caseydundrich

[caseydundrich]

“Oh, I write high fantasy novels. I’m currently working on a series centered around two brothers who have a magical gem that transports them from the real world to distance fantasy realms. Kinda like Magic Tree House meets Dragon Tales,” he explains. “The target audience is eight to ten year olds but anyone can read them,” he insists as he mindlessly taps on the notebook he’s still got open to his doodles he’d been working on. “I’m only two books in but I’ve got a publisher that’s working with me for the first five,” he adds. He could see the story lasting a lot longer than five novels even though he was presently struggling to write the third.

“They’re called the Gilfarian Gem Chronicles,” he explained before he had the bright idea to check his bag for one of his business cards. He’d printed a bunch when he was running a booth at the ren fair and had chucked a few in his bag. He grabbed his backpack off the floor and began rummaging through its pockets for a card. “I think they have a few copies at Oceania or they did last time I checked,” he explained. His book hadn’t made it into any major retailers yet but a few independent bookstores he’s reached out to carry his novels. Eventually he finds one of the business cards he was looking for and slides it over to them.

“You can find everything on my website,” he explains. “You can also get it for Kindle,” he adds. That was where a lot of his readers came from in all honesty.

@tricianorth

'Sick,' Tricia says, suddenly lit up. 'Really?' She can't really help the fascination here. In another world, a far off one, her daydreams would become reality and she'd learn to sit at a computer and write. Pinpoint all her ideas and charge at a word document, arsenal raised.

In the current world, the one the real Tricia North inhabits, she can't quite sit quietly long enough. There's a guilty rattling thing that sits on her chest and won't let her spend any amount of time not up and actively moving around. Even planning for her class would be tough if not for the fact that lesson planning is a promise of actively moving around later on (vis-à-vis the rush of any school day).

'What kind of stuff do you write? I spend a lot of time in the children's section in the bookstore, so you might have a future reader here.'

[caseydundrich]

“I could eat anywhere,” Casey says though that doesn’t really help decide on a place. “I’m sure you don’t want to go to the pub,” he adds. He’s never worked in a restaurant before but he was sure like any job going to your work on a day wasn’t favorable. “What about Chinese?” Casey finally offers a legitimate suggestion. While he really could go anywhere he had been craving fried rice for a while.

@roxdelrosario

Roxy thought for a moment, trying to decide what would be better to do. She wanted to see a scary movie but she was honestly afraid she'd be up all night with nightmares, so when Casey brought up food, she nodded. "I could always eat. Let's do that. What are you in the mood for?"

@caseydundrich

[caseydundrich]

“Yeah, I hear Sphynx are pretty easy going,” Casey said. Not that he had much experience with hairless cats. Admittedly they weren’t his favorite. He wanted a cat that was fluffy he could pet and the thought of petting a bunch of skin didn’t sound very appealing. “I think it’s a sensory thing for a lot of them. I mean I’d feel really weird if I was forced into clothes all of a sudden,” he said. Even though he wore clothes all the time he was pretty particular about the fabrics he chose to put on his body so he could relate to not wanting to be jammed into something.

@gracecromwell

"I think it depends on whether the cat," Gracie said with a slight shrug, "I had a friend who had a cat who didn't mind being dressed up then again they were the cat who had no fur so maybe that could be the reason." Not like she needed a pet at the moment with her busy schedule or much less her messy apartment plus roommate and their dog, it wouldn't be ideal. @caseydundrich

[caseydundrich]

“I hate people who act like that,” Casey said. As a PC gamer he’d definitely been in circles with guys who cared way too much about what somebody played on. “I’ve got a Switch, maybe I’ll give it a go again,” he stated. He’d tried playing the game back in the day when it first drummed up hype and it just didn’t grab him. He usually needed a lot of lore and storytelling to really engage him in a game.

“You should play sometime it’s really fun. I don’t really have any campaigns going right now but I run a couple of one shots at the comic shop every once in a while,” Casey explained. He didn’t have the time to be a proper DM right now as much as he wanted to. His creative powers needed to be used for his books right now.

“Oh, yeah people would go nuts for stuff like that. D&D TikTok is full of creators like that,” Casey insisted. “Your imagination is really your only limitation you could make literally anything,” he promised that that wasn’t likely the answer Benito was looking for. “That’s actually how I got into wire wrapping back in college. I used to make my own amulets I gave out to players when they came across them,” he explained. “It’s a lot more fun when you’ve got props.”

@benitocresta

"I just play on my Switch," Benito told him. "There's this whole stigma against Switch players on Fortnite but honestly it's just so much easier." Benito had always been the type of person who was constantly on the go; even though it required a stable internet connection and at least half an hour to dedicate to a round, Benito found himself able to play his favourite game a lot more on the portable device compared to if he only played on a PC.

"That's really cool," Benito had heard a lot of a little bit about the table top roleplaying game, and it had always caught his interest. He was a whimsical person, and he loved the idea of roleplaying such fantastical encounters and characters, but finding a place of his own in such a game had never happened. Despite initially thinking about how fun it could be to take part in the game, his thoughts naturally morphed into those relevant to his profession and favourite art form.

"It'd be really cool to do a series of D&D inspired pieces, especially because it seems like so many people who run games make a lot of their own things for it, so I think they'd appreciate it," Benito could have easily been wrong, but all of his exposure to D&D - such as the exposure he got through Casey - had a lot of artistic flare to it. "I wouldn't know where to start, though."

[caseydundrich]

Casey was a big fan of the cat cafe. It got his feline fix in without having to adopt another cat of his own. Even though he had a homebody lifestyle he didn't see himself getting a cat anytime soon. He didn't know where he'd be living in a few years and dragging a cat across the country didn't sound ideal just because Aurora Bay wasn't his forever home. "I'd be careful doing that, cats really don't like to be dressed up," he cautioned. He knew from experience there when he'd nearly lost an eye trying to put one of his old baby shirts on Milo when he was a kid. He still had a faint scar on his eyelid from the incident.

@gracecromwell

Closed starter @caseydundrich Location: Cat Cafe

"Listen, I have no time for animals in my life but these cats are growing on me." Gracie said happily as she picked one up and place it onto her lap, grinning widely as the cat began purring in her lap. "Okay, I might cave in one of these days with adopting one. I would love to add a cute bow as a collar and put it in cute little outfits--oh my god it would look so coquette."

[caseydundrich]

"Well, work from wherever I want," he corrected himself. He definitely didn't live at the coffee shop though some particularly productive days he felt like he did. Not that he was having many of those lately. He'd been in a rut with his writing since he'd moved to town. "Oh, I don't mind at all. I'm a writer. Children's novels for now," he informed her. Even though he'd found his groove writing for an eight to ten years old reading level he didn't want to limit himself even if he had no inspiration to write a more adult series anytime soon. "Mochas are good," Casey stated. He saw no shame in getting a sweet coffee. While he liked the taste of coffee and really only cut it with dairy to make it easier on his stomach he'd be lying if he said he hadn't had his fair share of mochas. "Lattes are probably your next best bet if you ever move past mochas. Getting a flavored one really masks the taste of coffee almost as good as a mocha."

@tricianorth

'Work from home?' She doesn't make an unfunny joke about how this is a coffee shop, not a home, because she knows it's painfully unfunny, even though it's the first thing that springs to mind. If she worked from home, she's sure she'd take any excuse to leave the house too. Well, look at her now, actually. Working from a coffee shop instead of home. 'What do you do? If you don't, like, mind me asking or anything. And uh,' Tricia says and lifts the drink back up. 'A mocha. I want to be a proper coffee girly but I'm not. I always stuck to tea for caffeine even though doesn't do much, but I always liked hot chocolates so my mom said the best way into coffees was uh, through this. I haven't progressed past mochas yet.'

[caseydundrich]

“Will do,” Casey said before he went off to explore the record store some more with the single record he’d found so far in hand. He doubted that he would need any help. Casey was a very independent shopper especially when he was really just browsing.

Casey meandered about the store stopping at various bins here and there to thumb through the vinyls that they had but nothing was really jumping out at him. After about ten minutes of searching Casey approached Finn at the counter with the sole Velvet Underground vinyl he’d found.

“I think I’m all set,” Casey said as he placed the album on the counter. “Do you mind grabbing my backpack for me? My wallet’s in there,” he explained.

@finn-brooks

Finn’s hands find their places on his hips, and oh, so he has seen this kid before. At some point or another. There’s no awkwardness to be felt over it. His memory is shoddy most dates, unless it came to any numbers and historical fun facts, and he sees all too many people coming in and out of Tidal Wave.

“Alright.” 

A shrug, then the click of his tongue against the back of his teeth denotes his departure. He steps backward with a wave, “Let me know if you need anything else. I’ll be upfront whenever you need to check out, Casey.”

Said with enough inflection that Finn hopes it sticks to his memory this time. If not, then there’s always next time, isn’t there? Either way, he heads back to man the front and busy himself with tidying up to make sure he's ready come shift close.

@caseydundrich

[caseydundrich]

“I’m good,” Casey answered automatically and it was true though he would’ve answered that way regardless of how he was feeling. He knew how conversations like this were meant to operate. Besides Casey wasn’t really one who made small talk with strangers. Even though he wrote dialogue for a living didn’t mean he was an amazing conversationalist.

“Yeah, I did actually. I hadn’t planned to really shop today I was just in the neighborhood,” he explained with a little bit of a chuckle as he looked at the pile he’d managed to find. Hopefully he’d sell some books this week to help offset the damage done today. While he’d found some absolute scores in his book everything was mainly a flannel or a graphic tee. Casey’d never really considered himself fashionable and dressed for comfort above all else.

@jenniferwake

While stock of course changed in other retail stores over the course of the year, and particularly to cater to each next season, what Jenny loved about working at Hidden Gems was that it was ever changing. She literally never knew what might come into their possession, and while she did play a part in stocking racks and shelves, there was usually too much for her to go through every item that other employees had. So when customers came up to her register, she absolutely loved to see what they found. Despite the purchases not being for Jenny herself, it was often as exciting as it might have been if she was the one to buy such good finds.

While other retail workers might have silently sighed at the sight of such a big haul, Jenny’s face shined with bright excitement. She could usually tell when a customer’s vibe would likely be of interest to her, and that’s exactly how she felt first laying eyes on Casey. “Hey there! How’re you doing today?” She greeted her customer, immediately taking the pile of hangers to put in their allocated tub under the counter. “Thank you so much - I never expect it, but I always appreciate it,” she grinned as she got started on the aforementioned collection of flannels. “You find some good stuff?” She asked, this time out of genuine curiosity rather than an obligation as a customer facing employee at the establishment.

[caseydundrich]

“I am, yeah,” Casey confirms as he steps a little closer to get a better look. “It’s wild that they grow out of those potato looking things,” he added. That was about as far as his dahlia knowledge went even though they were his favorite flower. He just liked how diverse they were and that there were about a million different kinds.

“Your truck must smell amazing,” Casey added. He wasn’t a huge flower person but he’d been in flower shops plenty of times looking for bouquets for his mother and the smell was always his favorite part. They felt so fresh and like he was breathing better being surrounded by all the greenery. He imagined her vehicle got that effect just on wheels.

@ericaxmanning

Erica was doing a midday run. Not her favorite, since the world was up and busy by then - compared to her before dawn drop-offs - and it made it much harder to find a park close to the florists. Not all of them had their own parking bays for her to unload in, meaning she had to compete for street parking like everyone else. This time she considered herself lucky, snagging a park pretty close to the Flora & Fauna shop-front.

Grabbing one of the crates, Erica hadn't been expecting the question, glancing down to check the label before nodding. "Yep." Because while she could distinguish cattle breeds from any distance, she knew very little about the types of flowers she delivered. Sure, she recognized the basics; a sunflower compared to a rose. But that was about it. Blue eyes flicked over to the guy who was hovering, Erica raising a brow. "---You a fan?" @caseydundrich

[caseydundrich]

what's your muse's favorite weird food combo?

“Probably the fact that I mix cream into my sodas. I think that’s starting to become more common now that they've opened up soda shops though. It’s really good if you haven’t tried it, it makes a soda taste just like a float.”

[caseydundrich]

🧨  —  a long fuse!    a headcanon about my muse and their temper, and a time when they lost it.

“I don’t really lose my temper very often and it’s never been directed at someone. Once my computer died on me two days been the deadline for a writing contests I’d been working on for months and I ended up losing the 20,000 word story I’d been working on for three months. I remember I ended up popping one of my stress balls because I was so stressed and got that weird white powder all over my desk which only made me more irritated. Now I save all my stuff to various hard drives and Google so I don’t lose things anymore.”

[caseydundrich]

💋  —  never been kissed?

“My first kiss was with a girl I met at a queer summer camp my parents sent me to when I was sixteen. I was into her from the first day of camp but it was about a week in when we finally snuck out to the dock together one night. It wasn’t the best kiss I’ve ever had because we both had braces but it was nice. We remained penpals for the rest of that summer but stopped talking once school started back up. I still follow her on social media though. She’s been in a throuple for a few years now.”

[caseydundrich]

“Don’t mention it,” Casey insisted. “I’ll probably be leaving soon anyways,” he explained so that she’d have the table soon enough. Really, he’d accomplished any work he’d be doing today earlier and he was just waiting around until he finished his present cup of coffee. Casey felt a little called out when she pointed out how frequent he was in the coffee shop. He really did keep to a schedule. He had to or else he ran the risk of overwhelming himself and shutting down was highly unproductive. “Yeah, I work from home so I spend a lot of time here,” he explained. He liked how portable being a writer was. All he ever really needed was his laptop and he was good to go.

Casey looked at the contents of the mug beside him as if he’d somehow forgotten what he ordered. “Oh, just a cappuccino,” he stated once he’d jogged his memory. “It’s my second cup of the day,” he added. Casey was a heavily caffeinated individual and the fact he’d been up late last night had solidified the fact he’d be needing multiple cups of coffee today. “What are you drinking?”

@tricianorth

'Mhm.' She nods, eyes wide in agreement. 'Tell me about it.' At that (and thank god he'd said yes, this bag is getting heavier by the second), Tricia empties her hands of plates and put the muffin and coffee on the table, then down goes her tote on the floor. She feels for the little red mark the bag's left in the crook of her elbow from dangling there for so long and shakes it off.

'And thank you, you know.' She motions vaguely with her hands. 'About the table. God forbid there's no room for me and I have to get a coffee and a muffin literally anywhere else.' She smiles brightly, then reaches into her tote to retrieve her laptop and a tissue to wipe at the side of the coffee cup she spilt getting over here. 'I'm a sucker for routine. I mean I guess you get that. I think we share a schedule I see you in here that often. What's your drink today?'

[caseydundrich]

🌹  —  roses in bloom! 

“The only real experience I have with flowers is when I’ve been in the hospital. My aunt has always sent me flowers whenever I’ve had a surgery starting back when I was nine and got my tonsils taken out. I’ve always looked forward to them because they give you something to look at when all you can do is lay around.”

[caseydundrich]

“Oh yeah?” Casey began. He’d sort of been agreeing to join since she brought it up months ago but there hadn’t really been any movement on it so he’d forgotten about it. “What are you wanting to read?” Casey asked. While Casey was an avid reader he was pretty particular with the books he chose even though they ranged from reading his childhood favorites over again for the zillionth time or starting the next great fantasy series. He wasn’t sure how helpful he’d be at recruiting others though. He wasn’t exactly the most social person. “I could probably make a poster you could put up,” Casey offered. He was skilled enough in graphic design he could probably put something together in Photoshop real quick.

@lucydriscoll

Starter: closed @caseydundrich Where: The library

"I want to start up that book club I've been talking about for months." uni classes got a little but in the way. "But I need some help..." Here came the puppy eye's, as she sits down across from Casey, "And if you're interested, pretty please, could you help me find some people that are interested?"

[caseydundrich]

Casey was 100% a part of the problem as to why there were never any open tables at Driftwood past 10 AM. He would arrive early and camp out at one of the four top tables all to himself for hours. He was a paying customer often getting up for more rounds of coffee or pastries but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a nuisance to anyone else who wanted to have a seat. At least Casey wasn’t the only one who did it so he didn’t have to take all the blame.

Presently Casey wasn’t doing much work. He’d actually managed to write an entire chapter last night and found that that motivation hadn’t carried on to this morning as his laptop sat open yet untouched beside him as he found himself sketching instead. While he illustrated his own novels that process would come after he’d actually written the novel. Still, he didn’t ever want his art skills to get rusty even though the writing process was taking him longer than usual. And really some days a guy just wants to draw a couple of goblins and that shouldn’t be a crime.

Casey was in the middle of drawing a particularly crooked nose when someone spoke up. When he looked up he recognized the woman. While they had no real connection other than both being regulars at Driftwood he wasn’t put off by her request at all. “Oh, um, yeah, absolutely,” Casey said as he dropped his pen and promptly moved his backpack to the floor to make room for another person. “I feel like since summer hit it’s been busy,” he commented. There were more tourists around and they loved to mill about in any communal space the town had to offer.

@tricianorth

@caseydundrich, Driftwood coffee.

Time off from work should be time off from work, but it isn't (when it comes to Tricia) and it won't (when it comes to Tricia). But it's close enough to start planning for the first week back to school now, isn't it?

So here she stands, coffee dangerously close to overflowing in one hand, chocolate muffin on a plate in the other, tote with her laptop in dangling from the crook of her elbow making every move a precarious one. Only problem now is a lack of seats. Tricia hadn't planned this far, but an idea comes quick to mind when she spots a familiar face. She's seen him before, for sure; definitely asked him to watch her stuff when she needed a sudden dash to the toilet in the past, on probably more than one occasion. This is her regular planning spot after all, seems to be his regular too. She shuffles over to the table in the busy shop. 'You don't mind if I sit here, do you?' Tricia asks with a smile, 'I don't normally ask, but...' She looks around them. 'Seems to be a busy one today.'

[caseydundrich]

Closed starter for Erica Manning ( @ericaxmanning ) Location: Outside Flora & Fauna

Casey wasn’t typically very nosey but he caught himself watching as the woman unloaded bunches after bunches of various flowers. He’d never actually seen a flower distributor before but he guessed flower shops had to get their flowers from somewhere. It wasn’t like the ladies who did the arrangements were out in the fields picking daisies.

“Are those all dahlias?” Casey asked in reference to the bucket stuffed to the brim with all different dahlia stems she’d just pulled from the truck. Dahlias were one of his favorite flowers and he’d never even seen some of the varieties that were being brought in and was instantly intrigued even though he felt a little intrusive just standing there watching the woman work.