#also Friend and her kids got me one of those ceramic christmas trees but it's a halloween one and a jack-o-lantern nightlight

[ghostsinthecellar]

[classysmashy]

Into Each Life...

#3/??? of Nuclear Winter

ZoNa Holiday 2020 Entry Prompt 3 (Ornaments / Tradition)

@zonamievents

One Piece in Fallout Universe (kinda~)  [I do not own One Piece or Fallout]

AN: There was something in particular I wanted to convey about Nami with this one, but after this there will definitely be more Zoro. So, I have ideas of how to explain the devil fruits, fishmen/mermaids, and sky natives into the Fallout universe for this and it’s pretty exciting. I don’t know when I might try to get into moments to explaining them out, but I might do future chapters (after the holiday event is over) to do flashbacks that put key moments into this universe since this is supposed to take place six years after Luffy originally started his journey. If I do these, I might build up a wayyy longer chapter for those moments to try and keep them from taking away from the main story being focused later in the timeline compared to the past. Again, sorry for this being late, I had my ideas for these, but it was a matter of putting everything into the words I wanted. The original Fallout 1 and 2 games had much darker themes than the newer ones and I want to try and incorporate that, but not too heavy outright.<3

Rated: T for Blood, Heavy Violence, Suggestive Themes

Word Count: 4,379

*****

Ever since she was younger, Nami understood that bad things must happen for the good times to come rolling in. That was the second lesson she had learned from the death of Bellemere. The first lesson had been that she had to keep living, for being alive meant something, even when you don’t necessarily know just what that something is.

A part of her wanted to rip the world to shreds for the death of Bellemere and believed Arlong deserved the most cruelest, torturing death for the crimes he had committed to her hometown. And for so long Nami lived with that spite building inside of her, brimming over the top at times and causing her to lash out upon herself.

The first time she went wild with her anger, it happened while she had been visiting Nojiko and storing away some of the money she had stolen. Nami had lost it in a fit of rage, putting her fist through a flower vase, the broken ceramic cutting at the skin of her hand, and smashed up the kitchen table with one of the dinning chairs.

It was during those times that Nojiko started making sure Nami was voicing herself to the older sister, since bottling those feelings away inside was destroying Nami each time she felt helpless. 

Nami never cried though. She would get angry, break things, lie about being happy, but she would never let the full extent of the misery hiding inside to be released out for anyone to see. 

This had went on through the years, her deceiving charms becoming her main weapon to steal from unsuspecting raiders —after she had gotten used to their behavior and could trick them to not shoot at her. Eventually, the most normal occurrence seemed to be stumbling on the newer recruits of the raiders to swindle, stealing their money and valuables to sell.

Those years of experiences is what had paid off when she met Luffy that very first time in Orange Town, the idiot so unaware of what people could do to those who were too naïve. Nami used him like a puppet to gather up Buggy’s recent escapade of cash and stash, but had felt horrible when it seemed the guy was going to be killed, and that was another first time for her. Quickly, her fingers had already reached out to stop the refashioned canon from shooting at Luffy locked up in a cage. 

He seemed to make his mind up about Nami in that moment as well as the rest of Buggy’s men who were racing onto her form, ready to slash and make her one with the wasteland. 

Yet, that death never came back then. 

And that was how Nami met Zoro the first time, her back to him, clutching onto a lit string, and him with all of his swords out to stop the fighters in their tracks. 

That one moment in time seemed to set off a chain reaction. Zoro was constantly the one saving Nami from danger during their travels together, always seeming to run his lost feet right to where she was in need of help.

Robin passed on a comment to her about the action when he still seemed to find himself saving her randomly after all of them reunited. “If Zoro has no sense of direction, possibly it means his internal compass is set wrong. And I believe that internal compass is set to find you when you’re in danger, hm? It’s only a small theory, but one that holds merit with the actions he has presented.” The small chuckle Robin had hid after walking away from Nami and leaving the girl with just that, still echoed her mind.

All along through the years of being with the Strawhats, there did seem to be something odd about how often Nami and Zoro seemed to be thrown together when the two had clearly been offsets to one another, ideologies varying drastically and causing constant arguments between the two. The fighting between them had begun to die down some when they all came back together after two years. 

Whether it was because of herself or Zoro, she had never picked up on. The swordsman didn’t even seem to end up around her much at first, but when they were together he had seemed so... calm. Zoro had a different air around him, everyone did, and the way Zoro seemed to change had put him at ease about what his true mission was now with being a part of the crew. 

Protector. Zoro decided during the time apart that he was and had to be the one who was the full protector of the crew, of Luffy’s dream, and carry the burden of keeping everyone alive. The idiot became ready to throw his life down just to keep the others safe.

Nami had been pissed off by it.

A protector in her mind would never let themselves die so easily, never give up on their own dream like that, wouldn’t throw everything away in a blink of an eye.

But, that was exactly what Bellemere had done for her and Nojiko.

When she realized how much Zoro was becoming like Bellemere in that sense, she avoided him and kept distance between the two. Frightened. She had been frightened imagining the crew going through a death like that, Zoro’s death. And it was the pain she imaged Luffy had felt after their initial break apart when Ace died.

Losing Zoro would be hard, as a close friend and even worse on the dynamics of all the Strawhats. It was her realization of this that had brought on their first fight since everyone got back together.

During one of his nightly workouts while on watch, Nami had stormed Zoro and began questioning him about if he planned to roll over and die. 

To say the least, he was stunned at Nami for it, and he lashed back with his own yelling. Damn if it woke anyone up on the ship, the woman was talking mad.

Zoro would yell about how it was impossible for him to die so soon and he wasn’t giving up on his life that easily and Nami would yell back with how he had changed his philosophy, that she wondered if he truly wanted to be the greatest swordsman throughout the wasteland still. The moment she had brought his dream into question, he cuffed her wrists above her head and pushed her body up the wall, leaving her feet dangling off the floor. 

 Before, she had been frightened about his death, but this was the first time she was actually scared of Zoro’s actions. Her breathe had been caught in her throat and leaving her speechless as Zoro closed in around her, caging Nami upon the wall with a deadly look in his eye. The look that most experienced just moments away from him bringing great pain into the life of his enemies.

“I don’t question you about your dream, why question me about mine? You don’t know a damn thing about me right now through that clouded gaze of yours. Die? I’m not planning to go anywhere, so get used to it, witch.”

If anyone were to ask her about it, Nami would deny the fact that there had been a small heat that swallowed her insides when Zoro hung her out to dry then.

He seemed to gather some wits about the predicament he had placed both of them into, releasing Nami to stand back on her feet and turning away again to his weights. 

Zoro had promptly ignored her for the rest of the night, even as she burnt holes into his back until the wee hours of the morning.

*****

Winter was always harsh back home, even before Bellemere had been murdered. The income for the family would dry up as the mikan trees couldn’t bear fruit during the cold season and had to be watched over carefully. That also meant the family dinners would be kept small and that Christmas presents for little Nami and Nojiko would be drastically different compared to the kids of the rest of the villagers living in the town.

Nami was always rougher during winter, making a comment every single day about how Bellemere had to be upset about raising them and them eating up all of her money and time. Bellemere simply ignored it though, until spring would finally break the clouds above and Nami would drop the subject of money from her mind.

She couldn’t be upset about the traditions that Nami held for winter, just as Nojiko became more clingy and stuck to Bellemere’s side when winter rolled around. 

There were many traditions that the little family held together with their heartstrings on the line. Like how Nami and Nojiko would bake a tiny cake that would cut into four adequate pieces, how Bellemere would bake up the pretty ham Genzo brought over, how the four of them gathered together in a pray that Genzo asked of them to do around the food before eating. 

Four people just enjoying being together for another year, smiling and laughing for the whole day without any issues. Christmas was the one day that fighting wasn’t allowed, the day was to be sweet and jovial with nothing weighing down on the bright mood. 

But, the good times had came to an end after Arlong showed up.

Many people throughout Cocoyashi had stopped celebrating any holiday all together, in favor of saving up that bit of extra money to pay for their keep the next time Arlong’s goonies came to collect. Genzo would rest a slice of ham and pour a bottle of booze over Bellemere’s grave. Nojiko would spend time out with the mikan trees and would take the very last one of the year to Bellemere’s grave, returning on Christmas day and talking with her through the night about Nami. 

And Nami would stay away from home until only a few days were left of the year. There was a guilt that Nami carried for giving herself up to Arlong that she couldn’t shake off and she never wanted to disrupt a nice day for Bellemere, so she waited for the holiday to pass before making her own visit with a bouquet of flowers.

Each time she wanted to cry out, bawl until the ground became so wet it would sink beneath her and swallow her whole with the grass and mud and dirt, bringing Nami to be one with Bellemere’s body beneath. 

But she wouldn’t let those tears fall down, she would recap the bottle on her heart even tighter and chug down bottles of whiskey and vodka until her throat burned too much and passed out. Maybe, it was because of Christmas that Nami had developed her tolerance over time, each year drinking more and more and  pushing out how long it would take to reach the tipping point.

Things became different around Christmas after joining up with Luffy and Zoro in Orange Town.

As the crew built up more and more, the holiday came around just before they had reached Sabaody Archipelago the first time, and they had stopped for a few days to celebrate together.

It was a weird time for all of them. The only ones who was close to having a proper Christmas in the past years was Chopper and Franky, Chopper because of him living in the cold climate that was constantly set in Christmassy time and Franky because of how his “family” would booze it up and gamble money off together on the holiday.

Nami knew that Robin hadn’t celebrated the holiday in her life nor had Zoro either, Sanji didn’t count into having celebrated since the Baratie only had special Christmas dinners for customers and not actually anything for themselves. Usopp didn’t get to celebrate as a kid with his mom sick and nobody wanted him around during their Christmas dinner because of his lies, which would leave him all alone. Luffy had actually never told them if he had celebrated before and Brook was so old that he forgotten about the last time he had a Christmas, so it was a restart for him.

The whole thing went well though, super in fact, as Franky liked to put it. 

 Sanji cooked a feast after him, Zoro, and Luffy had a hunting contest. Franky couldn’t find any lights, but cut a tree down for them to settle around. Nami, Robin, and Chopper would work on cutting up fabric to hang around the place they were hunkered in to make the scene just a bit more festive. Usopp had been the one to tell all the jokes and stories that gave everyone hearty laughs and looks of disbelief as they ate and drank. Brook would be playing Christmas tunes on his violin through the nights, whisking them to sleep with the beautiful melodies.

That was their first time celebrating Christmas all together and after being apart two years, when Christmas rolled back around, they did it again. This time more people were celebrating with them, Jinbe, Law, people that Luffy had dragged into his life deciding that from this time onward, they were his friends whether they liked it or not.

Those traditions built of being together as a family of friends were beautiful and she would look forward to when the time would come and she would be able to get actual gifts together for all of them.

*****

A cool, wetness dragged across the skin of her cheek, the dishrag scratching at the blood splatters covering her face. Another one was wiping away at the blood all over her hands, gently tugging between fingers and nails to remove the evidence of the crimes that just happened.

Zoro’s bracelet was still on her wrist, the gold tainted by brahmin blood that had collected inside of the gold plates that hung from it. 

Nami’s eyes were out of focus, a blur of frames moving at turtle speed, unable to look at the two men cleaning her. But she didn’t need to see properly to know the horrifying sight laying out before her on the highway. 

Like cattle to the slaughter, they had been leaving Sabaody when hell broke loose, a rainfall of bullets scattered down, two dozen gunners giving their hiding places up. There was screams that came from a few of them about how Nami and the settlers had killed their friends so now it was time for revenge.

Nami had ducked away behind a car, a bullet hitting straight into her left shoulder and as she hit the deck, she realized there was a sliced up body impaled on metal poles along this stretch of highway. 

The settler she had sent back first had his body torn apart, limb for limb, with each one stabbed through with the metal poles. His torso had a metal chain shoved through it and tied to the poles with his arms, lifting it up for crows and bloodbugs to get their pickings in. The most disgusting part was the short metal pipe shoved into a right angle down what was left of his throat and his head had been decapitated to screw the settler’s head onto the pipe and making the pipe poke out of his right eye, mouth left open in a scream, and Nami wondered how much of the torture he was alive for.

Just from the sight of him, it was clear that there was no hope left for them.

One by one, the three settlers left succumbed to the bullets, unable to get away in time, and the screams of pain would probably haunt Nami’s nightmares for years to come. The poor brahmin came to run and hide with Nami, but it was brought to the ground when her back right leg was shot off and the brahmin fell with moos and groans of agony.

It was a pitiful sight and made her heart ache as hot tears slid down her jaw. She kicked herself up, bringing out a boot knife to stab into both of the skulls of the brahmin, giving the girl the peace she deserved, the noises silencing and chest growing still. The oozing blood from the brahmin sliding around on her hands when she shut the eyes of the animal.

A swarm of four gunners were suddenly on Nami’s body, guns beating into her flesh, and preventing her from doing anything to get out of their grip. She felt one of the male gunners swipe his hand over the front of Zoro’s jacket that was zipped to the top, his hand close to grabbing a full feel of her breast.

When a slash of a sword cut him in half, body sliding off of itself and spurting blood all over her body, and it was going to be over quickly now, she had decided.

Luffy was running headfirst at the rest of the gunners on the highway, she could hear the screams from them, the impact of the blows suffered by Luffy’s strength, and the flops to the ground in their death.

Before her was Zoro, a wicked glint to his eye, slashing away over and over and over again at the gunners that had surrounded her. Nami watched as his focus shifted to be on the one who had planned to assault her, puke rising and burning her throat as she watched him chop the gunner into pieces.

And into more pieces. Blood pouring out over the concrete, running over her shoes, splashing on her face and body.

Nami remembered that stare, from that night on his watch when she had set him ablaze with anger. Blood was everywhere. Everywhere.

The more the two went at it with their brutal strength, Nami retreated into herself, shaking uncontrollably and losing sense of what was going on around her. She didn’t want to see them like this, it wasn’t the matter of being scared, but seeing what Luffy and Zoro were capable of reminded her of rougher days in her early life.

Every time Zoro went for such a grotesque kill, she had the image in her mind of seeing the smoking gun in Arlong’s hand. The way Bellemere’s body caved in on itself, shoes flying in the air, the black ring of hole left in her forehead and more smoke pouring out. Bellemere’s blood had ended up on her face in that moment, as well as on Nojiko. 

Just like now. The blood from each cut and stab Zoro produced was in close proximity to her, painting her. It was too much for her senses to handle and her eyes slid shut, hiding away from the massacre.

Luffy and Zoro would always be a deadly pair together. More so than Sanji could ever hope to achieve by teaming up with the two because Sanji had his limits to how far he would go while Luffy and Zoro didn’t. This was especially true in the case of something involving all of their friends, but the two had also made it clear that they wouldn’t take anything happening to Nami and would act like this.

Right now, Usopp was properly working with Franky with what could be spared to decorated until the new materials got back to the settlement. Robin and Chopper would be preparing gift ideas for the boys who would have no clue about what to get. Sanji would be placing in orders for different ingredients and checking stock for the dinner. Brook would be cleaning and tuning instruments, deciding the order of the classic songs and writing his own. Jinbe would be picking up the slack that anyone needed and making sure people were getting done what needed to be. Law was probably trying to figure out a way to run and how long he might be able to hide out before Luffy found him.

Some time passed ever so slowly. Nami pushed out the noise of gushing blood and gurgles of pleading by placing her mind somewhere else.

A week and half would be Christmas, by this much time having passed, the tradition during this time was to be preparing for the Strawhats Christmas celebration. 

“People should stick to their traditions.” Luffy was the one to be dead-set in making Christmas happen every year. It wasn’t like this world really called for the holiday, the world was too destroyed for the majority to have the time to think on the holidays. 

Luffy was the one wiping the blood from her hands. A weird sight to see him so calm, but it was soothing to know the captain cared to be careful of the discomfort that radiated from Nami’s body.

Zoro cupped her chin with one hand and the other was cleaning the blood away from her face. She wondered if he realized the effect his skills had on her and not the good effect. Well, it was good to know he could keep her safe, yet there was a fear of what the man held inside.

He probably contained his own anger at times, like Nami did as a kid, and that anger led to who he became today. When Nami went the cunning route to counter what happened in her life, Zoro had built up a steady resistance in him and strength to demolish whatever stepped in his path again.

The two of them, Luffy and Zoro, they were made for this world, created for this wasteland. The two could survive without issue, it wasn’t the same as to how Nami’s main way to protect herself was by tricking the enemies or standing beside people for safety, rarely she could survive by her own hands, though during their past travels she had been better at it than now.

This was the wasteland.

A brutal and bloody mess, normal humans sent into a world of monsters and having to become monsters themselves to survive. The raiders were drove to drugs and insanity. Gunners fighting for the hell of it and for the money. Super mutants had been normal humans, subjected to experiments to make them into the monsters they were. The brahmin and radstag were normal animals in a lost world, now they were their own monsters by being mashed with one of their own breed, two cows and two deers forced into twins. The ghouls were normal people as well, the radiation seeping into their bodies so much that their skin was now papier-mache and slowly rotting their brains. Domesticated robots having codes changed to murder on sight, new robots created as pure killing machines. Synths would be used to kidnap the normal humans and replace them, driving fear into every single person that no one could truly be trusted. 

Just as Luffy had created traditions that they would all follow at their home, the wasteland had its own traditions.

If you can’t kill, you get killed.

Lately, Nami had been spending time out and about, but it had been nearly a year since the last time she went out before getting the feral ghoul blood with Zoro. She had grown so used to the setting of being inside walls and being away from reality. 

The life being built was worth the payoff, but it was destructive for her wellbeing.

“Nami,” Zoro’s lips were pressing at the skin behind her ear, Luffy had clasped their fingers together and circled her legs. “Where are you?” She turned into Zoro’s warmth and felt her eyes shaking.

The promise to Bellemere was that she wouldn’t cry. Nami broke that when she asked the first time for help against Arlong. A high rule for herself was broken because of the trust she had gained in all of her friends.

“Why are you here?” She bit the tears down, she did trust them, but now wasn’t the time to reveal all of the trouble inside.

“Mm, materials for Franky, lots of money, stories to look into...” She needed to hurry up and move on, get the bag of materials for Franky down from what was left of the settlers torso and go forward, not backwards. She needed to be away from her own head.

“It doesn’t matter,” Luffy said, catching onto Nami’s eyes and holding her gaze, “Did the trade go well?” Distraction, don’t think about this if it’s taking a toll on you, gather yourself.

Zoro tore away her hand from Luffy, lifting it to see the cleaned bracelet jingle against her wrist. “It looks better than I thought it would.” A smile stretched on his lips, pressing them into the skin just beneath her palm with a hum. “Your heartbeat is starting to even out, that’s good. You don’t have to be scared.”

He knew, of course he knew. The swordsman could always read her at nearly any given moment, only missing at certain times, that was part of the dynamic that Usopp would never understand. 

If she had half a mind of her normal senses right now, Nami would say that the two had been following along around her or ahead of her for a reason. The fact that Shakky said they went to the bar and the fact that they had been here to save her now.

Everything was everywhere in her mind, lost in a state of confusion she still couldn’t break.

Why had she been thinking so much about the past? Why did she have such bad luck to get the people she was supposed to protector murdered instead? Why, why, why?

Nami was spinning, she wasn’t sure if her body was even actually moving, she could barely make out Zoro saying something about her heartbeat, her pumping blood.

White. The sky was white, all the blue drained away and the sun hidden deep in the clouds. Snow was trickling down in shimmers, slow and unsure of the places that they wanted to stick to.

Nami’s breathing had increased, she had to be hyperventilating, her mind numbly noting the change.

Both Zoro and Luffy’s faces flooded her sight, their mouths were moving, but she didn’t hear a word. Then her eyelids slid closed and she felt the darkness flood her.

[janaeekook]

Beret Boy || {kth}

kim taehyung in a beret; what more could you want?

pairing: writer!taehyung x barista!reader

word count: 4.65k

warnings: -implied smut-

𝗔/𝗻: yes I know it’s in first person— I didnt want to put a name:) enjoy!

Working at my parents cafe in downtown New York, I saw a lot of people. Some with happy eyes, some with sorrowful or stressed ones, the saddest was when their face held a smile but their eyes told a different story.

Every hour blurred together as the typical locals came in asking for their usual orders. Until he showed up. Beret boy; Or at least that’s what I called him, he wore a different color beret each day he came. He was a mysterious boy who had wandered into the cafe for the first time a week ago.

He never ordered anything, just sat in the far corner at a window seat. He showed up everyday nose stuck in a book, holding it with his left hand, a leather satchel bag slung around his body resting on his right hip. He only let his eyes fall from the book when he got to his usual seat and he pulled out a pad of paper and a pen.

I tilted my head at his strange routine, I had yet to see him actually write something on that pad, for his head was always in the book. Today, the cafe was empty besides him as most people where already at work by this time.

I had grown curious enough to approach him, so I went around the counter and walked over towards him. My heart almost stopped when his soft yet intimidating brown eyes locked to mine. His lips rested in an almost unnoticed pout.

“Can I help you?” I asked, he set the book face down on the small table before him to hold his place. He eyed me up and down.

“I’m good thank you.” I could hear a slight accent in his voice, “I’m just enjoying the view, looking for inspiration.” His resting frown turned up slightly. I raised an eyebrow to him.

“You’re not even facing the window.” He chuckled at my observation.

“The outdoors is such a basic place to look for inspiration, where’s a quaint, homely cafe like this; teeming with life and a story of its own, which shines through each imperfection. It’s at these places you find the most inspiration owing to its imperfections.”

I tilted my head to the side, “So you do this often?” He simply shrugged. I pulled the chair infront of him out resting my elbows on the table cupping my face, intrigued by his statements. “What do you gather from this place? I mean you’ve come everyday for a week and sat in that very spot.” He stared into my soul for a second before leaning back.

“Well, at first glance it’s just another little cafe in New York. But if you look closer you see the deeper truth, the love and care that’s poured into it. You’ve clearly grown up here knowing almost everyone that walks through those doors by name. Each age old things giving the place character and pulling it all together, each piece a part of a different story.”

He continued one explaining the distinctive characteristics of my family’s little shop. I just studied his face, his skin was crystalline; untouched, I noted three distinct beauty marks, one on his nose the other on his left cheek and the last on the lower lid of his right eye. This man was flawless. Marked by beauty.

What pulled me from my trance was his eyes meeting mine and I realized he was no longer talking. I cleared my throat and looked away.

“Sorry.” I mumbled, he chuckled causing me to look back up to his face.

“Don’t be, I love coming here to watch you work. What’s your name?” I was taken aback, 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦?

“Y/n, what about you Beret boy?” He flushed at the pet name.

“Taehyung.”

“So 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨, are you new to the area?” He nodded with a hum.

“Just moved into an apartment 2 buildings down. You?”

“Ah, I’ve lived here all my life with my parents. There’s a loft apartment above the cafe.” I explained, pointing to the ceiling.

“Do you live with your parents still?” His angular brows knitted together. I chuckled, shaking my head.

“No, no they moved out to a new place 4 years ago.” I swore I saw relief cross his face but I ignored it. He nodded his head.

The bell above the door then rang signifying that someone had entered. I looked over my shoulder and smiled. I stood from my seat across from Taehyung.

“Margret, how are you?” I asked with a warm smile on my face as I spoke to the middle aged lady and went behind the counter again. I typed in her usual order and began to put it together as I made small talk with her.

“Any new love interests?” She wiggled her eyebrows at me, I chuckled. Margret was the type of lady that loved those cheesy romantic movies on Netflix, and read Jane Austen novels at home alone on a Friday night.

“Not that I’m aware of.” She snapped her fingers in an upward motion as if to say ‘darn’. I handed over her order and bid her goodbye.

My eyes turned to Taehyung once Margret was out the door, only to meet eyes with him. I leaned my arms on the counter.

“Would you like something?

“There are a few things I’d like from you.” I blushed profusely at his comment, “I don’t know where that came from, I’m sorry.” His cheeks where rosie with embarrassment.

“You’re Fine.”

Taehyung pulled his phone from his pocket, presumably checking the time.

“I should get going, you have a good day y/n.” He gathered his things and pushed the door open.

“Hey!” I called out, and he turned to look at me, “See you tomorrow?”

A boxy smile pulled at his lips, “Wouldn’t miss it.” He waved before leaving me alone in the cafe, smiling like an idiot over a guy I just met.

᯽

Taehyung came in earlier then usual this morning, I waved to him as he went to the same spot. And today he didn’t wear a beret only a pair of wire glasses that complimented his outfit. Nor did he have his nose in that book. I turned back to finish the order I was preparing and continued to take others.

By the time the morning rush had calmed it was 9am, a few college students sat scattered at tables on their laptops studying. I looked to Taehyung who was scribbling on the pad of paper. An unconscious smile marking my face.

I turned and went to work making a drink.

I carried it over to him, and he looked up from the paper. A light smile gracing his face, I set the ceramic mug infront of him and he looked to it.

“What’s that?” He questioned cutely.

“A vanilla latte, it’s my favorite.” I informed him causing his smile to widen.

“Whatcha’ workin’ on?”

“A story.”

“About?”

“Don’t really know yet.” He looked into my eyes and I couldn’t help but fall into the inviting chocolate pools.

“Is that what you needed inspiration for? Your story?” I was intrigued and wondered what it could entail. He nodded. Verbally Taehyung was a man of few words, but his mind was a different story, the scribbles on the paper before him showed the contradictory sides of him.

᯽

As the days continued to pass by, Taehyung’s routine remained the same as it always had. He would scribble words as he was hit with inspiration time and time again, We would talk when the cafe stood empty and all that could be heard was the talking of two. Two that didn’t yet know that they were starting something; a relationship, one of passion, friendship, and love. One could say these two were soulmates, minutes turned to hours as they talked, losing track of time. But they didn’t care, not in eachothers presence.

It had already been four months since he first set foot in my family cafe. We had become good friends. The sky outside was grey and a cold gust of wind rushed in whenever the door was pulled open.

Today I was setting up a small Christmas tree in a corner and putting out our holiday menu. There was exactly 10 days to Christmas and the streets were abuzz ignoring the cold weather. The cafe was also busier this time of year, mainly with To go orders. As I placed an ornament on the tree the bell rang and I looked over my shoulder. It was Taehyung, my heart fluttered at the sight of his wind blown hair, his nose red from the cold.

“Your usual I presume?” He gave me a boxy smile and nodded before going to 𝙃𝙞𝙨 seat. I went behind the counter and began to make a vanilla latte, he claimed it was his favorite as well. As I waited for the coffee to brew I pulled out one of the undecorated Christmas cookies that was shaped as an ornament. I took the bag of green icing and wrote 'Tae’ in fancy letters.

Over these four months I’ve learned a lot about Tae even for not seeing him outside of work. I learned, for one, that his favorite color is green, he also has a dog named Yeontan, Taehyung is from Korea but the New York bustle had always called his name. He loves Kimchi, like a lot, he’d probably even name his kid after it if he ever had the chance. He wants to be a famous writer one day and he works very hard for his dream, which I admire very much.

There is so much to Taehyung, he is so complex and free spirited. To try and explain him in one paragraph just simply wouldn’t be possible.

I finished up the latte and grabbed the cookie I decorated for him. As I walked to bring them over I noticed He wasn’t writing like he usually was, he didn’t even have his note pad out. I quirked one eyebrow at this and set the items I held before him. He seemed amused by the cookie.

“You taking a break today?” I asked taking my usual seat across from him. He shrugged after taking a sip of the sweet coffee.

“I guess, I just also wanted to know when you’re available to uh, hangout?” His voice sounded nervous. I smiled at him.

“Well we close the cafe the week of Christmas, so I think Saturday.”

His shy boxy smile made an appearance again, it had become one of my favorite sights, “Ok well, we can get dinner?” He suggested. I playfully narrowed my eyes at him.

“Kim Taehyung, are you asking me out on a date?”

“Maybe, unless you don’t want it to be.” I couldn’t help but smile at him. I grabbed his hand with my own and squeezed it.

“I’d love to Taehyung.”

“Thank God.” He sighed in relief and I laughed. At the sound of the bell I stood back up and kissed his cheek before walking to the counter to help a new group of costumers. I felt his eyes on me the whole time while I helped the costumers. I may have held my composure on the outside but I was dying in on the inside.

~

It was now 11am and the cafe was completely empty. Well except for Taehyung of course. I looked to him and waved him over.

“Come help me with something.” He smiled.

“Anything for you.” I was greatful for the help. I led him into the back kitchen area where I baked all the pastries fresh daily. I opened a tall cabinet to reveal large bags of coffee beans, the smell was always nice. “You grab that one.” I pointed to a bag of dark roasted beans and I myself grabbed the light roast and lugged it back to the front to the two large coffee machines.

I struggled to set it on the counter and Tae chuckled.

“What?” I asked smiling at him.

“You’re cute.” He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world and I felt my face heat up. We stared into eachothers eyes for what felt like an eternity. His eyes glanced down to my lips and my breath hitched. Without even thinking we both began to lean in. Our lips just inches apart before the agonizing sound of the over head bell on the door. I stepped away and cleared my throat.

“Uh, ya just put those ones in this machine and the other ones in the other.” Taehyung chuckled making my heart jump, he was clearly amused by my flustered state.

“Hey sweetheart! How’s my special Girl?” My eyes finally looked to who had entered, a large smile on my face.

“Dad!” I ran around the counter and hugged him. When we pulled away my father looked past me to Taehyung.

“Whose this?” He asked with a smile.

“Oh, this is Taehyung, he comes everyday and I just needed help with the beans.” I informed him.

My father stuck his hand out to Taehyung over the counter, “Thank you Taehyung for helping my daughter.”

“Of course Sir.” They shook hands, my face grew hot again after what my father said next.

“So Taehyung, what are your intentions with my daughter?”

“Dad!” I scolded, yet he ignored me. Keeping his eyes trained on the boy whose heart had ever so cautiously began to love the girl in question. Taehyung laughed awkwardly.

“Actually, I like your daughter very much and I respect her and her work. I plan to take her out to dinner on Saturday, of course if that’s alright with you.”

The words that left his mouth stunned me as well as my father. In high school I had dated boys that didn’t have my best interest in mind. But what shocked me the most was the indirect confession, 𝙃𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚. A giddy smile forming on my lips.

“Fine by me.” My father said with a laugh.

᯽

I awoke in my warm bed, the sky outside was dreary and grey. It was Saturday, I was boiling over with excitement. The last 3 days Taehyung didn’t tell me anything, saying it was a surprise, the only thing he told me was to dress nice and that he was picking me up at 7.

I looked to see it was already ten o’clock. I guess I was pretty tired. I kicked the blankets off my body and went down into the cafe to make myself some coffee.

I carefully carried back up stairs, with a muffin as well. I plopped on my comfy couch and flicked on the TV.

𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙠𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙚’𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙛𝙚𝙬 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨-

I went to Netflix and put on the office, cause what else would you do on a dreary day like this. I laughed at all the jokes though I had probably heard them 100 times seeing as I’ve rewatched it so many time.

That’s pretty much all I did until it was finally time to get ready. I had decided on a nice long sleeve dress that I could wear my peacoat over. The dress was forest green and tight and it wasn’t too short. I straightened my hair and did minimal makeup. Once I was done I checked the time, 6:45. He’ll be here soon. I headed into the cafe and sat on the counter as I waited.

A small knock pulled my thoughts towards the door. I saw Taehyung standing standing there through the glass with the biggest smile on his face and holding a bouquet. I went and opened the door letting him in.

“For you.” He handed me the bouquet and I smiled wide. I turned putting them in a vase that sat on the shop counter. I then grabbed my peacoat that I left on the counter and put it on. “You look beautiful y/n.” He said from behind me, I turned to him, my face red.

“Thank you.” I tucked my hair behind my ear looking to the ground. His finger tips lifted my chin so my eyes where looking into his, and he kissed me it was the feeling my lips had been longing for. His plump lips fit perfectly with mine. When he pulled away I had a giddy smile on my face.

“Well, I was going to wait until dinner but,” he took a deep breath before continuing, “Will you be my girlfriend?” My heart skipped with joy.

“I’d be crazy to say no.” I giggled.

“Then what do you say we continue this date?” He held out his elbow to link arms and I happily obliged. This goofy boy was now my boyfriend how lucky can I be? I stole a glance at his side profile as we walked, very lucky I guess.

We stopped in front of a fancy Italian restaurant 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣𝙤’𝙨 and I smiled. It’s lights were out, 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙣𝙤’𝙨 was closed on weekends, something Taehyung hadn’t lived here long enough to know. I looked to him and his pouty look of confusion.

“They’re closed on weekends Tae.” I spoke with a smile. He looked to me clearly disappointed in himself, “You wouldn’t have known.” I rubbed his arm in comfort.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled through his deeply pouted lips while looking to the ground, he looked adorable.

“For what?”

“Ruining our first date.” He said kicking the ground.

“What? Tae you didn’t ruin our date, I’m just happy to be spending time with you outside of work.” I told him, “Plus it’s the thought that counts.” His eyes met mine.

“But now what do we do?” I thought about it for a second then spoke.

“There’s a delicious little Korean food shop near the cafe, we could get take out and go to my apartment and watch a movie?” I suggested, and his face lit up. He was probably thinking of the kimchi.

“That sounds great!”

~

We got back to the cafe, Tae held the To-go bag, I led him up the steps to my apartment after locking the door of the cafe.

We sat on the ground infront of the coffee table to eat. Our backs resting on the back of the couch as we watched a random romantic comedy on Netflix. When it was done I stood and went to the kitchen.

“I’m make cookies.” I said with a large smile on my face. I started to grab the ingredients from the pantry laying them out on the island. Then grabbing a mixing bowl and a whisk. Tae moved to a stool on the island and watched me make the cookies his head rested in his hand. A smile graced his perfect lips.

“Hmmm.” He hummed and I looked to him finding his eyes already on me.

“What?”

“I love- watching you work.”

He knew it was too soon to say what he meant to say, so he stopped himself. Though it was the truth; 𝙃𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧.

He was called from his thoughts by the sound of my voice.

“You ok?”

“Ya, just thinking.”

“About?” I pushed for a proper answer as I walked around the island to reach him after putting the cookie dough in the oven. I stood behind him wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head on his shoulder.

“It’s stupid.” He shook his head.

“Nothing you say is stupid.” I reassured him, he let out a cute sigh.

“Do you believe in love at first sight?” I let go of him and moved to sit in the stool next to him so I could see his face.

“Well, when I first saw you I thought you were something special. And look at us now.” I gave him a smile and squeezed his hand. He seemed awe stricken, his eyes drifted up to mine.

“I thought the same thing when I saw you.” Relief was evident in his wide eyes.

“So what are you saying?”

“I’m saying, that I know it’s early, but I think I’m falling in love with you y/n. I think I have been since the first day I met you, or saw you.” His sudden exposer of thoughts caused my heart to race. My heart had told me since day one he was special and it was right. It didn’t feel wrong or ‘too quick’ not with Taehyung. All I could do was smile before pulling his face to mine brushing our lips.

“I think I’m falling in love with you too.” I whispered while looking into his eyes. He closed the small space between us, our lips meeting in a passionate kiss. Pulling away I giggled. I stepped away to my record player pulling out a 𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨 record and placing it on the turn table.

The first song that played was 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧. How convenient. I got Taehyung to stand and I danced to the song, completely off beat may I add, which caused him to laugh. It was the most beautiful sound, it held so much love. How a laugh could do that I had no idea. But your heart soared at its tune.

The hours slipped by, we spent those hours eating cookies and dancing horribly to any song that was played. I had lit candles around the kitchen and that was the only light that guided us in our unskillful dancing. Our hearts falling farther holding eachother in the pale light and laughing. It was perfect.

Well then I glanced at the clock on the oven. 12:25 am. I gasped and giggled.

“What?” Taehyung asked, I could hear his smile.

“It’s 12:25 Tae.” He looked at the clock.

“Time really does fly when you’re having fun.” He sighed as 𝙃𝙚𝙮 𝙅𝙪𝙙𝙚 slowly faded out. I hugged him.

“This was the best first date of my life.” Truthfully though it didn’t feel like a first date at all, it was as if we’d been together for years.

I walked him down through the cafe and to the door. He gave me one last kiss, and headed for the door. And he pushed it but the door didn’t budge. My brows were knit together in confusion before walking to the door. It was then I noticed the snow going almost halfway up the door.

“Holy shit.” I said to myself.

“Thats a lot of snow.” Taehyung finished your thought. I started giggling which turned into a full blown laugh, “Whats so funny?”

“We’re snowed in. Together.” I wiggled my eyebrows at him, “Cuddle time!”

“You’re not worried?” I shrugged

“Not really, it’s just snow.” His face looked worried though, “Hey we’re gonna be fine.”

“I’ve just never been through this.” He shyly spoke, I yawned.

“I know, let’s just, get some sleep for now ok?”

“Ok.”

We headed back up the stairs, I luckily had a spare tooth brush for Taehyung to use and I had some of my dads old clothes laying around in the spare room. I laid in my bed in a big sweatshirt. Taehyung came out of my bathroom sporting my fathers old baggy clothes as pajamas, I chuckled.

“Uh, should I sleep on the couch?” He asked clearly shy.

“No, you can sleep with me.” I patted the empty space next to me with a smile. He nodded before climbing in next to me. I leaned over and turned off the lamp on my bedside table. I then scooted closer to his form that radiated heat.

“Goodnight y/n.” He spoke quietly.

“Goodnight Tae.”

᯽

The next morning, I was confused feeling arms tightly wrapped around my body. Then my thoughts came back as I looked to the sleeping boy so desperately holding onto me. A smile found its way to my lips at his little pout. I ever so lightly kissed his lips as to not wake him, which ultimately failed. His eyes fluttered open.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.” I whispered and he hummed. His sleepy eyes were studying me, “go back to sleep, I’ll go make breakfast.” His eyes shut again without a word and I crawled from his arms and off the bed.

I decided to make some pancakes and eggs. I mixed the batter and poured it into the familiar circular shape, I then placed them under tinfoil to keep them warm. I then began to cook the scrambled eggs as I did I felt arms around my waist and I smiled.

“You’re up, how’d you sleep?”

“Fantastic actually.” He squeezed his arms around me.

“Really?” I smiled as I turned off the stove heat.

“Mhm.” He nuzzled his head into my neck.

“Alright cuddle bug, let’s eat, preferably before it gets cold.” He finally let his arms fall from my body, but not before kissing my cheek. I smiled and then carried the food to the island where we ate.

~

“That was delicious.” Tae said rubbing his tummy, I smiled, “So what are we gonna do today?” My face lit up at his question, and you bounced on the stool.

“Movie fort!” He laughed at your childish behavior.

But by 12 we sat in our fort made of blankets stools and couch cushions. We decided on watching the 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙋𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 movies. We watched the first four all in a row before taking a break to ‘make dinner’ which was just a box of strawberry Mini Wheats and two bowls.

We finished all the movies by 8:30 now we just laid in the fort in a comfortable silence as I played with Taehyungs hands. Taehyung looked to me smiling widely.

“Stop that.” He said breaking the silence and I looked to him.

“Stop what?”

“Making me fall in love with you.” I flushed.

“I wasn’t even doing anything.”

“Exactly.” He whispered before placing his hand on my cheek. His other hand holding my waist. He kissed my lips softly. When he broke from the kiss his eyes staring into my own. My breath hitched at what fell from his mouth next, “Infact, why don’t I show you exactly how much I love you.”

And that’s exactly what Taehyung did that night.

He showed her how much he loved her as he kissed all over her body.

He showed her how much he loved her as her thighs closed around his head.

He showed her how much he loved her until his name was being screamed, echoing through the small apartment.

He showed her how he would love her all the days of her life without fail.

᯽ 2 years later ᯽

“Don’t over work yourself.” An older lady named Christine spoke, her eyes befalling my baby bump.

“I’ll be just fine, no need to worry.” I continued making her coffee, before handing it to her, “Have a nice day Christine.”

The ringing of the bell caught my attention, I was graced with the face of my wonderful husband. He had the biggest smile on his face, you tilted your head in wonder. He walked up to the counter before pulling something out of his bag, he handed it to me.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙛𝙚 𝙂𝙞𝙧𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝘽𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙩 𝘽𝙤𝙮 ;

𝙒𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙮 𝙆𝙞𝙢 𝙏𝙖𝙚𝙝𝙮𝙪𝙣𝙜

My eyes lit up and I smiled up at him in shock.

“You got published?!”

“That’s right my 𝘾𝙖𝙛𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡.” He grabbed my face over the counter and kissed me sweetly, “God I love you so much.” He did a little victory dance in front of you.

I watched him, wondering how in the world I got this lucky? I had no idea, I ask myself that question everyday. But oh man did I love this man that never once gave up on his dream and never once stopped loving me. My 𝘽𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙩 𝘽𝙤𝙮.

[brokenmusicboxwolfe]

On a photo of a not exactly human face I sculpted....

labratbren said:                                                                                                                            What do you do with them when they are done? Do you ever post pictures of the finished product? 

Ah, well, um....short answer? Nothing.

Here’s the longer answer (VERY long)....

While I was always drawn to sculpting, I really didn’t sculpt growing up. 

I mean, I tried to use clay I dug out of the ground, drying it in the sun, when I was tiny. Naturally it crumbled except for this lump of a head I still have. In Kindergarden the art teacher had his own kiln and let us use the scraps left over from the pots he had us make. I still have a loop armed alien and creature head I made, but he left with his kiln the next year. The dough art they had us make in second grade was gone by the next year, ‘cause this buggy and humid climate doesn’t agree with it. My parents gave me modling clay, but I hated it. I wanted something that would “stay”. 

But everyone acted like sculpting was hard, so maybe I wasn’t missing out. 

Then one day, when I was 19 or so, my hands got bored. Anyone would have laughed if I’d said I was bored right then. I had a book open to one side of me, a magazine on the other, as I went back and forth reading both. I was also  listening to music AND watching the movie The Brothers Karamazov at the same time. I have this problem where I always feel like I should be doing more, and when I am doing something I get itchy to be doing something else. Like my brain isn’t fully occupied even if I’m really enjoying whatever. That day my hands needed something to do, and there was this block of clay left over from a project one of Pop’s projects (a river system display, I think) It was just sittin’ there on the porch so....

And it turned out sculpting was easy! I mean, maybe not art bit doodling around having fun making faces. Do NOT be intimidated by sculpting! It comes so much more easiy than trying to convert our 3D world into some 2D drawing. Seriously, try drawing a nose head on! But toss on any wedge on a sculpted face and you have a nose...

Ok, maybe I just am bad at drawing! But I really do wish more people would try sculpting.

Anyway, the clay was another dead end, but it did inspire me to hunt for something I could “make stay”. And that something was sculpey. 

Whenever I was certain I would have the place completely to myself for a full hour I’d go stand out on the ramp behind the house and sculpt. It wasn’t too often, what with the house also being the office of the family business and my family being the sort of close one that did everything together. I couldn’t sculpt and be watched. All I needed was an our because I sculpted quickly. In an hour I’d have a little bust, rough as heck but with some detail I liked.

But then I ran out of places to put my busts in my already overstuffed bedroom. I solved this by just slicing the faces off and just baking them. I could glue magnets to them and line all the edges of my metal bookcases.

I did dabble in other things. I tried a full figure and made a few little stick figures. I sculpted something from Babylon 5 for my brother, mixed my box painting (I used to paint boxes when I had a table) with sculpting for a Discworld box for Mom, Easter bunnies for my parents, magnets for everyone, Christmas ornaments...

When she saw the Christmas tree ornaments my cousin Katharine, dollhouse collector, roped my into making her a doll. She had specific requirements for a 6″ tall Beast in what I gathered were Regency era clothes from her decription. In my ignorance I assumed the doll would have to have a jointed body, fabric clothes and furry fur, which kinda drove me nuts! But somehow I pulled it off! I sculpted a few more of those little dolls (no sewing on these!) as gifts for my parents and brother, as well as a bit of goofing around for myself (I liked my little  Sleestack a couple decades late for little me). But that was that.

Then the weirdest darn thing happened: I was suddenly stricken with a full imaginative block!

I stopped sculpting. I stopped painting boxes. I stopped writing stories. Worst of all I stopped dreaming! I still remember how upsetting that was, this sense of loss. It was like having a part of me paralyzed.  

It lasted years. Terrible years.

When my father became sick right after my irreparable rift with my brother, as I was facing the most terrible external loss of my life, something woke back up in me. Constant, vivid dreams, elaborate epics spiraling through night after night, images and stories that writing didn’t full  satisfy the need to express. I started painting miniature boxes again. Box after box after box....

But no sculpting.

I dunno why I still didn’t sculpt. I just didn’t.

Then my father died.

Pop’s death was a devistating moment. My father. My best friend. When Pop was sick I told him he couldn’t die because I wouldn’t have anyone to talk to. There is a lot of truth in that.  I love Mom dearly, but our brains work very differently. Pop might have been smarter, and his depth of knowledge was certainly mind blowing, but our mental wiring followed a similar eccentric pattern. That said, somewhere along the line my parents and I had become a sort of unit, functioning as one. Think one of those anime giant robots made of smaller ships, Voltron or something. Then imagine it functioning with the head section missing. Five years later we still feel that void.

So anyway, Pop was dead, the family business gone with him, and I was unemployed with no qualifications in a rural area with few job opportunities anyway. This was, and frankly still is, not a good situation. And my cousin Katharine thought she had a solution.

Katharine sent me a letter suggesting I make dolls. She’d shown the doll I’d made her to a dealer who said I had talent, and she sent me a copy of Art Doll Quarterly to show me that my “weird” stuff might have a market...

Honestly I felt inspired by this. I immediately seriously considered it. I’d work a bit bigger than 6″ scale, sculpt the clothes instead of the stress and tedium of sewing, and figure out a way to do ball joints. Because each thing would be unique (until I could teach myself mold making) and letting go of something I make is soooo hard for me, I decided to use the story of one of my painted boxes as inspiration. I’d make wolf people, which I figured would create enough sameness to help me let go, but enough variety to keep me from being bored. I quickly sketched out a reasonable design and got to work.

Obviously things didn’t turn out to be so simple. Sculpting ball joints by hand is fiddly to manage. It would need a bit of experimenting. I could do a head on day, casually. I could do the upper body, arms and waist joint  with a lot of effort another day. A third day would be waist and legs. Fourth day was the hellish threading. I wasn’t set up for safely storing unbaked work in progress, so I had to do these marathon one sitting sculptings on the bodies. Then I’d rest up a few days and just sculpt a few heads.

The ball jointing drove me nuts. So I gave myself permission to not worry about wolfheads, but just sculpt whatever head happened. From the backlog of heads I’d just pick one to experiment with body making. In just a couple months I was making progress.

The first discouragement came with an art show. The county has a sort of art society and they were having a sculpture show. I was scared silly to show my work to anyone, since at that point it was 2014 and I wasn’t even on Tumblr. No one had seen them. Still, when I went to see about entering the lady there was encouraging. I was soooo nervous and tentatively hopeful when I went to the grand opening with Mom amd my cousin Shirley. I was soon deflated. No one seemed to notice my figures. My work was the odd one out anyway in a sea of found object sculptures, colored paper masks and ceramics abstractly suggesting the figural. Also, everyone there knew each other and so no one was talking to me. At one point I did this really sad thing of hovering near my figures in case anyone came near so I could sorta maybe get them to notice them....

When the show ended a few weeks later the lady very nicely said at least a couple school children had liked weird figures, ‘cause, you know, kids like that fantasy stuff.  I definitely should sculpt a lot bigger and maybe use terra cotta instead....

Yeah. I felt my stuff was crap. I was crap. Why had I ever thought anyone would like my crap? Heck, I’d thought I’d at least find a club I could join, belonging, friends....

But, I kept at the doll making experimenting, crap or not. That winter it was too cold for much sculpting in my unheated house, but I could work on trying to figure out how to paint them....

Then life happened don’t ya know. At first I thought it was a temporary break while I dealt with crisis after another. I kept sculpting heads, strictly sculpting a head a day (still just an hour each)....until the spreading collapsed floor situation forced me to move the box I’d made for storing the bodiless heads out. And that was that for doll making.

Still, I kept sculpting. I went back to just the faces....

And that’s where I am now. I gave up sculpting every day, because I no longer have time. I watch a movie and sculpt. I bake the face and take pics I post on here. I wrap ‘em in tissue and put them in a storage container....

And that’s it.

I don’t do anything with them. I’m not entirely convinced there is any point anymore. My life isn’t going to include free time. Or tables to work on. It has been years after all, and it gets less and less likely I’ll make anything more than a few boxes full of chipped up sculpey faces for the nephews to find when I die. Well, unless they follow my brother’s advice and throw them out unopened! LOL

I sculpt just ‘cause I sculpt. I post pics of them on Tumblr, ‘cause Mom isn’t really all that interested in looking at them. They aren’t ever going to be anything, but I guess if I enjoy making them and someone out there likes looking at them that’s okay. They may be nothing, but that’s something.