Date:	2004-02-10 23:06
Subject:	Update
Security:	Public
Mood:	accomplished

Far be it from me to keep the world ignorant of my endeavours.

To date, the new establishment has been a smashing success... with one caveat. I was *this close* to getting Mr. Blair in for some work. Had I managed that, I think Janus would have smiled on me for eternity.

I still have hopes....

Date:	2003-12-17 22:12
Subject:	To hell with this
Security:	Public
Mood:	frustrated

I have spent the past five months creating beautifully realized, brilliant plans. Every single one of them should have allowed me to wear the Slayer's skin... although two of them would have only yielded a swimsuit's worth. It seems that someone or something is protecting that dear, sweet girl from me.

Ah, well. I should have expected as much. Vengeance drove me to a single-mindedness that smacks unduly of order. In time, the winds of Chaos will bring her back to me.

In the meantime, I'm going home. With the Council long gone, there should be many opportunities for one such as I back in Merrie Olde England.

Be seeing you.

This town has one major advantage over dear old Sunnydale: There is more than one major magical source here. In my explorations, I have located a rather powerful font of energy - one so powerful that I am feeling far better already. It seems to *want* to heal anything damaged nearby.

I found a fairly decent flat near this source and have settled in. I will not say where this is just yet... I do learn from my mistakes from time to time. This time, I *will* do the damage and just get out. I will not set up a store, I will not announce where I am to all and sundry. Ms. Summers or her sycophants may well be reading this.

If you are - merely know that I am coming for you. I am human - you cannot destroy me. I know that much of your ethos. I can and will destroy you. Ponder that for a while, dear girl.

/Firewalled against all but Morrigan

I have found the perfect place for our meeting. There is this strange American invention called "Chuck E Cheese". It is a pizza restaurant with many amusement activities for children - I suppose so that the tykes can tire themselves out while the adults eat in peace. No one would think to look for either of us there.

More to the point, the magical source I mentioned above is directly underneath this "Chuck E Cheese". Which could possibly explain a lot about it.

/End firewall

Date:	2003-07-10 08:02
Subject:	Just one more reason
Security:	Public
Mood:	angry

It turns out those little watcher spells were not Ms. Rosenburg's work after all. It also seems that I must have missed one of them.

I had made a promise to do a certain entity a favour in return for its co-operation in my return from the hell-dimension Ms. Summers dropped me in - with no warning whatsoever, I might add. That entity knew that I would be after the Slayer's head at some point and decided that it needed for me to fulfill my obligations before I encountered her. Shameful lack of confidence in my abilities, that.

Long story short, I've spent the past few weeks as a virtual slave to an entity that makes Bloody Mary look like Mother Theresa. I was forced to do things that are beyond even my rather broad moral limitations. I was used to the limits of my endurance.

I am beginning to think that the worst mistake I ever made was going back to Sunnydale. Regardless, I did, and what has happened has happened. I cannot just let it go at this point. Especially now.

I am going to take some time to recover as well as learn more about this little town. I would still be interested in hearing from a certain person who contacted me on my initial arrival.

Quaint town, Walton Lake. I'm sure I can find something to do here.

There were some clever little detection spells a few miles outside the city limits. Possibly the red-haired one's work? Perhaps there is a new player on the stage? Regardless, it was trivial to evade them. One would almost think too easy.

Quite an interesting little place, this Ohio of yours. In this state, your government killed several of its own citizens merely for protesting the violence of said government. Ironic, that.

I looked up an old chum of mine who is currently on faculty at Oberlin conservatory. Rather a nice campus, I must admit. Chaos reigns. Well, mostly... Antioch is far more chaotic. I could easily lose myself here.

Still, I have a goal. I must leave this nice little college town and head towards... what was it again? Oh, yes. Walton Lake. When I'm done, Antioch's students will look like the Palace Guard by comparison.

My shop. My things. My life. Two out of the three I lost, dear girl, and barely managed to hold on to the last. I suppose I should have vacated when the rest of the sheep left town, but the opportunities available to a sorcerer in an almost empty Hellmouth town were just too tempting. Still and all, a little warning would have been appreciated.

Do you have even the vaguest conception of how hard it is to get out of a Hell-dimension? It took every favour I was owed as well as a few new obligations on my part to get back.

I am back. And I am angry.

Be seeing you.

Date:	2003-04-25 02:35
Subject:	(shudder)
Security:	Public
Mood:	confused

Turn off your TV. Stop "browsing:" your normal "sites" - go only to those places you know. There is this *thing* called Jasmine that is dominating the devotions of all who see her. Even I was slaved to this thing until recently. I *walked* from Sunnydale to LA, hoping to pledge myself to Her Eternal Glory. I would still be there, but that I was (luckily) caught in the backlash of a fight between Angelus and Jasmine last week.

It has taken me another week to walk back home - I dare not read the past two week's worth of posts until I can establish a shield against this creature's influence.

Imagine my surprise when I saw myself at the counter when I crawled back into town... Either I was so enthralled with Jasmine that I left my own simulacrum in place to defuse suspicion, or she or one of her minions left one in place while they hoped to gain control of my powers. In any event, it is obvious that things have gotten severely out of hand while I was gone, especially dealing with Amy and my soon-to-be-former employee Pike.

Amy can't read my journal, but Mr. Pike can. Reply soon if you want to live, let alone hold a job - what *are* you thinking, druggie boy? Did you really think I would not eventually notice?

Date:	2003-04-02 08:11
Subject:	Damn that girl
Security:	Public
Mood:	contemplative
Music:	Masquerade - Phantom of the Opera

Have you ever had an all-body itch? I do have to admit that I look a bit more like the pinup boys she lusts after, but the cost is not worth it. How do you women ever get used to this?

As to the events of the past 48 hours... overall, I am quite pleased. This was an accident. I would very much rather that no one knew precisely what I was working on and this gave the game away. On the other hand, I now know how to replicate this effect should it ever become desirable. For every minus...

It appears that a lot of people benefitted from this, or will if they actually take the time to stop being mad and start thinking about what they experienced. Only the truly foolish made enemies yesterday - most took the chance to live a life they never could have otherwise.

It also seems that I cannot read the entries in my own Journal from that time period. I can see that they are there, but they appear as white-on-white to me. Just big boxes of blank space. I am sorely tempted to break whatever Amy put on them... but no. Aside from this - nakedness - no harm was done me. Perhaps I should have put the same block on my entries? Ah, well.

Regardless of how I feel about things, though, there are some irritated people out there. Perhaps I should lay low for a few days. First, though, I need to get some flowers sent to Piper. She really came through for us last night. And I hear she has sisters...

Date:	2003-04-01 21:36
Subject:	Finally!
Security:	Public
Mood:	anxious

Piper just got here. Damn, but that's a strange bod she's in. Makes me think about other options for the whole live forever thing, though.

So, I gave her Ethan's notes and pointed her at his LJ Friends page. There's not really much I can do to help, but I'll hang nearby just in case...

F**k. Just realized that Diana may not respond in this body. She should know it's me inside, but she tends not to pay much attention to those with a Y.

Hmm. I must say, Ethan's bod doesn't look half-bad this way. He's got some decent muscles under that British tweed exterior (and the hair. Goddess, but that was icky. Gone now, though). And to steal a line from my Rocky Horror days, "and one big one!".

Mental note: Must remember to activate the firewall spell to make sure he never reads these posts after the switch.

OK, so I've got about and hour and a half left before Piper gets here. I'm like *so* bored. There's nothing on, and I can only spend so much time reading LJs and laughing when I think how some people are gonna feel tomorrow.

Just noticed that damned hair again. Guys may be cute, but they definitely need to learn to shave. Hell, we girls shave our legs almost every week. Why can't guys get rid of all this hair?

Y'know, that gives me an idea...

Date:	2003-04-01 16:33
Subject:	The deal is...
Security:	Public
Mood:	accomplished
Music:	DVD - All of Me (seemed right, somehow)

I guess most of you have figured out by now that the switch was my fault. Well, Ethan's fault mostly, since... nevermind.

We've figured out what happened, at least. The spell we were working would have allowed body switches. I ended up grounding it out while Ethan's computer was on. He'd been doing some experimenting into tracking people through their LJs, so he had pretty much everyone who matters to the Slayer on his friends list. All of those entries were "tagged" (don't ask me). Long story short - if you were on that list, you got scrambled with someone else on it. Mostly. I can see Holden's in a strange body, and it looks like poor Andrew's gone out of my scrying range. Hope the kid's OK.

So this is the deal: We're pretty sure we know how to fix it. Just hang on a few hours longer while we get it set up. Piper's on her way over to help as well.

I'm adding a version of the LJ block spell that Ethan and I used to hide this post from that creepy hand thing in Buffy. I do not want Buffy's bod coming over here to interrupt us. Whatever it is that's in her, it wants to keep that bod. Not gonna happen. In fact - Giles, we could probably use your help. You're the only one in town with a bod that could stop her if she found out somehow and came over anyway. Also, can't wait to see the look on Ethan's face when he realizes it's you in there. Ha!

Just had a little "chat" with Ethan. He thinks he has some ideas for how to get us back where we belong. We tried to swtich just us back, but it looks like we'll have to undo the whole thing to get home.

A good thing? We're pretty sure that, if we ever really need it, we can make this work the way it's supposed to. There's no reason to think that it wasn't going to work until I aborted it. The problem: Can we trust each other enough to work together again?

I guess I can see why he did what he did. Reading his LJ helped with that. Hell, if I were this old, I might've... naw. I'll find me a pretty veg long before I need to really use this.

I think he understands why I stopped it. I don't think he agrees with it, and that's gonna be a problem, but at least he understands it. I just need to make him see he can trust me in any normal situation. Or at least believe that.

Hmm. It's gonna be weird flirting with myself. Especially as him. Gotta find a real mirror to practice some expressions.

Scary thought: He's got my bod. He's wanted my bod for a bit and now he's got it. I can't leave him alone too long.

Woke Ethan up. I didn't want my body getting any cramps or bruises from the floor. I made him eat some breakfast and then ran out for a latte.

It's weird, being a guy. I started to flirt with the barrista just to get that extra shot - then realized I'm not in my own bod. I had to pay for the triple. Grrr.

Just got back and thought I'd see how the others are dealing. Yes, I noticed that this has switched a lot more than just Ethan and I, but we seem to be the only direct switches. Maybe he'll have a few ideas about that.

Oh, what does he want now!

I read his journal, and it seems the old guy actually does seem to love me. He's got power, and that's good, but can I even think about a relationship with the guy who'd obliterate a kid just to be young again?

Hell, be honest with yourself girl: Wasn't that what you were going to do?

No. No. Not people. Just veggies or morons. Years from now at the earliest, unless I got in a wreck or something.

I need to get some sleep. I'll deal with this in the morning. Since he didn't have any real
protections besides the switch shields, he'll be out at least 'til then.

Do you have any idea what it's like to look at yourself crumpled in a heap on the floor? And then looking at your own hands and seeing HAIR on your FOREARMS? I knew the goal, here. Most body switching or snatching spells end with the death of the caster. What we're working on would change that - we could hop bodies until the end of time, the last body being no more than, well, an old house.

Ethan screwed up. Big time. He was going to actually MAKE the jump tonight.

He had Marc tied up in the anteroom to the working chamber. Not like I knew the guy much, but he is a hottie. Y'know, I think I might've mentioned that to Ethan once or twice...

Anyway, we called the new shields into place. I layered them over my own protections - I spent the past month creating 'em, no way I'm dropping 'em even if he said "No Outside Influences". We then raised the energies needed for the spell itself. Not easy, let me tell you. Then, he waves and Marc comes floating in, tied up and with such a pathetic look in his eyes.

Soft? Maybe a little. The prize is worth it, but I couldn't look at those eyes and help Ethan extinguish that person forever. I thought we could hop into retards or something, someone noone, not even themselves, would miss. This? I didn't sign up for that.

So I aborted. I extended my personal protections and decided to ground the spell in the wiring and plumbing again. Metal, conductors, connected to the earth, it's all good, right? WRONG! Bright boy over here left his computer on. Have you *ever* seen gigantic quantities of magic energy riding into the Net? It was almost as if the Net itself was hungry for the energy.

That was the last thing I saw until fifteen minutes ago. I woke up. Look up, see the top of this entry - I saw HAIR on my ARMS. Ick. It didn't take me long to figure out I'd gotten stuck in Ethan's body. Since Marc was still whimpering in his chair, I'm guessing it was Ethan lying there in my bod. So I stuck a pillow under my head and threw a blanket over me - I hate getting sick. I sent Marc on home as well, with a little "forget" spell tacked on for good measure.

I can't seem to get to my own Journal, though. I think the firewall spell is interfering. But hey! Ethan left himself logged on and I CAN READ IT.

Date:	2003-03-31 17:12
Subject:	At last!
Security:	Public
Mood:	ecstatic

Everything is prepared. After years of research, months of preparations and a careful search for the necessary compatriot, tonight we will achieve something totally new in Magick. There has been a demon or two that has managed this trick, but never a human.

Amy will be arriving soon. I am over my bout of frustration from the other night. I was prepared to come at her full force the moment the spell was complete and tested, but I realized something rather shocking for me: I do not want her unwilling. She is a remarkable woman, but she still needs to mature in certain ways. I can wait until she comes around.

Considering her current naivete, though, I have decided to withhold from her the nature of the test subject until the absolute last moment. If I tell her in advance, she probably will object, but if she comes upon the absolute necessity when full of power, she will know what to do. She will realize that this particular subject solves two problems instead of one.

Is that her key in the door?

Date:	2003-03-28 11:31
Subject:	Weekend Plans
Security:	Public
Mood:	annoyed
Music:	On This Night of a Thousand Stars - Evita

I regret to inform you that the Gallery will be closed this weekend. I plan to reopen Tuesday morning. There is a rather large project I need to prepare for and it will take me a good 48 hours to do it. When we do reopen, though, expect a large quanitity of new merchandise on the "Antiquities" side of the business. My efforts, there at least, did not go to waste.

Mental note: Remind Amy we are meeting on Monday, not Tuesday, this week.

On the subject of Amy - I believe the American term is "Argh!" I am not sensing rejection, disinterest, or anything else negative. I am sensing nothing at all. Whatever I do, however I act, it does not seem to matter. I could as well be furniture. I am not used to being furniture.

After Monday night, we will need to have this out. I am tired of this frustration. Just four more days...

Date:	2003-03-16 14:36
Subject:	New Employee
Security:	Public
Mood:	accomplished
Music:	Evita

I met with young Mr. Pike this afternoon. He does not appear to have a great deal of initiative; however, he does seem to be able to handle tasks that require discretion. Far more interesting, though, is his history. It turns out that the young man was once intimately involved with Ms. Summers. Considering both Amy's and my own history with the Slayer, it might not be a bad thing to have someone she actually cares for on staff.

For now, he will mostly be handling deliveries. From there, who knows?

Tonight is Sunnydale's Second Thursday Gallery Walk. Essentailly, a group of people who consider themselves art afficianados get progressively drunker as they visit every serious gallery in downtown. The drunker they get, the more they spend, but if they get too drunk they stop altogether.

I have managed to insert myself as the third stop on the tour. I expect to see the self-appointed art mavens of Sunnydale by the dozens in just an hour or so. I hold some small hope that at least a few will be worth talking to. I have rather more confidence it will be a profitable night.