#And this is a bit of a wakeup for Arlo

[izayoichan]

Arlo: I never meant to hurt him. Vy: I know. But you did. Arlo: I can never forgive myself for what I did. Vy: But you can make things better for the two of you. What you did, what happened to the both of you will never go away, even if you go away when it's too much for you to handle... But, you can work to make things happier for the two of you that one day, you'll be able to cry together over everything without either of you being hurt by its ghost.

Arlo just looked wide eyed at Vy, and then broke into a deep sobbing cry that made his body shake. Vy sighed, sitting next to Arlo, wrapping his arms around him just letting him cry. It was slowly becoming clear to him that this Arlo, like River had said, was something new, and it needed to mend. They both did.

They eventually got Arlo to calm down enough to eat, but the light crying only ended when he had managed to cry himself to sleep next to his beloved angel. Vy sitting there watching the two, feeling Hayden’s hand on his shoulder.

Hayden: As much as I want to hate that boy… I can’t. I can hate what he did, I can hate what he put our little star through, but I can’t hate what he is now… Vy: He reminds you of yourself doesn’t he? Hayden: In some ways yes, the self hate, the desire to… stop being…

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[santiagoayala]

Santiago at a Glance

"Music is medicine"

NAME: Santiago Luis Ayala

ALIASES: Artist name: Arlo. Santi by family and Cole

AGE: 35 [Born October 24th]

OCCUPATION: Mexican EDM artist - a musician for hire. But for daily expenses he's an employee at Mountain Nectar, the brewery.

ARRIVED: Mid April 2024

GENDER/PRONOUNS: Cis Male, He/Him

SEXUALITY: Hetero-flexible, demi-homosexual

QUIRKS:  A massive mama's boy and proud of it. Has a few covered up tattoos from his cholo days. Also has Cole's name tattooed on him and probably should have gotten it covered up in their two years of separation, but alas. Is a major dumbass and will be the first to admit it; doesn't stop him from talking out of his ass.

BIOGRAPHY

To say his family was poor was an understatement. They lived in a small two-bedroom house containing Santiago, his widowed mother, and three sisters. At a young age he took on the responsibility as the man of the house, especially with Mamá always working tirelessly to support their family. At 12 he joined the Logan Heights Clicka, both as a way to guarantee protection for the women in his life but also as a way to make money as a scrawny nothing. This got Santiago in a world of trouble growing up, with a juvenile record and a splattering of scars to prove it.

At 17 he had a massive wakeup call when a judge threatened to transfer him up to adult court. It was only through the pleading of his mamá that kept Santiago from going to prison. He vowed to work on his act, parting ways with the gang in a surprisingly clean break. But with his history and reputation in the neighborhood, it was hard for Santiago to find a new way to support his family. He took odd jobs anywhere he could. Even managed to get his GED just to make his mamá proud and hopefully open up a few more options.

It was in his early 20s that a friend showed Santiago the genre of EDM. He was instantly hooked. With a bit of research he found that not only was it fairly easy to get into as an artist, but he was pretty fucking good at it too. He found it as the perfect way to express himself, the outlet he always needed but could never really find. With his talent and determination Santiago was able to begin touring fairly early on in his music endeavor. With this new career he was able to send checks regularly to both his mother and sisters, finally able to provide for them the way he always wanted to.

At 27 he was working a festival in New York when he met a booth babe named Cole and instantly fell in love. It didn't take long for Santiago to move his entire life to the northeast just to be with the beautiful spitfire. Cole quickly became his everything. It was the first time Santiago had every felt so strongly for someone. She was his muse, his heart, his life. Not surprisingly, this made their relationship very tumultuous. After five years in a rollercoaster of emotions and trust issues, exacerbated by an intense party lifestyle, Cole had had enough. An intervention was stagged by their friends and she went back home to her family.

For two years Santiago waited for Cole to call him, his thumb hovering over the call button near daily. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore and decided fuck his pride, he was going to Cole's hometown to woo her back. Little did he know what it truly meant that his ex was from Huntsville, West Virginia.

[beefgnawpolis]

Higgins and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad day, part 1.

Yes, this letter and the All-Terrain Massage Chair quest hit on the very same day. I know. Ow. And I howled at this letter. Actual IRL crylaughing. And then...

And then I watched Musa murder this man in cold blood right there in the harbor in front of me and God and everyone. Yes, he did kind of phone his chair in but goddamn.

So now half the town is gushing about massage chairs and the other half is expressing mild concern for Higgins...

(shout-out to Portia's very own warriormale btw)

and then I was flipping through the Social tab of the menu to see which new friends and buddies now have bios I can read and even though Higgins still hates my guts he now has one and My God What Have I Done

Maybe this has been a wakeup call for him! Maybe now we can start interacting like normal people who don't hate each other and, dare I hope, maybe become friendly rivals instead of this weird hatecrush thing he's got going now!

Anyway, here are a few more fun screenshots:

Arlo is so tall his feet hang off the chair I can't.

They see us hoggin, they hatin

they bit my butt sir