jamesp-sully

[jamesp-sully]

.

Sully picked up his cup of tea from his own table, and sat at hers. "I'm Sully, by the way. I think I didn't catch your name?" She looked like she could be a pop star, or a model, or an actress or something of the sort. He wondered if she was supposed to be famous, and that he, as always with big celebrities and the like, just wasn't aware of it.

Sully considered his options. Career sounded relevant and interesting. Family... He thought it might be best not to go there. "Just... Nothing specific. A generalized reading sounds good."

Arista clapped her hands in excitement at Sully's interest in tarot. There was nothing Arista loved more than to give people around town their readings, and as many as anyone liked.

Arista motioned for him to sit at the table with her.

"Is there something that perhaps you're interested in specifically getting a reading for? Love? Money? Career? Family or Friend drama? Or perhaps just a more generalized reading?"

[jamesp-sully]

.

Sully picked up the menu and read it as quick as he could to not waste the kind man's time, cursing himself for forgetting his glasses at home. "Alright, so I think I'll have... The gumbo, and... And the potato salad, please. I'll leave the spinach puffs for the next time."

Bananas Foster sounded fun, even if Sully wasn't completely sure of what it was. But cobbler... He loved cobblers, and hadn't had one in a long while. "A blueberry cobbler, would that be okay?" Better to go with the safe option.

"How's, uh, business going so far?" he asked the man as he set the menu to the side. "Looks like it's been booming so far. Hope back at the kitchen it's not too overwhelmed, with so many full tables here."

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily recommend them together," he chuckled. "But both are good, in their own right." He'd seen people eat far weirder combinations of foods, but he was never one to yuck someone's yum.

"I would say order whatever you'd like, first. If you're more interested than that, then your wish is our command." Kronk hadn't fully memorized the menu yet, but he was getting there. The desserts were both easier because there was less but complicated because they were diverse. "Well, we have an orange pecan tart that is rather tasty, some beignets, cobblers, lava cakes, oh, and a personal favorite, Bananas Foster." He was rather proud of that one, since it took him so long to master.

[jamesp-sully]

.

"Oh, darn it, you sure you're alright?" The young woman was rather small, and for a moment there he feared she was going to trip and fall or that he had stepped on her or something. Luckily, it looked like nothing had happened.

Sully chuckled. "Yes, well, thankfully I won't be using these glasses twenty-four-seven," he said, taking them off and putting them back in their case. "So, the adaptation period won't be too harsh."

Now that he had the reading glasses off, he squinted and gazed at her face for a moment longer. Where did he know her from? "Are you...? You're from that jewelry store, right?" He could swear he had seen that face through the store window sometime. While having never entered, Sully passed by that pretty store every once in a while, on his way to Philoctetes'. More than once he had wondered if this year was the one when he should buy his mother a present for Christmas, and whether a pair of earrings were the proper thing she would appreciate.

"Oh, goodness—" Phillipa gasped, a little breathless, as the friendly giant of a man unexpectedly bumped into her. She was caught entirely unaware, the force of the collision almost sending her fumbling to the ground. For a heart-stopping moment, she teetered precariously, her arms flailing slightly to regain her balance. Yet, with a remarkable display of composure, she managed to catch herself before any real mishap occurred. As if nothing untoward had happened, she smoothly straightened her dress and offered the man a reassuring smile, her eyes twinkling with a touch of understanding. "No harm done, sir, truly," she assured him, her voice light and steady. "Do you perhaps have some new glasses by any chance? That's always such an adjustment in the beginning, isn't it? It's exactly the same with my own father dearest; he bumps into everything for the first few days whenever he gets a new prescription."

[jamesp-sully]

.

"Hey, man... You sure you're okay?" Sully gently asked him. "You look like you could use a good night's rest."

Perhaps it was just that most people had heard, at some point or another, about James Hook, the owner of the town's biggest and most popular hotel; perhaps it was the overall panic and trepidation that was naturally going to unfold after the latest case of poisoning. Whatever the case, a bunch of Sully's coworkers at the factory were clearly nervous about the incident, and with good reason. A few were extra careful with what they ate, what they drinked, who they talked to... Generally speaking, Sully felt more or less safe (he cooked all his meals, and didn't speak to many people about his own thoughts on the matter). This man, he didn't seem to be feeling safe or even collected, at all.

"Do you need any help?"

"That is okay," Terence said with a big, shuddering yawn, his eyes heavy-lidded and underlined with the kind of dark shadows that no amount of concealer could ever hope to erase. It was more than okay; it was a profound surrender to the bone-deep exhaustion that had become his constant, unwelcome companion these past few weeks. Ever since Tina and James, his vibrant, effervescent friends, had fallen into that terrifying coma, sleep had been a cruel, distant stranger to him. And that, he realized with a fresh wave of self-recrimination, was weeks ago now.

He couldn't help but blame himself, the gnawing guilt a relentless parasite that chewed at his insides. His cure – the one he'd poured his heart, his genius, and every waking moment into – hadn't just failed to fix the insidious illness; it hadn't even slowed its relentless march through Redwood. Whoever the malevolent creator of this affliction was, they had engineered it with a chilling precision, making it stubbornly, infuriatingly unfixable by conventional means. And so, Terence spent countless, agonizing hours in his makeshift lab, a solitary, desperate figure hunched over beakers, microscopes, and reams of data, relentlessly chasing a solution to the seemingly unfixable, praying for a breakthrough that stubbornly refused to materialize.

[jamesp-sully]

.

"Ah, I think I'm alright... But sure, if you're going my way, why not," he smiled with a quick shrug. "These are just up-close reading glasses, I don't need them to see all the time." It was nice of this man to show that level of concern, though.

Sully gave the man a once over. "Hey, you're from the Nature Reserve, right?" he asked him. "... Sorry, I might be mistaken. I just --I went there some time ago, getting it confused with the zoo, and..." He was talking nonsense now. The man was probably an office worker or something, and he had gotten it completely wrong.

Benak was passing by the doctor's office on his walk. The thought occurred to him that it might have actually been too long since he last went, and that it was something he should get done soon. In his early 40s he was only getting older, and unfortunately that always meant more check ups to stay in tip top shape.

"Oh no worries at all, friend. This is my mistake, my apologies. I should have been watching where I was going, most certainly outside a place such as this." Benak offered in apology. He thought for a moment. "Might I make it up to you by helping you home? Or wherever you were looking to go while your eyes adjust?"

[jamesp-sully]

.

Sully chuckled for a moment. "... Wait. You mean it? Like, snap it right off?" He immediately jumped back, as if the turtle had popped up right in front of him and was hopping in the general direction of his fingers. "And they're mean. Got it."

Glancing around him, still unsure if he had done right by getting into this situation, Sully sighed again and scratched his head. What an unfortunate thing, to have a runaway turtle, to be tricked by the famously slow creature. "So, was it originally from the reserve? How did this snapping turtle get to this park?"

He gave the woman a brief look. Sully hadn't been to the reserve yet, but he could easily assume she was an employee there, obviously. Was finding this turtle her job? "You deal with turtles all the time, huh? All sorts of turtles?" And did having three legs lessen the possibilities of her pet getting to people's fingers? "Is your turtle also the...? The mean type?" He couldn't imagine having such a dangerous pet in his own home.

Sabrina continued to search around in the grass.

"Hmmmmm...I guess you can tell if one takes off a finger or two." She said as if it was not something horrifying. Almost like it was more of a quirky behavior than something truly scary. "But they're also usually larger and a darker color than most friendly turtles. Also they're mean."

Sabrina stood up.

"Well if we found it that's where I come in!" Sabrina sang out. "I have the stuff to catch it in my car, then I can take it back to the reserve and figure out what to do from there with Benak! I typically handle aquatics but he's kinda an environmental genius so it helps having him around to. I deal with turtles all the time, even have one as a pet! He only has three legs."

[jamesp-sully]

.

Sully stared back at her for a moment, wondering if she recognized him from somewhere --because he most definitely did not.

"Does it?" He felt it was hard to even argue with that, since one never knew for certain where one would be if another choice had been made. Who could say he was or wasn't meant to be there, instead of somewhere else? Universe or not, all that mattered was that he was there at the present moment. But Sully didn't tell the woman all of this; he knew it would be pointless, and he knew better than to get into discussions and challenge a stranger's perspective on life.

"Ah, I'm not much of a horoscope person--" he began saying, until he actually stopped to consider it. Horoscope he didn't care much for, since he believed he had a good idea of who he was already; tarot, however... It was about reading one's future with some special cards, right? Like the fortune-tellers in cartoons. "... I could be open to tarot, yes." Sully was, admittedly, quite curious to know what the future had in store.

Arista's eyes flickered over to the man.

"Oh no, never a bother," She said. She looked at the man curiously, closer to almost dreamlike. "The universe tends to bring people to where they are meant to be. Also yeah sure, I'm not using that chair, feel free."

Arista paused.

"Want to know your horoscope? Or tarot reading?"

[jamesp-sully]

.

Sully frowned, not out of annoyance or anger but simply out of curiosity. New manager? What happened to the previous one? But he felt it was not proper to ask.

"That sounds good to me," he said with a nod. "Spinach puffs and gumbo, wouldn't have thought of that combination." Then again, he wasn't a culinary connoiseur or anything. His diet consisted of anything that was reasonably healthy but easy and fast to make. That meant a lot of roasted vegetables and some chicken or steak cooked in a simple way.

"Hm, would you recommend me asking for dessert straight away?" Sully wasn't in a hurry, but maybe the table needed to be cleared as quickly as possible so that someone else could occupy it. "What kind of desserts do you have?"

A first time customer was great to see, especially since it meant if the staff made a good impression, the guest would be more likely to tell their friends. "I do, yes! My name is Kronk Cabrera. I'm the new manager, here, just looking to get to know our guests and offer my gratitude for choosing us."

There were so many things that he could recommend at the moment, that it was hard to pick just one. "Well, I have to say, the gumbo is a fan favorite around here, and for appetizers, the spinach puffs are quite good as well." A humble brag, he thought to himself. "And of course, we have some delicious desserts, as well."

[jamesp-sully]

.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Sully smiled with a nod. "Don't worry." Really, considering how tall and imposing he was, he was the one who should be more careful. Thankfully he hadn't stepped on the woman's foot, nor bumped into her too hard.

He was about to wave at her and continue on his way, when he heard the music coming out of her earbuds right before she put them away. "Hey, uh... Not to be a bother, but what are you listening to?" Was that too weird or personal a question? Sully was in dire need of updating his workout playlist, and what the blasted algorithm recommended him was still nothing he actually enjoyed. Perhaps he should just take a trip to Sol Records and ask for proper, human-made recommendations.

"Oh, also... Would you like some peanuts?" he offered her. "Not salted."

Was Jasmine hiding? You could say that. Her dearest baba had found her a new suitor that would be "oh, such a perfect match!" and, frankly, she was ready to pass up on such an opportunity. So while baba, the suitor, and his own parents were waiting at the restaurant for her, the college student was taking matters into her own hands. Deciding that instead, today was a rather nice day to explore Rosewood Hallow. She would much prefer to see what sort of adventure could pop up instead of being on a stuffy date in an even stuffier setting.

She sighed happily as she strolled down the street. The breeze playing with her dark curls, flowing behind her as she roamed back. She had her ear buds in her ear, listening to Felukah's discography, and looked around. Taking in everything. Despite growing up in the college town, there was still so much of it that she hasn't seen. So many things that she hasn't tried, so many people she hasn't met. As much as she loved her father, she couldn't help resenting him a little for having kept her shelter all these years.

Well, it's a good thing she was fixing that now.

Moving her head to the beat of the song, her eyes had been admiring one of the shop windows when she ran into someone. "Oh, wAllah—I'm so terribly sorry!" Jasmine quickly pulled her ear buds out and tucked them in her bag. Laughing at his words, she shook her head. "No, you're all good. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. Are you all right?"

[jamesp-sully]

.

Sully wasn't one to eat out. He was a decent enough cook, but he preferred to prepare his own dishes, with his tried-and-true recipes and the ingredients he liked best (the fact that Redwood had had a bunch of poisonings recently also meant that he considered making his own food a safety precaution, too).

And yet... Evangeline's had had nothing but rave reviews, and Sully had gotten curious. Maybe he could treat himself to a nice fancy meal just this once.

"Thanks. First time," Sully replied. He was still undecided on what to order. "Uh, I suppose you work here... Is there something you'd say is particularly good? The house's specialty?" He knew the restaurant was rather new, but clearly it had become quite popular in town. Sully still wasn't quite sure how he managed to get a free table, among all the enthusiastic clients.

Kronk couldn't have been more excited, truly. He'd had a lot of career changes over the course of his life, he could admit that, but he was never ashamed of any of them. He had a lot of gifts and hobbies, and that was always a good thing. At least, he liked to think so. He still had the squirrel scouts to think of, but he was getting help in that regard, and now, well, he was over the moon to be managing Evangeline's, in Ray's absence. The man trusted him with a huge responsibility, and he was not about to take that for granted.

As the new manager, he wanted to make sure he got to know his customers, and therefore wanted to introduce himself as the restaurant began to fill up. "Welcome to Evangeline's," he greeted, with a warm smile. "First time visiting or have we been here before?"

@happieststarters

[jamesp-sully]

open starter @happieststarters

Coming out of the ophthalmologist (now wasn't that a fun word for Scrabble night) Sully blinked as the midday light briefly blinded him. He wasn't really excited about needing reading glasses now, but it could be worse. He could need everyday glasses. It could be a hindrance for his work. No, he was lucky, in a certain way. Pity that his job benefits didn't include paying at least partly for his brand-new eyewear, though.

Now, the doctor had said he had to wear the glasses for a little while to get his eyes used to it. Sully knew he meant 'at home', but still he left them on as he stepped out of the building, making sure they didn't squeeze his temples too much, and that they didn't slip off the bridge of his nose. Everything seemed okay so far.

PIcking out the case from his jacket pocket, he remembered he still had a pack of peanuts in there. He popped a few into his mouth, and headed to leave the doctor's doorway, when he accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh --sorry. Didn't see you there," he said, mouth still full of peanuts. Immediately, he gave them an awkward smile. "Well, isn't that ironic."

[jamesp-sully]

.

"Uh... Sorry to bother you," Sully said as he approached the woman. "... I was just going to ask you if you were using this chair." The one from the table he was sitting on had a leg slightly shorter than the other... A lot shorter, really. He had tried the old reliable trick of folding a piece of paper and placing it under the leg so it was high enough, but to no avail.

He was apparently interrupting something, though, and hadn't realized until after opening his mouth. Sully fidgeted a bit but decided to stay put, even if just apologizing and leaving to ask someone else felt like the right thing to do.

Arista sat at the coffee table at the cafe. She had an iced matcha and lavender drink next to an expensive laptop decked out in stickers.

"So like, if you think I could like, help with anything like, let me know yeah? I have the recording studio, my stream, all of my social media posts and stuff, I can like, totally help you get some reach online. Or some free stuff, probably. I get a lot of that, so much of it I don't even know what to do with, what types of things do you like? I probably have plenty!"

@happieststarters

[jamesp-sully]

.

"I mean... It was certainly a turtle, I don't know if a snapping one. Though it looked capable of it." Sully checked under another bench, patting on the grass as lightly as he could in case the darn turtle was hiding there. "How do you know a snapping turtle from a regular turtle?" If he had to guess, something about the size or coloring.

Sully stood up and sighed, putting his hands on his hips. "What should we even do when we find it?" he asked. "Take it to the vet? To the pet store? To the zoo?"

Sabrina continued looking around the park trees. She got down on her hands and knees to look around some rocks, and under some benches.

"Are you sure it was a snapping turtle? They normally wouldn't come all the way out there, with all the people and all---but if one is here It'd definitely be good to find it!"

@happieststarters

[jamesp-sully]

.

"Ah... You got the worst person to ask that to," he chuckled as he scratched his head. "I was just about to ask you, since you... Well..." The man just looked like he actually knew what he was looking at when he read the titles on the spines. Sully had never been a book person, but he had always envied those who were. Back in college, he had tried to get into reading for fun: it failed partly because business textbooks were absolutely the worst to spend a sunny afternoon, and because of how his reputation would suffer if he had been seen spending any free time in the library.

That was ages ago, though. Time to move on, to better things. To more interesting ways to pass his free time. Besides, now that he had to wear reading glasses, Sully figured he better put them to good use.

"Do you have any recommendations? If you don't mind, of course. I'm looking for something light," Sully asked, reaching out for the closest book and giving it a glance. "Something... Something for someone to get back into the hang of it."

Benak's eyes gazed over the book cases before him. It was not like he needed anymore books, his home had become covered in piles upon piles of them. Still, he persisted in his hobby.

"Do you have any recommendations?" Benak said out loud to the person browsing the shelves beside him. "I'm looking for something new to read."

@happieststarters

[jamesp-sully]

JAMES P. SULLIVAN is forty years old. He is an employee at the Hill Family Factory. He is the incarnation of Sully from the Disney film Monsters Inc.

+ Confident, Tenacious, Gentle - Intimidating, Awkward, Vain

ABOUT SULLY

James’ life was not supposed to end up like this. He was supposed to, according to his father and grandfather, major in business at college at the top of his class and go on to become a successful businessman, like the Sullivans before him. He was supposed to continue the legacy and land a great position, get a nice house, start his own family. He was supposed to be ambitious. He was supposed to carry the family name, and make his father proud. But then he just had to go and do something stupid like sign up for a dumb Fraternity challenge during his time at college, with a crowd that couldn’t care less about him, leading to an incident he would rather just not talk about ever again. And then came that nasty cheating scandal, after a long while of flunking and passing every other final by the skin of his teeth and with the help of his best friend, Mike Wazowski. That help was not enough, and when he was accused of copying, he was kicked out of college for good. James, or Sully, as most people called him, had been coasting on his popularity and his surname for as long as he could remember. Being on his own, with a family ashamed of even acknowledging him, proved to him how fickle these privileges really were. He has been thankful for ages that he still has Mike by his side, the only friend to stay supportive and who motivated him to keep moving forward. He was hired by the Hill Family Factory not because of his popularity, even less because of his surname, but because of what a good job he did and how hard he was willing to work. Sully started over and realized that what his family expected of him and what he wanted to do were wildly different things. He didn’t need much, and ten years after starting at the company, and after six years of validation from being the top employee, he found he was satisfied with a simple routine. Changes were coming, though. The factory came under the new management of a Mr Kevin Hopper, who was all too hurried to shake things up and make more and more questionable choices regarding issues like workers’ benefits, payroll organization, and manufacturing processes. Sully knows the other employees at the factory don’t fully agree with these changes, but none are willing to speak out, far too worried about losing their jobs. He knows it, and understands it --hell, that is why he stayed quiet for so long (that and the position he still has as one of the best at the factory). And yet, when he overheard a damning conversation between Hopper and Mr Borovsky, he decided something needed to be done. Without further evidence, though, and nervous about not being believed, there is not much he can truly do, at least for now. Still, despite his anxieties, and what this conversation means for the factory, its business practices and for his fellow coworkers, Sully knows he has everything he needs. A nice apartment, a stable job, a good friend. He never takes it for granted, and is plenty grateful for what he got through his efforts and determination. Sully’s life was not supposed to end up like this --but he is more than happy with his lot.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION*

As he has turned forty, Sully has begun to question whether he wants to stay where he is for forty years more. He has been asking himself that question for a while, but it is only now that the reality of his situation has fully hit him, and he still hasn’t come any closer to an answer.

Even after having lost contact with his father and grandfather for the last decade and a half, he used to get birthday and Christmas cards from his mother, which he replied with thankful catching-up phone calls every January. These last couple years there have been no cards nor phone calls, though, and Sully has been wondering if he should try and, finally, reconnect with his family, or move on and let the past go.

His work and his best friend are basically his entire life, but on his free days and after hours, if not at home, Sully can be found either at Mount Olympus or Philoctetes Gym. Despite having a good rapport with his coworkers and occasionally going out for drinks with them, he has been trying to make actual new friends for a while, though he’s not exactly the best at starting conversations, even less keeping up with people he’s not really close to.

CONNECTIONS

Mike Wazowski - Sully's life-long best friend. They've known each other since the 4th grade, spent time as roommates and make an excellent team at the factory. Randall Boggs - An employee at the factory. Sully and Randall have been in competition with each other to earn top manufacturer for many years. Randall seems to have more issue with Sully than Sully has with him. Celia Mae - Mike's girlfriend. Her likes her well enough and occasionally covers for Mike when he inevitably puts his foot in his mouth or forgets to schedule a date.

Sully is currently unavailable. His faceclaim is Winston Duke.