fandomtownies | Entries tagged with norman babcock

Okay, so... there was a kink in the plans that Norman and Tip had made at the stupid vampire movie party to hang out today, eat some food, maybe plot out some kind of webseries involving interviewing ghosts? But being different shapes really didn't change the fact that they could hang out and eat and chat, so their plans were proceeding regardless. And why not? Norman hadn't even bothered going to his class or to work earlier in the week, Tuesday had been a bit of a wash while he wrapped his head around the face that he kind of looked... a lot like he imagined Aggie would have looked, if she'd lived to this age.

It had been a weird week. Getting out and spending some time with a good friend would do him some good.

"So, we don't really have much Thai food back home," he noted, smiling across the table at Tip. "What do you recommend? The weirder, the better."

Norman could do weird.

[OOC: Expecting the one, but open restaurant is open!]

always_someone

Norman was actually in a pretty good mood today as he made his way in for his Magic Box shift. His unexpected visit from Grandma Babcock was exactly what he'd needed to get him in good spirits (ha) and actually feeling pretty good about being on the island, again. There had been smooshcookies and dancing, Grandma had even temporarily adopted his roommate so that she could have a visitor for the weekend, however dead she might be.

He felt... light. Maybe that was the word.

Humming, he fed the dog(s) and settled in to do inventory. Apparently some new stock showed up over the course of the week out of seemingly nowhere, so now he had to figure out what to do with... yew leaves and silver mirrors? That was probably some school of magic he wasn't yet familiar with. He could roll with that. At least the salt and the holy water made some measure of sense.

[OOC: Open!]

intotheout

StuCo had been busy since folks had last left the park. What had been a very nice glittery picnic had been transformed into a (glittery) fallstravaganza, full of scarecrows and decorative gourds. Crisp, brightly colored leaves covered the ground, despite the still mostly green ones still clinging to the actual trees. The scent of melted butter and warm spices filled the air. They'd somehow even managed a corn maze, despite the distinct lack of anything resembling a corn field having been in the park before.

There were pumpkins literally everywhere.

The weather was threatening to top 90°F, but StuCo didn't care. It was fall dammit!

[OCD is up! Have at ye!]

caduceusclay

Caduceus wasn't one for making an entrance. It wasn't his style, honestly. However it's not everyday that a seven foot tall man with grey fur and pink hair just flat out walked out of a wall and into a graveyard. While on fire.

Alas the only thing to witness this fiery appearance was a small squirrel. With a hat. And a notebook.

Caduceus was panting heavily as swatted himself several times, putting out the flames on his body and clothing. "Fjord? Jester? Twiggy? Beau?"

No response.

He took a second to look around. Nope. No one was here. And here was not a room with a dragon. This was not where he was a moment ago. Not at all. Looking down at the squirrel he gave the critter a small smile and waved. "Hello, friend. How are you?"

The squirrel who was more used to being shooed away seemed a little bit surprised and chittered something back which Caduceus didn't understand but did his best to interpret.

"Oh, I'm good thanks," he said taking a moment to channel some healing energies into his arm and then leaned down so he could talk a bit more personally with the squirrel. "Listen, I'm not exactly sure what happened here. Can you tell me where I am?"

The squirrel nodded slowly in understanding. Clearly a newbie to this place. The squirrel then began a long stream of chittering and notebook writing which surprisingly Caduceus could read. The chittering? Not so much.

"Oh. You write? That's different. Fandom... Huh. Okay. This wouldn't happen to be part of a happy fun ball would it?"

The squirrel just stared at him. "Yeah. Okay. I don't know either."

Caduceus pulled himself back up to his full height and once again surveyed the area before returning his attention to the squirrel.

"Thank you my little friend. I appreciate the information."

As the squirrel wandered off, Caduceus sat down near a tombstone and brought out some incense which he lit with his trusty tinderbox. As the smell reached his nostrils he began to clear his head and see if he could reach his patron for one simple question. As he felt the familiar warmth of his diety embrace him he simply asked one question. "Why am I here?"

There was a small chuckle in response. "Well... to help people of course."

That seemed to be enough for Caduceus. "All right then. Well. I better get right to it."

He looked around at the graveyard and shrugged a bit. "I guess there could be some improvements made here," he said to himself as he began to quietly tend to the nearest gravestone.

[OOC: First post for Caduceus. Open!]

always_someone

So, Norman had a class on Tuesday mornings first thing, now, which meant that he was maybe a little bit late getting to work. Which meant that the moment the door was open, he was being bowled over by a three-headed dog who had been waiting, darn it for Norman to get there and he'd been ages and ages longer than he usually was, which meant that the first hour of Norman's shift was spent catching up on playtime with all three heads, and while he certainly didn't mind catching up on playtime - dogs were pretty great, even when all three excitable heads shared one bonus excitable butt that had a tendency to knock over displays when that tail got to wagging - it did mean that he essentially lost a whole morning of work, and he had stuff to do.

Studying, mostly. It wasn't like the magic shop was a terribly busy shop, either, with the exception of the cat who still sometimes came in to do shopping for the ghost who liked incense burned in the graveyard, even though Norman still hadn't figured out how he managed to get that incense lit.

And he was too polite to ask, really.

He did manage to get a NOW HIRING sign up in the window, though! It didn't really feel like much of an accomplishment, but it did involve him actually talking to people if anyone wanted a job, so. A+ gold star business management skills right there, right?

Right.

Man, he was really going to have to think about switching his shift from Tuesdays, though.

[OOC: Open! This week is looking extra crunchy at work, so SP is pretty much guaranteed today.]

always_someone

So, things really were back to normal, huh? Norman was still kind of tentatively hopeful that this would stick, making his way in to work and--

-- Immediately being bowled over by a three-headed dog, who had grown somewhat over the course of the summer. Norman laughed, trying to shove the pup(s?) off of himself in between a triple-face-lick-attack, and eventually managed to get himself somewhat free enough to reach for a stray tennis ball and throw it into the back room, freeing himself for the time being.

Yup, back to normal.

As normal as it ever got around here, anyway.

The Magic Box was open, beware of dog(s).

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Norman wasn't so sure he wanted to know what he and Lana had missed last week, no. Especially not when he came into work and there was a line-up of people wanting to bring, of all things, Voodoo dolls in for disenchanting and safe disposal? And not even because of what that meant for whoever those things were in effigy of, but because of what it meant for the poor dolls.

Norman had concerns. First off: the dolls? Really?

And secondly, why did so many people here have voodoo dolls?!

Fandom, you were baffling.

[OOC: Idek open.]

unusual_sith

This week had been relatively normal. Lana didn't trust it. Or to be more precise, she didn't trust Monday.

So, she'd packed up a few things and made a reservation on the mainland, then sent a text out to everybody she knew:

Headed to the mainland so I can see what's going on next week before wading into it. Anybody's welcome to join. Meet me at the causeway.

Then she waited. If it were just her, then so be it.

[Open post! Lana's sitting out this BDE; anybody else who wants to get stuck in fishless Baltimore for a week is welcome to join her!]

always_someone

Man, it was nice to have a normal week again. Norman settled in for a shift at the Magic Box with a smile. Everything - almost everything - seemed to be in order around here, save for some missing pearls and ammonite fossils that he'd been positive he had in stock with the semi-precious stones.

If that was the strangest thing he'd deal with today, he'd happily take it.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Norman had almost not come in to work again this week. Sure, he could swim just fine, but the ghosts around the island this week seemed a little more, um, bashful than usual, so he couldn't even ask them what the safest route was via... weird green pipes. He'd just turn toward one and they'd blush and cover their eyes, holding still until he pretended to be looking away again.

It... wasn't super useful.

But he'd figured it out, eventually. Sure, he'd been jumped at by a few fish, but... they were fish. He'd been thrown around by a screaming poltergeist who could rearrange reality itself once. He wasn't going to sweat it too much over a few fish.

Anyway, when he finally made it in to work, no thanks to the ghosts, he kind of frowned at the stock.

"I... hope people like mushrooms, I guess."

A beat.

"Wait, is that a flying carpet??"

Clearly Norman was going to have to poke at his stock a little more thoroughly before actually selling anything today.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Today was... absolutely, completely, utterly normal, so far as Norman was concerned. And that made it kind of abnormal, so far as things had been going, lately. Sure, there had been some mention of something about sex on the radio? But...

...

Well, that really didn't change anything where Norman was standing, anyway. Unless one counted the people coming in asking if he had books about lifting sex-related curses, in which case, hey, today was going pretty crazy. On the upside, he was doing great business, though? He was a little bemused, he was a little bright pink in the ears, but he was doing great business.

Of course the first time people came in looking to lift curses was when it had something to do with sex, instead of the monster transformations or the attacks-from-zombies-that-were-wrong-even-for-zombies. Priorities, people. Priorities.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Norman's usual contingent of Helpful Fandom Ghosts seemed to be in decent spirits (ha) this morning. They'd cheerfully informed him that nothing was lurking outside looking to kill him outright, though he might want to give any standing bodies of water a wide berth. They had no idea what that glow was all about, but they figured it would be better safe than sorry, right?

Norman was inclined to believe them, especially considering how sick Del had been. When the embodiment of insanity was practically turning inside-out about this place, erring on the side of caution seemed like the way to be.

Whatever this was, he didn't like it. And so he'd come in to work mostly to do some obsessive reading, to see if maybe any of the books could give him some insight as to what was going on out there.

[OOC: Open! And I'm done with the spam now!]

what_the_shock

Miguel arrived to work to find the staff arguing about which vegan dish they should serve.

Miguel gave them all a look, went into the freezer, and grabbed a package of meat.

The busboy looked at him like he was a monster.

"This meat's been in there longer than this week, guaranteed," Miguel told him firmly. "Whatever it was," he looked at the package, "it wasn't talking when it died."

He assumed. He wasn't going to say that.

"Now cook or get out of the way."

Today's Specials:
Nerf burgers
Nerf tacos
Vegan mac and cheese

Luke's was open!

always_someone

It had actually been kind of a relief when class had been cancelled yesterday, at least to Norman, who was having... a time of it, this week. The ghosts around the island had changed, from whimsical jello dragons into giant, scaly, gargoyle-like monstrosities with bony protrusions coming from their backs and giant curling horns on their heads. The deer were... kinda horrifying two-headed cows, and the scorpions...

...

Actually, the scorpions hadn't changed one bit. And now there were living ones to match.

Norman would absolutely have refused to set foot outside today, no business was worth that kind of danger, if not for the fact that a few of the ghosts (some of whom looked more like zombies, which on its own was messing with his head) had promised to keep an eye out, to guide him down only the safest streets in town. There was, after all, a dog at the Magic Box who needed to be fed. Norman was gonna be the kid to do it.

He didn't bother looking too long or hard at the stock in the shop, though. When he passed by his first shelf of old, rusty tin cans, he was kind of resigned to the fact that there wasn't going to be much in the way of business, today.

That said, he wasn't really in a hurry to leave, either. He was going to hunker down here with the dog(s) for a while, first, because out there was all wrong.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Norman squinted dubiously at the sign as he stood outside the magic shop today.

That... couldn't be right, could it?

But there it was. Magic Rox, the bottom of the 'R' jagged and uneven, like something big and toothy had taken a chomp out of the usual 'B.' Norman didn't trust it. He really kind of didn't trust most of what was going on around the island this week, admittedly. Dinosaurs were cool, but maybe the tiniest bit out of his league.

And then he stepped into the shop for his shift today and sighed.

Okay. So everything in stock had been changed to stones. The crystals were largely the same, particularly the ones that had been formed by volcanic activity, but a lot of the rest of what was there, from wands to books, had been replaced with carved, chiseled rocks.

He glanced toward where they kept the tarot, a little dubiously, and was actually kind of relieved to see that most of the fortune-telling cards had been replaced with baskets of carved pebbles, instead of carved tablets or something. At least some of what was in here was still practical. Ish.

Just... rocks.

"Sure."

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Threat or no threat, Norman had a shop to run, and it was a new semester. So... So he was here. Even if the possibility of certain people coming through the door today made the hairs on the back of his neck prickle a little.

Mostly, he was just parked behind the counter anyway, the dog(s) dozing at his feet, occasionally waking up to play for a while before getting right back to snoozing again.

There was a sign in the window: NOW HIRING.

Which was kind of like progress for him, since advertising anything meant he had to actually communicate with other living people.

Maybe it wasn't too late to quit his job and go ask at Caritas about being a full-time zombie maintenance guy slash roadie for the band...

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Norman... couldn't bring himself to go back to his room after his time spent at the trooper station yesterday. He could still here Amaya's enraged snarling, the dull thud of body against bars, echoing in his ears. And sure, things were fixed now, but that didn't mean he hadn't messed up.

Didn't mean he hadn't had a hand in people getting hurt. Badly.

And so he'd avoided the dorms. Went back to the Magic Box and kind of barricaded himself in the back room, where he sat himself down on the floor with the dog(s) and mulled over what to do next.

He wanted to go home. Needed to stay and make amends. Kind of wanted to just fade away like Aggie had done, years ago now. Couldn't really do any of that, could he? So for now, he was just hugging a dog and sitting in the quiet, alone. Mostly alone. There were always the ghosts, but for once, not even they knew what to say.

[OOC: Magic Box door is locked, post is open. ETA: That Nina stopped by is for broadcast, contents of conversation NFB, please.]

died8yearsago

Rosa wasn't planning on just hanging out at the trooper station for long that day; there was too much to do, too much going on, too many people still unaccounted for. But there was one she'd managed to find yesterday ~~oh-so-handwavily because blarg, arrggh, brain~~ that she at least needed to check in on before anything else.

"Has she really been like this all night?" she asked, frowning deeply as she glanced over to the trooper on watch that night, then back at Blackstone in the holding cell, snarling, growling, clawing and pulling at the bars in a vain attempt to get through them, occassionally reaching out in the hopes that someone might actually get close enough for her to grab. And the worst of it were those eyes: she'd always had those bright blue eyes, and they could pierce you as sharply with intelligence and cleverness as one of her blades. But now they were still bright, but nothing was there behind them, nothing of the woman she knew and actually liked, nothing but a driving, insatiable, desperate sort of hunger.

Rosa almost couldn't look at her, but she did, stepping just close enough to stay out of reach. "Amaya," she said, "we're going to get this figured out, okay? I know you're probably not even in there, but I wanted to let you know, anyway. We made some progress yesterday, we got an idea of what's going on. It's only a matter of time before we get this cleared up. But I want you to know, if it takes any longer than that....I'll let you eat Calvin."

"Hey!"

She straightened up a little. "Oh, you think I'm joking," she said, turning toward the troopers. "So chop-chop, boys. We got work to do."

[[ Rosa's not there for long, but definitely open if you want to catch her, as well as for all your trooper related neeeeeds! ]]

rebelseekspizza

The dome had been up for a few hours, more or less. It had stayed there, unbroken, the whole time. Nothing had appeared, nothing had attacked, no one had gotten brainwashed.

Without warning, sometime near noon, it suddenly evaporated.

The group of tall, blue-eyed vampires rifling through the pockets of a prone man laying on the other half of the causeway... blinked owlishly, a few times. Then one screamed, and the others joined in.

They rushed the causeway.

[[ want to get bit and turn into a vampire? Want to kill and/or beat up some moddable vampires? Have at. They're strong and fast but certainly not unkillable. ]]

rebelseekspizza

It was, all things considered, a perfectly normal day. A few clouds drifted along the blue sky. The birds were singing. The causeway was quiet...

... for a little while.

Suddenly, shortly after sunup, there was a noise. A woosh, like the wind just blew up and over the island.

A forcefield flickered into being, perfectly dome-shaped, a gentle yellow-orange that let no light in from the outside world. It covered Fandom, and IKEA, and even their evil/adorable spawn, but it cut off the causeway from the mainland, right down the middle.

Nothing else happened.

[[ for two ]]

always_someone

The island was quiet. Norman would allow himself a moment of silliness and add a 'too quiet' to that, in fact, though of course that could be attributed to the break between semesters, to people going home or elsewhere, to the whole small town vibe going on out there and the calm that always came in the days following a holiday.

Of course, that meant it was quiet at work, too, which meant Norman really had nothing better to do today than clean.

The magic of dusting, folks. Hurrah.

[OOC: Open for all your magical needs!]

always_someone

Well, Norman had managed to skirt any weird random kid scenarios this weekend, which he was more than happy for. As much as he appreciated his abilities, he probably would have been heartbroken if he'd met some kind of even-maybe kid just to find out that the world had hated them as much as it had hated him.

So he was actually in a pretty good mood when he arrived to work, a coffee from the Perk in hand (thank you, Post Office!) and one fuzzy blanket that he was bequeathing upon the cerberus pup.

He was expecting it would be an otherwise quiet day, and so he settled in behind the counter, pulled out his phone, and sent off a text to his sister.

Junior Homecoming King AND Junior Prom King this year!

It took Courtney a good ten seconds to reply, which was a clear indication that he'd sent her into some sort of state of shock.

OMG HOW!? R U ALL DORKS THERE??

And breaking his Prom Queen sister's brain was the most beautiful thing of all.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Hey, guess who had his NO WE DON'T SELL LOVE POTIONS sign out in the window again!

Guess!

Really, considering the week, Norman was super wondering what was the matter with people. And was possibly breaking into a rant about it every time somebody came in asking, because God.

God. Week before Prom was the worst. Next year he was spending it back in Blithe Hollow, just see if he didn't.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Norman walked into the Magic Box today and... pretty much immediately stopped in his tracks.

"What."

Yeah. Today was apparently the day that the entirety of the stock had been transformed into magic markers.

At least the dog was still normal?

Normal for a strawberry-banana cerberus, anyway. Norman sighed and resigned himself to playing with the puppy for his shift, unless people came in looking for a very limited variety of art supplies today.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

It was inventory day at the Magic Box, and Norman was frowning a little as he went around the store with a clipboard and a pencil.

"One book about summoning eldritch horrors from another plane of reality - check. Three decks of fortune reading cards featuring..." He checked. "Bananas."

...

Thanks, Mae.

"Two rose quartz... bananas, formerly orbs. One tourmaline strawberry..." Sigh. "Twenty packages of incense, banana split scented..."

This was his life now.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Okay, so the Magic Box still smelled a bit like a banana split. Norman was okay with that. Really.

And the cerberus now had one banana-shaped yellow spot on his butt, and a good dozen smaller, strawberry-shaped red spots around his shoulders.

Also good, that was fine. Strawberry-banana was way better a smell than three-headed dog, anyway.

But he was absolutely drawing the line today when he stepped into the shop to find that a couple of the magic books were trying to put together some kind of blueberry concoction. No. Nope. He was having none of it. The ingredients were being carefully separated and the books were grounded to the bookshelves for the rest of the day.

[OOC: Open!]

hernando_fuentes

~~I totally know what day of the week it is, hush~~

The shop today was decorated with pictures and posters from the heyday of women's liberation. Suffragettes stood proudly in their sashes, women in trousers lounged on the steps of universities. The first female medical doctor and surgeon had a portrait front and center. A Rosie the Riveter poster hung on one side of the wall. Harriet Tubman's portrait bookended the doctor's. A print of Michelle Obama's official White House portrait was near the counter.

The color theme for the day seemed to be green, white and purple. Hernando smiled a little and patted the counter. "Happy Women's Day to you, too."

The pastries today ranged from delicate little sweets to Rosalie's giant decadent cupcakes. Savories in the form of hearty sandwiches and dainty little puff pastry cups filled with all manner of delights were in a cooled case.

He fed the quokka and took up station behind the counter.

[T42 is Open!]

not_a_bird

Well, tonight was the night Sweet Dee expected to throw her woefully unprepared students (and her honestly over-prepared self) on stage for some good old amatuer comedy! She probably should have given them a little more time, but the momentum from this idea had already been interrupted by a stupid trip to Iceland, she wasn't going to let it dwindle any further into the point where she likely forgot about or stopped caring. Even if maybe she could.

Look. It had taken three months to get to the point where she was taking kids to a bar (where they could actually drink anyway) instead of three weeks, and it was so they could perform and not to have them watch a really bad home-made sequel with some really questionable content (to her credit, though, she thought they were going to be screening Othello).

Anyway. It was the First Open Mic Comedy Night at Caritas! Come one, come all! It wasn't going to be a shitshow at all!

always_someone

Norman had finally managed to get most of the banana-scented and shaped items out of the magic shop. Sure, there were still a few banana-shaped stains on the wall in various shades of rainbow hues, and the cerberus puppy had one big yellow spot on its otherwise midnight-pitch butt that was suspiciously banana-shaped, but other than that? They were operating in a banana-free zone.

So wasn't that a great time for the puppy to run into a shelf and knock over a potion labelled 'strawberry?'

Sigh.

[OOC: Idek. Open!]

always_someone

Norman walked into the Magic Box and was immediately accosted by the cerberus puppy. Who... smelled faintly of banana, Norman thought, which was... weird. But okay. He settled in for his shift behind the counter, and was only there for about ten minutes before the puppy trotted up to him, holding a solid chunk of chrysoberyl in one of its mouths that was...

... Shaped like a banana.

Norman squinted at it.

"Was... was that one of the crystal spheres?" They hadn't had much chrysoberyl in stock, after all. The pup deposited it on the floor, barked in triplicate, and then gave a happy trot around the shop again. This time Norman watched him go, sniffing at this and that. A candle with banana-shaped etchings. A book of banana recipes sitting on the ancient tomes shelf. No few crystal wands and orbs, all shaped like bananas. The walls still had the slightest hint of banana-shaped spots on them.

Norman wasn't even sure what to do with this. He just kind of stood there and stared for a good portion of the morning, until a customer came in to buy some incense.

It was banana scented.

[OOC: Open, but with probably work-related SP.]

always_someone

There was a sign displayed prominently in the Magic Box window today:

No! We Don't Sell Love Potions!
Go buy some chocolates instead!

You know. No reason. Especially not reasons that might have had Norman pretty much pulling out his hair in frustration last week.

Of course, the first customer that came in today?

"Do you sell love potions?"

Norman thumped his forehead against the counter so hard it left a bruise.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Norman came in and opened up the magic shop today, completely unprepared for the influx of customers making it nearly impossible to get any work done at all. What were they looking for?

Love spells or potions, charms to make them more attractive to the object of their affections. One gentleman simply came in looking for a cure for male pattern baldness, and Norman wound up having a good chat with him about how he was welcome to try the solutions they had at the shop, but anybody worth dating wasn't going to let something like that change how they saw him.

... Norman hadn't been expecting the grateful hug from the poor guy, no. The man left empty-handed, but apparently with a new lease on life, leaving Norman free to get back to explaining the ethical issues behind magical love potions to the majority of his customers today while the cerberus puppy sat at his feet, eyeing anybody who thought they might get rude with three pairs of glowing red eyes.

The Magic Box is open! And no, Norman won't sell you any love spells.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Norman was in a pretty good mood this morning after last night's party. Sure, he was still a little sleepy when he made his way in to work, but there was something kind of inspiring about Astrid's tarot reading yesterday, even if neither of them necessarily believed in that sort of thing.

He parked himself behind the counter, and was reading a book on the different schools of magic pertaining to the dead. There were more out there than just mediums and necromancers, after all. It was all actually pretty fascinating.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Norman had managed to avoid the weirdness on the weekend, having stayed in his room with his comic books and just generally kept busy while avoiding people.

Which meant it was perhaps a little ironic when he made his way into work to see that the books had hauled something out and put it on display, only to have one stumble and spill it all over him and the three-headed puppy.

"... Oh, come on."

If anybody needed Norman, he'd be spending his day trying to come up with the cure for shrinking potion. Please don't step on him or the cerberus pup.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Norman walked in to the magic shop today, blinked, looked at what was set out before him, and then just kind of shrugged and got to work.

The magic books were playing fetch with the puppy. Which... they were perfectly welcome to do. Norman certainly wasn't going to stop anybody from playing with the puppy.

Even if they were using another book as a frisbee.

You do you, guys. Just so long as it wasn't one of the expensive ones.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Norman walked into the magic shop today, holding his breath. Braced for something crazy to happen. Fed the cerberus puppy, did some dusting, told the books to get back onto the shelves where they went, and took a seat behind the counter.

Sold some incense to a customer, who promptly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Helped the old dead guy's cat with his weekly purchase.

Told the books again to get back onto the shelves where they went.

Cleaned up after the puppy.

Sat back behind the counter and frowned.

"This is way too normal."

He didn't trust it.

... And also couldn't quite place when any of this had become the new normal.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Today was actually quiet at the Magic Box. Even the puppy was opting to spend most of the day sleeping at his feet, which Norman was perfectly okay with. It gave him more time to tidy up in preparation for a week spent in Hyrule, where nobody would be here to tend the shop.

It also meant that when the Gremlins did wander around to sing their carols, their festive strains resonated really well with some of the crystals on display. Norman squinted a little bit at them and then a little bit at the gremlins.

He was pretty sure 'Feliz Navidad' wasn't supposed to make the amethyst glow like that, but what was he supposed to do about it? He wasn't going to get himself bitten just because the merchandise was acting weird, thanks.

[OOC: Open!]

seriesofbaddecisions

What had started as a simple holiday party had kind of... evolved. There'd been impromptu warehouse decorating, and then as long as they were doing that already, why not just hold the party here? There were crates wrapped up like presents and lights and tinsel, and maybe glitter on the floor. (Sorry, everyone, you were taking some of the party home with you!) There was also a tree, with a table and chairs that Sabine had dragged over from her own, far less party-suitable warehouse so that people could make ornaments to put on it if they wanted. It was all very festive, considering anyone involved in the running of this whole show had never celebrated any of this holiday stuff before.

There was also the occasional caped chicken. Sabine and Nina had nothing to do with that.

And towards the end of setting up, it occurred to Sabine that she probably could have just asked Kanan to have the party here yesterday and he might've said yes. In her defense, she was very out of practice in asking for permission, and this was all going to be fine anyway.

Happy holidays!

[Students can feel free to have gotten an invite and directions! Warehouse used with permission! Void where prohibited!]

bookbeltof_love

Norman was, like, super dead but Nina had priorities.

Which was why she'd shown up to work a few hours early on totally the wrong day (because as if she was waiting until Friday to run a rescue mission!) in order to first figure out a spell that would determine where the puppy had been sent.

(Luckily, they had plenty of puppy fur on his bed for her to cast that.)

And then, it had been spent painstakingly drawing chalk circles and symbols, and inscribing the right runes in the right places. Once she'd triple-checked her work, Nina got to work actually doing the whole summoning thing… wishing crazy hard that she'd get what she was wanting…

There was an explosion of glittery dust, exuberant yapping, and the nearly deafening cacophony of what sounded like a million of Foomy.

Nina cracked her eyes open as paws scrabbled over one of her shoes. But she couldn't see her feet. In fact, she couldn't see out the windows or any surface in the shop either. They were, from top to bottom, absolutely covered in cheerfully burbling Foomies.

"Oh my gosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she squealed. "Look at all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A three-tone chorus of barks answered her.

"And you're back!!!!!!!!!!!!" she said, kneeling down to pick up the puppies. "How dare Norman send you off????????"

The three-headed puppy licked her chin and neck, tail wiggling madly as it shook glitter everywhere.

"Oh, you," she said, letting her indignation go. How could she stay mad with him back? "I guess, like, I should figure out how to send all of these new friends home, huh????????"

A song of bubbling burbles answered her.

The Magic Box is Open!

[And OCD free!]

always_someone

There was nothing quite like marinating in special snowflake juice all the way to work to give a normally pretty sedate kid a good dose of overblown confidence.

"I'm a seer! I'm descended from a long, long line of seers! I've dealt with poltergeists and zombies while still a child, what's a demon dog to me!?"

The tiny Cerberus blinked up at him from where the three heads were all attempting to chew on the same squeaky ball.

"Come, tiny ones! Today, we send you home!"

It took a bit of doing, but in the end, the puppy had disappeared in a puff of pink and blue cotton-candy scented smoke, leaving a glittery sheen on the floor behind it. Norman suspected that it probably wasn't Hell he'd sent it back to, but he was confident that it would be happy wherever it had gone!

"Aha! I did it! I-- I did it? How did I do it?" And there, the water in his clothing from the snowflakes finally dried. "Oh god, Bob's going to kill me. Nina's going to kill me."

If anybody needed Norman, he'd be busy packing up puppy supplies and putting them in a box behind the counter, where he'd spend the rest of his day silently awaiting death.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Norman walked into the Magic Box to see that the place had been overtaken.

Overtaken with dog toys. A pet bed. All manner of madness in order to make the three-headed puppy more comfortable.

He sighed, and then he went to pick up one of the books that Nina had no doubt been working through in order to look for a way to send the dog(s) back to where it (they?) had come from.

... But not before stopping and taking a moment to pat the tiny cerberus on all three of its happy puppy heads. Just because they couldn't be making a habit of summoning things from worlds beyond this plane didn't mean he wasn't going to take a moment to praise the Good Boy(s) for not eating the merchandise.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Norman came in to the Magic Box to find most of Nina's attempts at summoning circles still on the floor.

He stared at them for a few minutes, kind of stunned. And then glanced suspiciously at the books, who were sitting on the shelves, playing innocent.

And then he went to get something to wipe them off the floor with.

At the very first smudge of the cloth against the summoning circle, there was a bright glow of greenish light, and then, standing before Norman, teeth glistening, inky black coat so sleek it seemed to swallow the light itself, and six intense dark eyes staring directly at him, there was--

--- The most adorable three-headed teeny tiny baby puppy he'd ever beheld. It barked. They barked? There was barking involved. And then, while one of the heads clearly wanted to come over and say hello to Norman and gave its tail a wag, the other two heads really, really wanted to actually chase that tail.

In opposite directions.

"Oh my god."

This was not something that Norman had expected from his day, no.

At least the rest of the cleanup had gone smoothly, without further incident. Mostly. Apparently the puppy wasn't (weren't?) quite housebroken yet.

[OOC: The Week Of Puppy continues, dangit! Open!]

always_someone

Norman walked into the Magic Box today to see the books putting on some kind of pageant, complete with pilgrim costumes.

"No. No nope no way not a chance no I'm sorry but no."

Norman wasn't specifying whether it was the pilgrims he had the objection to, pageants in general, or both. He was just vehemently opposed and, to the books' chagrin, those costumes were being shoved into a drawer where he didn't have to see them.

"After I leave," he intoned, "go nuts. But while I'm here? No."

The books seemed dubious. Norman scowled and remained firmly opposed.

[OOC: Open!]

spectre_alenko

Kaidan had been jogging past the arcade for months. It didn't seem to have regular hours but on Friday, he'd managed to track down the manager and propose a pizza party, since there were all these kids. The manager seemed thrilled to have the business.

So, Saturday morning, the doors would open and the games would go on. All the neon in the windows would get lit up and a speaker set outside playing various video game songs and noises to draw people in. A sign outside would read:

CHILDREN'S WELCOME PARTY
Open to all children.
Games are free to play, snacks and drinks provided!

There's a bowling alley with accompanying tables and booths, just about every arcade game you could name, and along one side Kaidan had set up a projector and a few game consoles with some beanbags to lounge on.

In the back, there's a pizza buffet with other snacks like vegetables, fruits, breadsticks. Buckets on the table hold granola or other breakfast bars and individually wrapped snacks. The soda fountain has been fully stocked. It's quieter back by the food with more seating to just chill and chat.

One group of tables has been set aside for quiet games. Legos, coloring books, board games are set out for the children to enjoy.

[Desc poss edited when Summer comes online.]

[OCD is up, post is OPEN!]

always_someone

At the Magic Box today, Norman was helping a cat with its shopping.

This wasn't even an unusual occurrence. This was, after all, the cat that worked alongside the ghost who sometimes came in here to pick his shopping out beforehand. But today, instead of coming with the ghost, the cat came with a neatly written letter detailing exactly what it needed, and how much.

Norman had so many questions. Questions like, 'who even wrote that list?' and 'how does he expect you to carry a ten pound amethyst sphere?'

But the cat seemed to have all its money in order, and once Norman got the cat's purchases all sorted out, it slipped out of the shop and reappeared with a little wagon. Norman was a little dubious about how the cat was going to navigate the steps with that, but... heck. This was just one more of those little mysteries he was going to have to wonder about for a while longer. He had a shop to tend.

[OOC: Open!]

mages_suck

Fenris was stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the weather. He went out in normal clothing, no appropriate outerwear. He conceded that shoes were necessary and grumblingly wore those.

The intent was to go for a walk. That intent didn't last very long. He ducked into the Perk and ordered a large black coffee.

Letting his hands wrap around the mug to warm them up, he eyed the weather outside balefully. Sizing it up as though figuring out where its weak point was so he could kick it there.

It was that kind of day.

[Open!]

always_someone

If anybody needed Norman today, they'd have to work pretty damn hard to get his attention on them during his shift at the Magic Box. After all, there was something seriously messed up happening outside the door, half the weird post-invasion ghosts of Fandom twitching and popping around in ways that just made no sense.

A dinosaur looked particularly perplexed when it couldn't just pass through a wall outside, and when it went to roar, it threw back its head and gave the most ridiculous rooster cock-a-doodle that had ever come out of the mouth of an allosauraus.

For once, the strangest happenings weren't going on inside the Magic Box, no matter how hard the books tried to grab Norman's attention with their much-rehearsed tumbling act. Too bad he was one of the only people who could see what was going on out there. Some of it was pretty bananas.

[OOC: Open!]

sharp_man

Anybody walking past Caritas would have spotted a sign out front:

Caritas presents:
THREE-MINUTE DATES

It was written in a calligraphy that was decidedly at odds with the fact that it was done in neon marker on a bar sign.

Inside, tables had been set up throughout the bar, with little candles just a shade nicer than they probably should have been on each one. The zombies were wearing pinstripes (except for the drummer, who was inexplicably wearing a bowtie) and playing their way through a collection of swing music. On the bar were an assortment of snacks, mostly nice cheeses and crudités, with slices of good, crusty baguette.

At eight o'clock sharp, Hannibal took to the stage in front of the band and nodded to the assorted guests. He was dressed in a lovely burgundy and red plaid three-piece suit with a pink shirt and blue paisley tie and pocket square. Somehow, it worked on him.

"Welcome to Caritas this evening, and thank you to the staff for hosting us. I am Doctor Hannibal Lecter, and tonight we are hosting three-minute dates. I hope that many of you will be participating. I am obliged on behalf of myself and this establishment to advise you that we are not liable for any inconvenience or damage you may incur. Hopefully those will both be kept to a minimum, however. Rude behavior is frowned upon." That was a mild but serious look he was giving you all preemptively.

"This is an opportunity for you to meet and make friends, and perhaps spark something more. It will work like this: I will announce pairs of people. You will go to the tables indicated and meet, and you will have three minutes to introduce yourselves and do whatever you like, within the bounds of legality and public decency. Then the band here," he gestured at the zombies, "will begin to play, and you will wrap things up before I announce the next pairings. You will each have five dates. Should you wish to spend more time together, the bar will remain open afterward, and we encourage you to remain and mingle."

He smiled and spread his hands. "Please, enjoy."

[Each date is five comments per person; if you need one or two to wrap things up, that's cool, too, but keep it short in the spirit of things. Regular bar post for post-3MD mingling should be up Saturday, but this is going up early for great timezone justice.]

~~Please wait for the~~ OCD is up! Have at!

always_someone

Norman opened the door to the magic shop, and immediately had to duck as a whole colony of bats came flapping out toward him.

He straightened up again, wide-eyed, and peered tentatively back in through the door.

...

Okay. Everything in the shop seemed to be black, orange, or purple, or else it was white or bright green and glowing eerily under a mystery blacklight that Norman couldn't find the source of. There were rows of jack-o-lanterns along the baseboards, possibly migrated here from the flower shop overnight, and a really big one on the counter, staring back at him with a crooked, broken-toothed grin. A display of cauldrons was sourcelessly bubbling a thick greenish smoke that poured out and down and then drifted lazily across the floor. Every step he took into the main room had floorboards creaking, and occasionally he could hear footsteps coming from nowhere in particular.

He sighed and sat himself down at the counter.

"Halloween decorations are way more intense in Blithe Hollow."

Because they were maddeningly witchy all year round.

[OOC: Open!]

always_someone

Norman made his way into work at the Magic Box today, took a look around the place, groaned a little, and then sank down behind the counter. He'd do actual work in a minute or five. He just needed to take a few minutes now to settle in.

Yes, he was clothed. No, he wasn't in jail anymore. His parents had, quite understandably, done a lot of freaking out about the whole 'arrested for being naked and trying to break into a clothing shop,' thing. His mother had fretted about whether he ought to come home, his father had spent a good twenty minutes accusing him of being on drugs. The manager of the clothing shop in question had apparently just laughed. Laughed and laughed about the entire situation before managing to say somewhere edgewise that he wasn't going to press charges.

So, hey, at least the Demon Marcus guy understood Fandom, Norman supposed. He'd have to stop by there one of these days to apologize and thank him, once he stopped being utterly mortified.

And then there was the tiny ghost tattoo on his inner wrist, which had started to scab over. He'd done some extensive googling about tattoo aftercare because he was suddenly terrified of his wrist turning funny colors and his hand falling off or something, but it had turned out that most instructions seemed to assume that he'd go to a proper tattoo place to get the tattoo in the first place. So he was kind of just washing it and moisturizing it and hoping for the best. All the while feeling a little silly about having a fourteen year-old give him a tattoo with a homemade tattoo gun in a jail cell on a whim like that. He had no clue what had possessed him to do it, probably some leftover panic, but now there wasn't really anything to be done about that, either.

So he was going to just sit here, behind the desk, for a few more minutes. Do some breathing. Just reorient himself for a little while. Get his head on straight. Try not to feel like a complete disaster.

Dammit, Fandom.

[OOC: Open!]

Fandom High RPG

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