#& howdy must get so excited when he comes along on jobs...

[undercoverbastard]

Of Stab Wounds and Misunderstandings

It was around the age of 16 that Stiles finally started to come to terms with the implications of his words and he had made peace with it. On occasion, he thought that maybe they’d be able to work past whatever issues his soulmate had with him, but when even Scott would forlornly glance at his bicep with those big round, pitiful eyes - he knew. So he accepted it!

But one good thing that came out of that whole situation was Lydia. When Stiles had swiftly redirected himself down the opposite end of the hall and ducked into a somewhat empty classroom to escape prying eyes and laughing jeers over the words stamped across his skin, Lydia had followed. She stayed quiet, let Stiles collect himself and get a hold of his breathing again, then calmly said, “Fuck fate.”

+.+.+

OR: the soulmate au one based off an old tumblr post or something i read when stiles' words make him think his soulmate hates him so he avoids speaking to them so they won't know who he is. needly to say, that plan doesn't pan out too well and idiots are forced to communicate

Archive of Our Own Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/44451616

Stiles had made peace with it. Truly, he had.

At first, he tried to fight it. When he was a child, he didn’t understand it. He knew his parents became wary every time their thumbs traced the words. He knew his mom teared up every time her eyes read over them silently. He knew his dad’s jaw clicked when his teeth clicked together when he caught sight of the mark.

As a child, he was none the wiser. He kept the words covered, as much of the other kids in his class did, and was blissfully unaware of what they meant. Some of the other kids giggled, talking in hushed voices about their marks. Ms. Jacobs often told them it was rude to ask about them and to avoid discussion about them - they’d have plenty of time to do so when they were older.

But that never stopped excitable 6-year-olds. Heather gushed over the word ‘pretty’ and how it must mean her soulmate will think her pretty as a princess. He heard of another boy laughing about how his said the word ‘howdy’ and how he hoped that meant his soulmate was a cowboy (spoiler alert: Anthony Garcia’s soulmate was not a cowboy but an actress at the local county fair who somehow got wrangled into doing horse rides and took her job very seriously - though she did look the part of a cowboy during her shifts).

Stiles at the age of 6, on the other hand, knew almost none of his words, especially when strung together. He knew some of the basic words like ‘you’ and ‘know’, but none of those words gave him much to go off of. He had attempted to sound some of the other words out, and Ms. Jacobs almost had a stroke when he asked her what prick meant. That was a long day - his parents were red in the face, Ms. Jacobs looked like she was on the verge of tears, and every adult told Stiles over and over again not to mention his soulmark to anyone else for two hours straight.

It wasn’t until middle school he understood.

By then, at the tender age of 12, Stiles understood what his words meant. Had for a while, but just then he finally understood what they hinted at. His soulmate was going to hate him on sight; he was going to be disgusted by Stiles before Stiles even had a chance to show who he was to the other person.

Stiles went through a phase the next year where he only spoke to someone new if they spoke first. He was terrified he would upset his soulmate by saying a bad joke or something else along those lines. So he refused to speak first - making it a blanket rule almost.

That only lasted so long as there were too many instances where he had to initiate the conversation first and he too often forgot about the plan that he abandoned it altogether.

It was around the age of 16 that Stiles finally started to come to terms with the implications of his words and he had made peace with it. On occasion, he thought that maybe they’d be able to work past whatever issues his soulmate had with him, but when even Scott would forlornly glance at his bicep with those big round, pitiful eyes - he knew. So he accepted it!

The first person who told Stiles it wasn’t the end of the world was Lydia Martin. He’d had a crush on her in elementary school, claimed she was too pretty to be a princess and thus was a queen, but when her first words to him were “I need the blue crayon” in 3rd grade, he’d not bothered to fixate on it too much. Then, in sophomore year, her boyfriend caught sight of the first bit of Stiles’ words. Jackson Whittemore, for whatever reason, decided to draw attention to it, announcing to the hallway at large that ‘even fate couldn’t find someone to put up with him’. Stiles refused to ever go without a flannel or a long sleeve shirt after that.

But one good thing that came out of that whole situation was Lydia. When Stiles had swiftly redirected himself down the opposite end of the hall and ducked into a somewhat empty classroom, Lydia had followed. She stayed quiet, let Stiles collect himself and get a hold of his breathing again, then calmly said, “Fuck fate.”

After that, Lydia and he had become two peas in a pod - commiserating over their not-so-hopeful words. Lydia’s weren’t as bad, and Stiles had told her it was equally likely hers were said in jest. Lydia rolled her eyes, but the quirk of her lips and the far-off look she directed at her wrist wasn’t missed by Stiles.

For Lydia’s sake, he hoped her words were said in jest. Stiles didn’t have that hope, but he could have it for Lydia.

+.+.+

Now at 20, Stiles mostly ignored his soulmark. Sure, he still stared at it a bit too long when he got out of the shower, and his fingers subconsciously traced the words when he was anxious (which, well, didn’t really help with said anxiety), but he didn’t actively think about it. He was mostly content with the fact that he had yet to meet this person, hoping to put it off as long as possible.

Instead, he focused on his day-to-day life, embracing the current moment. And with that current moment, he decided he was going to take advantage of the nice weather and walk to his favorite coffee shop instead of driving.  Well, he less so decided as he was without other options seeing as his car was currently in the shop, but that’s neither here nor there - he was still basking in the ambiance of the day and enjoying himself, so it still counted.

Humming softly, Stiles stuffed his hands in his pockets and kept walking, a small skip to his step as he bounced on the in-step to the beat of the song stuck in his head. He had walked about a mile so far, the bookshop long since out of sight, and he had probably a little under a mile left of winding sidewalks and crosswalks before he made it to the coffee shop.

As Stiles thoughts over what his caffeine-addicted heart was in the mood for today, he heard a low growl and then a pitiful whine echo faintly from a narrow passage between two buildings. He had just walked by the small walkway, the space barely large enough for someone to walk through let alone much else.

Ignoring his apprehension and instead focusing on his curiosity and concern, Stiles backtracked slowly, stepping cautiously into the opening between the two buildings. He took careful, measured steps and kept an ear out for whatever could have made the sounds from before. He was willing to bet some sort of animal, maybe a dog or a cat. It sounded as if they were scared or in pain.

Running through the hundreds of possibilities, Stiles walked further down the passage until it opened up into a larger clearing. It seemed to be a merging point between several businesses on either side, old rickety fire escapes decorating each building. It didn’t seem the most ideal in the means of fire safety and escaping danger, but Stiles figured it was the best one could do given the cramped nature of the buildings. Most of them were older than a resident in the town, the fact that they didn’t mean any fire safety standard within this decade (hell, maybe this century) wasn’t all that surprising.

Glancing around, Stiles didn’t see anything and was about to retreat, having not heard any new sounds. But as soon as he took a step back, he heard another whine. It was high-pitched and desperate, seemingly begging despite the lack of words.

Without further thought, Stiles darted towards the sound. What he expected to find was an injured animal, maybe stuck on something or maybe with a broken leg, unable to walk any further. Instead, he found a girl - maybe around his age - pushed up against one of the walls leading into another narrow walkway on the opposite side of where Stiles himself emerged.

The girl was pushed up against the wall and a man was in front of her, teeth bared at her in some mockery of a smile while his forearm pressed into her throat. Stiles could barely see half the man’s face and only saw the faintest profile of the girl, her arm and hair the most visible parts of her.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing, man?!” Stiles yelled out. It seemed to work, the man having startled. And when he stepped back, a slick, wet sound accompanying the clatter of footsteps, Stiles saw the blade clutched in his hand.

The man narrowed his eyes and took a step forward, his knife already raised once again. In a panic, Stiles reached into his back pocket. The only thing he had on him was a flashlight, an old clunky metal one that barely worked half the time but that he always forgot about replacing.

He hesitated for only half a second, wondering if he could possibly fight the guy off with the flashlight. It was fairly large and it was heavy as hell being metal, but he felt like he was still outmatched. Instead, thinking on his feet, he went with his next best option. Or, well, the next best Stiles’ Patented Idea option.

He kept his hand in his back pocket, pulling the flashlight up just enough to reach the button but not enough to show it. He clicked the button on it twice, the heavy slide of the worn and ever so slightly rusted metal button sliding back and forth giving off a decent enough sound.

As he did so, he spoke, hoping the click would still be audible enough but that he could distract the guy, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

The man seemed to falter, his eyes jumping to Stiles’ arm that was still tucked behind his back. After a couple of seconds, Stiles realized he’d have to somehow keep the charade up of his flashlight being a gun or he’d have to out himself to being weaponless and pray to god his flashlight was a fair match to the knife in front of him.

Just as Stiles was about to pull out the flashlight and try to surprise the guy, a low growl came from behind him. This one wasn’t pained, it was angry and threatening - low and gravelly. It made Stiles shiver ever so slightly and his back straighten out.

In the next instant, Knife Guy was darting to the side, out another entryway, and out into the street, not casting a single look back. Stiles somewhat understood the sentiment after being present for the threatening sound that just came from what he assumed to be the girl now slumped against the wall.

Stumbling forward, Stiles dropped down onto his knees next to the girl, hands already reaching out to see how bad the damage was.

“Holy shit, that growl was impressive dude! Like seriously, you made the guy turn tail,” Stiles said as he slammed down next to her. He froze as he saw a hole at the bottom of her shirt, a dark stain coloring the dark blue shirt a near-black color. “Oh fuck, oh fuck - fuck! Okay, uhm, wow, this isn’t- come on. Let’s get you out of here.”

The girl seemed to hesitate, her eyes dancing over Stiles’ form, which - understandable, she did just get mugged or jumped or… whatever the guy was attempting with a knife. Stiles would be pretty hesitant of himself as well. Obediently, Stiles lifted his hands in the air and spread out his fingers, trying to imitate the universal sign of relenting. He wanted her to know he just wanted to help.

After a couple of stifled, silent seconds passed, Stiles watched as her head cocked ever so slightly, her nostrils flared, and her eyes seemed to narrow. It was odd, almost like one of those police dogs when they were investigating a scene and trying to determine if a certain scent was dangerous. It would be funny if she weren’t currently bleeding out.

Finally, she nodded, and Stiles quickly moved to wrap an arm around her waist as he pulled one of her arms over his shoulder. The girl wrapped her other arm around her abdomen, a soft groan leaving her lips as Stiles helped pull her to her feet. After they were standing upright, he began the tedious task of guiding them back out the passageway he first came down. It was quite narrow, so he had to walk nearly sideways so he could brace the girl’s weight on his shoulder still.

Once out to the street, Stiles let go of the arm she had thrown around his shoulders and immediately called his dad, phone cradled between his ear and shoulder as he tried to look around and get an idea of where he could take them that was safe.

“Hey, kid, wha-”

“Park Place and 7th. There’s a girl who got stabbed and- and we- she… please just send someone,” Stiles rushed out. The girl who was now leaning a bit heavily into his side was groaning small protests, her words ever so slightly slurred as she gave a half-hearted attempt at dismissing Stiles’ words.

“What?” his dad demanded, alarm settling in quickly. “What do you mean, Stiles?”

“I mean,” he said a bit frantically, “that I am currently holding a girl with a stab wound in her stomach and need some help! An ambulance, maybe a police officer - someone!”

“Okay, okay - I’ll dispatch my closest guy and call into the hospital. Hang tight and don’t go anywhere.” And with that, his dad ended the call, seemingly to see who was closest and to arrange for an ambulance for the girl who was currently smearing blood all over Stiles’ favorite flannel and becoming heavier by the minute.

“S…” the girl began, “St.. Stiles? You… you’re Stiles?” she asked, her voice a bit uneven but her eyes wide and questioning. She was already fumbling her bloody hand toward her sleeve, trying to shove it away but being mostly unsuccessful. Stiles could only nod dumbly, lost on how she knew him and what she was attempting to do exactly, before he remembered the gravity of the situation and opted to figure out what she seemed to know him at a later point in time.

He searched around until his eyes landed on the donut shop across the street. It was closed by now since they only opened in the morning, but they did have a couple of small tables out front that he could set her down at to try and keep her comfortable and maybe tend to the wound in the meantime. So, without further hesitation, he began to pull her across the street, eyes darting both ways to ensure no cars were coming while doing so.

The girl - whose name he really should learn, Stiles realized - groaned in pain once more and hunched in on herself as they took the first step off the sidewalk. The shift in stance and imbalance of weight sent Stiles momentarily stumbling. He dropped his phone on the sidewalk and opted to come back for it, not wanting to juggle the girl while trying to lean over to get his phone. 

Swiftly as he could, Stiles pulled them both over to the front of the donut shop. He used one of his feet to pull a chair out and pushed the girl into it as gently as he could. He knelt down and rearranged her so she was leaning back into the chair, the rest of her weight supported by the table next to her. His hands danced in the air a bit frantically, unsure if he should check the wound and try to apply pressure to it or if he should wait since his flannel wasn’t exactly the cleanest and he wasn’t sure if staunching the bleeding was more important than avoiding possible infection.

“Give me one second, I need my phone, Mel will know what to do,” Stiles said, his hands gripping the girl’s shoulders briefly before he turned to dart back across the street.

He glanced back over to her as he crossed, the sound of nearby sirens beginning to fill the air - thank god - and then searched for his phone. He knows he dropped it just as they began to cross the street but he hadn’t actually seen where it fell to. Staring at the ground and darting his eyes around momentarily, he finally caught sight of the screen glinting off sunlight, the phone having partially slid underneath one of the old Post Office Mail Boxes on the street (Stiles was like 85% certain the Post Office had stopped using those things, or at least, had stopped using this particular one).

When he finally retrieved his phone and turned back to cross the street, he heard the thunk of a door slamming shut. Someone from BHPD had finally arrived - Stiles felt a lot more relaxed, seeing as he obviously didn’t know what the fuck he was doing.

Jogging across the street, Stiles saw a man knelt down next to the girl in the chair Stiles had propped her against. He seemed fairly young, a newer recruit - someone that must have joined while Stiles was away at school during the year - and he had dark hair and decently tanned skin. If there wasn’t someone possibly-maybe actively dying six inches away from the guy, Stiles would be taking advantage of the opportunity to survey the view.

Pausing right behind the pair, Stiles waved his phone in the air, about to tell the girl he was going to call a nurse and ask about what to do for the stab wound in the meantime, but she found her voice before he did.

“Der, it- it’s him,” the girl said, her voice a bit of a wheeze. She didn’t sound upset or accusing, more in awe. And Stiles was a bit stumped, his eyebrows knitting together as the girl held out a finger towards him and thus caused the man - ‘Der’ - to turn toward him. Immediately, the most beautiful set of eyes Stiles ever had the privilege of looking into narrowed at him. They almost seemed to lighten a bit, the color getting sharper, but it seemed almost threatening rather than ethereal, as the guy took a step towards him and was letting out a low snarl in his direction.

“You fucking prick,” the man hissed out, and Stiles felt his stomach drop - the sharp sting of tears already ushing at the backs of his eyes. “You are a pathetic excuse of a person, you know that?” 

Stiles subconsciously grabbed at his bicep, a small burning warmth tickling his skin as the same words seemed to re-etch themselves into his flesh, reminding him. Taking a step back, Stiles opened his mouth to try and defend himself. The man had already taken another step forward, the snarling growl heightening in volume, and this time for certain, Stiles saw the change in color of the man’s eyes.

Breath hitched, Stiles couldn’t form a response. He was fucked. He was so majorly fucked .

“No, no!” the girl finally protested, leaning forward and fumbling to grab the guy’s arm, a weak attempt at pulling him back. “Not the stab wound, jesus, no. He’s Sti–”

Before she could finish, the arrival of a secondary police car and an ambulance were announced as they pulled around the corner of the street and screeched to a halt. Stiles had been so wrapped up in what seemed to be his inevitable death that he hadn’t even heard the new sirens of either vehicle until they had already pulled up.

“Stiles!”

Stiles looked away from the duo, finding his dad who was darting toward him with two paramedics close on his tail. Stiles obediently fell into his dad’s embrace, listening as the man asked if he was okay, how he found the girl, if he saw who did this, and ten other things. He tuned most of it out, watching as the paramedics loaded the girl up while the officer from earlier held a phone to his ear, eyes glued to the girl now being carried on a stretcher toward the ambulance.

“Stiles,” his dad finally grabbed his attention with a firm shake, “I’m going to need you to give a statement, son.” His dad looked like he was in literal pain, the worry clear as day in his eyes. Stiles felt gently guilty for causing his dad to have that look, but he also couldn’t find it in himself to regret getting involved either.

“I… I will,” he finally responded, “but… not yet. I need to talk to her first.”

Frowning, his dad followed his line of sight until they were both watching the paramedics finish loading up the ambulance. Stiles had to ask first, had to confirm.

+.+.+

Cora Hale.

That’s her name. After the ambulance finally pulled away, the murderous officer (AKA, Deputy Hale) in tow, Stiles followed his father into his cruiser and back home. Stiles had argued, insisting his dad could take them back to the station as he undoubtedly had work and paperwork to tend to, but his dad stubbornly declined.

“I need to tend to my son first,” he said evenly, his sharp gaze daring Stiles to argue. Stiles opted not to.

Once back at the house, Stiles asked if he could find out who the girl was. He needed a name if he was going to visit the hospital. After the Knowing Look shared between the two of them, his dad agreed. He promised Stiles a name once he finished showering and changing - instructing him to bag his clothes (shoes included, Stiles begrudgingly complied) for possible evidence.

When he came back, freshly showered, with new clothes, and less comfy but also new shoes, his dad relayed the newfound information.

“Melissa said she should be fine. Apparently, her sister is a nurse at the hospital too, and immediately took on the case. After a quick debrief, Laura declared it was a non-fatal hit and just needed a few stitches. You should be able to go visit her as soon as the next hour,” his dad explained, a curious glint in his eyes as he spoke. Both he and Stiles were questioning the story, knowing it wasn’t that cut and dry. Which was exactly why Stiles needed to talk to the girl - Cora - before he gave his statement.

“And that deputy…” Stiles found himself asking, earning a raised eyebrow from his dad. He ducked his face to avoid giving too much away (which he already did).

“Deputy Hale,” his dad reiterated, “Cora’s brother. Derek.” The sheriff studied his son curiously for a moment, head tilted. “Is there something I need to know, Stiles?”

Stiles shook his head but abruptly stopped, sighing. He hesitantly curled his palm around the spot on his bicep, his eyes flitting upwards and latching onto his father’s that were now staring at his hand. Once the two of them met eyes, he gave a simple nod, just a single, sharp jerk of the head downwards.

“Good grief,” his dad mumbled, a hand coming to rub over his face tiredly.

“He thought…” Stiles said, shaking his head a bit. “He thought I- that it was-” he finally cut himself off and fell into silence again, his eyes now trained on a random spot on the wall as he finally let everything sink in.

His dad gave a simple nod. He expected the man to be angry, furious even. He had always had such disdain for Stiles’ soulmark, his eyes filled with despair and pain whenever he saw it. It looked like it physically pained him every time. But he was just… accepting. It didn’t fully excuse the mark, but he knew his dad understood. Knew he wouldn’t be able to properly hold it against Derek even if he’s hated the words printed on his own son’s skin his entire life.

“Well… guess we should drop by the hospital, then,” Stiles said, attempting to change topics. He wasn’t all that successful.

+.+.+

Knocking on the door, Stiles waited until a voice softly told him to come in. It didn’t sound like Cora’s, but it was female. He could be mistaken, since Cora hadn’t been in the best of scenarios when they originally met, but he was fairly certain the voice belonged to someone else.

Bracing himself, Stiles entered the room, softly shutting the door after he walked in. He trekked into the room until he could see the hospital bed behind the thin, white curtain that previously blocked most of his view. As suspected, the voice didn’t belong to Cora. Instead, he found another woman - this one seeming a bit older than Cora - hovering at the foot of the bed Cora lay in, decked out in scrubs and eyes looking towards Stiles questioningly.

“Stiles!”

This time, it was Cora. She seemed to beam at him with a wide smile. Stiles nervously returned it. He let his gaze skate across the room, but when he made eye contact with Derek, he felt himself falter. Instead of freaking out of running back out the door like he so desperately wanted to, he instead schooled his expression - letting his face go as blank as he could - before refocusing on Cora.

Tentatively, he stepped further into the room, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“Uhm, hi,” he said a bit awkwardly. Cora just grinned at him, seeming a bit too happy considering her recent events and overall day. But he wasn’t one to judge (at least, not out loud).

“So, uh, listen, “ Stiles said, his eyes flicking towards the ceiling, unable to meet anyone’s eye, “I’m supposed to give a statement about the uh… the incident but I… I wanted to ask what you want me to tell them. So that it matches whatever it is you’re going to tell them - or have. Maybe you already have, I don’t know, I-... either way.”

When he was met with silence, he finally dared a glance back at the room. Cora had a small frown on her face while her sister looked at him curiously, her arms now folded over her chest. Stiles pointedly avoided looking at Derek to see his reaction.

“And why would your stories need to… match?” the other woman spoke up, drawing Stiles’ eyes toward her. Involuntarily, he let out a huff of air - a mock of a laugh. He gestured vaguely with one hand towards Cora.

“I’m, like, 99% sure she doesn’t have a single mark on her stomach now and I can’t exactly tell the police I watched a guy pull a six-inch blade out of her stomach and then her not have an injury to photograph - which they will want to do, I can promise you that. So…” Stiles trailed off. The woman got a hardened look in her eyes, her stance rigid, while Cora seemed to study him further.

Stiles groaned quietly, his hands coming up to dig the heel of his palms into his eyes and he bowed his head.

“I’m not- I didn’t- it’s kind of hard to not recognize you’re werewolves when your brother flashed his eyes while trying to decide on how to kill me,” he explained, refusing to look up. “I came to ask to… avoid you having issues with the reports and everything. I just want to make it as easy as possible, however, that is.”

Looking up once more, Cora seemed to relax, a quirk of a smile lining her lips. Her sister seemed to still be studying him but was no longer on the defensive. Instead, she seemed curious, her eyes never once leaving his form, causing him to squirm under the gaze.

“I wasn’t going to kill you.”

Stiles grit his teeth, refusing to look at the person who spoke. Instead, he kept his gaze on Cora and focused on her intently. “You can get my number from Nurse McCall, just- let me know. I have to go.”

Without further explanation, Stiles darted out of the room. If he was in there for any longer he was likely to break down sobbing at some point. He wasn’t sure how he was going to broach that topic but he did take a bit of satisfaction in knowing Derek was unaware of their matching marks as of yet. And the longer Stiles could avoid that, the easier his life would be (or so he kept telling himself).

+.+.+

Cora ended up getting his number from Scott’s mom as he mentioned and texted him. Just like her text, Stiles’ own story was vague. He gave his statement, worked with a sketch artist to try and get a decent sketch of the guy he saw, and that was that. His dad tried to keep it on the down low and avoid further pushing which Stiles sincerely appreciated because even with all the vagueness of his report and his intense focus on the actual suspect, he knew his story was a bit... iffy. He just hoped no one bothered to push it further.

That had happened three days ago. Cora was still texting him and Stiles was doing his best to respond. He had been more or less avoiding Cora’s text and vehemently avoiding the sheriff’s station. In fact, Stiles had attempted to leave the house as minimally as possible. He had called out of work for the rest of the weekend, with no plans to return until after the weekend, and with almost no pushback from Mrs. Gievars who insisted he needed to rest and to take all the time he needed. Which he was happily taking advantage of, going on day three of ‘resting’ and avoiding most other living beings.

Stiles’ avoidance of his phone, sudden anti-social tendencies, and overall absence from the general world is what brought one Lydia Martin marching into his room. All it took was one missed phone call from one day ago and she was walking her positively pissed-off self into his house and telling him off. Loudly.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” Lydia demanded as soon as she walked in. Her arms were crossed, her lips taut and pulled down ever so slightly. Aside from the small glint of worry in her eyes, she looked angry. Angry with Stiles, specifically.

“Gee, thanks, Lyds,” Stiles grumbled, burrowing further into his pillows, “I’m doing great, thanks for asking. No, no physical wounds. No, I am not experiencing any symptoms of PTSD or anything like that. Yes, I am 100% a-okay. All systems go. Yep, that’sa me - totally good, nothing wrong here! I am-”

A frustrated huff cut Stiles off. Gone was any and all trace of worry. Now, Lydia was 120% livid with a generous helping of flat-out annoyed. She glared at Stiles, her shoe now tapping an angry pattern into his floor as she glared him into submission. Stiles squinted his eyes but gave in, groaning as he rolled himself into a proper sitting position so he could face Lydia Martin’s wrath head-on and with his full attention.

Raising an eyebrow, Stiles gave a vague wave of his hand to indicate Lydia get on with it. When nothing came, Stiles looked at her expectantly, his second eyebrow climbing to join the first. 

“What is it? What’s wrong with you?” Lydia finally demanded, her foot quieting and her glare losing its hard edge. She was now staring at Stiles as if all the world’s answers would appear if she just looked hard enough - long enough.

“I don’t know what you me-”

“Bullshit. Answer me, Stilinski,” Lydia cut off pointedly. “You’ve been ignoring your phone - even Scott, who texted me acting like a pathetic puppy, by the way. Super annoying. You haven’t left your house in three days. And you’re acting so… pathetic. So what is it?”

Stiles gave a noise of protest at the mention of him being pathetic. Sure, she was right on the money, but it was still rude.

Glancing around his room, Stiles debated on how to broach the subject. He played with the idea of not telling her, but he also knew it was futile. He got away with not telling Scott because he had effectively avoided him. He also avoided going too in-depth with his dad because neither of them were well-versed in talking things out. Lydia, however, was unavoidable. She was a force of nature unlike any the world had yet to see. It was alarming, in retrospect.

Sighing, Stiles looked at his hands, trying to be succinct (which, yea, that should tell Lydia right away just how he feels about this whole situation). “I found my soulmate.”

Silence.

Refusing to break the silence or see Lydia’s reaction, Stiles steadfastly stared at his hands. He hoped to hear the click-clack of Lydia’s shoes exiting his room. He possibly even hoped to hear her groan or sigh of frustration before she told him how dramatic he was being. But he got neither.

Instead, he felt arms wrap around his waist and a head tuck itself against his shoulder. Lydia fit herself against him quickly and easily, offering no words. It wasn’t often they did this. Sure, they nudged one another, shoved at each other, and Stiles was notorious for throwing an arm around every one or grabbing at someone’s shoulders as he spoke. But… this? Hugging? Comforting touches? Intimacy? It was a bit more rare between the two of them.

Lydia and Stiles’ friendship was built on understanding. It was built off of both of them saying ‘fuck this’. It wasn’t built off of tears or one-on-one therapy sessions about how unfair fate was. They never did that. Instead, Lydia dragged Stiles out shopping and berated him for wearing so much flannel and bought him greasy burgers and fries while rolling her eyes and repeating how unhealthy it all was. And Stiles in turn shoved Lydia in his car and drove for three hours while playing her favorite music. He snuck into her bedroom at 3 am with a handle of vodka and crappy soda and stayed up until the early morning, listening to her list off the statistics of soulmates and their various outcomes and possibilities for probably the hundredth time.

There was no crying. There were very seldom emotional talks or hugs. They didn’t work like that because it’s what worked for them. So yea, the hug was a bit weird. But it was also exactly what Stiles needed from the person he needed it from most.

Lydia finally left about two hours later, and no further words were spoken by either party. Instead, they had somehow slowly moved into the position of Lydia sitting at the foot of the bed with Stiles curled on his side, head in her lap, on the cusp of sleep while Lydia made tiny braids in his hair and unraveled them over and over again. When she left, she fluffed up a pillow before sneaking it under his head while she slipped out. 

+.+.+

“Cora Hale?”

Cora looked up at the mention of her name. Derek was sitting next to her in a visitor’s chair, eyebrows scrunched as he tuned into the exchange happening just outside the door. It seemed neither of them knew the newcomer.

“Correct,” Laura answered, seemingly waving the person in as there was only a second before the click-clack of shoes sounded against the linoleum. 

The clicking footsteps were followed by a somewhat petite red-headed girl. Her hair and makeup were in perfect order, her posture and stance looked like she’d be graded on it later, and her smile was poised and practiced, but sincere. She gave an ever so slightly larger smile to Cora, nodding her head once as she presented a vase of flowers. The vase was filled with yellow roses and a plethora of white baby’s breath. The stems of the flowers were tied together with a large white bow and the arrangement looked stunning as well as expensive.

Before Cora could even question who the girl was, she was pivoting towards Derek. Her head cocked slightly to the side and her eyes scanned him in an assessing manner. After a few seconds, she pursed her lips and looked the older man in the eye.

“Derek Hale, yes?” she asked politely. Derek gave a slow nod, his eyebrows raised in question.

“Good,” she said. And once more, before anyone could question her on who she was or what she was doing there, she promptly slammed a fist into Derek’s shoulder. Despite the girl being short in stature and unassuming in strength, even Cora knew the hit had a bit of a sting to it.

Derek growled, a hand reflexively moving up to grasp at his bicep. “What the-”

“That’s for ruining my best friend’s life and making me deal with his pathetic moping for the past 5 years,” she said, her voice leaving no room for argument. Derek opened his mouth to try and ask, once more, what the hell she was on about when her hand shot out once again and slapped him roughly upside the head, causing his head to snap forward from the force and another growl to slide out of his throat. “That’s for being an utter moron and not addressing this issue sooner.”

Cora couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing. Both Derek and the yet-to-be-introduced girl turned toward her. Derek was scowling while the girl was giving a half-interested, curious look. Cora clutched her stomach as she doubled over in laughter.

When she finally pulled herself together, Cora looked up and met eyes with the girl and gave her a wide grin. “God, you’re a fucking bitch,” she said. Derek cut in, mumbling, “I’ll fucking say.” Cora promptly rolled her eyes before meeting the other girl’s eyes again, grin widening as she finished her - rude interrupted - sentence, “I love it.”

The girl stared, her lips parting ever so slightly as her eyes scanned Cora intently. She seemed shocked, rooted to the spot. When enough time had passed for the silence to become stilted, Cora opened her mouth to begin moving the conversation along, but the other seemed to finally kick back into gear.

“The one time Stiles’ is right,” she said with a long suffering sigh. Her lips twitched upwards, however, and the look she was giving Cora was now more intrigued than incredulity. Cora, in response, stared wide-eyed before giving a shout of surprise.

“Holy shit! It’s you!” Cora breathed. “What’s your name?”

Smiling, the girl responded, “Lydia. Lydia Martin.”

Lydia and Cora took the next couple of minutes to assess the other. Gentle smiles and roaming eyes were the only exchange between the two, both content with committing the moment to memory and examining the person who was meant to be their other half pure the laws of fate. The moment was only broken by Derek shuffling in his chair and clearing his throat a bit awkwardly. This movement seemed to remind Lydia of her initial mission, as she rolled her eyes and her lips turned downwards slightly before she turned to focus back on Derek.

“Right,” she said, as if she was already tired of dealing with him, “you. You need to fix this. Go apologize.”

“Apologize to who and for what?” Derek growled. Lydia gave an unimpressed look in response.

“Stiles. Go makeup and end the moping, I don’t like it when he’s all…” Lydia huffed, her hand flicking through the air absently as if the words themselves were too bothersome to convey. Her answer only made Derek narrow his eyes further. 

Lydia seemed to realize something as she groaned softly, her eyes rolling upwards. Meeting Derek’s eyes once more, she perched her hands on her hips in a condescending manner, giving him a withering look.

“Have you talked to him?” she asked, then shook her head. “Better yet. Has he talked to you ? At all?”

Derek frowned, thought momentarily, then shook his head slowly. Lydia frowned and tapped her foot twice, her anger somehow sounding throughout the room with that one action. She eventually sighed lowly and shook her head, as if disappointed.

“Pearce Ave and Main Street. He works at the bookstore. He’s there until 4.”

After a moment of silence, Derek was stirred into action by Lydia’s pointed look and a scoff from Cora. After exiting the room, he could hear the shuffling of Lydia’s shoes and the soft words being exchanged between the two. Their voices died off the further he got from the room, his mind slowly processing the entire last ten minutes and what the hell Lydia was on about.

For whatever reason, he was listening to her and was making his way to the bookstore off of Main and Pearce. He wasn’t sure if it was due to his own curiosity or due to Lydia unnaturally commandeering nature - though if anyone asked he’d say it was the former.

+.+.+

Derek slipped into the bookstore unnoticed. He watched as Stiles thumbed a couple of pages of a book laid out in front of him and sipped from a mug. Derek could smell the leftover coffee in the pot behind the counter and the sickeningly sweet scent of the creamer and syrup added to the coffee. He could also smell the comforting aroma of the books filling the space and the underlying scent of worn leather from the could of old couches placed against a couple of different walls.

Despite the cloying, sweet scent of Stiles’ coffee, it was a relaxing environment. Derek almost forgot why he was there.

Shaking his head to himself, Derek stepped up to the counter and cleared his throat. When Stiles looked up and met his eye, the younger man froze - going completely still. His eyes widened a bit and he seemed to become apprehensive, a tentative look in his eyes as they darted between Derek’s in a silent question.

“Hi,” Derk said, his voice a bit rough. He cleared his throat once more after a long stretch of silence. “I… came to apologize. For before. It was a misunderstanding but I still acted… rudely. You were helping Cora. And I wanted to… thank you. For helping her. And for the report.”

Derek shuffled a bit. It was more than he planned on saying originally though his words were just as stilted and sharp as usual. It wasn’t that he was a bad conversationalist, per se, he just didn’t know how to carry a conversation. He often relied on others for that or hoped they didn’t notice his penchant for nodding in silence.

However, after several minutes passed in silence, Stiles’ quick thumping heartbeat the only noise in the otherwise quiet store, Derek was losing his mind. 

“Are you… going to say anything?” he finally asked a bit roughly, his eyebrows raised in question. Stiles, in turn, went bug-eyed.

See, the issue here was this: Stiles hadn’t spoken to Derek yet and therefore Derek wasn’t aware of their connection to one another. This was a comfort to Stiles as it felt like he was able to hide behind the fact. However, he was also at a loss. Because he always thought the words on his bicep were in response to something he said - like a crude joke or a misdirected question or something else stupidly absurd. Sure, they were in response to something he did but not to anything he said. And he suddenly felt overwhelmed.

He could say something just as scathing back to Derek. He could say something common and simple, bank on the fact that Derek won’t notice until later and would have interacted with several other people who said similar things that he wasn’t sure who it was. Or, he could say something… nice.

It wasn’t really a question. Stiles knew he wasn’t one for simple and common - it may start out as a simple ‘hey’ but it would somehow turn into the introductory paragraph of the growing epidemic regarding the black market for organs or whatever else his mind happened to be thinking of in the background. Also, Stiles knew he couldn’t be scathing or rude - not knowingly, at least. Sure, he would be the first to admit he was an ass, a bit of an arrogant jerk, and definitely a major dick - but that was in jest. It was between friends and his dad. He could be sarcastic but he didn’t want to… mar someone’s skin like that either. While he now understood where the words came from, he didn’t want anyone else to have the same damning words and sentiment etched into their skin. Not like him.

Realizing he was a bit of a sap (he was blaming Lydia for forcing him to watch The Notebook every week since sophomore year; the romance and sappiness had leaked out and been absorbed by his traitorous, eclectic personality), Stiles took in a deep steadying breath and willed the next words to be kind.

And, well… no one can ever say Stiles Stilinski is predictable. Because not even he saw the next words out of his mouth coming.

“I don’t think the words to describe you have been created yet; you’re too breathtaking to be confined to words alone,” Stiles said, his voice soft. He paused, breath caught in his throat. It was as if his mind threw out the controls and just… let his thoughts roam free. He didn’t know what was being said until the words had disappeared into thin air. Derek’s wide-eyed stare was the only indication he actually said them.

The two of them stared at one another in complete silence for what felt like hours but what was only a couple of minutes. Finally feeling the weight of the silence, Stiles cleared his throat and averted his eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Derek finally asked, causing Stiles to snap his eyes back over to him. Stiles gave a weak smile and shrugged.

“I… it wasn’t a good time. And I kind of wanted to avoid it. If I didn’t speak to you, you wouldn’t know who I was,” Stiles said, providing yet another shrug. Derek seemed confused and a bit… hurt? His eyes were dancing across Stiles’ face as if looking for both the questions and answers he wanted.

Shaking his head with his lips turned down in the slightest of frowns, Derek finally spoke back up, “You didn’t want me to know? What did I… What did I do?”

Without bothering to respond or try to explain himself, Stiles instead opted to pull down the sleeve of his flannel and roll up the bottom of his shirt sleeve, exposing his soulmark.

‘You fucking prick. You are a pathetic excuse of a person, you know that?’

Derek took in a sharp inhale, his hand coming out to ghost over the words. His eyes were wide, his lips pulled tautly, and he looked pained. Stiles felt a rush of guilt at seeing the expressions and hurriedly pushed the fabric of his shirt back down and readjusted his flannel. He gave a small smile to the other when Derek finally looked him in the eye, an almost haunted look reflecting back at Stiles.

“I get it now that it wasn’t me you hated or were mad at or whatever but-... yea, ya’know, growing up with it I just- I guess I was preparing myself to piss you off? Or to have you… hate me? Or something? I don’t know. I just wanted to avoid it so I kinda… ran,” Stiles explained, his hands waving a bit wildly as he tried to piece his train of thought together. “Sorry,” he added belatedly.

Derek scoffed, startling the younger of the two. Derek was now glaring off to the side, his arms crossed over his chest in a defensive pose as he glared at whatever it was he had his sights set on.

“Sorry?” he repeated, “You? You’re the one apologizing? After I gave you that mark? Jesus.”

Stiles couldn’t help but snort, grinning at the small start Derek gave and the look of surprise he shot Stiles’ way. “It wasn’t like you intentionally did it, dude,” Stiles argued, “I’m sure you would have chosen literally any other words than those. I get it now, though.”

Derek opened his mouth, looking like he was ready to argue against himself once again and demand Stiles see Derek’s error and failure, but Stiles waved it off, a dismissive noise promptly ending the conversation.

Once more, the two lapsed into silence, though it was more welcome than the last bout and more comfortable than stifling. Eventually, though, it had to be broken.

“Can I make it up to you? Starting with a dinner?” Derek asked, “Or coffee? Whatever you want.”

Stiles paused, looking at Derek a bit quizzically. He let a timid yet playful smile curl over his lips, letting the question sink in. After a moment of silence, Stiles had a wide grin painted on his face and he had a challenging look in his eye as he leaned forward on the counter, closer toward Derek.

“Whatever I want, hm?” he asked, a smirk toying at the corners of his mouth.

“Whatever you want,” Derek said, his lips twitching in response. 

Humming, Stiles stood back up, straightening his posture and nodding his agreement to the idea. “We could start with dinner,” he murmured, “but I might have another request or two.” Derek simply grinned and gave a half-hearted shrug, seemingly uncaring one way or the next - though his smile indicated he was more than willing to oblige Stiles with his additional requests.

“I think I can work with that.” +.+.+

True to his word, Derek obliged and tended to the requests without fret. Even when he was asked to dinner with Stiles and his dad and was forced to sit through two hours of mostly silent gun cleaning, a box of wolfsbane bullets precariously left out in the open. The subsequent glares given by the sheriff while at work were just as unsettling but Derek took it in stride.

He could work with this.

[lizzy-williams]

𝐦𝐫. 𝐛𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 (𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟏)

((Howdy there, this is my first time writing on here, so I hope you enjoy!))

Masterlist

Summary: You accept a job as an assistant to the now world-famous Colson Baker, who shattered the charts with his album Tickets To My Downfall, and an Oscar winner for his success in the award-winning film titled Midnight in the Switchgrass, which also starred his ex, Megan Fox. But once you are accepted for the job, you seem to get closer than anticipated with Mr. Baker. 

𝑾𝑯𝑬𝑵 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑯𝑨𝑫 graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, you had never expected to be getting a job like this. Sure, you had heard about your employer. He had won an Oscar for christ’s sake. Not to mention a Grammy-winning album. You had to say that personally, you were a fan, which was one of the main reasons you interviewed for the job. But never in a million years did you think you would land it. 

When you were employed, you were expected to start right after you had applied, which you obliged, even though his house was a thirty-minute drive away. 

So now, there you were, sitting in your car, taking deep breaths. You had arrived several minutes early. You had pulled into the driveway, breathing in and out as you prepared yourself. You were excited but scared out of your mind.

“Come on, AJ, you got this, just go in there and try to not be a nuisance,” you spoke to yourself. With a deep breath, you exited the vehicle brushing yourself up, walking up the long, intimidating stairs. 

You raised your hand up, taking hold of the lion-shaped knocker and knocked three times, the echos being heard even from the outside. The door was large and almost looming over you with its height. You took the waiting time to look around at the garden out front, trimmed to perfection and colorful pink roses littering the gravel. It was nothing less than stunning. 

“Who’s there?” a voice asked, making you jump, your eyes shifting around. 

You then realized the voice was a Ring doorbell system, and you mentally slapped yourself for not just using that. You leaned down slightly, trying to meet the camera’s eye, giving a warm smile. 

“Um, I’m Adeline Williams, I’m the new assistant for Mr. Baker, I was instructed to start today,”

“Yeah, I’ll be right down.” 

The voice was deeper then what you would think Mr. Baker would sound like, having seen plenty of interviews. Suddenly the door swung open, revealing a tall African-American male. He had to be at least six feet tall. 

“What’s up, I’m Slim,” He held his hand out for a handshake, which you quickly took. 

“Yeah, I’m Adeline, but you can just call me AJ,” you responded, “Where is Mr. Baker?”

“Yeah, he’s still asleep. His manager made you a binder for your duties and other stuff. It’s good to meet you though, just feel free to come in and grab your stuff in the kitchen.” He stated, stepping aside and motioning for you to enter. 

You walked in, taking in the entryway. The walls were littered with gold record plaques for collabs he had done with other artists. Paintings of him were scattered around, some furniture almost automatically spotted that looked more expensive than your entire apartment. The ceiling was high-up, light fixtures illuminating the space, giving off a warm feel to the area. 

You slipped off your flats, Slim already slipping away into the maze of the house, leaving you to find the kitchen by yourself. Your sock-clad feet patted across the hard floor, your eyes wandering around, trying to find the kitchen in the stupidly large house. 

You walked down a hallway, reaching another large room, but now the walls were covered in posters and guitars, a drum set in the corner, recording systems, speakers, and even a Monster Energy Drink sponsored mini fridge which was fully stocked, drawings and art above it, the window next to it letting a fair amount of light in, the curtains drawn. You walked over to the drum set, running your hand on one of the symbols, which had sadly had a light coat of dust on it. Come to think of it, so did most of the other instruments.

“You could play them if you want,” another voice said behind you, making you jump and whip around, your eyes instantly meeting the eyes of your employer. 

He was tall, six foot four according to Google, his exposed chest littered with so many tattoos, you couldn’t possibly count them all. His bleach-blond hair was long and shaggy on top of his head, meaning he had probably just woken up, grey sweatpants covering his bottom half, the hem of his boxers peeking over the waistband of the grey material, making you blush and meet his eyes again. 

“Oh, um, I’m sorry, I don’t play,” you then mentally slapped yourself once again, “Sorry, what am I saying. I’m Adeline - Um, Williams, I’m here as your new assistant.” 

He looked you up and down, taking in you attire, a slight sneer appearing on his face, only for a second. You guessed by his reaction that you were over-dressed. 

“You look like a kindergarten teacher.” he laughed. 

“Uhm, noted, do you... want me to take off my sweater or something?” you asked. 

He scoffed, biting his lip and turning away, holding back from saying something that you were guessing would piss you off. 

You sighed, slipping off your sweater and messing with your hands, “Would you mind showing me to your kitchen? Your friend, Slim told me that your manager had had something in there for me,”

“Yeah, follow me,” he muttered, turning on his heel and walking away, your own small feet scuttering across the floor, following him. 

And of course, the kitchen was as stunning at the rest of the house, the size, making it look like a gourmet kitchen. And there on one of the granite countertops was a .5 inch pale white binder. Colson walked over to his coffee machine, starting it up and watching you walk over, opening it up. 

It listed normal duties like setting up venues for tours, making appointments with the production company, merchandise shipment, and payment, normal duties for Colson himself, (Making iced coffee, booking flights, rides for Casie, his daughter, for school, etc.), and traveling with him to the recording studio for sessions, along with renting time for the studio itself. 

“So, what do ya think. The list gonna scare you off?” he asked, a sly smile on his face. 

“Well, seems easy enough. It just seems like a lot of booking things.” you smiled, “But it shouldn’t be a problem at all, Mr. Baker.”

He grimaced, “Yikes, just call me Colson. You make me sound like an old man. And if I’m going to be seeing you every day, we kinda need to be on a first-name basis.” he said, opening one of the hundreds of cabinets on the wall, pulling out a mug, “What’s your name again?”

“Adeline. But you can just call me AJ.” you looked back down at the papers, turning to a page to all the numbers needed for your position. 

“What’s the J?” 

“Huh?” you asked, not looking away from the page. 

“Well, in AJ I already know what the A is, so what’s the J?” He smirked, pouring the coffee grounds into the coffee maker, pressing start. 

“Oh, um, Jane.” you shrugged off. 

“Adeline Jane Williams,” he repeated to himself out loud. 

Your heart unintentionally fluttered. Never in a million years did you think that Colson Baker, Machine Gun Kelly, would ever say your full name. 

The day went by smoothly, your brain soon catching onto the rhythm of things, you and Colson making small talk as you typed away, sending emails to the publishing companies, his agent, manager, and PR team. Colson would occasionally text you to make him a drink, which you did, always getting right back to work afterward. People came in and out, paying you no mind. The only one you honestly recognized was Rook, his drummer, who only came in to grab a beer from the fridge. Soon enough, the time reached 5 o’clock. 

“So, what do you wanna eat?” he suddenly asked, walking into the kitchen area, leaning over the counter you were working at. 

The sound of the TV played as you heard the laughter of a group of people in the other room. 

“Oh, I honestly have no preference,” you answered honestly, looking up from your Chromebook. 

“You sure? Me and the guys were gonna Postmate some stuff, but they can’t decide either.”

“Ummm, I heard there’s a really good restaurant downtown called Beau Jo's. Hear they have a mean menu of Cajun food.” you perked up, 

“Alright, Beau Jo’s it is.” He responded, picking up his phone and walking away. 

Even though you two had small talk, you still felt like he was so cold to you. Like he didn’t like you, or he didn’t trust you. But you really needed this job. After you finished with your work, you walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. 

There, you were greeted with glancing eyes of 20 or more people, who were scattered throughout the space. 

A man walked up to you, looking eccentric as ever. You only knew him because you knew he dated Bella Thorne, but you would never tell him that. 

“Heyyyy, you must be the new assistant. Welcome to the best years of your life!” he greeted, slinging an arm around your shoulders, a cola in his other hand. The smell of expensive cologne. 

“Modern Sunshine, I presume?” I asked in a snobby British accent, making him laugh. 

“Yo Kells! I like this chick!” he called out to Colson, who was across the room talking to some blond broad in short shorts and a crop top. 

“Why don’t you come meet the rest of the guys.”

Well, you knew it was coming. It was the end of the night and everyone had gone home, and it was your job to order Ubers for everyone who wasn’t fit to drive. (Which was close to half the people there). 

You gathered up your things, sighing as you grabbed your kindergarten teacher sweater, packing it in your bag along with your computer and everything else. Finally, you tucked the binder into the back pocket. 

“You heading out?” Colson asked from behind you, his hand on your shoulder. 

Your arms formed goosebumps as you looked back smiling, “Yeah, I think it’s that time.” 

“Cool. Well, have a good night.” he said while you slipped on your flats, “Oh, and one more thing before you go.”

You turned your head to look into his eyes. 

“Tomorrow wear something more... spicy,”

[kd-holloman]

First Line Tag Game!

I was tagged by the wonderful @writingamongther0ses! Thank you so much! As much as I’d love to use my first lines from Oh, Hell, they aren’t that great. So, I’m going to give the first lines of The Traveler’s Gift!

Chapter One:

Jerry Reubinault knew he was going to die.

Chapter Two:

A dizzying array of colors flashed behind his eyes as his head hit the pavement. The sharp sting of asphalt cut through the muted sensation of his limbs as his elbow scraped across the ground.

Chapter Three:

Louis had been in the twenty-first century for six days and he liked Rodney. No matter how bad things got, he always looked at the bright side of things. If it was raining he’d look up at the sky and say, “We could be baking in the sun.” If they were hungry he’d say, “That hunger means we’re still alive.” If someone shouted obscene things at them through their car window he would say, “Sometimes people need to vent.”

Chapter Four:

The first thing Louis learned about the man running the O’Shea mafia was that his parents must have hated him. His honest-to-God name was Rick O’Shea. The second thing he discovered was that Rick had inherited his father’s reign at a fairly young age.

Chapter Five:

Louis tossed what little remained of his cigarette to the glass and pebble strewn pavement. It bounced, sparked, and rolled to a stop. He couldn’t sit beneath the overpass, breathing in the stink of exhaust fumes for another minute. “I’ll be back in the morning, Rodney.”

Chapter Six: 

Louis couldn’t tell if he was awake or dreaming. Everything felt far away, but simultaneously too close. If he held his hand up in front of his face he couldn’t tell how far away it was from his nose. His palm was blurry. The lines creasing his skin reminded him of smudged ink on a freshly written letter.

Chapter Seven:

Drip, 347. Drip 348. Drip 349.

Chapter Eight:

“What do you say?”

Chapter Nine:

Louis paced his cell. He had no way to entertain himself. So, he spent his time wandering around aimlessly from corner to corner. He was growing frustrated.

Chapter Ten:

Hours passed. At least, it felt like hours. It had to have been hours because Louis’s head no longer felt like it was full of wet cement and he could slog his way from one end of the room to the other without tripping over his damned feet.

Chapter Eleven:

For the first time since his arrival to the twenty-first century, Louis finally had the chance to experience it without being hurt, drugged, or homeless. It gave him the opportunity to explore the era the way he wanted. He got to try technology he’d never dreamed of. Things had changed dramatically in the past ninety-something years. The way people talked, listened to stories, and enjoyed music had all changed. He was just now becoming familiar with the technology and trying it out for himself.

Chapter Twelve:

“My, oh, my. Don’t you clean up nice.”

Chapter Thirteen:

Louis liked a lot of things. For instance, he liked strawberry jam on his toast, he liked to watch people, and he liked that he had hundreds of options for television at his disposal. He also hated a lot of things. He hated menthol cigarettes, raw onion, and listening to some palooka talk himself up when he was really full of shit.

Chapter Fourteen:

The blood on the plastic was so thick and dark it seemed black.

Chapter Fifteen:

Almost a week after [Redacted]’s death, Louis sat at the table and played solitaire. It was a game that required just enough thought that it kept him from hearing the horrible wet sound as [Redacted]’s heart had been ripped from his chest.

Chapter Sixteen:

The precinct smelled of old coffee and body odor.

Chapter Seventeen:

The benefit for the police department was a formal affair. It consisted of wrinkle-free navy tablecloths, white-linen napkins, crystal long-stemmed glasses, and some of the city’s wealthiest people pretending to get along for just a few hours as they shamelessly donated obscene amounts of money to the cause.

Chapter Eighteen:

By the time Louis had cleaned up Slater’s mess, both he and Ardford were long gone. He asked the bartender where he’d gone and he’d been pointed in the direction of a side door not too far from the bar.

Chapter Nineteen:

Slater stood in front of Louis. “If you didn’t have bad luck, you wouldn’t have any at all. What happened?”

Chapter Twenty

Louis went straight to his bedroom when he got home. He didn’t think he could stand the metallic stink on his clothes for another minute. He stripped out of his shirt. The blood splattered down its front had dried a burgundy-brown color.

Chapter Twenty-One

“You’re kind of a hypocrite, y’ know that?” Louis asked. He juggled bags of Thai takeout while Damien was slurping from a box of noodles as they walked. “You’re always talking about eating healthy and cooking at home, but you’re the first person to suggest eating pizza, tacos, or whatever this stuff is.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

The act of spying was to observe furtively.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The following afternoon Louis sat elbow-to-elbow with Slater and Damien at Rick’s dining room table.  The conversation was a murmur. There was too much underlying tension for it to grow and swell. It felt like the dry, burning, heat of summer being cut with the sharp chilling breeze of a cold front before a nasty storm. Nobody knew why they’d been called together, but Louis had a good feeling that it had to do with [Redacted]’s betrayal.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Louis had never been one for waiting. He had never wanted to wait for his punishments as a kid. He had always wanted them to be over as quickly as possible. He hadn’t wanted to wait for Christmas because excitement had him eager to tear into the brown wrapping on his gifts as soon as possible. He’d hated patrolling the trenches in France because he had known an attack was coming, but had hated holding his breath, waiting for it to come.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Have I ever told you that you’re annoying?” Slater asked. It was the night of the Quench delivery and he seemed unconcerned as he sat on a crate. He kicked the wood beneath him with the heels of his red and white Chucks.

Chapter Twenty-Six:

The dark silence of the night pressed heavily around him. The flickering of the votive and tea light candles were the only source of light in the church. It made the shadows seem darker, more ominous, alive. They made the watchful eye of Christ behind the pulpit seem even more damning.

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

[Redacted]’s parents held a quiet funeral for their son a few days after his death; at least, that was what Louis had been told. He hadn’t attended. None of them had.

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

“I’m out of coffee and this is stupid,” Slater complained. “This is bitch work. I don’t do bitch work.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

The next night, Louis found himself standing across the street from Tito’s Pizza.

Chapter Thirty:

  Louis’s head was throbbing to each knock on the door. He groaned and threw an arm over his eyes. Pain jolted him awake as his arm touched the bruised and tender flesh of his swollen eye. He swore and sat up.

Chapter Thirty-One:

Louis wasn’t a fan of spiders. They had too many legs, too many eyes, and moved too damned fast. He hated them when they touched him and hated it even more when he found them in the shower.

Chapter Thirty-Two:

“What did you mean when you said Rick had fooled you before?” Louis asked. He checked his gun to make sure it was full of rounds and made sure he had enough spare ammunition in his pocket. He knew Deuce wouldn’t be stupid enough to do a job empty-handed. Especially, knowing that Rick was looking for him.

Chapter Thirty-Three:

“Louis? Wake up.” Clammy fingers pressed against his cheek.

Chapter Thirty-Four:

Louis’s life was spinning out of control again. He was lost. Knowing that Slater was in the bowels of the hospital while he was confined to the waiting room felt wrong. And there was nothing he could do to change it.

Chapter Thirty-Five:

All it took was a jump a few blocks from the apartment building and a quick check of the junk mail in the mailboxes on the front of the duplex porch to figure out which one belonged to Wes the Weasel.

Chapter Thirty-Six:

Louis didn’t have anywhere else to go. So, after Slater was settled into his room at the hospital, he curled up in one of the chairs in the corner of the room and let himself fall asleep.

Chapter Thirty-Seven:

That night, when the nursing staff told Louis visiting hours were over, Slater insisted that he stay.

Sorry for the long read! I’d like to tag (with no pressure): @howdy-writes, @littlerothridinghood, @gloriafrimpong, @gwens-fiction, @goblingraveyard, @vivian-is-writing

[tarry-a-lot]

Howdy, JCS 2018 live review

Jesus Christ 2018! What a blast this will be probably longer then the other two I wrote out (which I also may have privated because last week my nerves were really bad and I started panicking and overthinking so.. yeah not sure if I’ll repost them, honestly probably won’t)

Note: I have only watched JCS 2000 and 2012 arena and have yet to watch the 70′s movie. I’ve also watched each version with my dad because I’m currently home with my parents and he was the on that got me into JCS (he was only familiar with the 70′s movie before this).

So I have to say right off the bat, why did no one tell me how pretty the stage is? Like damn it’s like an abandoned church being worked on for renovation or something, stage was probably one of my dad and I’s favourite part, I liked 2012 stage a lot but I think 2018 has to be my favourite (not to say the others were worse just personal preference)

I would say my one major complaint I have for this version is direction. Everything else like the choreography and staging was really impressive and well done but I just felt they didn’t give enough focus and development of Jesus and Judas’ relationship. Like blood money felt so sudden despite it being in the same place as any other production. I mean this is not new, I personally find quite a few productions sometimes lose Judas until blood money setting up for the betrayal. Like maybe because of it being a live show they couldn’t fit extra scenes like the 2000 ver. which is completely understandable, so it would have been more up to the actors really bringing it for the scenes they were together, I think Dixon did a wonderful job but I find Legend was a bit lacking (not really a complaint, he’s not an actor so I was pleased with what he did despite it not being his specialty) resulting in me not feeling as sad as I could have been for Judas during his death/damned for all time.

Rather than bullets I’ll split it by character (sorry for the paragraphs I just have a lot of thoughts)

Jesus: Not the best actor but honestly John Legend seems like such a nice man and his face just exudes soft and gentle so he pretty much already has the traits someone would associate with Jesus so no major complaints there. He also is famous so it added to the star factor of Jesus when the crowd is hyped for his appearance, honestly the crowd’s excitement throughout the show was wonderful. His singing style is so pretty and really suits the songs. I do think the belting or lack of belting was definitely a weak point; it seemed like his falsetto notes were a bit off which makes me believe perhaps it wasn’t the best day vocally for him, which sucks but you know that’s natural and it happens. While some notes weren’t the best I was still very impressed how he kept going without any major falters, like gethsemane? he must have known the notes were going to be questionable, for throughout act 1 he was already struggling, but Legend kept going and made, in my opinion, quite smart decisions for how he was going to sing the song. He didn’t do the first signature high note at “why” which may have been disappointing to some but I think if he knew he would struggle with the note that day it would have weakened the impact of the song more if he went for the high note and failed, also other actor’s have also not done that note in the past and still have a wonderful gethsemane (example being Evan Tyrone Martin who did one of my favourite versions of gethsemane). Instead of the high note for “why” Legend saves it for the later part of the song which is more emotional so honestly you could mask a more wispy high notes as emotions rather than lack of ability/an off singing day. Also one final thing, him going down for the last line I also thought was a great choice for him because it’s always best to end strong. One thing about acting, I wish the director told Legend to express more with his hands and body rather than just his shoulders and neck/head. While the high emotion parts weren’t the best acted, I appreciate Legend’s effort and overall thought he was an enjoyable Jesus, he is such a soft Jesus.

Judas: Dixon is so talented what the hell? His heaven on their minds is more subdued then I'm used to it being but it makes sense to his interpretation of Judas who I find more calm but frustrated while others like Minchin and Pradon had more of a panicked and scared side to them, both versions I think work. Dixon’s Judas’ death is one of my favourite versions singing wise, staging was minimal but Dixon’s acting was great so it was actually nice just to focus on him. It’s tv so the death was a bit anticlimactic the falling ladder was meh but again it’s tv not their fault. Wish he had more interaction with Jesus but not Dixon’s fault. Dixon is just so talented and wow, a great Judas.

Mary M.: A SOft, sweet Mary, really suits Legend’s Jesus and I also liked how she was nice to Judas despite him being a bit of a prick to her. I liked her dress and her singing suited the songs really well. Not the most emotional in her singing though she did show emotion in her face, but I'm not that mad I thought overall she was lovely, I would listen more to Bareilles Mary M.

Peter: A soft looking boi, why are so many of the characters soft in this version? He has a lovely voice and sounded nice with Mary on Could we start again. I liked how he really exuded this kind of young excitement and I liked his interactions with the other disciples in the background.

Simon: A soft punk boi? Nothing against the actor, just against the director but the Simon Zealotes song staging was weird, like choreography was fine but it was more like Simon’s concert time rather than Simon trying to start a riot. While that scene wasn't the best executed in my opinion I thought he still was a lovely Simon. I really liked him spray painting Jesus’ name at the start if my memory serves me correctly. Despite his more punk look he still was hugging everyone and seemed so sweet but like also strangely violence loving which I think suits Simon so overall really liked this aggressive but sweet Simon.

Pontius Pilate: Honestly I think my dad and I have just a love for an extra Pontius Pilate, because we really liked the 2000 interpretation but this version was also great. He’s not as good of singer as the 2000 version but his acting was wonderful and such a joy to watch. Also you’d think his costume wouldn’t work because it’s strangely tacky but it looks so good on him for some reason?

Herod: He’s literally Alice Cooper. Could have been a bit flashier but still fun. The acting and singing wasn’t the best version I’ve seen but I think the star power and general vibe of Alice Cooper is kind of enough to carry the scene enough, the crowd’s excitement really helped the scene in my opinion. I really liked Alice Cooper just having fun with the applause at the end.

Caiaphas and Annas: For some reason my dad really loved Annas in this version, like whenever he came on my dad was just super hyped but hey he was a great Annas. Also those costumes!!!??! wow just wow, they look so cool!!!! Not my favourite Caiaphas but I’m a sucker for Norm Lewis so I was just happy to see him. I really liked how in Hosanna Caiaphas is on the same level as Jesus and the disciples and sings directly to them eye to eye, which gave off more the vibe that Caiaphas is not stopping them because he’s some leader looking down at them and trying to crush them but more someone of the same community trying to bring an end to a disturbance that is concerning to him. 

Ensemble: All so talented, I only really knew Heath Saunders and Mykal Kilgore but it was fun seeing them in the background. I kept pointing them out whenever they appeared because I was excited. Like I said before I liked how the disciples seemed to get along and hug each other a lot. I also really loved the trio during “Superstar” with the silver dresses, I really liked how they even added silver to their hair, they were lovely and really pretty. Also the musicians coming on the stage and the guitarist on the scaffolding were great!! really added to the show

Overall, I really liked this version, but my favourite part was the set change during the crucifixion. To preface this I have been very fortunate to watch both Hadestown and Phantom of the Opera before, and during Hadestown, while I cried due to plot stuff, one of the reasons I cried was at the end of act 1 there are these swinging lamps and the set grows/parts and I cried because it was so pretty and just wow. During Phantom the only times I cried was the opening overture where the chandelier is revealed and when they descend to the Phantom lair for the first time and the stairs appear and disappear from the wall and the whole boat thing. What I’m trying to say is I love sets moving and beautiful imagery created by sets, I just really like sets okay. So at the end when John Legend is on the cross and it starts to get raised I first thought, are they just going to lift him up and away because uhh... ?? BUT THEN THE F*CKING WALLS SPLIT AND THE GAPS CREATE A CROSS LIKE THE F*CK I CAN’T AHHHHHHHHHHHHH YOU DON’T UNDERTSAND HOW EXCITED I WAS MY MIND WAS BLOWN I LOVED IT SO MUCH!!!!!! (does it really matter that i censored this? not really, just feels weird to just write out f word despite using it a lot)

 it really reminded me of Tando Ando’s Church of Light, really exciting stuff

haha that’s all, I really liked this version and just A+ overall

[floriswrite]

"So, if I asked, would you really make me lunch?" Lea couldn't help but be awkward around Lauriam. The guy was way too bright these days but he knew there was still massive darkness in him. He didn't really care about the Marluxia crap.

"I would." Lauriam nodded. "My personal feelings towards you have nothing to do with my need to make sure you are healthy."

"How do you feel towards me?"

"I don't feel anything."

"What?"

"In general. My feelings are... Muted. They've been that way since I woke here." 

Lea leaned back against the wall. “Aren’t you dating Even?” 

Lauriam sighed and looked to the floor. “I am courting Even. Ienzo thought the same... I am chasing the ghost of a feeling, Lea. If you really must know. Even knows where my emotions lie. We’ve talked extensively about our past. About Brain and Ansem. Aeleus and Elrena.” 

“Not that I care, trust me, I don’t, but isn’t that kinda, I don’t know, /wrong/?” Lea gestured a hand at him. “Sounds like you’re leading him on.” 

“It is hardly any different from Isa’s own emotional state. We all have trauma, Lea. And if I feel like dealing with mine by taking care of others and attempting to learn what it means to be in a normal relationship than I should be allowed to.” 

“Don’t you dare drag Isa into this.” Lea groaned and rubbed his face. “I know you know how he looks at Terra. So, okay, yeah, I get what you’re saying. I’m dealing with mine by having an army of /teenagers/ at my feet.” 

“Have you put more thought into my offer?” 

“...I... didn’t really think you were serious.” Lea admitted and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not really leader material, Lauriam.” 

“It would only be temporary. Isa would be preferable but there’s still much work to be done there.” Lauriam gave him a small smile. “It’s what Skuld would want.” 

“Yeah, okay. Until Isa can. But not a moment longer. I can barely be responsible for myself, let alone a bunch of kids.” 

“I’ll tell Ven the good news. Would you like something to commemorate it?” 

“Uh, besides lunch?” 

Lauriam gave a small nod. “Ienzo has a choker from me, and Ven wears a bracelet. I’m on good terms with Moogle as well as those ducklings so have access to materials as well as the ability to synthesis.” 

“Uh, I guess whatever you think would be best. I’m still getting used to my Keyblade and the whole magic shift in general from, you know, Axel.” 

Lauriam curled a hand before his lips. “I can work with that. I’ll have something for you in the next few days.” 

“Cool.” Lea swallowed. “You really don’t feel anything towards me?” 

“Should I? Whatever happened between Marluxia and Axel is in the past.” Lauriam responded and crossed his arms over his chest. “You’ve only ever done what you thought was right to protect your own interests. I cannot fault someone for that.” 

“I don’t know now. I guess I thought we were friends. You /act/ like we’re friends.” 

“No.” Lauriam closed his eyes. “You’ll die if we’re friends.” 

“What?” Lea pressed closer to the wall behind him before he sprung forward to grab Lauriam’s collar. “What?!” 

“If you haven’t figured that out by now I don’t know what to tell you. Do you know how many times Elrena has died? Has had her memory altered? Been /used/? Let alone Ven.” Lauriam placed his hands over Lea’s. “Brain didn’t even come to this time. Ephemer is trapped. I’m pretty sure you met Skuld. Broken. My Dandelions... You don’t want to be my friend, Lea.” 

“Huh.” The sound left Lea softly and his hands slipped back to his sides. “Yeah. You got a point there. But if /you/ haven’t realized I don’t make a habit of leaving my friends behind. So I really don’t care. If you want me to be a part of his union crap than we’re friends.”

“Always a way with words.” Lauriam sighed. “I know I cannot change your mind. So welcome to the fold, Master Lea.” 

“Yeah, okay, I need you to not call me that.” Lea mumbled as he tried to keep his knees supporting him. Now he understood why Even always had such a face when Lauriam called him lord. It meant nothing from him but boy howdy was that tone all Marluxia. 

“It is your proper title.” Lauriam frowned. “Ienzo and Ven dislike it as well. But it is what Master Ava would want. I will refrain.” 

“You really don’t get it.” Lea huffed. “Marluxia calling anyone by proper title would be a field day. It’s not the same from you, but it’s still, how do I even put this besides fuckin’ hot... Yeah, that’s it.” 

“So there’s a problem with my delivery.” 

“There’s a problem with your /face/.” Lea sighed heavily. “What happened to your /ego/? Not that I’m really complaining. Marluxia was insufferable. But he was fuckin’ hot.” 

“Are you turned on by me calling you master?” Lauriam questioned. 

“Yeah, sure, we can boil it down to that. Much easier than trying to delve into the various levels of physiological bullcrap between us.” 

“I see. So it is not so much /me/ saying it as the thought of /him/ saying it and since we share the same face... I see. And here I had hoped I wouldn’t have to deal with this with you.” 

“Yeah, basically.” Lea shrugged. “With me? Oh. /That’s/ why you’re still courting Even.” 

“Yes.” Lauriam admitted. “Ven is the only person who sees /me/. The rest of you still see /him/.” 

“Yeah, okay, guilty. That’s just kinda how it is for all of us. Some of us kinda... switched back and forth easier. Half the time the kids still call me Axel and it stings, you know? I’m trying to make this new life for all of us and it... it’s hard. And you’re trying to give me this opportunity to /do/ something to help the future and that’s terrifying. Because when I see you I see Marluxia. And I didn’t /care/ what Marluxia had to say because Saix’s orders and wants were all that mattered. Getting back to Roxas was all that mattered. I just had to make sure Marluxia /failed/. I had no clue what was actually happening at Castle Oblivion because I didn’t /care/. And now we’re here, and you’re offering to trust me again, and I... I don’t deserve that.” 

“Are we not all seeking redemption?” 

“We are.” Lea sighed. “Is that what this is? A way to prove myself?” 

“If you want to see it that way you can.” 

“I will. Can you tell me something?” 

“You know I remember little.” 

“I do. Marluxia was determined to take down Xemnas. Why?” 

“To stop Kingdom Hearts. To stop a reset of the universe. You’ve been to the Keyblade Graveyard.” 

“Yeah, place is hella creepy.” 

“That place is full of people I once knew. The people of my time. Our job as leaders was to protect those that avoided the war. To act as if it never happened.” 

“What?” 

“To accept the future and move on. That was the point of the dandelions.” 

“You’re telling me that the universe almost got /destroyed/?” 

“Reset. Yes.” 

“Same thing.” Lea huffed. 

“No. Kingdom Hearts puts light and darkness back in balance. The few Keyblade Weilders you’ve met wore born from that light. Were gifted it.” 

“So Xehanort was trying to use us to cause an apocalypse, basically.” 

“That’s accurate.” 

“Which is why Marluxia tried to control Sora?” 

“If what I have been told of myself follows, than yes. Marluxia would have had the instinctual need to stop Kingdom Hearts. Even if he could not remember why and had lost his Keyblade to Darkness.” 

“Well, damn.” Lea whistled. “Which I guess explains why Larxene was there too.” 

“The lingering feeling of bonds. Yes.” Lauriam nodded. 

“Huh.” Lea tilted his head back. “Even knowing that I still woulda done what I did.” 

“You had your priorities. I get the feeling that Saix and Marluxia had the same one without knowing it.” 

“Yeah, probably. Xemnas was crazy.” Lea laughed. “We won in the end though. No apocalypse.” 

“No apocalypse.” Lauriam hummed. “Things are finally back to how they should be.” He pressed a hand to his chest. “Just how master wanted.” 

“Don’t get all eerie on me now.”

“Are you not excited for the future?” Lauriam grinned at him. 

“Not sure excited is a word I would use, but at this point I guess I should just be happy I’m alive to see it.” 

“Exactly, Master Lea.”

Lea growled at him. “I’m going to go tell Ven myself.” 

“You have no idea where he is.”

“And you do?” 

“Of course. But if you listen to your heart you should find the way.” 

“Yeah, guiding key blah blah blah.” 

“I believe in you, Lea.” 

“That makes one of us.” Lea sighed and summoned his Keyblade. “You’re really not like Marluxia at all. I don’t get it.” 

“One needs to keep up appearances when their body is all they have. The loss of my sister broke me deeply and if not for the other leaders I would have fallen to Darkness much sooner. There is no point in growing close to people who will only leave you. Marluxia existed solely to try and get back to /me/. To try and fix the future. Is that accurate?” 

“I guess. Are you trying to tell me that Marluxia could have been nice?” 

“He got along with Roxas, am I right?” 

“Yeah. Roxas is always looking at you and junk. But even that was cause he had a Keyblade, wasn’t it? Trick the kid into liking you to use him... Which is no different than what I did.” Lea sighed. “A means to an end. I get your point.” 

“Marluxia is Marluxia and I am me. But all Marluxia was, was a fully broken version of me. The one that became a Nobody instead of a Darkling. The one found by Xigbar.” 

“Yeah. I guess not so different if you put it like that. You just wear a different mask.” 

“Correct.” Lauriam gestured his head towards Lea’s Keyblade. “Go tell Ven. He’s been very excited to know your answer.” 

“Just, follow my heart?” 

“The Keyblade will do the rest.” 

“Yeah, okay. I’ll see you later. Do I just message you about lunch?” 

“That’s what the children do.” 

“Okay. I can do that.” 

“Good. Goodbye, Master Lea.” 

“You’re the worst.”

[saccharine-honnebee]

On Three, We Jump

- Arthur Morgan x Reader - 

Word Count: 5000~ boy howdy

Notes Before the Fic: I think i went a little overboard on this :/

--

It was quite the risk to rob the wealthy family you'd been serving for the past few years, you'd told yourself this countless times. 

You had no prior experience in thievery, no sort of reference to go by, and certainly no guarantee you'd even get five feet away from the Miller estate before being found out. 

All you had going for you was a burning determination, and a few sparks of luck. 

It just so happened that the Miller family was just about the stupidest group of people you'd ever met.

They were far too trusting with their house staff, they told them everything, from where the safe that held their family fortune was kept, to how much was in there, and never seemed to be aware in the slightest that this information could be used against them.

So far it hadn't, and that, more than anything, felt like a sign to seize the opportunity while it was still in your grasp.

All five of them (a mother, father, older sister, and two younger brothers) were leaving for a holiday out in one of their various houses in the countryside, taking with them a few important members of their house staff, and sending the rest away for the week. That left you, one of their most trusted servants, all alone, to take care of their home while they were away.

You were giddy when you were helping the daughter pack her suitcase, and you were practically vibrating as you watched them pile in to one of their carriages, waving farewell along with the rest of the house staff.

By sundown, it was just you, alone in the estate, and after checking and rechecking you had all the supplies your saddlebags could carry, and your horse was safely munching on a pile of hay, hitched to a post you could see from the window of the upstairs drawing room, you finally felt secure enough to begin.

You could feel a slight shake in your hands, from both nerves and excitement as you gripped the handrail of the grand staircase, and made your way towards the oldest daughter's bedroom.

You already knew you wanted to start there. That girl owned more pieces of jewelry than any one person should be in possession of, and you knew several items that you could live off for months that would hardly be missed.

Even so, as you reached the top of the staircase, you found your glee fading ever so slightly as you met the passive gazes of the large family portrait that hung at the entrance of the second floor.

Looking at their painted faces, you couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of guilt dampening your spirits.

You had spent years with these people, getting to know them under the good, steady paying job they had given you. And they had never treated you nearly as bad as you knew other families were to their servants. You could live a decent life here with the Miller’s, if you wanted to.

But that was the thing, wasn't it? You didn't want to.

You didn't want to live the rest of your days living the life of a servant while waiting on a family that had more money than they'd ever spend, not when you could take some of that wealth for and go live the life of freedom and self-dependence you'd always wanted.

You wanted better for yourself, knew you deserved better, and you were going to get it by any means necessary.

You turned your nose up at the portrait and walked right past it. You could feel remorse later, right now you had a job to do.

Finally reaching the eldest daughter's room, you immediately go for her vanity, and quickly opened all the drawers you knew she stashed her jewelry in.

You felt a tingling sense of excitement as you rummaged through the overflowing drawers, and you can suddenly picture yourself as a skilled thief or conman, the kind whose name was known by all but seen by few, and could rob the pants off a man and be half way across the country before he’d even notice they were gone. The kind of person who lived by their own rules, away from the strict hierarchy of civilization.

How childish, to be dreaming about such things while doing something so monumentally real, but you couldn't deny how thrilling that fantasy was when you actually pictured yourself in that situation. 

Once you had taken all the jewelry you dared, you plan to visit the parents room next, you knew the mother had plenty of jewelry as well, and you’d always admired the father’s pocket watch collection- 

Suddenly, the sharp sound of shattering glass cuts through the silence around you, and your heart nearly bursts out of your chest in panic. 

The first thought to pop into your head was that the family had returned, and you'd be caught red-handed before you’d even began. Then you think, of course it isn't them. If the Miller’s were back, they would have simply walked through the front door.

No, whoever was in the house with you (and you could definitely tell there was someone now, you could hear them stumbling about through the shattered window) must be here to do the same thing you were.

Not on your watch.

You weren't about to have your one-way ticket to freedom be stolen or forcibly shared. Whoever was down there was either going to be walking out of here empty handed, or never walking anywhere again. 

You had planned to try to off them with the pistol you knew the father kept under his pillow, but before you could try to sneak out of the room, you hear the footsteps of the intruder start to make their way up the stairs.

You curse, knowing there wasn't anything in this room lethal enough to make this quick, so you pad over to the wardrobe in the corner of the room as quietly as you can and stuff yourself inside. The element of surprise will have to be your weapon of choice.

The sound of heavy footsteps reaching the top of the stairs can be heard from inside the dark cupboard, and as they entered the bedroom, the ominous sound made your heart race and your palms sweat, but at the same time, only fueled your determination. 

You listen for a few moments as they walk further into the bedroom, and thank your lucky stars when for some reason, they pause before the wardrobe. 

Taking a slow, deep breath to steel yourself, you place your hands flat against the back of the door, then shove it open with all of your strength. 

You feel great pride in the sharp smack you hear as the wood comes in contact with the intruder’s nose, and you watch him stumble back from the force of it, clutching his nose in his hands and groaning, before you throw yourself at the man and tackle him to the ground.

He hits the floor with a thud, his hat detaching itself from his head on impact, and looking properly disoriented as you straddle his chest. As much as you'd like to take the time to pat yourself on the back for taking down what you can now see is a very large, well built man, you have a job to finish, and you pull back your fist, ready to deliver what you hope will be another disorienting blow to his throat.

Before you could even try, suddenly it's you who’s on their back, as the man looms over you in a dark silhouette. His big, rough hands have your wrists pinned to the ground, and it seems he's every bit as strong as he looks, any attempt you gave to try to wiggle yourself free was proven fruitless as he held you down with his weight. The bandanna he wore over the lower half of his face forced you to stare directly into his eyes, which were currently regarding you with something you couldn't quite discern at the moment, too blinded by your own frustration at this turn of events.

"Back off," you growl. "This house is mine, find somewhere else to loot."

The look in his eyes changes, brows pinching together as he leans back from you slightly. 

“Aint you a house servant?” 

His eyes flick downward across your body, and you were nearly offended, until you realized he was merely looking at the uniform you were still wearing.

"So?" You spit back.

He’s quiet for another moment, thinking, and you can already tell you wont like what he comes up with as you watch the gears turn in his head. 

“So that must mean you know where everything is around here.”

"And what makes you think I'll tell you?"

He sits up slightly and shifts both of your wrists into one hand, and you watch as his other goes to wraps around the handle of the gun against his hip.

You tense at the sight of it, and just know he's smirking at you under the bandanna.

"That enough to convince you?"

You chew at your lip and seethe, the last thing you want is to admit is that he has you intimidated.

"Listen," he starts again, hand moving up to the piece of fabric covering his mouth and hooking a finger under it. "I didn't come here to hurt you. And so long as you behave we can keep it that way. Now here's what I'm suggesting-"

He undoes the bandanna and brings it down to your wrists, and you would've started squirming again if it wasn't for the sudden realization that hit you as you stare up at his now unobscured face- you seen this man before, on a wanted poster. This was none other than, Arthur Morgan a notorious outlaw with a hell of a bounty on his head, and now he was here, pinning you to the ground and proposing a deal. 

"You're gonna show me where the family's safe is," he continues, voice low and threatening as he secured the fabric around your wrists. "And help me get it open. And if you can do that without causing me any trouble, I'll let you take anything else in the house, and we can pretend neither of us saw the other."

Of course he was after the safe, you wouldn't be surprised if the whole country knew the Miller’s kept all their riches within their home. And sure, they had plenty of nice things that would fetch a pretty penny once you pawned them off, but they couldn't provide a life long support like the money in that safe could. So even though there was a very real fear starting to speed up your pulse as you looked down at your bound wrists, now as the mercy of this incredibly dangerous man, there was also an idea forming on how you could turn this situation back into your favor. 

"Alright," you conceded, trying to make your voice sound small and unassuming, and he nods.

"Good choice."

Finally he gets up off of you, then pulls you up to your feet by the bandanna between your wrists.

"The safe is behind the family portrait at the top of the stairs," you grumble, and he nods, leaning down to pick up his hat and place it back on his head.

"Shoulda guessed," he chuckled to himself. "Thing's too ugly for anyone to keep around without a good reason." Then he grabbed you by your wrists again, and all but drags you back to the top of the stairs.

Now standing in front of the large painting, you watch from behind him as he inspects the intricate frame, before finding the side that unlatches, and swinging it open like a door. 

While he’s distracted, you test your bonds, frustrated to feel that there’s practically no give whatsoever. You might be forced to chew yourself free if you couldn't find something to cut it with. 

“You know the combination?” He asks, drawing you from your plotting. 

You shake your head. “The Miller’s are stupid, but they aint stupid enough to just give away that kinda information to anyone.” 

He sighs, sounding tired as he gets down on one knee so he can press an ear against the safe, then spins the dial a few times to reset it. “Guess we’ll just do this the old fashioned way.” 

You watch him for a moment as he goes through each number on the dial, waiting for a tell-tale click or the feeling of some resistance, while you try to think of some way to incapacitate him once he’d finally gotten the thing open.  

Just as you were imagining strangling him with the bandanna around your wrists, and maybe even turning him in to the law to collect his bounty, you hear Arthur let out a frustrated groan. You’re surprised to see the safe door is open, considering the type of noise he made, until you step closer to peer inside, and see that instead of the overwhelming riches you both had been expecting, there’s a metal box sitting there with yet another lock keeping it shut. 

You make a noise of disbelief, surprised that the Miller's of all people would think to take extra precautions, and suddenly you're very glad you didn’t attempt to strangle Arthur the moment the safe was opened. 

“Don’t suppose you know where the key to this is?” he asks, inspecting the silver padlock for a moment then letting it clatter back into place. 

You shake your head again. “I didn't even know that was in there.” 

He seems annoyed, but not overly bothered by this new hurdle to jump over, as he fishes a small, curved metal tool out of his boot, assuring this was nothing he hadn’t handled before. 

You watch curiously as he sticks the metal piece into the lock, twisting it one way or the other until there's some give, then he turns back to you.

"You think you can find me a hair pin?"

You nod, now feeling almost eager to aid him in this task, and scurry back off to the daughter’s bedroom, in search of a pin without any sort of ornamentation on it. 

You can feel the same tingling sensation in your fingertips from before as you sift through the various drawers. Just earlier this night, you’d been imagining yourself as an outlaw, and now here you were, working side by side with a real one to steal from the wealthy and dole out your own personal sense of justice against a world that had forced you to the bottom of the food chain for far too long. It felt almost dirty to admit, but you like this feeling, going against the law to strike back at the system that held you down in the lowly position you were born into. 

You liked it so much in fact, that it had you dutifully marching back to Arthur, presenting a single, plain hairpin with both of your hands still bound, the thought of attempting to loosen the bonds while you were left unsupervised never even crossing your mind. Not when all that money was so close you could taste it. 

You lower yourself onto your knees when he pats the ground beside him. 

“You're gonna help me with this,” he says softly, plucking the pin out of your hands, then guiding you by the wrists up to the metal tool already stick out of the lock. “Hold that still for me.” 

You do, and you watch him as he slowly works the pin into the keyhole beside the piece you're holding. You watch him work in silence for several moments, his eyes cast off to the side as he envisions the inner workings of the lock and searches for the correct pins that will open it up. You almost assume he’s forgotten you were even there until he speaks up again. 

“So what are you doing, robbing the family you work for?" 

The question definitely takes you by surprise, and you debate for a moment on if you should even answer, if it would be wise to give up any information at all to a man like Arthur Morgan. 

“I just… don't want to be a servant anymore.” 

“And you’d rather be a thief?” You can see him looking at you from the corner of his eye, and the judgment behind his question irks you. 

“I would if it means I get to live freely.” 

He looks away after that, and you do too, suddenly very uncomfortable with the closeness between your bodies, but not daring to try and put some distance between you two, for fear of losing all of your progress if you shift in the slightest. 

“So what does that mean to you?” he starts up again, breaking the stretch of silence that had fallen between the two of you. “Living freely?” 

His question surprises you again, you didn't think a hardened criminal such as himself would care to know these things, and you have to stop and think for a moment to find your answer. 

You think about how you've felt tonight, fancying yourself an outlaw like him, someone who roamed as they pleased, dodging the law and pulling schemes, and never having to dust a piece of ancient furniture in a stuffy parlor for the third time in two days. 

You told yourself that the first thing you would do with your money, if you were successful, would be to buy a nice plot of land and spend time lying low and making it a home, that that would be all you would need in life, but now when you thought of the future, it was clouded by that wonderful spark of adrenaline you felt when you committed acts that would surely have you doing time if anyone were to find out. 

Was that life what you really wanted?

You spend some more time wondering how you would put any of that into words for Arthur, but before you could even begin, he's suddenly turning to you with a triumphant look on his face, as the lock finally clicks open. 

You untangle your limbs from each other as you slide your tools free, and you both leave the previous question unanswered as you crowd yourselves around the metal box in anticipation. 

“Let’s hope there ain't a third box in here,” he says as he grips the sides of the lid, and you would’ve chuckled if the suspense wasn't starting to eat at you.

Loud, theatrical sighs of relief are let out by the both of you as the sight of several stacks of green bills come into view.

Arthur quickly counts through them, and just as you get to your feet, remembering your earlier plans to cross him, hes grabbing you by your satchel, and stuffing a good amount of cash into it. 

"Sixty/forty," he says, when you give him a bewildered look, and you struggle to find your words. 

“I… thank you.” There was definitely much more to this man than you thought.

He just shrugs and goes to stand himself. "You helped get the thing open, s'only fair."

The rest of the money fits into his back pocket, and you watch him for a moment, before blurting out, "I didn't think wanted men cared about fairness."

He pauses long enough for you to begin to question if it was a bad idea to let him know you knew who he was, as you watch multiple emotions flash across his face.

"Decent ones do," he answers after a long, deafening silence, and something about the way he says it sounds loaded.

A moment longer and you wouldn't have been able to stop yourself from asking if he was one of them, but then you hear it- the clatter of carriages coming down the pathway.

You tense, and Arthur frowns.

"That ain't-?"

"It is."

For whatever reason, the Miller's had returned, not even a full day from what was supposed to be a week long trip, and were going to come home to see their entire fortune shared between the pockets of you and a notorious outlaw.

Arthur grabs you by the wrist, and tries to lead you down the stairs, but you stop him, you had a better idea. 

“This way,” you whisper, leading him further down the hallway till you reach the drawing room. 

He throws open the doors, and you both slip inside and out onto the balcony. Over the railing, you could see that thankfully your horse was exactly where you left them, beside a pile of hay that looked cushioned enough to not break the bones of someone hurtling towards it from two stories up. 

“We’ll have to jump,” you tell Arthur, who had no doubt already assumed your plan, as he stared wearily down to the ground. 

“On the count of three,” you attempt to offer as you throw a leg over the railing. But before you could even say ‘one’, Arthur had already jumped, taking the plunge and landing safely in the sea of hay below you.

You watch him shamble to his feet in disbelief, ready to curse him out for what seems to be his betrayal, ditching you to be found by the family and take the fall for everything, only for him to turn back around, arms held out high above his head, looking to you expectantly.

"Come on, I'll catch you," he says, as quietly as possible for it to still reach your ear.

You have to stifle a laugh at the almost... chivalrous act, mainly at how unnecessary it is, but you appreciate the thought behind it. 

You almost wanted to make him wait for a moment, just to tease him, but then the faint sounds of an opening door and confused voices reaches your ears, and you're throwing your other leg over the railing and pushing the rest of your body off of it. 

The fall is short, with little time to panic, and you're safe in the arms of Arthur Morgan before you even registered you'd left solid ground.

Instead of grabbing you by the bandanna around your wrists like he's been doing so far, he chooses to hoist you over his shoulder and carry you over to your horse (you would've scolded him for it if its wasn't over so fast), and tosses you stomach-first onto its back, before unhitching the reins and mounting as well.

He whistles, sharp and pointed and you cringe at the sound of it, knowing it wasn't doing anything to help keep your location a secret.

A second goes by, and then another horse is coming into view, and a beat after- just like you feared, one of the Miller sons.

"Hey!" He shouts, pointing at Arthur with fear in his eyes, and you can only imagine how this must look. One of their servants, bound at the wrists and thrown over the back of a horse with a dangerous looking man dressed in dark colors at the reins. At least you'll be more likely to be remembered as a victim than a suspect.

Without another thought, Arthur spurs your horse forward, and into the surrounding forest, his own horse easily keeping pace, and you watch the house go as pure adrenaline pumped through your veins.

You felt triumphant, a little annoyed by the constant jostling of your body as Arthur rode hard and fast away from your pursuers, but triumphant nonetheless.

You've done it, you actually managed to pull it off. 

Eventually, Arthur comes to a spot in the trees he deems safe enough, and slows both your horses down to a trot, before stopping them completely. 

He dismounts, then goes to grab you around the waist to help you to your feet, chuckling when he catches the look on you face- wide eyed a breathing heavy from the peril, but with a hint of a smile on your face.

"That always gets the heart pumpin’," He laughs, two steadying hands on your shoulders as you find your feet again.

When you're no longer swaying in place, he finally goes to undo the knot keeping your wrists bound, and you watch him with silent admiration for the ease with which he works your free. He rubs at the skin of your wrists with those big, rough hands to get the blood flowing again, and suddenly it's the nicest feeling in the world. You let him work his magic, telling yourself you're simply too tired to wave him off, but really, you know you just like the feel of his hands on you. You almost suspect he knows too. 

When he finally pulls away from you, you’re brought back to the present, and your high starts to fade ever so slightly with his next question. 

“So,” he starts, as his horse comes up to him, and starts to nudge at him until he gave it a few pats. “You know what you're gonna do now?” 

“Well,” you say, slipping your bag off your shoulder and attaching it to your own horse’s saddle. It turns its head to you, and you offer a few reassuring strokes to its coat. “I didn't get nearly as much as i was planning to. I should be alright, though. But I might have to find work somewhere else.” 

When you turn back to Arthur, it's clear he's thinking something over, almost looking like he's about to offer you something, but you continue before he could say whatever was going on in that head of his. 

“That, or I could just pull this scheme again. Being a criminal don’t seem too bad now. You wouldn't happen to need a partner in crime, would you?” you ask, only slightly joking.

He doesn't look very pleased at your words as he shakes his head. 

“Trust me, a life of honest work is better than running from the law. More suited for someone like you.” 

“‘Someone like me?’” you repeat accusingly, and he nods as his hands go to rest on his belt buckle. 

“Don’t mean nothin’ by it. I’m just saying, if you have any other options, you best take ‘em.” 

You take a step towards him, a smirk forming on your lips. “I think you just don’t want any competition.”

“I think you’d be dead in a week if you tried to live the way I do-”

“You're just afraid I’ll be better at it than you,” You tease, taking another step forward. “Robbin’ every homestead before you even get the chance.” And another. 

You're practically chest to chest now, and the glare he's giving you would've been deadly if you didn't like being the cause of it so much. 

“What,” you say, giving him a playful pout. “You don’t think I’d be any good at it?”

“I think you need to appreciate what you have now,” he says in a low rumble of a voice, nodding over to where your satchel rests against your saddle.  

“Oh, well, then let me thank the man who made it happen.”

You weren't sure if it was the last bits of your adrenaline wearing off, or if something really has been awakened in you, but right at that moment, something about being in the presence of Arthur Morgan made you feel reckless and dangerous, yet invincible at the same time. So with almost no thought to your actions(there was very little thinking done tonight), you took a risk and threw your arms around his waist to bridge what little distance there was still left between you, and smash your lips into his. 

His whole body immediately tenses, and even tries to pull away, but you've got a firm hold on him, and after his initial knee-jerk reaction, he seems to relax ever so slightly into it, and you swear you felt him lean into you. But you're pulling back soon after, can’t let him enjoy it too much.

You try to rein in your smile when you see the way he tries to keep his face hard and impassive while blushing bright red like a tomato, the color clear as day even under the shade of night, and you wonder where that big, tough outlaw from before went. 

You drag your hands across his sides, letting one of them crawl up his chest and ghost over the exposed skin at the opening of his shirt, pleased to see him watching it, while the other went to rest behind your back. 

“See you around, Cowboy,” you whispered, finally pulling away to back up towards your horse, taking great pleasure in the way he tries to hide behind the brim of his hat, and fiddle with his belt buckle to avoid looking into your eyes any longer.

Poor fool must not have been kissed in some time, you think as you mount your horse and spur it onward, down the pathway to the new life you’ll make for yourself. He couldn't even tell you'd stolen his cut of the money right out of his back pocket. ‘Someone like you’ he said. Heh.

"Pool fool, indeed," you tell your horse, as you pat the stack of bills now safely tucked away in your own pocket.

"Hey!" You hear Arthur shout. It's faint, you've already put a good deal a distance between you, but you can still hear the rage in his tone, and it makes a smile spread across you face. "Get back here!"

You urge your horse into a full sprint, just about cackling as you tear down the pathway.

"You're gonna have to catch me first!" 

--

AN: Not necessarily a low effort fic, cuz there was an effort made, but it's definitely not meant to be a masterpiece. Just a bit of fun with a silly idea I thought of. So you're gonna have to forgive me if ol Artie is a little too ooc, I did get a bit carried away lol

Also there's not really any romance?? But trust me, I'm gonna make up for the lack of it here with the other fics I'm currently working on

And i think i gave the reader a bit too much of a personality, and for that I apologize, I’ll do my best to keep that to a minimum

I think a ‘I hope someone other than me can get something out of this’ is in order :P

((note to self: don’t ever try to post something when you’ve only gotten 3 hours of sleep. youll end up misspelling the title of your own fic))

[frigginwriting]

Howdy howdy! As I’ve mentioned before I changed my Nanowrimo goal to write The Tales of Kredos with @sweetfaerycherry, and we’re making fair progress on that. Only 5k words behind now.

I thought I’d put up the first chapter to see if I could get some opinions on it! We’ve written a lot more than this of course, but one chapter is long enough as it is. I’m gonna pop the first chapter under a read more here, if anyone gets the time some feedback would be delightful~

The world itself had no name, or at least the name was long lost in the tangles of vines around ancient ruins. Light from the moon peeked through dark clouds, and laid against old alabaster walls that shimmered with ancient enchantments. 

The walls stretched each way for thousands of miles, straight through the sacred forests. On the other side were massive pits where foul smelling black smoke billowed into the air. It blanketed the small rickety towns of the outer ring with an eternal overcast, as night bound people sulked around, looking to complete what they needed before the sun rose and the majority of the population was out for the day.

Further in, the smoke dissipated. Past the forest between the rings, were the second ring cities with better infrastructure and cobblestone streets. Then were inner ring towns with asphalt and oil street lamps. From there was the epicenter of the Triune Kingdoms– Centura. It was the Capital of Kredos, the walled continent safe from the savagery of beasts and monsters in the Wilds.

Centura was an odd assortment of buildings cobbled together, as the next technological century rammed full force into the past. It was the pinnacle of humanity, in all of its various forms. Near the center was a massive blocky skyscraper, metal shining in moonlight. Near there was the Palace of Power, where the four royals met twice a year. The last landmark was the capital temple, a big grand building of white marble, meticulously maintained. Inside was the large gold plated insignia of the sun, and in the still dark morning hours the new neon lights that lay over it’s edges lit the way.

Surrounding these three impressive landmarks were numerous businesses, and further out houses of gothic architecture. Down the street from the marble temple was a house that stood from the rest, small and old, unpainted wood, with sigils carved into the door and window frames. It had one large door, and on this early morning it swung open.

One person emerged with an errand to run, Runimo Avis, a seventeen year old with an array of colored hair and dark skin. As he left he carried with him his bag, one empty bottle, the goggles he wore, and the cane he kept outstretched in front of him.

The walk from his house to the main street market was more than most people in the capital cared to take, and by the time he reached it the sky was lightening up. He saw people roaming about already and felt relief, thinking he might have been too early still. As the light grew clearer with the rising sun, shapes grew clearer, still blurry and dark but with enough of an edge and enough contrast for him to tell where one thing ended and another began. 

Runimo kept a hold of his cane anyway, knowing it would make the shopping trip quicker and easier. He couldn't imagine anyone remembering all of their customers in the capital, but he of all people should have been a face one couldn't forget easily. Still, holding it, he got far less of an annoyed or irritated tone when he asked people to point him to something or read a label for him.

"Runimo!"

Focused on his own preemptive agitation, Runimo jumped at the call of his name.

"Oh, gods, sorry I didn't mean to startle you."

David, Runimo's friend. A light elf in shift, apparent by the point to the ears and to a lesser degree, his sturdy features and aquiline nose which weren't uncommon in them. The most notable trait of elves outside of the ears was the metallic, foil-like sheen to the iris of their eyes.

Runimo relaxed when he realized who it was.

"Nah, I just was thinking about stuff." Runimo said. "What are you doing up already?"

"Couldn't sleep." said David. "I suspect you're in the same boat?"

"Kind of." Runimo said. "Been up since two. I thought I'd run a couple of errands and maybe get a short nap in before. Hey, listen, do you smell coffee?"

"Coffee?" David asked, and paused to smell the air. "Huh. Yeah I suppose, do you have some, or..."

Runimo could tell from the cutoff of David's voice, that he'd come to the same assumption that Runimo had some time ago.

"I've been smelling coffee since I woke up." Runimo said. "I'm pretty confident in Granddad's wards, but I'm not particularly fond of the idea that some dark magic source has been following me all morning."

"Oh Lessers," David looked around as if he could spot the source, "have you told anyone? Have you told your grandpa?"

Runimo made a face.

"I'd rather not stress him out I think." He said, and it was obvious what he really meant.

"Hey, look," David said, "your grandpa wouldn't keep you from running the course if it wasn't for a good reason. You aught tell him, maybe he can do something about it, or at least make sure it's something unimportant. What if something messed up happens while you're out there?"

Runimo huffed a little. He knew all along, of course, that he should have told his granddad from the start. Part of him was hoping someone would say something to the contrary. His grandpa was already worried about him running the course as it was, the last thing he really wanted was to put out another excuse for him not to.

"Yeah alright, I know." Runimo said. "I'll tell him when I get back. I've just got some fish and sunflower oil to pick up for him, maybe a couple other things here and there."

"Yeah alright, mind if I come with?" David asked. "I'm just killing time until graduation."

"Haven't any reason why not." Runimo said, as he went back to browsing. "Makes my time easier."

"So Gavin says they finally told him what temple he's going to be assigned to, and you're never going to believe which one." David said, walking with Runimo.

"He wanted to go to one of those poor outer ring towns," Runimo said, "that hasn't changed has it? Is it one of those?"

"He's going to Pigsfoot, when he graduates." David said. "And he's actually excited about it, can you believe that?"

"He wanted to go to one of those poor little towns, so I mean yeah, one of the county capitals makes sense." Runimo said, and then with a teasing tone– "I can believe he's happy about it, some people are actually in this for the benefit of others."

"Listen, I want to help people as much as the next guy," David said, and placed his hand on his chest with a tilt of his head, "I didn't go through five years of priest's training because it was a cushy job. If I wanted high paying and cushy, I'd go work for Osseo... but I can smell that place just thinking about it."

"Well I mean it's a recycling town." Runimo said, and he paused to ask David to grab him a bottle of sunflower oil and leave the bottle be brought back. They paid the two gold kredits, and continued on. "I imagine you just get used to the smell after a while. It's probably not as bad as you imagine."

"Get used to the smell." David scoffed. "I tell you what, if you ever see me in a place like that, you can just assume I've lost my dang mind."

"You say that as if you aren't crazy half the time anyway." Runimo said, glancing David's way.

"Then assume I've really lost it." David said, pointing his finger at Runimo. "Speaking of crazy, there's supposed to be this new stall in the market today, we should check it out before you go home again."

"What's what have to do with crazy?" Runimo asked, and the two paused briefly in their walking.

"It's crazy because," David said, voice practically bouncing with anticipation, "it's apparently a stall for Grim Curios."

"Oh gods, that place." Runimo leaned his head back rolling his eyes in exasperation. "I know you've the tackiest taste of anyone I've ever met, yet still you continue to astound me with it."

"It's an airship shop," David said, "I've always wanted to see what they have inside, it's suppose to be real freaky. Beatrice said her aunt got her a nice necklace from there last Che'ibas, and it was enchanted so that she couldn't tell any lies."

"It was what?" Runimo asked.

"Yeah, I guess she ended up telling like half her family during dinner that she thought they were all uptight, overbearing, and ignorant." David said, and shrugged his shoulders, mirroring Runimo's surprise. "Of course she also told her aunt that her awful hairstyle looked like a nest of rats, and was probably what kept scaring away her various boyfriends so..."

"Lessers, and you want to get something from there?" Runimo asked, incredulous.

"Well at least look." David said. "Buy something if I think it's worth it, but mostly look. I don't know if it's going to be a permanent Sunday market thing or if it's just in town since the ceremony is today."

"You want to do an awful lot before... What time is it?" Runimo asked.

"Uh," David checked his watch, "six forty-five."

"You want to do an awful lot before it's even seven in the morning." Runimo said. "How do you know it's even open yet?"

"I passed it a bit ago, someone was setting up. They looked about finished to me." David said, and Runimo shook his head in the way that one did when feigning disappointment with their friends.

"Fine, if we simply must indulge in your terrible tastes." He said. "I want to get the fish first though."

"That's fair." David said, and they continued walking again. "I think it's nearer the back today."

They walked a ways back and Runimo knew they'd arrived when he heard a familiar voice speak.

"Good morning Avis, you're early today. You want the usual?"

"Yes please, Mr. Charles." Runimo said, coming to a stop beside the stall.

"Keep it cold for an extra gold?" 

"Yes as well, I think I'll be browsing a bit before going home." Runimo nodded.

The man behind the stall laid out a paper that was marked with sigils that Runimo couldn't see but knew would be there. He laid out two large fish and wrapped them, then a separate package of prawn, before wrapping them all up in the paper that had first been laid out.

The corner of the paper was pressed with a sticky seal, and for a moment the sigils lit up, before becoming dull marks again. Mr. Charles handed Runimo the package, and it felt chilled in his hands when he took it.

Runimo pulled out five gold, the usual price, and Mr. Charles tried to stop him.

"Nah, on second thought, don't worry about it. It's on the house just this once, you've got a lot to handle today." He said, and Runimo laughed slightly, pressing the coins down onto the top ledge of the market boxes.

"Let's not jinx me." Runimo said. "Thank you Mr. Charles, hope you get to see the ceremony."

Runimo and David set off once more, this time to the stall that David seemed so eager to drag him to.

When they arrived it appeared unattended, and Runimo was underwhelmed, unable to make out enough details to tell what all was there.

"Wow," David said, "they've got a pretty good collection of wands here."

"Wands are expensive as is." Runimo said, moving the goods he carried to his other arm. "I can't imagine coming from an airship shop. What else have they got?"

"Uh, some accessories, some spell scrolls, runestones, and potion and ingredient bottles." David said. "Looks like hand made foods too, probably enchanted like the rest of it all. Some bones."

"Bones?" Runimo said, reasonably off put.

"Says they're replicas." David said. "Though I'm not sure what someone would want them for."

He'd barely finished when someone spoke up behind them.

"Can I help you two?"

The voice was somewhat deep, but seemed genuine in it's inquiry. Regardless, when the two turned, they both let out a startled shout. 

David saw the details Runimo couldn't. Skeletal face paint that stood out on dark skin, a black and white pinstriped suit, and a bright splash of neon green hair.

Runimo saw the figure of a man who was no doubt nearing eight feet tall, looming over them.

"Wh– uh– Grim?" David managed to get out, and gestured a thumb behind him to the stall, flustered at his involuntary shout.

"Hex." Said the person who stood over them. "That is, Gossamer Hex. I am maintaining the stall here today."

"That's quite a name." Runimo said. 

"I'd agree it makes a bold statement. Whether it's a good or bad one is debatable," Hex said, "but I would say as far as rarity is concerned, it's about as common as a name like Runimo one would suppose."

Runimo blinked behind his goggles.

"You look like your grandfather, that's all." Said Hex. "The priest's outfit makes it a dead giveaway. Anyway, can I help you two?"

"I think we're just browsing for now." Runimo said. There was a moment of silence, a bit uncomfortable, as Runimo could only assume Hex was looking them over. Finally the guy piped up again.

"That's fine. I got a special going on today." He said. "First time with a stall here, and ceremony day and all, seemed like a good plan."

"Uh, what's the special?" David asked.

"Cracker candies." Hex said. "Of my own making. One free."

Runimo could say that neither he nor David had any real interest in children's toy housing candies, but it was free so he shrugged at David and nodded.

"Sure I guess. You make them yourself?" Runimo asked, as Hex rummaged through a bag on his waist. "Anything particularly special or just something to hand out to kids?"

"They aren't for kids." Hex said, pulling out two candies wrapped in wax paper. "They don't have toys in them. They have fortunes."

"Fortunes?" David asked with a weak incredulous laugh. "What, like you're an oracle or something?"

"No, nothing so complex. I assure you if I was I'd be living the high life in a decked out palace room, not selling candy on the street." Hex said, and handed the two each a candy. "I don't come up with the fortunes, I simply enchant the paper. When it comes into contact with a new person, the fortune writes itself. It's random, mostly a novelty as opposed to a real fortune."

"Oh," David said, looking at the candy in his hand, "that's actually pretty neat."

It was a rather fun idea, it was a wonder someone hadn't thought of it already. Runimo and David unwrapped their candies, and bit them in half. The candy was sweet and tart, firm, but not tooth breaking. Both boys pulled out the little slips of paper as they ate the candy that held them.

"So what's your say?" Runimo asked David.

David held the paper up, chewing on the candy, as the words wrote themselves onto the slip.

"...Huh. Golden eyes tell golden lies. A gentle hand means to do you harm." David said. "I don't think these make much sense. It is good as a novelty though I guess, but you might want to work on them more."

Hex only shrugged, and Runimo handed David his piece of paper. The words had already written themselves on there.

"What does mine say?" He asked. David took the paper and brought it up.

"The path to your future is paved with injustice. It begins with a ruse, and ends with a universal truth." David handed Runimo back the slip of paper. "These are kind of depressing, buddy, I don't think people are going to buy them if they just keep getting weird ominous junk."

"I suppose you may be right," Hex said, "I think I have to tweak the enchantment some. Perhaps I'll refrain from giving out the rest of them. The candy good at least?"

"Oh yeah, the candy is good." David said with a nod. "The tart sells it I think."

"Appreciated." Hex said. "How about one more thing, on me? Nothing fancy, but hopefully considerably less depressing."

Runimo and David couldn't help but snicker a little, and Runimo tucked his fortune into his satchel as Hex grabbed a couple of things off the table. Runimo didn't even have to ask what he was being handed, as David made it clear right off the bat.

"Oh lessers, wands?" He said, upon being handed one.

"Sure," Hex said, "but don't get too eager. I only do this because I make these in mass, so they're not really personalized to your magic."

"Don't these take a ridiculous amount of effort to make anyway?" Runimo asked, feeling the one he'd been handed. It was light and smooth, with a cool band of metal around the handle. He could feel a gem embedded into the band, something smooth, not cut.

"I mean I could take them back if it makes you uncomfortable." Hex said. David nudged Runimo.

"No no, we'll keep them for sure." David said. "I mean, even if quality suffers a little, I'm not going to lie, these things are usually expensive. You'd have to be a pretty big idiot to pass up free wands."

"I figured as much." Hex said. "Go easy on them now. They're made resilient, but I don't think they'll take big surges of magic. I'm still working on that."

"You sure make a lot of stuff yourself." Runimo said. "That's pretty cool. How long have you been doing it?"

"Oh, maybe about two years. I didn't start until I was seventeen."

"Wh– wait you're only–" Hex cut Runimo off.

"Oh, I think you ought to get going, haven't you?" He said. "The sigil on that packaging doesn't look like it's made to last real long, you should get that fish in your ice box before it's allowed to get warm. It'll start getting hot out here before long."

Runimo looked down to the package of fish and bottle of sunflower oil he held, and then he tucked the new wand into his bag and picked up his cane again.

"I suppose you're right." Runimo said. "Thank you again for this. I’ll give the wand a whirl, spread the word if it's good and all."

"It would be much appreciated." Hex said, and waved. "Good luck today you two."

The two boys headed off once more, Runimo ready to head home, and when they god out of earshot David spoke up again.

"Well that was weird." He said, and nudged Runimo. "Can you believe he's only nineteen? The guy was huge!"

"Gargoyle hybrid maybe." Runimo said. Very unusual to see in the capital. David scoffed as the suggestion.

"With all the free samples and not a single purchase?" He asked.

"Fair point." Runimo replied. "I'm not sure what else is that big though."

"Something we'll have to contemplate later," David said, slapping Runimo's back, "I've got to get back to dad. He wants to get as much help out of me at the shop as he can before I graduate, and I'm sure he'll be opening up any minute now, if he's not already."

"Suppose he'd have quite the fuss to find you're not there." Runimo said with small amusement. "Alright then, I'll see you and Gavin later, if you see him first let him know I said hi."

"Will do!" 

David waved, gesturing wide, before hurrying off and leaving Runimo to head home. Runimo went ahead and kept the cane in hand so that he could relax a bit more on his walk home. As he walked he passed someone headed the opposite direction, back into town.

He caught a strong whiff of coffee, as if the grounds had been shoved in his face.

He stopped and turned to look behind him, but when he did nobody was there. He paused, watching people further away walk back and forth, before turning back ahead on his path. After another beat he continued on his way, shaking his head.

Nerves, perhaps. He would be dealing with demons today after all. Someone walks by with a cup to go, and suddenly he thinks he’s smelling dark magic everywhere.

[ember-of-sin]

Chasing Amy

I have a sheriff’s deputy hanging upside-down next to me right now. I gave him a shallow cut on his throat, and he’s bleeding out drop by drop. Gravity’s doing the work for me, but I have a little time. He still thinks he won’t talk, but he will. If the blood loss doesn’t convince him, I have other means of persuasion. So I’ll just wait. I have my phone to amuse myself and I have his, too. He’s reported in, everything’s okey-dokey, sure as shootin’, took care of that business boy howdy, so nobody will be missing him for some time. (I’m very good with voices)

So I have a little time to kill – if you’ll pardon the pun, and I figured I might spend it writing this up, because it’s the kind of thing Amy would like. She loves horror movies, horror stories, comics, games – everything. It would sound terribly cliché if she hadn’t turned white as a sheet that day, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

I don’t make friends easily. It comes with the territory. I imagine it’d be hard for you to maintain a relationship with someone who smells like warm, freshly-baked bread all the time.  Amy was different, though. Annoying at first. I just wanted to have my drink and my cake in peace, but she comes over and decides I needed a friend. My first thought was that there was something wrong with her. You like me at first, right? Not for too long, though. The lizard part of you starts noticing things that the monkey doesn’t, then the monkey starts noticing and then the rest of you. Then you suddenly remember you have someplace else to be. (It’s usually too late by that point, just so you know.)

Amy’s lizard and monkey brains weren’t doing their job, I guess. I mean, it’s not that odd. You know how cats and dogs will sometimes get along? The cat has a less-developed prey instinct and the dog has a less-developed predator one. It happens. In nature, the animals with the faulty prey instinct don’t tend to last that long. A few thousand years back, Amy would have been a prime example of natural selection at work. She felt the draw to me, but not the repulsion. The repulsion is three million years of your evolution. The draw is three million years of ours.

I’ll spare you the full details, but Amy went from an annoyance to not an annoyance, to someone I looked forward to seeing every day, to a friend. It wasn’t always at the café. We started to meet other places. It was fun. I missed that. My last companion… I miss him. I should have gone with him that day. That’s another story, though. This story is about Amy. Pretty, trusting, no-prey-instinct-at-all Amy and why I am bleeding this deputy like a stuck pig (again, pun not intended).

Amy and I spent a lot of time together. She didn’t realize the first time we went on a date was actually a date, but she did eventually. ‘I’m not really into girls,’ she told me. That lasted one kiss. She was warm and soft and I loved the feel of her skin against mine. She didn’t shiver, didn’t tremble – at least, not in the way that most of the people I know do when I touch them. (Three million years of natural selection at work, right?)

Of course she found out, though. I was afraid of what would happen, but she knew I was hiding something. Granted, she didn’t know what, though she often joked that I better not be a serial killer.

Well… so… yeah. (Are you still a serial killer if there’s no ‘abnormal psychological gratification’? Because I’m perfectly normal. Just not by your standards.)

Anyways, one day I told her. I showed her. She took it well, all things considering. (No, Amy, I’m not fattening you up. I just thought you’d like the chocolates.) That’s a story in and of itself, but I’m getting off track.

‘Let’s go backpacking!’ she says. ‘Just you and me,’ she says. She’d always wanted to have an Experience(tm) like that. You’d think someone who watches so much horror wouldn’t be so excited about campsites, forests and two-star hotels. (A full stomach, a nice nest of pillows and a warm body next to me is my idea of a good time. That and room service. I like my creature comforts – sue me.)

But the prospect of a month with her in a sleeping bag, sleeping outdoors – maybe even under the stars – and being able to hunt with abandon was too tempting. The first leg of the journey went fine. We even hitchhiked a few times for the Authentic Backroads Experience. Two young women all on their own – you see what I mean about her having no prey instincts, right? Well, I was there so everything was fine. Unfortunately, I got held up in one town. There was some business I needed to attend to. Some territoriality thing, we don’t need to cover that. She didn’t need to be there for it. I told her I’d catch up.

I made sure she got on a bus to our next stop, I booked reservations at a bed and breakfast and I’d only be a day or two late.

Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.

I took care of my business and arrived at this small town, practically a cul-de-sac surrounded by forest and mountains. I expected to see her at the bus stop. No Amy. I checked the B&B. No Amy. ‘I’m sorry, dear, I don’t know who you’re talking about. We have a reservation but no one showed up for it.’ Yeah, you’ll get yours, you lying piece of shit.

I called her, texted, DM’d, IM’d. Nothing, nothing, nothing and nothing. ‘The caller you are trying to reach is unavailable…’

In desperation, I went to the sheriff’s office (You can probably imagine how little I’m fond of getting involved with the authorities). He played it up to perfection, I’ll give him that. You know, the dipshit Podunk Chief Wiggum-style asshole with a ten-gallon hat and a forty-gallon waist. He gave me the run-around like a good ol’ boy who doesn’t think anything bad could happen in his town might. Take it from one predator, though: we can recognize like.

I should have killed him. I was tempted to.

I could smell her on him. Amy. My Amy. My pretty, trusting girl who saw what I was, turned white as a sheet and still wanted me. Her scent was all over him. It was on his deputy and Ms. Mayor Who-Gives-A-Shit. They all smelled like her. Not just Amy; I could smell other girls on them. At least two others. But there were too many people around. So I played the ditzy, upset city girl. I said I’d be grateful for anything they could do. I said I was tired, but I’d start asking around myself in the morning.

Of course, that’s the last thing that they wanted.

So, night came. (I like when it gets dark. Out here in the country, it’s a better kind of darkness. Stars, moonlight, wilderness… so much better than in the city. It makes me feel more primal. More in touch with my instincts. Hunting is so much more exciting like this.)

Night came, and Mr. Deputy came calling. I’m not even a little surprised the B&B’s owner was out for the evening. You remember him being a lying piece of shit? Amy’s scent was all over the room I booked. She was here, and there’s no way he wouldn’t have recognized or remembered her. This town… there’s something fucked up going on here. (Consider the source, too)

It was a few hours after the owner took off that the car came down the road. He must have been waiting, figured I’d be asleep by now. Nope. I saw him coming and I got into position.

He came right in to the house , because of course he had a key. Standing in the foyer, pistol drawn, looking around. A tall, strong man ready to drag a city girl out of bed and stop her from causing any problems. (Why no, I don’t feel bad – why do you ask?)

He really should have looked up. I dropped down behind him, quiet as a mouse. It took a few seconds, but then he knew. He knew that something was behind him, something awful. Three millions years of evolution. An odour you can’t even smell, but some deep, atavistic part of you remembers. A response hardwired into your genes, buried so deep you’ve convinced yourselves that it doesn’t exist.

But it does, and we do. When you pass someone in the street and feel a chill you can’t explain, when you see someone and something about them just puts you on edge… that’s us.

He turned around, and he saw me. He didn’t see the pretty redhead with the big tits. He saw the same thing that so many of your ancestors did, the reason you have those responses. But this isn’t about me. It isn’t about him, or the rest of you.

It’s about Amy, and why I have a sheriff’s deputy out here in the woods, hung up and bleeding. He’ll tell me what’s happening in this town and happened to Amy. One way or another. If he doesn’t…

…if he doesn’t, I’ll have to try something else.

Oh, it looks like he might actually be ready to talk, so I should be off. Wish me luck. And Amy, if you’re out there… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but I’m coming, though. I promise, sweetheart. I’ll find you.

[socksual-innuendos]

All the OC asks that end in '2' for an oc of your choice please?

Okay so I’m doing all these for both Emilia and Camila so, here we go. Under cut because boy howdy its long

2.) What is the color (and qualities) of your OC’s eyes/hair/skin?

For Emi: Her eyes are brown. Neither very dark or very light, they’re just a midtone brown. When she was young, her hair was a very dark auburn, although now its lightening as she greys out. It has a thick texture and is naturally wavy/curly and she prefers it long and pulled back into a half ponytail. Emilia wasn’t thrilled when she was shaved bald in OWB, but she wears a fade now and her greying is more obvious. Her skin is brown, lightly freckled, and she has a few moles. Although I don’t draw her with them (Due to my indecisiveness on what and where they should be) she has tattoos covering a large portion of her body, and her skin is tough and dry from her travels.

For Camila: Her eyes are still a dark brown, although ghoulification is causing them to have a cataract/hazed look to them. She use to have very thick black hair that she would wear in short styles and while it had natural waves, it wasn’t as much as her sister’s. When her hair started falling out she had Emi chop it and would brush it over much so the rest would fall out. Camila preferred no hair to the patchiness, but she continues to wear her hair bands to fashion herself up. While travelling, she will wear headscarves to keep the sun off her. Her skin was never particularly tough and because of such she would often bruise or get cut easily. This quality carried over to her ghoulish self, although her skin is much more fragile now.

12.) What is your OC’s relationship with his/her father?

While Emilia has plenty of strong opinions on being raised fine without a father, not having needed a father, or anything relating to a need for ‘two parents’, she actually has no real feelings for her father as a person. He wasn’t around for her and he left her mother. These are the only things she knows or cares to know about him and she doesn’t blame him for either. She grew up fine with what she had, her mother, although heartbroken at the time, never truly suffered because he left. Life just happened, as it always does, and even if selfish people have their reasons for doing things. However, because she never knew him or cared to know of him, she only keeps her mother’s surname. Although her mother had planned on having a conversation about Emilia’s father once she got older, she had died when Emi was 9 and never had the chance. Xiomara, Emi’s abuela, refused to acknowledge the man and that was fine by Emilia.

Camila had known her father and for a while he was able to stay with her. There’s a lot vague here as I haven’t committed to specifics, however I know he’s forced out of the picture in some fashion. He was a good father to Camila and while he tried extending the kinship to Emilia, she wasn’t interested and he wasn’t going to force it. I would like to say that Camila was anywhere between 5-12 years old when her father left the picture, however much of this is uncertain. Cam has many fond and happy memories of him, however the uncertainty with him leaves me with ways to juggle how her adults self feels about him. She does miss him, and in certain endings she wonders if he’s still alive, but in all she keeps his name, and her full name (as of now) is Camila Espinosa Vazquez.

22.) Who is/are your OC’s closest friend(s)?

Raul is probably as close as a person can get to Emilia. They share everything with each other and both appreciate having the other. Although she really does appreciate that he’s willing to take care of Camila once she dies, part of Emilia wishes he could come adventuring with her. Much of her healing comes from being able to open up to someone else, and they both find this in a mutual aspect. The trio can often be seen together when Emilia is home, and in later life are inseparable. 

Cass is another relationship Emi appreciates. Both sort of offer and fulfill roles the other wasn’t aware they wanted. For Cass, she gets an assholish, morally bankrupt questionable not quite parent figure, and for Emilia she gets a never-admits-to-it not-daughter figure that enjoys causing mischief but nags her about staying on the good side of karma. 

Arcade and Emilia have a very strange relationship. I should actually get around to fleshing it out more, but between him and Camila they give Em a reason to stay and fight for Vegas. Its another odd relationship that Emi wasn’t expecting to find in the Mojave, but she’s grateful for him nonetheless.

Joshua Graham is also a very strange case for Emi. She doesn’t trust him in the least and she absolutely is determined to be the one to kill him, yet there’s a specific fondness for him. He’s one of the few she’s met that she sees as an equal in certain, dark ways which both intrigues her and makes her cautious. Both are religious and both highly value the community that comes with that, and while she never wants to consider him as close, by the end of their story she considers him a good friend. They end up teaching each other a lot, and regardless of how things end they do appreciate each other.

For Camila, most of the companions made easy friends with her. This was very welcomed after years of not being allowed anything permanent. Arcade sees her as bit of a ditz but teaches her what he can about ghoulification care, medical, and technical sciences. His grumpiness reminds her a bit of Emi, but she knows she can play him better than her sister and she often gets her way. He introduced her to Julia Farkas, and between the two Cam learns plenty. 

Her and Veronica got along like peas in a pod and absolutely had girl’s nights and fawned over fashion. Although Emilia prioritizes Camila when she brings back clothes or accessories, Cam is more than willing to share and the two often doll up together. Those two made fast friends with Sarah from the Vault hotel and the three are absolute gossips. This comprises much of Cam’s social life, outside of the friends she has at The Aces. 

Although they were easy friends at first, Raul became a big part of Camila’s life later game. At first, neither Cam, Raul, or Emi were aware of how he’d fit into their lives, but once Camila realized he was going to be Emi’s ‘replacement’ things got a bit rough. She wasn’t mad at him but she wasn’t thrilled about his willing participation, especially since Emilia and he agreed to things before even consulting Cam. Plenty of talking was done, and eventually understandings were reached, and the three were ride or die since. While they never considered each other as replacement siblings, they readily see each other as family. 

32.) What subjects did your OC excel at?

Emilia is very athletic. Her agility is a solid 10, and she uses it to her advantage. She can lockpick just about anything and break out of (or into) most facilities. She has a quick mind, and can improvise on the spot. Basically, if you need something stolen, killed, or broken into she’s your gal. She also plays guitar very well and has a good knowledge of music theory. This often leads her to getting excited when hearing live sets, and once she riled she can’t stay still. Emi can also cook fairly well too. She generally doesnt get too experimental with it, but she can work up a must-go easily. 

Camila on the other hand didn’t have very many skills growing up. She was very sickly as a child, which kept her bed ridden most of the time. Emi did teach her guitar, although she isn’t as good with music theory. She can sing very well, and Emilia and her father helped shape that. Later in life Arcade teaches her how to work computers and she gets quite good at it. She has the patience for just about anything, which really helps later on when she gets jobs in Vegas.

42.) What makes your OC happy?

Emi is very easy to please. She just wants an exciting mark and a whole lot of havoc to make in the process. In reality she’s just happy to have her freedom with little obligation outside Camila. As long as she doesn’t have a routine to wake up to, she’s alright.

Camila on the other hand has a lot to desire, although she’s content where she’s at. She’s provided for, but even then she wishes she had someone to talk to while Emilia was away. That said, when Emi came home she would sometimes bring an accessory or some fashionable item for Camila. This would always make her smile, and she treasured each. Come end game, shes actually quite happy having a few jobs and a social life. People knowing her by face and name is enough to make her light up, and she’s very pleased with being able to assert her own future.

52.) What are some of your OC’s motivations?

Emi’s very motivated by money, but she’s also motivated by chaos. As a hitman, she likes causing trouble and in dramatic ways. If there’s someone or something she can screw over in a fabulous way, she will do it. But what motivates her most is family. Camila and Rosa kept her sane and kept her loved, she’d quite literally do anything for them, and she is always one to keep promises. 

Cam needs very little to get her motivated. She’s use to being holed up or too ill to enjoy the day, so if she wakes up in a good mood and right mind she’s ready to tackle anything. Chores? Turn on the radio and open the windows, house work is still something. A walk around town? She may not be able to get to know people, but she still enjoys the small interactions, besides she has the energy for a walk right now. Emilia is likely coming back tonight? Whats a few more hours of staying up. 

62.) How emotionally/mentally vulnerable is your OC with other people?

Emilia’s vulnerability is nonexistent. She absolutely refuses to open up, to even her sister in some cases, and it can cause a frustrating guessing game on how to make Emi feel better. She does let down her walls, just a bit, later on in her life. Raul and Camila see the most of this, but Graham has the privilege of seeing her be vulnerable for a moment. Its not something she likes doing, but its not always within her control. 

Camila on the other hand longs to have someone to talk to about feelings. Most of her life she remained cooped up in hotels, unable to make real friends due to her constant moving. Despite Emi trying (I use the word loosely) to be emotionally available for her sister, Rosa was really the only person Cam had to be truly open to, and once she was lost Cam really had nothing. Give her a night out on the Strip and a hard enough day and she might blather your ear off about feelings, even if you’re complete strangers. 

72.) What is your OC’s favorite kind music (and song if there is one)?

Emilia loves just about anything upbeat. Give it percussion or brass and she’s unable to sit still. A proper rock movement would have done her in and she would have loved every moment of it. She also like swing and folk. Give her a guitar and she will join in the round, as she is especially fond of meeting other musicians on the road. 

Camila also likes upbeat music, although she prefers more jazzy genres. Both generally agree on music, but Cam prefers more pop and things she can sing to. 

[carpemermaidtales]

what is erised?

OMG! Hello, nonnie, first of all I want to thank you for bestowing me with the honor of introducing you to Erised!!! This is so exciting! And I’m so excited for you!!!@hd-erised​ is one of the most amazing fests in the HP fandom! It’s a winter gift exchange for fic and art that posts amazing pieces throughout December and reveals the creators in January. It’s a fest that has been running every year since 2013 and evolved to fill the void left by HD Holidays, the original winter holiday exchange fest from ye olden days of fandom (yours truly participated in three of those rounds with some of my first fanfics and boy howdy were they bad when I found them again recently hahaha!). It’s hosted by three amazing people, @gracerene09, @sassy-cissa, and @capipuff and each year they do a brilliant job of corralling creators, organizing the whole fest, lovingly and carefully matching gifters and giftees, and providing us with fun bonuses like a guessing poll and fun facts at the end of each round. As with most of the established fandom fest events, it’s home base is on LJ and can be found here. However, as I was mentioning in a post the other day, most of the popular fests also have a tumblr presence to promote the revealed works, so as long as you’re following the fest’s tumblr you’ll be in the loop for when posting starts on December 1, 2017! (So soon!! It’s coming, it’s upon us!!!)It’s one of my favorite fandom events, and not just because those of us that participate in Erised bust our asses and pull out all the stops to create amazing things to spoil our assigned giftees with. A lot of the fandom’s favorite fics and art are results of Erised! So, you may actually be familiar with it without knowing you are!I mean, just look at these all star favorites that are from previous rounds (taken from page one of the parent collection on AO3 sorted by kudos):Tea and No Sympathy by who_la_hoop (also: Written on the Heart)Azoth by @lol-zeitgeisticA Convenient Impracticality by @firethesound (also: The Light More Beautiful)He Who Must Not Be Normal by lettered (also: Another Mask Behind You)Lumos by birdsofshoreThe Moon Looks Lovely Tonight by Omi_OhmyIn Which Harry is Magnetic North and Draco Is An Idiot by @bryoneybrynnSide-Along by @lqtraintracks (also: Weeds or Wildflowers by LQTT and @ilikebangbang)On the Turning Away by @blamebramptonAny Instrument by @dictacontrion (also: The Vanishing Department)Love Comes Tumbling by taradiane(The Piece) I was Missing All Along by lauren3210 (also: Five Weddings and a Potions Accident)On Call by Faith Wood (faithwood)The Little Marauders Nursery and Day Care by @digtheshipper​And those are just the fics! There’s also amazing art every year! Like, last year’s famous sock that destroyed the fandom (thanks @ano-ka-ba​ haha) - Breakfast Is For Eating In!The other amazing thing about this fest is actually participating in it and, more than getting a gift crafted to your tastes (which is fucking awesome!!! I was blessed with art from dustmouth last year!!! still not over it), is actually getting to hear from the person you write or draw for – it’s the best to see them fall in love with their gift! It’s just wonderful all around, for creators and for the fandom’s readership. It wouldn’t feel like December or the holidays without Erised for me!I’ve had the pleasure of beta/alpha reading a handful of this year’s submissions and the truth about Erised’s amazingness and the quality of work just rings more true each year! Seriously, y’all aren’t even ready haha. I can’t wait to see which works this year become instant favorites across the fandom.Now, to get you started, these are where you can find the previous year’s works along with the masterlists from those rounds:H/D Erised 2013 MasterlistH/D Erised 2014 (AO3) | MasterlistH/D Erised 2015 (AO3) | MasterlistH/D Erised 2016 (AO3) | MasterlistAnd 2017′s collection can be found here: H/D Erised 2017 (posting begins December 1, 2017!)And, while we’re on the topic of Erised, I want to highly encourage you to leave kudos, comment, and share any stories or art you enjoy from the fest with your friends and followers! Recs are so important and are deeply appreciated by the creators who pour so much of our hard work and time into crafting these works!

[airoasis]

[FHA] FHA loan | FHA loan process [MORTGAGE] FHA Mortgage Loan [Home Loans]

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/fha-fha-loan-fha-loan-process-mortgage-fha-mortgage-loan-home-loans/

[FHA] FHA loan | FHA loan process [MORTGAGE] FHA Mortgage Loan [Home Loans]

Howdy that is Chris Trapani the personal loan pro. This video is gonna educate you eight steps of what you must do to purchase a residence utilising an FHA loan. It’s gonna provide you with a instructions, it’s gonna provide you with all varieties of things, what documentation you’re gonna need and the way the whole residence purchasing method works with an FHA mortgage! Step number one – FHA is not an genuine mortgage. FHA stands for Federal Housing Administration and what it does is it ensures the mortgage, in order that humans with a small of down fee can buy the house.Or else without the insurance the chance would be too exceptional – nobody can buy a residence in that in that crisis. Step number two as low as a 5 hundred FICO score which you could buy from five hundred to five seventy nine – ten percentage down From 5 eighty and above we’re looking at only three and a half percent down. Long gone are the myths of the twenty percent down to buy a condominium. That you could buy your own condominium with as little as three and a half percent down with an FHA loa. Step quantity three – here’s a question people invariably ask me Chris i’ve a chapter well with an FHA loan two years need to have elapsed from the time it was once discharged till the time that you may buy. Chris i’ve a foreclosures – I had a short sale. Three years have to have elapsed from the day of the brief sale or foreclosures and you could purchase your possess dwelling again. Step number 4 here is the debt ratio – if you make ten thousand dollars a month and i am not saying if you make 10 grand but i’m just giving it to you for even quantity purposes – that you can go to forty seven percent of that forty seven hundred greenbacks for qualification purposes for the house. Fifty seven percentage after we take the whole house cost and the car fee and the student loans child aid alimony credit cards all the debts put together – fifty seven percentage so take your month-to-month earnings earlier than taxes fifty seven percent will comprise your debt forty seven percentage will be the condominium payment it need to require and right here both those standards. Step quantity 5 – earnings standards, good ordinarily you have got to have a two-12 months history of working in the equal discipline within the identical industry illustration when you just began a job working for Federal specific offering programs and also you began doing that in these days good in case you would not have a history in supply for the final two years you are gonna ought to wait two years going ahead in the event you labored for united states of americafor the last two years or the publish place of job or something in the equal type of enterprise then as long as you have got that two year history we’re good although you might have simply began the new job. Now if you are self-employed what we’re regularly gonna do is we’re gonna common your sales over two years that is your internet income that is what after you write the whole thing off your entire expenses and if you simply have a job and perhaps your salary quite simple but when you’re hourly, we’re gonna calculate you hourly and we’re gonna average your time beyond regulation over two years in order to look into matters in a number of one of a kind ways. We’re specialists at figuring this out. Now once in a while humans say to me, Chris I’ve best been doing this six months and that i ask did you get an education in this area probably a school measure possibly a certificate program possibly you went to a year of training to emerge as a radiologist or a radio technician that form of factor good we can use that in lieu of the two years expertise so there is quite a few tech suggestions tricks trades little things we will do however you must exhibit me what it is so i can help you qualify for that mortgage.Step quantity six – Documentation. We need to prove the whole lot ought to be forensically validated on paper – how a lot do you’re making – how much have you made for the past two years. So the documentation i’m going to with i’ll let you know we’re gonna want two years w-2s from your job we’re gonna need two years federal taxes once in a even as we is not going to need them however we will be able to require getting them in case we’ll want one month’s pay stubs so if you happen to’ve been on the job for 10 years or you could have been on the job for two months i want the final month’s pay stubs and this is for all borrowers so if there’s a husband and spouse both working need it for each we additionally want two months financial institution statements for any accounts that you just could have savings account retirement account assess an account all the one of a kind banks or credit unions or whatever sort of cash money owed we need two months worth and we want all pages. If a page says this page is intentionally left blank i want that page. It sounds silly i do know, but those are the instructional materials additionally want your driver’s license and social protection card this is super foremost in contemporary day and age of what we need to handle and the Patriot Act nevertheless it’s federal law we must get those documents now as soon as in a even as if a person’s had a bankruptcy up to now we want the bankruptcy papers for those who’ve been divorced we need the divorce papers we want some further documentation and that is a case-via-case basis we are going to allow you to be aware of what they’re headquartered on your person circumstance so the paperwork is super primary if we ask for 10 things and we get nine it’s sort of the same as having zero we’d like all of them. Step number seven i am gonna instruct you what the loan procedure is and the way that works what I like to do is get you initially no longer pre-approved most lenders available in the market – they do these pre- approvals and good they’re simplest valued at the paper that they’ve written on what I like to do is accumulate all documentation I definitely send it to the underwriter the underwriter is the person who approves or denies the file I send all of the paperwork as if we have already got a property we’re in a position to move I send you a credit score I send you financial institution statements I ship you the whole thing that it takes and i let the underwriter say sure you are accepted we need this extra documentation which could be very fashioned but when you are making an present you’re gonna do it from a role of strength so we get you pre-authorized and now what’s gonna occur is you’re gonna go together with a realtor if you do not need a realtor i do know the entire first-class most skilled realtors within the enterprise i will offer you a first-rate realtor now you’re gonna go along with the realtor in your rate range he’s gonna show you houses condominiums whatever you’re watching for to your man or woman circumstance and if you to find that one or two residences that you say hi there this is the one what happens is they the realtor is gonna write an offer and post it to the agent who did the record and i am gonna guide them with helping to get your offer accepted in brand new day and age there are seven to 10 offers for each property on the market because there’s a shortage of houses and that is riding the prices up so time is of the essence you want to get this going now here is what occurs they may be gonna assessment the presents they need to see which property and which present is going to make the most experience for them obviously they are gonna look at which one’s gonna pay us probably the most cash they may be gonna appear at which one is undoubtedly to shut that’s tremendous foremost on account that in many instances there are presents that are not superb no longer very strong borrowers so they’re gonna review all these things that is the place I get concerned I call them up and inform them this is Chris the mortgage pro and i have a slam-dunk deal in a position to go that isn’t pre-permitted it is already permitted in order to elevate your present close the highest of the list if not to the highest so that is a very giant deal as soon as the offer is authorised what occurs is we will begin with the mortgage method there is disclosures and bureaucracy we’re in an extraordinarily bureaucratic age in the mortgage industry and the entire loan enterprise is are gonna require you to sign paper about this thing thankfully we will do it electronically at present you might just click on in your laptop or in your phone and receive these disclosures the subsequent thing we’re gonna do is we’re gonna order title we’re gonna open escrow and we’re going to order the appraisal we manage all of that so you don’t ought to and once more the underwriter goes to look at the appraisal they may be gonna appear on the title they’re gonna appear at escrow see if the whole lot is suitable is there any additional bureaucracy that we want from you the borrower has any changed and once we put all that collectively and so they obstacle what’s called a transparent to close that is once we start doing the comfortable dance we’re excited the whole lot’s going excellent we begin the closing court cases there is gonna be a paper that’s gonna be emailed to you name the closing disclosure and that is where it has the final numbers due to the fact that the whole lot must in shape to the penny and you are gonna signal this closing disclosure and three days later you’re allowed to signal the mortgage files and in most cases both routinely that day or probably the next day to come of the day after we close the loan it dollars the mortgage we wire the money to pay it off and then the escrow and title manufacturer work together to file the mortgage the when’s once it is recorded the property is now sooner or later 100 percentage it can be your own home you are a homeowner and the next thing that occurs is the realtor is gonna be all excited to come and gift you with the keys so which you could open the door to your possess residence at that point we’ve got fired your landlord that’s a enormous deal step number eight is fairly simple name me up simply name me textual content me electronic mail me some thing it takes name one of my assistants we will get you the numbers really easy we sit down down we go through the process if you want and you do not have time and time is of the essence here is what you can do you go to my website www.FireYourLandlord.Information we’ll fire Your Landlord!

[batterymonster2021]

[FHA] FHA loan | FHA loan process [MORTGAGE] FHA Mortgage Loan [Home Loans]

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/fha-fha-loan-fha-loan-process-mortgage-fha-mortgage-loan-home-loans/

[FHA] FHA loan | FHA loan process [MORTGAGE] FHA Mortgage Loan [Home Loans]

Howdy that is Chris Trapani the personal loan pro. This video is gonna educate you eight steps of what you must do to purchase a residence utilising an FHA loan. It’s gonna provide you with a instructions, it’s gonna provide you with all varieties of things, what documentation you’re gonna need and the way the whole residence purchasing method works with an FHA mortgage! Step number one – FHA is not an genuine mortgage. FHA stands for Federal Housing Administration and what it does is it ensures the mortgage, in order that humans with a small of down fee can buy the house.Or else without the insurance the chance would be too exceptional – nobody can buy a residence in that in that crisis. Step number two as low as a 5 hundred FICO score which you could buy from five hundred to five seventy nine – ten percentage down From 5 eighty and above we’re looking at only three and a half percent down. Long gone are the myths of the twenty percent down to buy a condominium. That you could buy your own condominium with as little as three and a half percent down with an FHA loa. Step quantity three – here’s a question people invariably ask me Chris i’ve a chapter well with an FHA loan two years need to have elapsed from the time it was once discharged till the time that you may buy. Chris i’ve a foreclosures – I had a short sale. Three years have to have elapsed from the day of the brief sale or foreclosures and you could purchase your possess dwelling again. Step number 4 here is the debt ratio – if you make ten thousand dollars a month and i am not saying if you make 10 grand but i’m just giving it to you for even quantity purposes – that you can go to forty seven percent of that forty seven hundred greenbacks for qualification purposes for the house. Fifty seven percentage after we take the whole house cost and the car fee and the student loans child aid alimony credit cards all the debts put together – fifty seven percentage so take your month-to-month earnings earlier than taxes fifty seven percent will comprise your debt forty seven percentage will be the condominium payment it need to require and right here both those standards. Step quantity 5 – earnings standards, good ordinarily you have got to have a two-12 months history of working in the equal discipline within the identical industry illustration when you just began a job working for Federal specific offering programs and also you began doing that in these days good in case you would not have a history in supply for the final two years you are gonna ought to wait two years going ahead in the event you labored for united states of americafor the last two years or the publish place of job or something in the equal type of enterprise then as long as you have got that two year history we’re good although you might have simply began the new job. Now if you are self-employed what we’re regularly gonna do is we’re gonna common your sales over two years that is your internet income that is what after you write the whole thing off your entire expenses and if you simply have a job and perhaps your salary quite simple but when you’re hourly, we’re gonna calculate you hourly and we’re gonna average your time beyond regulation over two years in order to look into matters in a number of one of a kind ways. We’re specialists at figuring this out. Now once in a while humans say to me, Chris I’ve best been doing this six months and that i ask did you get an education in this area probably a school measure possibly a certificate program possibly you went to a year of training to emerge as a radiologist or a radio technician that form of factor good we can use that in lieu of the two years expertise so there is quite a few tech suggestions tricks trades little things we will do however you must exhibit me what it is so i can help you qualify for that mortgage.Step quantity six – Documentation. We need to prove the whole lot ought to be forensically validated on paper – how a lot do you’re making – how much have you made for the past two years. So the documentation i’m going to with i’ll let you know we’re gonna want two years w-2s from your job we’re gonna need two years federal taxes once in a even as we is not going to need them however we will be able to require getting them in case we’ll want one month’s pay stubs so if you happen to’ve been on the job for 10 years or you could have been on the job for two months i want the final month’s pay stubs and this is for all borrowers so if there’s a husband and spouse both working need it for each we additionally want two months financial institution statements for any accounts that you just could have savings account retirement account assess an account all the one of a kind banks or credit unions or whatever sort of cash money owed we need two months worth and we want all pages. If a page says this page is intentionally left blank i want that page. It sounds silly i do know, but those are the instructional materials additionally want your driver’s license and social protection card this is super foremost in contemporary day and age of what we need to handle and the Patriot Act nevertheless it’s federal law we must get those documents now as soon as in a even as if a person’s had a bankruptcy up to now we want the bankruptcy papers for those who’ve been divorced we need the divorce papers we want some further documentation and that is a case-via-case basis we are going to allow you to be aware of what they’re headquartered on your person circumstance so the paperwork is super primary if we ask for 10 things and we get nine it’s sort of the same as having zero we’d like all of them. Step number seven i am gonna instruct you what the loan procedure is and the way that works what I like to do is get you initially no longer pre-approved most lenders available in the market – they do these pre- approvals and good they’re simplest valued at the paper that they’ve written on what I like to do is accumulate all documentation I definitely send it to the underwriter the underwriter is the person who approves or denies the file I send all of the paperwork as if we have already got a property we’re in a position to move I send you a credit score I send you financial institution statements I ship you the whole thing that it takes and i let the underwriter say sure you are accepted we need this extra documentation which could be very fashioned but when you are making an present you’re gonna do it from a role of strength so we get you pre-authorized and now what’s gonna occur is you’re gonna go together with a realtor if you do not need a realtor i do know the entire first-class most skilled realtors within the enterprise i will offer you a first-rate realtor now you’re gonna go along with the realtor in your rate range he’s gonna show you houses condominiums whatever you’re watching for to your man or woman circumstance and if you to find that one or two residences that you say hi there this is the one what happens is they the realtor is gonna write an offer and post it to the agent who did the record and i am gonna guide them with helping to get your offer accepted in brand new day and age there are seven to 10 offers for each property on the market because there’s a shortage of houses and that is riding the prices up so time is of the essence you want to get this going now here is what occurs they may be gonna assessment the presents they need to see which property and which present is going to make the most experience for them obviously they are gonna look at which one’s gonna pay us probably the most cash they may be gonna appear at which one is undoubtedly to shut that’s tremendous foremost on account that in many instances there are presents that are not superb no longer very strong borrowers so they’re gonna review all these things that is the place I get concerned I call them up and inform them this is Chris the mortgage pro and i have a slam-dunk deal in a position to go that isn’t pre-permitted it is already permitted in order to elevate your present close the highest of the list if not to the highest so that is a very giant deal as soon as the offer is authorised what occurs is we will begin with the mortgage method there is disclosures and bureaucracy we’re in an extraordinarily bureaucratic age in the mortgage industry and the entire loan enterprise is are gonna require you to sign paper about this thing thankfully we will do it electronically at present you might just click on in your laptop or in your phone and receive these disclosures the subsequent thing we’re gonna do is we’re gonna order title we’re gonna open escrow and we’re going to order the appraisal we manage all of that so you don’t ought to and once more the underwriter goes to look at the appraisal they may be gonna appear on the title they’re gonna appear at escrow see if the whole lot is suitable is there any additional bureaucracy that we want from you the borrower has any changed and once we put all that collectively and so they obstacle what’s called a transparent to close that is once we start doing the comfortable dance we’re excited the whole lot’s going excellent we begin the closing court cases there is gonna be a paper that’s gonna be emailed to you name the closing disclosure and that is where it has the final numbers due to the fact that the whole lot must in shape to the penny and you are gonna signal this closing disclosure and three days later you’re allowed to signal the mortgage files and in most cases both routinely that day or probably the next day to come of the day after we close the loan it dollars the mortgage we wire the money to pay it off and then the escrow and title manufacturer work together to file the mortgage the when’s once it is recorded the property is now sooner or later 100 percentage it can be your own home you are a homeowner and the next thing that occurs is the realtor is gonna be all excited to come and gift you with the keys so which you could open the door to your possess residence at that point we’ve got fired your landlord that’s a enormous deal step number eight is fairly simple name me up simply name me textual content me electronic mail me some thing it takes name one of my assistants we will get you the numbers really easy we sit down down we go through the process if you want and you do not have time and time is of the essence here is what you can do you go to my website www.FireYourLandlord.Information we’ll fire Your Landlord!

[whateverhappenedpodcast]

Ep 1 Transcript

Older!Penny: I think I knew something was off when I first got on the bus to the summer camp. It wasn’t an overwhelming feeling. Just...a small nagging in the back of my mind. A voice telling me ‘Something’s happening. Something’s there’. Of course, I was me. I didn’t listen to nagging. I didn’t listen to anyone, or anything. Maybe that’s what my downfall was.

Older!Penny: I’m 21 now. It’s been 5 years since the incident at Sunny Shores Summer Camp. I don’t think I’ve been able to find closure. Not completely. Just like the nagging that I felt on that bus, I feel a nagging now. A different sort. A ‘You can’t forget. You can’t forget’. And I can’t, not really. There’s always going to be a part of me that never left Gold Lake, and I’m never going to get it back.

Older!Penny: The events that brought me to Sunny Shores weren’t unusual. It was a camp for troubled kids- though that was never specified, the fact of the matter was that parents had grown tired of handling their teens, and instead sent them off on this trip. In a way, I suppose, this was their fault. In another way, it was our own.

Older!Penny: I was, in fact, what one would consider a troubled kid. I won’t try to deny it. As I said, I didn’t listen to anyone. I think it was mostly for attention. As an only child, I did get most of the attention my parents had to offer. We were rich, which meant I got toys and dolls and cool shit. After a while, though, they got bored of me. I decided to make things interesting.

Older!Penny: Most of the time, I set shit on fire. Vandalism was also a favorite. I did a lot of other things as well, though. Drugs and cigarettes were my only limits.

Older!Penny: My attitude back then isn’t what bothers me. I think my actions, the ones that brought me there, were some what justified, though still wrong. However, what does bother me is that no one knows. No one truly knows anyone that was at that camp during the summer of ‘13. No one knows what we went through. What we had to do.

Older!Penny: These recordings won’t fix that. I don’t think anything will. But maybe this can help with closure. So, I’ve-

[ getting a little emotional at this point ]

Older!Penny: I’ve strung together this. My recordings from the camp. My thoughts now. All that shit. Maybe this’ll do something for me. Maybe it won’t. I guess the only way to figure it out is to do it.

[ click ]

[ click ]

Penny: Hello listeners! I say that because you’ll never know who’s listening in the future. Who knows? Maybe archaeologists will dig this up one day as a relic of the past. They’ll be listeners, right?

Penny: Anyway, I’m on my way to camp what's-its-name. Sunny Shores, I think? Doesn’t look very sunny out to me right now. Pretty dreary, actually. It’s raining pretty hard, so no outdoorsy things when we get there. It’s sort of a shame. I’m here for the whole summer, though, so I’m sure I’ll get to go hiking at some point.

Penny: Oh, shit, I should specify what it is. It’s basically a camp for rich troublemakers. The cabins have air conditioning and rooms. It’s pretty sweet, from what I’ve heard. It’s by a lake, too. I don’t see how it’s a punishment, really. I mean, sure, they take away your phone, but it still sounds fun? Parents must just want a break, not a punishment.

Penny: Oops, gotta sign off. We’re here. Talk to you later, listeners!

[ click ]

[ click ]

Older!Penny: Storms are always a sign of bad times in Shakespearean works. It’s a symbol of death and trouble. Of course, I kept fiction to fiction back then, and didn’t apply it to real life. Why would I? I had enough of shakespeare in essays back at school. I didn’t want to bring it into anything I didn’t have to. Besides, the plays weren’t real. Fate wasn’t real. ‘Wasn’t’ is a key term.

Older!Penny: I hadn’t realized, back then, that life wasn’t just a series of events that, in the end, wouldn’t affect you. I was breezing through; anything that happened, anything I did, anything I got reprimanded for didn’t matter. In the end, it’d be okay. No matter what I did, I’d be okay.

Older!Penny: I hadn’t had a wake-up call about how the world works. That you can’t do things and expect it not to hurt you in the future. Everything hurts you. I know that now. The friends you make hurt you. The things you say hurt you. Some things? Some things like that you can get through. But other things, they stick with you, like scars. You can forget about them for a bit, but in the end, they’re still there.

Older!Penny: Every action I had made, every word I had said up until that point had brought me there. Every knocked-over trash can, every art piece that sat on the side of a abandoned building led to that point. It led to a hurt that I couldn’t, and wouldn’t want to imagine. What makes it worse is that I don’t know which I would prefer, because now I know the story. I know the ending and I know the characters. If I had been taken away from the narrative, if I had stepped differently, there is really no telling what could have occurred. And that? That’s terrifying. Knowing that you had a direct impact on the ending is terrifying. The regret that I feel from not being different, from not running away from that camp, turns into guilt, because I can’t imagine what would happen. It’s hard to think of yourself as a side character in a bloody novel, but it’s worse to be the protagonist.

[ click ]

[ click ]

Penny: [ laughing softly to herself ]

Jenny: -Now, as I was saying before, welcome to Sunny Shores! My name is Jenny, and I’m the head counselor here, as well as owner of the camp. If you need anything, feel free to come to me. No problem is unimportant. Generally, you’ll all be able to roam around in areas that aren’t considered off-limits.

Penny: [ hushed tone ] Hey again, listeners. Welcome to day 2. We’re getting the welcome speech. I wasn’t actually expecting it to be...so welcoming. Or funny. They accidentally fell through a banner earlier.

Jenny: -and that’s about all the rules! Now, how about we have our other counselors introduce themselves?

[ silence for five seconds ]

Allie: Alright, alright, if none of YOU are going to start it off. I’m Allie Gray. I’m probably the one you can have the best time with at this camp. Don’t mess with me, though, ‘kay? And we should get along just fine.

Rio: I’m Rio Hayes. I’m paid to be here. Don’t bother me too much unless you need to.

Allie: Charming. I’m sure you get all the dates with that attitude-

Rio: Don’t you even-!

Henry: Allllright! Hi there. I’m Henry!

Jay: Well, that was an elaborate opening. Howdy! I’m Jay. I’m a plant fanatic. If you want to know about plants, I’m your person! If you want to know about anything else? Ask someone else.

Kelly: I’m Kelly. Generally, I’ll be watching the swimming area.

Jenny: And that’s all of us! We all have our own separate cabins, at different parts of the camp. So, wherever you are, one of us will be close by! You’re dismissed now!

Penny: That’s not creepy at all. None of them seem like the responsible role-model type. Anyway, I’m signing off for the moment. Bye, listeners!

[ click ]

[ click ]

Older!Penny: They were not, in fact, responsible role-models. Hardly. Jenny was probably the only semi-responsible one there who could take care of more people than just herself. Allie was too self-centered and reckless. She held a prejudice towards everyone in that camp. It wasn’t her fault. In the end, though...

Older!Penny: It didn’t help her. Rio was, probably, the next most-responsible one after Jenny. However, he drove most of us- the campers -away. He was watching from afar. Somehow he was still near the center of all this.

Older!Penny: Henry wasn’t responsible, but he wasn’t irresponsible either. He sat kind of in the middle; a good point between Jenny and Allie. Jay was too wild. Kelly stuck to the rules too much. Everyone had flaws. They ended up being a distraction for all of us.

Older!Penny: I should probably mention that the next tape skips quite a bit of time. There were originally more than the recordings I’m showing you presently. That would be because I destroyed the rest. I don’t regret it. I feel they would give a false sense about what I’m actually trying to show here.

Older!Penny: All you need to know is that, during that time, I met two people: Gabriel Lessly and Debra O’Donnell. These two were, by far, my best friends at the camp. We quickly connected over random stuff, and were attached by the hip for the entirety of our experience.

Older!Penny: Gabriel was about the sweetest kid you could ever meet. He was excitable and curious. We shared those traits. He was, however, also polite in some sense of the word. We did not share that trait.

Older!Penny: Debra was a know-it-all, but kept us out of trouble. She was probably the best person there for that job. She was the ever-present voice of reason.

Older!Penny: Their personalities did factor into this story. However, that’s not all this is about. This is about remembering. If I’m being honest, I’m scared to forget what they were like. That summer may have left scars, but some of them I don’t want to get rid of.

[ A sigh from Penny before she continues. ]

Older!Penny: This next recording is where it all begins. If this were a novel, this would be the beginning of the tale. Technically, it started long before this point, but without this? A lot of things wouldn’t have happened. The summer of ‘13 would’ve be different, and that’s not to say in a good way.

[ click ]

[ click ]

Penny: Hey, listeners. The weather finally cleared up enough that the group and I are going hiking! Day 6, baby! We’re heading over to Dock B- we’re not exactly supposed to go there, but it isn’t as if any of the counselors pay attention.

Gabriel: They’re too busy smooching!

Debra: Gabriel!

Penny: [ laughing ]

Gabriel: It’s true! Henry and Rio have been REALLY affectionate. It’s weird.

Debra: Leave them be.

Penny: An-y-way, back on topic, guys. Again, Dock B. Where we’re heading! We’re hiking out, and then going swimming.

Gabriel: I heard that’s the last place they saw JG.

Penny: Same here, same here.

Debra: You’re both ridiculous. He just went home, you know that.

Penny: Oh, come on! Summer camp murder mystery? Doesn’t that sound interesting? It sounds like a Hardy Boys novel! Or Nancy Drew.

Gabe: Yea, Deb! Plus, you’d totally be Nancy.

Penny: It’s true. We’d be the Hardy Boys. You get Nancy.

Debra: There’s no murder! You two are just going off of boredom at this point, aren’t you?

Penny: I wouldn’t say boredom. I like hiking. It’s fun. But I still think a mystery would be cool.

Debra: I love mysteries, but I don’t think there is one.

Penny: Fine, fine. Anyway, how close are we?

Debra: We should be close by.

Penny: Sweet. I can’t wait to get in the water! It’s gonna be better than with the OTHER kids at this place.

Gabe: No kidding. I don’t think they like us much.

Debra: That would be because Penny stole one of their backpacks.

Penny: Not my fault they left it laying around. I was hungry. I saw chips in it. Cut me some slack.

Debra: It doesn’t change the fact that-

[ Penny trips and falls; crumpling of leaves and bushes is heard as she does. ]

Debra: Penny! Are you okay?

Penny: I’m fine, I just tripped over this-

Penny: A backpack. And a journal.

Debra: . . . It looks like you’ll get your mystery after all.

Penny: What?

Debra: Penny, turn off the recorder. I have a feeling you won’t want it on.

[ click ]

[ click ]

Older!Penny: And Debra was right. I wouldn’t want it on. That was because this was the point we picked up Jonathan Green’s journal. The one thing that, if he had left of his own accord, he would have brought with him. Along with it, we found a ripped up back-pack.

Older!Penny: During the beginning of that summer, I had been desperately wishing for something exciting to happen. Something that happened in books when kids went to summer camp. I wanted to have an experience I would never forget.

Older!Penny: As they say, be careful what you wish for. After this point, I got what I wanted- a bonafide Nancy Drew mystery. However, things like that are worse in real life than they are when reading. The concept of such is obvious to me now, but for some reason didn’t make sense to me when I was younger.

Older!Penny: And so, this started the mystery of Sunny Shores camp. It was a never-ending downward spiral. As soon as we found one thing out, another puzzle would replace it. It would start out simple, like a game. It would slowly get worse.

Older!Penny: It seems almost to foolish to think that a question started it all. A question that we were all so inspired and intrigued by. Even Debra O’Donnell and her cautious mind had taken an interest.

Older!Penny: It’s a question I’ve been resentful of this whole time. Something I wish, sometimes, we had never asked ourselves in the first place. However, it can be considered a good thing that we looked into it. Who could say what would’ve happened if we hadn’t? Still, even with that, I have the selfish resentment. We were just a bunch of dumb kids. We didn’t know what we were doing.

Older!Penny: The question would soon infect the minds of everyone at that camp when we went back and started our ‘investigation’, if you could even call it that. There wouldn’t be one person NOT affected by it. That question that had such a simple answer, but has a bunch of shit tied to it.

Older!Penny: Whatever happened to Jonathan Green?

[newthingstotalkabout-blog]

Love Thy Neighbor... (FINAL)

    James was actually professing his love and telling me he wanted to go. I was waiting for the part where I’d wake up and it’d be a normal day. One where I wake up, have my coffee, go to work and pick up Rosie. Then James would come get her, we chat and then go on as friends. It’d be less complicated that is for sure. But a part of me was also waiting for this moment, I just didn’t think it’d be him leaving me too. i looked up at him. He was still looking at me with tears starting to well up. I slipped my hand from his, and got up from the table. I made my way towards the stairs and turned to look at him. “James, I need, um to get ready for work.” I said through my tears and began to make my way up stairs. He didn’t say anything. i heard his chair move and the front door shut. When I reached the top of the stairs, I leaned back against the wall and just let the biggest cry imaginable out. I didn’t want it to be this way. I just couldn’t bring myself to decide that exact moment. After sitting there, I finally got up and got myself showered. Hot showers is where I did my best thinking.     As the day went on, slowly, I found myself thinking about him. Checking my phone every five minutes. Seeing if he was online on Facebook. That was it, i had reached the level of stalker. What can I say, except that I miss him. It hadn’t been a full day and already I missed him. Eight hours ago I was waking up to this amazing man lying next to me. I smiled to myself while thinking about how his mouth would curl at the corners while he slept. His snoring didn’t seem to bother me. I actually fell asleep to it easily. i would have gotten deep into my thoughts more if I hadn’t heard my name being called. “(Y/N), You have a message. Someone by the name of Lisa Maslow.” Joan, the receptionist explained. I nodded and as she proceeded. She handed me a pieced of paper with a phone number on it. “She said to call her as soon as you can.” “Uh, thank you Joan. I’ll do that now.” I smiled. She nodded and went back to her desk. I picked up the phone and dialed the number. Waiting for the pick up on the other line. “Hello?” The voice on the other line sounded soft and sweet. i wondered who this woman was. There was only one way to find out. “Hi, Mrs. Maslow? This (Y/N). I saw you called, and i just wanted to return the call.” I said politely. I was running through all the members of James’s family. But I only could recall his mom, whom I met at Rosie’s birthday parties. James had three sisters. Rarely mentioned them though. They had lost touch when his dad passed away. “Oh yes! Hey this is Lisa, James’s cousin.” She explained. “I flew in with my mom to help with their packing. I’m so sorry to interrupt you at work. I just had a question. “Okay? Well, I may have an answer.” I chuckled through the phone. “What is keeping you here in Vermont?” She questioned me. That took me for a loop. I honestly thought I was gonna get asked to help pack. Lisa’s question did get me thinking. What was here for me? My family wasn’t here. Mom and Dad moved to Texas to be closer to my brother and his family. My Grandparents are all gone except Grand Pappy Davis, but he moved to Georgia and now lives with my aunt and her new husband. I    have no kids of my own. Hell i could barely keep a goldfish alive. So it amazed me that I could be trusted with Rosie. The only thing here is my job and let’s face it, I only have it because of my father. He owns the company and manages it from an office in Texas. Accounting, the best job a person can have, said no one ever. “Hello? are you still there?” “Uh yes. Sorry, I was thinking about your question.” I finally answered. “Well?” Lisa asked. “I guess, nothing.” I admitted. It sunk in as I answered her. Why was i staying? “Then I will meet you at your house in an hour.” She chirped. Lisa sounded excited for some reason. “ Looking forward to meeting you!” “But wha-”. I tried to get her attention as she said it. But she hung up before I could even make it halfway through my sentence of choice. What did this woman have up her sleeve?     On my way home, I tried to figure out why James’s cousin wanted me to go. How about too, why she was meeting me at my house. I mean Lisa is a nice person. Very smart and caring. More so than his own sisters. She was James’s age and they had grown up together. She was very beautiful too. Natural curly red hair. A smile that matched very similar to James’s. I’ve only seen pictures of her and I’m sure they don't do her justice. She always had James’s best interest at heart according his mom. Lisa was an only child and didn’t get along well with James’s sisters. She was very tomboyish. She could be girly if she wanted to be. She played soccer for her college and was majoring in Biochemistry. Again I say very bright girl. Her wit was miraculous and she always had a bit of sarcasm in her jokes. Such a wonderful personality. I finally pulled up into my driveway and saw who had to be Lisa. She was wearing black leggings and a big purple hooded sweatshirt that read “LSU”. That was her school I’m assuming. She had her red hair pulled back in a messy bun with some strands tucked behind her ear. I got out of the car after turning it off and walked up to the door. She smiled really big and waved. “Howdy! You must be the woman Rosie talked about.” Lisa pulled me in for a hug and then stepped back. “That’s me. I hope she’s only said good.” I joked. I was starting to get nervous. “Of course. Can we step inside?” She politely asked. I nodded and unlocked the door and we went inside. I was shocked when I walked in to see their were boxes all over my living room. I looked at her and Lisa had winked. “Like what i done with the place?” She took my hand and lead me closer in towards the kitchen. “Lisa, what is going on?” I was still shocked. “We are gonna pack your things. You ARE moving to San Diego.” She smirked. Before I could say another word, she started heading towards the front door. She opened it and walked out. I did manage to hear her through it. “I’ll be right back.” “Lisa!” At this point I was getting highly upset. I had no idea what was going on. I shook my head and took my coat off. Laying it on the back of the couch, I smelled the smell of cinnamon. I turned around and James was there. He stood there steady as a rock. He was wearing his Flannel jacket and a heather grey thermal long sleeve shirt. His normal worn in jeans and converses. He walked closer to me and put his hand to my cheek. James’s warm hand felt like fire. Left me wanting nothing more than to keep touching the flame, of desire. He leaned in and kissed my lips softly and pulled away. Skeptic as to why he did that, I saw him begin to get down on one knee. My eyes started welling up. “(Y/N), I have had the pleasure of spending the last five years living next to you. Being your best friend. Watching you be you. Falling in love.” His voice started to crack as his eyes welled up also. James was about to propose. I knew my answer, before he could even finish. I didn’t have to make a decision. My heart made it for me. James began to continue. “I never thought i could love another person again. But with you I learned to love again. A new kind of love. The healing kind. The awakening kind. The kind that makes you wish you could spend every waking minute with that person. I want to spend every minute with you, for forever. All I’m asking is, will you marry me, (Y/N)?” “James, a wise man told me the best advice he could get was to follow his heart, wherever it lead him. So I am taking his cue and following mine. All the way to San Diego.” I breathed. “Is that a yes?!” He looked confused. “Yes.” I nodded, crying tears of happiness. “I’m sorry I don’t have a ring at this moment.” He apologized excitedly. “That’s perfectly okay, all I need is you and that beautiful little girl.” I pulled him to stand in front of me. He smiled so big and wiped my tears. James pulled me in and his lips crashed into mine. I kissed back just as passionately. There we were in our own little bubble of a world. James and I were engaged. We were going to begin our lives as more than just two neighbors. I was becoming part of a family, that I had no idea I was already part of. THE END

[skullssales]

*HUGE* Halloween Home Decor Haul Avelina De Moray

Hi there every body! Welcome to my channel .Glad October, the month of Halloween it is coming near I inspiration i’d better get my act collectively and in reality film my halloween haul n the month of Hallowee,n so it is on before …..Halloween in view that final 12 months I received my blood tutorial on a few days late….My unhealthy!!!! For those who guys have kids you realize why shit is perpetually late okay so as you recognize I used to be in LA not too long ago for 2 weeks and as an Australian living in a country that does not relatively have fun Halloween they’re opening to slowly embrace it but via include it I imply having one small little Halloween section in an complete storm so type of a letdown I used to be so excited to find out that I used to be visiting to LA across the Halloween season in view that all of the shops went nuts and i am so excited to show you what I purchased i’m gonna with one of the crucial serious decor considering there are just a few strange items in right here you understand you know what i am talking about when you comply with me on Instagram I put up reports like this about 50 reports a day so when you followed me while I was in LA you can comprehend what my husband bought anyway let’s get started with whatever serious the very first thing I need to exhibit you this is wonderful the scale of this I noticed it and that i fell in love i am like i need this on my wall no longer necessarily exactly Halloween themed however Gothic however and that i must have it it can be simply lovely so this was once from i will inform you because i do know this was from Halloween time Burbank l. A. And that i purchased a number of quite cool matters from this retailer and that is a Halloween headquartered retailer that’s open all yr circular which i suppose is rather cool we just do not have the Halloween tradition here where a store could preserve itself and be open all year circular the following is this beautiful lovely little signs crisis thingy I’ve received a lot of science i need sit luckily a excellent a big apartment however I have got to figure out where they’re going so this simply stood out to me the colours that we just had the completely happy Halloween I think it’s relatively lovable have no idea the place i will put yeah but that was once first-rate continuing with the theme of science i’ve this sign right here as quickly as I saw it i am like yeah which parking best violators will have a spell cast on them that’s pretty cool and this i will be able to tell you seeing that I don’t forget was once from Michelson yet another signal this used to be one one selected feeling lucky psychic predict the longer term knowing the prior so he bought this for the recording studio that we’re engaged on and the article that I hold noticing with the entire signs which have seen is that they’re very professional like they are not simply squares like in Australia they’ll simply do squares or rectangles where right here they they cut shapes out they usually they put the little witches broom on high there’s simply the awareness to element is impeccable so that is simply solid timber yet another lovely addition to our ever-developing facet collection ok now I want to exhibit you the 2 ridiculous things that one became out now not so ridiculous I sincerely ended up liking and it goes really good with a different object that I purchased however his first ridiculous thing and again i don’t really you ready for it large toad I mean the one factor that makes this Halloweeny is that it was once located within the Halloween section in one of the crucial outlets and it can be style of creepy but apart from that i am like why why and the children hate it that is terrified of it so yeah that is the first creepy factor that fun however the subsequent factor I can not throw considering that i’ll break it is it was Frankenstein it was once just white plaster they had different huge tremendous plaster heads and so they’re simply white yeah Mon sprayed that silver chorim nevertheless it honestly works rather well subsequent to the next thing that i’ll exhibit you which ones was a lantern I forgot to turn my mobilephone on silent whoops this has the label on it this was once from Ross Ross’s I consider it is simply Ross the identify Ross I fell in love with this I ought to perform a little shout out to jewel cher i am hoping i’m pronouncing her Instagram name thoroughly she’s a lovely mother she just had a new little one i really like following her style anyway i assume it can be her and said howdy you might have just bought she’s received graphics of decor every single day like regularly shopping i will be able to relate to that i’m like woman the place do I need to go inform me and she despatched me to all these stores so really this Halloween haul do not have kind of occurred without her so huge thanks it is right here how lovely is it adore it’s stable metallic once more if this used to be in Australia that may simply be plastic and it’s received a little bit yeah a little bit again section there so that you could pop to you like chocolates in I did are trying that beanie difficulty i have with that is motive this steel it can be most likely a conductor so it it really heats up so i’m gonna put it faraway from the children faraway from some thing that might trap hearth i am particularly clumsy wish it like that so these two together can i remind you we were touring america k so Australians you could have a suitcase restrict of 23 kilos this guy is with ease four or 5 kilos and this isn’t heavy that is like due to the fact it’s hole it but it surely’s huge and you couldn’t put something inside it so we left Sydney with one suitcase one had new smaller suitcase packed inside of my suitcase however we came we came residence with six we got here dwelling with six suitcases for have been on the brink of being oversized so full particularly huge suitcases after which two of the largest hand luggages in all probability placed on the aircraft with out you recognize moving into challenge okay carrying on with on how cool is that this also from Michaels which and noted hell yeah I simply saw that and that i thought that is going to make me appear so much cooler after I believe my youtube movies and i really like that the straw is difficult and it can be like Charlie Halloween themed like an orange stripes I simply saw that it can be actual good best it used to be pendulous rather having fun with that i’m gonna keep that right there so i can stay hydrated let’s proceed along with the consuming utensils oh okay i am again next up also from Michaels was this lovely purple you could you see that that’s a cranium within hopefully that’s being picked up by means of the camera however I just love that and i really like matters which are red and it goes by means of all of my nails which are bloody k next on the cups this was once $5 I are not able to bear in mind where this just but i’m virtually I feel it would even be Michaels I simply loved the two-toned glass to style of teal blue and fading to rain again it’s no longer displaying up loopy world yeah i will show it to you on a white heritage higher tremendous cute ok subsequent up on this epic Halloween haul are these beautiful cranium candelabras I acquired to cuz i love symmetry and i frequently buy two of the whole thing always it’s a bit of a main issue I might need help these obtained smashed to pieces on the best way right here i attempted my great to p.C. The entire breakables within clothing and blankets that I get the SI blanket um you will see that that’s absolutely fucked however bun did a quite excellent job of tremendous gluing it back collectively there is just a few matters that we bought that used to be tremendous fragile that like simply obtained smashed to smithereens I suppose it was once simply in one suitcase and i utterly blame the men and women from United airlines in view that there was once a bit ticket saying they searched our bag so all the broken things have been isolated to that one case now not completely satisfied United airlines additionally we didn’t lock the bag it used to be one of the vital baggage we purchased on the last day actually the day that we left and we did not have time to installed the I mean it only takes a 2nd let’s rephrase we could not be afflicted developing the little pet code with the numbers however after we received it again it was once locked and wager what they set the code to established on what used to be inside this suitcase i assume six-six-six and also you have to be questioning good how were you aware what the code I swear bond is like he knows how to do so so much stuff it is ridiculous like in another lifestyles he have to had been like an archaeologist that you know places together bones from tiny fragments on account that he is really excellent at this ship and the children are forever breaking matters but yeah he did that factor that they continually do in like Ocean’s Twelve but I listened to the safe something he hears the clicking like dude you are crazy anyway he heard it and it lined as much as 666 a greater story for you now for those who’ve seen my house you understand I have already got various candelabra so I really didn’t need to any extent further and this one this story behind it’s bittersweet seeing that it is not precisely the person who I wanted so this was once from a store known as Marshalls which I didn’t be aware of at the time however is apparently like a really huge reduction retailer where various they buy stuff from different outlets that do not sell in order that they’re only one offs if I had have known that i will put a photograph of the candelabra see that one significant it’s rather massive it was simplest $30 I did not like I idea it was some thing they’d have in inventory all the time so I did not buy it i am like i will simply come back that was long gone so alternatively I received this little teeny tiny variation but it surely’s still lovely I love it it used to be also Burke on some of the fingers you’ll discover right here is it way more commonly back together however you know if I did not let you know that you just would not understand that and just do not buy a ridiculous amount of Halloween shit while you journey internationally you’ll be best ok the following item was once from Russ I relatively enjoyed their decision of apartment to cool they had plenty of small print on the blanket that I bought was from there I really should have accomplished this whole postal errand you can figure it out that’s best so this is only a beautiful reflect I notion for certain this was once gonna get smashed fingerprints all over it so it’s simply very antiquey watching and it had a skull attached to the entrance of the reflect which style of makes Sameera itself really impractical but I simply liked it as a section of audit publication yeah i’ll find somewhere to have that each one proper the subsequent object I want to share with you is this little skeleton coffin if you happen to’ve watched the video that I placed on good it is today but it is not going to be by the point this video goes on the Halloween shopping video part one at Michael’s you are going to see me get fairly excited over this I consider i will movie a bit video of how these guys look at night for the reason that they’re so exclusive you know you do not get the atmosphere at all for the period of the day and i am all about atmosphere all myths so that is just a bit skeleton dude and that i i might say perspex i’m not going to assert that’s glass either method I did suppose that was once going to break but it failed to and the LED candle inside has a high-quality little go giving it a individuals realism Oh cup of tea times one cup of tea who smash he knows once I’m filming any wreck hmm watch me feel high priced lounge k this subsequent thing used to be additionally from Ross they’d a lot cool stuff if you’re in america and there’s a row retailer close you I incredibly advocate going so the sign was 399 once more so very respectable poison consumed at your possess threat one at the start hung this above our kitchen it’s kind of of a comic story because I burn everything it’s simply cool it spoke to me matters communicate to me i buy them i assume about anything quite jewellery shoes clothing nail components the subsequent object we wish to exhibit you at present is that this crimson bats heart bottle 100% glass 100% pure i love that voice I should do the whole video such as you love it okay yes this one here additionally on hand in inexperienced worry loss of life and magic pre-made character mixtures so these had been from Russ tremendous adorable so that one has a bit sparkly form of Raven going on and it’s bought a group of LEDs that seem like this strung on a copper wire so that they style of jingle about but you are not able to quite see on the grounds that the glass has this distressed look about it it this definitely looks higher for the duration of the day the only factor i do not like about this is when you know you know what ambience and the lights are off this sticky label is transparent so you can’t read it anyway to not smile it is all bonds dancing for me excellent yes sir that’s scorching back pots a hundred% pure really lovable as good these have been sitting on my bookshelf on the moment which has turned extra right into a display just for cool-watching decor rather than housing books however four of the eight shelves do have it that is thanks the subsequent object is that this little cranium looking dude who hasn’t eyeball in the flower Rose this used to be wholly smashed to portions again for now repair that rather a lot for me and again I’ve just been sitting this on my bookshelf I just preferred it rather on the grounds that of the eye with a bit of luck you see it the eye inside the Rose so that was that was creepy and the children are really lovely they requested me about it hi there mom why does our eyes have now not fall thanks yeah i’m gonna smash the whole lot if it wasn’t damaged it is going to be soon next up and this is from Michaels you saw me in that Halloween looking hall get really enthusiastic about this pieces are nonetheless shedding off it as we converse magic potions charms and poisons akin to a stack of books however this is definitely porcelain porcelain ceramic whatever tremendously breakable plaster it came in white or bronze I put the bronze most likely so the ends all chipped up all the corners broke but it surely style of offers it some realism that it did not have earlier than i’m simply pleased it can be nonetheless in a single piece and the highest also it appears relatively exceptional k next up with these coffins I suppose for them to be displayed at full abilities they have got to be sprayed a specific colour so there have been in the craft section one thing along with your raw Frankenstein head which is now watching much better now that he sprayed it so i am definite this may be the identical I have no idea what colour but am i one of a kind Nadia hi there Nadia it sent me a funny picture where she had this kind of that she bought for like final Halloween and i used to be displaying on my Instagram stories how they remove darkness from and she or he used to be like god damn I had no inspiration there was once a change on the backside and then it lit up I simply purchased it because it was once a cool Kaufmann and it does open up so that you would take me please store things within it i’ll exhibit you what matters seem like at night time pleased Halloween I was once just rather impressed with the laser etching on that i really like my lights so I obtained that one I bought trick or treat with some bats on it they might even be cool to show jewellery and you recognize I might allow them to open and up like that i’ll test round with that boots out and the final one this how so much used to be this that is five dollars shutout so this one says trick-or-deal with and once more the artwork caught my attention optimistically you’re seeing how lovely that’s the spider the cat I relatively experience silhouette paintings i have never rather ever performed it myself i might wish to considering that this might have a screen printing fairly well you understand what you simply made God works out of watercolor I do not know what i am gonna do with it it does not have putting so i guess you just sit it on a table but i’m absolutely loving that subsequent up are these adorable indicators that we bought really for our kids one every for their door so it is a little complex to show so warning do not feed the zone peace steals consistently asking about zombies and vampires and monsters and skeletons and things like that he is surely in love with the movie sequence and wishes to cover just think he said to all good he’s four years ancient and this one says element vampire dangers are in a dusk unless dawn they may be simply thicker cardboard so you know they may be now not constituted of steel or anything but it was 99 cents so who gets blended up is this cute throw rug that I purchased I do not know I fairly I do not know if I bought it for myself or pull my it my expensive old son London he’s in love with me I think it possibly south used to be his orange one we have bought with bats on it that is his blankie this is so so so we try to get a just right shot of it it has beautiful spiderweb designs so this used to be $from Russ and the opposite aspect is the most softest fabric I’ve ever felt it simply makes me need to snuggle in bed and do without doubt nothing all day so i’m gonna put that away or else i will end up very unproductive however for $I used to be like god damn that is a cut price but you realize i am no longer very good at math what i have realized is that a lot of 1299 s add as much as fucking lot you

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Dota 2 on the Dinner Desk: How do you clarify Dota to your family members?

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Dota 2 on the Dinner Desk: How do you clarify Dota to your family members?

It’s a reality of life, just like the passing of time. If in case you have a pal that you simply see a number of occasions every week, for a minimum of an hour per day, and you retain in touch with them for a lot of the day, then someone goes to note. If in case you have a job that requires a lot of your time and a focus, somebody goes to ask about your job.

Likewise, possibly you’ve dumped a minimum of a number of hundred hours into Dota 2. You most likely go on a minimum of one web site, if no more, the place folks convene to debate it. You’re studying this text, on an whole web site devoted to Dota 2, by somebody whose job it’s to jot down about it. (Howdy!) There’s a nonzero likelihood you personal overpriced, late-to-arrive merchandise.

However there’s no motive to be scared about this encounter. In truth, I’d argue that you have to be excited. It is a new frontier in your interpersonal relationships along with your family members!

It’s additionally doubtless a welcome subject of debate on the desk. Frankly, the yr 2017 was outlined by many unusual issues: that “Hollyweed” signal, Kermit The Frog’s actor’s departure, Ryan Reynolds introduced as taking part in a Detective Pikachu, and the Academy Awards’ Greatest Image mishap. A TON of celebrities died final yr. Politics.

Dota 2 pales compared to a lot of this. Even within the gaming world, whereas Dota 2 is nuts, it’s nothing in comparison with that EA loot field drama. Take solace in figuring out that you’ve one thing comparatively constant grounding your life and existence, and that you’ve an opportunity in grounding the dialogue. Once more, comparatively talking.

So it’s time stroll by some quite common and doable dialog eventualities which will come up when the topic comes up at a gathering. No have to worry!

This one at all times feels loads trickier than it really is, since you’re very doubtless to enter full defensive mode over it. Possibly you’re being judged, however that shouldn’t have an effect on your strategy!

Lay it out in naked phrases; go over the fundamentals. It’s like an extended sport just like king of the hill. Everybody picks a personality that has totally different magic powers, or is stronger, or can hit tougher. (And there are 115 of them.) You must develop extra highly effective, then struggle your method to the opponents’ staff base and destroy it.

If they’ve easy questions, reply them! Folks actually do need to perceive, no matter how they need to really feel about it. (By that I imply, sure, possibly your aunt/uncle does need to hate it, however that opinion received’t change regardless, so what’s the hurt?) On the very least, they discovered one thing new.

And you’ll speak about folks dedicate a LOT of money and time on it, as a result of it’s simply such an intensive sport. But when somebody finds that odd:

Okay, effectively, someone has to level it out. Not that you simply don’t comprehend it already.

Right here’s the factor: Dota 2, like many different issues, is a passion, very like how “gaming,” as a complete, is handled as such. And it’s not a meaningless one both, I promise. (Or a minimum of, that’s what we maintain telling ourselves.) For one, it simply takes so rattling lengthy to study, that you’ve to spend so much of time on it as a way to get deeper enjoyment out of it.

That’s positive, as a result of different persons are grinding too, and also you all study collectively! Actually, 13 million distinctive customers (most likely extra like 12 million after smurfs) can’t all be improper. Past the sport, there are occasions and meetups, little chat rooms and complete dialogue websites. Different folks make it price your time.

Hey, you realize what? It makes you cheerful. Simply so long as you rise up and do your work from time to time, and deal with others round you with respect and the correct quantity of consideration, and most significantly, deal with your self—what’s improper? Somebody’s gonna decide you one way or the other for nearly something you do that you simply get pleasure from. Simply don’t get too defensive if somebody does get essential. Shrug it off. It’s most likely a generational factor.

One of many previous’ems goes to say Pong or one thing. It’s price noting, like many issues, Pong’s authentic iteration runs on a large brick of a pc with much less processing energy. However, um, PLEASE don’t level that out until they bring about it up as an element of fascination.

In truth, it’s one factor to be condescending about your kin’ previous experiences with gaming. Don’t provoke a roast in your kin for being behind on the occasions; go along with the tone of the dialog.

It’s one other, significantly better factor to speak about how goddamn cool video video games are these days. It’s like going to Disney World within the 1970’s versus now. It’s not higher or worse (although most likely higher), simply totally different. Extra high-tech, extra fascinating, extra issues to do.

So clarify it that method! Dota 2 is free! The brand new graphics are fairly cool! You’ve 115 characters, which suggests 18-freaking-billion (upwards of 19 billion) character/staff mixtures are doable. You may play ONLINE with STRANGERS, and are anticipated to, and for those who’re good you might be ranked and well-known! (Although not mutually inclusive.) Folks receives a commission to educate and assist different gamers get good at it!

Think about taking part in no matter sport they’re speaking about, on the Web, and you’ll even signal as much as win cash and fame since you’re so good at it. It’s a ability, like swinging a golf membership, bluffing in poker or no matter you need to level out and examine this to. It’s one thing to be hyped for and happy with.

…and the child spins his head round to take a look at you…

HOLD UP. KEEP THAT ELITISM IN CHECK. RELAX. DEEP BREATHS. BE NICE.

I do know you don’t need to hear this child rant about Minecraft as you’re making an attempt to observe soccer. However be the higher individual right here: Gaming is definitely SUPER cool. You already know it. The adults comprehend it. The world is aware of it. You get to be the cool individual right here, and it’ll make the dad and mom completely happy.

And have a look at the truth of the state of affairs, as a result of truthfully, for those who attempt to again out of this one, you’re solely making your choices worse. As a result of choice one is, you may speak about this child’s customized server, or how he’s high 50% on this planet in Name of Responsibility, or his favourite Freddy Fazbear fan animation. A minimum of you’ll be studying about what video video games the youngsters are taking part in nowadays.

Whereas coping with somebody with parallel however not the identical hobbies might be obnoxious, the opposite choice is: You retain the door open to your kin asking in regards to the actuality of your life. Even when your life isn’t unhappy, your job is nice and you’ve got a terrific relationship, I don’t suppose anybody likes the conversational intrusion. You simply know somebody will likely be judging you.

If the child does ask what the heck Dota 2 is, simply inform them there’s an enormous competitors for it yearly. 5 gamers, like king of the hill, and everybody performs totally different characters. Like an enormous battle.

But when they’re like, 13 or youthful, inform them to keep away from it as a result of it’s an enormous child sport that takes a whole lot of studying to study, and they should give attention to their schoolwork. That’s not removed from the reality, anyway. (That’s to say, don’t break this child’s life, please. We’re all begging you.)

Improbable! Somebody may very well keep in mind it! There’s an opportunity this finally ends up being the head of your night. You get a shot at legitimizing one thing you get pleasure from as a result of it’s simply so goddamn large!

There’s a really small likelihood they might be mixing it up with one other esport occasion, however that’s okay! It is a fantastic alternative to speak in regards to the deserves of esports. Whereas Dota 2 has the most important occasion, esports occasions nonetheless have tens of millions of at stake. League of Legends and Overwatch gamers are salaried, and plenty of have advantages. They attract tens of millions of viewers at finest, and 1000’s, if not a whole bunch of 1000’s, on a gradual day. It’s gotten the designation as an business that actually sports activities staff homeowners are attempting to take a position into. (The Patriots! The 76’ers! Golden State Warriors! The homeowners of the Bruins and Celtics!)

Whether or not or not they acknowledged the sport correct, it’s additionally a terrific likelihood to clarify why there’s a event. Dota has 14 years with constant gamers who’ve performed almost so long as it’s existed. It takes a whole bunch of hours—we’ll say numerous hours equal to every week—to know the sport effectively sufficient to know it at a primary stage. There are the technical points of the sport: the reflexes, decision-making and consciousness. Given the characters, gadgets and map mechanics, it might have a ability requirement corresponding to few different hobbies on the market. Plus, once you’re within the thick of it, you want 4 teammates of comparable information and ability, and you should beat 5 gamers of comparable ability.

It goes past gameplay, although; Dota 2 is a global phenomenon. You may inform them how the final match of the most important event of the yr was a European staff versus a Chinese language one, and the way it stuffed and shook the stadium. Folks come from everywhere in the world to fulfill others and watch these video games for six days. You may inform them to think about a World Cup for an exhaustively troublesome online game, and the analogy will most likely stick effectively.

The lengthy and in need of that is, get them as excited for the aggressive side as you doubtless are, as a result of severely, when it boils down, a $24 million worldwide gaming event is fairly freaking cool.