#also i nuked the ask box so please send me things

[3amsnek]

hi if this isn’t something you prefer answering you can ignore my ask!

so i wanted to know how much stripe reveals your info to people who pay you? through ko fi and all that. what i mean is when someone gives the creator money through ko fi using paypal their name (legal name) is revealed on invoice so does that happen with stripe as well?

i’ve heard with stripe, creators can hide their legal name and use another which shows up on invoices but im unsure if it’s true

hi! I actually had this same concern and did a lot of poking around for how different platforms handle this while setting up my commissions so I will attempt to answer! disclaimer I am just a guy who is bad with technology so there is a chance I am wrong about things ok here’s a readmore attempt click to get Snek’s business knowledge

this is actually the main reason I rly like stripe, you can customize pretty much everything clients will see including how much information about yourself you want to give away- I literally only have 3amsnek as my name in there, it’s just my business name (the Public Details section of settings lets you mess with this as much as you like, it’s under the Business Settings category)

it gives my country & state on some invoices but no further details (I can’t remember if state is mandatory or I clicked on the wrong button somewhere setting it up but I can’t disable it so keep that in mind) (I can change it along with everything else in my info though)

you do need to give Stripe all of your information for legal and payment purposes which can be kinda intimidating to set up but within my account I can customize what name will show up everywhere it shows up, put a different email than the one I signed up with as a customer support email to go at the bottom of receipts, decide specifically how much of my location is shown- idk if this is super clear bc I’m not at all experienced in Business Advice but by my memory/experience it doesn’t even ask for a Firstname Lastname name anywhere that’ll be shown to customers

for the record I’ve never actually used paypal bc my account got nuked within a day of making it and they have simply refused to fix it so I don’t have a direct comparison from personal experience but from my various hours of research trying to put comms together it seemed like paypal will always give everyone involved in the transaction a stupid amount of information about each other and there rly isn’t much to do about it/things can’t be changed ever or at least without huge difficulty and my experience with Stripe has been not that at All,,, it’s been very nice tbh I even found a whole invoices feature that allows international bank transfers as a payment method making a workaround for people who only have paypal & no card

if this is still confusing you can dm me and I’ll send you a picture of my checkout page/invoice/email receipt templates, it rly only shows my profile picture for stripe which I selected and can change (for me it’s the same dragon I use for my ko-fi header) and my business name in big letters at the top to say who you’re paying and then it’s the checkout/payment setup for the client (looks like any other online shopping checkout thing rly) - I haven’t been able to Confirm confirm that this all shows up properly on receipts as I don’t rly have a way to run a test with it with actual payment but it shows you what all the graphics are set to show up as in your account (under Branding in settings, same Business Settings box as Public Details is in) and you can change all of it any time (I do think you can also send blank test receipts to yourself)

hopefully this helps clarify things? at this point of using it for a couple months I would say I’d recommend Stripe- I’ve been rly pleased with it so far, especially with this specific topic :]

[deepseadivers]

Hi! This is my blog for my ROTTMNT ocs. If you've seen some of this art elsewhere, chances are that it was me before I made this lol

Few things:

● Every oc will have their own tag for archival purposes. I also tag canon characters just for completion's sake lol

● Feel free to send asks about character lore! Answers can either be in or out of character depending what fits better.

● Keeping this blog safe for work so I don't get nuked by spam bots so keep it classy in the ask box <3

● Character ages will vary depending on the post. Where they are on the timeline will be specified when it's relevant.

● This is a side blog so I can't follow from it, but I'll interact as much from here as possible. Fanart will always be appreciated and reblogged, so please credit this blog if you draw some. <3

[the-lil-devil-himself]

Sorry fer the delay, ladies and gents...but, as they say, the show must go on!

[tlbodine]

Thanksgiving is Gonna Be Weird: A Survival Guide for 2020

It’s 2020, the pandemic is worse than ever, and the holidays are right around the corner. No matter what, this is going to be a weird Thanksgiving for a lot of people. With travel restrictions in place and most of us having a mighty desire not to murder our friends and family by spreading around a disease, there’s a good chance that you’re going to be celebrating a bit differently this year. 

And, hey, maybe you decide not to celebrate at all. Which is perfectly valid! 

But maybe you’re staring down the possibility of your first Thanksgiving on your own, or feeding just the small group you live for rather than a big crowd, or some other unusual circumstance. And if that’s the case, I wanted to compile together some resources/ideas to help you out. I know this isn’t my usual horror fare, but...well, I hope it’s helpful, regardless. 

“Help, I’ve Never Made Thanksgiving Dinner Before” Starter Kit

Maybe you’ve always gone home for the holidays but are currently stuck in an apartment with a few roommates, and none of you have any intensive cooking skills. Maybe you always take the kids to Grandma’s house and have never had to contribute more than a side dish but now really want to do a proper Thanksgiving feast for your partner(s), kid(s) and whoever else lives in your house. 

Never fear! A Thanksgiving feast doesn’t have to be intimidating! In fact, Thanksgiving foods are usually pretty simple; the most challenging part of the whole feast is the project management aspect of working with a lot of different dishes and getting everything ready at once. But the smaller your crowd to feed, the easier that is! 

So, the first thing you’ll want to do is come up with a menu. Sit down and write a list of all the foods you normally eat and enjoy on Thanksgiving. If something is served at your family meal that you’ve never cared for, guess what? You can boot that bad boy right off the list! 

By and large, the standard Thanksgiving feast consists of: 

Roast turkey 

Mashed potatoes

Gravy

Some kind of dinner roll

Cranberry sauce

Some number of vegetable side dishes (often a green been casserole and a sweet potato casserole) 

Some kind of dessert (often/traditionally a pumpkin pie) 

I’ve linked above some easy & favorite techniques/recipes for all of these foods, but of course you can buy time-saving convenience items to get you rolling -- from potato flakes to gravy mix to premade pie. I won’t tell if you don’t. 

If there’s something you’re used to eating every year that you don’t know how to make....call whoever usually makes it! If at all possible, obviously, I’m not recommending you do a seance to talk to your dead great-aunt and get her rolls recipe. Just, like...phone up your friend/family member, get the recipe, and use it as an opportunity to connect. Odds are both of you are missing the human interaction. 

“Hey, That’s Nice, But I Live in a Dorm Room”  Edition 

Okay, okay, I get it. You’re away at college and can’t get home to see your family safely and you’re living in some kind of weird socially isolated dorm situation where you have limited access to cooking implements. Or, shit, idk, maybe you’re couch-surfing or living in a motel or otherwise not in possession of a full kitchen. 

I got you, fam. 

Do you have at your disposal a microwave? Rice cooker? Even an electric kettle will work! 

If you have some way to boil water, you can make instant mashed potatoes, gravy, and stove-top stuffing. If you have a microwave, you can steam some vegetables and bake a sweet potato. For dessert, core an apple, stuff the cavity with brown sugar + cinnamon + butter and nuke in the microwave for 4 minutes. 

It’s hypothetically possible to microwave a turkey, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Instead, I’d opt to buy a deli roast chicken (about $5 at most grocery stores), or even just some turkey deli meat. Alternatively, ham usually just needs to be warmed rather than cooked, and you can buy a big ol’ ham steak at the store for a couple of bucks. 

“I’m Dead Broke Because COVID, Send Help” 

You know the great thing about Thanksgiving food? It’s cheap. No, really! It can be, anyway, especially since a lot of foods go on sale. 

In my area anyway, the local Wal-Mart and Smith’s Grocery have: 

A can of green beans for about 79 cents

A bag of instant mashed potatoes for about $1 

A big can of yams for about $1, or fresh yams for 50 cents/lb (usually a couple sweet potatoes = 1lb) 

Canned corn or peas + corn for 50 cents, or steam-in-bag veggies of your choice for $1 

Stovetop stuffing for $1 or sometimes even 50 cents per box 

Margarine for 79 cents to $1 

Gravy mix packets for 50 cents each

A can of cranberry sauce for $1 or less

Most of these are also available at Dollar Tree! 

A lot of food banks will also be giving out turkeys this time of year, and some grocery stores will give you a free turkey if you spend $50 or $100 on groceries or whatever. Do you have an older relative who needs groceries? Ask if you can go buy their food and deliver it to their door (contactless!) and keep the free turkey.

You can pretty easily feed a group of 4-6 for $20 or so, especially if you’re willing to be flexible on your protein. And what are you doing feeding more than 6 people in the middle of a pandemic, huh? 

“I’m Used to Hosting a Big Dinner But There’s Only Like Three Of Us Living In This House WTF How Do I Scale This Shit Down” 

Maybe you are a Thanksgiving veteran. Maybe you’re accustomed to hosting for a big crowd and cooking a small meal just seems dumb and pointless. I feel you. This is my life right now! But don’t despair! 

The way I see it, you’ve got a couple-three options: 

Option One: 

Cook your turkey + a different side each day, and eat your Thanksgiving feast spread out over a week or so. It’ll keep your leftovers from dominating your fridge, let you eat something fresh, and allow you to enjoy all your favorite recipes. Downside is you’ll have to cook every day, so you tell me if you’re too busy to do that. 

Option Two: 

Cook everything that you normally would, but portion off half of it or whatever to stuff into your freezer, or go deliver it to somebody else’s door. The odds are pretty good that you’ve got a friend or family member who is freaking out about the holiday, and if you can’t see them in person, you can at least drop food off on their porch and then honk aggressively/cheerfully from the safety of your car! 

Option Three: 

Make something different this year. If you’re a foodie, take this as an opportunity to challenge yourself to create something high-maintenance and weird that you wouldn’t normally make. This is a good choice if you’re off work and stuck in your house with nothing else to do. Basically you’re subbing out quantity for quality so the meal still feels special and unique even if it’s, y’know....just you and your cat, or whoever. 

PS: Roasting a whole chicken or a cornish game hen is a fun, small-scale way to get your bird-in-the-oven experience. You can also buy a turkey breast and just cook that, which will be a lot faster than the whole bird anyway. 

"I’m An Essential Worker And I’m Working Thanksgiving And Have No Time To Do ANYTHING, What Now?” 

Dude, I get it. And whether you’re a doctor, nurse, grocery store employee, or whatever other essential service-worker, my heart goes out to you because hoo boy this year has been shit, hasn’t it? I can’t do anything about the hazard pay situation, but I CAN tell you that there are a few places offering delivery-based Thanksgiving meal options! 

You might want to search around a bit for your specific area. Cracker Barrel, Marie Callendar’s, Boston Market, and other types of branded “home-cooking” type restaurants tend to have some kind of Thanksgiving thing. Why not call your local restaurant fav to see if they’re doing something similar? Most restaurants are desperate for a way to stay afloat right now, so a ton of places that don’t traditionally deliver are offering curbside service now. It’s worth a try! 

So, there you have it. 

I hope some of these tips taught you something new, pointed you to a helpful resource, or gave you some ideas. More than anything, I just want everybody to be safe and happy this holiday. So, please -- get creative, wear your mask while you’re shopping, avoid the get-togethers, and be careful. You may save a life! 

[blissfulalchemist]

“Have I entered an alternate universe or did you really just crack a smile for me?” + WesCat (Friendship)

Thank you for sending this in! Please enjoy Kate!

The phone vibrated away for the third time in a row as Cat looked at the screen. Wren’s name showed up again and Cat couldn’t bring herself to hit the hang up button as she laid curled up in bed. The time on the phone read two in the afternoon, she was supposed to be at work today, she called off last night, not telling Wren. It had to be the reason she was calling Cat now, wasn’t like Cat to just not show up with no warning. 

She had tried though, the whole week she kept going to work, putting the smile on her face, keeping herself upbeat and busy….and still she would sit in her car exhausted and crying driving home or to Raf’s. She stopped going anywhere else but home and work a few days ago. Her communication limited and dwindled over the week with everyone. Now, here she was not even going to work or making contact with anyone. 

Cat groaned and put the comforter over her face, shielding the small rays of light peeking through the curtains. She didn’t want to be mean but she also didn’t want to have to explain everything to Wren. They were just starting to become friends and she didn’t want to screw that up….though she probably was by ignoring Wren’s calls. Catlina sighed under the sheets, I’ll text her after a nap. Tell her I came down with a cold and I’ll be back to normal soon. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Wes slammed the door of the cruiser gathering the bag of hamburgers and drinks from the roof of the car, making his way to Wren. She had found a picnic table with a good view of the river, something she normally enjoyed admiring if she didn’t seem frustrated looking at her phone. She hit the redial button as Wes got himself and their lunch settled, her foot tapping as she waited for someone to pick up. Wes could hear the faint voice of a computer woman informing Wren that she should leave a message for whoever she was calling. Wren rolled her eyes, running a hand through her hair, letting out a breath, “Hey Cat it’s me Wren….again. Look can you just call me back when you can? I’m worried about you.”

Wes looked at Wren, eyebrow raised, “E’erything okay?” He asked as she pulled out her burger and fries taking a sip of her drink. 

She sighed shrugging, “Mostly. I just- Well Cat didn’t come into work today. They said she called out last night.”

Wes shrugged, “Maybe she got sick,” he let out a small laugh, “Raf finally gave her food poisoning.” He took a bite of his food watching as Wren tapped a French fry against the paper surrounding the burger. 

“That’s the thing though,” she started, “He came in and asked for her. He told me he hasn’t seen her for a few days now and she cancelled their plans for the week. He was hoping to bring her lunch.”

Wes’ mind replayed all that she had said, the pieces starting to click. Wren had the two statements backwards, Raf was bringing lunch because he hadn’t seen her due to the canceled plan. Cat was wanting time alone and during those times she didn’t always eat or care for herself as she should, Raf was trying to gauge how bad she had gotten. If she was still making it to work things weren’t bad yet, if she missed she was getting to a point where she needed more care. It had been awhile since she got this bad. “He tell ya not to worry?”

“Yeah, but how can I not worry,” Wren drew lines in the ketchup, “She’s my friend, Wes. We just started to get close and now she disappears like this,” she shook her head, “just doesn’t feel normal for her.”

Wes reached out, grabbing Wren’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, “I’ll check on her. Think I know where to start.” He gave her a reassuring smile before going back to finishing their lunch quickly. Wes watched as Wren drove away in her Jeep before pulling out his phone sending a text to his friend: 

Going to check on her. Unless you already did. 

The response time was quick from Rafael:

Haven’t gotten a chance yet. Still at work. I'm going to when I finish, I’ll meet you at her place when I do. 

Wes nodded to himself as he put his phone away starting up the car making his way to the small studio above the Spread Eagle. Her purple sedan was parked next to him behind the building, a good sign. Wes looked at his key ring spotting the silver key with a pink flower sticker at the base, spares Raf made without her knowing after last time. Felt wrong to have it without her knowing but last time they had to break the door down after she stopped communicating for almost a week. It was a bit of a misunderstanding as to what the two men had walked into that day; Cat passed out in the bed, a medication bottle emptied on the counter, another, sleeping pills, beside her empty, the small uniformed cuts along her inner arm is what kicked their worry into overdrive. Both men worked to try and get her to wake up or respond to them in some way. When she wouldn’t they rushed her into the car making their way to the hospital. 

The actual story, Cat hadn’t eaten for three days straight and hadn’t slept for two days, she’d taken two sleeping pills to try and help get back to normal. They hadn’t agreed with her as she sleptwalked, her body trying to go about a normal day, flushing the sleeping pills down the toilet in the process. The cuts were shallow and created not for the purpose of wanting to die but for trying to regulate her mood. Rafael and Wes were halfway to the hospital by the time she started to wake up. 

Wes hoped it wasn’t so bad this time as he walked up the stairs, it seemed like they caught it early this time around. The studio was small and easy to see the mess of brown hair underneath the blankets, and other than the mess of dishes and take out, everything else seemed to be as it should be. He shut the door quietly as he walked towards the mattress on the floor, she was breathing still, asleep, but breathing. Her phone rang with another call from Wren, hand reaching to try and turn it off, Wes beating her to it. She didn’t wake and Wes didn’t want to wake her. He looked around and decided to pick up some of the empty food boxes and dishes lying about, trying to not make too much noise. When that was done Wes took the time to text Wren and Raf with his findings, his friend getting more details, leaving it up to Cat on how much she wanted to tell his girlfriend. He took a seat on the chair she had, turning the tv on to a low volume, the cooking he’d leave to Raf once he got here. 

By the time Catlina had stirred the sun had started to set and her stomach was twisting in hunger. The only other light in the room came from the black and white cowboy movie Wes was watching, she didn’t want him here. “You don’t need to keep watch,” she mumbled, turning to face the other side, “This isn’t a psych hospital.” Her hand felt around for the sleeve of crackers that she left on the other side of the bed last night, “Where are my crackers?”

“They ain’t a meal,” he replied, looking at his phone.

She grumbled, closing up into more of a ball clutching her stomach, “Don’t feel like cooking.”

Wes got up to look in the fridge, “You got leftovers,” he opened them making sure none of them were bad. Cat stayed silent as Wes let out a slow breath, “That bad huh?”

It was bad that she hadn’t even been able to heat up the food in the microwave, more than that though it felt like too much work to eat the meals. Crackers were easy and less hassle, she could keep them near, never had to leave the bed to eat. She felt her eyelids get heavier, the energy leaving her body quickly, “I’m tired Wes. You should go home.”

He shook his head pulling out some pasta they had over the weekend, the contents going onto a plate and then the microwave. She covered her head, the aching in her chest feeling painful, her eyes shutting as she tried to keep the tears from falling. “Take your meds today?” Wes asked as he nuked the food another thirty seconds, trying to figure out if she had based on what was left in the bottle. Math was never his strong suit and it looked like this would be something to leave to Raf when he got here. 

He grabbed the plate bringing it over to the bed sitting next to her, offering it to her. She looked up at him through narrowed eyes, the smell of the food calling her to wake up and eat. She gave a small shake of her head, her stomach betraying her. 

“Gotta eat. Worked hard on it,” he joked, smirking, putting the plate closer to her face, “Ain’t leaving till you eat.” Catlina sighed, releasing herself a little from the ball she had put herself in. She grabbed the fork with a bite on it chewing slowly once the pasta made contact with her mouth. As soon as she swallowed she felt like it was going to come back up. Wes set the plate on the ground next to him, “Here,” he grabbed her, moving her so her back hit the wall and she was mostly sitting, “Better.” He put the plate in her lap, getting up to grab her some water. Wes looked back at her watching as she slowly brought another bite to her lips, her hand falling limply back to her lap. 

Wes scavenged her cupboards for the stash of kool aid powder she had lying about, there was a lot she had stashed trying to keep her air of decent eating habits with Rafael. It was a mystery as to what she would do once they decided to finally just move in together, she’d still try to find places to hide them. He finally found what he was looking for in the top of a cupboard, “Do you jus’ climb everywhere?” He asked, reaching for it, his eyes straying to a plastic container with a panting coyote with a bright red tongue and a red pepper running away in victory. Wes pulled it down also looking it over, habanero pepper peanuts, his favorite. He looked up to Cat who had moved on to the third bite, “Thought you didn’t like spicy peanuts?”

She looked up to him briefly, her eyes not fully focusing on him, “I don’t,” her voice flat, “Got them for you.” 

Wes set the peanuts down, “They’re my favorites.”

“I know,” her tone of voice made it sound so matter of fact, Wes’ heart fell a little at the difference in his friend. 

“Raf?” He guessed, giving a smirk looking at the comical picture.

She shook her head, “No. You told me that night we got drunk, when we played twenty questions.” Wes mixed the water with two spoonfuls of mix, “It’s four spoonfuls.”

He rolled his eyes adding the two more scoops, “You ‘membered that?”

She gave a small shrug, “Yeah, why wouldn’t I?” Wes stopped stirring the drink taking her in as she continued to look down, “I kept an eye out for them,” she gave a small snort and smallest of smiles, “I almost bought the whole box they had in the store for you.” She looked up to his face, “Only reason I didn’t was ‘cause I became unsure if they were the ones you mentioned.” Wes looked down to the container of peanuts, the corners of his mouth lifting, “Meant to give them sooner but….,” he made his way over to her as he saw her eyes fill with tears, “Sorry I didn’t. I didn’t mean to, I just-.” 

His arms wrapped around her tightly, Cat stiffening before returning the hug weakly, “Thank you. I love it.” He pulled back away from her with a giant smile on his face, laughing when his eyes looked at the bottle’s picture. 

Cat did a double take, “Wait,” she looked at his face, blinking back the tears, as he tried to go back to containing his emotions, “Wes did I sleep my way into an alternate universe or did you really crack an actual smile?”

“What of it?” he replied, getting up to grab her drink, waving off her comment.

Cat looked down pushing some hair behind her ear, the ache in her chest alleviating a little, “Nothing, just-. It- well you should smile more. It lights up a room.”

Wes didn’t respond, just shook his head as his phone went off, glancing briefly at the screen, “Raf’s here.” Cat looked down at the plate of pasta, it wasn’t very filling for her and felt tasteless.

“You think he’d-,” she stopped listening to something outside. It was muffled but was clearly music and nothing that would be played in the bar below. Cat tried to place the melody of the song, feeling it familiar, “With her sweetened breath,” she mouthed, “and her tongue so mean,” the song title hitting her, someone was playing Hozier outside her window. The knock at the door proved it to not be Raf as he walked in placing a grocery bag on the counter. 

She was slow as she moved off the bed, comforter wrapped around her as she made her way to the window. She pushed the curtain back a little looking down, there in the neon lighting she saw Wren, portable speaker in hand above her head. Cat opened the window a little bit, the song clearer now, Wren smiled at her, “Wes said you weren’t feeling well!” She shouted turning the volume down a little, “Thought you could use a little bit of a pick me up!” Cat gave her a smile, turning back to Wes who was already making his way to the door. 

Cat only turned away once she saw Wes come up the side of the building, making her way to Raf in the small kitchen, resting her forehead against his shoulder. He smiled, placing a kiss on the top of her head, “Should I make the usual, Conejito?” She turned her head looking at what he had on the counter through her messy hair, boxes of Kraft mac and cheese in various shapes and a package of hot dogs. She felt her eyes fill with tears nodding against him. He moved the arm she leaned against to wrap around her shoulders pulling her closer to him, “As you wish mi amor,” he gave her a kiss on her forehead as Wren walked in through the door. 

“Okay I want in on this rotation now,” she demanded gently pulling Cat towards her. Wren gave her a once over before pulling her in a hug, “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” she said into Wren’s dark hair, “I didn’t mean too.”

“No need to be sorry,” her hands ran over the blanket where Cat’s hair was, “Should have told me. You know I would understand,” Cat nodded against her, “But I know it’s because you don’t want to feel like burdening another person in your life. Now I know and I’m telling you that I do not feel like you are a burden.” She walked Cat back to the bed, “We’ll still give you the space you need,” if she wasn’t so tired Catlina would laugh at how quick Wren was in taking control of the situation, “but one of us will come by to make sure you’re at least eating one proper meal a day, got it?” Wren pointed a finger at her waiting for her response, Cat nodded, “Good. Now I made sure to get you at least a week off from work so you don’t have to worry about that. And tonight we are all watching your favorite movie and having dinner before we leave you alone.” Wren sat her on the bed taking a spot next to her grabbing a few movies options Cat had lying around. 

Cat nodded, snuggling into Wren, resting her head against her shoulder, “Thank you,” she said softly. Cat glanced to the bed’s orientation, “We should turn the bed around. Make sure there’s enough room for all of you to sit comfortably.”

Wren smiled, lying Cat down, “Wes,” she instructed pulling his attention, “You heard her. Let's get this bed reoriented.” They were fast at making sure the long side of the bed faced the television, Wren settling back into place next to Cat. She helped her pick a movie that they all could watch while the two men cooked. Bowls were passed around once the food was done and Stardust was loaded up to play. The group only paused the movie to switch from dinner to dessert; a pint of raspberry cheesecake ice cream for Wren and Cat, lemon bars from a local bakery for Raf, and the spicy peanuts for Wes. 

Cat was exhausted by the end of the movie and watched as everyone put things back in order. Wes put the bed back into place when she reached for his hand, he sat next to her on the bed, “Why did you call them here?”

“You needed us,” Cat looked down avoiding his face, “Can’t tell me you’d do any different.”

“You guys deserve all the love in the world,” she sighed, closing her eyes.

“So do you,” Wes laid her down, “It’s what friends do. Remind you how loved you are.”

[brokenjardaantech]

rk1700 december day 5, 6, 13: superior/replacement; comfort; assemble/disassemble

written for @rk1700december. day 5: superior/replacement; day 6: comfort; day 13: assemble/disassemble

female connor is called rhea. rk900 is called cronos.

summary: cronos and rhea get a new piece of furniture and get adopted by elijah kamski.

also on ao3

----

It is the facility’s quarterly large-scale acquisition day. It means new equipment, new tech, new people, and nearly everyone is excited - a welcomed change and a reminder that they are not alone in the fight (Cronos is pretty certain by this point that there is a conflict going on out there, an intense and high-stake one nonetheless from how hard Anchor pushes him during training sessions. Exactly against whom or what it is about, though, those he has no idea about, and he leaves it be for now since Anchor doesn’t seem to be making an explanation anytime soon.) Even Rhea, who doesn’t quite understand what is going on, seems happier and more excited than usual.

What surprises Cronos, though, is that the two of them also have a quota despite not being Alliance personnel formally.

‘Is Rhea still staying in your quarters?’ Anchor suddenly asks one day as she reloads the thermal clip of her rifle. She had persuaded Cronos to let Rhea have some alone time while she taught him how to shoot, and Cronos successfully convinced her to wait for him in their quarters with a new box of building blocks. They exchanged few words until then, the recoil of the rifle against his shoulder and the blast of supersonic miniature slugs hitting the targets having become familiar sensations as a result, and although he is certain that handling weapons is in his programming, coating the slugs with his biotics to increase their damage is something new.

‘Of course,’ Cronos replies. The thermal clip isn’t completely spent yet but he reloads it anyway. ‘What’s the matter?’

Anchor raises her rifle again and spells out L. W. A. on the target. Her real name’s initials, maybe? ‘So you guys have been squeezing into the same bunk this whole time?’

‘I don’t see the problem with it,’ Cronos admits as he does the same to his target, RK9c appearing in the dented metal board. ‘We are close.’

The human looks impressed. ‘You guys need more space?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I reviewed the dimensions of your quarters. You guys can have a double bed which comfortably fits the two of you without sacrificing much living space, and since we’re requisitioning some new furniture anyway, I think…’ she puts down her rifle in exchange for a pistol and shrugs. ‘Why the fuck not?’

Cronos folds up his rifle and watches Anchor bury a few larger warped slugs into the target’s head. It twists and creaks under the force of the biotic fields attached to the slugs. ‘A bed is a lot of materials.’

‘Materials which we can afford to print,’ eject, replace. ‘There are already people who’ve said that they won’t be able to use up their quota of new materials and offered them up to people who need it. My rules are as long as the total amount of material we need doesn’t exceed the total allocated amount, I don’t mind.’ She holds the pistol with only her left hand and fires a shot. ‘I don’t want to waste anything so I think it’s good to ask you first.’

‘Then I need to ask Rhea too,’ he says before picking up a pistol and emptying all the slugs he can into the target’s forehead until the thermal clip overheats. ‘The bed is hers as well.’

‘Sure,’ Anchor fires a shot just to catch it midway with a strand of her biotics. ‘Give me an answer before tomorrow dinner. I want this done as soon as possible.’

Cronos nods and aims and then realises something. ‘Does it come with a new mattress?’

‘Of course.’

‘And blankets?’

‘Just go to the storage room and grab a few. Remember to wash them twice, though. Stars know how long they’ve been there.’

A plan starts formulating in his processors, and he can feel his face splitting into a grin. ‘Will the bed come in pieces?’

‘You don’t actually think we have a printer large enough to print a whole bed in its entirety, do you?’

‘Good.’ Then returns to his target despite his mind not being able to focus on it now.

‘You’re planning something.’

‘Just something for Rhea, Anchor. Completely harmless.’

Anchor snorts. ‘We are walking mini-nukes if we want to be, Cronos, even Rhea if pushed to her wit’s end.’ A shake of her head. ‘We’re never completely harmless.’

      Rhea blinks at him after his explanation even though he has already shared his processing power with her.

A new bed, she repeats. For us?

Yes, Cronos replies. We have the space. We will have the materials. We can build the frame together.

Rhea picks at a loose thread dangling from Cronos’ shirt with her free hand. What will happen to this one?

Chugged into the recycler just like everything else, maybe, he sends back with a shrug. We might even save some material by reusing this one’s, who knows?

Can I roll across the new bed?

It’s ours. We can do whatever we want. Just don’t break it.

Hmm. Rhea wriggles until half of her body is lying on top of Cronos’, after which she tilts her head up for a kiss he gladly indulges in by slowly coating every single surface of her mouth with his own analysis fluid using his tongue. Her whines make a certain part of him fill with thirium, Rhea starts grinding against it and sending waves of pleasure through both of them, and Cronos flips both of them over so that he is covering her body with his and is looming over her. Yes please, she tells him, and they get lost in each other for a while.

       Despite telling Anchor that he is going to assemble the new bed with Rhea, he knows it is very likely that he will have to either do it alone or ask someone to assist him due to the sheer size of some of the components. It can also be turned into a practise of his biotics, but he doesn’t want to hurt Rhea accidentally in case he loses control either. Disassembling the original bed is easy enough given his raw strength and the composition of its parts, though, and he is even allowed to chop some of the smaller pieces of the original frame into smaller blocks for Rhea to play with while the others - together with the now too-small mattress - are sent for recycling. He then goes to retrieve the components of the new frame after teaching Rhea to amuse herself by throwing the blocks around and is surprised to see a man he has never seen before waiting for him.

‘You’re Cronos, aren’t you?’ his body language is tense as if he is unused to situations like this. ‘Anna - Anchor - asked me to help you build your new bed. Everything’s printed out or shipped here; help me with them, can you?’

Cronos moves to help him load a particularly long plastisteel beam onto the trolley and notes the stripes on his sleeve. A member of the Council. ‘Is Anna Anchor’s real name?’

‘You can say so.’

An affirmative, then. ‘How about you?’ Cronos asks. ‘You know who I am but I don’t know who you are except that you’re in the Council.’

The man looks at his sleeves and lets out a small ‘ah.’ ‘Call me Elijah,’ he says and loads another box with a clank from the parts within. ‘Elijah Kamski, formerly known as Ilya Kaminski. Council member, traitor to the Alliance - according to some, at least.’

Cronos decides to carry the last box himself. With a cock of his head, he and Elijah begin their way back to his quarters. ‘I doubt you would be here if you had really been a traitor.’

Elijah chuckles. ‘Can’t argue with you on that.’

They return to Cronos’ quarters to Rhea sleepily pushing her new blocks around the space between her legs as her eyelids droop and her head nods every other second. Clearing the floor by giving it a biotic sweep, Elijah brings the package in and cuts through the wrapping with a crafting knife which came out of nowhere, and the mattress starts inflating itself upon coming into contact with air. They move it to the living room and lay Rhea down there, but after tugging her in and watching her squash her cheek against the pillow, she simply lies on her side and watches, with bright eyes, Elijah and Cronos set off to work. 

They bring everything in and scatter all the parts in sorted piles on the floor but Cronos is lost. He has no idea on how to start, nor does he think he has all the tools needed, and the human looks like he’s trying not to laugh when he looks at Elijah. Then he does. 

‘The Administrator programmed you to biotically charge at your mentor as an instinct but didn’t give you built-in construction manuals?’ A sigh and he sobers up instantly, wiping non-existent sweat away from his forehead with the back of his hand. ‘How typical of her.’

‘Are you implying that the Administrator is a violent individual?’

‘Not inherently,’ Elijah sighs and shakes his head. ‘Anyways, let’s get this done before bedtime, shall we?’

‘Do we even have enough tools to build it?’

‘Look at these,’ he says as he picks up a beam. ‘The welts at the end. They’re supposed to lock against each other. No nails, no tape, no glue. Just tension and good ancient engineering.’ He puts it back to its original place in the pile and calls up his omni-tool. ‘Now I swear the instructions are somewhere on the intranet…’

Cronos doesn’t have access to a lot of things due to his identity as an informal on-site personnel but he delves into the databases anyway, hitting numerous virtual walls where classified data is stored and is reasonably out of his reach. He could’ve overridden them if he wanted to, but something in his programming tells him that it is not worth it, so he merely retreats and waits for Elijah to finish the job for both of them. 

‘There,’ he announces when he finds it. ‘Level one classified, of course, because why not. Stick your hand into the hologram and it’ll transfer to you directly.’

The hologram flickers and blinks when Cronos does so, but he indeed obtains the blueprint and the construction manual in the span of no more than a few microseconds; with new information at hand, they at last start slotting pieces together into larger parts on their own before collectively deciding to put some of the bigger pieces together to complete the outer frame first, and the three of them - Cronos, Elijah, and Rhea who has climbed out of the nest of blankets and pillows and is sitting on the floor wrapped like a dumpling - stare at the hollow rectangle for a moment.

‘Are you certain it’s going to hold?’ asks Cronos. ‘It seems…’ he doesn’t know how to explain what he’s feeling.

‘It will be sturdy once the supports are added,’ the human replies in a reassuring tone. ‘Let’s get them in before it actually collapses.’

And so they hasten their effort and shoves the support beams in, Cronos nearly breaking one of them when he accidentally put too much force on it and Elijah nearly trapping himself between two beams when he very nearly places a piece which would have left him no way out, but somehow, despite their clumsiness and lack of experience, they manage to get the frame done in less than two hours in total, and they let out breathes they didn’t know they were holding in realisation.

Elijah meets Cronos’ eyes. ‘Mattress?’

‘Mattress.’

Turns out, their most difficult task is getting Rhea out of the nest she has made while they were still assembling the bed frame. No matter how much Cronos and Elijah coax, sweet-talk, or bribe with toys or food or kisses (from Cronos only), the most reaction they can get from her is a stretch of her body underneath the blankets and a few mischievous blinks that definitely does not stem from sleepiness. Time for an ultimatum.

‘If you don’t get up now, I’ll have to snatch you,’ Cronos says. ‘You know I can and I will.’

Rhea’s jaw cracks open in a yawn and then shakes her head. Very well.

‘Elijah, get ready to snatch the mattress away.’

‘Sure thing,’ the human answers with an incline of his head, and on a count of three, Cronos clams his arms around Rhea - together with all the blankets around her - and hefts her squirming body up as Elijah pulls the mattress and pillows away and drags them onto the bed with quick, agile movements that can only come from years of experience. He hops off the bed and brushes his hands together to relieve them of non-existent dust, and Cronos can finally throw both himself and Rhea - playfully, of course - against the supportive material with a bounce. 

Rhea melts against the mattress and him.

‘See, Rhea? That’s what you’ve been missing out on,’ he says as he shifts to give her more space to roll around. She keeps making these happy humming noises from her throat which makes his heart swell with happiness as well. ‘There’s a reason we don’t sleep on the floor.’

Rhea hums. With a lazy stretch, she rolled over for one last time before latching onto Cronos as tight as she can - which is not very tight at all, but he can give her the illusion that he is firmly in her grasp.

Elijah laughs and ruffles Cronos’ hair. ‘You guys look comfy.’

Rhea deactivates her skin and requests for an interface which Cronos gladly accepts. Waves of drowsiness and contentment crash into his system, and he has to set up a filter just so that he doesn’t slip right into sleep at the very moment.

‘Indeed.’

[mittensmorgul]

12.22:

Mary: It's not okay. Since I've been back, I know... I've been distant. Cold, even. Leaving you, working with them.. I was trying to make things right. Just from a distance, because.. being here with you was too hard. Seeing what I'd done to you and to Sam, I... Dean: Mom, what you did, the deal... everything that's happened since has made us who we are. And who we are? We kick ass. We save the world.

14.13:

SAM: Did you see them at dinner, the way they looked at each other? They just seemed happy, you know? It doesn’t feel fair to get all this and have to throw it away, and I know we have to. But it just feels like, you know… Once we send Dad back… it’s none of this ever happened. He – he just goes back to – to… to being Dad. DEAN: You saying you wish things would be different? SAM: Don’t you? Can you imagine – dad in the past, knowing then what he knows now? I… I think it would be nice. DEAN: Yeah. I used to think that, too. But, uh… I mean, look, we’ve been through some tough times. There’s no denying that. SAM: Yeah. DEAN: And for the longest time, I blamed Dad. I mean, hell, I blamed Mom, too, you know? I was angry. But say we could send Dad back knowing everything. Why stop there? Why not send him even further back and let some other poor sons of bitches save the world? But here’s the problem. Who does that make us? Would we be better off? Well, maybe. But I gotta be honest – I don’t know who that Dean Winchester is. And I’m good with who I am. I’m good with who you are. ‘Cause our lives – they’re ours. And maybe I’m just too damn old to want to change that.

but also:

12.23:

KELLY: God, please. I need help. SVEN [on phone]: I'm trying to help you, ma'am. KELLY: Are you, Sven? Because if you ask me if I have the quarter-inch Allen wrench one – one more time, I am going to come down there and burn your giant Viking junkyard of a store to the ground! Do you understand?! SVEN: Are you sure it wasn't in the box? KELLY: God! [she tosses the phone away in exasperation] CASTIEL: Kelly. I told you I'd put this together. I'm very good at following instructions. And you need to rest. KELLY: No, I don't. CASTIEL: Kelly – [Cas helps Kelly to her feet] KELLY: No, Cas, I don't. I can't. I don't know how long until... I don't know how long I have left. And I...I'm never gonna be able to teach him how to ride a bike or watch him get married or even look him in the eyes. But I can build him a stupid Swedish crib! I can do that. CASTIEL: Kelly, I know how hard this is. [Kelly gives Cas an incredulous look] That's a lie. I have no idea how hard this is for you. But I promise you... I will do everything. I will give my life for your son. And I will raise him. And I will make him someone you will be proud of.

(note that all their work on the nursery, all their preparations for Jack’s birth, building the crib and assuming they’d have a long road of raising a Smol Babby proved... to be a lie... everything they did was... pointless... in the end)

and 14.20:

JACK: You lied to me. CASTIEL: Jack. JACK: (yelling) You lied!

and

SAM: Well, it's like you said. (Chuckles) It's Celine Dion. Uh... I mean Celine Dion. It's Celi-- (Sam stammers) Dean, every time I try and say "Elvis," it comes out -- DEAN: The sad, horrible truth. Yeah. You know why? Because we can't lie.

and

MRS. KLINE: You lied to us. You said you worked with Kelly, but after you left, my husband and I, we made some calls, and no one knows who you are. JACK: I... I didn't.  MRS. KLINE: Yes, you did. Kelly's not away on some "secret mission." She... (Crying) They think she's dead. What did you do to my daughter?! (yelling) What did you do?!

and

DEAN: (looking at his phone) When people can't lie, the Internet gets real quiet.

and

WORKER #7 (in a singsong voice) I hate everyone! I hate everyone!  WORKER #5 (crying) I just want to be loved. WORKER #7: I hate everyone! I hate everyone!  OFF SCREEN: I just want a sweet life.  WORKERS #7: I hate everyone!  (Chuck and Castiel are watching the chaos) CHUCK: see, this is why people need to lie.  -I hate everyone! CHUCK: It's good. Keeps the peace, you know?

and

CASTIEL: Seems like an odd stance for...you.  CHUCK: Is it? I'm a writer. Lying's kind of what we do.

and

(Woman speaking Chinese dialect)- The state is a lie.

and

CAS: Can you fix it? CHUCK: (Sighs) Fine. (Snaps fingers) Fixed. SAM: Really? CHUCK: I'm God, Sam. Yeah, really. Go ahead. Try it out. DEAN:: Celine Dion rocks. Yeah. Yeah, we can lie again. CAS: And the rioting? CHUCK: Like it never happened.

and

CHUCK: Listen, you guys know me. I'm hands-off. I built the sandbox -- you play in it. You want to fight Leviathans? Cool. You got that. You want to go up against -- what was it? -- the "British Men of Letters"? Okay. Little weak, but okay. But when things get really bad, like the Apocalypse or the Other Apocalypse, that's when I have to step in. SAM: So you're saying Jack is Apocalyptic? CHUCK: The kid said, "Stop lying," and I don't know if you noticed, but the world kinda went insane.

and

SAM: So, Michael said that you create these worlds and you just toss them away like failed versions of some book.  CHUCK: And you believe him? SAM: Was he lying? Is that what you're doing to us? CHUCK: No. Sam... you and your brother, of all the Sams and Deans in all the multiverse, you're my favorite. You're just so interesting. I mean, like that thing that happened at the office earlier today -- that was crazy, right?

and

JACK: And I thought I could make the world a better place if people couldn't lie. CAS: Well, it didn't. JACK: It really didn't.

and

SAM: Wait. I thought Chuck said that the gun was the only thing that could... (indicating Jack, who is dead on the ground, eyes burned out) CAS: He's a writer. Writers lie.

and

BUT ALSO!

12.23:

SAM: Crowley...why did you do it? Save Lucifer– What did you want? CROWLEY: I wanted to win. I perverted mother's spell, put Lucifer in a vessel of my own making because I wanted to win. You have any idea how many people have made a play for my throne over the years? Lucifer, Abaddon, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Too damn many. I thought if I could put the Devil on a leash... my own personal nuke, no one would ever dare challenge me again. DEAN: Yeah. That worked out great. CROWLEY: All ended with me narrowly escaping death by hiding in a rat. MARY: Wait. In an...actual rat? CROWLEY: Wasn't too bad, really. Gave me time to think. You know, I've been focused for so long on keeping my job. Never realized I hate it. All those whining demons, the endless moan of damned souls, the paperwork! I mean, who wants that?

and

LUCIFER: Well... this is a fun surprise. I gotta hand it to you guys. You never give up, even when you should. Even when it would be so stupid not to. SAM: Look, whatever you're planning on doing, Chuck...God will stop you, just like he did last time. LUCIFER: You're right. What should I do? Oh, God! Don't strike me dead! Come on, Sam. You sound like a virgin in Jesus camp. "We can't. God is watching." No. Chuck "walked." He's gone. DEAN: So you're just gonna smash his toys? LUCIFER: Exactly. 'Cause every time I look at this sad trash fire of a world, you know what I keep thinking? I could do so much better. DEAN: So Apocalypse, take two. That's your plan? LUCIFER: When in doubt, go with the classics. That's what I always say. Well, boys, enough with the foreplay. Let's do this.

14.20

SAM: Do you watch us? When you're not here, are -- are you... watching us? CHUCK: Yeah. (Exhales deeply) I mean, you're my favorite show. SAM: Then why don't you do something? If I had your power -- CHUCK: Sam. We talked about this. Not the way it works. SAM: (Sighs) Wait a second. Why, when the chips are down, when the world is -- is failing, why does it always have to be on us?!  CHUCK: Because you're my guys. But right now, we need to focus on Jack. Ah, that kid. (Breathes deeply) Whew! SAM: Wait a second. You're scared of him.  CHUCK: Aren't you?

and

JACK: And you were right all along. I am a monster. SAM: (to Chuck) Do something. (he realizes with shock) You're enjoying this.  CHUCK: Shh.  (Dramatic music plays) (Dean cocks the gun. He looks Jack in the eye for several seconds and then slowly lowers the gun. At this point, Castiel also comes running towards the area) (Dean uncocks the gun and tosses it to the side) CHUCK: No. Pick it up! Pick it up.  DEAN: The hell, Chuck? CHUCK: This isn't how the story is supposed to end.  CAS: The story?  CHUCK: (frustrated) Lookit, the -- the -- the gathering storm, the gun, the -- the father killing his own son. This is Abraham and Isaac. This is epic! DEAN: Wait. What are you saying? SAM: He's saying he's been playing us. This whole time. CHUCK: Come on. SAM: Our entire lives. Mom, Dad -- everything. This is all you because you wrote it all, right? Because -- Because what? Because we're your favorite show? Because we're part of your story?

(because in the end Crowley’s spell did nothing, Cas’s self-sacrifice meant nothing, Lucifer’s destruction meant nothing because Michael wrought the same destruction as they were both trapped inside the same story and couldn’t even recognize themselves as Chuck’s characters who were just as “programmed” by Chuck as any of the angels who’d ever been subjected to Naomi’s reprogramming ever were... I mean they may have been partly right about Chuck, but they were still blind to the fact that even in their supposed “rebellion” they were always only ever Chuck’s pawns, enacting his favorite narrative for all time and unable to break free of it)

And the universe takes everything away from Sam and Dean again, and the beginning of another go-around of the narrative. Only this is the last go-around where Cas can be treated as someone that can be taken away from them and still continue to perform according to Chuck’s expectations within his story. This loss broke Dean. And Cas might not understand that yet, but it proved to the audience that Cas is integral to the Winchester Family. Chuck’s story can’t only revolve around Sam and Dean against the world. And by the end of 14.20, at least he’s learned that.

[wckdwinchesters]

Sweet One | (part one)?

Michael Langdon x fem reader.

Summary: you’ve survived the nuclear apocalypse and now you’re stuck in a bunker. you stumble across a book and you find out you have powers. You buried them but someone comes along and knows all about you and your secrets.

Warning: none.

Word count: 3716

A/N: This is my first time writing fanfic or however you want to call it and I know it extremely long. I really don’t know how it works that much but so please enjoy this mess and send me criticism so I could get better and tell me if I should continue it!

When I imagined the end of the world often I thought of the apocalypse or the sun swallowing the earth but mankind self-destructed itself and well I guess that says more about us.

 The end of the world was unexpected to say the least, one minute you’re working at your shitty job next you’re on a private jet plane with a bunch of rich assholes flying to an unknown location while watching bombs drop on the city. Honestly, when I looked out the window I felt nothing for those poor souls down there. We were killing our planet and someone just decided to pull the plug early.

 18 months

18 freaking months of eating plain food, following absurd rules, playing dress up in Victorian wear and being with the most spoiled self-entitled people left in the world. I think I probably would’ve been better off having my skin bubble off with the rest of humanity and I realize just now how entitled I was being, complaining about this when most of the world is dead or dying. I think the reason I’m so miserable is because of the company I’ve been in. I mean, a bunch of rich narcissistic people complaining every single day and I can’t connect with any of them because no one is like me.

 When the alerts went out I was at my job being an assistant to Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt. I was sitting in the waiting area of the hair salon waiting for her to be finished. I went up to her and said “It’s time for your daily health post.” she blurted out “So rude, can’t you see I’m getting my hair styled? Her stylist and also her only friend named Mr. Gallant whispered to her not subtly “fire her.” I rolled my eyes and sat next to her in the empty styling chair and said “Do you want me to post an old photo of you? I really like this one you took yesterday.”

I said turning the phone for her to see when an alert almost made me drop it. I turned the phone back to me when everyone phone started going off at the same time. I looked at the screen and back to Coco and Mr. Gallant then back to screen trying to see if it was a joke then Coco’s phone rang and her father’s voice came through very rough and laced with fear. She asked her dad what was happening and midway through her sentence he interrupted her and said “Coco listen to me carefully; the alert is true and there’s a private jet waiting to take you someplace safe! Go now and take what you need. I’d meet you but unfortunately, it’s too late for us, we love you, honey.” he said and pointed his camera at their family. They had gone to Hong Kong for vacation and apparently it was too late because the nuke was already there and the camera went dark. After that she did what she was told and went to the airport and convinced me to go with her and the only reason I said yes was because I felt for some reason, I couldn’t refuse. While we were boarding Coco’s best friend/hair dresser convinced her to let him and his grandma Evie go also since she still has tickets to spare and she agreed given that her husband couldn’t make it in time and by then it was too late and we were up in the air watching nukes hit the city.

  Coco surprisingly convinced Ms. Venable the person who ran the Outpost, the safe haven Coco’s dad was talking about to make me a Purple instead of a Gray. Which were the Elite and the Grays being basically the servants and I really didn’t care either way cause ever since the world ended I felt numb and it been that way for 18 months and I mostly kept to myself and distracted myself with reading or trying to learn new things like languages and I was picking them up rather fast in such a short time and it was weird cause I’ve never spoken or even seen most of these languages.

I found old books on the shelf and it seemed like dictionaries for dead languages like Aramaic, Latin or Ancient Greek and the other books were oddly weird because they had symbols and different languages in them but seemed oddly familiar, which was strange given I’ve never read or learned these languages but when I finally did learn some words I re-read the books and they said such weird things like incantations and spells. So, I’m guessing the boys school that occupied this bunker before had a dark secret and I just stumbled across one. The strange thing wasn’t the spell book in my hands, but it was the feeling of holding it that felt natural to me that was strange. I felt some part of me struggle to let loose and say the incantation but I felt another part of me trying to drown the other feeling. Turns out the part that wanted to let loose won this time and I tried saying the spell half-heartedly and nothing happened but then I tried again with more feeling into it and the room went dark and the fireplace started burning as bright as ever and I felt such a flush of pure power that I pushed a bit further and the fireplace blew out and I was knocked back by my own strength and just like that everything returned back to how it was and I was in a state of shock but also, amazement.

I felt pure energy rushing through my veins and it was the best I felt in a long time but something was still missing. I decided to not cast spells in my room anymore unless I wanted to burn down the whole Outpost and I guess that’d be the way to go but I didn’t want to be caught in my own destruction. My magic started developing on its own and growing fast that I had to hold back and restrain myself from doing something in front any of the others. It started out small like telekinesis and starting small fires anytime someone pissed me off, I had to excuse myself from the dining room and headed to my room to calm down then the strangest thing happened, I seemed to be in one place and suddenly appear in the other. I was walking down the hall and I just pictured me in bed and there I was. That’s when I started to really restrain myself to the point of pain because if someone finds out, they’d probably burn me at the stake and I survived a nuclear war and I wasn’t about to be burned alive by senseless pampered idiots. I only used my powers in my locked room but outside it felt like hell cause having to restrain myself to the point of pain everyday was torture.

 It was a normal night when Mr. Gallant just snapped and said “What are you going to do? Shoot us all?!” then started to talk about the incident that happened a week ago. There had a breach in the bunker and one of the residents got contaminated with radiation or that’s what they said and well let’s just say, I wouldn’t want to get on Ms. Venable bad side. That’s when the bunker alarm started going off just as Ms. Venable and Ms. Mead went up to Mr. Gallant. Ms. Mead was like her personal security guard and both her and Ms. Venable’s face were pure confusion and a bit of fear because we’d heard rumors of the other Outposts being overrun and she probably thought somebody came to finally blow out our candle but I didn’t feel that was the case cause when she went to check on the problem she dismissed us to our rooms and it wasn’t till the next day we would find out what the breach was.

 His name is Michael Langdon and is an Agent of the Cooperative. He gave off such a vibe but I couldn’t distinguish it. The others gave off vibes also and it ranged from blistering anger to utter despair and loneliness. But his was, I don’t know how to explain it but it was like he locked a cage around his emotions and didn’t let anyone see inside it. As Ms. Venable introduced him, his eyes slide around the room as if looking for something or someone then came to rest upon mine. I had to look away because I felt like he was trying to look inside me which sounds weird and was absurd to think he could do that but he felt different. As I made my way to the back of the room of the main room, he had started to talk in front of the fire pit in the middle of the room. His voice sounded rich and soothing like honey and was pleasing to listen to but I wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying but I did catch the words sanctuary and choosing who’s going. He was graceful and bewitching to look at and made my heart danced in my chest. I was perplexed on why I felt like this about a stranger and to be honest, I really didn’t care if I went or not. It was like trading a box of rotten red apples for a box of rotten green. Most of the people who were in Outpost weren’t good, honest people who could contribute something to humanity but the ones that were rich and spoiled enough to afford it and I felt like that was a waste.

 I had asked Coco what it was that he had said and apparently there’s a sanctuary with enough food for decades and the Cooperative sent Michael to choose which one of us come back with him to the safe haven now that Outpost is vulnerable to attacks and I just knew, I wouldn’t be chosen cause well I don’t have money or family name to open doors for me.

 Michael had been interviewing for half a week now, interviewing both Greys and Purples alike and I was the last to be interviewed.

 I had hesitated before I knocked. When I did the doors swung opened and he was dressed in black and he looked as handsome as the first day I saw him. I took him in, every detail from his long honey colored hair to the rings he wore on his hand. He hovered for a moment before motioning me to sit anywhere. I walked into the library and sat on a bench near the fireplace while Michael went to close the double doors that separated this room from the rest of the hallway. I sat there staring at him as he made his way over to sit across from me. The fire made his face and jawline appear sharper than it already was. I saw now that his eyes were like the sky after a storm beautiful and an angelic pure blue. They were alluring but dark like there was something hidden in them. I looked away because it felt the way when he first laid eyes on me. Like he was looking inside me and I didn’t know how to feel about that.

I stared at my hands on my lap for a while and I finally asked “Well, are you going to ask me something or are we going to keep being angsty and staring at each other before one of us dies of old age?” that made him grin a bit before he said “I know everything I need to know but I just want you to confirm it for me.” “And how would you know that if we’ve never spoken before? Did you look up my myspace page or something?” He laughed and said “The Cooperative does its research on its residents and I did my own digging.” I stared at him for a moment and replied with a teasing smile “You know how creepy that sounds right? I have nothing to hide anyways so ask away.”

I shifted in my long Lacey lavender dress and proceeded to stretch my legs out and waited for him to begin his questions. They started out simple. He asked my name and age and I replied “My name is (Y/N) and I’m 24.

He was talking again asking how I escaped the blast and what my old job was. His voice was soothing but firm, then he asked me something that had me taken aback and then he repeated the question like I didn’t hear it the first time. He had asked me, if I think any of these people deserved to live. I was confused not because of the question that wasn’t the thing that threw me off guard but the way he had asked it like it was the most normal question and I did nothing but stare at him not with confusion but with intrigue. He waited for my answer when I finally said “Well, it’s not up to me to decide that.” He said “Obviously, but I’d like to know your answer.” I shrugged and said “Are you trying to see if I’m loyal to these people? Cause if you are then your SOL. I’m only loyal to myself and I’m pretty sure if you ask anyone if they’d take a bullet for one another they’d probably tell you some bullshit about us being family to get you to take them to the sanctuary. This may look like a sweet place to live but you bet your ass these people would slit your throat to get something they wanted.” “And you wouldn’t do the same?”

I replied with a grin “I’d probably slit their throats just to get away from them, if I could get away with it.” I said with a chuckle to imply I was lying but I was actually being truthful. He had a smile on his face that made me think that I didn’t fool him. I wondered why he would ask a question like that and if I was the only person he asked it to. I got up to walk around the library and started tracing my finger on the bookcases and I still felt his gaze on me as I walked around the room. “I’m guessing this is where you spend most of your time.” “Better than being with those insufferable imbeciles talking about how much they miss shopping and the internet, I mean, it’s the end of the world what else could I do beside distract myself.”

I turned to look at him and he still had his eyes on me with pure curiosity but I was just wondering what he was thinking about because he looked deep in thought and he gave me a small smile. It made my heart fluttered so I gave him a small smile back and I almost didn’t notice that the fire behind him was burning brighter and I snapped out of that daze and restrained myself to the point of physical pain. He must have sensed something was wrong because I gripped one of the couches tight and he stood up to stand in front of me and I stood up straight and said I was fine and he questioned what was wrong and I replied with the same answer and he said “I can tell when people lie to me.” I gave him a small smile and said to him “It’s not a lie, it’s my truth.” I walked toward the fireplace again and I felt his gaze tracing me like a cold hand and I shivered a bit which was a bit odd being that I was standing in front of the fireplace. When I looked back over my shoulder up at him, his eyes were darkened with thought and just like that it was gone. I wondered to myself then said “Why? Why are you working for the Cooperative? Is it for survival? Why don’t you just take the sanctuary for yourself?”

He grinned at me and said “Are you suggesting I kill everyone left in the Cooperative? If you are then you are darker than I thought.” I scoffed at that and said “Dark? I’m not dark, I just rather keep to myself and not be associated with assholes.” I turned around the whole way and he was closer than before. He stood a few feet taller than me that I had to look up to see his face and he smelled like sweet roses and a light cologne.

  For months before the bombs dropped I felt out of place and different like something was missing but standing this close to Michael made me felt whole but I was as confused as in why since we’ve never met but it felt amazing to be in his presence but made me vulnerable because I couldn’t read him but I felt safe with him despite that. He was all cold and collected, some may have thought he was a robot or something and there were rumors and gossip which I took with a grain of salt but I could see now that he did have emotions but he kept them closely guarded. He whispered “Do you even care if you go to sanctuary or not?” I simply replied that I didn’t know because I didn’t and I rather someone choose for me because to be honest if I went there, I wouldn’t know what to do because what would happen to me if I slip up there?

I rather stay behind and kill whoever is left and be free to do what I want. I couldn’t believe I actually thought that but it was truly how I felt. and if Michael never came I’d probably would’ve snapped and killed everyone anyways. Michael presence made that dark part of me I tried to keep buried flourish and I liked how it felt. He made every part of me tingle. He lifted his hand and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and his hand lingered near my cheek and I closed my eyes and leaned into his touch and then that’s when the fireplace and candles burned hotter and brighter and the swell of power felt strong as he touched me.

I broke the connection between me and Michael. It felt stronger than anything I’ve ever felt and I didn’t really want to let him go. I was breathing hard and rushed to the door as I opened it Michael put a hand on it to stop it from opening any further and closed it and said “It’s okay, (Y/N). there’s no need to hide anymore, not from me.” I looked up at him in surprise and said “What are you talking about? I’m not hiding anything.” “Don’t lie to me. I saw and felt your power when I first laid eyes on you, darling.”

I stumbled back almost tripping on my own feet and dress. I leaned on the couch in front of the doors and whispered “I- don’t know what’s wrong with me, I can’t control it at times. Are you like me? how do you know?” he smirked at me and answered “I know many things and I know all about you, my sweet one.” The way he said it sounded eerily familiar and then I got such a bad headache that my vision blurred then I dropped to my knees and clutched my head and he rushed towards me and yelled my name and held me as darkness gripped the edges of my vision. I felt my lips say his name in a cry and then it was pure black.

When I woke up I was in different room, not the library but not my room either. My senses were slow to come back to me, the first one was smell and it smelled like roses. Before I came to, I had flashes of Michael with short hair and him smiling and the smell of roses. Michael was sitting at his desk staring at me in worry, I started to try to sit up when he came to help. “What happened to me? It felt like someone took a drill to my head.” Michael looked unnerved and fuming at the same time but he stiffened and said “What happened when you started getting a headache? What was going through your mind at that moment?” I sat up and said “those words you said made me think back but I felt like I hit a wall and my mind went through a shredder. Why did they sound so familiar like I heard them before?”

 Michael got up and started pacing the room and only looking once or twice towards me and I felt confused because he rarely displayed any emotions so I was a bit frayed. I was getting frustrated and was about to say something when he interrupts “I know what you’re going to say, ‘tell me what’s going on or else’ am I wrong?” “How did...” He finally stopped pacing and sat at the edge of the bed and said “Okay, what I’m going to tell you is going to sound insane but you have to believe me.” After a minute of silence after he told me, I was so shocked and felt so betrayed but it was like a missing piece came back and that some things finally made sense now. I don’t remember what I was doing before being employed by Coco. Not really. But what Michael just told me made me so livid that a nearby glass shattered. I put my head in my hands because I had such a flood of emotions then finally I looked up at Michael and moved close and placed my hands on his cheeks said gently “When I saw you, you made my heart throb so hard. I was scared cause I had no idea why I felt like that. Felt like there was a missing piece of me till I saw you.”

[arrghigiveup]

In which it is Seventh Month, and chat considers the effects of inflation in hell and sexting via joss paper

Arrgh: I sometimes wonder if hell has inflation.

Of-sevenseas: ?

Arrgh: considering the amount of money some of these people try to burn to their ancestors

Lazulisong: It does actually. The denominations have risen on the bills I read. I was reading up on Hell money the other day in case I wanted to make a joke about bribing Shen Wei

Moderndaypandora: it must be somebody other than ZYL making the joke, he'd just bribe him with his body

Lazulisong: Well ZYL does bribe messengers and workers. And Shen Wei can apparently interact with burnt offerings

Kitsunec4: And like 888 folded lotus flowers. And paper houses. And paper cars.

Arrgh: Paper iPhones too, which strikes me as completely hilarious. WAIT ZYL ABSOLUTELY BURNS SW AN IPHONE

Moderndaypandora: with a drawn on text from Ah Lan 😘😘?

Arrgh: YES

Moderndaypandora: the new way to send nudes

Moggiesandtea: ....yeah, he'd do that. Also probably a really fancy paper house with a fancy paper bed. He is subtle

Moderndaypandora: i'd just want to be a fly on the wall watching Shen Wei receive it

Arrgh: nonono no house. After all, SW should stay nowhere else other than with HIM

Moderndaypandora: lol Shen Wei: you should burn me a house, if you want to do such foolish things ZYL: that is the LAST thing i should burn ZYL would burn paper sex toys instead. Like "WE COULD BE USING THESE". This could be us but you playin'

Arrgh: ok, does he like print them off, or does he try to draw them (I don't want to know if paper sex toys can be bought)

Kitsunec4: Probably

Moderndaypandora: ok but imagine Da Qing getting dragged along on the quest to find out ZYL: we need to go buy paper offerings Da Qing: i can feel something terrible coming

Arrgh: Da Qing knows his terrible human very well

Moderndaypandora: Da Qing probably tried to make a break for it but got dragged into a cat carrier

Lazulisong: I'm sure he could draw a dildo easily tho. Or like, write it in cinnabar on joss paper. BY THE WAY IM STILL YELLING ABOUT THAT IDIOT SLEEPING WITH A FUCKING JAR OF UHHHHH MERCURY ON HIS BED Also still crying over Shen Wei being like omg!!! I get to write a letter!!! To ☆♡☆HIM☆♡☆~~~~ and Zhao being like why the fuck does heipao-ge write these long ass grandma letters

Arrgh: Speaking of, we know ZYL doesn't send letters, but you KNOW after the identity reveal and they finally get their shit together ZYL makes good use of that can of cinnabar to send SW all kinds of random shit

Lazulisong: Sexting via joss paper

Kitsunec4: A phrase I never realized could happen to be said

Arrgh: Lol I'm honestly surprised we haven't had this conversation before XD

Moderndaypandora: ZYL, the first time the thought occurs: oh my god i could have been doing this so much sooner

Of-sevenseas: Shen Wei, the first time this happens: ... of course he found a way to sext via joss paper

Moderndaypandora: Shen Wei: why am i even surprised?

Of-sevenseas: if he's sexting on joss paper, then it would be his handwriting. so actually Shen Wei is psyched to finally start his collection of handwritten notes from his beloved

Moderndaypandora: Shen Wei would meticulously save it

Of-sevenseas: even if they are the spiritual equivalent of dirty limericks

Moderndaypandora: "i thought about your sleeve garters while touching myself" "you should pull my hair next time i serve you" "wanna keep the glasses on?"

Lazulisong: "daddy babys been bad"

Moderndaypandora: "baby wants it harder tonight" and Shen Wei would take all these and preserve them with like, pressed flowers in a beautifully carved box

Ohbthr: What a perv 😂

Luna: It’d be more romantic if ZYL’s handwriting wasnt chicken scratch and SW had to squint to decipher it

Moderndaypandora: lol, Shen Wei sending back notes like "if i can't read it, we can't do it" to try and encourage neater handwriting

Arrgh: +squint. Squiiiiiint. BLUSHES BRIGHT RED+

Moderndaypandora: ZYL leaves a voicemail on the burned phone: then i'll just tell you what i want Shen Wei: clearly something new and different

Of-sevenseas: poor Da Qing or whoever is doing the budget that month. 'discretionary expense claims' suddenly become a lot more common

Lazulisong: I have this theory that Shen Wei is a big love letter thief and that's why hes mad Zhao Yunlan only texts

Of-sevenseas: question: does Shen Wei have seventy billion failed drafts of school reports and essays and work briefs in Yunlan's lamentable chicken scratch

Moderndaypandora: how many times are the sexts modern slang that Shen Wei needs to ask somebody about?

Of-sevenseas: too many

Moderndaypandora: lol after the second he stops asking

Arrgh: It's too late, there are rumours all over campus now

Moderndaypandora: ZYL would demand "for my birthday, i want a dirty text"

Lazulisong: He reluctantly learns how to use idk what urban dictionary in China is

Of-sevenseas: okay but his work firewall would nuke that from orbit so he can't google anything

Moderndaypandora: Shen Wei: highly euphemistic, amazing poetic phrase

Of-sevenseas: lord, please let him quote smtg from red mansions the dance of winds and rain, my foot

Moderndaypandora: lol it'd be hilarious if he decided to troll and went for "🍆?"

Moggiesandtea: But that could be interpreted as a reference to ZYL's prize winning eggplants

Luna: SW’s dirty texts would definitely be full of classical references

Lazulisong: Honestly Shen Wei would be like "youd better not be doing [innocuous but could be suggestive with the right mindset] when I get home" "Youd better not be wearing my clothes again" ":DDDDDDDDDD"

Moderndaypandora: ahhh, like waving a red flag in front of a bull. or placing a cup near a ledge while the cat is watching

Lazulisong: "a spanking! a spanking!!!"

Arrgh: Only person to be excited at the thought of pissing the Ghost Executioner off =D

Of-sevenseas: only person to get a sound fucking instead of instadeath if have pissed off the Ghost Executioner

[luca-corpse]

Heyo! I decided to share some old writing of mine with all of you! It’s kind of an apocalyptic story with some weird fantasy elements! Please note that all things contained in this are mine, and this is technically still my story though infinitely delayed!

Chapter 1

The Travellers

I always questioned the eye on my foot. Whenever I looked at my bare feet it always creeped me out. I blankly stared at me, not blinking as it was simply in a hole in my foot.

Doctors always questioned it, it wasn’t exactly a common occurrence. My dad insisted my parents named me Iris instead of the planned Izabella as soon as he saw the deformity. My mother shot him down, but the name stuck as a nickname.

The eye never hurt, I couldn’t see out of it, it was just... there, staring, it’s bright sclera and bright cyan hue standing out against my dark skin. I occasionally picked at it, I was even able to pop it out of it’s spot in my foot, a thick fleshy sting connecting it to the hole it laid in. I always put it back in fear that, even though it never bled when I popped the eye out, the hole might get infected.

Though, over time the eye stressed me out. Doctors made a fuss about it every time they saw it, and I hated the way it stared at me and the way it never blinked. It was fun doing staring contests against it when I was little, but as a 16 year old it was just plain creepy.

One day I decided I was done, I grabbed my nail scissors from their drawer in the bathroom and sat down on top of the counter and put my nails around the eye. I closed my eyes and pulled at the orb, it never hurt, but it always made me wince, hearing the squishy pop.

I grabbed at the string of flesh connecting the eye and my foot. I dug my nail into the flesh, it hurt a little, but I was willing to deal to get this creepy thing gone. I had the scissors open around the string, and I was seconds away from cutting the thing off... but I hesitated.

Something felt wrong about cutting it off. This always happened when I got close to cutting the thing off. I felt like something would happen if I did so. But I was done.

I cut the fleshy thread in one slice.

Nothing happened, no pain, no blood, nothing. All that happened was the eye bounced across the floor with a series of squishy splats.

I got off the counter and grabbed the eye, I finally was able to compare it to my own. I looked into the mirror and held the eye a few inches besides my own. I was sure to be careful to keep it from touching my black and gold curly locks.

It was much brighter than my eyes, a bright, almost ghostly blue compared to my more natural dark green. It was kind of creepy.

I grabbed my old tooth box from my childhood. I always left it on my bathroom counter, it brought back good memories of running into my dad’s room yelling about ‘loofin a toof!’ and listening him laugh and ask about if I’d lost it at 2:30. I quickly dropped the eye inside and shut it, locking away the neon food coloring blue peeper.

The rest of the day passed without much hassle, a lazy Saturday of browsing my phone and wanting to take a nap. I kept the eye close by, for some reason I wanted to just have it to remind myself it wasn’t attached to my body. I stayed up late into the night, before finally passing out on the couch.

I woke up suddenly. I didn’t know why, but I was up. I never woke up late at night. I grabbed my phone and checked the time. 12:32 AM. I went to bed at 1 in the morning, the hell was going on?

I got up and grabbed the eye, holding it close to my chest, something in me told me I’d need it. I slowly walked around my house, looking for... something.

There was a keyhole on the bathroom door. My bathroom door never had a keyhole, but even if it did, this keyhole was... odd. It was round, like a....

I grabbed the eye from the box, I slowly placed it in the hole, it stared at me, and after an uncomfortably long moment I heard a click, and the door creaked open.

The door opened to a darkness, it was pure black, the only thing visible being a door in the distance. I yanked the eye from the keyhole and moved forward with curiosity.

I was never good at thinking ahead.

As I went through the door it slammed behind me. I turned and tried to open the door, it didn’t open, there was no eye keyhole (eyehole?) this time.

My only option was forward. I sprinted through the darkness, the ground seemed to splash beneath me. I stumbled and fell against the door. I stood straight and reached for the knob. There was no keyhole this time.

I opened the door and walked through, only to find a city. A deserted city with thick air and the appearance of being abandoned for centuries. The inhabitants shuffled around, heads pointed towards the ground. Some looked up just to hiss in pain, and pointed their heads back down.

I only had three questions.

1. What was happening?

2. What is that in the distance?

And the most worrying,

3. Is it getting closer?

I quickly ran behind a building, careful to avoid any of the husks aimlessly shuffling about. I stared at the thing that drew closer. As it drew closer, it was something I didn’t expect.

“Hey, Uno, are you sure this garden was a good idea? It so far from base! And why couldn’t we bring Nuke or Ancient?” I heard a voice yell. It was fairly feminine and had a raspiness to it.

“Well, our hope is the garden can grow us food so we don’t have to rely on Being! It’s far from base so it hopefully can’t so easily connect it to us! And we didn’t bring any of the others as to not make as much noise!” Another feminine voice responded, it had much more energy behind it. So much for them being quiet.

As they got closer I couldn’t help but wonder why they weren’t like all the other’s here that wandered around with their heads to the ground.

When they finally got close enough to see I took in their appearances. One wore glasses while the other wore goggles, both had messy black hair with a few silver streaks. The one in glasses wore it long in a ponytail, while the other had it in a simple bob. The one with a bob wore a hole infested army jacket that was clearly meant for someone much larger and more muscular. They also wore messy and ripped jeans, and sneakers. The one with a ponytail wore a poncho that fluttered in the wind. They wore tall combat boots, tights, and gloves as well.

They slowly came to a stop on their motorcycle, which was being driven by the one with a bob. They both quickly got off and scurried away. The both looked to be in their late teens, 17, maybe 18.

I slowly followed after them, being slow as for them to not see me. The sand and dirt on the ground squished under my feet. It was hot and dry, I could only wonder when the last time it rained was.

After following their trail, I found them. I saw the two walking through a rough dirt garden, checking on tiny little sprouts. They all were yellow and dry.

“God damnit!”

“We’ve been watering you every day! What more do you want?”

They both began yelling at the plants, one sounded legitimately mad, while the other just sounded tired.

“Well, I mean, we’ve been sending Nuke. Who knows how much she’s been actually been watering them.” The one in the ponytail murmured and scratched their head.

“Yeah, why did Ancient say we should’ve sent Nuke.”

“He’s stupid.”

“Indeedy.”

I slowly walked out from behind the building where I was hiding. I felt unbearably hot in my pajamas that I fell asleep in, I didn’t know how those two wore such heavy clothing without burning alive.

The two turned around and went wide eyed. They both had chocolate brown eyes.

“Who’re you?” The one with the bob yelled.

“Uh, I’m-“ I didn’t trust them just yet, something was so weird about all of this.

“Wait wait wait! Don’t- don’t tell us! We’ll call you- ah- Noon! Noon, Noon, Noon!” The one with the bob cut off the silence.

“I- alright?” The one with the ponytail slowly added.

The one with the bob was bouncing on their feet, “Get over here Noon!”

I slowly walked over to the two, they towered over me, at least 5’ 9” compared to my 5’ 6”. The one in the ponytail was trying to calm down the one with the bob, who was clearly exited towards my presence.

“I’m Uno! Well, I go by Uno among the Travellers! The Travellers is the name of our gang! Oh I’m so happy to meet someone new! Nuke, Ancient, and all the others are sooooooo boring!” The one with the bob yelled, a stupid grin on their face stretched from ear to ear.

The one with the ponytail placed a hand on Uno’s shoulder, hold them down, “Calm down, Uno. Anyways, Noon, I’m Dos, Uno’s twin sister.”

“And I’m Dos’ twin brother!” Uno chimed in.

“She could probably guess, Uno.”

I quietly added, “Uh- call me a they please?”

Uno seemed even more excited, “Yaaaaayyyy! And enby pal! My trans buddy!”

Uno quickly shedded his coat and held it out to me, “Here! You look hot! It has ice in it so it’s super cold and nice!”

As I took the coat Dos grabbed my arm, and I flinched.

“Ah, sorry, I’m just gonna bring you back to our motorcycle so we can bring you back to our base. Trust me, you don’t want to be stranded and alone in the Dunes for long…. By the way, question; do you know how to drive?”

I nodded.

“Hey, I can drive perfectly well!” Uno yelled.

“No you can’t. Anyway, c’mon, Noon.”

It wasn’t long before we were zooming down the road, dodging cars and debris as I got a better view of the city. Dos had her arms wrapped around my waist, with Uno behind her.

Dos also had her face buried into my back, but based on Uno’s screams I think he was just pushing her into that position. Also based on the fact I could hear Dos yelling and cussing at her brother as we rode.

As we drove Uno occasionally screamed incomprehensible and hypocritical instructions at me.

“Left! Nononononono- Right! Wait, nonononono- Just get out of the city!”

But Dos was actually yelling real instructions into my back, so I just listened to her.

It was weird looking at the environment. It was barren and sandy, the sun never seemed to move. Mindless people just shuffled around in the city and even in the barren and empty wastelands. Some even had their faces buried into the ground as their legs twitched.

It was honestly just creepy.

Dos instructed me to stop at a corner store that had the sign sloppily drawn over with a backpack. Dos told me to pull up in the driveway, and stop near the entrance. In the driveway there was also a pickup truck and a tiny Jeep. Each had a backpack and initials sloppily drawn on the side. Though, the motorcycle didn’t have any such marking.

Before we even fully stopped Uno jumped off the motorcycle and Dos did the same. I pulled the cycle to a stop and climbed off.

Uno turned to me with a grin and simply asked, “What do ya think?”

The building was rundown, and generally looked like it shouldn’t have been standing, yet with the power of sheer luck it stayed strong. I could see figures inside and shelves filled with anything ranging from knives to actual jars full of literal eyes.

I slowly nodded and gave Uno a thumbs up and he somehow seemed to grin even wider, “C’mon! The others are inside! We have Nuke here for once, too! Perfect timing!”

Both him and Dos scurried inside, leaving me to carefully follow. This all was so surreal. The landscape, the way I got here, everything. I honestly wondered if something I ate today was laced with something seriously impressive.

As I entered a broken bell weakly ringed, and I was immediately hit with the beautiful sound of distorted mid-2010’s pop. Carly Rae Jepson weakly blasted on the speakers singing how you should call her maybe.

Many people sat around the corner store that had been turned into an impromptu base. Some seemed to be as young as twelve, a few others in their mid twenties. They ranged immensely despite there only being 5 or so in the building. A small Latino person with a side shave and a puffy dress, a large and pale man who was stacking boxes on shelves, even a tanned person with long hair who simply wore a tank top and short shorts.

Uno and Dos were going around hyping people up about my arrival, telling them about someone new joining them, and telling them to “find the others”. Because of course they’re more people in these 17 year-olds’ gang.

Quickly people gathered around asking me about my “eyehole” or where I came from. Some were trying to get the others to shut up and I firmly kept my mouth shut myself. Some were giving their names and genders, others were just repeating hi and probably hoping for answers.

“Heyyyyyy, leave the newbie alone. Don’t want someone to join me, I imagine,” someone spoke in a calm voice that almost seemed like a purr. It was the person in the tank top. They held a quill in their hands as they wrote in a scorched and scraped up journal.

“No one will join you Nuke!” I heard the little Latino person yell as they blew a raspberry.

“Don’t be mean Void,” someone with faded lime green hair chimed in, “She is our guest after all.” They wore punkish clothes that covered up cutesy Hello Kitty clothes that barely fit them.

“Hi?” I quietly asked.

“She speaks! We didn’t need another Radi!” Void squealed. They patted their left upper arm, “She will be missed.”

I heard pats from the rest of the group. I had no clue what that meant. Another oddity in this place.

“Anyway! Travellers! We have someone who is a fellow captor of the Dunes! We have dubbed them Noon! As they came at noon!” Uno yelled over the group.

“Uh, Uno, it’s always noon here?” The green haired person added.

“Shush. Anyways! We welcome them with wide arms into the Travellers! Of course only if-!”

“If they pass the test,” the rest of the travelers continued.

“Just get them in already! We found a Capsule on the edge of Seabed Chasm, it’s some grocery store!” The man who was stacking boxes earlier yelled. He had grey hair and was coated in hair and faint oil stains.

“Okay, fine. Their test will be to venture into a Capsule and successfully loot it without getting caught by the timebug or it’s loop victims! Okay! I’m done! Happy?” Uno yelled, which got responded with everyone cheering things like “No horrible speech!” (I think that was Dos) or “YAY CAPSULE!”(I think that was the little kid, Void.)

After Uno and Dos settled everyone down, they announced that everyone has to introduce themselves to me. Of course, this was taken as ‘Everyone, yell your name at the new person all at once.’

“No! One at a time, people! Uh…. Nuke! You go first!” Uno yelled over the crowd.

Everyone went quiet as Nuke stepped forward. They were the one in the tank top. They had sandy blonde hair and tanned skin. They held out a hand.

“Hello, Noon, I am called Nuke by these idiots. Pleasure to meet you.” They purred. From their voice and way of speaking she was clearly a woman.

From the way I’ve been hearing about her, she’s merely an outsider or guest who simply tags along. I lightly shook her hand and she simply walked away with a sway to her hips. Great, that kind of girl.

The little Latino person came up to me, pushing everyone else aside. Bouncing on the balls of their feet they waved with a ton of enthusiasm. They wore an oversized jacket and puffy dress, they looked no older than 13. “Hi! I’m Void! By the way, I’m not a girl! Call me they! Or it! I dunno, but I’m so happy to have someone new! Everyone tells me I’m annoying, so maybe you won’t think that, but in the end I guess that’s up to you. Anyway-!”

The person with the green hair rested a hand on their shoulder and cut them off, “They probably could guess, Void. Oh, and I’m Nucleic. Xe/Xem,” Xe held out a hand, which I took and shook. Xe definitely looked the most laid back of everyone, which was nice with how crazy everyone else seemed. Xe had the greenest hair I had ever seen on anyone. It had clearly faded from xem being here a while, but it still was bright. I couldn’t help but fight back a giggle at xyr bright shirt that read Friends Forever! in glittery yet faded bubble text.

Suddenly, someone else butted in, standing over everyone else, “Well! I’m Sandstorm. Not a pleasure to meet you, I honestly couldn’t care less.” It was the buff man who said it, he gave me a glare as he did so. I couldn’t help but notice the gaping hole on the back of his left hand, similar to my own where I removed the eye.

The eye! I quickly grabbed and lightly shook my box, hearing quiet squishy bouncing from inside. Good, something tells me I’m gonna need it,

An older person approached and tapped my shoulder. I turned around to get a better look at them. They were about 30, maybe even 40. They slowly began speaking. “I’m Ancient. Please excuse my younger companions. Void has hyperactivity issues, Sandstorm doesn’t understand being nice… and Nucleic does whatever xe does. No one knows what xe’s thinking, not even xem, I’m willing to bet,” Ancient laughed and continued, “Anyway, call me a he. Pleasure to meet you, Noon.”

Others came up to me and introduced themselves as well. There was Sclera who had platinum blond hair and an overkill attitude, beside her was Ruin who seemed to be very fatherly and kind. There was Drei who seemed incredibly tired, yet I could still tell she was trying her best. Finally there were Time and Bug, two lovers who basically hung off of each other, with Time refusing to let go of Bug’s arm, and Bug refusing to detach himself from his datemate’s side.

After everything was said and done with Uno and Dos basically dragged me to the back of the store and into a broom closet turned makeshift bedroom. It had two piles of blankets and pillows on top of a mattress that covered the whole floor. In one corner hung a sheet that covered the corner, and in the other was a large trunk that was filled to the brim with clothes and other necessities. Uno immediately ran to the chest and began sorting through everything making spare piles of pants, shirts, and boots, meanwhile Dos sat down and gestured for me to join her.

“So, welcome to the base of the Travellers. It’s kinda messy and thrown together, but it’s the best we could manage,” She laughed a little and pointed to Uno, “My brother over there insisted we settle in a corner store or something. So blame him for the mess.”

I decided now was the best time to ask questions, so I thought for a moment before stating one thing that should get me all the answers I need.

“Okay, what is going on here?”

“Oh, now you’re talking, but, yeah, we haven’t explained anything yet, have we? Well, it’s a long story….” Dos trailed off, seemingly lost in thought.

“Well, I’d rather get a lengthy explanation than no explanation at all,” I retorted.

“Well, in summary, you’re in a place me and Uno call the Dunes. It’s an alternate dimension from ours that can be accessed with special eyes. This place was hit with a bomb a long time ago and was devastated and many things got taken over by horribly mutated and even supernatural creatures. Anyone who enters here without their eye is trapped until they find theirs or a replacement,” Dos sighed, “That’s a good chunk of it.”

“Okay… that is still incredibly confusing?” I quietly added.

“Alternate dimension, disaster, giant time spiders, poisonous air, eyes. Does that make more sense?”

“Could you possibly reiterate on the third and fourth one?” I squeaked out.

“Okay, there are giant time bugs that make time loops, we call these timeloops Capsules, we usually raid them since they have food. And in some places there is poisonous air, we have collected masks for that. Don’t worry, it’s safe here,” she simply said. I was still confused and a little freaked out but I decided to just act like I knew what she meant.

As I nodded Uno sat down beside us with a large pile of clothes, “Well Noon! Time to dress you for the Dunes, we can’t have you in pajamas here!” He began holding up clothes asking for a yay or nay. We ended up going through the whole pile of clothes over the course of what felt like at least an hour. Dos and I made small talk while her brother dug through the clothes.

She ended up filling me in on more about this alternate reality. The longer she droned on the more I found myself actually believing this all could be real, no matter how surreal it sounded. She talked about the sun, how time never changed, how eyes worked, but what interested me most was one thing: Being.

“Oh? Being. It’s a creature that inhabits this place. It sells food and other things. It even steals eyes and sells them back. But for eyes it usually charges… human flesh,” She trailed off before continuing with a sorrowful look, “That’s how Bug lost his leg, he was trying to get an eye for Time.”

“Did it not work?” I simply asked. Time was still obviously here, so I was confused on why they hadn’t left.

“No it did, just many of us have a deal that if one of us leaves those closest to us are going to come with us. Since Bug didn’t have an eye, Time refused to leave,” She simply stated, “Uno and I have a similar deal.”

“Indeed we do!” Uno chimed in, “Even so, neither of us have an eye, so we couldn’t leave even if we wanted to! Right, Dos?”

Dos responded with a simple nod, before speaking, “No sibling left behind is what we said, so we’re not gonna leave each other behind, no matter how many fights and squabbles we get into.”

It was kind of sweet, they definitely were very strong to get along after being here for who knows how long.

Once we got through all the clothes we settled on a dirt stained button-up with ripped sleeves, some ripped and faded jeans, and a pair of tall and worn combat boots. It was simple, but practical for the rough environment.

As I grabbed the clothes, got up from my sitting position to go find a bathroom and change, Dos came up to me and handed me a belt covered in loops and pockets.

“It’s always good to have extra space to put and hide things, trust me.”

The bathroom was clearly not in a safe condition. Though, it was gender neutral, which I appreciated. The tiles were worn and some even cracked and filled with dirt. The mirrors were stained and fogged up by the humid weather, the air conditioning was bad in this building, but in the bathroom it was even worse.

I quickly got changed and rushed out of the dusty room, slightly relieved to not have to breathe in any more of whatever had collected in that bathroom. I liked the look of the outfit, simple and surprisingly cool, which I attributed to the ice which was inside bags in my jacket.

As soon as I peeked back into Uno and Dos’ room they both looked happy with my look. Uno basically squealed with joy and Dos gave a smile and thumbs up of approval.

They took me out to see everyone else and most of them seeming happy with their new member (Because at that point I could be counted as a member, right?). The only exceptions being Nuke, Sandstorm, and Drei, who looked bored, slightly angry, and tired respectively. From what I knew of them, I wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

The next while was honestly a blur, getting my stuff together for the night (Well, it’s never really night, but everyone was getting tired), and picking me out a room. Though, of course, there wasn’t enough room for everyone, so I got stuck in the same room as Void and Nucleic. It was better than it could be, but I felt like Void wasn’t going to let me sleep for a good while.

Void was really helpful in setting up my section of the area. We were stuck in a freezer that was clearly broken a long time ago. Nucleic even encouraged me to check that the door wasn’t locked and feel how warm the walls were to see it was safe. Apparently xe had the same worries when xe got here, I was a little surprised based on xyr calm attitude.

Before I knew it everything was ready, a pile of blankets and a couple ripped pillows that made for a semi comfortable place to rest. It was better than nothing, I guess.

It wasn’t long before the blasting pop music on the store’s speakers abruptly turned off, and Uno came over the mic, mumbling in a lazy voice, “Sleep.”

I looked to Nucleic and Void and they both gave similar looks that read ‘Yeah, he does that’. So I decided to take the hint and try to sleep.

It was surprisingly a good sleep despite the sun shining bright outside and the hard floor beneath me. But, eventually I was rudely awakened by Void who was yelling in my face.

“Hey! Let’s go fight some man eating spiders!”

[newstfionline]

Being a mother in Hawaii during 38 minutes of nuclear fear

By Allison Wallis, Washington Post, January 13, 2018

We knew there was a big swell coming in, so when the alarm blared on my phone at 8 a.m., my first sleepy thought was that we were flooding and needed to evacuate. It’s the waves, I thought drowsily. Then I read the notice on my phone.

“Emergency Alert BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”

We’re not really disaster preppers on Oahu. Most of us grab our hurricane provisions in a mad rush to Costco and Walmart in the days before a storm hits. And we have a long history of pulling together during crisis. Aloha is a state of mind, but it’s also shown through actions. Our sense of community, known as ohana, is strong. We all sink or swim together. So that was the excuse I’d given myself for not ensuring that we were prepared as a family to shelter in place during a nuclear strike. That and a big fat case of denial that the country I love has devolved to such a place.

I was home with my daughter, my service dog Pono, and Rosie the chinchilla, who belongs to my daughter, Abby. When I read the alarm, I jump out of bed and grab my glasses. I run to Abigail’s room. “Get up honey. You have to get up right now. Right now. Grab your pillow. Go to the bathroom. Turn on the tub and run it. Turn it off when it’s full. Sit in the corner. Wait for me. Be brave. I’ll be right there.” I give her a hug and a kiss and run off.

I run past Rosie in her huge cage and make a calculated decision that she won’t come into the bathroom with us. The cage wouldn’t fit and I wasn’t about to have a loose chinchilla running around during a nuclear disaster. I think about how my daughter would never trust me again if I tell her this. I shot Rosie a look of sympathy and went to search for the dog.

I run to the back yard. It was such a stunningly typical, beautiful Hawaiian morning. Blue sky and bird song.

“Brandon?” I try my husband on his cellphone but the line is dead. I send a text to tell him we love him and that we’d shelter in the bathroom. I pray he’s somewhere a missile wouldn’t go, and that wherever he was had thick walls and water. I grab my medications, quickly fill a jug of water, and run to drop it off and check on Abby.

“Mom? What’s happening?” She’s not crying, she’s pale, terrified, wide-eyed and wearing pajamas with cartoon characters on them. “Stay there baby. I’ll be right back.” Off again to find the dog. I grab chocolate bars that were sitting in a drawer on the way, thinking they’re quick calories.

I scan the house for Pono in a panic and realize he’s outside. I hesitate at the doorway, wondering what people would say if they learned I was nuked while trying to get the dog. I think of Dorothy chasing after Toto while the tornado is bearing down. Then I think of what a very good service dog he is, and how he wakes me up when I faint, and ran outside.

The neighborhood is silent.

Pono comes running when he hears the tone of my voice. When he sees Abby, he puts his head right next to her.

I grab pillows and quilts off the beds and run back to the bathroom. The tub is nearly overflowing because Abby is too scared to move and turn it off. I settle in next to my daughter and the dog, and see a text from my husband: “On my way home.” I write back, “No. Find a place to stay.” He had been on a rural road with no shelter on the way to town, so had turned around. “Be there in two minutes.”

I pray that whatever was about to hit us was going to take longer than two minutes.

I spread the quilt out on the floor, hand Abby a pillow, and calmly ask her if they talked about duck and cover in school. I realize that I don’t know much about duck and cover because I’m only 36 years old and I grew up in a world without nuclear threats. I fake the confidence and teach my fourth-grader how to pull her knees up to her chest, lean her head down into them and cover her neck with her arms.

“Mom, why are we doing this? Please? What’s going on?” We don’t talk about our president with our daughter very much. I don’t have many good things to say about him and I don’t want her to feel the pressure of very grown-up problems.

When she asks, I try to answer her judiciously. We have never discussed the fact that for the last year we have lived in a state under nuclear threat. “Well, honey, you know that sometimes countries pick fights with each other and that’s what a war is?” “Yeah …” “Well, our president has been picking a fight with another country and they have missiles. Do you know what a missile is?” She nods. “So we just got a warning that the other country sent a missile to Hawaii. Until our military can blow it up we need to shelter somewhere safe just in case.” Another nod. Another group hug with the dog. “Where’s daddy?” Abby asks, and I note that she never calls him daddy anymore. “On his way, baby. He’ll be here any minute.”

For the first time, I wonder why the civil defense sirens didn’t go off. We’re supposed to have sirens- the state has been testing them for the last two months. The fear I felt the first time I heard the nuke test siren, it turns out, is only a modicum of the fear I feel now, cowering in a bathroom with my child.

I berate myself for not having a go-bag ready, for not having a box of emergency supplies stored in the bathroom, in the cars, in my husband’s office. I pray that our failing to prepare won’t mean our deaths.

I let go of Abigail and tell her I need to check my phone. My browser is open to Twitter, so I refresh the page. I scroll past tweets about the missile alert in Hawaii. Warnings to seek shelter. Inappropriate jokes made out of stress. I refresh the page and see that Tulsi Gabbard tweeted that it was a false alarm. I keep scrolling because I need more evidence. Another tweet from Senator Schatz, who retweeted (and has since deleted?) something from a federal agency saying that it was a false alarm. I refresh again. Major news outlets and elected government figures are saying it’s a false alarm.

I hear my husband, Brandon, drive up, and I shakily stand. I tell Abigail to stay where she is and run out to Brandon and we hug. He doesn’t know it’s over yet and we’re both shaking. “I always thought if this happened I would be with my family,” he said later, as we were sitting outside decompressing.

We lead Abigail out of the bathroom, but we’re still uneasy. We live close to a firehouse and haven’t heard trucks go out on a single call. There has been no public response from our state or federal government. Twitter is our only source. “Is my friend still having her birthday party today?” Abigail asks.

Thirty minutes after the alert and still no all-clear. Thirty-five minutes. Finally, 38 minutes after the false alarm, we receive emergency text alerts stating the all-clear. It takes even longer for the state to send notices out over the radio and television. Both firetrucks leave, sirens blaring, on calls.

It’s only been a few hours, but the sense of unease is still there.

Brandon and I have decided to make emergency kits and go-bags and I’ll be researching how to buy iodine in bulk. We’ll have a conversation with Abby, and have drills as a family.

Not right now though.

Right now we’re sitting on the lanai, enjoying being together, dog snoring at our side, while our kid runs in and out of the yard, wearing a unicorn headband, helping her friend get ready for her birthday party.

[mydrcharacterblogs]

Rummie Pre-first game hype

The bar was dimly lit in soft yellow tones from various candles and lanterns, there were no windows and the door leading out was down a black painted hall,  so the outside world was muted. Inside smoke filled the room swirling around the dancing girls dressed in sequin and silk standing on top of small platforms like old coffee tables or milk crates covered in cloth. Men chewed on cigars and drank pungent spirits from recycled glass bottles some men watched the girls intensely and others paid them no mind as they played cards and laughed deep from jokes whispered among the tables. Some girls sat or layed across plush cushions and sofas covered in tacky paisley and floral prints. Back against the far wall was a long bar top counter with dirty mirrors and liquor bottles lining the wall behind it. Tassel beaded doors ended the wall on each side of the bar. Behind the bar a young girl was bent up over the counter taking an order from an older woman, her face was pale with flushed cheeks, blue and silver glitter framed her face as she smirked with a blue lipped smile. She took the tip the woman handed her, stuffed it into her top and poured her a cold shot of hooch. As the bartender turned to watch the girls, the door opened; light from outside cast down the black hallway and quickly vanished. A tall man with a hood on appeared in the doorway a faint red glow emitting from him. He lowered his hood, looked around and proceeded to the back towards the bar. The young bartender walked over to him lowering the scarf around her head.

“Hey, Welcome to Songbirds my name is Rummie, what can I get ya?”

“I’ll take a fire shot and a glass of water.”

Rummie grabs a bottle from the ice chest and a small glass and sets it down in front of the Iron. She then takes two bottles and flips one in her hand and gives the Iron a wink and pours them simultaneously into the glass. She then pulls a match, strikes it on the edge of the bar and lights his drink on fire. The Iron takes up the lit glass blows out the flame and shoots the drink back in one gulp.

“Another?” Rummie asks as she shakes the liquor bottle in her hand with a smile.

“Nah thanks, you do make a good drink i’ll admit.”. The Iron pulls out some money and places it on the table. “Do any Irons work here?” he asks looking around the room. “Nah, our last girl quit a few months back to go out East.” Rummie replies as she grabs a rag and starts drying off a rack of glasses. “How long have you been working here?”

“Oh me? I’ve been here almost three years, mostly bartending tho I only entertain select clients...If you’re looking for someone I can make a few suggestions…”

“Oh no, I’m not really looking for that kind of company.” The Iron replies as he smirks and takes a sip of his water.

“So what are you looking for...hmm I don’t think I caught your name?” Rummie leans over the bar and rests her head on her hand.

“Names Oz.”

“So you don’t go by” Rummie takes her hand and turns Oz’s face to the side. “7815?”

“No, not usually I only get called that when I’m in trouble.” Oz smirks and finishes off his glass of water. “You know what, I think I will have that second shot.” he says as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out some more notes. “Pour one for yourself too.”.

The two make their way over to a sitting area, another girl comes out from behind the beaded door and takes Rummies place tending the bar. Rummie opens a box and puts together hookah for the two to share, packing the hookah with a fruity smelling tobacco and a powder substance that shimmers in the candle light. The two talk about Rummie’s job bartending and how she loves to garden, how all of the liquor they sell at Songbirds she brews herself. Oz tells stories of the parties his old master threw and the ridiculous things purebloods do when they think no one is watching. They talked and laughed for hours, slowly passing the hookah back and forth. The room swam and Rummie felt fuzzy, Oz looked almost sober but the gleam in his eye gave way to the fact he was feeling warm as well.

“I haven’t had this good a time with someone outside of my faith in a while.” Oz says as he leans back in his seat looking up at the ceiling. “Oh, you’re a religious man are ya?” Rummie asks with a giggle in her voice.

“Actually I’m a Priest.” Rummie sits up and looks wide eyed, “No fucking shit?! My dad’s a Final Knight priest, what religion are you?”.

“Hedon, I follow the seven.” Oz says as he tilts his glass and gives a nod. “Oh dope, I’m all about living for today.” Rummie says with a wink.

“Well, if you weren’t here what would you be doing?” Oz asks.

“I don’t know maybe travel some, I used to travel a lot with my mom when I was younger, sometimes I miss it.”.

“Well I’m about to head out of Vegasia myself; do a bit of roaming and preaching with the Iron uprising going on they could use some welcoming faces and I need to be there for my people. I gotta say I’d love to have you accompany me, my parties would be wonderful if I got to serve your drinks.” Oz replied.

Rummie smiled “I’ve been here a while now, I would miss this place but I could use a change.”.

“We can come back whenever you’d like, I won’t hold ya hostage or anything.”.

The two headed up to Rummies room; the bed was made with a blue and grey quilt, milk crates where stacked on the opposite wall with folded clothes and random belongings stacked inside. Rummie pulled a black bag out from one of the crates and started packing some belongings, she pulled a grey knit scarf and a tall shiney pole out from behind a loose board in the wall.

The two made their way back downstairs, Rummie approached a tall thin woman with silver hair and a black dress and a short stocky man wearing a half buttoned shirt and multiple chains around his neck.

From a distance Oz could see a slice of anger in the eyes of the man and signs of upset in the corner of the woman’s lips. Rummie points over to Oz; the woman looks a bit relieved, and the man’s demeanor changes from angry to almost frightened. Rummie hugs the man and women and walks back over to Oz, as they head towards the door Rummie says her goodbyes to the girls and some of the regulars.

The tall thin woman from before approaches Rummie and hands her a stack of letters and papers and mouths “I’m sorry.” before hugging Rummie one last time and walking back towards the stocky man. She looks at the stack and notices an envelope with some cash, a few recipes Rummie made, some letters from her father, and a few letters from a name she didn’t recognize at first. ‘Johanna Rin Hunter’ Rummie thinks to herself, ‘My sister?’.

Oz and Rummie make their way outside, it’s dark but the streets are still busy. Oz mounts a bike parked outside of Songbirds and Rummie gets on the back.

The two drive off towards the outskirts of Vegasia and pull up to house with three men standing outside a couple Irons and a Retrograde. They give Oz a nod and look at Rummie and smile as the two head into the house. Inside were about another half dozen people drinking and playing cards. Rummie sits down and pulls the letter from her bag. Oz grabs two drinks and hands one to Rummie. The room is noisy as she tries to focus on the letter in her hand:

Dear Rummie, I don't know if Dad told you about me, or our other siblings. I'm JoHanna Rin (soon to be Hunter). We have a brother and sister, Wallace (or Wally) and Scarlett. We share a father, but not a mother, obviously. I wish I could have gotten to know you when we were kids. I'm getting married here soon, so I wanted to invite you to the wedding. You'd be able to meet my fiancé, William Hunter. Everyone just calls him Father Hunter though. We're Nuke Fam, like my mom was. I still follow a bit in Dad's footsteps, so that's how I was able to find where you were. Ya know, contacts and all that jazz. Let me know if you can make it. It's in Sanctuary, Kaintuck. Hopefully talk to you soon, JoHanna Rin

Dearest Rummie, It's after the wedding. I'm assuming you couldn't make it, or the letter didn't reach you in time. My sources say you're doing well, which makes me feel better. If you ever need anything, please come find me. Family means the world to me. William and I adopted a few people into our family. We have River, Engrave, Emery and Buttons. We also own a honey farm between Kaintuck and The Landing, so we go between those settlements often. We're pretty well off, so again, if you need anything, I'm here for you. With all my love, JoHanna Rin-Hunter

My Darling Sister, I haven't heard anything and it's been over a year since I sent my first letter, almost two this Spring. It's the Holly Days, so the cold is starting to bite up here. Again, my sources say you're fine, but it seems you might not be getting my letters. Or you don't want to talk to me. If not, I understand. Our family circumstances are a bit strange because of Dad, huh? Well, I'm here. I'll send another letter soon. We're moving The Landing to the old Fort Seymore. We still have the honey farm so traveling isn't very hard, though again, very cold. I hope everything is well. Please be safe. Love, your Oldest Sister JoHanna

It takes a moment for everything to sink in, the fact that Songbirds withheld these letters from her probably to keep her working there. Everything in the background fades out as Rummie drifts off imagining all the ways meeting her sister could go. A hand on her shoulder snaps her out of her daze.

“You ok there Rummie?” Oz asks in a soft tone. “Yea, but I think I need to head North and look for my sister.” Rummie looks over at Oz as he contemplates the idea. “Shouldn't be an issue, Iron Works are up that way I can make a few stops, actually sounds not so bad.”. The two clink their glasses together “North it is.” Oz says before he gulps down the remaining liquid in his cup, Oz stands up and walks over to the Retrograde and pulls him into the other room.

The next day Oz and Rummie throw their belongings into the back of an old truck owned by the Retrograde she had briefly met last night on the porch.

“Hensley is gonna get us a good distance up North. There's a temple about 10 hours from here that will keep us for as long as we need, after that it's up to us to go the rest of the way.” Hensley tips his hat and opens the drivers side door to get in.

“Sounds like an adventure.” Rummie replies as she flirtatiously bumps her shoulder into Oz's. They pile into the truck and it makes a loud backfiring noise as Hensley turns the ignition. “Well lets hope this makes it to the temple.” Oz says jokingly as him and Hensley exchange looks.