A Thanksgiving Centerpiece

While I have made centerpieces before, as well as dinners, Thanksgiving fell to DH and I this year, as my parents, who usually host, were out taking care of my brother after his surgery. So, she made Thanksgiving for them, and I did one here. I also did a one-shot centerpiece class a few days before, and while not the most elegant one I'd done to that point, it was the largest. We decided to go simple, as can be seen in the table setting above. Everyone had a great time--good company and good food.

Going to the classes, while not always as instructive as what I've seen online, especially from the Floral Design Institute on Oregon (they post a new how-to video every few weeks), it is always nice to get hands on instruction, as well as interact with the others in class. Everyone always done something different with the same materials, and I love seeing all the different possibilities. Our teacher not only provided a good selection of flowers, but also cattails and wheat stalks, both of which I used. 

Here's a closeup of the centerpiece. While at first I thought I might stick to autumn colors, I can never get enough flowers in without branching out, and so went for saturated colors such as the dark mums and the purple status, which really stands out here. 

Up next: Do you like that British blue and white china that so many people like? A blue and white arrangement even minimalists can appreciate.

Finally, a writing blog!

Lately, I've been reflecting a bit about the horrible things one does to characters for the sake of plot, character development, and other such things. As mentioned in a recent post, I recently ran a plot for an RPG character in which bad things happened to her. I had started writing a completely different blog about it, but didn't like it, so that got deleted. While the first two events for this plot are over and seemed to go well, and the two things I wanted done are done, I'm not sure now how to complete the last thing, which is confronting the big baddie. Since I pulled him from main Lupa canon, I'm not sure how to go about structuring an even in which he can't be killed, or in which one of my main characters doesn't cease to exist (why yes, there are copious amounts of timey-wimey involved, for you fellow Whovians). I keep trying to write about this here, so that's probably a very clear sign that writing about it will help me think it through, so here goes.

So, what's happened so far? 

In part 1, Eiry, the florist who lives in Tokyo and became infamous among the Lupa for moving there, was abducted. Due to certain facts, time travel was necessary to achieve the goals. So for a about an hour or so, she was out of time, and no one, not even the other parts of her bonds (the short version is "Being bonded is a condition in which one's soul is literally and irrevocably joined to and enmeshed with another's."). A search was mounted, headed by Miara, one of my two big main characters, Sali (Eiry's twin), and Guyver (her husband/mate) along with several other characters. There wasn't much action in this event, as Eiry quickly reappeared and was found, although much worse for wear, and with a surprise. A message aimed directly at the Tokyo Lupa was found on the scene, but I have failed to carry out much of a response to this. That's on me. Eiry, however, was beaten up by her captor, and was later found to be pregnant, which was the reason for the time travel bit. 

This is highly important, for two reasons. First, as this is how I've introduced the big Lupa baddie to the box, which was explored further in the second event. Eiry was not raped, but an embryo was implanted, and this created many new questions, rather than answers. Who would do such a thing, and why? Second, this was a plot point in which will cause numerous questions, and shake up Eiry and Guyver's relationship a bit. As Eiry is Lupa and Guyver is Human, any Lupa who knows or sees that Eiry is pregnant, or that the pair have a child, will know that Guyver isn't the father. Anyone who knows that Lupa can't interbreed with other species will know this. However, the child isn't technically Eiry's, either. 

Overall, apart 1 left many more questions than answers, and some very angry or depressed characters.

In part 2, Miara had tracked down the person responsible for Eiry's abduction--Danus. When interrogated and questioned, it was revealed that he was one of the people who despised the Tokyo group. Many Lupa dislike unpacked Lupa, viewing them as persons of shady and suspicious character, and those who invite trouble. Further, it's no secret that they fraternize with not only Human, but openly with other aliens and species, and thus information about their species and society is easily available to others, including Hunters or any other enemies who know where to look. Danus, who was already slightly crazy, hates this group with a passion, and when none of the Leaders would act against this group, he took it to a higher authority-- Urvenis, one of the Lupa immortals. 

Urvenis is the main bad guy in Lupa history. They think of him like we think of Hitler  most of the time. Not someone you want to be associating yourself with. The fact that Danus went to him for help shows his desperation in the matter, and how desperate he is to silence this group. Unbalanced, but desperate. It was from Urvenis that Danus received the orders to implant the embryo, but to what purpose? The two seem to have struck a deal: If Danus carried out a service for Urvenis, Urvenis would help him with the problem of the Tokyo Lupa. While Danus became one of Urvenis' followers, he learned relatively little of Urvenis plans or anything else. He was solely focused on his own problems.

Now, I need a third event, but due to things already in place, threatening or trying to kill Urvenis will end in a no sell, or his total pawnage of whoever tries. To make a trip into his labyrinth viable, I will need some kind of goal or reason for them to do so. While he could appear in Tokyo for a chat, that would open another can of worms I'm not sure I want to get into. He would have access not only to various technologies and information, it's likely he could find out the future, and play around with it. And that's exactly where I don't want him.

I've got to start planning this event, so hopefully something reveals itself. While I certainly know the reasons behind Urvenis' plans, I won't be posting there here for spoiler purposes, but it will take some work getting that into a satisfying event.

Next time: back to your regularly scheduled programming with the Thanksgiving Centerpiece. Yes, I know, so far behind...