oof! A young man carrying a large crate bumped into her.

“Oh! Oh? Oh – I’m – well, I was hoping to find someone,” she stammered. “I’m just – well, you wouldn’t happen to have seen a young lady or two about here, would you? One is about this tall, feisty, probably giving whoever’s with her a hard time. The other a little shorter, spacey, probably looks like she’s just wandered in from a dream.”

It was a long shot, but Ting had to at least try.  

.

Fillmore paused to think. He didn’t pay much attention to the people coming and going-- he paid more attention to the ships. “Probably,” Fillmore replied vaguely, putting the box down. “All kinds of people come through here. It’s pretty amazing. Feels like the center of the world, even though it’s probably hardly as busy as most ports. Why? You here to meet someone?”

Working at the dockyard meant Fillmore saw just about everyone who came and went from Swynlake Port. That was why he had taken the job, anyway, so he could keep an eye on things and gauge what ship might give him the best opportunity to escape the port and return home to the mainland. Of course, the downside of working where the ships came in meant that Fillmore constantly had to look over his shoulder in case someone who may recognize him showed up. 

So when he  bumped into someone while carrying a large crate, Fillmore jumped. “Oh, pardon,” he apologized, appraising the person-- he wasn’t sure if they had just departed a ship, were just about to board one, or was just there to watch them set sail. “Are you sure you should be over here in the dockyards? I think boarding is that way,” Fillmore explained, nodding as if to point in the right direction.

“Ere the bonnie boat was won as we sailed into the mystic  Hark, now hear the sailors cry  Smell the sea and feel the sky  Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic

And when that foghorn blows I will be coming home And when the foghorn blows I want to hear it.” [x]

NAME: Bob Fillmore Waldmire  AFFILIATION: Fomerly the H.M.S. Relentless, now neutral WEAPON OF CHOICE: He’s a pacifist, bruv OCCUPATION: Dockhand MAGIC STATUS: Mundus

Bob Fillmore never wanted anything more than a simple life. He grew up on the mainland, in a farming family that grew food for themselves and occasionally sold herbs and tinctures in the market. He always believed that was all his life would ever be and was perfectly content with that reality until, one day, the Fillmores received a letter in the mail. Bob was to serve in the navy. He had been officially impressed.

Fillmore followed the instructions despite his apprehension toward military conflict, as he didn’t want to get himself or his parents arrested. He spent several months in training and then on the H.M.S. Relentless, aiding in menial tasks and sometimes backup during battles. Even if Fillmore didn’t usually engage in the more violent parts of ship life, he hated being affiliated with the military. He longed for his simple life on his family’s farm, and spent weeks planning his escape.

ber-bonfamille-lyons​:

To: Bob Fillmore ([email protected]) From:  Berlioz Bonfamille ([email protected]) Subject: Re: *CONFIDENTIAL* Are you in?

sorry this took a second, was giving it some thought. 

I actually do have a friend who’s a magick who might be able to help. she does illusion magic? not sure now it works exactly, like, if its’ powerful enough to do something like hide a whole room. maybe hide a door tbh, lol, kinda like room of requirement in hp (problematic book, but good idea).

if i ask her, definitely would have to tell her why so lmk if you’re comfortable with that. can always wait till we figure out more details + book a band/dj/whatever.

side note though: magic or not, what about the idea of rotating the music space? can announce where it will be like day of on flyers or something keep it really hush. make it harder for the admin to pin us down 

anything else we need to get this going? 

Ber

.

To: Berlioz Bonfamille ([email protected]) From: Bob Fillmore ([email protected]) Subject: Re: *CONFIDENTIAL* Are you in? 

Ber:

I’m down to get your friend involved as long as you think she’ll be cool about it. If you trust her, I trust her. 

But that idea of rotating the space is killer. I love that. The Groove Room doesn’t have to be a place. It’s a state of being, man. 

I wanna start us out with some live music, maybe some kids in the area or on campus who have a band. But we could do some electronic stuff too. Maybe even expand. Performance art. Poetry. All that good shit. But start out with the music. You know anyone? I can ask around too.

And I guess ambiance is important. Lights and shit. Not too much, we gotta be able to set it up and break it down quickly enough. There are some holiday decorations in the office I can grab, maybe I’ll check out Whosits too. Everything they sell there has characters.

tldr: you get music, i’ll get the rest, and let’s do this, man!

ber-bonfamille-lyons​:

To: Bob Fillmore ([email protected])  From:  Berlioz Bonfamille ([email protected]) Subject: Re: *CONFIDENTIAL* Are you in?

Shit. Yes. 

Definitely know some people who would be interested in this. I followed up with my mate Cliff at the radio (don’t worry, just asked him if he ever heard of the Groove Room) and actually showed me a couple of old old flyers just shoved in one of the filing cabinets in the station. i scanned em and attached them here. pretty sure they were distributed in dorms and stuff. 

we can do something on social though question is what and how to keep the admin from finding out. tiktok meme is probably out of the question right. lol 

maybe dorms are the way to go? you are an RA so? let me know. 

also…where would we do this? pretty sure the basement they used back in the day was filled in? 

Ber 

.

To: Berlioz Bonfamille ([email protected])  From: Bob Fillmore ([email protected])  Subject: Re: *CONFIDENTIAL* Are you in? 

Ber:

Knew you’d say yes. These flyers are rad as hell and I think we could use them to get some interest. Pass em around, get things going by word of mouth. The old fashioned way, you know? I don’t really trust those apps, you never know if the school’s found some way to tap them. Even writing about this over email is making me a little uneasy tbh. If the administration finds out about this it means we gotta play by their rules, not our own, which defeats the point.

Based on what I read, that basement was filled in so we can’t use it. Which is a real bummer, but we can def find somewhere else to do this. My first thought is one of the music studios, do you know if there are any no one uses? 

There’s also a pretty decent sized storage closet in the fine arts library basement and a dorm room that’s just for tours in the basement of my building, but we’d have to put it back together when we’re done which might kill the vibe. Or we could take this off campus but on campus seems like it’d be easier for people. Also-- you think any Magicks would be into helping us keep this secret? There’s gotta be some magic spell that can help hide this, maybe keep people out of whatever space we wanna use.

Just some thoughts, interested in what you think. 

To: Berlioz Bonfamille ([email protected]) From: Bob Fillmore ([email protected]) Subject: *CONFIDENTIAL* Are you in?

Ber:

Doing some research for a program I’m putting on and discovered this:

In the seventies there was an underground disco in the basement of one of Pride U’s buildings named the Groove Room. It didn’t last as long as it should’ve before getting shut down.

Had to check it out of course. Turns out this thing was way cool. Some of the greatest artists of the 70s got their start in the Groove Room. Can’t believe it got shut down. 

I think we got a responsibility, man. We gotta bring this thing back. Thought you’d be down for getting things rolling since you might know some people. Musicians I mean. 

Just a reminder: Confidential, pal. Keep it on the DL. Only tell folks who seem trustworthy.

What do you say?

Fillmore

thehuntress-rose​:

Rose stood and queued behind her guide. “It’s pretty nice, you have access to just about everything all the time. Traffic is a bitch though.” She couldn’t help but laugh. Swynlake was very different, though she didn’t mind the change of pace. It wasn’t so noisy all the time.

“It is different, I don’t really now much about town yet, but it’s a lot less noisy. I’ll miss the shitty americanized Chinese food though.” She continues, “What about you, was it hard adjusting from desert to… this?”

.

Fillmore nodded vaguely as he left the building, Rose following after. “It’s beautiful in its own way, you know?” Fillmore replied, grinning as his eyes adjusted from the shitty dorm lighting to the English sunshine. This place was so much better in the summertime. “The weather was really the big adjustment, going from somewhere hot and dry to somewhere cold and rainy. But it’s the best forest I’ve ever been in, so, trade-offs, man.”

He started in the direction of the library. “I figure you’re probably gonna wanna see the library, right? But if you wanna see anything specific, lemme know. I’m not trying to bore you,” he explained. “By the way, Imperial City? Top-notch Chinese food. Good shit.”

lostinthewoods-kristoff​:

At his most cynical, Kristoff would’ve said he thought it was stupid. The idea of having a plan that hurts you and one that heals you, and they like to grow near each other? Why hadn’t the powers that be just decided to balance that out and get rid of the really bad and the really good, so that there was just a regular old plant left behind?

But Kristoff wasn’t so cynical — at least, not yet. He did, actually, think it was pretty cool. That nature had allowed these two things to be complete opposites, and yet coexist just a few feet from one another. Like an apology for creating nettles in the first place, the dock leaves grew right alongside them, unassuming, waiting til you needed them.

“It’s something.” He agreed, a little more gruffly than he had intended to. He shook a green fly from his sleeve, and looked over at the kid once more. “Experience, mostly.” He answered, but that wasn’t true. Nettles and dock leaves were one of the only things he could remember his parents teaching him. “You spend enough time out here and you learn fast.”

.

Fillmore started applying the dock leaves, amazed by the way they already started to soothe the stings. This kind of thing was pure magic to Fillmore. The way people knew these things. The way people learned these things. If it were up to Fillmore, he would spend more of his time out in nature like this, just exploring and letting the world show itself to him.

“You spend a lot of time out here?” Fillmore asked, grinning. “That’s cool, man. More people should do that.” At Pride U, people didn’t usually rely on the woods for what they needed. They just went to the grocery store, or the pharmacy. And that was fine and all, but there was something about being out here that made Fillmore feel connected. Like he wasn’t just forking over his money to some faceless corporation.

He added a few dock leaves to his bag, in case he would need them later. “You live out here? Or do you just like to visit? Seems like Enchantra gives you everything you need, really.”

the-princess-atta​:

Atta glanced at Fillmore and smiled again. He reminded her of Flik. 

It was a bit ironic, too, wasn’t it? Here they were talking about organizations of leadership and order, but once, that had been Atta. She was the administration and she had to listen and respond to the requests and concerns and, yes, complaints, of her people. There were some more vocal, restless pixies than others. Flik, for example. Flik would come with different ideas about how to improve certain systems in their Hollow, often…bypassing the proper tinker channels in order to do so. 

She wondered how long it would take for Flik to start pestering Queen Clarion as opposed to Fairy Mary. Instead of having sympathy, Atta thought she might like to see it. Then she’d know Flik was truly at home. 

He would like Fillmore, too. Maybe she should introduce them. 

“Oh, ehm– both? Either? Really, I’d just like to see as much as we have time for,” mentioned Atta. “So eh– lead the way! Just be prepared to be pestered with more questions.” 

.

“Ask away,” Fillmore grinned, leading the way out of the biology classroom and heading back down the stairs. Maybe he shouldn’t have started off with the thing that Atta would probably find the most interesting out of the whole tour, but things like the dorms and the library and the cafeteria were important, too. They were boxes Fillmore was supposed to check off for this tour, anyway. And even if he liked to go off-script, he didn’t want Atta to feel like she had gotten an incomplete tour.

He started toward the library. “You’ll definitely want to see the library. A lot of people say it’s haunted. I don’t know if that’s true, but, you know, why not?” Fillmore shrugged. “You’ll get used to it. I think you’re gonna see that a lot of supernatural weirdness goes down on this campus. But you’ll be fine. You just gotta roll with it.”

ugh i need to watch this its on my every growing list