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devilscreekballad · 3 years

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Because it is taking so long till the next chapter, have a sneakpeek of one of Charlie’s PoVs (long text, with code, all spoilery)

Something is dreadfully amiss. The dreadful, icy and nauseating feeling spreading in your stomach and tightening your chest makes has you be certain of that before you are even awake enough to realize that Matt is calling for you. Screwing your eye open you blink into the dimly lit room.

By all means, it's early in the morning, but Matt looks as if he's standing in broad daylight. On a quite foggy day, but nevertheless.

"What's wrong," you whisper, not awake enough to communicate coherently by thought, but not so sleepy that you would not take caution to wake up $!{nick}.

That's when you realize what is amiss.

"Where's $!{nick}?" you hush, your voice a croaking whisper, worry stealing your breath.

[i]"Kidnapped,"[/i] Matt answers, with an expression of despair you reckon must mirror your own perfectly.

There are people, some of them self-proclaimed mediums, that say that the dead lost their ability to feel emotions. They are a source of amusement and anger to you in equal amounts, and right now Matt is certainly proving them wrong, through and through.

But oddly enough it is helping.

It isn't the first time you are musing that emotions might be an odd form of energy that spirits can siphon from if one lets them, and that what Matt is doing right now is drawing your fears and worries away from you.

Hastily you rub your eye and light the lamp, fishing for your clothes as soon as you can see.

"What happened?" you demand, clambering out of bed and into your garments.

[i]"$!{fname} had a nightmare again,"[/i] Matt answers, taking a calming breath, [i]"By all means another one like at Blayne's house. Then ${they} got up, got dressed and went for a walk. Clear ${their} head. An' then this trio attacked ${them}, knocked ${them} out an' brought ${them} to a farm bit outside o' town. One in the middle o' the woods."[/i]

With a curt nod you sink back onto the bed, stopping mid-movement of pulling your boots on. How did you not notice @{romance_charlie $!{fname}| $!{nick}} leaving? How could you miss that? Biting back a whimper you finish getting dressed and grab your guns. *page_break But Matt Stops You. [i]'Charlie, don't. These guys are a bit too much to handle alone. An' it ain't just the three of them, don't even think o' goin' there on yer own,'[/i] he goes, and you wince softly.

"I..." you stutter, flexing your hands nervously. With a deep breath you lean against the small table by the door and sort your thoughts. [i]"I won't,"[/i] you answer in thoughts, pulling yourself together. Matt nods satisfied.

[i]"Where's that farm?"[/i]

[i]"About an hour north of town."[/i], Matt answers.

With a curt nod you grab your coat.

[i]"Is Mrs. Meadows awake?"[/i] you ask.

[i]"Up since sunrise, I think."[/i]

[i]"As expected."[/i]

Still trying to calm yourself you make your way down the corridor to Mrs. Meadows room, knocking urgently before you have even come to a full halt.

Mrs. Meadows opens, looking at you intrigued and a little confused, both expressions however shifting into that of alarmed worry as the implications of you being up at this hour sink in.

"What's the matter?" Mrs. Meadows inquires, judging by her look she's doing a mental tally of how many of her medical supplies she'll need as well as how much scolding she'll have to do.

"$!{nick} got kidnapped," you answer. And as you expected (well, it was one of several anticipated scenarios) Mrs. Meadows pulls you into the room, hastily closing the door behind you.

While Finley and Miss Florence — both already awake to your surprise — watch you quite baffled, you fill Mrs. Meadows in on what happened.

Finley looks the most alarmed.

"Is $!{title} ${name} alright?" he asks, causing you to squirm a little.

[i]"$!{they} @{plur were| was} when I headed back here,"[/i] Matt tells you, and you forward the message to the others. *page_break And Mrs. Meadows frowns.

"You certainly made yourself a lot of enemies," she says, and you glare a little.

"I'd be surprised if that would not have been the case," you respond, your shoulders slumping a little. "I hope yer willing to help us with this? Look, I know ya don't believe I can speak to the dead, but..."

Mrs. Meadows casts you a long, cold stare, searching your face. But you know she's not as averse to helping you as this might make it seem.

"Mr. Mulligan, your claim to paranormal abilities has no foundation in science," she says, "but I cannot deny that some of the things I have seen and heard, are things nigh impossible to learn about through regular means. So, believe it or not, I am warming up to the possibility. That said: How many men will we have to face, and what kind?"

At these words you feel a heavy weight drop off your heart.

[i]"There were four more at the barn,"[/i] Matt tells you, [i]"The men at the barn, though... I don't think they were really with those that kidnapped $!{fname}."[/i]

[i]"What do ya mean?"[/i]

[i]"The men that did the kidnappin'... They struck me as yer petty crooks, ruthless but without much of a plan or wits. Well, the youngest one seems to have something going on in his brain, but he ain't inclined to make much use of that. And then there's this other guy... Wiry, flaxen-haired feller named Wilkie. Creeps me out like nothing else..."[/i]

That isn't good. Matt never was someone easily shaken, and that hasn't change in death.

[i]"But those men at the barn..."[/i] Matt shudders. [i]"They're yer typical hired muscle, just the kind rich bastards like most."[/i]

"Fuck..." you mutter, earning surprised and confused glances from the people around you. Hastily you fill them in on what Matt just told you.

Mrs. Meadows nods soberly and struts out of the room. Knowing her she's out to wake O'Brian and Burke. Matt vanishes for a moment, confirming the notion as he returns shortly after.

"This is terrible," Miss Florence says, and you look at her. "I'm so sorry to hear this."

*fake_choice #"Thank you, miss. And it's my fault." "Thank you, miss. And it's my fault," you say, your mind still racing.

"Oh, don't say that," Miss Florence goes. "I mean, you didn't hire those goons, did you?"

"I..." you begin and blink, a smile tugging on your lips. "I'm just worried."

"And I think you can see this through. #"Thank you, miss. I just hope we can see this through." "Thank you, miss. I just hope we can see this through."

Miss Florence smiles brilliantly and honestly.

"Oh, I think you can. Going by all I have by now seen and heard of you. And #"Don't be, miss. We'll see this through." "Don't be, miss. We'll see this through."

The smile you are flashing her is bitter, but there is a spark of hope in it.

Miss Florence smiles brilliantly and honestly.

"Oh, I'm certain you will. Going by all I have by now seen and heard of you. And #Say nothing, just be gloomy. With a heavy, gloomy sigh you shake your head.

"Oh, please don't despair," Miss Florence says, smiling at you concerned and full of hope and honesty. "I'm certain you can see this through. Going by all I have by now seen and heard of you. And $!{title} ${name} has a great friend in you."

This causes you to pause.

"Thank you," you say, and you are grateful for Mrs. Meadows returning that moment, Burke and O'Brian in tow.

It's quite curious to see the two young men like they appear right now. Given their usual demeanor one might expect them to take a while to get ready when roused from their sleep, but here they stand, wide awake, and with an air of grim determination about them. It would @{((almostend_hamelin) or (nearend_hamelin)) seem that no matter how rough a start they and $!{nick} had with each other, the| seem the} two have taken quite a liking to $!{nick}.

"Can't catch a break, can we?" O'Brian mutters, and you spot some unmistakable concern on his face.

"Yer really great at pissin' people off that they went an' kidnapped ${name}," Burke adds, "Wouldn't wanna be in the shoes of either of ya."

"Too kind, really," you grouse, but then again you know that Burke doesn't mean it in any condescending or insulting way. He just has the tact of a broken metronome.

And you'd lie if you would disagree that the two young men have a point. In all the time you've been riding with $!{nick} you may have seen some weird and marvelous things, gotten out of quite a number of unbelievable and peculiar situations, and messed with a broad array of odd and strange characters.

But you've rarely, if ever, had such a streak of no-good excitement like you're having right now. Not even in New Orleans or over in Arizona Territory.

Maybe $!{nick} has a better point about starting a new life than you are willing to admit.

"So, what now?" Burke then asks, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, itching to do something.

"There aren't many options other than setting out to save $!{title} ${name} ourselves," Mrs. Meadows answers. "Getting the local law involved would be favorable, but I assume that whoever kidnapped ${them} might possibly kill ${them} at any sight of the sheriff or similar."

The others nod, and you try to fight off the bad feeling still weighing you down, when Matt nudges your shoulder. *page_break [i]"Charlie?"[/i] [i]"Yes?"[/i]

[i]"These men talked about usin' $!{fname} as a bargaining chip."[/i]

[i]"Bargaining chip? What for?"[/i]

Matt shrugs.

[i]"No idea..."[/i] he paused, scratching his head. [i]"Hold up a second... I think they said somethin' else 'bout it. When they were ridin' towards the farmstead."[/i]

[i]"Spit it out, for God's sake."[/i]

[i]"That Wilkie guy that doubted that $!{fname} would make a good bargainin' chip brought it up again, an' this other guy said somethin' 'bout 'the boss wantin' to trade ${them} for his sister'."[/i]

[i]"Sister?"[/i]

Again Matt shrugs.

[i]"That's what they said."[/i]

This is something to send your mind racing. You're dealing with a man trying to use $!{nick} to free his sister. Albeit with a bit uncertainty you rely this information to the others.

"I am still reluctant to rely on a supposed ghost's information, but right now it's all we got," Mrs. Meadows says with a soft harrumph.

"Oh, I think we can trust this," O'Brian counters, earning a quite hearty hum of agreement from Miss Florence. Which in turn earns her a surprised look from the young man.

Meanwhile you are still trying to put the pieces together. And a part of you wonders if this is all but a brutal misunderstanding done by Miss Florence's family. For all she has told you about her family, they might be quite protective of her (especially since Robert's death), but you did not get the impression that they'd go this far.

*fake_choice #It could still be, I should ask her about it. "Miss Florence, allow me the question," you begin. "I don't mean this insultingly, #I doubt that that's the case, but I still ought to bring it up. "Miss Florence, if I may," you begin. "I highly doubt this is the case, an' I don't mean to insult ya, but... do ya have a brother who could and would do such a thing?"

Miss Florence blinks, sitting up in bed.

"No," she says, searching your face. "I mean, I have a brother, but he's in Lyon at the moment. Lyon in France, that is. I think there's some Lyons here in America, but, no, he's in France."

While that's reassuring, it brings you back to where you started. Shaking your head you lean against the wall.

"Hey," Burke suddenly speaks up. "What about that bitch that tried to kidnap Miss Florence here?"

"Mrs. Robiquet?" Miss Florence asks equally surprised and innocently.

"Ya know her?" Burke bursts out, and you share that surprised. Everyone in the room does, by all means.

"She... she's been a nurse at Merryborne," Miss Florence says. "I mean, I know her, didn't really talk to her, but that's why I was quite... freaked out when she showed up at the sheriff's office."

The rest of you exchange knowing glances.

"This Mrs. Rob....?" you begin.

"Robiquet," Miss Florence answers.

"This Mrs. Robiquet... What [i]do[/i] ya know 'bout her?" you ask, and raise a gentle hand. "I hope I'm not ripping open old wounds."

Miss Florence ponders, and albeit she tries to not let it show, you spot the slight shiver shaking her thin frame, the nervous biting of her lower lip, before she draws a deep, calming breath, and leans back, recounting things.

"Not much", she says. "She was a nurse at Merryborne, and... she often was around where I was held, but I only know her name from hearing it from the other staff members." Suddenly Miss Florence's face lights up with a realization. "Oh! But I'm certain she does have a brother. I remember her rambling about how he has more than enough money to pay for her train tickets if he wants her to visit him. And that he should just buy the train if he doesn't want to do that."

With a small, knowing hiss you look first at Matt, then at the others.

"Rich family then," you note. Miss Florence nods, and you run a hand through your hair, anger and disgust growing in your chest.

"Hold up," O'Brian interrupts, pinching the bridge of his nose in desperate thought. "If these wankers kidnapped $!{title} ${name} to exchange ${them} for that Robiquet woman, how do they expect that to work?" He frowns as this is met with confused looks. "I mean, ${name} is an outlaw, right? An' this Robiquet woman tried to kidnap Miss Florence [i]and[/i] kill the sheriff an' his men. There's not really anythin' to exchange like that. So, how the Hell do they expect this plan to work?"

"Ya know very well that with rich people like that their intelligence is inversely proportional to the amount o' money they got," Burke deadpans, looking a little proud at himself when he realizes he got that term correct.

"Can't argue with that," you grunt.

"What..." Finley pipes up, making you twitch briefly as you had completely forgotten that the boy is here as well. "What if they wanna blackmail Mr. Mulligan into breakin' out this Robiquet woman?"

As much as you hate to admit it, left alone think about that option, this makes a lot of sense, and you tell the others so.

"So, we're gonna go about this assuming that's the case?" O'Brian ventures, and you nod.

"An' we better hurry," you say, pushing yourself off the wall, checking your gun and heading out into the corridor... *page_break ... ...only to very nearly crash into Agent Lynwood.

"Mr. Mulligan," he greets, dryly, but with an air of surprise and maybe even relief. "I was just looking for you. Did not expect you to be up so early." Then he looks you over. "You look rather... exasperated."

Lynwood cranes his neck to look at the rest of the posse, furrowing his brow.

"I'm getting the impression something is quite amiss," he continues.

For a moment you consider lying to him to get him off your *if ((lyn >=35) or (worriedforlyn)) back, but not only has $!{nick} taken a bit of a liking to him, he's also proved himself to be far from as vile and obnoxious as he could have been.

Considering things for a moment, you lower your voice.

"$!{nick} has been kidnapped, Agent Lynwood," you say, and Lynwood stares at you in disbelief. *if ((lyn <=30) and (worriedforlyn =false)) back, at the risk of causing a scene, when Mrs. Meadows speaks up.

"$!{title} ${name} has been abducted," she states, nonchalantly, and Lynwood stares, quite baffled.

"Come again?" he manages.

"Kidnapped," Mrs. Meadows repeats the information. "We are on our way to rescue ${them}."

By all means, you don't know what to make of her sharing that information like that. Lynwood, meanwhile, seems truly astonished.

"Just the four of you?" he asks, and you search his face and voice for signs of mockery. But all you find is genuine concern, curiosity and an immense lack of sleep. Although he's hiding the latter quite well.

"I reckon you should come with us," Mrs. Meadows then says, stepping past you. "You are a man of the law, Giles, as questionable as the methods of your agency may be."

"Hold it," O'Brian interrupts. "Didn't [i]you[/i] just point out gettin' the law involved will get ${name} killed?"

"The recognizable law, yes," Mrs. Meadows counters. "But Agent Lynwood's presence as a Pinkerton agent compared to a sheriff or marshal might be in our favor. He's far less recognizable as a man of the law." *page_break From Her Mouth To God's Ear. With a frown you roll your eye, just as the clicking and creaking of the doors along the corridor alarm you to the other guests on this floor getting angry or curious, if not both.

[i]"Charlie!"[/i] It's been a while since you've seen Matt out of breath, mostly on account of him being dead for over a decade. But right now he is, meaning he jumped between the hereafter and the threshold quite quickly.

[i]"What?"[/i]

[i]"Just talked to our new friends,"[/i] he says, catching his breath. [i]"Ya should take Lynwood along. Three of the hired muscles are greybacks from his unit."[/i]

[i]"Yer kidding."[/i]

Matt shakes his head.

[i]"No such thing. Also, good news is, two of'em already went to Hell when they tried to kidnap Miss Florence."[/i]

A curt nod and you grab Lynwood by the arm, making your way to the stairs. Lynwood protests, but you just glare at him.

"Listen, Agent," you begin as you head downstairs for his room. "For all we can tell these kidnappers are the kind o' hired muscle the rich and powerful of this fine nation love to hire when yer bloody agency is too mild-mannered for their taste and needs."

Lynwood pulls himself free from your grasp just as you reach his room, staring at you in growing alarm.

"How do you even know that?" he wonders, only to make a face that can only mean he realized and is now contemplating whether to believe you or not. "Your ghosts, correct?"

"My brother, in fact."

Lynwood narrows his eyes at you.

"Matthew, wasn't it? Read the story." He falls silent in thought, having you anticipate the worst.

"Listen," you begin darkly. "If ya don't believe me, then say so. Now."

"It might surprise you, but I do believe you. Wouldn't have sought your help if I wouldn't do so at least a little. So, these man... Your brother's certain about their nature?"

"Not just that," you answer, just as the rest of your group reaches you. "One of'em has been part of yer old unit, Bellegarde."

The color drains entirely from Lynwood's face as you say that, before briefly coming back in a dark, angry red, only to fade again into a sickly pale hue as he first shakes his head, then nods curtly, pushing past you into his chambers.

"What was that?" O'Brian hushes.

"That's something the agent's ought to explain to you others himself if he feels it to be the right thing to do," you say, just as Lynwood emerges with his weapons in place.

"Let's make haste then," he says, and you follow him out to get your horses. *page_break It's odd, but for some reason — you reckon your brain is trying to distract itself from the Sword of Damocles hanging over your head — you particularly notice Lynwood's horse being a grey Missouri Foxtrotter mare with white sock and stocking markings on her hind legs.

"Where's $!{title} ${name} being kept?" Lynwood asks as you near the edge of the city, and you realize you haven't told him yet.

"A farmstead a bit out of town," you answer. "Middle o' the woods."

"Take it your ghosts told you?"

There's no mockery in his voice, which means he's either bitter about it or is starting to open up to the idea.

"Not just any," you say. "Told ya it's me brother Matthew."

Lynwood turns to look at you and nods curtly.

"Sorry for your loss, by the by. Couldn't tell you earlier."

"That's kind of ya," you say, nodding back. And something occurs to you. "Agent Lynwood, do ya know anyone by the name of 'Robiquet'?"

Lynwood seems to ponder this, but shakes his head. The expression on his face however reveals that that's not a 'no', and that the answer isn't sitting right with him.

"Not personally," he says. "Only by name. Rich family from Virginia or Alabama. Made their money in sugar and cotton, lost nearly everything after the war when they found themselves having to pay the people doing the work for them. Went into shipbuilding and mining now, I believe."

"How screwed is ${name} in such company?" O'Brian muses out loud.

"$!{they} @{((nat =9) or (nat =10)) could certainly be off much, much| couldn't be off} worse," Burke answers, and you glare at both of them.

"Do you two ever think before you speak?" Mrs. Meadows scolds, and both Burke and O'Brian sit up straight.

"Sorry, ma'am."

"Pull yourself together, you two," Mrs. Meadows continues, and the two utter a 'Yes, ma'am'.

And the group rides one.

It's not long till you can see the edge of the forest ahead, when something by some rocks and boulders nearby gets your attention. *page_break A Horse! It's a lonely horse build like a brick house, a chestnut Clydesdale, saddled and trotting about nervously amongst the grass and rocks.

There's no need to signal the others to stop at the sight, as they all know better than to ride on carelessly, and Mrs. Meadows retrieves her rifle as Matt addresses you.

[i]"I should maybe tell you 'bout this,"[/i] he says, and you cast him a rather scolding glare.

[i]"Should we worry?"[/i]

[i]"Maybe,"[/i] he says and cranes his neck. [i]"Long story short, when those guys came through here I spooked their horses, trying to get'em to stop. Overdid it a bit with the Clydesdale and she threw her rider off. Bloke hit his head on a stone and didn't get up again."[/i]

Somehow you feel more sorrow at that then dread or relief.

[i]"The others rode on, nearly shooting one other guy who was insisting on checking if the other guy mighta been still alive."[/i]

[i]"Take it they didn't wanna waste time,"[/i] you ask, when you hear a strained groan from a large rock near the horse.

"There's someone there," Burke alerts you at a movement, readying his gun, and you hastily tell the others what Matt just revealed to you.

"Guy sure seems to be alive still," Burke notes.

"What now?" O'Brian asks, and before you can answer, Mrs. Meadows marches over to the rock, rifle at the ready nevertheless.

What follows is her muttering in Cantonese, and you can only muse she's swearing. Then she waves the group over, calling for you to get her her bag. *page_break Which You Do. The sight you find around the rock is a man the size of a grizzly laying slumped together against the stone. He's dizzy and disoriented, and the rock behind him is smeared with blood, but he's certainly alive.

"Didn't know angels can be Chinese," he mutters, seeing Mrs. Meadows, blinking blearily.

"I'm no angel, nor a demon, mainly on account that you are not dead," Mrs. Meadows retorts and crouches down before the man.

"My Holly got spooked, ma'am," the man continues. "She never does that. She's a good horse." Then he blinks. "Is it because we took that ${name}? I said to Amos we shouldn't. But Amos said we need the money."

Well, at least that confirms that this is the guy Matt talked about.

"What's yer name?" you ask, stepping closer.

"Earl, sir," the man answers. "Earl Oakley."

"Like Annie Oakley?" you venture.

"I wish, sir. She's a fine woman, that Miss Oakley. Even if her name wasn't Oakley all the time. She's still a fine lass." Then the man looks closer at you. "Oh. Yer the other one Mr. Favor told us to take if we can't take $!{title} ${name}."

Jolly, innit?

Earl tries to sit up, only to get pushed back down by Mrs. Meadows.

"Hold still," she orders. "You got quite a nasty wound on your head, and I need to see to that."

"From the rock, ma'am, when Holly threw me off," Earl says, and you begin getting nervous.

It is however Lynwood who speaks up.

"Do we really have time for this?"

Mrs. Meadows turns around, glares, but her face quickly softens with a trace of guilt.

"I can't just leave him laying here," she says.

"Gotta give it to the Pink here," Burke speaks up. "If we wanna save ${name} we oughta hurry."

At this Earl does pull himself up into a more upright position.

"$!{title} ${name} will be fine, Mr. Favor said," he says. "Can't make a bargain with a broken chip, he said."

This isn't as reassuring as you'd like it to be... *page_break Hold Up. "This 'Mr. Favor'," you begin. "What does he want $!{title} ${name} for?"

"The sheriff's got his sister because o' $!{title} ${name} an' ya, an' Mr. Favor told us to go an' get ya [i]or[/i] $!{title} ${name}, he said that very clearly. Get only one, not both. An' he said that will make the other get him his sister back. Amos said we could just go an' break her outta that cell, no big deal. Amos always says things are no big deal when they are, and Mr. Favor wouldn't hear any of it. Told us to do as he says. And to listen to this Wilkie. I like this Wilkie none, sir. Not even a bit."

"Guess we were spot on with our guess," O'Brian mutters, and kicks at the ground as Mrs. Meadows finishes patching Earl up. She then rises back to her feet, nodding Burke and O'Brian to help Earl back to his feet.

"Earl, where did they bring $!{title} ${name} to?" she asks.

Earl points, guilt and thankfulness written equally on his face.

"That way, ma'am. In the woods. It's a farmstead, ma'am, with a big barn. Wilkie wanted to do away with the farmers, but I just knocked them out. Can you make sure they are alright?" Then he shuffles a little uncertain, sitting down again. "An'... an' can ya make sure Amos is alright as well? Amos isn't bad, ma'am. Not much at least. He tries, but he's no good at bein' bad. That's what he always tells me I am, but he is just the same."

Mrs. Meadows nods, and so do you, before Mrs. Meadows turns to O'Brian and Burke.

"You two are the best riders. You get this man back to..." before she can finish Earl grabs her wrist, startling her, his hand covering almost her entire lower arm.

"No, ma'am. Ya go an' get $!{title} ${name}. I'll wait here. An'... can you tell ${them} I'm sorry? $!{title} ${name} seemed nice, and Mr. Favor is nothin' but a bad man."

Mrs. Meadows looks at Earl for a moment, quickly checks him over again, before she nods and heads back to her horse, mounting up.

With a bit of hesitation you follow, after Matt reassured you to stay here and make sure Earl doesn't do anything you'd regret. *page_break A Little Later. There's a well-used track winding through the trees, leading to a sizable clearing in a shallow valley where the farmhouse is located. The trees along the edge of the little hollow provide plenty of cover and after leaving the horses nearby you edge closer, surveying the farm below.

There's a large barn, a paddock and a small orchard ready to be harvested to the left, and the farmhouse to the right. And a lot of open space between it. All of it occupied by grim looking men with more muscles than anyone should have, and as many morals as braincells.

"I'm countin' five... no six outside," O'Brian hushes, lowering his spyglass. "An' at least two in the farmhouse."

"So prob'ly more," Burke adds, "An' then some in the barn. At least them being in the farmhouse means the farmers are still alive. No need stationin' anyone there if that weren't the case."

The rest of you nods, agreeing to that.

"That makes at least eleven," you note sourly, weighing your chances, as a shiver runs down your spine.

[i]"Charlie?"[/i] There's a dreadful, frightened tone in Matt's voice that, paired with the growing bad feeling, has you fear the worst.

[i]"What... what's wrong?"[/i]

The pause Matt makes has your stomach turn.

[i]"It's $!{fname}..."[/i]

"No..." you manage in a choked whisper, slumping back, your stomach turning. "Please, God, no..."

[i]"$!{they}@{plur 're|'s} alive,"[/i] Matt hastily reassures you, looking quite panicked at your reaction. "But those fucks gave ${them} quite a beatin'. Ya gotta hurry."

"What's wrong?" Burke nudges you, and you realize everyone is looking at you with severe worry.

"It's $!{nick}...$!{they}", you begin and relay what Matt just told you. The alarmed and devastated looks on the others' faces is not at all reassuring.

"So we better make haste," Mrs. Meadows says, turning back to the farm. *page_break What Now... "Thinking about the best approach, aren't you?" Lynwood asks, brow furrowed darkly.

"Of course. Aren't you?" Mrs. Meadows retorts.

Lynwood snorts a humorless laugh.

"Not much to strategize here, is there?" he grunts. "We're outnumbered on either end of the farm, with the major part of our opponents right between the barn and the farmhouse. If we try to pick them off in either location their companions will rush in from the others and make short notice of us and their hostages."

"${name} and the farmers," Mrs. Meadows notes matter-of-factly, but your not really listening anymore.

It's a feeling as if you've swallowed something rotten whole, and it festers in your chest. A cold, stinging pain all through your body, wrapping icy tendrils around your heart. *if (romance_charlie =false) And one other feeling weighing you down even more: Guilt.

Not for not waking up and thus getting $!{nick} kidnapped, that wasn't your fault, as much as you blame yourself for it. No. It's the guilt and despair over not being honest with $!{nick} about what you feel for ${them}. You [i]love[/i] ${them}, for God's sake. No matter how ${they} might feel about you, whether or not ${they} @{plur reciprocate| reciprocates} your feelings, ${they} still ought to know how you feel. And now you might never even get the chance to tell ${them}.

*fake_choice #If we'll get ${them} out of this I'll tell @{((char_friend) or (char_fam)) ${them}| even though $!{they} @{plur don't| doesn't} feel the same| ${them}}. *set charlie_tell_mc true #We'll get ${them} out of this, but I don't know if I have the strength to tell ${them}. @{((char_friend) or (char_fam)) $!{they} said $!{they} @{plur don't| doesn't}| $!{they} @{plur don't| doesn't} seem to} feel the same. *set charlie_scared true #We'll get ${them} out of this, but I won't tell ${them}. @{((char_friend) or (char_fam)) $!{they} said $!{they} @{plur don't| doesn't}| $!{they} @{plur don't| doesn't} seem to} feel the same. *set charlie_donttell true It's not the first time you fear for $!{nick}, but it's so, so much worse now.

But what can you even do now?

*if (romance_charlie) And you know exactly why you are feeling like this:

As high up as the euphoria from $!{nick} reciprocating your feelings has had you soar, as deep is the valley of despair you are plunging into at the prospect of losing ${them} like this.

All these years you've been riding together, all these years neither of you caught on on what the other felt, denied it even, felt it impossible. And just when you open up about your feelings, this happens.

It's not the first time you fear for $!{nick}, but it's so, so much worse now. *page_break What Can You Even Do Now? "Bloody Hell!" Lynwood mutters, surprised, ripping you from your gloomy thoughts. "You got to be kidding me!"

He lowers his binoculars and blinks.

"What?" you ask, and he points towards the man currently leaving the farmhouse, two men in tow. The man is small and stocky, sporting a sculpted mustache, and carrying an air of boisterous arrogance that is, unfortunately, appearing to be backed up by a ruthless cunning. There's also an undeniable resemblance to the woman that tried to kidnap Miss Florence.

Something else also strikes you as familiar, but you can't put your finger on it.

"You know who that is?" Lynwood asks, almost casually, but the utter surprise and traces of worry betray his nonchalant demeanor.

"He looks familiar, but I dunno," you admit, and see if Matt has an idea. He doesn't.

"Jean-Baptiste Favreau," Lynwood says, darkly. "Guess that's the ominous 'Mr. Favor'. If you ever researched the finances of anyone rich in this nation, you very likely stumbled upon the name." He pauses, waiting if anyone else knows the guy, but continues as that isn't the case. "I'll tell you the details once ${name} is safe and sound, but for now... He's quite bad news. The kind of man you don't want to cross, disappoint or insult. By having his family face consequence for, let's say, an attempted kidnapping. For example."

That's not good. Though you are almost inclined to appreciate Lynwood's dry humor.

"He's also leavin'," Burke interrupts, drawing everyone's attention back to the farm.

Favreau is indeed climbing into a waiting coach, while a total of four men mount up, two of them on the coach, two on horses, all heavily armed. Favreau barks some orders you can't really make out, but there's a weight lifting off your heart as the group rides off into the opposite direction of where you are, leaving you with a slightly more reasonable number of opponents to handle.

"In the hope I won't jinx it, but damn, that's lucky for us," O'Brian mutters.

"Still got more than enough on our hands," you say, making a curt nod at Matt. "Give Matt a moment to check what we're up against now." *page_break So You Wait. [i]"Eleven in the barn, three in the house,"[/i] he informs you, and you forward the information. [i]"Not countin' Earl's brother."[/i]

[i]"Pardon?"[/i] you wonder.

[i]"They knocked him out as well. Got a nasty wound on his head."[/i]

[i]"That's no good... He'll be fine?"[/i] It's hard to tell why you are worried for someone you've never met but who you, by all means, shouldn't feel sorry for. Maybe it's because of the impression you got from Earl.

[i]"If he gets medical help sooner than later, likely."[/i]

[i]"And the farmers?"[/i]

[i]"Awake, tied up, injured, and probably up to do something stupid."[/i]

[i]"So we gotta hurry even more..."[/i] you frown, and turn to the others giving them the new information.

"Bugger," Burke mutters. "So, what now?"

"We have to split up," Lynwood suggests. "Even with the numbers more even, it won't do if we clear one side of the farm, only to have the buggers on the other catch on. Especially if the farmers are about to try something."

Burke nods, but then furrows his brows.

"How long ya think we got?" he asks, looking at Lynwood, who blinks surprised.

"You mean until the farmers do some-..." His face darkens. "You mean until Favreau will return, right?"

Burke nods again.

"There's no way in Hell that guy ain't headin' to town to force Mulligan here to free his sister. An' when he finds Mulligan gone..."

"He'll come back here an' all Hell will break loose," you finish the thought, shuddering. [i]"Matt?"[/i] *page_break [i]"Far ahead o' ya, Charles,"[/i] Matt informs you, with a grim playfulness. [i]"Our new friends gonna keep an eye on him. Make sure he won't come back here any time soon."[/i]

With a soft, relieved sigh you tell the others what's going on. That's at least something.

"Hey!" O'Brian suddenly calls out, nodding towards the farmhouse. One of the grizzlies is making his way over to the barn, looking indisputable upset.

"Eleven in the barn then, two in the house," you mutter, sourly. "Is that better or worse?"

"It doesn't make much of a difference," Mrs. Meadows answers, casually checking her rifle. "I suggest two of us head to the house and take out the two men there. The others get into position in the barn and await the others attacking from the other side."

"Best choice we have," Lynwood agrees.

"Only choice we got, innit?" Burke grunts, checking his weapons as well. "So, how we gonna do that?"

"Giles is an excellent sharpshooter," Mrs. Meadows declares in a tone so matter-of-fact that it's almost comical, while Lynwood looks as if he doesn't know what to make of that compliment. "One of us has to head to the farmhouse, the other heads to the barn."

"Tommy should take the barn," O'Brian speaks up. "He's the better shot an' fighter outta the two o' us, makes more sense to have him where more people are."

Burke nods curtly.

And then everyone looks at you expectantly.

#the ballad of devil's creek #baodc development #baodc spoilers #baodc charlie

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miffybnuy · 2 years

Text

system help ;; vent

so hi, im dirk (or angelo (i think)) im a homestuck fictive, obviously. and im having trouble with knowing if im the bodys core or not as well as having extreme identity issues.

i dont feel like im dirk enough, i dont feel like how i should be. i feel like i should be more like source, more like how im supposed to be. not to mention, i always felt like im connected to the body since we found out we were a system. tho theres a lot of things that dont add up

context:

when the body was 13, our father committed. this is how we formed to become a system and we determine this as fact. tho, there was an alter who came out of dormancy a long while ago (who went back into dormancy later on) who didnt know our dad had passed, and this led to him having a breakdown and rambling about how much he had missed him, almost like he knew our dad personally.

im disconnected from the event, though i always figured that was due to trauma reasons. i do remember things that happened after our dad passed, but very little things before that, as does almost everyone here. but i remember naming the body when we transitioned, if it wasnt me who did that, who else was it? not to mention, i identify with the bodys age, because i came to the conclusion that i was the one who owned the body first and foremost. i also looked exactly like the body in headspace before i knew i was a partial fictive. but tord, the fictive i mentioned earlier who seemed to know our dad, was still strange to come across. we were obsessed with eddsworld in 5th grade, 2 years before the incident, we also had an obsession with tord to a sort of strange amount. so it would entirely make sense if tord was the core. he was there before we started splitting. so would tord be the core? but IM the one who is the center of the system, being the person everyone surrounds and cares for and chooses to accommodate to. we all collectively use the name i chose, being angelo, dress how i want when we leave the house, all use my chosen pronouns in public, etc

so what is it? can anyone give me any sort of hint or help me out or give advice? because that would be very much needed atm

note that i will delete this soon, mostly because im in the middle of an episode and will most likely look back on this and cringe /lh

- dirk (he/xe/rot/plur/🌈/cyber/heart/⚔️)

[DNI proship/comship, anti mogai/xenos/neos, transmeds/terfs, jschlatt supporters, dsmp supporters, endos/tuplas and their supporters, kink/gore/18+, pro ed/thinspo, yandere blogs and yandere supporters]

#system #endos dni #traumagenic #actually traumagenic #osdd #did #did osdd #homestuck fictive #vent #tw suicide mention #- dirk

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cali-is-my-canvas · 3 years

Text

MHA RAVE AU HEADCANONS

Part 1

Ok so I had started artworks for this idea because being a weeb and a raver, it only made sense to me.

So here’s a list of the MHA characters (all 18+) and what I think they’d be like as ravers including the genre, style and uh….. “party favors” they’d indulge in if they do indulge.

Izuku Midoriya

You can’t convince me that Deku isn’t a baby raver. He’s one of those that starts off wide eyed and so excited to start raving.

Definitely a budding Kandi Kid. He loves making kandi and trading with other people and he definitely takes videos or pics of his trades to add to his scrapbook.

Is the kind of baby raver that scrapbooks for his memories of each show/festival he goes to. He saves the admission bands and takes tons of pics.

Is fairly mainstream with his taste is DJs but will go to check out other sub genres if he goes with other groups. Mostly along the lines of Zedd, The Chainsmokers, David Guetta. Very house/pop vibes.

He’s very comfy style. Is big on merch shirts. Has a Fanny pack and a camel pack with essentials like gum, water, hair ties, a mini first aid kit, power banks, a couple fans and Vick’s.

Is the kind of guy that is very sweet so girls flock to him to either treat him like baby or flirt with him cuz he’s good boi. Will lift people on his shoulders, guy or girl.

Light show caretaker. He’s the one who holds your hand, fans you, will probably sit you in his lap whether you’re a guy gal or non binary pal.

His rave name is either Deku or Broccoli.

Izuku isn’t one to take any kind of “party favors”. If anything, he’s the one making sure everybody else is staying hydrated and safe. Usually the designated driver.

OFA gives him great strength which proves very useful when going to 3 day festivals as he ends up as the pack mule. Along with the multitude of other quirks attached ro OFA, he uses them as needed.

Shoto Todoroki

Wasn’t really ecstatic about raving but also didn’t hate the idea. He kinda just tagged along because Izuku wanted to go.

Also very big on house/pop/mainstream stuff. Will listen to trance on occasion but he has to really be in the mood.

Only really takes pics if he remembers or if Izuku tells him to. He likes to enjoy the shows in the moment.

Because he’s from a rich family, he usually gets to have VIP passes and will either sneak his friends in or just flat out walk them in. No fucks given.

Also very comfy. Will take his shirt off only if it gets too hot. Very little kandi but faithfully wears the one Izuku gave him.

Gets hit on a lot. Gives the strong silent type vibes so he lures in the girls but he’s kinda clueless. Will help put people on his shoulders if they ask but he’s not one to offer.

Not a big “party favor” person so he’ll just drink every now and again.

I feel like his rave name will be IcyHot, Peppermint, or something along those lines.

His dual-quirks of ice and fire help tremendously in warming people up or cooling them down.

Katsuki Bakugou

Katsuki took a bit of convincing but when he heard the boom of the bass, he was hooked. He loves the heavy beats and drops and loves to mosh pit.

Is a kandi kid but focuses more on head banging and rail breaking. The ones he trades kandi with are usually the ones he liked head banging with or got good vibes from. Will infamously wear his kandi gauntlets to festivals.

He is HEAVY on the bass. Very into hard style, dubstep, deathstep, drum and bass and moombatah. Sullivan King, Excision, Dion Timmer, etc.

Loves doing that headbanger thing with Kirishima where they lock hands and headbang at each other. Will also break his neck with Kirishima.

Absolutely is the type of guy to be shirtless the entire time. Will vary between bandanas, face masks, kandi masks or gas masks. Camel pack is a necessity and so is gum and vicks.

Does get hit on but his aggressive nature is off putting to most. Takes pics with a lot of people because of his Kandi gauntlets. If he does click with somebody he’s very possessive and the “party favors” make him very flirtatious and grabby but he’s v respectful.

Gives amazing back/shoulder rubs. Will usually put a girl in his lap when she gets a light show so she’s not uncomfy on the floor. For guys, he’s very selective but good vibes unless you give off Chad energy.

If he didn’t click with anybody at the show/festival and is feeling touchy feely, Kiri is his go to. Even if Kiri makes a connection, you’ll often see Katsuki close by and being the “tag team top” to Kiri.

Definitely uses “party favors”. Prefers E and acid. Big on Kandi Flipping. Will try Jedi Flipping but doesn’t wanna overdo it.

His rave name is either Dynamite or Grenade. Was almost gonna be Kacchan when he went with Izuku but he shut that down real fast.

His explosion quirk comes in handy with hyping up the crowd with mini explosion. They also double for giving light shows. Likes watching faces melt.

Kyoka Jirou

I definitely think she’s one of the ones that introduced everyone to raving to open up their music taste.

She listens to a little of everything but prefers house, trance, techno and probably a little psy-trance.

She’s definitely a budding DJ/Producer. Has her own EPs out on SoundCloud and shit. Definitely invites everyone she knows to her shows.

Not so big on kandi but she loves spreading the PLUR vibes. Will give hugs, braid hair, have spare hair ties, etc.

Super into hearing different types of music so will definitely wander around different stages.

Style is very lax but also very rocker. Ripped tank tops, fishnets, leg wraps face masks, boots.

Sometimes partakes in “party favors” but very low doses. Mostly E or molly water

She’s the kind that will give amazing massages when someone is getting a light show. Does get hit on but usually ends up befriending everybody.

Her raver name is tricky. I feel like she’d get something Joane Jet or something very rocker.

Her quirk is tricky for this environment. It can be a hit or miss. Because of the volume she obviously can’t amplify the sound. Because her ear jacks can move on their own, she usually is the one catching people’s stuff, getting a better grip on them etc.

Ochako Uraraka

Very bubbly and upbeat. Definitely pop-ish/mainstream vibes. Will randomly be on a bass kick and it’s frightening.

She was super excited to go to a rave and was very baby raver but she loves it now.

She’s definitely the type to wear the cutesy outfits with tutus and bright colors and patterns and the body glitter everywhere and jewels. Probably leg warmer floofs.

Loves Kandi and trading kandi. Super friendly and bubbly. Makes friends with everybody.

Carries a fanny pack with the basics. Usually relies on Izuku for water and stuffs.

She’s a molly water chick. No debating. She can’t take a whole dosage. She’s gotta take it in Gatorade or water. Has to be watched cuz her bubbly nature makes her wander off so she’ll usually be tethered to somebody.

Usually hyping up the light show artist while they melt your face off. Will fan you off, hold your hand, give you shoulder and scalp massages.

I feel like her nickname would be something like Pinkie Pie or Bubbles. Very fitting for her personality.

Her quirk is definitely a god send for the other vertically challenged ravers. She’ll use her quirk to help float up to get a better view. Izuku is usually nearby keeping Ochaco and whoever she floats in his hands so they don’t float away.

Eijirou Kirishima

Is good boi himbo who wanted to be included. Listened to dubstep and loved it.

Very much into dubstep, hard style, deathstep and moombatah. Drum and bass too because of Katsuki.

Is a headbanger and rail breaker. Loves doing the hand holding, head banging thingy with Bakugou and is always ready to dive into the moshpits. Is totally that guy that’s crazy in mosh pits but then profusely apologizes after.

Trades kandi like it’s water. He’s so cute and always down to make trades.

Is absolutely big good himbo boi who drank his respecc womens juice. He will happily give them a lift on his shoulders and will fight everybody who disrespects any girl at the raves. Douchebag Chads beware.

Relies on Katsuki for stuff like water and gum and shit.

Will partake in some “party favors” and makes sure he doesn’t dose too high so he can keep an eye out for the females in his group. E, Molly and Acid are a yes. Shrooms scare him

His rave name is totally Daddy Shark or Jaws or something shark related.

Unbreakable gives Kiri great strength which, much like Izuku, makes him one of the packmules for festivals. Also keeps him unscathed by moshpits and makes him a terror to Chads that are quick to throw hands.

Tsuyu Asui

Was invited to a show by Jirou at first but always tags along with Izuku and Ochaco and Shoto. The bigger the crowd the better.

I feel like while she’s very cute and bubbly, her outfits are more on the conservative side. Still cute and slightly sexy but she’s heavy on the frog aesthetic. Lots of greens and Froggies. Braid to keep her hair out of the way.

Also very mainstream. House heavy. Pop main.

Comfy shoes are a must. Has a camel back that is always filled with water. Carries a giant fan and always has Kandi. During the day, she likes to carry an umbrella so the sun isn’t such a pain.

Has tried “party favors” and every now and again she’ll partake. Prefers super light drinking around her group tho.

Is hit on but is always very nice to turn people down. She’s more focused on the fun and her friends rather than hooking up or anything.

Her froggy quirk isn’t of too much in the rave environment other than using that long tongue to reign in her wander friends.

Denki Kaminari

Was introduced to raving by Jirou and loves it. He’s definitely her hype machine, promoting her shows, pushing merch and even volunteering to use his quirk for lighting during her sets.

Will definitely join the Bakusquad at the hard style and dubstep stages. Also loves techno and moombatah. Loves the high energy stuff.

Neons and glow in the darks are big in his rave wardrobe. Can and will rock fishnets with pride. Tank tops are more common but will go shirtless if it gets too hot or he gets too touchy feely. Kind of a cyberpunk feel sometimes.

Is a die hard kandi kid. Usually has them in the theme of video games or anime. Basically his arms are covered in kandi but the ones from his friends stay safe in a Fanny pack.

As an avid raver, he knows what you need and has it when you need it. Chapstick? Check. Gum? Tons. Lighters? Honey it’s a sin that you’re even asking.

Absolutely partakes in “party favors” and gets very handsy and flirtatious. Is respectful but can be a handful. Usually ends up being babysat by Jirou. E, Molly, acid and shrooms.

Is a huge flirt. I personally feel like he’s Pan so the whole crowd is fair game for his flirting. Hella good kisser with guys girls and non binaries. Uses his quirk for minimal stimulation.

His quirk is definitely a raver’s delight. He’s usually the one helping power people’s phones, helping keep machines running in the off chance the power surge is too much. Uses it for stimulation during make out sessions or light shows. Will also give light shows. Can’t do it for too long though because the light shows require a lot of focus on maintaining the output to smaller levels.

His rave name is Pikachu and I’m not taking any arguments/complaints/criticisms.

Tenya Iida

Was invited a rave and didn’t mind it but too chaotic for his taste.

He’s usually the guy working the rave at the water stands, merch stands or medical tent.

Rave dad vibes. Yells to not run, drink water and highly discourages use of “party favors”.

Has been hit on a couple times but is a dork and it usually goes over his head.

T-shirts and cargo shorts are his staple outfit. Always with a camel pack

His engine quirk helps him get from one end of the festival grounds to the other in no time flat so he has a specific path for him to run through cuz those speeds will knock a bitch out.

Even though he doesn’t really rave he was given a rave name and it’s Sonic.

Mina Ashido

The epitome of a fucking rave queen. She’s one of the other reasons that everybody else got into raving.

Is everywhere. She listens to a bit of everything. Loves the energy of dubstep, loves shuffling to techno, can and will throws elbows in a mosh pit at a hard style stage and will sing with you at the mainstream stages.

She’s definitely a brand ambassador and wears all the cutest outfits with the coolest patterns and most awesome styles. Tastefully sexy outfits that show off just enough.

Absolutely a kandi kid. Very alien friendly themed kandi. Full arms of traded kandi and kandi that is yet to be traded.

She’s a super bright personality that draws people in. She gets equal attention from guys and girls and non binaries and will gladly make out with anybody that gives her a good vibe.

Definitely partakes in “party favors”. Loves Kandi Flipping and Jedi flipping. Is the kind to chew her cheek raw so she needs either a pacifier or lots of gum.

For obvious reasons, her quirk is a no no. Shooting acid everywhere? Yea let’s not.

Her rave name is Alien Queen or ET Babe

Hanta Sero

Absolutely loves raving and I’m gonna stick with the Latino HC. He is a moombatah and trap king. Also loves artists like Deorro that have a lot of Latin fusion in their stuff. When “Bailar” came out, he played it for hours on end.

Very lax clothes. Very much stoner style. But on rare occasions he goes with the Chad aesthetic. Has that undercut but with longer hair up top style and will often swing it it up in a man bun.

He’s a promoter for sure. Usually has access to backstage because he gets in good with DJs.

Does use “party favors” but is mainly 4/20 friendly. Loves shotgunning. Is usually the guy that carries extra “party favors”. Will def go on an acid or shroom trip with first timers.

Very sexually fluid so good vibes are pretty much all that are required. Hella god dancer and uses that to his advantage.

Has all the essentials. Especially lighters. Is the one that remembers the eye drops.

His rave name is definitely Papi or Rey (Spanish for King).

His quirk is another one that doesn’t have much use other than to wrangle in his wandering friends.

Momo Yaoyorozu

Wasn’t keen on going at first but when she saw that even Shoto was going, she thought she’d give it a try. Is another rich kid so does have the VIP access for the sake of having a good/comfy place to sit and rest.

Mainstream for sure. Very pop heavy vibes. Some house and trance

Very much the rave mom. Keeping everybody hydrated and safe.

Given that her quirk relies heavily on her energy and all that, she doesn’t partake in party favors

Tries to keep it cute but usually ends up looking more on the sexy side.

She’s been convinced to be a brand ambassador for the sake of modeling the clothes. But she always asks for the more covered up options.

Is too busy taking care of everybody to worry about meeting people.

Her quirk is perfect for raving. Being able to create anything certainly has come in handy. Makes her a god send to those who forgot something like lighter, chapstick, hair tie etc.

Her rave name would probably be Mama Momo.

Hitoshi Shinsou

Now this guy is heavy into psy-trance. Think more along the lines of artists like Infected Mushroom.

He’s the connect that everybody goes to. Meaning yes, he partakes in party favors. Particularly the psychedelics like shrooms and acid.

Very cyber punk/street wear vibes. Comfy but still fits that aesthetic. Absolutely uses either his voice mask or a gas mask.

He gives the mysterious vibe so he has a lot of people drawn to him. I feel like he gives major Pansexual vibes. He’ll mainly go make out with Denki if he’s solo.

Just a basic Fanny pack with a few things in it like gum, chapstick, lighter.

Definitely a glover. Loves giving light shows because it almost feels like he’s using his quirk.

Can use his quirk in this type of environment but the loudness makes it tricky. Will mainly use it for the purpose of making sure people take care of themselves.

Fumikage Tokoyami

I feel like Tokoyami would definitely be into more dubstep and psytrance.

He was very open minded about raving and definitely wanted to try it at least once.

Occasionally partakes in party favors but likes to be lucid.

Is also a glover like Shinsou. But with Dark Shadow, he can go all out with the tricks and visuals.

Very casual and comfortable. Baggy t shirts and sweats. Will sometimes dress with a cyber punk aesthetic if he feels like adding a little extra oomf.

Trades some kandi but not always.

Dark shadow is a conversation starter and the darkness proves to be particularly tricked but because there are constant sources of light (glow sticks, laser light shows, etc) it’s easily tamable.

Won’t put anybody on his shoulders but Dark Shadow will definitely help hoist somebody up for a better view.

Rave name would probably be things along the lines of ominous authors. So probably Edgar Allan Crow, F.T. Lovecraft, or just Lovecraft.

Keigo “Hawks” Takami

Oh this man? This man eats, sleeps, raves, repeats. He breathes PLUR.

He does partake in party favors but is responsible. He’s the one making sure you keep dosage to a minimal. E and Molly water. Acid sometimes. Shrooms make him feel funny

Can definitely afford the VIP tickets but would rather be in the crowd. Especially because he loves big groups. He’s definitely the kind of guy that gives Chad vibes when you first see him but he’s the complete opposite. Will definitely be the kind of guy to start shit with a Chad that won’t leave girls alone.

Totally shirt off the entire time. Will purposely do some subtle flexing just cuz he can.

Is totally hit on by guys gals and non binary alike. He is a looker so that’s to be expected. Usually cargo shorts are a go-to and he rocks bandanas.

Is a kandi kid for sure and loves to trade. He’s even made a few with his feathers attached but those are especially for people he REALLY vibes with.

He’s got a good mix of music taste. Will totally throw down with the hard stylers but definitely get lost and philosophical with the trancies.

Is a HELLA good kisser and uses his wings when he wants a little privacy.

Speaking of wings, those definitely come in handy at raves. I mean for one thing, they work like an umbrella when it’s hot out. Secondly they’re basically built in fans. Thirdly, they work for privacy. And he’ll totally fly you up and get you a better view of the show.

His charisma is definitely at 100 and I can totally see him getting you backstage to meet your fave artists.

The rave name is tricky but maybe Hawks will be the basic one. His friends use KFC or Red. No wait. Fuck it. Maverick or Top Gun. Something like that.

Alrighty my thirsty gremlins. I’m gonna stop this here. I’m getting a tad lazy so if there are other characters you wanna see from MHA as ravers, blow up my asks and I’ll make a part 2.

#my hero academia #mha headcanons #mha au #mha au idea #mha aus #MHA Rave AU #bnha #Boku no Hero Academia #boku no hero headcanons #raves #EDM #EDM festivals #anime #husbandos #waifus #headcanons

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vinyls-and-valentines · 3 years

Note

Okay but now it's your time to tell us more about your thoughts on emo Party Poison and scene Jet Star Mx. vinyls-and-valentines, don't think you'll get away that easily/lh

- Joy 🕸️

Why, there's no need for me to evade the topic, for you see: my canon Jet Star and Party Poison are both scene and an emo kids at heart! Also music-wise. Really, all they're missing is the well-defined aesthetic, which is partly because the fashion associated with midwestern emo is so Battery City, and because clothes don't tend to stay unscaved for long, so sooner or later everything ends up looking like it was lifted off a crust punk's bedroom floor.

Party Poison's love affair with emo started one faithful evening, when au and Dr. D were alone at the station and the pre-teen ventured into the recording booth to find D doing one of his bi-yearly record sorting sessions. When the Doctor notices aum, he of course asks if au wants to help him sort through the records whose covers are far too faded to be discernable anymore— "it's a mindless task, but it's got to be done sometimes or I wouldn't hear the end of it on air!" Not having anything better to do, Poison accepts and together they go through quite a few records, labeling them until Poison lands on a record from the 90s— not emo, but post-hardcore— which ends up becoming the gateway to aum getting into proper emocore and its dissolution across multiple branches of punk music.

Fashion-wise, black simply is Poison's color of choice because blood doesn't stain it easily, and because it is a form of going directly against BL/i dress code as much as wearing all neon colors. In Battery City and most neutral towns, dark colors are seen as somber and only fitted for formal wear or officials in positions such as exterminators, whereas light colors are seen as uplifting and appropriate for everyday wear as they encourage positive thinking and productivity. When Poison first came into the Zones most everything au knew about killjoys was what au was told by BL/i or the people in aur neighborhood (so nothing good) and so aur first instinct was to reject the color, but the white was also no longer safe, so au turned to the color black— doubling down on it to the point of having aur entire wardrobe be black as you'd expect someone at aur age at the time to do.

Jet Star's introduction to scene was at an after party at the Nest, where most people who were not quite old enough even by Zone standards to partake in certain activities or were just sensitive to strobing lights and such gathered outside and played cards/watched others play cards/bet who'd win at cards, while passing around a hand-held stereo to anyone with an 8-track or compact disk on them. As Star didn't quite have anything to his name yet other than kandi bracelets (which are a part of Zone culture as PLUR was kept alive through the live music scene) and a half-dead novelty lighter, he watched from the sidelines, commenting on the different matches with other joys and just soaking in the music playing and how it kind of clashed with the bass and fragments of other tunes from inside the Nest itself. The music played was purposefully shit, no matter how much the person who put it on talked about it like it was the coming of Destroya, but Star still found himself enjoying quite a few of the neon pop and techno and industrial-influenced tracks, which is where his whole music sense really stemmed from.

Fashion-wise, Star simply really enjoys "proper" killjoy fashion that is usually worn out at bars and concerts— brightly colored and pattern-heavy, layered in uncommon ways, but still very much oriented towards easily-readable and clunky shapes, with complex hairstyles and accessory combinations. It is hard at times to draw a line between his more glam rock inspired looks and the proper scene ones as they overlap in certain areas aesthetic-wise when Star is the one pulling them off, but then again, what is Zone culture if not genre (and gender) anarchy? He's also really into Gloomy Bear merch and the whole creepy-cute aesthetic, and has many many Gllomy Bear, Sanrio and rhinestone sticker sheets in one of the drawers in the garage

#cute of you to think you could uno reverse me on my own blog <3 /lh #also this took a while because i saw this last night in the middle of doing the party poison illustration and couldn't finish it in one go #but yeah the killjoys' aesthetics are not exactly well-defined but jet and poison's 'going out on the town' outfits are very much a #scene-glam hybrid and hardcore-punk hybrid respectively #danger days #killjoys #party poison #jet star #killjoy headcanons #character headcanons #heacanon #ttlotfk #answered #chaos-in-bright-pink-hairdye #long post

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norwegiatlas · 5 years

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LORI / LORAE / ԼՈՐԻ

Lori is a conlang inspired by some of my favorite languages, which are Armenian, Finnish, Irish, Greenlandic, Spanish and Northern Sàmi. You’ll most likely see influences from these languages in Lori. It’s mostly an artistic conlang, but definitely has natural elements to it. Aesthetically, I wanted the conlang to look magical and a little witchy. I was oddly enough inspired by the Twilight Forest mod in Minecraft.

ALPHABET & PHONETICS

a /a/, b /b/, c /ʃ/, d /d/, e /e/, ph /f/, g /g/, h /h/ ae /i/, ch /k/, l /l/, m /m/, n /n/, ou /o/, p /p/, r /ɾ/, s /s/, t /t/, o /ɔ/

(I’m not an expert with the IPA symbols, so I hope these are correct)

Lori can be written with both Latin letters and Armenian letters. I decided to do the Armenian letters as a way of trying to get myself more used to them since I’m trying to learn Armenian. All letters have the same phoneme as in Armenian, apart from վ (in Lori it’s /f/, in Armenian it’s /v/) and թ (in Lori it’s /t/, in Armenian it’s /tʰ/).

NOUNS & ADJECTIVES

Nouns in Lori are declensed into number and optional definiteness in addition to 12 cases and 7 color moods. There are several declension systems, and which one to follow is decided by the ending of the noun. In this post I’ll keep it simple and showcase the most basic and most common declension, which you use with almost all nouns ending on a consonant.

DEFINITENESS

(ae) tom / a moon tom / the moon tomr / moons (e) tomr / the moons

CASES

nominative / tom - moon accusative / tomout - moon (as object of a sentence) dative / tome - moon (as indirect object of a sentence) genitive / tomae - moon’s locative / tomac - on/in moon ablative / tomaàe - from moon lative / tomea - to moon komitative-instrumentative / tomach - with moon abessive / tomat - without moon translative / tomaph - into (the state of) moon essive / toma - as moon temporal / tomoum - when moon

nominative / tomr - moons accusative / tomoutr - moons (as object of a sentence) dative / tomre - moons (as indirect object of a sentence) genitive / tomrae - moons’ locative / tomrac - on/in moons ablative / tomraàe - from moons lative / tomrea - to moons komitative-instrumentative / tomrach - with moons abessive / tomrat - without moons translative / tomraph - into (the state of) moons essive / tomra - as moons temporal / tomroum - when moons

ADJECTIVES

Adjectives are declensed into the same case as the noun they describe, just as in Finnish ;D

echreou tom - big moon echrac tomac - on big moon echrate tomrat - without big moons

COLOR MOODS

(still w.i.p.)

All nouns in Lori can be declensed into 7 color moods. These colors give the nouns a certain personal quality:

pocha - dog

red - you dislike this (pocha -> pochora) + r, or, chr orange - you crave this (pocha -> pochta) + t, et yellow - you fear this (pocha -> pochsa) + s green - you are pleased with this (pocha -> pochno) + n, no blue - you are waiting for this (pocha -> pochnaea) + nae indigo - you feel for this (pocha -> poucheg) + ou, oug, eg, g violet - you love this (pocha -> pochollaea) + ll, oll, ollae

How nouns are declensed into these is quite irregular, but in most cases the extra letters are added before the last vowel. Which letters, if there are more options, is free of choice. I think this adds an interesting personal level of expression to Lori, which is why I decided to add it in.

VERBS & ADVERBS

Verbs in Lori are conjugated in person, number, tense and mood. All infinitives end on -ae.

abrae - to speak, talk ollae - to love camnae - to sleep máegnae - to understand aoutae - to see

As verbs are conjugated in person, pronouns are not needed with them.

amaet - I ta - you na & nou - it & he/she sachou - we tachou - you (all) ea & eou - they & they (plural it)

When conjugating the verbs, the infinitive ending (-ae) is replaced with a tense/mood/person ending.

present tense endings: -em, -et, -e, -elem, -eae, -es simple past tense endings: -aem, -aet, -ae, -aelaem, -aeh, -aes “just now” past tense endings: -ouchaem, -ouchaet, -ouchae, -ouchaelem, -ouche, -ouchaes “a while ago” past tense endings: -ouhaem, -ouhaet, -ouhae, -ouhaelem, -ouhe, -ouhaes potential past tense endings: -aeam, -aeat, -aea, -aealem, -eaet, -aeas future tense endings: -am, -at, -a, -alam, -aé, -as conditional mood endings: -om, -ot, -o, -aelom, -oae, -os

I sleep. / Camnem. / Շամնեմ։ She sees. / Aoutae. / Աութի։ We spoke. / Abraelaem. / Աբրիլիմ։ They just saw. / Aoutouchaes. / Աութուկիս։ You loved once. / Ollaeouhaet. / Ոլլիուհիթ։ (irregular, keeps it’s infinitive mark) I might understood. / Màegnaeam. / Մաեգնիամ։ You (all) will sleep. / Camnalam. / Շամնալամ։ He would speak. / Abro. / Աբրո։

Lori has two imperatives:

abread - speak (polite, kind of like a request) abraech - speak! (command)

In Lori, you can place “which” sentences before the noun they are about, functioning as adjectives.

Abraen pocha camne taeèlac. The dog, which spoke, is sleeping on the floor.

“Abraen” translates as “which spoke”. These can be conjugated into all the tenses and moods. The endings are:

-en (present), -aen (simple past), -achaen (”just now” past), -ahaen (”while ago” past), -aean (potential past), -an (future), -on (conditional)

Adverbs from adjectives are usually formed by either putting an en- affix on the adjectives, or a -st suffix.

talla - quick entalla / tallast - quickly

However, there are several adverbs that don’t follow this.

peaecaegae - well (poae - good) aàech - loudly (troub - loud) mouschan - beautifully (moscharae - beautiful)

None of the adverbs not formed from adjectives follow these rules, for example “maerchetounaechaes” (right now).

EXAMPLES AND SUCH

USEFUL PHRASES

Hey! / Aouae! Aoulen! Obasaech! Welcome! / Aoubranogae! Thank you! / Techastoumar! Techae! Thank you so much! / Charm techastoumare! Charm techae! My name is ... / Nonnem ... I am ... years old. / Agnourem ... I am from ... / ...-aáe anem. How are you? / On naemech? I’m good. / Assem. I’m not good. / Taegem. Good bye! / Mallan! We’ll see eachother soon! / Tataeollan! What is it? / Phant an? What is this? / Phant chat an? What is that? / Phant choun an? It is ... / ... an. This is ... / Chat ... an. That is ... / Choun ... an. There are ... / ... are. I don’t speak Lori. / Ch’abrem loraet. I don’t know. / Chour. I don’t understand. / Cháegnem. Could you (please) help me? / Ognochnet anou (dae)?

NUMBERS 1 TO 10

1 - aecha 2 - chas 3 - chare 4 - naed 5 - nach 6 - aecae 7 - caemst 8 - amst 9 - maech 10 - aechno

COLORS

coustou - red tenot - orange chesae - yellow phoaet - greem namel - blue ougel - indigo manouco - violet aoual - white tona - black omag - gray trapho - brown

aeda - light natan - dark

aednamel - light blue natacoustou - dark red

EXAMPLE TEXT

Nos natan an, aegn aeda an. Chour naemaenou t’sabaeérem, sachoum donnaaé pacar o toucar as. Aegn taebadrache aou nos alaeéd an. Aegnoum achbem, nosoum camnem boul macoucmaen. Esous aeannase aou tom aeane. Aed gnarane aou natanaeél ae abnaeéchen seleour an. Choraeod oullrat an.

Նոս նաթան ան, իգն իդա ան։ Կուր նիմինու թ՛սաբիերեմ, սակում դոննաի պաշար ո թուշար աս։ Իգն թիբադրակե աու նոս ալիեդ ան։ Իգնում ակբեմ, նոսում շամնեմ բուլ մաշուշմին։ Եսուս իաննասե աու թոմ իանե։ Իդ գնարանե աու նաթանիել ի աբնիեկեն սելեուր ան։ Կորիոդ ուլլրաթ ան։

The night is dark, the day is light. I don’t know which I prefer, because both has good sides and bad sides. At day a lot is happening while at night it’s quiet. At day I’m awake, at night I sleep comfortably in my bed. The sun grins while the moon smiles. The light shows the way while the darkness is a protecting cape. Choosing is impossible.

nos - night natan - dark an - pres. 3. person sing. of “anae” (to be) aegn - day aeda - light chour - I don’t know naemaenou - which; what t’ - that sabaeérem - pres 1. person sing. of “sabaeérae” (to prefer) sachoum - because donnaáe - genitive sing. of “donna” (both things) pacar - good quality, pro o - and toucar - bad quality, con as - pres. 3. person plur. of “anae” (to be) taebadrache - pres. 3. person sing. of “taebadrachae” (to have a lot happen when) aou - while; eye alaeéd - quiet; calm aegnoum - temporal sing. of “aegn” (day) achbem - pres. 1. person sing. of “achbae” (to be awake) nosoum - temporal sing. of “nos” (night) camnem - pres. 1. person sing. of “camnae” (to sleep) boul - comfortably macoucmaen - locative sing. of “macou” (bed) + “-maen” (my) esous - sun aeannase - pres. 3. person sing. of “aeannasae” (to smile with teeth; to grin) tom - moon aeane - pres. 3. person sing. of “aeanae” (to smile) aed - light gnarane - pres. 3. person sing. of “gnaranae” (to show the way) natanaeél - darkness ae - indefinite marker abnaeéchen - “which”-form of “abnaeéchae” (to protect) seleour - cape choraeod - choosing, deciding oullrat - abessive plur. of “oull” (possibility)

_________

I sadly can’t show absolutely everything about Lori as this post would be really long then, but this should show the main features. If you have any questions about Lori, feel free to ask! I’ll make a post for my second conlang, Ayde, soon!

#conlang #lori #languages

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festfashions · 5 years

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Giving Back - PLUR Outside the Festival

Happy 2020 fam! It’s a new year, which means it’s a clean slate and time to feel fresh and ready to hit the ground running! While you’re working on your resolutions or goals, I wanted to share a 2020 goal you should consider adding to your list: giving back to the community!

Giving back, doing charity work or finding ways to help others not only supports what PLUR really stands for, but makes you a happier person. It’s proven, you feel happier and better about yourself when you do things for others! So give back, and do good!

There’s lots of ways to participate in this within the EDM community, so I want to highlight a few ways the community is giving back and some ways you can contribute as well!

Insomniac Cares

Insomniac Cares is dedicated to making a positive impact on issues facing the communities and neighborhoods where Insomniac Events are held. For every event that sponsors Insomniac Cares, $1 per ticket transaction and all guest list attendees are required a mandatory donation which helps fund the programs.

Since 2011, Insomniac Cares has partnered with over 50 local and national charities and community organizations, donating over $2 million. Projects in the past have focused on defunct children’s art and music programs, providing housing for homeless youth, funding cancer research, and reforesting local parks.

Each year, the milestone event for Insomniac Cares is their EDC Las Vegas Charity Auction. Hosting numerous items up for bid from helicopter rides into the venue to artist meet and greets, the Charity Auction is an awesome opportunity for artists to give back AND fans to contribute in a larger way to the community!

In 2019 alone, the EDC LV Charity Auction raised $70,000 for Communities in Schools of Southern Nevada, a nonprofit devoted to working with schools and providing resources that are needed to help low-income students in K-12 succeed.

You can learn more about Insomniac Cares here.

Tomorrowland Foundation

Insomniac isn’t the only events company that gives back, the Tomorrowland Foundation is also doing amazing things to send good back to the world. They focus on children and young people ages 40-21, living in developing countries or regions in crisis, with parents that are preoccupied with ‘survival’ or with unequal chances in life.

These children are very often raised in poverty and have a high risk of spending themselves their whole life in poverty. The Tomorrowland Foundation wants to break this vicious circle by giving them chances to express themselves creatively and work on their self-esteem.

On April 18th 2018, the first Music & Arts School opened in Sekha, a small Nepalese village situated in the heart of the Himalayas. This Music & Arts School features four fully-equipped classrooms, a central courtyard and a stage. Teachers offer the children instruction in music, dance, art and theatre.

This school is 100% funded with the gifts of our festival goers and was officially opened by Lost Frequencies who represented the People of Tomorrow.

In 2019-2020 the Tomorrowland Foundation will collaborate with Mobile School, a nonprofit organization focused on working with street children all over the world. There are currently 57 mobile schools in 30 countries across four continents. Thanks to Tomorrowland Foundation they are able to continue and expand their great work around the world.

Tomorrowland Foundation is funded by a yearly contribution from WeAreOneWorld (the organization behind Tomorrowland) and attendee contributions. During the festival there are Donate Here carts where visitors have the opportunity to donate 2 “Pearls” (the Tomorrowland currency) to directly support the foundation. Plus all guest tickets require a mandatory contribution to the foundation.

Even cooler, each year, a secret restaurant is hidden inside the magical Tomorrowland Mainstage, where an exclusive dinner created by a world-class chef and his team is served to a select group of people. The full price of this experience is 100% donationed to the foundation.

You can learn more about Tomorrowland Foundation here.

There’s also lots of artists that have started their own foundations or organizations or unique ways to give back.

Bassnectar’s Be Interactive

Bassnectar is notorious for encouraging his fans to give back to their communities in various ways. For two decades the Bassnectar Team has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity and invested countless hours in creative campaigns which catalyze giving, good deeds, and volunteer DIY charity activism.

In 2018 he the team established Be Interactive -- a nonprofit organization inspiring ‘the empathic to make an impact through radical kindness, respectful creativity, volunteering, and charity.’ Four times a year they announce a new theme to rally around, and ways fans can collaborate with them. They also give money they raise from shows back to the community by funding projects directly in a grant application that anyone can apply for.

Funds come from $1 for every ticket sold to a Bassnectar-produced event, as well as fundraising events or donations made at the Love Here booth at Bassnectar Events.

Learn more about Be Interactive here. Be sure to follow their Instagram too if you want to stay up to date.

There’s also a lot of DJs doing charity that we don’t hear about at times until something major happens and they use their social platforms as a speaker box.

Recently, with the wildfires destroying Australia, lots of DJs have made a point to talk about how they are donating or how fans can as well. Flume (an Australian native, spoke about his personal donation, and Alison Wonderland updated her store for the month of January so that 100% of all profits will go towards helping.

Sometimes finding out how your favorite DJs are giving back is all about following their socials and seeing what they’re up to.

Matoma announced something awesome on his socials on Jan 15 about the importance of climate change and the effect touring has on the planet. He announced that his next tour of the US will be the first tour in the WORLD to use carbon drawdown initiatives to remove the carbon footprint it creates. He’s done work like this before, with is 2018 tour which was climate positive, as certified by the United Nations.

I think Matoma is onto something great, and we should all pressure our favorite artists and events companies to look into doing something similar.

Many events work really hard at sustainability and focusing on their environmental impact. This is something we should all consider when we attend an event, and do our part to positively impact the environment. Whatever event you’re attending, check out their website for details on how they are giving back, and if you can’t find anything, maybe reconsider that event. We need to put pressure (with our dollars) on event organizers to think about this stuff ahead of time!

I could literally turn this article into a book with the ways you can give back, be sustainable and help out the community via EDM. It is so easy to spread PLUR outside the festival. Our EDM community is already a great one, so doing some charity work or donations with groups in the community just helps show others how special we are. What will you do to give back this year? Share in the comments below some opportunities I didn’t mention!

#words #text #plur #EDM community #matoma #flume #Alison wonderland #Tomorrowland 2020 #Tomorrowland foundation #insomniac events #insomniac cares #sustainability #bassnectar #be interactive #EDC #Pasquale rotella #charity

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djfrankiebones · 3 years

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Insomniac & The Origin Of PLUR

Talking to Frankie Bones is like opening a living archive of American dance music culture.A legendary DJ from New York City, Bones went from being a local high school kid sprung on the pioneering clash of sounds emerging from his city throughout the ‘80s, to one of the then-emerging rave scene’s biggest and most influential producers.His fateful first DJ trip to London in 1989 opened Bones to the UK’s burgeoning outdoor festival culture of the era. He spun his perpetually growing vinyl collection of self-made tracks to massive crowds in the tens of thousands, a phenomenon that was just starting to reach American shores, particularly in Los Angeles.As he set about bringing large-scale raves across the Atlantic to New York, heading into the 1990s with his massive Storm Rave parties, Bones proved to be a pivotal figure in the evolution of dance music in the US—so much so that he inadvertently coined one of its most enduring trademarks: “PLUR.”

“The troublemakers would come, and they wouldn’t fight. As long as the music was playing and everybody was dancing, they knew something special was happening.”

The acronym for “Peace Love Unity Respect,” PLUR has become a way of life for many—including Insomniac’s visionary founder, Pasquale Rotella, who weighed in on what the sentiment means to him in a heartfelt social media post last year.For Bones, the concept behind PLUR was born on the streets of Brooklyn and continues to thrive across the country, thanks in large part to Southern California’s strong influence.Here, in his own words, Frankie Bones unpacks the origins of PLUR:

I was making the music, but I wanted to bring everybody who was also making music together and have a reason to make the music, which would be these big rave events.I did [a party] called Atmosphere. It’s what we called Storm Rave before it was officially Storm Rave… [which] came about because we saw it as a change in the scene’s atmosphere—a storm.The PLUR thing came about like five days after that, on the Fourth of July, 1990. We were gonna go paint the subway cars with the message, “Peace Love and Unity.” That was the movement. We went and painted the subway car, and it was always about that PLUR speech that everybody knows today, which comes from that original concept. Everybody was welcome, and we were all in it together.We weren’t going to be able to get all of these people together into dirty warehouses without some of them getting into fights, without giving them the initial idea: Don’t come here if you want to start trouble.It was very unique. I’m not saying there wasn’t peace, love and unity before that happened. I think with the scene, it needed to be done. We wanted people to know. The music is what it’s all about, and it held everybody together. We never had a problem. It’s amazing the unity among all those kids. The troublemakers would come, and they wouldn’t fight. As long as the music was playing and everybody was dancing, they knew something special was happening.

“I didn’t realize at the time that it was all going to become part of the history in such a way.”

The world that I come from, which is New York back before 9/11, we obviously had a huge rave scene in America. A lot of people don’t realize that EDM goes back to the rave scene, but PLUR is really the only thing that’s stayed the same all the way through.Everything else changed, but the ideals of PLUR have remained true. It’s about looking out for people, and if somebody was in trouble, you helped them out.A lot of people think it’s a myth, but these parties would’ve never grown to be the size they are now if that idea wasn’t being installed in these kids from day one. It was important that we did that.

It was always about installing the peace and the love vibe. It was always like, don’t come and bring your drama to these parties. Come and escape the drama at these parties. So, that’s pretty much what we did.Still, I always had police coming to investigate me at my record store, Sonic Groove. I wound up becoming friends with a detective from the 51st Precinct, and he told me that every sixth Saturday, whenever we did a Storm Rave party, the rate of car thefts in the neighborhood where we were in Brooklyn went down 37 percent. The cops figured out that all of the kids were coming to our parties instead of causing trouble. We were taking the element of the street that would be out robbing cars around town, but instead were raving at our parties. I just thought that was the most amazing thing I’d ever heard. We didn’t know what we were doing. We were just going on impulse.

“PLUR is the raver manifesto. People make fun of it, but they’ve always made fun of it. It’s real for those that live their lives that way.”

We never had a problem at Storm Rave. The whole speech that I made happened at a Back to Basics party. Back to Basics was the next set of promoters that came up after Storm Rave; they were throwing parties in the Bronx. They were outdoor parties, and a fight broke out. This was in like ‘93. It was a guy and a girl, and it was like the Tasmanian Devil spinning right up into where the DJ booth was in this park we were DJing at. We had the equipment on this IBM desk from like the 1960s. Those things were solid. So when they hit the desk, the record skipped, but nothing fell or anything. I was just so angry. I jumped up on this desk and grabbed the mic. There were three or four hundred people there, and it was in the park, so they knew who I was. So when I said, “If you don’t start showing some peace, love and unity, I’ll break your fucking faces,” it’s because we were friends. It’s not like I didn’t know these people. We’d never had a fight break out at one of our parties, and my feelings were hurt.The party went on until 10 in the morning, so everything was fine after that. I didn’t realize at the time that it was all going to become part of the history in such a way.Hyperreal was one of the first online rave chat groups on the internet. There was a girl, her name was Laura La Gassa, and she was one of the main people involved in it. They promoted the party where I made the PLUR speech. Now, I had a record called “PEACE, LOVE, UNITY (The STORMrave Story).” It came out in like May of ‘93. I had a box of those records at the party. This girl Laura, I don’t recall ever really meeting her, but I’m sure that she got that record that day.

She went into the whole thing on Hyperreal. If you look it up online, you’ll see the first kid gives his definition of PLUR. Nobody realized that it was originally the Peace Love Unity Movement, because we called it “PLUM” when we started in 1990. Then this Laura girl goes in and gives her definition of how [it became] PLUR—basically, the “M” got stripped out and the “R” got placed in there. The movement had already happened, so the “M” didn’t really matter anymore. The fight happened, and the “R” for “respect” became more important than the movement, because the movement needed respect.If you look at the label of the record that I made, “PEACE, LOVE, UNITY (The STORMrave Story),” the first word until the title of the song said “respect” to this group Genlog, whom I had sampled. So if this girl Laura did have anything to do with putting the “R” there, she had the record, and it said “respect” on there. I just want the full credit.California, especially with Insomniac, keeps the spirit of PLUR alive. Pasquale never stopped doing parties. It kept growing and growing, especially on the West Coast. California is why the American scene is as big as it is now.PLUR is the raver manifesto. People make fun of it, but they’ve always made fun of it. It’s real for those that live their lives that way.

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terato-inamorato · 7 years

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Splurb Catalogue of Dec 2017

(Note! Names are changeable once adopted.)

What are Splurbs?

Alpha

Name: Gloom (Box #4)

Gender: Genderfluid (He/Them) Clothing Type: Gothic (Specializes in Corsets, Belted Clothing, Leather) Color(s): Purple, Pink, Gold Personality: Conniving, Attention Seeking, Greedy, Timid, Hungry, Eerie Parent: First Generation (N/A) Weight: 10lbs

Bio:

- Likes horror movies. Especially zombie ones. We couldn't get him to calm down unless we let him watch more.

(Note: We found one of our interns watching horror movies in front of this one, we aren’t sure what effect this will have on him so be careful. The intern was promptly let go after this debacle.)

- Doesn't eat as much as he’s supposed to.

- Is too entranced with feasting on your lips. He’s a damn good kisser. It’s like he’s trying to eat them.

-Please feed him more.

-More info later

Includes: Mid-Form, Adult Form, Alpha Form, 3 Clothing Forms

Base Price: 45$

Minimum Increase per Bid: 5$

AutoBuy Bid: 65$

AutoBuy+: 75$ (Additional content: Clothing fitted on character, NSFW Content)

Omega

Name: Mint (Box #1)

Gender: Masculine (He/Him)

Clothing Type: Chic/Elegant (Specializes in Winter Outerwear) Color(s): Blue, White, Green Personality: Vain, Arrogant, Persistent, Affectionate, Secretly Soft Parent: First Generation (N/A) Weight: 8lbs

Bio:

- Believes that he knows best, even when he has no prior knowledge on the subject

- Loves dressing his owner in something fabulous and eye-catching, he has no problem being flashy in public

- A bit of a bungler/clumsy when it comes to showing affection in public, however, but he excels in warm, all-encompassing hugs and cuddling when no one’s watching the two of you

- It is recommended that anyone looking own Mint should be the type to lavish him, of which he is intensely in favor of: petting, massaging, praise, etc.

- More of a brat-submissive rather than a true submissive, he needs an owner that doesn’t mind taming him once in a while

Includes: Mid-Form, Adult Form, Alpha Form, 3 Clothing Forms

Base Price: 45$

Minimum Increase per Bid: 5$

AutoBuy Bid: 65$

AutoBuy+: 75$ (Additional content: Clothing fitted on character, NSFW Content)

Standards

Name: King (Box #2)

Gender: Masculine (He/Him) Type of Standard: TOP Clothing Type: Fantasy (Tightly fitted corsets, short dresses) Color(s): Green, Pink Personality: Clumsy, Obedient, Protective, Loyal, Thoughtful, Passionate, Patient, Ravenous Parent: Cerza Weight: 6lbs Bio:

- Weak Vision, needs consistent care and support

- Primarily will spend time latched to the host, and will only explore environment if owner says its ok

- Adores sunlight almost as much as he will adore host, will spend hours rolling under it

- Consumes more water than most with a higher digestion rate, will either slurp from owner for hours at a time or spend a long time under running water.

-Gentle and one of the most considerate lovers to his host.

Includes: Mid-Form, Adult Form, 2 Clothing Forms

Base Price: 25$

Minimum Increase per Bid: 5$

AutoBuy Bid: 45$

AutoBuy+ 55$: (Additional content: NSFW Content, Clothing fitted on character)

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Name: Vani (Box #6)

Gender: Genderfluid (Masculine and Feminine Pronouns) Type of Standard: BOTTOM Clothing Type: K-Pop Culture (Leggings, Ruffled Skirts, Shorts) Color(s): White, Teal, Pink, Blue) Personality: Coy, Materialistic, Teasing, Shyster, Attention-Seeking, Sensitive, Bully, Cries easily. Loves to climb into your clothes and roll in your body heat and bite your nipples for attention. Parent: First Generation (N/A) Weight: 4lbs Bio:

-Likes to bully others but is remarkably submissive towards those who implement their dominance.

-Needs regular punishments to stay good

-Gets spoiled easily

-Doesn’t like it when not surrounded by pretty things. Will try to surround themselves with such things.

-Weak to kisses and pets

Includes: Mid-Form, Adult Form, 2 Clothing Forms

Base Price: 30$

Minimum Increase per Bid: 5$

AutoBuy Bid: 50$

AutoBuy+ 65$: (Additional content: NSFW Content, Clothing fitted on character)

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Name: Halcyon (Box #8)

Gender: Feminine (She/Her)

Type of Standard: TOP Clothing Type: Sophisticated/Chic (Work Tops/Blouses/Shirts) Color(s): Black, Gold, White Personality: Poised, Sharp, Intense, Thorough, Possessive Parent: First Generation (N/A) Weight: 5 lbs

Bio:

- Terribly stubborn when it comes to arguments, tends to brow-beat you into submission if she believes she’s right

- Tends to embroil herself in extremes - for instance, if she’s done you wrong, you may find jewelry or dozens of bouquets to apologize

- Prides herself on knowing just about everything about you

- Loves to use that knowledge to blackmail you into compromising positions, public sex, etc.

- Recommended that those interested should have a healthy interest in BDSM, and being a “sub” to her “dom”

Includes: Mid-Form, Adult Form, 2 Clothing Forms

Base Price: $25

Minimum Increase per Bid: 5$

AutoBuy Bid: $45

AutoBuy+: $65 (Additional content: NSFW Content)

Accessories

Name: Jewel (Box #3)

Gender: Feminine, (She/Her)

Clothing Type: Boho/Bohemian (Gloves, Scarf) Color(s): Red, Gold, Green Personality: Mischievous, Scheming, Stubborn, Well-Meaning, Altruistic Parent: Plur Weight: 2.5lbs

Bio:

- If you’re currently not in a relationship, she might be a bit nosy and attempt to find a match for you, pointing out random people on the street and asking if they’re what you’re looking for.

- A secret fantasy of hers is being sandwiched between her owner and their partner, so if you’re already paired, be prepared for having her be between you two nearly all the time.

- Prefers warm, toasty snuggles and initiating feedings while you’re at your most vulnerable, such as in the bed or in the shower

- A good toy for her to enjoy is a kaleidoscope, she loves psychedelic patterns and colors

Includes: Mini Adult Form, 2 Clothing Forms

Base Price: 20$

Minimum Increase per Bid: 5$

AutoBuy Bid: 40$

AutoBuy+ 50$: (Additional content: NSFW Content, Clothing fitted on character)

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Name: Chestnut (Box #5)

Gender: Feminine (She/Her)

Clothing Type: Artsy/Punk (Earmuffs/Earrings) Color(s): White, Bronze, Gold Personality: Clingy, Shy, Cautious, Hard-Working, Helpful Parent: Plur Weight: 3lbs

Bio:

- A bit of a rock hound, loves to hoard stones or rocks like Tiger’s Eye or Moonstone, enjoys trying to imitate them

- Loves to nibble on earlobes or press little kisses to your jaw or cheek

- Favorite places to hang out are against your neck, your shoulder, or on top of your head

- Eventually forms a goopy, soft tail that she uses to hide in or curl around her, uses this adorable power to charm her owner into kisses

Includes: Mini Adult Form, 2 Clothing Forms

Base Price: 15$

Minimum Increase per Bid: 5$

AutoBuy Bid: 35$

AutoBuy+ 45$: (Additional content: NSFW Content, Clothing fitted on character )

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Name: Bloom (Box #7)

Gender: Genderbinary (They/Them) Clothing Type: Naturistic (Body Jewelry) Color(s): Green, Pink Personality: Free-spirited, Energetic, Happy-Go-Lucky, Emotionally connected, easily manipulated, bounces to the tune when you play music (don't play heavy metal). Parent: Cerza Weight: 2.4lbs Bio:

-Loves flowers, will mimic any you have nearby and sprout random ones in attempts to impress you or just out of surprise!

-Simple Splurb who doesn't have a care in the world other than just making you look good and loves the feeling of skin on its slime.

-Yanking its flower off will initiate ‘Dom Mode’ that initiates an entire personality change + Appearance Change

-BDSM Enthusiast

-Loves to hear your cries of pleasure. Your screams only turns them on more.

Includes: Mini Adult Form, 2 Clothing Forms

Base Price: 15$

Minimum Increase per Bid: 5$

AutoBuy Bid: 25$

AutoBuy+ Bid 35$: (Additional content: NSFW Content, Clothing fitted on character )

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Bidding information

-Place bids in the chat of this post/Reblogs

-Auction on each splurb will end within 24 hours of last bid.

-Posts to keep up with auctions involving each Splurb will be updated accordingly.

-Paypal only.

#selling #adoptables #adopts #splurb catalogue

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perfectirishgifts · 4 years

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How Tony Hsieh Built Zappos - In His Own Words

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/how-tony-hsieh-built-zappos-in-his-own-words/

How Tony Hsieh Built Zappos - In His Own Words

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 28: A tribute to tech entrepreneur Tony Hsieh is displayed on the … [] Fremont Street Experience attraction’s Viva Vision screen on November 28, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bryan Steffy/Getty Images)

Former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh tragically died last week at age 46 from smoke inhalation in a Connecticut house fire. While questions remain about his death, I chose to celebrate his life by reading his bestselling, surprisingly compelling manga-style comic book memoir from 2010. It’s called Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose with illustrator Rob Ten Pas.

Hsieh led a quintessentially American Dream life of success and eccentricity. Being in the right place at the right time during the Silicon Valley Internet boom, his strangeness translated to a sometimes cultlike customer-centric culture at Zappos. He describes the mistakes he made – and how he pivoted quickly.

Born to Taiwanese immigrant parents in Illinois, Tony Hsieh grew up in California’s wine country near Sonoma. Like Warren Buffett, he caught the entrepreneurial bug early. During elementary school, he tried out a worm farm business, paper route, and garage sales. In middle-school, Tony started a mail-order button business that brought in $200 per month. “I think the biggest lesson I learned,” he writes, “was that it was possible to run a successful business by mail order without any face-to-face interaction.”

It would be a powerful lesson – and one that in Silicon Valley and Big Tech has had profoundly mixed results.

A standout student, he got into Harvard, where he co-managed the Quincy House Grill with his friend Sanjay. They experimented with the menu, making more pizzas because they were more profitable. His best customer was Alfred Lin – who he later found out was bringing the pizza back to his house and selling slices to his roommates to earn an even higher margin. “We ended up hiring him as our CFO and COO at Zappos,” Hsieh explained.

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. After Harvard, he and Sanjay took jobs with Oracle back in the Bay Area during the height of Internet Mania. On weekends, they started experimenting with coding and built an early web ad platform called LinkExchange. They soon quit Oracle. Within months, a buyer offered them $1 million. They made a $2 million counteroffer that got turned down. Months later, Yahoo!’s Jerry Yang offered them $20 million – and they turned it down. Eventually Microsoft bought it for $265 million. Hsieh, bored with the company, turned down a bigger golden parachute to walk away early. “I had decided to stop chasing the money,” he said “and start chasing the passion.”

Hsieh and friends bought lofts next door in San Francisco, recreating the camaraderie of dorm culture. They started a small investment fund called Venture Frogs with Alfred Lin. One of their first pitches came from Nick Swinmurn: Shoesite.com, which became Zappos. Zappos – derived from zapatos – became the quintessential middleman, the “Amazon of shoes” selling other brands’ shoes with a focus on customer service. Venture Frogs loved Zappos but bigger VCs didn’t. So Venture Frogs – and Hsieh and Lin – went all-in on Zappos.

At this time, Hsieh started getting into rave culture and the acronym PLUR: Peace, Love, Unity and Respect. A woman told him: “Envision, create, and believe in your own universe.” Hsieh and Lin did just that with Zappos, putting in more of their own money to lead it through the dotcom bust, the ensuing recession, and 9/11.

Big mistake: “As an e-commerce company,” Hsieh wrote, “we should have considered warehousing to be our core competency from the very beginning.” Instead, Zappos outsourced their warehouse inventory to eLogistics, who did a poor job. Being unable to promptly fulfill orders nearly bankrupted Zappos – and Tony. “Outsourcing that to a third-party and trusting that they would care about our customers as much as we would was one of our biggest mistakes,” Hsieh recalled. “If we hadn’t reacted quickly, it would have destroyed Zappos.”

Sales rebounded, but they soon faced another big decision. “Our strategy of combining inventoried product with drop-shipped product continued to drive our sales growth,” he explained. Problem was, at least 5% of drop-shipped shoes never made it to the customer. They got refunds but mostly walked away unsatisfied. Hsieh faced a seeming paradox: If Zappos wanted to build their brand around customer satisfaction and become profitable, they needed to turn off their cash cow. “So we made what was both the easiest and hardest decision we ever had to make up to that point.”

Zappos soon got a line of credit from Wells Fargo. Their next challenge: If customer service was another core competency, they needed an extensive in-house call center. But they had trouble staffing those unglamorous jobs in the Bay Area. So in 2004, they moved Zappos headquarters to Las Vegas. In a tribute to the company culture, 70 out of 90 Zappos employees moved to Vegas with them. By 2008, they reached $1 billion in gross sales.

LAS VEGAS, NV JANUARY 14, 2017-At the entrance to Downtown Container Park in the area Hsieh helped … [] revitalize, a praying mantis structure by artist Kirk Jellum shoots fireballs. (Jason Ogulnik/For The Washington Post via Getty Images, 2017)

Secret sauce. Hsieh saw culture as synonymous with brand – people who enjoyed spending time together, making customers happy, and making decisions as a group, what Zappos calls Holacracy. Every employee, Hsieh said, would get trained as a call center rep to start, regardless of title – so customer service would be fundamental to their job. He said these investments – instead of advertising – drive brand and word of mouth better than any advertising campaign ever could. “Everything else,” he said, “can and eventually will be copied.”

“We put our phone number at the top of every page of our site,” Hsieh explained, “because we want to talk to our customers.” Why? Isn’t it cheaper to interact through email, texts, apps and bots like virtually every other company? “The telephone is one of the best branding devices out there,” Hsieh explained. “You have the customer’s undivided attention for 5-10 minutes, and if you get the interaction right, the customer remembers the experience for a long time and tells his or her friends about it.”

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt, founder of the Heterodox Academy for viewpoint diversity and against political correctness, describes the same values that animated Hsieh also went on to define Zappos: “open and honest, passionate and humble, fun and a little weird.”

Amazon bought Zappos for $1.2 billion in 2009, but Hsieh stayed on until this past summer. Despite being worth a reported $840 million, he mostly lived in an Airstrem trailer in a Burning Man-inspired downtown Las Vegas trailer park he owned and called Llamapolis, with a pet alpaca. The trailer park lay at the center of an area he helped revitalize with $350 million and re-define through his philanthropy – a fitting memorial to this great, strange man.