TJtrack99

I was freaked out by that too! I thought maybe it was a typo on one of the listings. NCIS it makes sense given next week's title. Weird, though.

Are my fiancée and I the only ones watching this show? That...is probable. Anyway, I liked it fine. The different rules were at least interesting, even if everything else was a bit predictable. They're totally setting Kyle up to be an adversary in a future episode, right? (I was going to call him "Marissa's boyfriend" but his name is right up there ^ Haha!)

Last rankings for the season. Yes, I know all of these people are far more talented than I. Yes, I feel a ton of sympathy for Evie. Realizing that I probably have no idea what I'm talking about, and that I'm trying to be as dispassionate as possible: 10. Diavolo. Again, maybe it's just me "not getting it", that's very likely. I did like that they brought back the big ship, their whole wow factor from their audition. And I'm sure it looks much cooler in person than on TV. 9. Evie Clair. Played it very safe, something I think we'd all do after losing our father. But she still doesn't enunciate fully, and this was a very simple song vocally. She also still needs a million hugs. 8. Kechi. Normally I'm behind her 100%, but I think she's a better balladeer. This song was...okay, not great. Showed some diversity in her vocals but I liked her others better. 7. Angelica Hale. Great opener, but I still think it should have been Celine over her. She's really adorable but, to me, just not fundamentally sound when she sings. 6. Sara and Hero (and Loki AND Marvel I think?). Stepped it up with the dock jump, but also got Loki tangled in the jump rope, and there were a few more "oops!" moments. But overall they're charming and fun. 5. Preacher Lawson. Love him, but that bit did carry on a bit past what it needed to. And I dunno, his timing and delivery weren't as great as normal. Needs to have a TV show. And to the ones I think could really win: 4. Chase Goehring. He saved the longest "rap" for the finale, smart move. But this was a pretty typical "Chase" song. I dunno, I keep wishing for a little more than "guy writes an Ed Sheeran song about people (usually girls he knows) not looking in the right place for love". 3. Darci Lynne. She could still very well win, I have no doubt. But for me, this wasn't as challenging vocally, and the switching between voices meant neither got fully utilized, in my opinion. She did do well with calming nerves and switching though. She could be a showman (showwoman?) for sure. 2. Mandy Harvey. Girl can write, girl can sing. Liked that her package was one long take, no cuts. But also agree that maybe last week's song and this one should have been switched. (@mtlchick and I are on the same wavelength tonight!) That one felt much more "finale" like. This felt a little bit like an open mic night song. I also feel like...in her audition, it was much more obvious when she spoke (and sang even) that she had lost her hearing. Perhaps she got coached up a bit before the live shows? Not sure. 1. Light Balance. They keep stepping it up! More moves, more interaction with the screen, just amazing! I imagine it must be phenomenal in person. Needs to have an act SOMEWHERE. Now, do I think America will vote for a dance act over a singer to win? I doubt it. 3/4 of my top ones that I think could win are singers, so odds are good. And very likely a Golden Buzzer of some sort gets it (all of my top 4 plus Angelica, who *cough* I still don't think deserved one *cough*). I'd say Darci has the inside track, but wouldn't be too surprised by Chase or Mandy.

Tonight's list! 11. Pompeyo Family. Yeah, the dogs were all over the place. Probably just out of sorts (remember they're from south Florida), and being the Wild Card and all that. 10. Colin Cloud. So he accurately predicted the Tweet that Heidi "randomly" chose. I guess I just don't get it. Shouldn't have been saved if you ask me... 9. Diavolo. Same here, I guess maybe it looks cooler in person? Felt like it wasn't much we hadn't seen already...Cooler set pieces this time. 8a. Angelica Hale. It wasn't acoustic, but she didn't sing it normally either, it was in the middle. I kind of wished she had picked a side. Full ballad or dance/sing it like normal. Still, her laugh is great. 8b. Christian Guardino. I dunno, his first song has seemed like his best. This was better than last week, but still not as good as the first. Perhaps also shouldn't have been saved... 6. Celine Tam. Dang, I'm ready to write her off, and then: So I could still see her making it through. The song fit her really well due to the young singer! 5. Merrick Hanna. He's amazing, but again, was it much different from what he'd done before? The flying was. And kid is adorable. 4. Kechi. Great, as always. Such a pure voice. 3. In The Stairwell. Loved them on this song. Showcasing more of the guys too! 2. Light Balance. They are SO CREATIVE. I am super jealous. More creativity in 1 dude's pinky than in my entire existence. Just wow. 1. Mandy Harvey. Mainly because as she was finishing I legit said "She could do really well on 'Skyfall' or another Adele song" and then Simon said the same thing. So YAY ME! But seriously, she's amazing, and I loved the signing with the singing. SO MANY of these people deserve a good break, to get a chance to showcase themselves. I hope they get to! I was tossing around in my head the idea of a supergroup made up of the 3 trillion singers on this show to make a song for hurricane relief efforts, but I guess the telethon before this sort of hit that already. But more doesn't hurt!

Semi-finals! Where I like (just about) everyone, and that makes this really hard! Hence a few ties. 11. Billy and Emily England. Still don't get the appeal. Also, angling for the Game of Thrones audience much with that background? 10. Johnny Manuel. Sorry, but for me the original number was fairly blah. Now that we're over the shock of him doing "girls'" songs, he's...just okay. 9. Mike Yung. Love the song choice (due to its use on The OC, the Best Show Evar), but I think he oversang it. Plus, see below: much talent. 8. Danell Daymon and Greater Works. It pains me to put them this low. I love me a good choir. And "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" could have been a spectacular choir song. But the arrangement...just didn't appeal to me. Stay with it as a ballad, don't "over-choir" it just because you feel like you have to. Their rendition of "Amazing Grace" in the video was better. 7a. Evie Clair. What @Drogo said: pretty, good voice, feel bad about her dad, but also a bit of a mumbler. She needs a million hugs. But there are so many deserving people... 7b. Yoli Mayor. It was better than last week, but not as good as the early weeks. 5a. Chase Goehring. He's a great songwriter and performer. I just enjoyed a lot of the acts. 5b. Sara and Hero (and Loki). Love me a good dog act. Think they missed a few tricks in there, though again, only had like a week to prepare. Loved that the dogs just tugged on the Frisbee forever at the end. Someone buy this girl a house! Or an RV or something! 3. Eric Jones. GREAT close-up magic tonight. Smart move making the judges "do" the tricks. Magnets? That's my best guess. 2. Darci Lynne. Who knew she was so funny? Very talented, plays to the audience well. 1. Preacher Lawson. This man NEEDS a sitcom. And to replace Kevin Hart in every movie in the future. For serious.

Tonight's list: 12. Oskar & Gaspar. Creative, I just expected more. 11. Colin Cloud. I just got the feeling she wasn't "random", that she didn't write on the paper, etc. That the whole thing was a setup. So not into this whole act. 10. Final Draft. Felt like another step down after the last song, which was a big step down from their audition song. What happened? 9. Diavolo. I just didn't get a lot of "wow" moments. Which makes me think of "Razzle Dazzle" from the musical Chicago. Spectacle over substance. And now it gets tough, as I liked all 8 of the remaining acts. 8. Mike Yung. Better than his last song, not as good as his first, but very very solid. 7. Oscar Hernandez. I think he did forget the choreography, but he turned in a solid performance too. Can the whole "big guy dancing well" thing keep going? Not sure... 6. Danell Daymon and Greater Works. I normally love a choir, but doing a Grease song? Seemed weird. Still very talented. 5. Junior and Emily Alabi. Definitely a step up from last time. New stuff too, really great. 4. Angelina Green. She sounds so much older than she is. Love her voice. 3. Sara and Hero (and Loki!). Love a dog act, loved the new tricks, loved the new pupper. (Don't know if she can win the whole thing, but PLEASE someone give this girl a place to live!) 2. Chase Goehring. Supremely talented. Enough said. 1. Kechi. Because what better way to close the night than an inspirational song from a phenomenal singer from Houston? She's amazing. Voice of an angel. I agreed with the whole "coming into her own" idea.

Live Show Week 2 rankings, presented in reverse order: 12. Mirror Image. Freddie Mercury is SPINNING in his grave. They slaughtered one of my favorite songs of all time. The dancing was passable, but ruining Queen is unacceptable. Also 12. Demian Aditya. Is it just me or, even if it had gone right, did this seem simpler than his other 2? I thought the torch on the "support rope" didn't even look like it was burning. And then the box didn't fall right. I think it was all pretty fake (especially with the screaming wife) and I think that just got exposed. 10. Celine Tam. She sings fine, I just was not moved at all. I don't think she was Golden Buzzer worthy last time. *shrug* 9. The Pompeyo Family. They were certainly fun, it just didn't seem to do that much new. I liked the theming, though. I could see a "family act" boost in voting. 8. The Masqueraders. They have a great story and great voices. I agree with the judges (and commenters here) who said everything was a bit overproduced. 7. Johnny Manuel. Love the song, but he hacked it to pieces to fit it in. Would have loved to have heard a full version. He did a good solid job with it though. Whitney and then (most recently) Jennifer Hudson songs...guy has a type! 6. Eric Jones. I was more impressed by the first 2 parts than the last of passing himself through. My fiancée went "Did he just go under the glass?" 5. Mandy Harvey. Now that the novelty has worn off a little, she's still a great singer and should be commended for everything. I just wasn't as wowed as I was the first time. 4. Evie Clair. Not sure I would have put her through on either of her other performances, but she really impressed me tonight. She sounded a lot better. Maybe it was playing along with herself? 3. Brobots and Mandroidz. Another great dance group. I'm still bitter about Just Jerk. 2*. Merrick Hana. Kid is adorable, might actually be a robot, and is a great interpretive dancer. Though he could have used a little more light on him to see him better. 1*. Light Balance. Was SO stoked to see them live. The dress rehearsal was AWESOME. Alas! I think they have the most potential, hence the *. In conclusion, I definitely want Light Balance and Merrick to go through, and I'd be pretty happy about any 5 of my next 7. Celine would be a stretch, and I am so over the other 2.

My rankings: 1a. Just Jerk. Yes yes yes. So precise, and in sync, and great choreography. I felt like the blacklight dancing was a little shot at Tyra's Golden Buzzer group (whose name I've forgotten, apologies!). 1b. Preacher Lawson. Dude is funny, great timing, love him. Full body and mouth movements too. Could definitely see him on a 30-minute sitcom. 3. Darci Lynne. As has been said, most people can't sing well normally, and she does it without opening her mouth effortlessly. Also a little bit of comedy in there with the mouse/Seal bit. 4. In The Stairwell. Though I still think they need to do "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" and/or "Danger Zone" at some point, this was a great song choice for them. 5. Yoli Mayor. I dunno, felt like I wanted more? Especially after her first two songs (ESPECIALLY after Simon basically changed her first song for her), I was expecting more and was a little let down. I think she has tons of potential as the judges have said. 6. Bello Nock. I think he stepped it up, it was great to see him back after a Wild Card after he did exactly what Simon asked of him after the audition. Dude is fearless. 7. Puddles Pity Party. A lot of this residual affection from the first two rounds. The sheer shock at him killing "Chandelier" and then doing "All By Myself" just as well as Celine Dion (in my opinion) made me look him up. He already did "Royals" with Postmodern Jukebox, so I was not too surprised there. He did it fine. The thing is that "The Sound of Silence" is the perfect song for him, it's just not too vocally challenging. I almost thought "Mad World" from the background of his tape was better. 8a. Angelica Hale. Could easily see her moving up, I just don't think it was a great song for her. 8b. Christian Guardino. Same with him. I thought he killed his first song, this one was not the same feel. Plus Yoli already did it, and I think did it better, so... 10. Billy and Emily England. I did think this was their best one yet. I just don't know how much more they can do with it. I will say adding in the somersaults during the spinning was awesome. 11. The Singing Trump. Yes, part of it is just because of how I feel about Trump. But this one did have great choreography, great song choices even if his singing/rapping was not on par. 12. Artyon and Paige. I just find the whole young dancing couple thing weird. I do love "Footloose", and can't deny they have talent. I just liked many of the others better, as acts and as people. So I'd like to see my top 7 to be the ones that move on, but I could easily see Christian or Angelica jump up. Puddles and Trump already kind of have things going, so I'm also fine with them getting cut because of that.

Oh sorry. I'm going away to a wedding this weekend, and didn't put anything about clues or Day length or anything. And now that everyone knows who the Villains are... ;) Had Their Finale: 4. aquarian1 - You are Belle, MASON and HERO. You fell in love with Rumpelstiltskin, despite his being the Dark One. (Some might say, a Beast? Eh? Eh???) Recently you two got married and had a son. It’s unfortunate that he was stolen from you and raised in a realm where time moves faster and he’s grown now. And evil, that doesn’t help things either. In fact you know who Mr. Gold is but cannot communicate with him outside of the game. 7. Jesse - You are Buffy Summers, SCOOBY and HERO. You are the Slayer, the chosen one. You alone will stand against the vampires the demons and the forces of darkness. Well, not exactly ‘you alone’ any more. You have your Scooby team that is investigating the new Hellmouth in Storybrooke. You need to find out more information though, so each Night you can PM me a player name and I’ll tell you who they are. 9. saoirse - You are Captain Hook, CAPTAIN/VIGILANTE and HERO. You are reformed (mostly) from your pirate ways, now that you’re in love with Emma. Still, you are going to try to recruit people to your side - each Night, PM me the name of one player, and they will join the CREW. In addition, you have 1 free Night kill to use during the game. Make it count! 1. Drogo - You are Mr. Gold (a.k.a. Rumpelstiltskin), MASON and HERO. You are the Dark One, but using your magic more for good now that you have a child with your wife, Belle. It’s unfortunate that he was stolen from you and raised in a realm where time moves faster and he’s grown now. And evil, that doesn’t help things either. In fact you know who Belle is but cannot communicate with her outside of the game. 6. egavasc - You are Willow Rosenberg, WITCH and HERO. You have a lot of magical skill, which will be useful to prevent darkness from taking over the world. Each Night, you can block one person from using any powers they may have, just PM me their name. Still Singing: 2. The Crazed Spruce - You are Emma Swan, SAVIOR and HERO. As the Savior, you are the embodiment of light magic in the world. You have the ability to protect one person each Night from being killed by dark magic. You can protect yourself, but may not protect the same person more than one Night in a row. 3. MarkHB - You are Zelena (a.k.a. The Wicked Witch of the West), RECRUITABLE and HERO. You are another evil person who has been reformed. (Dying will do that to a person.) And you have a daughter to think about now. Still, the allure of dark magic can be too much. If the VILLAINS investigate you, you will be recruited to their side. 5. Lisin - You are Gideon, SILENCER and VILLAIN. You are the right hand of your grandmother, The Black Fairy, trying to bring darkness to the world along with the demon, Sweet. Each Night, you can PM me the name of 1 person who will be unable to talk (but can still vote) the next Day. You cannot choose the same person for 2 Days in a row. Also, if you would like a Heroic character to claim, might I recommend Prince Charming? He is also a Silencer of sorts, being a prince and all. 8. MuuMuuChainsmoker - You are Sweet, MUSIC MAN and VILLAIN. You are the demon responsible for all the singing. A new Hellmouth opened in Storybrooke, giving you a chance to bring darkness to the world with the other Villains, The Black Fairy and Gideon. You can investigate who people are by PM’ing me a name each Night. Maybe, with the right song, you can draw them to your side... Also, if you would like a Heroic character to claim, might I recommend Xander Harris? After all, you did almost marry him once! And he does see quite a bit, like an investigator: 10. caprice - You are The Black Fairy, EVIL PROTECTOR and VILLAIN. You are working with Sweet and your time-shifted grandson (don’t ask) Gideon to bring darkness to the world. Each Night, you can protect 1 person from being killed through the next Day, including yourself, but can’t protect the same person two Nights in a row. Also, if you would like a Heroic character to claim, might I recommend Regina Mills? She is also a witch with a lot of darkness… 11. Spaceman Spiff - You are Rupert Giles, WATCHER and HERO. You are Buffy’s Watcher, though you got fired from it...did you get rehired? I can’t remember. Anyway, you have no additional powers in this game. Sorry! Congrats to the winning players of MarkHB, Lisin, MuuMuuChainsmoker, and caprice! I also am crediting an extra half win to MarkHB and Lisin for being part of the CREW! I think the Silencing and recruiting to the Crew both would have worked better in a bigger game...alas. Also totally meant to use "Fight Song" (probably for Emma) at one point. If Giles indeed was gonna die, I was probably going to have some soliloquy with "Empty Chairs At Empty Tables" first. This was supposed to feel very much like Guardians of the Galaxy 2 ("Do you have any of Quill's music queued up?") but I think I hit pretty wide of the mark.

Day 4 - The Curtain Falls When the dust finally cleared away from the pile of witches, it was immediately clear who had landed the killing blow on Rumpel. Zelena got to her feet, her green skin from Oz back in full force. She had a look of fury on her face. “Now sis -” Regina started, before Zelena backhanded her. “Shut up!” She shoved Regina across the room with telekinesis. “I need to protect little Robin. Now I’m more powerful than even you,” she sneered, turning to the Black Fairy. Gideon and Sweet appeared at her sides. The Black Fairy taunted back “You won’t find me such easy prey.” Zelena paced the room as she thought. “True...I just need to…” She patted the Dark One dagger into her other hand as she pondered. Getting an idea, she turned to Sweet. “But you brought demons through, right? Before Rumpel closed the portal?” The singing demon nodded his head. “Well, I’m a bit bored with being a goody two shoes, I think it’s about time we showed this world who’s boss.” The Black Fairy raised an eyebrow. “That was our plan all along. How do we know you’re really with us now?” Sweet eyed some of the others as he said “A show of faith…” He didn’t even need to say any more. Zelenda whirled around and stabbed Willow directly in the heart. The redhead barely had time to gasp before the light left her eyes. Emma thought she heard her whisper “Tara…” as she fell to the ground. The Black Fairy cackled and said “Good enough for me. Let’s go work on that town barrier, eh?” She disappeared in a flourish, the other three soon following suit and vanishing. Emma ran to Willow’s body. It was too late, she was gone. From nearby, Giles and Xander both looked destroyed. Emma looked up to the older British man. “I know I’m not a Slayer, but I’m a Savior. I think I’m gonna need a Watcher to help me out with all this demon stuff.” Giles was still for a long while...but then nodded his head. “It’s what she would have wanted.” Emma looked out of the side of her eye at Regina. “And Willow here was a witch, right? So you guys probably could use another one…” The former Evil Queen smirked and came forward. “Help put my sister in line and save the world? When do we start?” Emma smiled as she gathered Giles, Xander, and Regina together, and then the new Scoobies teleported away in pursuit of the others. *** Still Singing: 2. The Crazed Spruce 3. MarkHB 5. Lisin 8. MuuMuuChainsmoker 10. caprice 11. Spaceman Spiff Had Their Finale: 4. aquarian1 - You are Belle, MASON and HERO. You fell in love with Rumpelstiltskin, despite his being the Dark One. (Some might say, a Beast? Eh? Eh???) Recently you two got married and had a son. It’s unfortunate that he was stolen from you and raised in a realm where time moves faster and he’s grown now. And evil, that doesn’t help things either. In fact you know who Mr. Gold is but cannot communicate with him outside of the game. 7. Jesse - You are Buffy Summers, SCOOBY and HERO. You are the Slayer, the chosen one. You alone will stand against the vampires the demons and the forces of darkness. Well, not exactly ‘you alone’ any more. You have your Scooby team that is investigating the new Hellmouth in Storybrooke. You need to find out more information though, so each Night you can PM me a player name and I’ll tell you who they are. 9. saoirse - You are Captain Hook, CAPTAIN/VIGILANTE and HERO. You are reformed (mostly) from your pirate ways, now that you’re in love with Emma. Still, you are going to try to recruit people to your side - each Night, PM me the name of one player, and they will join the CREW. In addition, you have 1 free Night kill to use during the game. Make it count! 1. Drogo - You are Mr. Gold (a.k.a. Rumpelstiltskin), MASON and HERO. You are the Dark One, but using your magic more for good now that you have a child with your wife, Belle. It’s unfortunate that he was stolen from you and raised in a realm where time moves faster and he’s grown now. And evil, that doesn’t help things either. In fact you know who Belle is but cannot communicate with her outside of the game. 6. egavasc - You are Willow Rosenberg, WITCH and HERO. You have a lot of magical skill, which will be useful to prevent darkness from taking over the world. Each Night, you can block one person from using any powers they may have, just PM me their name. Well, it's Day now, but the Villains have a majority. And with all the delays and everything I caused in the game, I'm glad to just call it there. What do you guys think?

Night 3 - The Way Is Shut “Hold on!!!!” a stern female voice yelled. Everyone froze as Willow suddenly appeared. She eyed Rumpelstiltskin with malevolence. “I know what you’ve been up to” she whispered. His eyes widened slightly. He didn’t want her to ruin his plans. But then she started singing. “Be careful making wishes in the - dark dark Can't be sure when they've hit their - mark, mark And besides in the mean, mean time, I’m Just dreaming of tearing you apart I'm in the de-details with the - devil So now the world can never get me on my - level I just got to get you out the cage I'm a young lover's rage Gonna need a spark to ignite My songs know what you did in the dark” And she started throwing fireballs at him, which he deftly dodged. Willow sang all during her attack: “So light 'em up up up Light 'em up up up Light 'em up up up I'm on fire! So light 'em up up up Light 'em up up up Light 'em up up up I'm on fire!” Everyone behind her chorused “(Ohhhh) In the dark dark. (Ohhhh) In the dark dark” as Rumpel recalled just what he’d been doing. *** A few hours earlier Dawn sat weeping in her room. With her sister gone, she didn’t know what to do. Out of nowhere, the Dark One appeared before her. “Hello child,” he sneered, grabbing her and forcing her to her feet. She sniffled but didn’t move to run or fight. “I need you in order to close the portal” he explained, brandishing his Dark One dagger. Again, Dawn didn’t react. Rumpelstiltskin leaned in closer. “So that means I’m gonna have to kill ya. You see, the portal needs a lock on it, and-” Dawn cut him off by softly saying “It’s easier to modify an existing Key than to create one...yeah.” Impressed, Rumpelstiltskin looked at the young girl. “I’ve thought about it, ever since Buffy….” But she couldn’t bring herself to say it. It was hard to believe that the Slayer was gone. Dawn raised tearful eyes to the Dark One. “Will it hurt?” she asked in a scared voice. Taking compassion on her, since she looked a lot like a tearful Belle, Rumpel shook his head. “It’s fast, much faster than you think it will be.” Nodding her head, Dawn closed her eyes. *** Present time Willow kept up her attack on Rumpelstiltskin as the villains looked for a way to get in some blows too. “All the writers keep writing what they - write, write Somewhere another pretty vein just - died I've got the scars from tomorrow and I wish you could see That you’re the antidote to everything except for me, me A constellation of tears on your - lashes Burn everything you love, then burn the - ashes In the end everything collides My childhood spat back out the monster that you see My songs know what you did in the dark” All the flying fireballs and blades and other things kept Rumpelstiltskin on his toes. He was weaving the conclusion to a spell under his breath as he did so. Still, having a bunch of women attack you while singing was unnerving: “So light 'em up up up Light 'em up up up Light 'em up up up I'm on fire! So light 'em up up up Light 'em up up up Light 'em up up up I'm on fire! (Ohhhh) In the dark dark (Ohhhh) In the dark dark” Finally, he was finished. He brandished his Dark One blade. This made all the attackers pause, which was just what he needed. This spell was going to take a huge influx of dark magic. And there was only one way he could think of to make that. With a swift movement, Rumplestiltskin plunged the dagger into his own heart. A huge explosion of magic knocked everyone away. Dark magic was flowing everywhere, creating black tentacles that lashed in every direction. There was a faint echo: “My songs know what you did in the dark My songs know what you did in the dark…” The Black Fairy was on her feet and recognized what was happening. The rest of the witches all realized a second later. They began struggling to make it towards Rumpelstiltskin’s dying body. For whoever killed the Dark One with his own blade would become the next Dark One. All of that power...The Black Fairy, Emma, Regina, Zelena, and Willow all struggled towards the source of the dark magic. And still they sang: “So light 'em up up up Light 'em up up up Light 'em up up up I'm on fire! So light 'em up up up Light 'em up up up Light 'em up up up I'm on fire! (Ohhhh) In the dark dark (Ohhhh) In the dark dark” Just as Rumpel was about to die, the five people dived for his body. Five hands stretched toward the blade. Everyone crumpled into a heap on the ground as another shockwave exploded. The portal was closed. Snow and Charming looked on in fear at just whose hand had been on the blade… *** Still Singing: 2. The Crazed Spruce 3. MarkHB 5. Lisin 6. egavasc 8. MuuMuuChainsmoker 10. caprice 11. Spaceman Spiff Had Their Finale: 4. aquarian1 - You are Belle, MASON and HERO. You fell in love with Rumpelstiltskin, despite his being the Dark One. (Some might say, a Beast? Eh? Eh???) Recently you two got married and had a son. It’s unfortunate that he was stolen from you and raised in a realm where time moves faster and he’s grown now. And evil, that doesn’t help things either. In fact you know who Mr. Gold is but cannot communicate with him outside of the game. 7. Jesse - You are Buffy Summers, SCOOBY and HERO. You are the Slayer, the chosen one. You alone will stand against the vampires the demons and the forces of darkness. Well, not exactly ‘you alone’ any more. You have your Scooby team that is investigating the new Hellmouth in Storybrooke. You need to find out more information though, so each Night you can PM me a player name and I’ll tell you who they are. 9. Saoirse - You are Captain Hook, CAPTAIN/VIGILANTE and HERO. You are reformed (mostly) from your pirate ways, now that you’re in love with Emma. Still, you are going to try to recruit people to your side - each Night, PM me the name of one player, and they will join the CREW. In addition, you have 1 free Night kill to use during the game. Make it count! 1. Drogo - You are Mr. Gold (a.k.a. Rumpelstiltskin), MASON and HERO. You are the Dark One, but using your magic more for good now that you have a child with your wife, Belle. It’s unfortunate that he was stolen from you and raised in a realm where time moves faster and he’s grown now. And evil, that doesn’t help things either. In fact you know who Belle is but cannot communicate with her outside of the game. Let's say 24 hours or so for Night actions, so Night will last until about noon (Eastern time) on Monday.

Just got back from vacation. Headed to bed before too long. Probably looking to write that Night story tomorrow, and then you'll have time for Night actions. Some of you have gotten them in already, for which I thank you. If you want to wait for the Night story, by all means! I've already got the songs and plotty things worked out. I think.

Well I do have a story thread in mind, but I'm leaving for vacation in the morning and am now engaged (!), so, I'll put the content in spoiler tags, and you can get in Night actions. Consider it to be unofficial Night until next Saturday. ETA: you don't HAVE to get in Night actions if you want to wait for the story. But you can if you want.

Seems like things are happening, and now that it's not a weekend that should improve. So finish a DL if you please :)

Will have. Ring should be coming in soon...

Sorry, everyone. I was feeling uncreative and didn't really want to write this. With the end of school I was busy. But now! Back and better than ever! Day 3 - Wedding Bell Blues The Storybrooke chapel After the death of Belle, Emma had not wanted to wait on getting married to Hook. She grabbed him, her family, and Archie and ran to the chapel. She got the former cricket to marry them in a small, tasteful ceremony. No time for big to-do’s when your town is under siege! Each of them said their vows, those important words so carefully chosen. Finally, Archie pronounced them man and wife. They were about to kiss, when suddenly, everyone except Emma froze. A white sheen appeared over them as the magic spell held them. The Savior looked around and spotted the villains lurking in one of the wings. “What do you want?” she spat at them. The Black Fairy just laughed. “Just came to give our congratulations, even if this wedding is pointless.” “True love is not pointless,” Emma growled. The Black Fairy rolled her eyes. “Yes, it is. But this is also pointless since you’re not going to be married for long.” She strode toward the blonde as Emma considered Hook’s reformation. But she believed in it. She was about to tell The Black Fairy that when the villainess concluded “Because this spell freezes everyone who is not in imminent danger of dying. Isn’t that right, Killian?” In utter disbelief, Emma slowly turned around. Hook was quaking, his eyes full of fear. “Me?” he asked in a small voice. Sweet was the one who answered him. “You’re a pirate captain, a great military leader. Like Eisenhower or Churchill, or FDR if you had a wheelchair. But you’ll die much too fast for that. Spiked your rum well before the wedding.” Hook looked up to see The Black Fairy shove her arm into Emma’s back. She couldn’t rip her heart out, but she could freeze Emma in place. Gideon shapeshifted into a sinister-looking version of Emma. “You thought this was true love, pirate?” ‘she’ asked him. Hook shook his head. He was physically weak, but his spirit was still there. He suddenly said “Love is a many splendored thing, Love lifts us up where we belong, All you need is love.” ‘Emma’ responded “Please don't start that again.” Hook, music swelling from nowhere, then sang out: “All you need is love” ‘Emma’: “A girl has got to eat!” Ewan: “All you need is love” ‘Emma’: “Or she'll end up on the street!” Ewan: “All you need is lo-o-ove” ‘Emma’: “Love is just a game.” Hook sang directly to the real Emma “I was made for loving you baby, You were made for loving me.” The fake Emma spun him to face her and sang back “The only way of loving me baby, Is to pay a lovely fee” Hook: “Just one night, Just one night” ‘Emma’: “There's no way, Cause you can't pay” Hook: “In the name of love, One night in the name of love” ‘Emma’: “You crazy fool, I won't give in to you” Hook: “Don't leave me this way. I can't survive without your sweet love, Oh baby. Don't leave me this way” ‘Emma’ contemplated to herself “You think that people would have enough of silly love songs.” But Hook fiercely said “I look around me and I see it isn't so, oh no.” ‘Emma’: “Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs.” Hook: “Well what's wrong with that? I'd like to know. Cause here I go again!” He finally moved, surging forward and grabbing the fake Emma by her collar. He sang all the louder “Love lifts us up where we belong! Where the eagles fly. On a mountain high!” ‘Emma’: “Love makes us act like we are fools, Throw our lives away, For one happy day” Hook: “We can be heroes, Just for one day” ‘Emma’: “You, you will be mean” Hook: “No I won't!” ‘Emma’: “And I, I'll drink all the time” Hook sang to the real Emma: “We should be lovers!” ‘Emma’: “We can't do that” Hook: “We should be lovers, And that's a fact” ‘Emma’: “Though nothing will keep ‘us’ together” Hook: “We could steal time, Just for one day.“ And suddenly, the real Emma was joining him. She couldn’t move, but somehow she was able to join him in song. BOTH: “We can be heroes, Forever and ever! We can be heroes, Forever and ever! We can be heroes…” Hook leapt back onto the altar and kissed Emma passionately. A multi-colored shockwave burst out of them and swept over the town. This was True Love’s Kiss, the most powerful magic of all. It blasted The Black Fairy backwards and threw her to the ground, which released her hold on Emma. The other villains were also flattened. As they got back to their feet, they noticed the spell freezing everybody else had been broken too. Hook looked deep into Emma’s eyes as he sang “Just because I-I-I, I will always love you!” Emma: “I-I-I, I-” BOTH: “Can't help loving…” Hook collapsed to the ground as he softly sang the word “You…” Emma held him in her arms as she sang in response “How wonderful life is, now-” Both: “You're in the world” With a flourish, Rumpelstiltskin appeared nearby. Hook saw his long-time nemesis there, then looked between him and his wife. “Dark One? Savior?” They both looked attentively as he said “Kick her ass.” Then Hook exhaled, closing his eyes, his long life finally over. The other two made eye contact, saw the righteous fire burning there, and nodded. Emma rose and the two turned as one towards the villains. They gulped. *** Still Singing: 1. Drogo 2. The Crazed Spruce 3. MarkHB 5. Lisin 6. egavasc 8. MuuMuuChainsmoker 10. caprice 11. Spaceman Spiff Had Their Finale: 4. aquarian1 - You are Belle, MASON and HERO. You fell in love with Rumpelstiltskin, despite his being the Dark One. (Some might say, a Beast? Eh? Eh???) Recently you two got married and had a son. It’s unfortunate that he was stolen from you and raised in a realm where time moves faster and he’s grown now. And evil, that doesn’t help things either. In fact you know who Mr. Gold is but cannot communicate with him outside of the game. 7. Jesse - You are Buffy Summers, SCOOBY and HERO. You are the Slayer, the chosen one. You alone will stand against the vampires the demons and the forces of darkness. Well, not exactly ‘you alone’ any more. You have your Scooby team that is investigating the new Hellmouth in Storybrooke. You need to find out more information though, so each Night you can PM me a player name and I’ll tell you who they are. 9. Saoirse -You are Captain Hook, CAPTAIN/VIGILANTE and HERO. You are reformed (mostly) from your pirate ways, now that you’re in love with Emma. Still, you are going to try to recruit people to your side - each Night, PM me the name of one player, and they will join the CREW. In addition, you have 1 free Night kill to use during the game. Make it count! You have until the end of day on Sunday (my birthday!) to complete a DL (which takes 5). Also know now that we're leaving for vacation next Friday. Maybe we can get through the next Day by then? We'll see!

So it's the last week of school, which meant giving finals and finalizing grades and everything. So the story may not be up until late tomorrow or Sunday. Apologies for the delay.

1) I think more than 2 of you have Night actions, hint hint... 2) I saw Wonder Woman last night, and if you haven't seen it yet, you should. A summary (not really spoilery, but just in case):

Night 2 - Creeping Death The town hall (again) While the battle at the library was happening, there was another one occurring at the town hall. Or rather, many simulated battles. Buffy sparred individually with both Snow and Charming as a battle demonstration to the townsfolk. They hoped to give the civilians a replica. None of them were blessed with Slayer strength or stamina, but Buffy did her best to explain fighting strategy to them. She had recently had to do a similar thing with the potential Slayers who had been activated. Thinking about Sunnydale sent a pang across Buffy’s heart. She remembered Spike’s sacrifice, which only made her miss the vampire more. And she must have looked downcast, because Charming came over to try to lift her spirits. “Here, let’s do some more one-on-one battles” he called out to the crowd. “And I’ve got the song for it.” Suddenly, he lashed out with a punch at Buffy. Her Slayer reflexes made her parry it and fight back. The two scrapped, not hitting full force, but enough to seem real. And Charming sung: “Everybody was kung-fu fighting Those kicks were fast as lightning In fact it was a little bit frightening But they fought with expert timing” Buffy laughed and humored him with more sparring. Snow shook her head amusedly and, with a grin, continued: “They were funky China men from funky Chinatown They were chopping them up and they were chopping them down It's an ancient Chinese art and everybody knew their part From a feint into a slip, and kicking from the hip” They all sang the chorus again together, and continued with “There was funky Billy Chin and little Sammy Chung”. As they sang “He said here comes the big boss”, a magical blast knocked Buffy to the floor. The singing immediately stopped. The Charmings turned to see The Black Fairy smirking at them. “Training your citizens into warriors? Not very princely,” she smarmed. Snow shot back “You made us do this! We’re just defending ourselves from YOUR evil.” The Black Fairy cracked her knuckles. “Let’s get it on” she sang, and the fight resumed. The citizens of Storybrooke at least were able to dodge and parry much better. They still didn’t really have a good means of killing the demons. Charming was trying to inspire them, singing in an unsteady voice “We took a bow and made a stand, started swinging with the hand.” Realizing what he was doing, Snow added “The sudden motion made me skip, now we're into a brand new trip.” Unsurprisingly, Buffy was doing just fine on her own. She was an absolute whirlwind on the battlefield. She was taking on far more demons than any person should have been able to handle. The citizens took notice and took up the cheer. “Everybody was kung-fu fighting Those kicks were fast as lightning In fact it was a little bit frightening But they did it with expert timing“ Buffy kept looking around and helping whoever was most in need. Which is probably why she didn’t notice the Black Fairy making her way across the carnage towards her. Of course the blonde would be able to defeat her in hand-to-hand combat. The Black Fairy didn’t intend on letting her get that close. She formed a spear out of shadow, lifted it, and hurled it. It stabbed Buffy in the side and she screamed in pain. The Black Fairy chuckled as she turned to go. Yet Buffy leapt back to her feet and kept attacking the demons. Narrowing her eyes, The Black Fairy formed another spear and threw this one into her back. Buffy howled in pain and nearly toppled over. And yet, she fought on. She was not moving at super-speed any more, but any blows that landed still packed a wallop. Buffy was barely fending the demons off. Her movements were very wired, not graceful any more. The Black Fairy, enraged, formed another spear. With this one she stepped in close to the blonde and uppercutted it into her gut. Buffy let out a gasp as her eyes started to unfocus. The Charmings yelled in anger but they had been too far off. “Hmph” was all The Black Fairy said. She was abruptly thrown into the wall by more magical blasts. Looking to see who had done it, she spied Regina and Zelena with their hands up in magical firing position. They had gone to check in on Zelena’s daughter and had only just returned. Starting to feel outmatched magically, The Black Fairy teleported away to join her grandson. The two witches ran to Buffy’s side, where Charming and Snow were already trying to save her. “Can we do anything???” Snow frantically asked her stepmother. After examining the wounds, however, Regina just shook her head slowly. Buffy chuckled mirthlessly. “Dying seems...pretty easy…Ungh...Hardest thing in this world...is living in it...” Her breathing was becoming slower, her movements ceasing. Zelena asked “Should we get someone? Her friend, her sister?” Buffy’s eyes seemed to widen. “Dawn…” she tried to tell them as she realized. But she sank into the floor, succumbing at last to her injuries. At the same instant, in a room in Granny’s Inn, Dawn shot bold upright in her bed. She sensed...something. Her cell phone began to ring. It was Willow. *** There was 1 clue in the story. 24 hours for Night, so it will end at noon Eastern time on Wednesday. Still Singing: 1. Drogo 2. The Crazed Spruce 3. MarkHB 5. Lisin 6. egavasc 8. MuuMuuChainsmoker 9. saoirse 10. caprice 11. Spaceman Spiff Had Their Finale: 4. aquarian1 - You are Belle, MASON and HERO. You fell in love with Rumpelstiltskin, despite his being the Dark One. (Some might say, a Beast? Eh? Eh???) Recently you two got married and had a son. It’s unfortunate that he was stolen from you and raised in a realm where time moves faster and he’s grown now. And evil, that doesn’t help things either. In fact you know who Mr. Gold is but cannot communicate with him outside of the game. 7. Jesse - You are Buffy Summers, SCOOBY and HERO. You are the Slayer, the chosen one. You alone will stand against the vampires the demons and the forces of darkness. Well, not exactly ‘you alone’ any more. You have your Scooby team that is investigating the new Hellmouth in Storybrooke. You need to find out more information though, so each Night you can PM me a player name and I’ll tell you who they are. And the author humbly requests that you please stop making him kill Buffy off early. I mean, lookit baby Sarah Michelle Gellar! Also yes, you can continue discussing until a Night story comes up. It will be unofficial Twilight. But not THAT Twilight.

Caught the writing bug, so it's a bit long... Day 2 - Night Fever After comparing notes on the various villains, our heroes weren’t sure what to do next. “The major goal” Giles reminded all of them, “is to close the portal. Otherwise more evil beings could make their way into your little town.” (“No surprise there” muttered Emma under her breath.) A small feminine voice from the rear coughed once. “What about the library?” Everyone turned around, startled, to find Belle there. “Belle! How long have you been standing there?” “I’ve been here the whole time,” she answered. “But I think we could find some useful research there.” Willow and Giles eagerly nodded their heads. Buffy was about to open her mouth to agree when she was cut off. “We also need to make sure our citizens are in fighting shape,” Charming said, even as he had an uncomfortable look on his face. “Buffy, would you mind giving them a few pointers?” The blonde shrugged but agreed. She sent Dawn off with Xander, as she wouldn’t be too helpful in either scenario. The young girl pouted fiercely about the decision. That is, she pouted right up until Henry volunteered to go with them. Those three went off, and with a sudden whoosh, Willow, Giles, Belle, Mr. Gold, and Emma also disappeared to the library. The rest of the folks headed over to the gym to put out a call for combat training. *** At the library, hours later Giles slammed another book shut, frustrated. “Don’t know what I expected,” he muttered to himself, removing his glasses and pinching his nose. “The library in a fairy tale town with no books on magical dimensions, I’m shocked.” Emma just gave him a glare over the top of her own book. “Mr. Giles, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk bad about Storybrooke. My parents didn’t ask to come here. It was the fault of the Evil Queen.” “Who is still your mayor.” Willow also huffed in frustration. “Yes, but she’s good now, Giles. Emma said she considers her a friend.” Emma nodded her agreement while Giles looked unimpressed. He intoned “Sounds like she basically ended your parents’ world. Did you know Willow almost did that to ours?” Willow’s cheeks flushed as Giles brought that up again. Yet she just glared all the harder at him. “A broken heart will make people do….extreme things.” Behind the group, Mr. Gold had been reading over his own books in silence. At this sentence, he looked around for his wife. Not seeing her in the room, he went into the back to look for her. And froze on the spot when he saw Gideon choking Belle telekinetically. “Hello father,” the young man snarled. “Your mother can’t have you figuring out how to close the portal. So I’m here to stop you. Cease your research, I don’t want to hurt her. She IS my mother.” Belle gasped and struggled in his invisible grasp. Gold knew that he couldn’t make a move without Gideon causing more harm. So instead he reached out mentally to the two witches in the other room. With a whoosh, they were suddenly in the room with the other three. “I see you brought friends!” Gideon laughed, shoving Belle back into Gold. “So did I.” From the shadows more spirits started taking corporeal shape. They launched themselves at the heroes, clawing and screeching. An electric guitar seemed to play from everywhere. Gideon starting singing again: “It's getting late, have you seen my mates? Ma, tell me when the boys get here (he looked mockingly at the fallen Belle) It's seven o'clock and I want to rock Want to get a belly full of beer My old man's drunker than a barrel full of monkeys (and now at Gold) And my old lady she don't care My sister looks cute in her braces and boots A handful of grease in her hair” Mr. Gold was not about to be defeated by someone a fraction of his age. After pushing his wife behind him, he jumped the vocals as he started to fight back (the other heroes joining): “Don't give us none of your aggravation We had it with your discipline Saturday night's alright for fighting Get a little action in Get about as oiled as a diesel train Gonna set this dance alight `Cause Saturday night's the night I like Saturday night's alright alright alright Woooo” And the others joined in the singing too, amidst all the punching and wrestling and magic blasting. Next was Willow: “Well they're packed pretty tight in here tonight I'm looking for a dolly who'll see me right I may use a little muscle to get what I need I may sink a little drink and shout out ‘She's with me!’” Then Emma: “A couple of the sounds that I really like Are the sounds of a switchblade and a motorbike I'm a juvenile product of the working class Whose best friend floats in the bottom of a glass” And finally everyone joined in together: “Don't give us none of your aggravation We had it with your discipline Saturday night's alright for fighting Get a little action in Get about as oiled as a diesel train Gonna set this dance alight `Cause Saturday night's the night I like Saturday night's alright alright alright Wooooo" The battle was mostly even until the door flung open again. This time Giles stood there, taking in the scene. Gideon had spotted him. He briefly recalled Sweet telling him that this man was always calm, cool, and had a solid plan. Time to take him out. Gideon raised a dark knife and hurled it at Giles. The blade whirled in the air, closing the invisible yards between the two men. The Watcher couldn’t dodge it in time...but he was bodily shoved aside at the last second. The two crashed to the floor. Giles groaned as he flailed for his fallen glasses. Once he put them back on, Giles took in the sight of Belle barely moving. The shadow blade was stuck in her neck. It sapped her life quickly as Gideon cried out in surprise. That was nothing, though, compared to the sound that Gold made. It was a nearly inhuman noise. "NO!!!!!!" Gideon thought better of things and teleported away. The demons having gone with Gideon, the heroes gathered around the librarian. “Rumple...don’t….” She struggled to talk, but her husband shushed her. “It’s fine, Belle,” he said, even as he knew this would take her life. Belle shook her head. “There’s still...good in him...I saw it…” And she let out her last sigh. Gold was sobbing, leaning over her. He kissed her forehead then slowly got to his feet. Emma put out a hand. “Gold-” But the distraught man threw the arm off of him. “Tell the others” was all he said as he too vanished away. Emma looked down at the dead brunette, not eager to comply with Gold’s order. What was he doing, anyway? Miles away, at the town well, Mr. Gold held the Dark One blade out. “You were the one who kept me on the path to being a good man,” he said to the air. “I'm sorry. I have to do this now. And as for you, mother...the gloves are off, dearie.” He concentrated, and dark magic emerged from the well, which was the center of all magic in Storybrooke. The dark magic flowed upward and into the Dark One blade. It seemed to gather and pool in the metal there. With a burst of magic, the normal human-looking form of Mr. Gold was gone. In its place was his old form of Rumpelstiltskin. His hair was stringier and he seemed to be gilded from head to toe. He let out an impish giggle. “If it’s dark she wants, it’s dark she’ll get.” With one last cackle, Rumpelstiltskin disappeared again. *** Still Singing: 1. Drogo 2. The Crazed Spruce 3. MarkHB 5. Lisin 6. egavasc 7. Jesse 8. MuuMuuChainsmoker 9. saoirse 10. caprice 11. Spaceman Spiff Had Their Finale: 4. aquarian1 - You are Belle, MASON and HERO. You fell in love with Rumpelstiltskin, despite his being the Dark One. (Some might say, a Beast? Eh? Eh???) Recently you two got married and had a son. It’s unfortunate that he was stolen from you and raised in a realm where time moves faster and he’s grown now. And evil, that doesn’t help things either. In fact you know who Mr. Gold is but cannot communicate with him outside of the game. There was 1 clue in the story. We'll say 36 hours for Day, unless we get at least 50% voting by then, which will grant a 12 hour extension. Any other questions, ask or PM me!

Night 1: Fight For Your Right When the Blue Fairy had finished telling the tale of Storybrooke, the Scoobies stood dumbfounded. “My gosh...such evil…” Giles muttered to himself. Willow appeared resolute as she declared “But a lot of reformed evil too.” The others looked at her with compassion, nodding. Buffy smirked and said “Yeah, and you allow the former villains to hang out with you and keep causing drama. Sounds like Passions.” She concluded this last statement with a wink at Giles. The former Watcher was about to retort when Blue held up her hand in alarm. She seemed to sense something. “They need us.” Looking over the out-of-towners, she said “How are you with teleporting?” Willow quickly agreed while the others looked hesitant. Blue sighed. “Alright, just...don’t move.” And with a flash of light, the group disappeared from the room. *** After retrieving the information about the visitors to Storybrooke, David had called a town meeting. The citizens of Storybrooke appeared in their large meeting hall. It was also used for things like wedding receptions, as David’s wife kept reminding Emma. The blonde’s engagement to Captain Hook had sent Snow White into wedding fever. The meeting was just getting underway when the front doors were thrown open. The Black Fairy strode in as if she owned the place. “Well, nice of you all to gather in one place for your demise. Saves me the trouble of hunting you down.” David and the other leaders moved to counter her. Out of nowhere, Emma starting singing, guitars and drums starting behind her: “Oh it's been getting so hard Living with the things you do to me My dreams are getting so strange I'd like to tell you everything I see" David cut in singing in a high voice: "Oh, I see a man at the back as a matter of fact His eyes are as red as the sun And the girl in the corner let no one ignore her Cause she thinks she's the passionate one” All of a sudden, the heroes were jumped from behind by a bunch of small imps. Emma and the other witches started blasting magic at them, while David and Snow fought hand to hand. A hooded figure in the rear chuckled to himself. Gideon had previously snuck in with the crowd, and now he joined the loud singing: “Oh yeah! It was like lightning Everybody was fighting And the music was soothing And they all started grooving Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah” David took back over the vocals: “And the man in the back said everyone attack And it turned into a ballroom blitz And the girl in the corner said boy I want to warn you It'll turn into a ballroom blitz” Everyone still in the building joined in to sing: “Ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz.” Then David continued in a lower voice: “Oh reaching out for something Touching nothing's all I ever do Oh I softly call you over When you appear, there's nothing left of you And the man in the back is ready to crack As he raises his hands to the sky (Gideon did so, summoning a spell) And the girl in the corner is everyone's woman She could kill you with a wink of her eye” Indeed, the Black Fairy could, as she was also firing magic as people ran for cover. They were panicking as they ran for the exit. Gideon cackled as he saw some people fall. He kept singing: “Oh yeah! It was electric So perfectly hectic And the band started leaving 'Cause they all stopped breathing Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah And the man in the back said everyone attack And it turned into a ballroom blitz And the girl in the corner said boy I want to warn you It'll turn into a ballroom blitz Ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz” The citizens of Storybrooke joined in on the last line. They were just barely holding out against the invasion. Then, in a flash of light, the Blue Fairy and the out-of-towners arrived. The tall blonde one grinned and said “Demons, my favorite.” And she leapt into the fray, a whirlwind of fists and blades. The one-eyed man quickly joined her, while the tall British man pulled a younger girl off to the side. And the redhead started her own incantations to aid in the battle. The new arrivals having shifted the tide of battle, the Black Fairy and Gideon regrouped and teleported away. Immediately, Emma started helping people up and administering healing magic. So did Regina, Zelena, and the redhead. The young girl seemed quite interested in Henry, who had emerged from the back room, having recorded everything as the new Author of the storybook. David went to the tall British man and said “Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Giles.” The Watcher started, looking at him in shock. “You know who we are?” “Indeed. We may have been cursed for 28 years, but we still have the Internet here.” Snow White laughed nervously and joined her husband. She explained “I think what my husband means by ‘cursed’ is that-” “The Blue Fairy explained everything,” Giles cut in, waving her off. Buffy nodded her agreement and joined the group there. “Yeah, we’ve been fighting demons and such for some time.” She shook David’s and then Snow’s hands. “Buffy Summers, Slayer. It’s an honor. Though I have to confess I admire Mulan quite a bit more than Snow White...at least in the Disney versions.” The former prince and princess weren’t quite sure how to respond to that, so they laughed awkwardly. “Well, Mulan is…” Snow considered that. “I actually don’t remember where she is now. I want to say Oz?” She shrugged as David took up the conversation. “It’s an honor to meet you guys. I know we don’t have quite the tropical climate of southern California or the western states, but I hope you find our town to your liking.” Willow had wandered over at this point. “We would, I’m sure, if it wasn’t home to a new Hellmouth.” “A what?” “Entrance from hell, or another demonic dimension,” Giles explained. The Charmings looked at each other in understanding. “Ah, that’s how she got over here easier.” “Yes, but the major question” concluded Emma, finally joining the group, “is WHY ALL THE SINGING!?” Buffy chuckled in response. “Now do we have a story for you. You see, there’s this demon…” *** Still Singing 1. Drogo 2. The Crazed Spruce 3. MarkHB 4. aquarian1 5. Lisin 6. egavasc 7. Jesse 8. MuuMuuChainsmoker 9. saoirse 10. caprice 11. Spaceman Spiff The story contained 1 clue. 24 hours for Night actions, though I'm busy on Sunday, so let's say by the end of the weekend. Hopefully I can write Sunday night or Monday morning as needed. On a positive note, my sister just got engaged! ? Edited to add: please check your PM's before posting each Day, as things can change in a game full of magic!

*orchestra warms up* Day 1: The Magical Mystery Tour The Scooby gang Inside the magical town, dusk Giles slowly cruised the streets of the town under the magical dome. “A strange place” he muttered to himself, watching a bespectacled man with an umbrella and walking a Dalmatian cross the street. Xander was observing a group of seven shorter men marching down the other side of the street. They seemed to be headed for the mines. “You can say that again” Xander replied to the former Watcher. “Maybe we should find a place to stay?” Buffy inquired. Giles nodded, turning onto a side street. He spotted an inn near a diner and pulled in there. “Granny’s?” He was unable to keep the skepticism out of his voice as the group walked inside. There, an older woman bustled out of the back, only to react in surprise at the group. “Hello dears...can I help you?” Giles forked over a credit card. “We’re out of towners” he explained (Buffy noticed the woman’s eyes widen even more), “and need lodging for….a while.” They didn’t know how long it would take to close the Hellmouth, after all. The one in Sunnydale had destroyed most of the town. Who knew what would happen here? While the group discussed arrangements, Willow had wandered over to a framed picture further down the desk. It was of a beautiful brunette with a toothy smile. What had caught Willow’s attention, though, was the red cloak she was wearing. “Granny...red….” The wheels turned in her head as she tried to make sense of all this. “Wait a second-” *** Emma Swan and family The clock tower in town The minute hand clicked over to 8:23. Mr. Gold reopened his eyes, ending his concentration. “It was some kind of portal opening. To cross dimensions.” Emma practically rolled her eyes. “Aren’t there like a zillion ways to do that?” “Yes,” the older man replied, “but whatever came through is still here and exerting some kind of magical influence…” “Great, another disaster for this town.” David Nolan (formerly “Prince Charming”) put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “I see a bad moon rising,” he added, suddenly breaking into song as the sound of guitars started from seemingly everywhere. “I see trouble on the way I see earthquakes and lightnin' I see bad times today Don't go 'round tonight It's bound to take your life There's a bad moon on the rise.” His family looking at him like he was insane, David said “What???” “Dad, why are you singing??” Emma was quite confused where that had come from. She knew her parents were fairy tale characters, and their Disney counterparts loved singing, but they had never done so before! Mary Margaret (formerly Snow White) suddenly cut in. “I hear hurricanes a-blowing I know the end is coming soon I fear rivers over flowing I hear the voice of rage and ruin Don't go 'round tonight It's bound to take your life There's a bad moon on the rise” “What is going on!?” Emma screamed, before suddenly feeling an overwhelming urge to join in. The others must have felt it too, as they all suddenly started together: “I hope you got your things together I hope you are quite prepared to die Look's like we're in for nasty weather One eye is taken for an eye Oh don't go 'round tonight It's bound to take your life There's a bad moon on the rise There's a bad moon on the rise” The guitars stopped playing to the sound of David’s cell phone ringing. He answered it and briefly talked to Granny. Hanging up, he said “New problem: out-of-towners.” Regina looked startled. “How did they get in?” “Must have been when you felt them messing with the barrier earlier,” David replied. “Granny sent their info to the sheriff’s station, let’s go see who they are.” Zelena looked at everyone with her mouth agape. “But why were we just SINGING???” *** At Granny’s Inn A loud scream echoed down the hall. Buffy realized it was Dawn and took off running. The Scoobies all thundered into her room and saw just why Dawn was screaming - sitting on her bed was a well-dressed demon. “Hello again” he said with a wink at the group. “Sweet!” Buffy yelled his name in rage. “What are you doing here!?” The demon eyed her with malevolence. “There’s a dark presence here. Opened a crossing, let me spread my...influence here. Already gave them something to sing about,” he concluded, smirking at Buffy. The Slayer just glared at him, arms folded. “We’re not going to let you.” Sweet simply snapped his fingers. And before they knew it, the Scoobies all started dancing. Buffy sang: “What a feeling Bein's believin' I can have it all Now I'm dancing for my life” Buffy felt herself starting to heat up, headed toward combustion. Then a loud crack split the air, and suddenly the desire to dance was gone. Everyone immediately ceased moving as Sweet nervously looked around. “I’ll be seeing you later.” He disappeared in a flash of fire. The Scoobies were all wondering what had happened when suddenly a nun walked into the room. “It seems I won’t be able to fully counter his spell.” She smiled benevolently. “You might still have to sing. But it won’t make you burst into flames any more.” “Well thank you” said Giles warmly, “Sister...uh…?” “Blue,” the woman replied, before continuing “And I’m not as much of a sister as I am...a fairy.” And that was just about enough for Willow. “The Blue Fairy? Really?” With a wry laugh, she asked “What is this place, exactly?” Blue took a long, deep breath. “It’s a long story. Once upon a time, in a place called the Enchanted Forest…” *** Still Singing: 1. Drogo 2. The Crazed Spruce 3. MarkHB 4. aquarian1 5. Lisin 6. egavasc 7. Jesse 8. MuuMuuChainsmoker 9. saoirse 10. caprice 11. Spaceman Spiff Time limit of 36 hours for Day, so it will end at about 10 PM Eastern on Thursday. There was 1 clue in the story. And like in my Glee round from way back when, the songs are chosen for thematic reasons, they (nor the artists, etc.) will not be the clue. You're welcome to hint and imply who you are, just no copying/pasting your character PM to prove it, as usual. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm also gonna go distract myself with pictures of Meghan Ory. Small wonder Willow would notice a possibly-bisexual female werewolf, eh? Looking like this doesn't hurt:

Okay, I believe all PM's have been sent. Please confirm. Day 1 will go up some time tomorrow. Enjoy your holiday!

Is that a yes? Finalizing characters soon. Also, given all the artists you named, I'm glad to know I have similar music taste to Spaceman Spiff ;)