Hecuba Released, Immediately Operational; Cracked Connie Recruited as Field Agent

The bottle. The coaching arrangement. The vial of pure evil. The basement containment failure. The Gazette documents the full chain of supernatural mismanagement.

Charity, and the Gazette means Zombie Charity here, though the distinction has become increasingly administrative, created Cracked Connie, described by our correspondent as an evil Timmy replacement, and described by virtually everyone else in Harmonychat as universally despised. Cracked Connie stole Reese's father's car with Zombie Charity's assistance. Reese, upon discovering the car missing, began throwing accusations. Tabitha, sensing the structural implications, took Reese and Jessica to the Crane party to monitor the situation from close range.

In the basement beneath the Crane estate, Hecuba and Cracked Connie have made contact. Hecuba, who has been contained in a bottle for an unspecified period of time, has offered to coach Cracked Connie in the operational arts of evil. The price of this mentorship: Connie must free her from the bottle. She is delighted about the green mist. She is less delighted that Tabitha believes the mist will produce more chaos than even Hecuba anticipated, as this implies a ceiling on her work that she finds professionally unsatisfying.

Green Mist Situation Report · Field Desk

Cracked Connie broke a vial of pure evil. The resulting green smoke initially held Tabitha captive in the basement. It has since escaped containment and is now seeping through the Crane mansion. Upon contact, the mist generates visions of alternate lives, a Wonderful Life-style presentation of what might have been. All major partygoers have been exposed. Results, below.

Hecuba is surprised that the mist failed to destroy Luis and Sheridan's relationship and is recalibrating. Tabitha is furious the mist has undone significant prior evil work. They are watching from the lair, arguing. This is, structurally, a hostage situation in which both parties are the hostage.

What Might Have Been Desk · Mist Visions Correspondent

The Green Mist: A Vision-by-Vision Account of Alternate Harmony

The mist showed everyone what their life could have been. Several people found this instructive. Several others found it catastrophic. Simone crashed a car into the garage. The Gazette files comprehensively.

Ivy and Sam discovered a letter Ivy wrote to Sam that her father had intercepted. Sam found Ivy crying, comforted her, and the mist showed them a vision of their life had they stayed together. Ivy kissed Sam. Sam could not quite believe she would have been content as a cop's wife. Ivy attempted to convince him the vision was accurate. She implored him to make love to her. Grace subsequently witnessed the kiss. Sam is now explaining himself. David is now comforting Grace. David has admitted to Grace that he is in love with her. The mist showed them a vision of being happily married. Grace is upset. Sam is accusing Grace of wanting David. Grace is demanding Sam apologise to David. This is a fully operational romantic disaster and the mist merely accelerated what was already structurally present.

Sheridan had a vision of being happily married to Antonio, with Luis happily married to Beth, all four of them content in a world where she had met Antonio first and loved only him. She is now worried she is keeping Luis from a happy life with Beth. Luis is reassuring her. Luis is then worrying whether her feelings have changed. Neither of them is looking at Beth, who is enjoying this situation in a way that is not compatible with her stated role as a sympathetic party.

Theresa had a devastating vision of a future in which she and Ethan had never gotten involved. She is more determined than ever to get Ethan back. She begged him for another chance. Ethan again explained that it is over. He left. Gwen confronted Theresa. The Gazette notes the word "again" in the preceding sentence and notes that it is doing considerable load-bearing work.

Whitney saw a vision of being a tennis champion with Chad and Simone happily married. Simone saw Chad and Whitney embracing, assumed correctly, declared she would hate them both forever, and crashed a car into the Crane garage. The car crash interrupted Kay's attempt to confess to Charity about Miguel. Charity then told everyone about the evil mist. Simone, informed it was supernatural, forgave Chad and Whitney. Chad attempted to tell the truth anyway. Whitney stopped him. The mist clarified everything and nothing simultaneously, which is an outcome Hecuba considers acceptable.

Sam and Ivy again: Grace pulled back from Sam earlier because they are not officially married. The annulment complication remains unresolved. Grace is now explaining this to Sam while also being in love with David, possibly, or at minimum being comforted by him in a way that looks identical to being in love with him. The Gazette notes that the mist did not create this problem. It merely turned the lights on.

Society Desk · Personal Conduct

Julian and Tabitha: Sitting In A Tree.

Julian Crane, having returned to Harmony, attended Theresa's welcome home party for Antonio and Sheridan. He went to offer his condolences to Tabitha for the loss of Timmy. After half a Martimmy, they made love. The Gazette notes the half. Not a full Martimmy. Half. This is either a commentary on the efficiency of Tabitha's home cocktail program or on the particular emotional vulnerability of two people who have each lost someone, one of them very recently and one of them across a span of centuries, and who have a history together that predates most of the town's architecture. The Gazette files this with more tenderness than it typically allocates to Julian-adjacent situations.

Julian and Tabitha have subsequently reminisced about their wild night together at the party. There is a possibility that Tabitha may be pregnant. The Gazette will not speculate further but notes that if Tabitha is carrying Julian's child, this represents a development that the supernatural infrastructure of Harmony was probably always going to produce eventually, and that Hecuba's comment about the parentage of a mysterious fourth alley mcbaby is filed here for cross-reference.

Julian Crane Personal Life Desk

Julian Makes Pass at Eve; Listens to Her Tape; Eve Finds Him and Lashes Out

Julian, rebuffed at the party by an unspecified party, made a subtle pass at Eve. Separately, Julian was found at home listening to a recording of Eve singing, described as the best time of his life. Eve discovered him with the tape and lashed out at her former lover. TC is ranting about his hatred of Julian while simultaneously pushing Simone toward Chad in a way Eve finds theoretically significant. TC is obsessed with Whitney's tennis career. Eve and TC argue.

Antonio Situation Desk

Antonio Blind, Home, Surrounded by Liars; Collapses Upon Learning the Truth; Gets Up and Demands It Anyway

The cottage. The intimacy attempt. Luis's intervention. The collapse. The demand. The Gazette covers a man who deserved better and is not going to get it.

AntonioBrian has been discharged from the hospital. He is blind. He has been brought home to the cottage, where Pilar, Sheridan, and Luis are helping him get settled. Luis, watching Sheridan be affectionate with his brother in a domestic context, decided he could not tolerate it and stole Sheridan away. They shared some passion. Antonio then found them in this intimate situation.

Antonio passed out. When he came to, he demanded an explanation. Luis has decided it is time for the truth to come out. The Gazette notes that Luis has decided this at the moment when telling the truth will cause Antonio, a blind man who has been medically advised that emotional upset could kill him, to receive the most emotionally upsetting possible information in the most abrupt possible manner, directly after regaining consciousness from a collapse caused by discovering his fiancée with his brother. The Gazette does not know what the right timing for this truth would have been. It was probably earlier. It was certainly not this.

Beth has been attempting to get Antonio to elope with Sheridan. Mrs. Wallace talked him out of it. Beth is furious. Mrs. Wallace is taunting Beth and has vowed to stop the Luis-Beth marriage. Beth has threatened to put her mother in a home. Beth has also been questioning her mother about her own father's identity, a thread the Gazette will monitor. Luis, for his part, told Hank he needed to be at the party just to be near Sheridan. Hank suggested he stay away. Luis did not stay away. This is consistent with Luis's documented operational history.

Career Development Desk

Theresa Demands Executive Position at Crane Industries; Alistair Agrees; Nobody Can Figure Out Why

Theresa, apparently operating on the principle that the only rational response to surviving your own execution is immediate vertical career mobility, has demanded an executive position at Crane Industries. Alistair Crane agreed. Julian, Ivy, and Rebecca are attempting to determine Alistair's true motive and have not yet succeeded. Gwen is irritated that Ethan expressed admiration for Theresa's nerve. Ethan expressed admiration for Theresa's nerve. Pilar worries Theresa is setting herself up for a fall. Theresa anticipates using the position to get Ethan back. The Gazette notes that Theresa's professional and romantic ambitions have been so thoroughly fused at this point that separating them would require surgery.

Separately: Rebecca has a secret plan to strip Theresa of her power. The Gazette files this under Plans That Will Probably Make Things Worse For Rebecca and moves on.

Domestic Incident Desk

Mrs. Wallace Urinates on Julian's Favourite Chaise Longue; Beth Is Horrified

Beth's mother made an unwelcome appearance at the party and urinated on Julian Crane's favourite chaise longue. Beth was horrified and rushed to contain the damage before Antonio could make a potentially fatal discovery in the immediate vicinity. The Gazette does not know what discovery Beth feared Antonio would make. The Gazette notes that the party at this point already contained: an evil doll, a supernatural hallucinogenic mist, two women in love with the same blind man, a possibly pregnant witch, Hecuba watching from a basement lair, a stolen car, and a woman who had just been told she was the head of a major corporation by a man whose motives are unknown. Mrs. Wallace urinating on a chaise longue is, in this context, a minor logistical matter. Julian's chaise longue has simply had the misfortune of being present.