#that's not what this VC group is doing so... not a chance lol

[random2908]

Frustrating when a VC-funded company gets credit for being the "first" and the "leader," when they had a sub-component demo the same week we had a full-system demo. Like, we are easily 5-10 years ahead of them, it's ridiculous; their approach isn't even yet proven to work. But they get science youtubers talking about them.

Because they're VC-funded, they have a marketing/press department.

And because we're an employee-owned company working off of government contracts, well, most government contracts get slapped with an ITAR label (an old Cold-War-era law saying basically sharing scientific information counts as illegally selling arms/munitions). So if you want to publicize your work, including your company's products, you have to appeal that label. (Universities have specifically negotiated a blanket exemption, so if you spend your whole life in academic science you might never even know about this.)

(My previous employer filed those appeals several times a year in order to do press releases and publish journal articles and apply for patents. I think every single information-release appeal they filed went through, because there's no reason any of this stuff should be labeled as arms--it's literally the same stuff universities are doing. My current employer is afraid to, which I think is wrong-headed; at worst they'll just say no, and anyway, our non-restricted competitors are giving fucking lab tours to youtubers.)

[talesfromatabletop]

Session 1: Trouble on the Triboar Trail, Pt1

SPOILERS FOR LOST MINES OF PHANDELVER!

To explain briefly, our DM likes to do recaps...or rather, he has us roll at the start of each session to determine which one of us will recap last session. This is to (obviously) help us all remember what happened last week and give a chance for us to possibly flavor things up a bit by how we choose to describe things. Successfully giving a recap gives you a DM Inspiration point that you can just save until you use it. :D

Moving on - we picked back up at the inn we crashed at in Neverwinter, the morning after agreeing to help Gundren Rockseeker move his equipment to Phandalin. Agrok and Lionel were first up, with Agrok shoveling down three portions of breakfast while Lionel played a bit of violin outside for extra coin. Even cooler, his musician player actually busted out his own violin and played us a sample over vc! He got 5 silver and a brief round of OOC applause from us.

Itheindar even came down to enjoy the music while Clive, the delightful little Cleric nerd he is, had to prep his spells for the day.

Gundren left in the morning, saying he had some things to prepare and that he'd leave before we did (which would be in the afternoon). Agrok saw him and Sildar off, seemingly interested in and possibly having a more important connection to Sildar than basically any of us had bothered to put in our backstories, lol.

Being a good boy, Tetholt sent a letter home to the missus before joining up with the group to start their journey down the Triboar Trail!

We...didn't really have any idea what to do in town, as you can see. Mostly we just wanted to get started and hadn't gotten the hang of confidently being the person to start speaking.

It wasn't altogether all that long before the DM pulled up our first map of the day - a stretch of the road with some horses laying down.

"Can I see if they're alive?" Agrok got the go ahead to check them from the DM, not quite sure one way or the other (yay failed checks!)...at least until Itheindar pointed out they were /very visibly/ filled with arrows.

With Itheindar's warning for us all to be careful, everyone rolled perception but Lionel was apparently too interested in our own horses to really pay attention to the gobbos that Clive spotted hiding amidst the tree, armed with daggers and bows and ready to make us look like the pincushion horses. Sweet baby cleric even cast Shield of Faith on Agrok because he was in front of the wagon by a good several feet and likely the biggest target on the field.

So started our first combat, with firebolts and arrows flying while Agrok cleaved anything in range with his weapon - including hitting a goblin's head off like a golf ball!

Fore!

This was all during a surprise round essentially, and Lionel was able to cast sleep on the last goblin standing so we could figure out how to deal with the little bastard. Itheindar mentioned he could speak goblin, so we used Lionel's Immovable Rod to pin him to the ground for interrogation.

About that time was when Agrok recognized the horses as the same ones he saw Sildar and Gundren ride out of Neverwinter. The saddlebags were looted and it was obvious that a fight had gone down, though we didn't know where our employers were.

Itheindar tried to persuade the goblin to talk - no dice.

Agrok and Tetholt tried to intimidate him - nada. Clearly it's because Itheindar's dialect of goblin was too posh and polite. Clearly.

Thankfully Lionel remembered he had Charm Person and used it to force the goblin to spill the beans. The lil' guy mentioned there was a hideout with around 20 more of his friends nearby and - after prompting from Agrok - that they worked for King Grol who had ordered them to wait at the trail and attack a dwarf...whiiiich we quickly realize was a trap set for Gundren. He also told us that Sildar is in the nearby hideout in the "eating cave" and that there's a Bugbear named Klarg with the goblins. Sadly, he had no idea where Grol is.

The whole party discussed how to best get involved. Some idea highlights include:

Setting a fire trap

Setting an explosive flour trap

Setting Agrok on fire and sending him in while raging

Ultimately we decided to head in together and moved a cart we found full of goods so that it could stay hidden, while Tetholt tied the goblin up to a tree branch so he couldn't run off and warn his friends we were coming.

We all followed the goblin's directions to the hideout until we reached a cave entrance. Agrok was (and still is) the only party member without Darkvision and ended up holding Lionel's hand so he could maneuver in the dark safely. Awwww!

We followed a narrow path next to flowing water and heard snarls and rattling chains nearby, eventually leading us to spotting a few chained up wolves. They looked hungry and malnourished but couldn't attack us unless we moved closer, so we let them be.

Lionel ended up spotting the first enemy on a suspension bridge over the water. Unfortunately, the enemy spotted us back after Clive and his clunky armor failed a stealth check. Whoops.

With an Yzma moment - "Throw the lever!" - we were nearly washed away when said lever turns out to set off a water trap. Only Clive was taken out, thankfully, but now our only healer was too far to help until next round. D:

Chaos ensued as we kicked off battle, splitting up and sniping as our skills let us (a lil' firebolt here, some vicious mockery there, some bolts and arrows to the head for a lucky few) while Agrok checked another tunnel.

Despite some poor aim occasionally making the first combat seem like we were going to get our asses kicked, there were actually some great one-hit kills from Agrok, Clive and Itheindar. DM took a couple seconds to describe cool ways we annihilated goblins - "You see your crossbow bolt bury itself straight into the goblin's eye moments before it slumps forward and plummets from the suspension bridge into the stream below, dead!" - or allowing us to do so ourselves - "So, how do you want to describe this kill?" - and Lionel was coming up with some great insults for his vicious mockeries.

10/10 would cave fight again!

There he found Sildar being held by a figure hidden by the darkness who warned him that if he got closer, Sildar would go down a short cliff. Sildar called the bluff but A BLUFF IT WAS NOT. Enraged at seeing Sildar presumably killed, Agrok fought and beheaded the damn goblin.

"PAYBACK'S A BITCH!"

Thankfully we were able to stabilize Sildar and quickly retreated to lick our wounds and have a long rest. We needed one if we were going to go back in and finish clearing the place...besides, we could send Sildar ahead to safety once he'd rested up some.

We wrapped up Session 1 there, bloodied and battered, but already hype to find Gundren and deal with the goblins that attacked Sildar.

[fmdhaseo]

ヽ(〃＾▽＾〃)ﾉ  wOoOoOoOow i’m so excited to be here finally!! typically i’m a pretty ~ minimalistic ~ person when it comes to formatting ‘n stuff, but i’ma go a little ham on this introduction because i’m really excited!! ANYWHO, my name’s cheyenne ( but please call me chey ) and i represent the drastically under-appreciated mst. i use he/him pronouns, and for anyone who’s curious, i’m 21+!! i’ve been eying this group for awhile now, but hadn’t joined because of school and work reasons, but my town’s in lockdown, so i finally have a bunch of new time on my hands to write!! now that that’s outta the way though, please love me and my first ever muse here!! her name is jeon haseo and she’s lucid’s main vocalist and lead dancer. in my head, she sounds a bit like wjsn’s yeonjung, gfriend’s yuju, and dreamcatcher’s siyeon when she sings, and when she dances, she reminds lots of people of twice’s mina and her gorgeous face-claim, wjsn’s bona!! she’s a former prima ballerina at a dance company in korea that she was pushed out of due to accusations of favoritism, and even though the board at the school were adamant against said accusations, it was lowkey kinda true lol. her dad is a former dancer that’s received tons of acclaim in the dance world, and it’s said that his name is what landed her all her opportunities in ballet —- whoops!! she doesn’t really know that though, but before i carry on too much, you can read more of my ramblings about her below the cut!! [ youtuber vc ] don’t forget to smash that like button if you wanna plot with us!!

i.  —-  haseo was born in seoul, south korea to a dancer and plastic surgeon, so they had a lot of money to sit on while they raised their daughter. she was brought up in prestigious dance rehearsal spaces, as well as in top-of-the-line hospitals, but instead of wanting to follow in her mother’s footsteps, she decided it’d be more fun to dance like her dad!! she showed promise when she was little, so they nurtured her talents as best they could.

ii.  —-  her childhood really wasn’t all that bad, to be honest, like, she never struggled with making friends, she got everything she wanted, her parents were supportive... what more could she have really asked for, you know? she got along with everyone due to her many interests —- from ballet, to video games, to barbies, to monster trucks —- but that all sorta changed whenever she entered high school. being that she attended a school for the arts danced with a company in their junior program, and had a reputable father, a lot of people started to be really catty with her. she learned how ugly the world could be at a pretty small age, and it’s deffff affected how she sees the world and deals with her problems.

iii.  —-  fast forward to high school graduation, haseo gets offered a spot in a professional company to dance ballet almost immediately. a little sketchy? perhaps, but what’s even sketchier is that she was offered the leading role in her first ever show. vile words spread throughout the whole school and due to the accusations of favoritism, the company decided to terminate her contract rip. she became big sad and almost didn’t dance again until [ spoiler alert ] she was given a chance to audition for dimensions entertainment!!

iv.  —-  she didn’t really wanna become an idol, but she did it anyway because she wanted to dance for a career. she really didn’t even need to have a career with how much money her parents made, but it was important to her to be financially independent, so she decided to stick with it to see if it’d work. long story short, she discovered that she’s a FAB singer, and her long history of dance def helped her standout from the crowd. she trained for two years before her debut, and like, when she was announced to be main vocalist, she literally almost died i think lmao. like, the fact that she was granted main vocal but not main dancer really shook her ass up, but she accepted her fate and tried her best.

v.  —-  the concept changes were a whirlwind, but she likes the more soft vibes that the schoolgirl trilogy gave her. she also thinks it makes better use of her dance skills, but she isn’t really the one in control here now is she? ANYWAY —- her career is blossoming a lot and she’s really excited, but at the same time, she despises that she’s a person of public scrutiny now. she never wanted that to happen at the level that it has, but she puts up with it because she feels she already made her bed, so now she’s gotta lie in it. not to mention that she has some of her old peers from dance starting an online hate group to hate on her, so you know... this isn’t exactly what she had in mind for her life, but she just takes it in stride and hopes that, someday, it’ll make for good stories to tell her grandkids lol.

vi.  —-  i realize that i haven’t really given a description of her personality or her as a person yet, and well, that sucks, so i’ma do it right here, right now!! how would i describe haseo? let’s see —- she’s kinda, like, prissy but it’s definitely more outwardly adorable than it is obnoxious, if that makes sense? she HATES getting dirt on her clothes, she hates having crud under her nails, and she hates when other people lack personal hygiene skills, but she was taught well and doesn’t really voice her harsh judgments unless she’s provoked lol. it also appears to me that she has tons of patience naturally, but is also kind of a hot-head if you actually manage to piss her off, so good luck to your muses if that happens!! she also HATES being woken up from sleep, like, she’ll literally kill you if you do. she’s more than likely gotten into tons of fights with other lucid girls because of it —- whoops!! she’s also SUPER femme, to be honest? she takes way too long to get ready before leaving the house, and almost refuses to leave looking a mess. her hair is always immaculate, her makeup is BEAT, and her clothes are gorgeous, and all paid for with daddy’s card lmao. other than all that though, she doesn’t really fit the “rich girl” stereotype in that she doesn’t act like a snob to just anyone, yk? she’s really open to meeting new people, and she’s a fiercely loyal friend to people she loves, as well as a HOPELESS ROMANTIC [ she’s a taurus, after all ] with her bfs/gfs. she’s also MAD cuddly with anyone, like, she doesn’t give a fuck, she communicates v well with physicality and touch!! if you got any questions ab her, don’t hesitate to lmk!!

[hedonest]

hey folks! i already introduced myself in the ooc blog but * ok go vc * here it goes again. i’m velouria (she/her, 26, est) and i’m supposed to be in school but lol, the world was like this was a bad year to get your shit together girl, try again later. anyways, here’s my first babe hector and the only thing you need to know is that he’s horrible. he’s a horrible, horrible, horny person and i hate him and you should hate him too. but here’s some more details:

content warnings: homelessness, crime, drugs, general bastardness

born in tulsa, oklahoma on november 13th, 1997, hector, surprisingly, came from the most normal suburban beginnings you could imagine. he had two parents, an older sister, dog, cat, and a hamster. he was a rather normal child, though he had a wild independent streak that only got worse as he aged. didn’t play very well with others and would only play simon says if he got to be simon, but was friendly and jovial with those he liked, or wanted something from.

stubborn as a mule, hector was fiercely independent and increasingly selfish. by the time middle school came around, hector created a hierarchy within his group of friends and became a bully around his school, though was more pushy than outright cruel. a very rowdy teen, hector never took anything very seriously and didn’t form attachments in a healthy sort of way, something that’s only worse instead of better now.

while he liked his family well enough, he never felt a strong bond with them. they loved him very much and would try to foster a healthy, loving relationship with him, he was like #nah and spent most of his time out of the house, never telling them what he was doing and where he was going. his father and sister gave up on him, but his mother still held out hope that it was just an incredibly long phase.

barely showing up to school even when it was mandatory, hector’s primary focus was on having a good time. that meant sex, drugs, and copious amounts of partying. scaring little old ladies, taking cars on joyrides. a petty criminal by the age of fifteen, hector has only been in trouble with the law a few times, spending a few weeks in county jail over the weeks but the charges have never stuck. (once he’s out, he’s off to some place new, but it’s only a matter of time before the law finally catches up to him and he’s inside for good.)

his parents didn’t have a chance to kick him out or send him to military school because he straight up bounced by the time he was seventeen. he left one day to a friend’s house and just didn’t come back; he went to a party in oklahoma city, and then just... never thought about going home. hector didn’t stay around okc for very long after that, drifting all over the southwestern states.

out on his own, or rather couch surfing with like-minded individuals, hector got to experience the highest points of pleasure and pain. a full blown hedonist, the only thing that mattered (and matters) to hector was fucking, fighting, stealing, and getting high. basically if you’ve ever seen the movies hellraiser or the doom generation, he’s a mix of frank cotton and xavier red.

though he’s moved around a lot since leaving home, usually staying in a city for three months or so before he’s moving on again, he’s made a bit of a home out of reno, nevada, frequently traveling between reno and las vegas. often just up and leaves without a word, then returns two weeks later as if nothing happened like a neighborhood cat. has spent the last five years or so grifting and lying his way into the hearts and homes of lonely old ladies (and men). infects your house with his presence, gets you to take care of him, and then bounces one night with most of ur silver and jewelry in his backpack.

though he’s not part of any sort of gang, he does revolve in organized crime circles, and mostly makes actual money by boosting cars for the mob in vegas. though he sometimes does ‘freelance’ work for organized crime syndicates and gangs, he’d never join one. hector vc: why have someone tell you what to steal when you can just do it? :)

which all brings him to charming, california. basically run out of town on a rail, he had to leave reno because he heard there was a warrant out for his arrest and lbr he’s pissed off way too many people in nevada. has only been in charming for three days (so far in canon), staying in the highway motel by way of a stolen credit card, but i’ll be putting out a wc for his benefactor; someone he’s conned into letting him stay in their house, putting on the sweet street kid act. don’t believe the act, but also please do.

the biggest thing to know abt hector is that he’s a horny dude. he’s literally always thinking about sex and the second he meets you, he’s thinking about fucking you, no matter how old you are (as long as it’s legal because gross and i would never rp that), if you’re in a relationship/married, or what gender you are. you could be totally into his schtick or think he’s disgusting, it don’t matter. will hit on you, because he knows no other way to interact with people.

tells you what you want to hear. lies as much as he breathes. honestly he’s barely aware of the lies he tells and can’t keep them straight. most of his stories sound like bullshit but a lot of them are true.

big drugs fan. loves him some k! who’s got the weed! shows up to random parties just to finagle his way into getting drugs for free, while also stealing a bunch of meaningless random shit. the one thing you can’t replace - john mulaney.mkv

y’all get it by now. he’s gross, he sucks, but gosh darn he’s got a cute lil face!

wanted stuffs:

i mentioned that i’m going to send a wanted connection to the main for hector’s new benefactor (though if your muse is a lonely older person, man or woman, that’s gullible then let me know!!) but here’s some plots stuff we can do

sexual partners: basically hector wants to bang everyone. if you’re up for it, he will fuck you at pretty much any time, but just know that he’s also fucking like five other people and has never been monogamous in his entire damn life.

a girlfriend: okay so i just said he’s never been monogamous but sometimes hector likes to pretend. or rather, he will start using her to get something, likely companionship when he’s bored or access to money/drugs/alcohol, whatever. a place to sleep at night. just something! she’ll probably think they’re more serious than they actually are but hector does actually like her as a person, or she’s trying to get him to be more serious/grow up. this one will occur over time bc he’s new!

enemies: hector is a hard person to like and an easy person to hate. he has very little regard for others and enjoys physical fighting bc it feels good. they can hate him because he screwed them over, cheated on them, cheated on their friend/sibling/whatever, stole something from them, or they just don’t like his smug face.

friends: if your muse likes to party, hector is your man. he basically just lives to have fun. however, his version of fun is kind of scary and dangerous at times. he can be a bad influence on your muse and get them into trouble or they can be a good influence on him.

a close friend/confidant: hector isn’t an emotional person but occasionally he does have moments of vulnerability. when this happens, your muse is the person he comes to when he needs someone to be there for him or needs someone to talk to. your muse could be doing this reluctantly or in hopes that he’ll be there in the same way for your muse, which isn’t very likely but hector will like to pretend lol.

or any connection we can think up!! message me on here or discord (wanda’s loving boy#1003) if you wanna plot!

[ofhvney]

y’all... this shit is a mess. welcome to the thunderdome ! i’m emily, i’m 21, from the est timezone, and i use she / her pronouns. i legit wrote my app today skdlgdsg so i’m still figuring my boy out, but i’m so excited to be here ! enjoy !

name: ulysses “honey” kennedy.

skeleton: the black hole. 

faceclaim: alex fitzalan.

gender & pronouns: cismale, he/him.

age: twenty-two.

major: criminal justice. he likes the irony.

clubs: he’s not much of a joiner.

living arrangement: apt 004 w/ jonah rivera.

employment: unemployed.

BACKGROUND !

welcome to my garbage son. he doesn’t like u, but i do !

he’s from detroit but... u and ur mom don’t know him. homeboy grew up in a nightmare of a home with a nightmare of a father, so he didn’t get out much.

and we’re off to a great start, kids !

the one bright spot in his life was his mom. she was always kind and caring, offering him sweet words and soft touches where his father gave him nothing but harsh reprimands and scars. she was the one that originally gave him the nickname honey ! it’s the only thing he goes by – most people probs don’t even know his name is ulysses ( which, lol, he wants to keep it that way. what a mouthful. goddamn ).

like tbh a lot of his childhood was just... messy. he was afraid a lot. it was no bueno.

so, uh, daddy issues is the understatement of the century. 

to make things worse, his mom died at the end of his senior year of high school. not long after, honey noped the fuck out of his father’s house, telling the old man deuces and fucking right off to st etienne.

as with most things in his life, honey’s time at st etienne has been a rocky one.

he’s just... such an instigator lmao like he tells himself be chill ! just go to class ! but he can’t help himself from making snarky remarks and goading people on. it’s a sickness.

skulks about a lot ?? usually causing trouble in one way or another, probably mouthing off to a professor before he goes and day drinks on the quad. 

honey vc #fuckthepolice

honey, ur a little bitch ass white boy. shut up.

PERSONALITY & ETC !

a rude ass bitch. he can def be pretty cruel – he’s got a smart mouth that’s really good at starting fights, but not always best at finishing them. he’s scrappy tho and he’s usually got a knife on him so... watch out.

straight up decked his group leader during orientation freshman year bc he didn’t want to talk about himself during icebreakers lmao.

drives a harley night rod, because of course he does.

drink of choice is an irish car bomb, because of course it is.

chain smokes like his life depends on it.

literally covered in tattoos and scars. name a body part, he’ll name you the tattoo and / or scar.

thinks he’s hot shit. the endless arrogance is definitely 100% a coping mechanism of some kind, but he pushes people down and out before they have any chance to get close enough to figure that out. 

cutting people off is an art form, and honey might as well be michelangelo ! 

in conclusion plot with me xoxo

[the-mad-old-queen]

GETTING  TO  KNOW  THE  MUN:

NAME : Raylene

NICKNAME :   Simi

FACECLAIM :  I don’t do pics of myself, did you mean for Allie? Annika von Holdt

HEIGHT :  5′3″

BIRTHDAY :  24th of March

AESTHETIC : I really suck at this sort of things. I guess... fall? Warm sweaters and hot cups of cider or tea in front of the fire?

LAST  SONG  YOU  LISTENED  TO :  Mer enn god nok - Stina Talling

FAVOURITE  MUSE (S)  YOU’VE  WRITTEN : Severus Snape, Armand, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanov

GETTING  TO  KNOW  THE  ACCOUNT :

WHAT  INSPIRED  YOU  TO  TAKE  ON  THIS MUSE: Honestly? A distinct lack of strong female characters on Tumblr, or in the VC verse in general. Also, she’s obscure. I love the obscure ones.

WHAT  ARE  YOUR  FAVOURITE  ASPECTS  OF  YOUR  CURRENT  MUSE: The fact that she is rather obscure. I love being able to learn about a character that has very little in the way of history as per the books. I get to create a lot more with these obscure characters than someone who is well established in the writing, such as Armand.

WHAT’S  YOUR  BIGGEST  INSPIRATION  WHEN  IT  COMES  TO WRITING: Honestly, for Allesandra, it’s the storyline. I created her, not just because she was obscure, but because I wanted a chance to write with a select group of people on Tumblr, and this was a character that they needed. I’m glad I picked her up, she’s been fun to write.

FAVOURITE  TYPES  OF  THREADS:  The emotionally charged ones. I like the unexpected, which turned out to work in my favor in the most recent threads with Allesandra. ;)

BIGGEST  STRUGGLE  IN  REGARDS  TO  YOUR CURRENT  MUSE: The fact that she is so unknown makes it a little difficult sometimes to find her voice. I’m also TERRIBLE usually at writing female characters. Most of those that I write are male.

Tagged by: @everarddelanden

Tagging: Anyone who hasn’t been tagged? I dunno. lol If you feel interested.

[apocvlypsed]

( snoop dogg vc ) greetings loved ones, let’s take a journey! 

it’s linc comin’ atchu with my third, the one & only, the precious, the marshmellow cute fellow, casey bouchard !  below you shall find a brief backstory, an array of headcanons, & some general suggestions for all ur plotting needs .

tyler young — oh, have you met casey bouchard? he is a nineteen year old cis male that is feeling apprehensive about the planet’s imminent doom. a film student, this virgo is known around town as the raconteur, because he is introspective & altruistic, as well as escapist & frangible. hopefully, case will survive.

overview/backstory blurb thing :

he’s the son of hawley’s mayor, it’s casual?? he’s v supportive of both his mothers, but like... also really doesn’t enjoy small town living? he’s a city boi so... having his mother literally up and move them to this middle-of-nowhere place in pennsylvania for love... he supported it out of necessity but? would much rather be back in nyc with his boyz?

ya boy’s originally from brooklyn, nyc born and raised! his father was kinda... never in the picture? ( translation: as soon as raising an infant got difficult, he peaced tf out and refuses to pay child support. mainly bc like... he disappeared. yup. nice guy. )  anyway! in response to this, his mother joined an online support group for single mothers -- just a chatroom where they could all kind of talk and relate to one another about the aches & pains of raising children on their own? well. on this forum, sharon friedman happened to receive a direct message from anna bouchard, and so it all began...

after years of talking with anna on the phone and over skype, casey was finally like, “ma, you gotta just meet her.” so when he was 15, he practically forced his mom to rent a car and they made a road trip out to hawley, pa to meet this woman that had so clearly captured his mother’s heart. he was like: yes ok, good !!  good! because casey believes in love and fate and red strings. what he wasn’t really counting on was... staying... in hawley... sharon couldn’t bring herself to leave hawley after their visit. casey couldn’t bring himself to deny his mother a chance at love and happiness after being so alone. who was he to say no to that? so he wasn’t the asshole he could have been -- he could have thrown a fit about their home, his school, his bae, his life back in nyc. but instead, he suggested that they move there, filled out the transfer papers for hawley high himself. and so he entered a new world as a sophomore, completely and utterly overwhelmed by the newfound quiet, slowness. he dealt. joined the photography club, became chief photographer and editor for the yearbook. to everyone else, he was thriving. and like... yes ok, maybe he was, but there was this part of him that still... longed for new york. the place that held his heart.

in his junior year of high school, anna announced her campaign for mayor !!  so naturally, casey was RIGHT THERE supporting the love of his mother’s life. printing flyers, handing out cute buttons and cupcakes at school. bc he loves his mother and his mother loves anna, so it just... made sense. but he... at this point he really missed the city; he was looking at nyu and columbia as options for post-secondary school. that is, until anna won the election and moved on from board of education to freakin’ mayor !

but what no one told him was how being the mayor’s son would affect him. when anna and his mother married, he kindly chose to keep his mother’s surname, friedman. but with a mayor in the family? it would seem suspicious to have a child with a mismatched surname. anna’s pr people basically coerced him into taking on her surname, bouchard. and y’know, it was the right thing to do. but it felt a lot like a sell-out.

being the mayor’s son also meant being in photos instead of taking them. which was..... not his forte? still isn’t. he’ll go through it for his mom, but casey thrives behind the scenes. he enjoys letting other people shine, paying witness to that.

he’s a film student now! studying in hawley because.... he couldn’t bring himself to abandon his mother, or to even approach her with pamphlets of city schools. she was so happy here, and he knew that giving her a reason to think he wasn’t... it would make her feel guilty. so ( another sell-out! ) he agreed to go to community college here. in his free time, he makes short films much like what mikey murphy makes on youtube . they’re never longer than 10 minutes -- they don’t have to be. they’re poignant. true. he’s got a way with the camera, a way with voiceovers and words and angles. all the fluff and frills aren’t necessary.

alright so... here’s the kicker. casey is a truthful person. he wears his heart on his sleeve. but lately he’s been made aware of some... i n f o r m a t i o n ... that could ruin the entire town and their relationship to their mayor, and his family. here’s the rundown:

he’s not a snoop. nope. but being the son of the mayor’s wife the mayor’s son involves helping out every so often. fielding, phone calls, organizing files, pr meetings... deleting emails.

so he stumbled upon an email thread detailing arrangements and transfers of large funds. for a bunker. for food. blankets. supplies. underground. using taxpayer money.

in a panic, he forwarded the emails to his personal email before deleting them off of anna’s computer.

why did he save them? why... why does he need them? because... they’re safe with him? or maybe they’re collateral? not that he.... he doesn’t need collateral, right? because the bunker helps him. ensures his survival, too. but here he is... carrying around this lethal information, not knowing what to do about it. wanting to tell those he’s close to, but he can’t because his mother loves anna and if he hurts anna, he hurts her, and himself. it’s... a predicament.

an array of headcanons! :

raisinets are casey’s weakness. if you wanna win him over, grab him a box. he will fall in love.

demisexual as fuck !!!  not the hookup type, but... let’s just say, it has happened before. takes a lot of alcohol. but he’s been there.

he adores old films. he SPRINTS to the little local theater when they have special features of anything vintage and cheesy. or even films like “back to the future” or “breakfast at tiffany’s”. he buys like 12 boxes of candy every time because he’s hella indecisive, swears he’ll decide when he sits down and then just... makes no decision and eats all of them. he unironically replaces his soda straw with a twizzler because.... it just Makes Sense, ok?

he’s got this wide-eyed attitude about the world. no way, you found half-priced avocados at rite aid? just... genuinely in this world because he adores it. the little things give him this breathless sense of joy. “i found a penny in the parking lot today!” he’ll chirp with pride to a room full of other film students that don’t give a shit. because... the unexpected tiny treasures are what make hawley worth staying. if he didn’t have those, he would have run back to nyc years ago.

casey wants so badly to believe there’s something greater about life. that it’s not some fragile wilting leaf to be tossed to the wind. he wants to fight for something and his way of doing that is easy smiles and a soft gaze.

he smells like cinnamon spice, vanilla, with subtle hints of amber, musk, and cedar. just like... how you might imagine a cool autumn day, with a gentle breeze. that’s really his disposition, too. that soft gust of wind that caresses your skin, ruffles your hair, makes you close your eyes and breathe in deeper.

he has a brooklyn accent and idk that’s just really important to me.

“one day” by kodaline is a Mood.

his personality/presence is a lot like “my favourite story” by jack in water? just... so lovely and quiet and soft.

he listens to vinyl bc his moms got him a player for hanukkah one year (lol they’re kinda in a great financial situation now that anna’s providing). so he’ll just lie down and stare at the ceiling and listen to the temptations and the beatles and belle & sebastien, lightly tapping his toes together, circling his feet. the simple things.

he gets quiet when he gets angry. as in, if you yell at him, he will lower his voice to a whisper so you have no choice but to lower yours and listen. he learned that from his mother and the countless arguments she got in with their landlord in brooklyn. it’s kind of a power move.

really allergic to cats and dogs! he gets the sniffles! but does he still always say hi and seek them out?? yes!!

he kind of... he kind of wants to make a film to put in the time capsule. he’s working on it, slowly. a film of hawley. of life before the asteroid. he’s absolutely the type to break out his camera or phone and film his friends without asking. highly sentimental. all the zooms, all the laughs and smiles and eye rolls before they inevitably cover the lens with their hands. he finds beauty in everything. or, rather, everything has the capacity to be beautiful, with some investment in time/angles. he films all those tiny moments, those pointless little dinner dates or hikes in the woods because... if he films his friends, if he films these moments... then they’ll never really die. they’ll exist on an sd card, or icloud, or... somewhere. and then his friends won’t die. his family won’t die. they’ll be there, immortalized on film. so film is... his craft. his passion. but also his way of avoiding the future, evading the bleak limitations of human existence. it’s his way of grappling with the asteroid, denying that big rock any of its power. because casey... he’s got a camera and he’s got time, and no boulder careening toward the planet can rip that away from him. ( it’s flawed logic. he knows. but it’s something. )

connection ideas :

step-brother/sister: they’re anna (the mayor)’s biological child. and i will probably send a wc in for this eventually, but basically they’re the second half of the reason why anna and sharon even met. i imagine things are kinda... interesting... between them and casey? being thrust into a new family, and now a family in the limelight... it’s complicated. they’re probably like, 20-24, a bit older.

friends: people from high school, people from college, etc. casey loves them dearly.

art squad: alright he... just really needs people to cry over great films with, honestly.

love interest: uhm he is so gentle and just... think about the gentle hand touches and linking of pinkies as they stand in the snack line at the theater and just... making fools of themselves ice skating & doing dumb shit? pls?

someone he wrongfully trusted:  aight... this is some angst, y’all. someone who literally crushed him, or... spread a rumor, or something. just completely violated his trust. because casey does not know how to deal with that shit. he’s the type to smile sadly and talk to them, ignoring how his eyes are misting over a bit. “hey, how are you? oh yeah, i’m... good. good, really. you mentioned a while ago you were gonna be doing ___, how’s that?” and he’ll... keep himself in that conversation for as long as they’ll talk. because like... if he angles his perspective just right, he can almost blur out the tension and pretend it’s back to how things used to be.

brotp: okay i need it. taking polaroids and penning dates on them, getting giggly drunk on champagne and watching cheesy rom-coms. just... being dorks. pls & thanks

pictures of you: hear me out. someone who’s been in the background of his life. appears in photos for the hs yearbook, maybe shows up in his films he shoots around town. they’ve never really spoken but casey wants to. it’s just... the whole... introductions thing. “hey, you’re in a lot of my art! accidentally! what’s up?” doesn’t really fly.

people from nyc: idk if your muse was ever in nyc for an extended period of time let’s just.. let’s discuss ;)

neighbor(s): so since the bouchards are quite well off, casey’s got his own ~ luxury apartment ~ to himself, oo la la. but i imagine it’s part of a larger apartment complex, etc.

grocery store buds: “hello, how are you, wanna try to find ripe avocados with me?” becomes a saturday routine. they wait for their deli meat together too. so cute. #truelove. ya never know.

exes: i imagine casey wouldn’t have many of these, since he does have this really romanticized idea of love and carries with him high, virgo standards. but... these would’ve been special connections. and he probably mourns them a lot.

literally anything ever i love plots and we know this