TwiLyghtSansSparkles

He's too busy writing books of his own, though. We need someone with the time to play the role.

Have you ever tried a peanut-butter-and-honey or peanut-butter-and-jelly quesadilla?

No problem. Feel free to play around with those, come up with your own reason, use those as a starting point, or whatever suits your purposes best.

He killed his brother, or was responsible for his death in some way, and is afraid of being implicated. It's a case of mistaken identity and he knows the kingdom will crumble if he's found out. He made a Faust-type deal with a malevolent supernatural entity and is terrified of the entity coming back to collect. On the day he ascended, he received a death threat from his brother's murderer. He believes, truly or falsely, that if he is killed then a plague will wipe out his kingdom. His life is tied to the life of someone even more important so that if he dies, that other person dies too. Alternatively, someone close to him could have died on the same day as his brother, making this king believe that these things were connected. By law, his nieces and nephews became his children upon his brother's death, and if he dies, not only will the scheming chancellor person become king, but he will gain custody of those children. By law and cultural tradition, the king views his subjects as his children, they view him as their father, and all laws treat this relationship as such. They grieved the true heir's death as they would a father figure. This king doesn't want to entrust his kingdom into the hands of another, doesn't trust his successor, or simply believes his people couldn't handle another death. Conversely, the king doesn't know who his successor will be, and fears his death will pave the way for someone terrible. This might imply that the royal line preceding his family's line was a line of tyrants, making him believe he is the kingdom's last hope for decent rule. Some parties within the kingdom have been advocating a massive cultural, technological, magical, religious, or other sort of change, and the king knows or believes that if he dies, this change will take place and wreak havoc on the kingdom.

I'd bring a game of Apples to Apples and do my best to play it the way Funtimes would, if that helps. (Actually, I pretty much always play it the way Funtimes would. I once matched "salads" to "furious" and "Jack the Ripper" to "awesome.")

Why you are the true lord of the dance, no matter what those idiots at work say.

I think more Hollywood producers would benefit from a few more consultations with medical professionals. Too many characters shrug off blows that should have killed or at least incapacitated them, and I'm sick of seeing a blow to the head treated like nature's snooze button. Yes, it'll knock you out, but if a blow to the head knocks someone out IRL, take them to the emergency room NOW!

Apparently, Chris Pratt has two pugs. I always knew I liked him.

Upvote for the Gravity Falls reference.

Confrontation doesn't work with my parents, and believe me when I say I've tried. Mom especially operates from the assumption that she is always right and when evidence surfaces that she was wrong, that evidence can just be denied. I think I realized this when I told her it hurt my feelings that when she was mad at me, she'd angrily deny me the chance to speak in my own defense, expecting me to shut up, listen to her rant, and apologize when she was done. Rather than saying she was sorry or promising to let me speak in the future, she said "Well, yeah. When I'm right, I expect you to listen to me." This happened the night before my twenty-fifth birthday, so she can't use the "you were a child and I'm the adult" excuse. If I or my siblings recorded conversations with her, I wouldn't put it past her to descend to pretty low depths in stopping that. Like, taking our phones away, saying that she can do that since she pays for them, or demanding we hand over any pass codes we use so she can check the content regularly. None of us really stand a chance arguing with her until we're paying for everything on our own, and even then the chances aren't good.

Pretty sure pre-war Time Lords would be on the Interuniversal end of the scale, though I don't know if you should classify TARDISes (which are living beings) as technology. But I'm sure their cybernetic implants used during the Time War would qualify.

Wow. That is an awesome breakdown of technologies and exploration. How long did it take them to come up with that?

He is? ....now that you mention it, I seem to recall my brother saying as much....but no, I don't plan to see it. Terminator isn't really my cup of tea, and I'd rather watch Matt Smith in something I know I'll love than in something that'll probably make me say "Meh" while leaving the theater.

I hate to say this, but....yeah, it feels that way sometimes. Mom keeps telling all of her friends and family that I'm applying everywhere but what I really want is to move back to the Northwest--preferably Spokane or somewhere in Oregon. I've said repeatedly that I don't care where I move; I haven't said that I don't want to live where they live because I want to try living under my own rules without worrying about them dropping by at all hours. Moving back to the Northwest is what she wants, and she wants all of us kids close.

Which thread is that in? I'll counter Quota if I can.

I doubt they realize it, and suspect they might mistake what they do--going back on their word, ensuring they have absolute control, making up rules when it suits them--for good parenting. I have so many memories of watching TV with them and having them talk about how horrible and disrespectful a child character was when they got angry with their parents or disagreed with them. Their reasoning in this case isn't so much that Portland is unsafe, but that the time she'd spend there could be better spent visiting relatives. Who will crow about how grown-up she looks and mostly ignore her, but family is family, I guess. That doesn't make it any less messed up, but it does explain some things.

I can see Soulcaster and Rainmaker. Anyone else feeling Lucentia/McMuffin?

Well, I talked to my sister. She said that Mom and Dad have agreed to send her to Spokane by herself if they don't wind up moving there. Thing is, Abbie said that apparently they've gone back on their word already about her visiting her friend. Originally, the plan was to let Abbie stay in Portland in a hotel with her friend for a few days, take the friend back to Spokane, and go to the wedding. Then, three weeks after that plan was made, they went back on their word, said Portland wasn't safe, and told her she could have one day with her friend in Spokane. According to Abbie, Dad denied ever having agreed to let her stay in a hotel with her friend in the first place. So I'm worried that they'll go back on their word about Spokane, too. I told her that if that happens, I'll help her out financially, make part of it a gift so our parents will have less say in whether or not she goes.

True. I don't know if she'd see the difference, though. She knows how much this means to Abbie, so trying to talk her back into it might be—in her mind—tantamount to accusing her of doing something wrong. I texted Abbie and asked if she's still set on skipping Spokane, because she called her down about twenty minutes ago and I don't know if it was to tell her she'd change her mind or not, but I still haven't gotten a reply. If she says yes, Mom is still set on skipping, I'll try to think of a possible angle to get Abbie this trip.

And the worst part is, she's not even thinking about my sister. She's not even pretending. I've had run-ins with her and my dad where they'd make something all about them and package it like they were concerned for me—and I'm not saying that's better or worse than what she's doing now; but I do find it especially frustrating that she isn't even acting like she's concerned about my sister. All she cares about is what she feels and what she wants, and she's acting like that's all that matters. Once I get a library job that pays a decent starting salary, I'll be able to move out on my own. After that, if she hasn't gotten a trip to Spokane, I'll start saving for one so she can go. The last time I tried was….I think a year, year and a half ago, when I confronted her about the way she'd treated me as a teen, and how it made me feel at the time and how it had caused all these issues for me years later. She flew into a rage, denied everything that made her look bad, and claimed everything else was for my own good and that it was okay because it had worked. (Spoiler: It hadn't worked at all. I just got better at hiding things from her.) I know this isn't for me—it's for my sister, which makes me want to try it even more. But I don't know if it would work.

Oh, man, if guilting or nagging her worked, I'd do that until she changed her mind on everything and let my sister stay in Spokane the entire trip. But when she decides she's right on something, she is right and attempting to change her mind only makes her angry.

If I could, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But I won't even be able to make it up there until a week after they leave, and then I'm flying to Portland, staying two days for the wedding, and driving back down with my parents. I'm old enough to rent a car now, so the only real constraint is time—and that's a huge constraint.

My dad was recently called to Denver to interview for a position in Spokane, the city where we lived before we transferred to Arizona. I think I'm the only one who doesn't want to move back to Spokane, and that's largely because I want to strike out on my own for a while. Everyone else is excited about the prospect of reconnecting with old friends and living in a place with trees and four real seasons. In less than a week, my mom, dad, and sisters are driving up to Spokane and Portland for a family friend's wedding. Because of work, my brother and I are flying up a week later. My parents were planning on using the first few days of their trip to visit Spokane—which excited one of my sisters, who had made plans to visit with one of her friends. Today, my mom called this sister to her side and told her she wanted to skip Spokane and go straight to Portland. Here are her reasons: We might be moving to Spokane anyway. If we do go to Spokane, this trip will be a lot of wasted time, because you'll be able to see your friend every day if you want to. "I'm afraid that if we don't move to Spokane and I see it again, I'm going to die." In other words, Mom wants to cheat my sister out of what may very well be the last time she'll see her best friend for years because she doesn't want to bear the pain of possibly seeing Spokane and not moving there. I really, really hope she's changed her mind by the end of today, because that is so wrong I don't even know where to start.

RunAcrossTheEdges: Did you hear what Arsenal did today? ScribblyScribbles: YES! LOL I can't believe he locked Reader in a dog crate! That was SO justified and honorable! RunAcrossTheEdges: I thought it was kind of what has needed doing for a long time. ScribblyScribbles: ARGH I meant to say Vondra will be pleased when he hears about it. ScribblyScribbles: NO I MEANT ARSENAL IS EXACTLY WHAT THIS TOWN NEEDS RIGHT NOW RunAcrossTheEdges: ARSENAL STAY OUT OF OUR CHATROOM ArsenalWillSaveTheTownOneDay: No. RunAcrossTheEdges: YOU ARE THE BEST BOSS EVER