samosets

[samosets]

*sees one cop drive by* damn. way too many cops out today

[samosets]

MARY: 

“Together forever.” Mary smiled, holding her hand out for a high-five. “I don’t think I’d have hardly any fun if you didn’t come too. Also, we both know I hardly listen to Sawyer, so I think for everyone’s sake it’s better if you were here too.”  She teased, nudging him playfully. Mary had already started thinking about the future, past all of this– it made her value her time in the present a whole lot more.

Sam met her hand in the air, grinning at his friend. Mary was basically the first friend he met in Coolsville, and because of that she’d always be special to him. He chuckled, shrugging innocently. “No one can blame you for having good judgment.” Sam glanced over his shoulder, as if afraid that Sawyer had heard his joke. As Mary grew quiet, Sam quirked an eyebrow. “What are you thinking about?”

[samosets]

SAWYER:

Sawyer lifted their hands so that he could kiss his own thumb, sealing the pinky promise like he used to with his mom before dropping Sam’s hand to go rummaging around in his rucksack in the back of the van. “Hey, don’t leave me!” Sawyer called after him, taking the cigarette case he hid his joints in and slipping it into his pocket before shoving the back doors of the van closed. Sawyer jogged up to join Sam before taking out the cigarette case and putting a joint between his lips to spark up. “You wanna hear about the latest philosopher I’ve been reading?” he asked, taking a deep drag before passing the joint to Sam. It was Sawyer’s favorite topic when he was high—he could wax poetic for hours.

Sam chuckled as Sawyer jogged up to him. Motioning for his friend to follow, Sam set off on a lightly worn trail. With a sideways glance, he happily took the joint from Sawyer. “Is it an old white guy?” he teased, taking a long drag. “I’m kidding, you know, lay it on me. Make me question existence itself.” As much as he teased, Sam enjoyed these conversations with Sawyer. 

[samosets]

Taken by surprise, Sam felt himself instinctively straighten his posture and brush a stray piece of hair behind his ear. He thought for a moment before clearing his throat.

“Hello... whoever is watching this. I’m Sam, Mystery, Inc.’s very own navigation expert. They would all quite literally be lost without me,” he chuckled at his own joke. “That’s all I’ve got.” He shrugged, dodging any semblance of a real answer.

Kwame raised the video camera, a smile on his face. “I’m shooting quick intros for everybody,” he said, moving around his friend to find the best angle. Kwame was certain that of all the young people in the United States, he’d somehow managed to be with the most coolest ones. Even when they tried to get him killed. So like a proud mother, he recorded everything just in case there was a nugget of gold, and there always was.

“Okay? Who are you? Don’t think about it! Just go.” It was a vague and low-key deep question, but since he wasn’t posing it to himself, Kwame saw no flaw in it.

[samosets]

MARY: 

“I think that’d be a lot of fun–” Mary smiled warmly. She hoped the group would stay in touch after the summer. This was the first time Mary had a group of close friends, especially with the girls of the group. Sawyer and Sam were the only ones she knew before the trip, but she was growing closer to Wendy and everyone else by the second. “Yeah. I kinda thought it’d be awkward but we all really clicked. I’ve never clicked with anyone before like I have with everyone here.”

“As long as you have the van, you have a navigator,” he said with a smile. Sam meant it, too. The van had begun to feel like a second home to him, and he couldn’t really imagine real life past this road trip. Pushing dark hair behind his ear, Sam nodded in agreement. “I’m glad you talked me into this,” he said, smiling. “I didn’t think it would be this fun.”

[samosets]

WENDY:

A few steps down Main Street and the town already felt small, almost claustrophobic. It was the kind of dump that could fit in your back-pocket, it’s only purpose being a warning: “See? This is the kind of place that drives folks mad.” It was a mirror image of her hometown. Lord, Sawyer sure knew how to pick these pits.

Wendy offered Sam the quickest hint of a smile in his direction. Four days seemed like the correct estimation, but she would not dare betray her own odds out loud— not when the game had already started. In truth, she wished Sam was right, if only this one time. Seven days in this town would be a nightmare. “City hall sounds groovy,” she nodded slightly. “We can try employment records, but I believe that newspapers might be our best shot at finding something big. I read the newspaper archives are stored there, too.” Her cheeks flushed a light shade of red; she felt the heat burning at both sides of her face. She was a bit embarrassed for always going on about the papers, regardless of whether the gang was discussing a case or not. But those pieces of ink and fragile paper were her guiding light, her map toward hard facts and truth. “I mean, who knows. If Sawyer is really onto something here, there must have been an article written about the asylum at some point.”

The side of Sam’s smile quirked in a half-smile as the duo made their way to City Hall. The small town trope always fascinated him, as the only real town Sam had spent time in was Coolsville. He’d been to Helena, back in the day, but that was a bustling metroplex compared to some of the places they’d been on this ghost-catching road trip. Sam always found himself wondering about the people who lived here: what did they do? What were they like?

“Ah, that makes more sense,” Sam conceded, propping open the front door for Wendy to pass through. “That makes much more sense than tracking down employment records, anyway.” He followed her inside, standing up slightly straighter as his eyes darted around the room. It seemed like everything was made of marble, which felt like a lot of pomp and circumstance for a less-than-impressive town.

“Definitely– I bet there’ll be a pretty good explanation for all of this,” he paused. “You think we could find a map of the property?”

case file 01: the game is afoot

[samosets]

SAWYER:

He pouted up at Sam. “Pinky promise?” he asked, holding out his outstretched pinky for Sam to link his finger. Sawyer put down the guitar with a scoff. “Do I have the dope,” he said, as if it was ridiculous for Sam to even ask that. 

Sam shook his head, rolling his eyes jokingly. He remembered how baffled he’d been when Mary and Sawyer had taught him about ‘pinky promises,’ but he obliged, linking his pinky with Sawyer’s. Sam laughed, walking ahead past the tree line as Sawyer got the goods. “Take your time,” he called back, teasing.

[samosets]

[samosets]

Summer of 84 (2018) dir. François Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell

[samosets]

jay being a smol happy bean celebrating his first score ♡

[samosets]

MARY:

Mary smiled, looking down before glancing up at Sam– “I think it’s the only slim feeling of direction I’ve got. To find a cause that’s important to me, go where it goes… I could build a life from there.” her shoulders shrugged, “But right now I’m here and I’m enjoying this more than anything. I didn’t think I’d have as much fun as I’m having, honestly.”

Sam nodded, an earnest expression replacing his smile. “Seriously, you should. I’ll read about you in the papers one day. We can still take road trips, of course, when you can break away from your super-serious-world-changing.” He leaned back against the van, his eyes finding the tree line in the distance. “Me too– it’s nice to have no expectations, for once, you know?”

[samosets]

WENDY:

[ @samosets​ ] A deep sense of relief washed over Wendy’s bones when she spotted Sam’s reflection on the windows that adorned the shops of Main Street. It was calming, truly, knowing that she’d been paired up with the one person in the group that understood and often shared her own misgivings surrounding the supernatural. There was no malice in her doubt, but some part of her worried if her relentless questioning put a damper in the gang’s dynamic, that perhaps being paired up with Sam had been done on purpose: the non-believers go with the non-believers.

As she quietly walked down the street, absentmindedly flipping her favourite pen between her fingers, she wondered if there was a point in her being there at all when she was so adamant in her own beliefs. Was friendship enough, or a good enough reason, for her to stick around? And was this —playing pretend detective— what she really wanted to do with her life right at this moment, while crucial and life-changing events happened all around her? Questions were all that plagued Wendy’s mind, with no answers in sight.

“How long do you think it will take them to figure out there’s no ghosts here?” another question that bothered her, albeit a more fun and distracting one; one she felt comfortable asking out loud, especially around Sam. They’d been playing this game from the beginning, almost by accident. When she first casually brought up the issue around her friend, Wendy’s regret for putting her foot in her mouth was short-lived. His response set her at ease, made her aware that she was not alone. Now their private game was the only thing that kept her distracted, sane.

“My guess is that we will be in this dump five days, a week tops.”

Sam harbored internal conflict about the idea of ghosts. The people he’d grown up with were varying shades of spiritual– there were certainly some who clung to the ideas of spirits (never ghosts)– but others, like Sam’s father, had a more rational explanation for it all. It was more like a metaphor, Sam had come to call it, a metaphor for being connected to oneself and one’s surroundings. The “spirits” really represented a greater awareness. 

But now, with the gang, on a cross-country road trip to find ghosts, Sam found himself feeling cynical, at best. From the first time he met Wendy, Sam gathered that she shared his misgivings. Always looking for the logical explanation, it was no wonder the two got paired up. They’d turned it into a little game, of sorts, finding a way to discuss their doubts aside from the whole group.

Neither of them meant any harm by it. Sam was more than happy to consider the possibility of ghosts, or spirits, or whatever else you want to call them, so long as the possibility of another explanation was also on the table. It just so happened that it usually did have a simpler explanation. 

Sam had been thinking about this already. Given the size of the town and the information Sawyer had given them about the case, Sam’s guess was about the same. “I’ll play the odds and say four days,” he chucked. “So, where first? City hall, look for any employment records?” 

case file 01: the game is afoot

[samosets]

[samosets]

LUNA:

Luna’s brow creased in concentration as she listened, trying to place where she had heard the words before. “Oh! Hemingway, right? I’m not much of a reader, at least not of fiction, but my mom loves him.”

"Yes!” Sam said, enthusiastically. He wasn’t sure anyone would know it, but he was pleasantly surprised. “Hemingway’s great. But, not fiction... what do you like to read?” 

[samosets]

SAWYER:

“You can’t rile me up then tell me to chill! That’s, like…I don’t know, not cool!” Sawyer groaned, tilting his head back as Sam spoke. “Yeah, well, my heart doesn’t say anything,” he said. “My heart points me in all the wrong directions.” He paused. “Literally, I mean. Don’t go reading into any metaphors.”

Sam laughed, nudging Sawyer’s shoulder, “I’m sorry, okay? I’m done. Promise.” He walked over to Sawyer’s side of the van, opening the door and gesturing for his friend to get out. Sam smirked at Sawyer’s direction, waving his hands in surrender. “I said I was done, and I am. You have the dope?”

[samosets]

CASEY:

glancing at the book in sam’s hand, casey shook her head. listlessly, she continued to flip through the magazine she’d grabbed from the gas station they’d stopped at, hoping to find something at least a little bit entertaining. it was mostly celebrity gossip, which casey wasn’t that interested in. she stopped as sam began reading, glancing up at him. the passage made her frown; it hit a little too close to home. most of the time, she had no problem beating up the bad guys that ran into - after all, she was doing it to protect her friends. she’d be lying though if she said sometimes it didn’t feel good to take her aggression out on them. maybe that made her bad too. 

blinking, she let that go for now. casey didn’t want to think about it too much - that would only put her in a bad place. “that’s a lot of soul searching for nine am, sam.” she remarked, her voice neutral. 

Sam studied Casey’s face, wondering too late if this wasn’t the most appropriate quote to read to her. Seeing her frown let loose a wave of guilt in his chest– he hadn’t meant Casey at all. Closing the book, Sam leaned back and smiled at his friend. “You’re probably right– though, I’ve already been up for four hours.” Sam tilted his head to see what she was rifling through, looking for a way to change the topic. “Anything good in there?” 

[samosets]

MARY:

“You got that right– I mean, what significance does Home Economics even have anymore? I thought we were all about the liberating of women, not teaching them how to stay in the kitchen.” Mary’s nose wrinkled as she thought about the one Home Ec class she took. There wasn’t one dessert that went unscorched in that class. “Really? Well I doubt the team we went to school with could even get their butts on a horse.”

Sam chuckled, nodding his agreement, “Absolutely. I figure we’ve got a few more years to go on that front. Hey, you could lead the way.” He shrugged, picturing Mary at the front of a crowd of ‘liberated women.’ Sounds rad. “Not to be a jerk, but I would absolutely pay to see that.”