#and figured using light was the best way to 'repaint' a space without needing to paint it

[flammenxci]

New light for bathroom came in.

[whentherewerebicycles]

time for a HOUSE UPDATE!! sorry this is of interest to absolutely no one but me but I am aggressively nesting and must narrate the process (story of my life).

well I absolutely love my place and literally the only thing I would change about it is the four-foot 1970s-style overhang that juts out over the giant picture window in the living room, which means I only get bright indirect light and never direct light indoors even during the day. but honestly it’s livable and I imagine that soon there will be very little sunlight to speak of so it probably won’t matter all that much.

here’s what’s left in each room:

LIVING ROOM

I swatched three other colors on posterboard and will hang them up to look at throughout the week (including when the rain starts and I get my first taste of PNW winter). I would like to re-paint that room this weekend or next.

I need a TV console but they’re so expensive. I think I’ll keep putting it off a while longer.

two of the gallery wall pieces aren’t quite right but I’m going to wait till I repaint to fix

I could do something better with that plant corner but that feels like a winter project

the blinds need to be restrung but I might ask my parents to help me with that in November. ditto with installing the curtain rod.

everything else is perfect! the new recliner maybe isn’t the best fit in the space but omg it’s soooooo comfy and nice for reading or watching. and the cozy levels of the sectional area are absolutely off the charts omg the extra pillows & oversized throw I bought this weekend catapulted that part of the room to a new level. sooooooo good and so fun as a space for entertaining.

KITCHEN

all good for now. would love to put up a backsplash at some point (the whole area around the sink is just blah—too many shades of white and off-white) but that might be like, a year 2 project. it’s functional! switching up the orientation of the kitchen table + adding a plant cart made such a difference in that space. it’s way cozier!

HALF BATH & LAUNDRY ROOM

now these rooms are both going to be top candidates for a winter renovation project. I think they will be fun rooms to collect lots of Pinterest inspiration for—they’re small rooms so I feel like I can do something bold and fun in there with color and/or patterns. but for now they are functional and that’s all they need to be!

in the short term though I need to declutter the laundry room (might tackle that today)

DAYROOM/OFFICE

no idea why the paint is photographing like that please trust me it is still the most beautiful color imaginable

I still need to fix the standing desk but will probably give that task to my dad

I need to declutter and organize the big closet (currently my junk space). I bought a nicer dresser for my bedroom and I think I’m going to move the old dresser into the closet to use as an organized storage space. this will be a good weekend project—maybe even this weekend if I don’t paint.

I want to eventually transform this room into my cozy winter writing space. my goal is to figure out a good way to slightly partition off the room so that my office/work desk area feels visually separated from the couch area without making the room feel too cramped or segmented. right now I’m using that plant cart but I’m thinking I’ll eventually get a long low bookshelf (maybe waist-high) to put there so I can put a row of plants along the top and have book storage space on the bottom. I may also experiment with moving the tiger rug up here and getting a diff rug that’s a better match for the kitchen. tbd!!

I’m also going to hang the whiteboard, move Pip’s bed over to that corner so it’s hidden behind the partition, get rid of the IKEA chair in the far corner, move in a small little coffee table in front of the sofa, and get some throw pillows and blankets that actually work in that room. I may also put up curtains to pull that window area together a bit more.

I should really get a pullout couch or comfy futon for guests instead of the current beat-up sofa but I’m loath to spend lots of money on that room when I think that might be the nursery (or foster kid bedroom) within the next couple years depending on how things go. anyway it’s fine for now!

OH and crucially I gotta figure out the walls. I think instead of a gallery wall I may do shelves with leaning framed art + small objects like I had in my old living room. but first I have to figure out how the rest of the room will be arranged so I know what to center the shelves on. I think getting stuff on the walls will make this space feel more like an actual room and not just the place where I cram stuff that doesn’t have a home yet.

LITTLE LIBRARY

I adore this little room that is all lol

I need to finish scraping paint off the ceiling (it’s not hard it just takes some elbow grease)

I may want to get a little side table for my squirrel lamp + a little plant to go under the Rohan poster.

I want to get a small round rug but it’s not urgent! I also kinda have to decide if I want this to be a reading nook with a beanbag or small cozy chair or if I just want it to be a nice-looking open storage area.

oh and I need to organize my books at some point lol I just threw them on the shelves so I could get rid of the boxes

MY BEDROOM

this will be a winter project… it’s functional for now but it’s very bare bones. I am leaning towards doing a rich dark teal accent wall behind the bed and leaving the rest of the room white OR maybe doing a terracotta pink accent wall but we’ll see—I reallyyyyyyy don’t want to paint right now lol

I have two nightstands and a dresser coming this week so that should be a big upgrade to that room visually

I am going to buy a cheap new headboard to replace my cheap old headboard

for art… I think I may want to do a small gallery wall of fandom stuff (My Guys!) over the dresser in this little recessed area of the room—it’s visible from the bed but not from the hall so I think that’s a good compromise on Decorating Like An Adult and following my heart’s desire to plaster images of My Guys everywhere aha. for the rest of the room I think I need to do more Pinterest browsing for inspiration… maybe some bigger art pieces or maybe some shelves with plants or maybe something else who can say!! the space is perfectly usable right now and I can slowly acquire things & ideas to improve it.

[my-writings-and-musings]

I was wondering if you could do something with ambulon, possibly fluff? Love the imagines btw

Thank you for giving me an excuse to love on my favorite underappreciated boy. Also, thank you, I love all the inspiration!

The chipping paint was a sore point for Ambulon, like so many other things about himself, but unlike all his other unfortunate traits it was made so much worse by the simple fact that it was impossible to hide. Having an embarrassing altmode, the true reason for his name, even his past as a Decepticon... he could cover all that up no problem. But the constantly chipping paint job? No shielding that from anyone close enough to simply see him...

It was made worse by how often bots tried to offer tips; use a primer, pay for a proper redo, try some new sealant... He knows they mean well, but none of them know what they're talking about, not really. If it was that easy, did they really think he wouldn't have fixed it by now? The Decepticon purple paint underneath was just as fragmented as the medic coded red and white on top, and that wasn't going to be fixed by anything simple.

The truth was "Flaky Paint Syndrome" could have many causes despite manifesting as a single, embarrassing result, and while most bots had poor application or easily irritated mesh to blame, his problem was rooted in something far less corporeal.

He was anxious. Every hour of every day, something had him on edge, and the constant strain on his nerves resulted in chips of paint cracking away from his always agitated frame. It was lucky really, most bots as unsettled as he was developed spark static or overheated and warped joints, his constant buzz of disquiet just made him look somewhat sloppy. Such a personality probably made his occupation seem like a bad choice, but he was content to endure the struggle for the satisfaction of saving lives, and now that he was on the relatively stable Lost Light he was managing better than he had in a long time. Thus, he hadn't had any plans on changing his status quo anytime soon.

Until you had showed up.

He hadn't even met a human before you'd joined the crew, but even if he had, he never could have expected that you'd get tangled up in his life the way you did. Something about you had just... connected with him. Maybe it was the fact that you didn't make fun of him, either for his altmode or his appearance, and also hadn't judged him for his past... Not even the reason for his silly name had made you laugh! He just liked spending time with you, even if it was to do nothing in particular.

As a result of these feelings, a desire to impress you had formed, and he'd actually made an effort to keep up with his looks for a change. Granted, that meant daily repaints completely unaided and in secret, all in his room where he twisted and turned in a ridiculous effort to look good for the person who probably only saw him as a friend. Logic didn't play much of a role in feelings, however.

Of course, it was just his luck you'd walked in on him at this most embarrassing time for the kind of friendly visit he ordinarily would have been thrilled about.

The cry of surprise that had escaped him when the doors whooshed open was impressively high pitched for a bot of his size, but you'd probably been more focused on the paint his startled jump had sent spattering in all directions, though none of it had flown far enough to hit you by some miracle.

"Ambulon, are you okay?!" You shouted in alarm, seeing the flash of red but not his paintbrush and immediately thinking of blood. Though you knew bots bled glowing pink, the instinct to offer aid at the first impulse was just too hard to ignore. Without hesitation, you hurried to get to his side, only growing more concerned as he hid his hand behind his back. Even if this wasn't how you'd wanted your visit to go you cared far too much about the medic to be concerned about such petty things. "What's wrong? Where are you hurt?"

"Who? Me? Hurt?" He rushes in ongoing panic, backing up against a desk to put as much space between you and him as possible. Despite looking ridiculous backing away from someone as small as you, all he can think to do is hide his paintbrush in an effort to save his dignity. At least, what's left of his dignity as he sputters through an excuse made up on the spot. "I'm just, uh... You know..."

Painting a landscape? Applying color to his hab suite? Decorating his medical supplies!?

"Are you painting something?" You asked, moving your small body to catch a glimpse of a bot sized paintbrush in the hand he hadn't done a good enough job of hiding. You figuring out the problem actually seemed to make him panic more, and he twisted again to hide the offending object behind his back, looking down at you as if you'd just stumbled upon him burying a body.

"Of course not!" He said in a rush, lie falling apart when the thick application of bright red he'd applied to his chest dripped downwards from the force of his rapid twisting around. Cringing, he avoided your eyes like a criminal. It would be bad enough if you simply knew about his troubles in any level of detail, but to have personally seen his juvenile and ridiculous efforts to cover up his humiliating condition... Would it be too much to ask that he dissapear at this very moment?

"Ambulon, are you okay?"

Nope, he's not, he won't be ever again but it's very nice that you thought to ask-

"Seriously, look at me."

You're firm but not at all angry as you issue the command, starting to put the pieces together in a way that makes some sense. The medic has had paint troubles more or less his entire life, as you've heard, but they had started to dissapear right about when you showed up. Though you hadn't pried, it had been logical to assume he'd been fixing himself up. Regardless of the accuracy of your guess, however, you know that this bot needs help. As much as you care for him, you simply can't let him suffer needlessly. No matter how often he switches between seeking you out and avoiding you...

"I'm... I'm fine, I promise." He mumbles, feeling like a pitiful failure for not even thinking to lock his door. There's so much to be embarrassed by he doesn't even know where to begin being mortified, but it's obvious the fallout will be a spiral into further humiliation, so he still wants to stall. You'll laugh when you hear he's been fixing himself up in a ridiculous attempt to impress you, because of course it's absurd, and he'll never be able to show his face again...

"Why are you embarrassed about some paint? I figured bots touched themselves up every now and then." You said innocently, baffled as to why he'd react in such a way. Rodimus bragged about redoing his colors all the time, so you'd figured there were no issues in doing so. Was there some other reason this could be considered embarrassing? The only possible explanation required you to go on a bit of a limb, but for his sake you decided to chance it, gulping once before you hesitantly spoke up. "Did you do this for me? Have you been redoing the colors since I got here?"

Ambulon flinched, and you realized you'd hit the nail on the head.

"I'm sorry-"

"For what?" You asked incredulously, head swimming with emotions clustering to be felt first. There was surprise, giddy delight, bashfulness, and even confoundment at the idea you could be in this situation. A part of you wanted to celebrate, but there was still far too much to sort through at the moment. His look of hopelessness exemplified the problem.

"For being ridiculous! Look at me! Pretending if I touch up some rough patches, it'll actually do anything? Ha!" He said, giving voice to the unpleasant uncertainty that lurked just below the surface. Drowning in his insecurity, he frowned hard, the absurdity of what he'd been trying to do all but slapping him in the face. Forget the species difference, you were a vibrant and charming individual who deserved far better than he. What had he even been trying to do? The answer came out of him as he sunk down to the ground and let the brush fall, hugging his knees as the weight of it all pulled him down. "I wanted so badly to look good for you, I lost track of common sense..."

"But Ambulon-"

Unable to hear you, he kept right on going, lost in his own little fog of shame. "You weren't supposed to know... Nobody was supposed to know... But I blew it-"

"Ambulon!"

You couldn't take it any more. The heartbreaking sight of the bot you thought was so delightful tearing himself apart was too much. Ignoring any common sense, you put yourself out for his sake, opening up your heart in the hope that your own vulnerabilities might help him feel better. A tender hand on his own preceded a gentle expression of reasurance as you looked into his optics.

"I'm flattered you want to look your best for me, really. But it's not necessary." You said, suddenly aware that your heart was hammering as you prepared to confess. It was probably about time you cut to the chase, after spending these months bobbing along in uncertainty, but that didn't make it any less scary to be so open. Hopefully it would all end well... "I think you look fine just how you are."

Ambulon felt his processor go blank, and all that he could do was fall back on his usual attitude with a surprised retort. "But I'm a mess!"

You laughed, but not in the way he'd feared. It was a good natured, loving, laughing with him and not at him kind of sound. "I don't care about some paint chips now and then, you goof. Why do you think I'm here?" All of a sudden your fear seemed to be turning into confidence, the anxieties you'd created for yourself melting away as the truth came out. Seeing a towering alien laid low by your simple feelings definitely made it much easier to express them. "I wanted to see you, purple and red and all, because I like you."

Something clicked inside of him upon hearing those words. So much shame and fear dissolved in what felt like an instant, his optics pushing up with his cheeks as he smiled the biggest and happiest smile he could, optics brightening the whole while. It was what he'd wanted more than anything but feared he'd never receive. Unfurling his legs, he leaned down just a tad to get closer. Heedless to everything about himself that had bothered him so much, he spoke softly in return.

"I really like you too."

"I know." You replied softly, looking to the brush that had fallen to the floor and the paint still drying on his frame as an idea hatched in your head. The two of you had a lot to talk about, it seemed, and you had the perfect way to pass the time while doing so. "Now, how about I help you finish up? Don't want all this to go to waste."

Realizing what you were suggesting, he picked up a much smaller paintbrush and handed it to you, still smiling as he helped you onto his desk where the paints laid out for use.

"I'd like that."

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Conflict Resolution (baon)

Summary: Set after the events in 'Bedside Stories', Sans is the guy holding everything together. Mostly.

Tags:  Kustard, Background Spicyhoney, Established Relationships, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Violence, Injury, Betrayal

Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

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Read it on AO3

or

Read it here!

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It was kind of a shame that Red was so persnickety about anyone being in his living space, because hiring some professional housekeepers was about the only way his bedroom was ever going to share space with the word ‘clean’. There was always a clutter of dishes on the dresser, whose drawers always hung open, every one of ‘em more empty than not. The floor was more of a storage facility for dirty clothes than a place for walking, and the bed? Well. Sans’s learned some new curse words the last time Edge came over to take care of Red when he was boiling over with a fever, something something befouled and beshitted nightmare fuel, as Sans recalled.

The Edgelord always did have a way with words.

But Edge wasn’t gonna be able to offer a new turn of phrase today, not with his leg out of commission. That left Sans as the one to suck it up and get it done, and he brought fresh sheets over from his place, tossing the ragged ball of linens into the corner before he made up the bed. Papyrus would probably have a snarky thing or two to say about his hospital corners, but eh, right about now hospitality was more important than hospital, since he wasn’t about to get Red to go to one, anyway.

That’d been before he even headed over to Edge’s and Stretch’s to gather up his wayward bonefriend, before he knew he’d need to layer down about a dozen towels to sop up all that damn paint. As it was, he was probably going to be buying Paps some new sheets, if he didn’t want to endure an hour-long presentation on how to properly get stains out, Sans, are you paying attention, I spent a lot of time on this powerpoint!

Red’s hankering for privacy was currently taking one for the team in the form of the hulking Monster with a set of surprisingly delicate antennae who was currently leaning over him, the eerie glow of his healing magic lighting the room. Doc looked more than a little out of place, his nattily ironed shirt incongruous in comparison to the rumpled ones crumpled on the floor. But he’d hardly batted an eyelash when Sans showed up in his living room, only stepped right up and came along for a ride.

Not like Sans or Red had much of a choice about it. Had to bring in a ringer, ‘cause the hospital was off the table and if there was one thing Sans was shit at, it was healing. Edge was a little rough around the (heh) edges with it, but Sans never got the knack for it at all, an everloving shame because it do come in handy from time to time.

But if wishes were horses, there’d be a herd eating their way through the piles of weeds in their backyard. So Sans kept back, leaning against the wall next to an opened window smoking an unfiltered, and let the professionals handle it.

The once freshly-made bed looked like a murder scene and even knowing it was only paint didn’t make it look less disturbing. Sans kept watching anyway; Red wasn’t in any shape to keep a beady eye on the doc, so Sans would do it for him.

Seemed to take forever before the Doc leaned back with a sigh. “That’s all I can do for now, anything more will hurt more than it heals.”

Sans nodded. He knew that much about healing, anyway; you could only force the bones to knit so much before it took a turn in the other direction.

“thanks, buddy.” He crushed the barely smoldering butt out into an overflowing ashtray. The Doc didn't need a warning to keep this little incident under the table. He was old enough to know how this game was played and he wouldn’t be bringing it up during any others, not even when he was losing the latest round of checkers against old Gerson down at the corner store.

“No problem. I’ll stop by in two days to check, but the residual healing should carry him through. Now, I’m assuming you’d rather give me a lift home than have anyone see me coming out?” Doc shook his head with a grin as Sans held out a hand. “Don’t think so, you’ve fooled me once, twice, and three times a lady with that old rib-tickler.”

“heh, guess you already gave us a hand, you don’t need one of mine.” Sans tucked the whoopie cushion into his pocket and stretched out his arms, hands spread in a loose shrug. “okay, choose a spot to hang on and i’ll take you home. nothing below the belt, or i’ll have a bone to pick with ya.”

Shortcutting the Doc home and back only took a moment. Red hadn’t moved while he was gone, sprawled out mostly bare on the stained towels, sockets closed. Between the Doc and himself, they’d stripped Red down to his shorts. Some of the paint was scrubbed away but there was still plenty to go around. No way to clean him up any better without a long soak in a bathtub and a stiff brush, but that’d have to wait. The heater was already cranked up, both their bones appreciated it a little on the tropical side, especially ones as beat up and scarred as Red’s.

He’d had 1 HP coming in from Underfell, slowly ticking up to five on this side of the mirror, and some days it was hard not to think of that, tracing the ridged scars on his rib cage with tongue and teeth, wondering at how they hadn’t killed him. He had a coupla new ones now and the stark white blemishes would eventually fade to match the rest. Eventually.

Sans sat down next to Red, uncaring of the filthy towels and sheets, studying his face. Beneath his sockets looked deeply bruised, more bruises mottled around his freshly healed bones. He stank of oily paint and sour sweat, the smell of it practically baking out of him and a good excuse to leave the window open for a while longer. He looked asleep, should be asleep, but Sans knew better.

True to form, Red didn’t open his sockets as he asked, “did you find him?”

“right where you left him. bastard was kinda hard to miss.” Sans lit another cigarette, inhaled the smoke, then held it against Red’s mouth, letting him take a drag. He coughed it back out, rolling onto his side while Sans watched impassively, exhaling a nicotine-drained cloud of his own, “red paint, really? that’s not a pun so much as a bad fashion statement.”

Red rasped out a laugh, took another drag when Sans offered it. “best i could do. probably not too many would think to check that old storage shed in old new home. surprised he did, he ain’t that smart. must’ve figured out i was onto him somehow and was lookin’ for a decent hidyhole.” His sharp-toothed smile widened. “red paint. think they had it set aside cause they’d planned on repainting the school this summer. if i’d known it would offend your aesthetics, woulda aimed for the whitewash, but the universe has to have its jokes too, i guess.” He scratched at his healing ribs with a groan, until Sans swatted his hands away before he could undo all the work Doc just shoved into him. “fucker was a lot tougher than he looks. even harder to take down if i didn't want to dust him, ‘specially without paps.” Red’s sockets slit open, faded crimson peering out. “i ain’t bad with the control, but i was too pissed this time. fucker almost got them all killed.”

“yeah,” Sans agreed. For trying not to dust him, Red did plenty of damage. He’d pulled the security tapes, even a lonely storage shed had them, but they were next to useless. Too much magic flying around disrupted the recording. Probably for the best, Sans didn’t really need to see it. Hearing it was bad enough and he’d turned off the tape the first time he heard bone breaking with a sickening crack.

Their traitor had been bruised from ankle to eyebrow, or at least every part of him that wasn’t covered in paint. They’d found him right where Red left him before his hop/skip to the other side of town for some emergency healing, unconscious and still pinned to the wall with a seething fester of bones, HP slowly ticking downward with karmic retribution.

What Sans didn’t bother mentioning to Red was that his control was almost better than his own. He’d stood there too long looking at the unconscious fucker but seeing his own brother, hurt and so still in a hospital bed, a rage welling up from so deep it left him shaken.

He wondered with bitter humor what his therapist would think if he told her exactly what he was using her calming techniques for, breathing in through his nasal passage, out through his teeth, until that soul-deep rage turned into something manageable. She’d probably turn it around on him, get him to spill too much, more than he’d thought possible in that way she had. There was something to look forward to.

Truth be told, the anger was almost a relief. Something focused and real, better than his diffused fear and frustration whenever he looked at Paps, who was still in the hospital, doing better, yeah, better every day, but never should’ve been there to begin with.

Delayed reaction, maybe, or maybe only being face to unconscious face with the bastard who’d almost got his brother senselessly killed.

Red was never as oblivious as Sans might want, his gaze felt weighty and knowing as he asked, “what're they gonna do with him?”

“don't think it's been decided yet. normally treason is punishable by death," Sans said calmly, as if that wasn't a sentence usually carried out by the King's Judge. Asgore already knew he wasn’t taking on this one; he couldn’t, the idea of being impartial was laughable, obscene. "can't exactly have a trial. we don't need monsters or humans knowing that one of our own was spilling the beans to an extremist group of haters, trying to get all our ambassadors killed."

"yeah.” The world-weariness in that single word made Sans want to lean in closer, to touch, to hold, shit, he didn’t know. He didn’t have a chance, Red sighed and went on, “don't even know why he did it.”

“eh, jerry's always been a resentful piece of shit. edge recently transferred him down to the records department in the basement to work on his own, since there'd been some complaints about his attitude in his old department." Sans smiled thinly. "from what i hear, he threw some of that bitch stretch's way and our honey bun took it hard. that didn't go over real well with your bro."

“so what, he sold out his own kind because he's not happy with his job?" Red’s laugh was sharp enough to cut, if Sans let it.

“nope, he set them up because he's a piece of shit and don’t you forget it.” Sans’s eye light gleamed a brief flash of blue-yellow, filling the room, "i got a real good look at him and i ain't too keen on some of the ideas he had about others. coulda done without seeing his extended torture porn fantasies, for sure."

"yeah, go ahead and forget that shit. we do any torture porn, i expect the ideas to be original." Red’s sigh rattled through him, echoing that bone-deep weariness. “gonna have to figure out what to say to stretch, told him i’d let him know what went down.”

Sans raised a brow bone. Interesting. “you’re gonna tell him all this?”

“fuck, no,” Red said scornfully. “didn’t make no promises. just need a good cover story.” He slanted Sans an amused look. “makes two of us. you gonna tell me how you found me? i only sent you all directions to find our turncoat.”

Sans shrugged. “eh, it was easy. the tracker i stuck on you at the hospital started beeping when you were in range. i was already headed to the storage shed before your text, only had to switch gears when the location updated.”

The flutter of outrage across Red’s expression was a deliciously filling meal. “where the fuck did you—“

“please, hypocrite, the three you have on me aren’t just for show and i know it,” Sans yawned. “but if you can find ‘em, you’re welcome to take ‘em off. if. and we wouldn’t need a cover story at all if you’da come here to begin with, but noooo, you had to go fuck up your bro’s kitchen.”

Red only grinned, unashamed. “sorry, i was kinda flying on pure instinct, trying not to dust and all. sides, like you can fuckin’ heal? stretch kinda feels like getting smacked upside the soul when he does it, but at least he can.” The gleaming humor on his face faded, icing over. “you talk to asgore, you tell him solitary confinement is a better punishment. anything else is too good for that piece of shit. death ends it all and beatin’s gotta stop sometime. thoughts can go for an eternity and with a nice slot of attempted murders and two successful ones, i ain’t feelin’ charitable. he can think about it all for a nice, long time.”

Sans wasn’t feeling particularly philanthropic himself, but he only nodded agreeably. All his rage was burned off for the time being, burnt out in the harsh blurt of fear when he’d first seen Red cradled in his brother’s arms, before anyone saw Sans was there. He’d tamped it back down pretty fast, obviously Red was all right if his bro wasn’t sweeping him off the floor, but now he only felt exhausted. Emptied. Tomorrow he could work up something else to feel.

They sat together smoking for a time, only the sound of exhales and the occasional clack of phalanges as they traded the butt back and forth. Right about the time Sans was about to suggest Red give sleeping it off a try, Red spoke up again, gruffly.

“almost forgot. here.”

Where he pulled it from, Sans wasn’t sure, At first he didn’t even know what it was. Sure the light jangle of a buckle registered as it dropped into his lap, but it still took a minute to filter through his weary mind. Sans slowly picked it up, turning it over in his hands. A collar.

It was made of a narrow strip of plain black leather, the inside lined with a soft, velvety material in a shade of deep crimson. Simple, practical, for the most part. Until you hit the buckle and that was something else entirely; intricately wrought, etched with delicate scrollwork and in the shape of a heart. A soul.

Huh. Looked like he had room for another emotion today, after all.

Sans glanced at Red, but his sockets were carefully closed and so was his expression, puckered tight as Blue’s asshole, if he’d had one.

“you romantic, you.” Sans tossed it back into Red’s lap, the buckle clacking against his femur. He hoped it stung. “don’t think so.” He could feel the tension rise in Red, even though they weren’t touching, hovering over him like a midnight ghost, and let it strain for a moment before he added, “once you can sit up and put it on me yourself, then we’ll go there.”

“heh.” With one word, that tension dissolved. Red managed to get up on one elbow, and his grin was all jagged teeth, devouring. “c’mere.”

Sans leaned in, a little, but didn’t make it easy for him, made Red scootch in closer, nudging Sans’s chin up so he could reach. The rasp of velvet-softened leather circling his throat was an unknown quantity, and so was the coolness of the buckle, setting against his bones. He swallowed, felt the collar rise and fall against his cervical vertebra. The unfamiliar weight seemed heavier than possible, but eh, made sense. There was a lot more to it than the physical mass, now wasn’t there.

Certainly Red’s gaze had a weight of its own, resting on that thin strip of leather with hot intensity. “that what you wanted?”

“been wanting it.” he wasn’t ashamed to say it, happy to be safely selfish for once. “took you long enough, icebergs would win a race against your smooth moves.”

That heat leapt higher, crimson eye lights briefly sparkling like a gimcrack kiddie firework. Something might’ve come of it if Red hadn’t already had the shit beat out of him earlier. That heat only lingered a minute before it flickered out, faded, and Red sank back onto the mattress with a groan. He didn’t move when Sans shifted to lay next to him, uncaring of the still tacky paint smears surrounding them as he dragged up the ruined blankets.

His scoff was hoarse, thin, as Red said, “you takin’ a nap? you’ve got a ton of shit to do out there.”

Like Sans couldn’t hear the plea beneath it? He knew Red too well now; Red’d made a mistake, tipped his hand, and now that Sans knew his cards, he wasn’t about to fold.

He settled a hand on Red’s rib cage, fingers tracing over scars, old and new. “we’ve got an entire team handling it. shut up and go to sleep.”

Red’s ribs rose and fell with his rough chuckle, but it evened out quickly, fading into slow, even breaths as he took his orders. Sans slid a little closer, until they were pressed together from shoulder to femur. Not enough, but it’d do for now.

Once Red was out, Sans reached up to touch that buckle where it was nestled against his throat and already warmed by his body heat. He traced the shape of it for a long time.

Shit to do, yeah, Sans had plenty of it. Like right now, it was time to start waiting for Red to wake up, but that was fine.

Sans was patient.

-finis-

[scripted-dalliances]

Rest In Peace: Chapter Eleven

Title: Rest In Peace

Chapter: 11

Summary: A part of Faithless Fairy Tale, a more in depth look at how they brought Laura back to life. Appearance of old faces, creation of new ones and if you’re looking for canon, it left a long, long time ago. If you squint you might be able to see some pieces from the book.

“Only after disaster can we be resurrected. It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything. Nothing is static, everything is evolving, everything is falling apart.” -Chuck Palahniuk

+

To rewrite a story, to un-tell a tale, to take back the life of a story; sometimes you have to go back to the beginning.

It’s the hardest thing really, to unravel and undo. It's unnatural in its own right, an act of destruction. A murder of innocent poses that have done nothing but filled up the space, to be a lesson or a comfort. Each word, each letter carefully crafted by eons of combined hearts, mouths and minds. There are layered meanings in these words, history in the named and moments and that is why they can hurt. Why they can topple empires and whole worlds.

How they can take a life. How they can bring one back.

Once upon a time, only a God could rewrite a story.

Nephthys is old enough to recall when the world understood that. Old enough to have forgotten when it changed. When it became easier drawing blood from stone, than to change a story.

She knew that it was not the words that had changed, but the people. Their hearts had became colder and heavier, words had to work twice as hard to pierce it.

To change it.

Nephthys pulls her gaze from the sea of grass fields to the driver, to Laura Moon, Laura McCabe. A once pretty girl, dead with a heart so heavy it's a wonder she moves at all.

Let alone dragged herself out of a grave.

Back in the day, this would have been enough to earn her a new story. One made by her own glory, a testament to her will. 

She would have been repainted with kindness and generosity, of a woman wrongly murdered, left behind but reunited nevertheless with her grieving husband. 

Because of love, fate or luck. In a good story, they are one in the same.

If there is any justice left in the world, Laura will have her re-telling, she is owed far more than just her life back. If it was up to her, Nephthys would take her hand, kiss her cheeks and call her sister. What other gods could so intimately know death and the life that could be after? What other woman could understand the shadows, casted by chaos and otherwise?

If Nephthys could have had her way, Laura Moon would be hers.

“What's your sister like?” Laura questions in the dark. The hour unknown, but the moon is high and the road empty. Somewhere in the distance Mad Sweeney and her brother relieve themselves. “And don't bullshit me. I have a sister, and she annoyed the hell out of me. First words I would use to describe her is uppity bitch, followed by crazy and addicted to pastels.”

In the embrace of moonlight, Nephthys smiles slowly. There is a complicated understanding between sisters naturally. God or mortal. To know and love, to hate and hold afar because they are so like and unlike you.

Only sisters understand sisters.

“She will not be what you think.” She replies, leaning back. “Stories and history will always paint her as a wife first and a mother second. Few remember who she is without them, but if I had to sum her up…” She pauses to really give it thought before answering. “She is strong. In heart and kindness. Of course she has shades of dark, not one of us is built without it…she can be stubborn. Over protective. A trickster too.”

“A trickster?”

Nephthys chuckles softly, “I told you, she would not be what you imagine. Yes, she loves a good trick. Really loves those, what are they called? Not game shows…prank ones? Punk'd was a favorite of her's for a long time.”

“What? Really?”

The dead girl does not believe her, she can tell by the tone of her voice.

“She used to play such games on our brother. Before he left us. Always tricking or scaring him to tell the truth. I think it reminded her of those days…”

Silence envelops her slowly. She becomes aware of all that she has lost and what she could still stand to lose. There is a storm, a war and all of it will end with more than just thunder and rain. There are new stories being written, and she is unsure if she has a place in them.

Its been a long time since anyone has looked to her for guidance. Laura is probably the last, and her heart breaks for that fact.

“Can I share a secret, Laura McCabe?”

The dead girl blinks her milky eyes, a reflection in the rear view mirror. There is hunger there, for life and knowledge but also an ocean's worth of pain. This girl was starved by the world, long before the rot set in, she was bones and bitterness. Strung together by razor thin trust and hope.

Those things are even sharper now, haven been broken too many times.

“Yeah, go ahead. I'm told the dead keep the best secrets.”

“The right ones do.” Nephthys agrees, “My secret is this, Laura McCabe. You were meant for this. Not this way, with messy Norse gods and war. Not crawling out of your grave and roaming the world with rotted hands and feet...but your spirit has traveled this road before, and it will guide you through this darkness just as it has time and time again. Your end was not nothingness. It was to be a return. You always come back.”

“That's not what Anubis said.” She whispers, voice softer than a lover's kiss. Here in the dark, with just each other, Laura peels back the stone layer around her dead heart and allows Nephthys a glimpse at the young girl she is.

She is lost, so very lost, but she continues and Nephthys own heart aches. 

“He was angry. You did not allow him to do his job.” She chastises lightly, “We are not without faults, remember? Even gods can be petty and vindictive.”

This makes the dead girl laugh, “Oh, yeah. Don't need to tell me twice.” Her voice is less gentle, like grave dirt is still trapped in her throat. Like she's trying to push it out with will alone. “What do you mean. My spirit has traveled this road before? No riddles, please. I'm too dead to appreciate them.”

From the corner of her golden eyes, she catches the returning figures of the men. She does not have a lot of time left to explain.

“The best stories never die, Laura. They just get retold. The names change, the place and time. The little details get lost along the way, but the core. The spirit. It nestles in there like a seed in winter. Warm within mother earth until it's time to be told again, and that is what you are now. A seedling of a story with ripped out pages like mangled roots, that no one can recall the ending of. In many cases, this would be the end. A terrible and unjust one. Another story lost, like so many. I would have mourned it.”

Laura places her hand across her chest.

“What changed it? What's the difference, then, how am I different from all the others?” She questions.

Nephthys sighs, “I do not know.”

The car doors open, and Horus flies into her arms once more. She breathes him in, crushes him into an embrace and privately sends out another thank you to Laura with all her heart. She does not know what she has given back to them, and probably never will, but that doesn't mean Nephthys is ungrateful.

“I wish you luck, Laura McCabe. Whatever happens, between here and after.”

In the front passenger side, the tall red headed Leprechaun chuckles darkly, while lighting up a pre-rolled joint. “Aye, she's got all the luck she'll ever fuckin' need.” He says it bitterly, and there's something she's missing between those words. Still, she is not a blind woman.

Perhaps that's the other piece of the puzzle, maybe her spirit has finally found what it's been looking for all this time.

Maybe her roots have finally found a home.

+

“Are you fucking kidding me.” Laura says when she steps out of the car. 

Standing and looking up at her old place of work. The casino she worked in for years, and ultimately lead to her death in a round about way. It was the place she met Shadow, it was the place she tried to rob and failed.

Nephthys stepped up next to her, still holding hands with Horus. “To rewrite anything, it is best to start at the beginning.” She explains, and taking up position of leader to guide them as they headed around to the back of the casino. She can tell Mad Sweeney and Laura are nervous, for many reasons, but it is obvious that the biggest concern is having anyone recognize a dead woman walking.

“Think we could hurry this up? Do the bitchin' inside at least?” He snaps, briskly stepping forward only to pause for Laura anyways. Nephthys notices his hovering, even if he doesn't. It's sweet, if completely unnecessary and if judging by Laura's scowl, unwanted.

With Horus at her side, Nephthys merely starts to climb the stairs to the upstairs of the casino, where the more managerial side of things happen. From here, it's harder to hear the people and the music. The only noise that gets through is the hum of air conditioners on full blast and the occasional lucky winner.

Their arrival has been expected, she can tell by the lack of personal at the front and the single guard at the main door. A built fellow, who nods in her direction and wordlessly opens the door for them.

If Mad Sweeney and Laura are expecting some grand entrance of her sister goddess, they don't get it.

Isis sweeps across the room like a blur of white. Her single focus being the return of her lost child, her son.

Horus meets her half way, wrapping his mother up in a wide spread of his arms like wings. Isis sheds her tears in the hollow of his throat, the words of their emotional meeting are muffled and lost to his skin but it doesn’t matter. They are reunited.

Nephthys has never truly bore any child in her body, but even she can feel their bond, and understands this is two pieces of one heart rejoining. How it radiates between the pair like a golden sun of their own creation. Their love for each other has always been powerful.

Its not always perfect, they are so similar they are bound to clash. Isis is still a mother, ready to tear the world asunder for him. To make a place for him, to make it safe.

Horus is still a young man at heart. He still has restless bones that hunger for unknown glories. He still wants to earn his place.

“Mother.” Horus greets with clear affection and just a hint of pain. Heartbreak for the years they've spent apart because of his madness.

“Son,” She replies in the same manner. She touches his cheek and places a kiss on each of his cheekbones with reverence before turning to greet the other missing relative. “Sister.”

Nephthys goes to them, a hand on Horus's shoulder the other to link her fingers with her sister's. “I've missed you.” She admits. New York had been wonderful, she had flourished but she had never forgotten her roots. 

This is where her story always starts, hand in hand with her sister. Let the storms and rain come, let the war raid everything that was and would be; Nephthys is no longer afraid, they can not take this from her.

She is home.

>

[fictionalnormalcy]

The Boy with a Strange Name Ch. 1

Modern Day HTTYD AU

Blurb: Living in practically every city in the Archipelago. Dad tells me that Berk seems to be the place to stay. New high school, old bully, actually making friends, but my unknown secrets are bound to catch up to me. It seems to me...that this move is going to be one of the most hectic I've had in 16 years of life. (Mix of book & movie univ.)

Welcome to Berk

" Son, you need to get a move on. You'll have time to greet the neighbors another day."

He glanced back at his father, adjusting the two boxes he held in his arms. The street was quiet, and the only people he could see were on the other end of the block, conversing in murmurs. Arriving a little after noon, he could guess why there weren't many cars scattered around the block. If there were any other kids living on this block, they were in school. He turned away from the sidewalk, and faced the home that was going to be his twelfth residence.

" Dad, I don't see why you had to get such a big house. That house looks like 5 people could live there and there would still be spare space."

" It's the family home Hiccup. Been in the Haddock's possession for generations."

" Than why haven't we lived in the family home?"

" You know the answer to that."

" Yeah I do, but why all over the Archipelago but Berk?"

" My job means travel Hiccup. I do however, have some good news for you. I can say this will be our permanent stay."

" Let me guess." Hiccup blew away the bangs over his eyes as he walked past his father. " We move any more and we lose the house."

He didn't need to look back to know his father's response. He knew he was right. Hiccup and his father had spent the past half hour lugging boxes back and forth. The moving truck wasn't due to arrive until the next day, so Hiccup would be confined to a sleeping bag for the night. He just had to hope that this home had central heating. He shuddered at the memory of when they had moved to a mobile home in the city of Skullion four years ago. He and his father, Stoick Haddock, or Stoick the Vast as family friends and relatives called him, had spent their first week living in a freezing home.

That was the first and hopefully the only time Hiccup had frostbite. However, having done his research on Berk, he wasn't liking his chances. It was normally very cold weather, even colder than it had been in Skullion. He would have to dress in layers until his father could take him to buy thicker clothing. He dumped the boxes next to the doorway and went to take out the trash left in the car. It was the exact same routine all over again. Every time they moved into a new home or apartment.

His father would unload the smaller furniture they had managed to tuck into the pickup truck and Hiccup would unload the boxes filled with spare clothing, cooking utensils, and housing decorations. Each time they had moved a few objects had been left behind, but never anything that reminded either of them of Hiccup's mother. Hiccup trekked down the hallway, trying to find where the kitchen was located. The walls were in desperate need of a repainting, and the faded flowered wallpaper in the living room was peeling off.

It may have been the family home, but as far as Hiccup knew it had been rented out since no one in his family was in residence. Uncle Magnus was all the way in Berserker, his aunt twice removed Brunhilde had moved beyond the reaches of the Archipelago. His mother had been an only child and most of the relatives on his mother's side had refused to live in the Haddock residence. His Aunt Maera, a cousin of his mother, had lived in the home for about two years, but she eloped with a German man and moved to Europe.

" Got everything?" His father asked.

" Even the trash." Hiccup said a nod.

" Than let's get settled. Once we've unpacked what we've got, I'll take you out to eat. I know a few places that serve very good food."

" It better be in feast quantity." Hiccup launched the bag off his shoulder and placed it next to the back door. " Dad, would you mind giving me a tour? You know the family home better than I do."

" I never forgot this home, know it like the back of my hand. Practically grew up here before your grandfather moved us across the island. Let's get started son, so you can pick out your bedroom." He led Hiccup over to the kitchen window, which overlooked the backyard. " See the forest out there?"

Hiccup could see in the dim, gray day that there was no fence cutting off the property. His new backyard, was forest that stretched as far as the eye can see. Dense trees with logs cast on the ground and scattered branches spilling into the neatly cut grass of the yard. He could guess, that as soon as he would walk into the forest he would be enveloped in the canopy and the gray light darker than it had been.

" That is Raven Point Forest. Stretches all the way to the beach. When the cloudy days ease up I'll take you on a hike through the forest. Your mother and I actually met in there. I had stolen a bottle of your grandfather's mead and your mother had caught me drinking while she was out looking for her dog."

" Please don't tell me you offered her the mead."

" No, boy!" He laughed. " She grabbed the bottle from my hand and smashed it on the log. She said that instead of drinking I should help her look for Cloudjumper. We were inseparable ever since."

" She named her dog Cloudjumper?"

" She had her reasons for naming the dog. Now, we'll start from the second floor and work our way down."

" There isn't a basement is there?"

" No, is that a problem?"

" Would be nice to have somewhere to escape the cold."

" This house may have been in our possession for centuries, but it has been renovated plenty of times Hiccup. It has central heating."

" You don't know how much of a relief it is to hear that."

The Haddock family home was without a doubt the largest home Hiccup had ever been in. There were three bathrooms, a dining room, four bedrooms, an office, a living room, laundry room, kitchen, and two hallway closets, with a garage detached from the house, located in the backyard. Moving from place to place, Hiccup had experienced his fair share of cramped lodgings. The smallest being a one bedroom one bathroom apartment where he had been confined to a sofa bed for ten months and two weeks in Visithug.

Then there was the town house in Red Thorn, and their neighbor loved banging stuff against the wall. Hiccup only remembered eleven of the twelve moves. His father had told him he had been born on Berk, but never gave the reason as to why they moved. It was after his mother's death before he turned six that he and his father drifted through the Archipelago like clouds. So far, he admitted that Berk was the best house they had moved into.

All the bedrooms were on the upper floor, two had some furniture, the other two were devoid of any objects. The room he chose was painted a dark sea green, and had a dark maple wood dresser. His father chose the one across the hall, and assigned Hiccup the redecoration of the house, should he feel it was needed. While Hiccup was happy about the task, he was more excited about the fact that his dad was letting him convert one of the bedrooms into an art studio.

" Okay, the house is bigger than I thought. Are we sure we don't want to rent out a room or something?"

" We can afford it Hiccup. Now, if you're going to want to change anything, I expect the list and sketches on my desk in the office in no more than two weeks."

" I haven't even started school yet. I'm going to need to ask for an extension Mr. Haddock." He smirked.

" The sooner I know the better, son. Getting the supplies is going to be the priciest thing."

" That, and keeping your only son fed and warm?"

" Aye, that too," His father chuckled.

The sky had cleared up some but Hiccup was going to have to get used to the cloudy days. When he had done his research three months prior, he noted that Berk was known for their storms and endless attacks of sleet. Sunny days did occur in the summer, but while the sun was out there was still enough cold to make your fingers go numb. That was what he had read. When he had voiced his worries to his father he had immediately brushed them aside. You're a Berkian at heart, son. The cold won't affect you.

He couldn't wait to tell his father I told you so when his prosthetic snapped because of the freeze. Actually, now that he thought about it, he needed to figure out how he was going to guard the prosthetic from the cold. He looked outside the window of his new bedroom, looking as far as he could into the new neighborhood. There was snow covering the sidewalks, but not so thick that you couldn't walk through it. The trees were bare of leaves, yet there were no icicles hanging from the branches.

The houses were smaller in comparison to the one he and his father now lived in. They were more spread out, probably because this island could handle the extra space. There was a house right across the street, and it seemed worn down. There was a sheet of ice coating the roof, and a ladder had been left abandoned on the side of the home. The other houses were clear of ice, yet that one seemed unattended to.

He set to work on emptying the boxes of clothes he had brought with him. Since there was only the dresser, he figured he should start organizing his clothing. The hangers were in a box on the moving truck so he decided to keep his jeans and coats in the boxes. For now he could organize his shirts, socks, scarves, and thermal long sleeved shirts. He had a mind to vacuum the rug, but remembered they lacked that item at the moment.

He unrolled the olive green sleeping bag on the area of the floor closest to the ceiling vent. He wanted to keep as warm as can be. He took out the extra thick blankets he had packed and tucked them into the bag. He only had a few possessions that he had brought with him in the truck, so there wouldn't be much decoration. He placed the statue of a Burrowing Slitherfang on top of the dresser, shifting it so the tentacles topped with eyes would face the window overlooking the street.

The Night Fury had been left in its secure packaging in the box on the moving truck, so he'd have to wait until-

" Hiccup, I think you've unpacked enough. Come on, you must be starving."

He glanced down at his watch, and noted he had been organizing his room for about an hour and a half. There were empty plastic boxes scattered about the room, and piles of long-sleeved shirts that had yet to make it into the dresser. He followed his father down the stairs, grabbing the coat he had left on the kitchen island. Hiccup ushered his father outside as he locked the door.

" What ho stranger! What brings you to this street?" A voice cried.

" Umm, what?" Hiccup glanced at his father.

" I'll wait for you in the car. It looks like you're going to be a little preoccupied."

As his father cast a glance back at him, Hiccup pleaded with his eyes to save him. He smiled at his son. Maybe he would make friends this time around instead of bullies. Hiccup turned to see two teenagers walking towards him. They must have been siblings, maybe even twins. Both sported blonde hair, and were of similar height and build. He tried to figure out which was the one who had called out to him.

Both were eyeing him with curious, scrutinizing stares, one was smiling while the other was frowning. They both sported backpacks, and one, maybe a girl, was carrying two textbooks in their hands. Their hair was parted into two braids that reached their waist, and strips of leather wrapped around the blonde locks. The other had a puffy burgundy coat and dreadlocks that reached their shoulders. Both wore leather studded boots better built for the weather than his measly brown worn-out combat boots.

" Pardon my brother, he gets like this whenever he meets someone new."

" Aw lay off sis! We need to find his business here, make sure he isn't interrupting our neighborhood tranquility."

Girl was the braids, guy was the dreadlocks, he made the mental note in his head.

" I still need to learn the layout of the neighborhood, but so far I'm pretty sure I haven't interrupted anything yet." Hiccup said quietly.

Over the years, he'd learned to be careful of how he spoke. If he responded with too much determination, someone would make a comment on his physical appearance. With a nod or a simple wave, he'd be pegged as weak and vulnerable and hounded until he walked around with his arms constantly over his head. For now, he managed a subtle tone to test out how the two blondes would treat him.

" You're new to the neighborhood ain't ya?" The boy with dreadlocks responded. " Well you must be, I know every face on this block and I haven't seen you before."

" I just moved in."

" You're a Haddock then?" The girl gave him a wide grin.

" How did you figure that one?" Hiccup chuckled nervously.

" Mom's always talking about how the home is empty and only the Haddocks have ever lived there. If you and that man have moved in there, then you're either a Haddock or the family finally sold the home."

His eyes widened. " Very perceptive. Nice to meet you." He held his hand outward. " My name is Hiccup Haddock."

" Hiccup? Well that's a strange name." Instead of taking his hand the boy surged forward and wrapped his arm around Hiccup's shoulders.

" Welcome to Riders Way!" The siblings said simultaneously.

" I'm Regina. The kook giving you a one-armed hug is my twin, Trent. We're the Thorstons!"

" Thanks."

" So Hiccup, that was your dad?" Trent faced him, the both of them now facing him with eager expressions.

" Yeah."

" You two look nothing alike!" Regina giggled.

" Is it that obvious?" Hiccup couldn't resist rolling his eyes.

" You must have gotten your looks from your mother. Is she here with you?" Trent peered at the living room window.

Hiccup frowned, pushing down the tears that suddenly sprung into his eyes. " No."

" Oh. Well hey you're new here, what school are you going to attend?"

" Dad said I'll be going to the school he went to. The name is Berk High?"

" Hey, we just came from there!" Trent shouted. " We'll be glad to have you!"

" When are you starting classes?" Regina came to stand next to her brother.

" Next week. I need to get settled in first. Now if you'll excuse me, my dad is going to take me out to eat."

" We'll be seeing you around Hiccup!"

The both of them waved him off as he climbed into the passenger seat of his father's truck. Hiccup waved his hand before quickly lowering it and turning to look at his father. He gestured for his father to start the engine and the twins watched as they pulled out of the driveway. He couldn't deduce whether or not they would become bullies, but at least he knew he had fellow Berkian high schoolers on his block.

" Hiccup." He smacked his lips. " Hiccup. I wonder what possessed his parents to name him that."

" He's pretty cute, don't you think?" She adjusted her textbooks.

" Little too lanky for my taste. I say we tell the others we're expecting someone else at Berk High."

" We'll have a proper greeting for him the moment he steps inside our hallowed halls. Come on, we have work to do."

The door to the Thorston home slammed shut, shards of ice tumbling off the roof.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13183339/1/The-Boy-With-A-Strange-Name

[wordtowordtoword]

How Do I Decorate My Small Living Room: Small Living Room Designs

When it comes to a small living room, you don't have a lot space to work with. Yet, you want to make the most out of your space to provide a charming and welcoming area for guests who visit. The living space is the area in the house that is the most exposed to guests, hence it has to be both welcoming and beautiful. If you've been at the task of decorating or redecorating your small living room, you have come to the right place. We have some helpful tips and advice that should help you figure out the best design for your small living room. We will discuss the various small living rooms designs, so you know, what to add and what to simply leave out.    Cluttering the living space is probably on the biggest worries when it comes to decorating a small space. You don't want to overwhelm the space with too much furniture to the point that it becomes difficult to get from one side to another.    Coupled with the quanlity of the living space, you would also have to keep in mind the colours that you use.   Regardless of how small your space is, there is a design that you can choose to make your living room look fabulous. Hence without further adieu, let's dive into the integral component of designing a small living room, that you should first keep in mind.   

    Read These 7 Tips and Remember Them First

When it comes to designing a small living space, you have your work cut out for you. You don't have a lot of space to work with and you don't want to overwhelm the area with too much furniture. So what is the best place to start?   

1. Sofa's Choice

When it comes to arranging the furniture in a small space, this can become an overwhelming task. You want to ensure that you get furniture that is suitable for the small space. You don't want to stuff the living room with a huge couch and not have space for anything more. Hence the main rule when it comes to design applies, choose the furniture that fits the space and don't try to squeeze too much in.    Oftentimes, with decorating, you would find that less is more. You can always opt for a minimalistic design, however, there is more that you can do by way of design.    Choosing the sofa is probably the most important task that you have at hand. It becomes the centre-piece of the living area and is usually where the eye is drawn to first. Hence be sure to pick the right sofa for your space.    Armless sofas look amazingly sleek in small spaces, however, they aren't the most comfortable to lounge on. One more thing to keep in mind is how you probably won't have a small living room for as long as you may have the couch. If you are looking to move to a bigger space, you may want to choose a sofa that is more comfortable.    The sofa is the highlighting piece of furniture for the room, hence when it comes to picking a sofa, think of it as an investment and you can go about purchasing the less expensive furniture to accent your design.   

2. Accent Chairs

When working on a small space, you want to diversify the look and feel of the living area without adding too much into the space. A great way to do this is by adding an accent chair.    When you are looking for the right accent chair for a small living space, you want to look for light colours. Dark colours on the contrary will make the chair look too big for the room.    Once again, armless chairs would be a good choice to make when you decide on the accent chair for your room. Slipper chairs are a great choice and you should avoid anything with a tall backrest. You can also opt for something like a ghost chair, which is a transparent chair, which works really well in small spaces.   

3. Simplify Till it Hurts

Simplicity takes the crown when you are designing a small living space. Look for furniture with a simple and clean finish, with clean lines to ensure that eyes are not stuck in one place.   Just keep it simple and don't try to do too much with the space. After all, you aren't designing a huge living space with plenty of room, you want to make the most of the little space you have and make it look fabulous.    Don't work to overpower your living space with overstuffed chairs and shabby chic slipcovers. These would work to overpower your design, hence always think of simplicity first.   

4. Picking Colours

The selection of colours for your living space decides on the final outcome of the design and how well the decor works together.   So start with the bigger pieces such as your sofa. Remember to stick to neutral colours for the larger furniture. Once you have the big neutral colour in place, you can add some interesting texture by mixing smaller pieces of different colours and styles. This will ensure that you don't have too generic of a feel to the space.    When you are furnishing your small space, you have to remember to stick to a lighter feel and keep colours and patterns simple. The more complexity you try to bring into the project, the harder of a time you would have to blend everything together.    When you are working with a small space, you should keep in mind that colour usually works better in smaller amounts. Hence opt to add colour to the room through things like throw pillows or accessories such as vases and lamps.    

5. Finding the Right Coffee Table

You can choose to go for a centre coffee table or an ottoman for the arrangement of the living room. You could even completely opt-out from a coffee table.   However, if you are going for a centre coffee table instead of an ottoman, you should look for something that is transparent, such as acrylic or glass. You should work to steer clear of ornate furnishings and instead look for a table with simple and delicate lines.    With the right coffee table, your table should look to dissolve into the space and disappear, giving the illusion of a larger room.   

6. Wall Colour

You should ideally pick your furniture first before deciding on a wall colour. Some people choose to work backwards and paint their walls first and once they purchase the furniture decide that the wall colour doesn't work and have to go through the task of repainting the walls.    When it comes to wall colours, you should work to provide a small contrast and steer clear of darker colours which will make your space look smaller. You can also opt for vertical stripes which may give the impression of a higher ceiling.    A subtle and light shade of colour for the walls will give the living space a vibrant and welcoming feel, ensuring that the atmosphere isn't too stuffy. You don't want to go with too dark of a colour and completely overwhelm a smaller space.   

7. Minimalism is Key

As with simplicity, think minimally and you are sure to have a great design on your hands. The truth about a small living space is, you don't have room to add junk into the space. Hence, you have to ensure that you are making the most out of every square inch of the space.    The best way to ensure that you are making the most out of the space is to ensure that you stick to a minimalistic design. Add only what you need and don't go overboard. As a rule of thumb, you should stick to one sofa, one chair and one table. It is that simple and that really is the winning formula for small living rooms designs.   

    Small Living Room Designs

With the basic tips in the bag, you are ready to take on your living room and make the design work for you. When it comes to designing a small living room, you want to opt for simple and beautiful designs that are sure to work well together.   Here are 16 small living room designs which are sure to help you along your way.  

1. Anchor the Living Area With the Right Furniture

When it comes to working with a small space, you have a good chance to focus on the right furniture and you don't really have much space to go wrong. All you have to do is pick a table, a chair and a sofa, so there isn't much you can go wrong with.    The statement object of a space is what anchors the area. You can turn the TV area for instance into an accent wall, further highlighting the wall and anchoring it into the design of the small living room.    Another thing you should keep in mind is the dual purpose usability of some of the furniture. For instance, the side tables and upholstered ottomans could have dual purposes for entertaining and hosting.    Anchor the living space with the right furniture to give the space the balance it requires. Draw attention to the sofa or a highlighted wall or two. Once again, you don't have to go overboard, think simplicity and you would be able to anchor the right furniture to fit a small space.     

2. Scale the Furniture for the Best Look

When you are looking to work with a small space, you don't want to misuse the space by adding an overstuffed couch. This will make the space look smaller than it already is.    Scale the furniture to provide the best look for the space by adding an apartment-size sofa that is also close to the ground. This will tend to have the opposite effect on the living area, making it look more spacious.    If you are looking to accent colours and decor by adding elements of shine, such as gold, make sure to blend it well with a good amount of light colours. For instance, if you are looking to add some gold decor to glam up the living room, opt for a lighter shade for the couch and maybe a transparent coffee table to give the space the balance it requires.    Don't simply overload the space with one shine or colour, instead scale the colours to balance for the best look.     

  3. Adding Plants to the Decor

When it comes to small spaces, you may think that there really isn't space for plants. However, you couldn't be more wrong. Plants come in various sizes and you can surely find something to add to your living space that will brighten up the living area.    There is nothing prettier than adding some plants into the mix. So don't be afraid of adding plants into the decor.    You could opt for blooming perennials like daffodils or tulips which add some beautiful colour to the room. Or, you could opt for leafy plants which are too beautiful such as ferns and spider plants.   Plants bring an interesting texture to the room and they work really well to clean your air. Hence, do not forget plants when you are thinking of designing your small living room.     

4. The Sofa for a Narrow Space

Small living rooms often have a narrow space that you have to work with. In fact, living rooms which are narrow and small can be particularly difficult to decorate.    However, choosing the right sofa for a narrow space could win you a brilliantly finished look, ensuring that you make the most out of the precious square footage.    Opt for something like a sectional sofa, one that is long and can easily lean up against a wall. This will give your narrow space more depth.     

  5. White Wall Finish

Though you may consider white to be dull, walls painted in white actually work to provide the most calming effect. You can finish your small living room design with a white-on-white interior.    Simply paring white walls with light and pale shades of furniture will provide for an elegant and classy finish, which will undoubtedly make a small space feel much larger and brighter.    Remember when we spoke about wall colours, how we mentioned lighter shades will make a room look bigger. Well, using white is the best means to acquire this. You can mix splashes of colour and texture through smaller items such as accessories such as lamps and sofa cushions; don't forget houseplants.     

6. Don't Overmatch, Rather Mismatch

Low slung furniture works really well in providing a small space with a larger look and feel. Don't try too hard to match everything. In fact, you could give your space more texture by adding mismatched furniture and decor from different eras.   Use a vintage leather chair, when in contrast with a contemporary sofa, will pop. Though these individual pieces of furniture are mismatched, they will blend together as a seamless complete set.    Mismatching can be a great way to get the most out of a living space. You would find yourself pleasantly pleased with a vintage piece of furniture, which not only acts as a striking feature of the living space but also blends in perfectly with the other colours and textures of the room.   

  7. Pair the Best Furniture Together

Once again, low slung designs are your best bet in ensuring that you get the most out of a small space.    When choosing furniture, find the furniture that works well together and pair them. For instance, large mirrors could be paired really well with the interior design of the room to give more depth to the room by making the room appear bigger than it is.    Just the way, low slung furniture looks better in a small room, mirrors when paired with the furniture provide for a grandeur finish.   For more design inspiration, you could pair a lampstand with an accent chair or the sofa with a side table.     

8. Rely on Modern Styles

If you are designing your living space from scratch, you should make sure that you stick to a low-profile neutral colour for your furniture, giving the space a more modern feel.    Modern styles rely on pattern rugs and of course house plants to provide for contrasting textures with a pop of colour against what should be a pale and light backdrop. The walls and the focus furniture such as the couch should be light. Hence, when you add the colours of a patterned rug, it gives the space a modern and tasteful finish.    If you find yourself trying to set up a floor lamp but are finding it hard to place it in the living area, you should think a little beyond and look to wall-mount the lamp or light.   

  9. Use Shabby Chic

Now, this is basically based on preference. If you like shabby chic, you could design your small living room to have a beautiful style with a mix of light colours which will make the space look much bigger than it really is.   You could use white slipcovered furniture and vintage accents to add some style to the living space while ensuring an enchanting feel which is both comfortable and stylish.    You don't want to go overboard with the colours though. As mentioned repeatedly in this article, you should aim for light and pale shades which will accent the style of the interior and give your space a grander look.     

10. Shelf The Gap

Unless you have your sofa backed against a wall, you may find that there may be room between your sofa and your wall. Now, this is a one-off design issue which only happens in certain circumstances. However, if you do find yourself in this predicament, there are things that you can do.    For instance, you can add a bookcase of shelves to the gap of the sofa and the wall to provide as a sneaky yet effective way to add visual elements to the living room. Further to this, a shelf provides a great place to store things in the small space that you have.    Shelves work well in small spaces, however, you should make a point to make sure the colours blend with the style and feel of the room. Read the full article

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Exit Interview - Caleb/Eric

@ericxanders @miss-sue-sylvester @headmaster-shue

Caleb Duval and Eric Anderson’s exit interview after their trial claim

Caleb walked into the office where he was meeting the heads, trying his best not to look like he felt like throwing up.  He was so nervous he felt light headed.  But he kept himself breathing slowly and steadily and forced himself to focus.  He shut the door quietly behind him.  "Good morning, Headmaster, Headmistress.  Thank you for taking the time for this."  He paused, figuring that he should sit in the chair that was across the desk from the two headmasters, but that it would probably be polite to wait until they invited him to do so.

"That's not what I said, Sue. Drink more of your crushed rabbit bones and get ready for this," he said with an eyeroll as he heard the door. "Mr. Duval," he greeted and pointed to the chair in front of his desk, "Take a seat." He had their application in front of him and readied his notes and paper. "Let's start simple, how do you feel the trial went?"

Caleb sat, hands folded in his lap, trying to sit still and not fidget.  Just relax, don't fuck this up. He took another breath before answering.  "I think it went fairly well, Sir.  There, um. There weren't any unexpected problems.  There are some things I know I need to work on, but we knew about it going in, and..  I think it went okay.  Sir Eric says I'm improving, so... so I think I did alright."

"Well let's talk about that then," Will encouraged, "What are these things you feel can still be worked on?"

God, talking about these things was hard enough with Eric, whom he trusted.  Telling any of it to two Dominants that he barely knew, and who held his future in their hands, was terrifying.  He dropped his gaze without even thinking about it, staring down at the carpet as he tried to speak.  "Um.  Communication, Sir.  I'm.. I'm not good at asking for what I need, or if something is bothering me... I'm getting better at it, Sir. Slowly."  He glanced at Headmistress Sylvester, wondering if she was going to weigh in.  She scared him more than the Headmaster, honestly.  Maybe it was better that she seemed to be staying quiet.

Will nodded, "Do you have an example you can give us?" he asked, jotting down a few notes.

Caleb paused and reminded himself to take another breath.  This was quickly getting personal, the sorts of things he would never say to a Dominant he wasn't close to.  But he figured that was the point.  The Headmaster needed the details, right?  "..A couple weeks ago, right before Christmas...  Sir Eric has been doing so much to help me with the times I get anxious, and I started to worry about it maybe being draining on him.  He helps me so much, but now that we're living together, it's not something he does sometimes, he's dealing with it every day.  So I, um.  I talked to him about it, Sir.  About him just.. getting tired.  It's.. I know that doesn't sound like much, Sir.  But I, um. It's hard for me.  So the fact that I started the conversation instead of just worrying quietly..."   He shrugged, looking slightly pained.  "Sir Eric said it was progress, Sir."

Will listened, continuing to jot his notes down after Caleb spoke. "That is very interesting. Now, tell me about a scene you both did during this trial that went well for the two of you."

“And do try not to piss yourself, Dear,” Sue piped in

Caleb felt himself redden at the Headmistress' comment, and he swallowed.  Fuck, he hated this.  He couldn't even tell if they were pleased with his responses or not.  What did 'very interesting' mean?  "Um.  A specific scene, Sir?  ...I guess... there was one early in the month."  It wasn't the only scene they'd done, just the one he thought would be the easiest to describe.  "It started with impact play.  We do impact play regularly.  It's probably the fastest and easiest way to get me into subspace.  We were in the kitchen, in Sir Eric's suite, I was finishing the dishes after dinner, and Sir had me bend over the counter and used a wooden spoon on me.  I knew something like that was probably coming, because he had, um.  He had told me to clean up naked."  Caleb's face was bright red, and he was looking studiously at the floor.  Only the fear that they'd deny the claim if he stopped talking kept him going.  "He spanked me with- with the spoon, and then...  teased me a bit. With his hand.  And... he, um.  Used me, too, against the counter.  Used my hole.  When he was.. done... he didn't let me come, too, but it had only been a day since he'd let me have an orgasm so I wasn't surprised I wasn't allowed one.  He let me lay on the couch with him after.  With, um, with my head in his lap..."  He swallowed again, hoping that had been enough detail for them.

"Sounds hot," Sue said, mostly just to make Caleb blush more. She reached into her desk and pulled out some paint sample cards. She'd been planning to repaint her house and never gotten rid of them. She thumbed through them until she found the ones with shades of red and started holding them up, comparing Caleb's face to the paint samples. "So, does he often deny you then? What's the longest you've gone? How did it feel?"

Caleb had to fight not to visibly shrink back from that comment as shame washed through him.  He just felt wrong talking about this to two Dominants he barely knew.  "Um.  Some-sometimes, Miss.  The longest was two weeks.  But usually less than that.  I, um.   I don't.. I don't like it as much as Maverick does... he's gone months for Sir Eric, but I don't... Sir doesn't ask me to do that for him."  He rubbed his arm awkwardly as he tried to explain.  "My ex boyfriend, back in Texas, he'd use it as a punishment and sort of hold it over my head...  So being told 'no orgasms for a month' or something makes me feel like I'm in trouble.  So Sir Eric doesn't do that with me.  It's not structured like that.  It's more just, I get to come when he wants to let me.  And usually it's once or twice a week, maybe.  And it's good that way, it doesn't make me worry.  He doesn't want me to feel like I wasn't good enough for it."

Will rolled his eyes at Sue chosing now to bring out those damned paint swatches - he coulda swore he'd hid those better. "Two weeks is still a significant amount of time. Did he continued to, for lack of a better term, make it difficult, during those two weeks? As in, did he have you edge or engage in sex without an orgasm?" Will asked. He took note of the ex, feeling that would be a theme in this interview, as well as how Caleb felt Eric handled that. "Are there other things that Mr. Anderson does like that - meaning a lower scale or more 'baby step' with you?"

Caleb nodded, but his brow pinched slightly.  He didn't like the idea of Eric having to take baby steps with him, and he didn't like that the Headmaster thought he needed it.  But it wasn't like he could argue.  He just tried to focus on answering the questions one at a time.  "Yes, Sir, he likes to tease me, whether he's planning to let me come or not.  And- and me not getting to have an orgasm is no reason that my Dominant shouldn't still use me for his pleasure, if he wants.  But he isn't cruel to me, Sir.  I'm allowed to orgasm pretty regularly.  A lot more than some subs.  And, um, to your other question, Sir...  I guess the answer is yes, Sir.  There are a few things that... I'm not as good at, as Mav is.  Humiliation, public play...  Sir Eric doesn't push me to do them more, since I've had bad reactions to them, sometimes.  But... I think that goes both ways... He doesn't push Mav to do kinks he's not sure about, either.  Just the ones we know we like, Sir.  Or ones we've said we are curious about or want to work on."

"I was only wondering if it was part of the denial," Will said, half worried this boy was going to have a complete heart attack right in front of him. "Have you ever had a bad reaction with Mr. Anderson with some of these kinks? Even outside of the trial?"

Caleb was starting to feel like he was definitely messing this up, and the Headmaster definitely didn't like his answers.  Shit.   He took a breath and told himself firmly to keep his shit together.  He had to pause for a second to think about the question.  "Usually... in a scene, Sir Eric is good at reading me, and pulling back if he thinks something is upsetting me.  I've never had a really bad reaction during a scene."  His panic attacks had largely been outside of scenes.  Sub space usually made his anxiety fade.  "Sometimes, minor things...  I might get upset if I think I've done something wrong during a scene.  But kinks like that.. he hasn't even made me try anything that I was nervous about.  Honesty is really important to him, and he'd be upset and disappointed if I didn't tell him I wasn anxious about a kink before we tried it."

Will continued to nod, writing down his notes in regards to things he was thinking to ask Eric once they switched. "Fair enough," he answered as Caleb explained. "Alright. I recall when you asked for this trial, there was a question about a rule. Did you scene with anyone outside of your claim during this trial?"

Caleb had been worried this would come up.  "No, Sir," he said nervously, but he was quick to continue before the Headmaster could comment.  "But not because I wasn't allowed, or because Sir Eric said anything about it.  I could have.  And he wouldn't have minded, as long as it was a Dominant he trusts.  Or at least someone that he doesn't have a reason not to trust.  I just didn't feel an urge to, and there weren't any events that incentivized doing scenes this month, so it never came up."

"Were you scening with others prior to the claim? Even when there wasn't an event?"

"Not very often, Sir," Caleb answered, shaking his head.  "Sometimes, but recently it hasn't been very often.  Well, not including Maverick, but that's different.  I don't submit to people other than Eric much anymore, Sir.  I can if I want to, but the last few months, when I feel like I need a scene, I go to Eric. And during the trial, since I was already in his suite, and we were scening regularly and he was spanking me every morning, there was just no need to seek someone else out."

Will hummed slightly, unable to shake the feeling that this had more to do with the trial itself and not the fact that it was merely more convenient. Regardless, there wasn't much more to say on it. "Speaking of Mr. Lynn. Tell me about that relationship with the three of you."

Caleb could tell his answer wasn't sufficient, but the Headmaster changed the subject, so he had to let it go.  "Mav is a part of my relationship with Sir Eric, he has been from the beginning.  We can only claim one at a time, but it was never just me and Eric, it was always the three of us.  I wouldn't have gotten this far without Mav's help.  He helps me deal with my anxiety, and he's better at joking with a Dominant than I am, so he helps me relax and not be as shy.  We're very close, and we both have our own relationships with Eric, but we also... I don't know how to describe it, Sir.  We fit."

"And if Maverick never enters into a claim with Mr. Anderson, would you still be happy with your arrangment?"

Caleb nodded quickly.  "Yes, Miss, of course.  I'd be unhappy if he didn't.  A successful claim, to us, is all three of us together.  This is just the first step towards getting there."

This piqued Will’s interest, “so what happens with your claim with Eric, if Maverick never becomes a part of it?”

Caleb frowned, trying to figure out the best way to answer.  He didn't want the heads to think that this wasn't a full claim on its own, because they might not grant it.  "I'd be unhappy, like I said, Sir.  But if that happened, I'm sure there would be circumstances that I can't foresee right now...  And whatever they were, they wouldn't change my loyalty to Sir Eric.  I can't say it wouldn't change our claim, because it would be different without Maverick, but it wouldn't end it, Sir.  Even without him, I still wouldn't want any Dominant but Eric."

Sue wrote a few notes and confimed that Caleb's color was in fact "Indian Red." "In your own way, convince me that you and Mr. Anderson's claim will last. Why should we consider approving your claim with him over anyone else?"

Caleb's eyes widened for a second.  Convince her, with one answer?  How the hell was he supposed to answer that?  He looked down at the floor and was quiet for a few moments, trying to think.  How did he know that it would last?  "I...  I can only give your my word, Miss, but I believe our claim will last.  And.. I think that's because of the relationship I had with my ex, because of how different my relationship with Sir Eric is.  I know what it feels like to be in a relationship that doesn't grow and get better, and I know what it feels like to have a Dominant who doesn't.. who isn't kind to me.  Who doesn't value me.  So I don't just feel like what I have with Eric is good.  I have a point of reference, I'm able to appreciate how much better my life is with him.  I know what it feels like to be in a relationship that isn't sustainable, so I can say with confidence that this relationship is.  ...There's nothing I wouldn't do to stay with him."

Will listening, nodding slightly along. "Alright, I have heard enough," he said, looking over at Sue again, "So if you are done, we can switch and have Mr. Anderson brought it."

Sue nodded to Will and gave Caleb a nod too. "Run along and send in your Dominant. And try to breathe."

Caleb didn't know if he should be relieved or not that it was over, since it meant he was out of chances to convince them, if he hadn't managed to do so already.  But he nodded and got to his feet.  "Yes, Miss, thank you.  Thank you, Sir."  And he left. Outside, he shut the door behind him and then let out a shaky breath.  "They- they're ready for you, Sir," he said to Eric.

Eric had more confidence in Caleb than Caleb had in himself — and that was part of the reason he’d insisted Caleb go first. Less time to worry about what he should be saying couldn’t be a bad thing. He took a moment to wrap his arms around him and kiss him chastely. ‘Good boy.’ He praised softly. ‘You did your part and I have no doubts that you did yourself proud, that you did our relationship proud. Wait here for me.’ He instructed. ‘Mav will keep you company.’ He entered the office with a relaxed demeanour and an easy smile on his face. ‘Good afternoon Headmaster, Headmistress. Thank you for your time today.’ He greeted, as he took a seat in front of the table they sat behind.

"Put the damn paint samples away Sue," he said with a shake of his head as Caleb left, and soon after, Eric replaced him. "Hello, Mr. Anderson," Will greeted with a solemn face as Eric sat down. "Alright, first things first. Tell me how you feel your trial went."

‘Overall, I think it was a positive experience and I think it went well.’ He answered after taking a moment to consider how he wanted to answer the question. ‘We definitely came up against a few obstacles, particularly in the first week. Caleb struggles with anxiety and PTSD which is something we’ve had to navigate together. There was one incident that sticks out — he couldn’t sleep for overthinking which spiralled into panic. He didn’t wake me  but I woke up anyway and found him. Oftentimes, talking doesn’t very little good in the immediate moment so I just sat with him until I could sense he was ready to hear what I had to say.’ He explained. ‘I’m sure he mentioned his former relationship — that Dominant is the reason communication is a challenge at times. As a Dominant and submissive, we’ve made huge strides in that area but the stress and pressure of beginning a trial claim hit harder than I anticipated — we worked through it though and the step back was quickly rectified.’

"He had mentioned that," Will agreed as Eric continued to explained. Will was interested that Eric had launched into an example without prying it out of someone - it was a welcomed change. "So when he was ready to listen to what you had to say, how did you work through it, as you mentioned?"

‘I don’t claim to be any kind of expert when it comes to mental health specifically, and I don’t think Caleb needs me to be that. He has a therapist for that, and he knows if and when he needs to talk about his sessions, or wants me to go along with him, that’ll happen no questions asked.’ He started by clarifying. ‘But I do like to think I’ve become a bit of an expert in Caleb.’ He contemplated mentioning Maverick’s role because he was important but ultimately decided the focus had to be on the two of them for now. ‘The first thing I do is use language to remind Caleb he’s my submissive — the first thing I always do is take away his name. He becomes just ‘submissive’ and that’s something that really grounds him.’ He continued, running his hand through his curls in an attempt to stop talking with them so much. ‘After that, it’s about repetition. We’ve developed mantras almost — things I know he knows but sometimes needs reminded of. It’s about reassuring him that confiding in me, leaning on me is vital and that it’s what I want him to do. The thing is when he panics — he regresses a little to the way he learned to behave with his former Dominant which makes him forget things are different now. Thankfully though, those moments are few and far between.’ He knew he was talking a lot and he hoped he hadn’t started to ramble as he could be prone to doing but he wanted to be as clear and honest as he could about their relationship. ‘What I needed from him after that was some reassurance that the trust we’d built was still there so I gave him some instructions to strip and how to position himself without an explanation as to why. I knew I was pushing him because normally that’s when his former Dominant would have punished him, sometimes without warning — he took a moment and was able to leave his panic behind because he knows he can trust me. We ended with my physically writing some affirmations, reasons why he deserves our relationship on his body.’

Sue was also relieved that this student didn't seem to need a cattle prod to get them to speak. "Sounds like you've worked out something that works...out of curiousity, if he'd refused to move into postion or not calmed down. What would you have done?"

‘Oh, that had happened. There was a time right when we first started to take our Dominant/submissive relationship seriously and he locked himself in my bathroom and refused to come out.’ He answered, brow furrowing slightly as he tried to remember the exact details. ‘I genuinely can’t remember what sparked it but all I could do was give him more time. There’s no point in physically trying to move him, or raising my voice or any negative conditioning — it doesn’t work and wouldn’t foster the relationship I want with him. So it’s patience and reassurance and sometimes I misjudged the time he needs.’ He admitted. ‘We actually also decided to establish a second safeword for him to use outside of orchestrated scenes that he can use to signal he needs a break, or to retreat and have some space before he’s ready to confront a topic or talk about something. That’s been a huge step for us because it gives him some agency without allowing him to runaway and hide from whatever it is — and it keeps me in check from pushing for things or insisting on a conversation he physically can’t have in that moment.’

“It sounds like you’ve taken precautions to help in this area. What areas were you concerned about going into this claim,” she asked, taking notes of the second safe word idea.

‘I have a lot of faith in Caleb as a person and as a submissive — Honestly, part of the reason I want to claim him is because I think he makes me a better Dominant. He came along and challenged some ideas I had previously. And I want to be really clear in saying I don’t have concerns about us, how we work and the fact that we fit well together as a Dominant and submissive.’ He began, after taking a steadying break to give him some time to consider his answer to Sue’s question. ‘I think one of the concerns I did have was how well I would be able to communicate with him. I don’t always feel like I can make the same remarks to Caleb as I might to other submissives, sometimes I question my own authority — will punishing him send him on a spiral? Will it remind him too much of his former Dominant? And I don’t think that’s a concern I can expect to just disappear — I don’t think that being granted a claim means the hard work stops and all our worries are dealt with. What I have learned and what this trial has really enforced is that I can trust my gut. I know him, I’ve worked to be a good Dominant for him and in moments when I feel like I could be overwhelmed, I can trust my instinct. And if my instinct is wrong, that’s okay too because I’ll learn. It’s what i constantly tell him and it applies to me as well.’ He explained. ‘Another area for concern stemmed from Caleb’s PTSD, it’s called hyper-vigilance and the way it shows in him is out of extreme perfectionism. I was worried we wouldn’t be able to manage it as well as we have been because this is a big step to take, the stakes feel high, as they should and I was worried the pressure would be too much for us to deal with. I was worried he would revert to being the type of submissive his former Dominant abused him into being. And yeah, there were signs of that. Especially in the beginning.’He acknowledged. ‘But I feel because we’ve put in the legwork, that’s something we can recognise and address. Again, I need to trust my gut a little more.’ He laughed.

“A very complete answer. I appreciate it. I’ve got a spin class in seven minutes so let’s finish up talking about Maverick. I know you plan to claim his as well, can you speak to the dynamic between the three of you, plans for the future and what would happen should Maverick not enter into this claim situation.”

‘Maverick and I have been involved longer than myself and Caleb — and we worked as a two. Then Caleb arrived and becoming a poly-claim seemed to make the most sense. They’re very different submissives but they complement one another. Maverick has been instrumental in bringing down some of Caleb’s walls and they have a unique relationship outside of me.’ He answered. ‘Caleb has also been really good for Maverick — they balance one another quite beautifully in my opinion. We’ve always been aware that while we want to share a claim, we have relationships individually if that makes sense. Caleb and I exist separately to Caleb, Mav and I.’ He clarified. ‘Right now, I can’t foresee any reason why a claim with Maverick wouldn’t happen. However, if that were the case, my desire to be Caleb’s Dominant wouldn’t change. And I know he feels the same way.’

“And if you could only have one?”

‘I don’t think that’s a fair question Headmistress and it’s not one I can answer because I would never actively choose to just have one of them.’ He answered immediately, and calmly.

Sue shrugged, "All the same who would it be?"

‘I don’t have an answer to that question.’ He responded simply.

" An interesting chioce, I hope it pays off for you, " she hummed, taking more notes. "And what of the future. Where will you live? What will you and Caleb do for a living?"

He’d decided long before he’d entered the room that he wouldn’t let Sue Sylvester get in his head so he ignored the taunt. ‘We’ve talked about heading to the West Coast — somewhere one California. San Francisco is an option but I intend to pursue a career in film so we may end up ignoring the coast completely and try our luck in Atlanta. That aspect of our future isn’t really set in stone because failing that, I have connections in New York for photography. Caleb wants to pursue a career in the scientific field, particularly space so it’ll be college for him first.’ He answered.

“And you’re okay with his ambitions? Sounds like a full time gig. Will you not need to travel quite a bit for a career in film? How will that work?”

‘Yes, I’m more than okay with his ambitions.’ He nodded, straightening up in his seat. It was almost impossible to deal in hypotheticals like this — he couldn’t say much for certain. ‘It’s possible that I’d have to travel, I suppose but the majority of the work I’m interested in happens in Los Angeles. Where we eventually is a little up in the air because there are influencing factors that obviously all need to be considered closer to the time.’

“I understand that, but what I’m asking is; should you need to travel for work, will he need to leave his job? Will you refuse to travel? How will it be handled? Who take priority here? Not to mention adding in Maverick and his ambitions “

‘No, I wouldn’t expect him to leave his job, nor would I put a blanket refusal on travelling. We’re talking a lot about hypotheticals and honestly, I don’t think anyone can be expected to plan for any and every possibility. That’s just not practical.’ He remarked. ‘I don’t think one of us takes priority over the other; we’d be in a claim, a partnership and while I understand it does ultimately fall to me to make a lot of these decisions, I wouldn’t make them without a lot of discussion and hearing his point of view. I can’t answer the question of ‘will you travel for work in five years time?’ because it depends on our situation at the time. As it stands, travelling for work isn’t necessarily a necessity.’

"You're planning a life for two people. I assure you that the number one reason claims fall apart is lack of planning for the future. I highly suggest the two of you do discuss and sort out plans for every eventuality." She sighed, getting annoyed with Eric and just wanting him gone now. "I'll ask you the same question I asked Mr. Duval. Why should we approve this claim between you two? Why are you two going to succeed over you and any other submissive?"

‘Caleb and I are going to succeed because we’re committed to one another. Neither of us are afraid to face the difficult aspects of our pasts, or being in a relationship — and we’ve shown how hard we’re willing to work when at times, some people might have thought we would have been better to walk away.’ He answered. ‘Caleb makes me a better Dominant. He challenges me, he pushes me and I believe I make him a better submissive. I think that’s why we’ll work.’

Sue simply gave a nod. "Very well, let us discuss while you go get Mr. Duval," she said, looking over to Will. The two chatted about their concerns for a few minutes before welcoming both boys back. "We've reached a decision. We have our reservations, as we do with every claim. We take this decision seriously as it reflects on us and our school. We think that you two work well together but we know you will have a lot of challenges that you couldn't possibly see coming and some you could haven't discussed yet." She sighed and sat back. "That being said...you're approved."

Will nodded along. "Mr. Anderson, send us word when you have presented Mr. Duval the collar and when he accepts. I agree with the Headmistress that there are always things we worry about, but this is definitely a good start. Good luck to you both."

[elfnerdherder]

Ill Intentions: Chapter 6

You can read Chapter 6 on Ao3 Here

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Chapter 6: Flashbacks (The Writer’s Gimmick)

           He went to the mountains again, after he ensured no one else was around. As long as one wasn’t too much trouble, park rangers left well enough alone, and he figured that he had more than enough ability to keep quiet while he gathered his thoughts. That was the name of the game, he figured, as he picked his way along a small hiking trail. He needed to gather his thoughts, cast every which way as they were.

           The bodies were gone, but the scene remained. The bloodstains remained. Despite the fresh air, the death remained.

           Will sat down in the pine needles where he’d fallen just days before, and he stared at the space around him. The muted glow of his red headlamp ensured that he wouldn’t spook wildlife, although it did absolutely nothing to lend the space a lighter air. The bloodstains didn’t look as terrible in the red light, though. They could have been the remnants of spilled water, if his imagination hadn’t already repainted the bodies displayed with care and utmost purpose.

           He inhaled the taste of madness, and he decided that it was a meticulous sort of madness to be.

           Calculating. That is what he’d call the Chesapeake Ripper. Intelligent, calculating, and amidst his delicate reveling in the macabre, there was the soul of a poet.

           Will wondered if the Chesapeake Ripper was a writer as well, in his spare time, or if his artistic renditions were only best displayed with the use of flesh and blood.

           He stayed there for far longer than he meant to; time, for all of its clever uses, escaped him as he inhaled the scene where Mary Mai used to be. In its dips and sways, he wondered at her life, run as it was with the notifications on her watch. His own watch was quiet, keeping time with the digital face muted to a lowlight.

           It wasn’t until the sound of a raccoon behind him startled him from his reverie that he realized he’d accumulated dew along his skin and clothing. He blinked once, then rapidly to dispel the strange sense of time slipping away once more, and he stood, bones complaining and creaking from holding his pose for so long. The clock read 4:23 A.M.

           He didn’t leave Mary Mai behind on that mountain; rather, he took her with him, to better keep him company as he stayed awake the rest of the night, wondering at the care the Chesapeake Ripper took as he painted the world around him a lurid shade of red.

-

           He went to the alleyway where the homeless man tried to trip him. It was a long shot for him to still be there, but when Will saw him hunched next to the same broken crate of what he could now identify as tomatoes long gone bad, he figured he was more than just a homeless man.

           “How much?” he prompted.

           The man peered up at him, tilted his head so his fringe covered his milky eyes. Huddled into his jacket as he was, he gave the impression of something old, decrepit.

           “How much?” Will prompted again.

           “For him, twenty,” the man finally said through chapped lips. “For you, thirty.”

           Right. Will fished thirty bucks out of his wallet and handed it over. The man counted, then counted again. Satisfied, he tucked it up into the ski cap on his head and scratched lousy hair.

           “What do you know about the man from before?” Will asked.

           “What do you know about the man from before?” he replied.

           “Not enough. Not a name, not an occupation; you know something, though. He paid you to keep you here to wait for me.”

           “Did he?”

           Will scowled, motioning towards the ski cap where his money now lay.

           “He did,” the man said, relenting. He rubbed his stubbly jaw, mulling over Will’s shabby suit and tie done in only a half-Windsor. “He’d never dress like you, that’s for sure.”

           “Upper class?”

           “Very upper class. Socialite.”

           The Chesapeake Ripper was a socialite. Will nodded, mind turning at that. It would make sense that he’d have that sort of affluence, able to blend into the crowd where no one would ever suspect him. The rich had a way of doing that –being just aloof enough even without their dirty secrets. A socialite that liked their home private and untouched wouldn’t be questioned the same way a poor man with odd, eccentric tendencies would be.

           “He’s not American,” Will said.

           “European.”

           “Not English.”

           “Not French.”

           They considered one another, and Will sighed. “What did he tell you to give to me? Information? A riddle?”

           The man reached into the many jackets on his frame and retracted a letter, stained by fingers turning it over and over and over again. Not the Chesapeake Ripper’s fingers, but the hands of the man in front of him, one curious but not dumb. The wax seal on it was unbroken. Rather than the plain white copier paper of his riddles, it was a thick, rich material that felt like cloth fibers had been woven into it rather than just tree pulp.

           “Is that all?”

           “He said to say, ‘Good luck, Will Graham.’”

           Will started to walk away, then stopped. He glanced back at the man that watched, eyes yellowed and skin faded, wind-chapped. “Thank you,” he said sincerely.

           The man laughed, stood up, and walked away from him.

           Seated at his desk, Will turned the letter over and over in his palms, getting a feel for the weight of the paper and just how expensive it was. He knew a guy that could probably find out which store it was purchased at, maybe find someone who’d let him look at the cameras and see what he could see.

           That would probably require him to be sociable, though.

           He opened the letter, slid fingers along the dried wax and withdrew the paper inside that was of equal thickness and weight. It matched, like he’d found a bargain set, something aged and faintly reminiscent of parchment.

Dear Will,

           You haven’t taken this to Jack Crawford. It’s also not an assumption that you haven’t informed him of our tête-à-tête –I know enough about you to be able to presume such things. No doubt now you’ve ruminated on the loss of Mary Mai for long enough that you have decided that you’ve been cheated something, and you’re going to see to it that I’m found and held accountable.

           I’m looking forward to this.

           You don’t recall how we met. I will remind you, if anything to remind you that there is someone in this world that sees your capacity for endless possibility. Two years ago, a man stumbled into me, drunk, shoving his way out of a bar with glasses askew and tone slurred. I hadn’t been looking for my latest victim; I’d satiated my hungers and curiosities for the time. There was just enough force in your violence, though, that I decided to see just what would become of you. I hadn’t yet decided if your end would be by myself or something else –alcohol poisoning? A mugging? –but I was curious. The human condition, rife with its imperfections, foolishness, and greed, is a curious thing.

           You found your way into an alley where a man with knife mange on his arm stopped you and demanded your money. Any other would have tried to console him or fight him. You did neither.

           Instead, you laughed.

           Your glasses, something I’d thought to be crooked from your inebriation, were straightened, and you met his eyes and bared your teeth like a wild animal. Crooked by forced appearance, by nothing more than the desire of an aesthetic to make you seem far weaker than you were.

           ‘Your hands are shaking from withdrawal, and the pale skin on your finger tells me a recent end to a rather serious relationship. Are you desperate, or are you merely stupid?’ you asked him. ‘That prison tattoo is fresh, probably infected. No doubt you thought I’d be an easy target for some quick cash, but you’re going to have to kill me to get it.’

           ‘I’ll kill you,’ the man promised you.

           ‘The roughened, hairless skin on your arm says yes, but there’s a look in your eyes that says no,’ you continued, unheeding of him. ‘Maybe because you’re looking in my eyes and seeing I’d rip your throat out with my teeth before I die. If you’re unsure if what you’re seeing is correct, I promise you it is. You’ll try to stab me, I’ll twist to the side, and I’ll rip your throat out with my teeth.’

           ‘Just give me your money,’ he pressed. The knife shifted, a shaky hand from withdrawals, as you’d surmised.

           ‘No, no, haven’t you already realized? You’ve lost.’

           Before he could speak, before he could lunge, the knife was no longer in his hands but yours, and the smile you drew across his guts with the acutest precision cast blood every which way, across your hands, your own stomach, your feet. In the dim light of the alley, Will Graham, I watched you smile as you eased him to the ground, a cold and detached hunger in your eyes as he gasped for help, hands holding his stomach in.

           You took the knife with you and cleaned it meticulously on your shirt as you went.

           I saved him, not because his life was of any form of intrinsic importance, but because as one that once worked in the field of medicine and surgery, I felt a responsibility to at least try. You, though; I decided that you would live. Not because of anything in regards to borrowed time, but because you were savage enough to steal it.

           You’ll be happy to know that he lived, and clearly no charges were filed against you.

           How banal was it for me to realize, finding you sometime later, that your life was not all such excitement and near-death experiences. You didn’t toe the line and let adrenaline and desire be your guide. You worked at a second-rate news agency that specialized in tacky miracle cream ads on the back page beside the rather sour words of a writer whose descriptors of chiffon fell flat. You followed the demands of your watch, beeps informing you of when to eat and drink. You wore glasses, not out of a need to see but a place to put your gaze rather than focus on anyone else around you. You were quiet. You were subdued.

           So much untapped potential you held to create art in your very hands, wasted.

           I’m curious about you, Mr. Graham. I am well aware of mankind’s capacity for violence –cruelty is a trait learned from our human ancestor’s, not our animal predecessors –but there was something so utterly dark and inhibited as yours. Upon reaching your home, did you realize your actions after waking to the sticky, dried substance coating your hands and lips? Did you panic, scrubbing it off into a sink stained with hard water, try and tell yourself it was a dream? Just what had you internalized that made you take it and return in full?

Do you fear that aspect of yourself? Do you fear your own Becoming, allowing that aspect to take hold and Make? I think that by the time this is all done, you won’t.

                                                                                                           -Chesapeake Ripper

           Will read it once, twice. On the third time, he absentmindedly gathered his things, informed Charlie that he had to do some footwork, and left Tattler News, buttoning his jacket against a crisp Fall wind that turned cheeks pink and noses red. The longer he walked, the faster his steps until he found himself not-quite jogging but not-quite walking, a pace that led him farther and farther away from the office until he found himself standing in front of a small pond where ducks paddled lazily through green water.

           He wheezed out a breath, staring at the ugly, questionable green moss and algae before he slid off his jacket, dropped his things, and promptly jumped in.

           The cold was a shock to his system, and it made his heart pound in every joint. Underneath the water that held a tinge of slime, he kept his eyes closed tight and held his breath, letting it soak down deep into his skin. When he could hold his breath no longer, he broke the surface and gulped in air, treading water. Just across the way, a father and daughter pair stared at him, hands full of bread crumbs.

           He swam back to shore and climbed out of the water as casually as he was able. In the face of their still gaping expressions, he explained, “I dropped something in there.”

           “Did you get it?” the daughter asked.

           “Oh, yes,” he said absently. He gathered his things and walked away, dripping water in sporadic splashes across the concrete.

           The taxi driver only let him in after he laid his jacket down across the seat.

           Upon arriving home, he showered and scrubbed himself, checking his watch to ensure nothing had happened to it. It was waterproof up to so many meters, allowing for quick dips in city ponds and long showers, and it responded to his lazy taps and prompts as he blinked hot water out of his eyes.

           As he dressed in another shabby pair of slacks and a button-up, his hands found their way to a knife in his sock drawer, and he turned it over in his hands as he slumped onto his bed and swallowed so hard he could audibly hear the gulp.

           Will Graham had a problem.

           He didn’t remember that night, written so prolifically on what felt like vellum with a rather thin nib from an elegant fountain pen.

           He did remember the next morning, though.

           He woke curled up on his bed with a knife cradled to his chest. He didn’t realize it was a knife, at first. Upon waking, his primary focus was the way liquor churned with his stomach acid, threatening mutiny of the most violent kind.

           He’d have probably kept it down, if the smell of blood hadn’t been so strong under his nose.

           He didn’t manage to make it to the bathroom, and after everything else that morning he, in the end, threw away his blankets and sheets stained with the aftermath of a terribly blurred night. Sitting dejected in his own vomit while his skin was hot and clammy, Will Graham stared down at the knife clenched in his fist, and he dropped it when he realized that it was stained with blood.

           As was the rest of him.

           He stripped the bed, as well as his clothes. Huddled at the bottom of the shower, he scrubbed blood from under his nails, off of the scruff of his face. A whimper passed his lips as he tried frantically to remember what had happened –nothing. It was not the blank wall that people described as memory loss, but more along the lines of an ocean wave, aspects of the evening sliding into place with ease, dipping into shallow spaces of sand to stay, other aspects wiped smooth, decimated with the force of just how much he’d consumed.

           He stayed in the shower until the water went cold, until he was shivering. No memory. No recollection. No idea.

           He thought to go to the police. After vomiting up bile and stomach acid, nothing left inside of him to give, he thought it was only right. He should have realized that subconsciously, he’d already decided to do anything but that as he washed the knife and scrubbed it with bleach, an old toothbrush he’d discovered at the back of a drawer the perfect tool to get into all of the fine places to reach.

           When he sat in his front room for a long time after, trash bag with his sheets and blankets by the door, he finally acknowledged that he was most certainly not going to do anything about it. Whatever it was, it could stay a mystery.

           He turned the knife over in his hands, admired the gut hook on the back. It was a hunting knife, something aged and loved tenderly with a leather-wrapped handle and a freshly sharpened edge. He never used it, tried often enough not to think about it, but every so often he sharpened it.

           According to the Chesapeake Ripper, it was because he’d used it before.

           It could very well be a lie, but he didn’t think it was. The day after that night had scared him, shocked him with the realization of just how capable he was of violence –violence towards what, he hadn’t known, but there’d been enough blood he’d assumed it was bad.

           He tilted the knife, scraped the blade along the hair of his arm. Hair fell against the sharp edge, broken with little effort. It made his skin pink, a half a breath’s pressure from breaking. Knife mange, the Ripper called it. A man with a knife tried to mug him, and in his most intoxicated of states, he’d laughed.

           The Ripper saw Will’s capacity for darkness, and he liked it.

           Where did that leave him?

-

           It left him with an odd taste in his mouth, and he reached out to Todd in marketing to help him track down where the paper came from. Todd was a quick, nervous man whose hands twitched and tapped too much. It didn’t take someone like Will to know it was because of cocaine, although the why behind the addiction was always something that intrigued him.

           He wasn’t quite sure if it was the journalist in him, or if it was the empathy disorder. Probably a bit of both.

           “It’s nice paper,” Todd said, feeling up the envelope. Will hadn’t thought it wise to give him the letter where his most sordid secret lay. “Real nice. Like rich cat nice.”

           “Like boutique nice?” Will wondered. He watched Todd’s fingers tap, and it made his own hand drum idly on his leg.

           “Like Staples couldn’t get their hands on it nice,” Todd said. “I could find it. What for, though?”

           “They sent donation money for the Mai family with no other information. We have to file something for donations, and I just need the name so that I can put it on record when it comes time for tax season,” he lied. Will realized that he was actually rather good at that.

           “So you find the place, find the name?” Todd nodded. He’d not yet reached the level of paranoia where he was suspect to the statements of any person. He was at a rather malleable level, all things considered. Impressionable. Usable.

           Will wasn’t sure how he felt, analyzing Todd and finding his addiction weakness to be of use to him –there was knowing it could be of use and actually taking advantage of it. He had to find The Ripper, though. He’d do what he had to.

           “Can you do it?”

           “What do I get for it?”

           “I keep Charlie out of here when you go to your stash that you keep down by the printers.”

           “Got it.” That was no debate. Charlie’s stash was sacred, and Will didn’t have to fork out extra cash just to get something.

           He walked away feeling a little dirty but ultimately hopeful.

           At Beverly’s desk, they looked over a few things, art references to the loving rendition of Birth of Venus, the cold and meticulous Wound Man, the archaic 100 Years of War. Of course, they were not the prints of such paintings –did that make them something other than art? He wasn’t sure. The bodies were placed with such care, such devotion, heads turned in supplication, hands grasping sticks made to look like crude swords. Heads bowed over the paper, Beverly seemed just as mystified as he was. When he looked up to her face, though, all he could see was disgust.

           “What do you think?” He tried not to sound like he was worried for her answer, unsure in the face of her expression.

           “This guy thinks this is art?” she asked.

           “…In his mind, it’s art. It’s a recreation, it’s…” He pondered over a word that wouldn’t make her nose scrunch up so high. “It’s uplifting, in a way. He takes them and makes them more.”

           “Makes them more?”

           “Immortalizes them.”

           “Huh.” He wasn’t sure what kind of ‘huh’ that was. Their heads bowed back down over the photos Freddie had managed to take. His stomach soured that she didn’t quite see what he could see. He knew what that said about him, that his empathy could somehow reach even these people in their final stages of life, recreations of something beautiful, somehow made More.

           “He used to be a doctor,” Will said quietly. Beverly peeked about to make sure Freddie wasn’t lurking.

           “You think?”

           Will knew, but he wasn’t going to say anything like that. “These people are being mutilated, but they’re also missing organs inside, right? Surgical trophies, taken out with skill and precision. There’s research to try and know how, then there’s going to school and actually knowing how to remove organs so well. It’d be messier if he wasn’t.”

           “So?”

           “What if he knew these people? What if he’d spoken with them, interacted with them?”

           Like he’d spoken with and interacted with me, apparently.

           “You think maybe he found some of them while working in the hospital?” Beverly asked. “Or maybe all of them?”

           “There are no other ties to one another, I looked. Maybe medical records?”

           “Maybe online records?” Beverly suggested.

           “Do we have a way of finding out?”

           They let out curt sighs in unison, and Will’s watch beeped. Time for a water break. He stood, walked over to the water cooler, ruminated on his theory. It made sense for the Chesapeake Ripper to have once been a surgeon –he’d said he was once a doctor. Did they all go to the same hospital? The same doctor? Similar injuries? As much as people liked to create fear with the idea that there was no rhyme or reason to his choices, there had to be something. For some, it was hair color; others, foot size. Even faint, even obscure, there had to be something that made them stand out to the Ripper.

           He finished his water and tapped the icon on the watch. That was four waters for the day versus four coffees. The fact that the watch had an app so that he could see just how much coffee it took for him to function versus water for him to stay hydrated made him wonder just how many other people in the world were like him, slaves to a device that made them appear relatively normal.

           There was Mary Mai, at least. Maybe others used schedules, notes, agendas, or were rich enough to have a secretary do it for them. Just how many people were there like him?

           At the very least, he figured the Chesapeake Ripper was somewhat like him. Normal enough for no one to question. Normal enough that as he tied and stitched tabards onto the bodies of his victims, no one thought to look in the creases of his palms to see the blood.

-

           He got home late; his watch’s reminders were furious, insistent that he’d missed dinner and his evening water. It did congratulate him, however, on his steps for the day. Countless trips to and from his desk to Beverly’s ensured that he hadn’t by any means doubled his step goal, but he’d at least made a good headway.

           Do you want to increase your step goal to match your current records? The watch asked.

           “No,” he replied out loud, and he dismissed the notification. There was supposed to be something satisfying about meeting a goal so well that they wanted you to create a new one. He still hadn’t found an app to care about things like that.

           He did care, however, when he looked up from his watch to see that dinner had been laid out for him, rich and decadent smells wafting from a plate whose intricate filigree on the side boasted something far more luxurious than his dinnerware within his shabby cupboards.

           It looked like lamb; certainly it smelled like lamb. Laid out alongside something that appeared to be mashed cauliflower and parsley in a dark, savory sauce, it gave all indications that it was definitely lamb.

           Will wasn’t entirely sure of that, though.

           Next to the plate was a glass of wine and a glass of water. Propped up beside the glasses, a note lay. It was the same material as the letter that Todd was now investigating, written with the same, careful hand. Will dragged a pinky along one of the curling ‘T’s and bit his lip.

           You should be more particular about the things that you put into your body, especially if you’re going to try and catch me. Enjoy.

           There was no guarantee that it was lamb. Will eyed it with extreme prejudice as he sat down, and he dragged a finger through the sauce before he tasted it. Heady. Flavorful. A hint of thyme and basil. He glanced about the room, but it appeared that nothing else had been tampered with; no Chesapeake Ripper lurked to surprise him with another dinner-for-two.

           If anything, it was entirely likely that this was Mary Mai, laid out in the most exquisite of ways for the Ripper’s amusement, just to see what Will would do.

           Which begged the question: what was he going to do?

           He should call Crawford and try to see if they could glean any prints from the plate or the glass. He should throw the meat away, disgusted with the idea that it could potentially be human meat on his plate.

           And yet…

           In the silence and loneliness of his shabby, rundown apartment, Will Graham picked up a fork with curved, silver tines, and he grasped the matching knife in his other hand. With no one to witness his actions, no one to hiss censure in his ear, he deliberately cut a piece of meat and took a bite, savoring the taste on his tongue.

A special thanks to my patrons, @hanfangrahamk @matildaparacosm @sylarana @starlit-catastrophe Duhaunt6 and Superlurk! <3

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Home Surgery

House renovations not only feel like a bomb went off in your home but a bomb went off in your head too. It’s like the Hunger Games in a relationship. Good luck, may the strongest couple win… 

Hello fam,

long time no talk (unless you’ve been following along on the ol’insta stories).
Even then, I haven’t been keeping up as often as I used to (Sorry bout it?). So let me bring you up to date on everything and all that is Veronica & her shenanigans…

We moved into our home last April which is now, 7 months ago! We’re still knee deep in renovations. Surprised? I’m not! Who am I kidding…yes I am… I mean I was hoping we would’ve been done by now (epic wishful thinking on my part). Things have moved slowly since April.

It’s to be expected I suppose, I hadn’t really spent any consecutive time at home before June. Once I got back, I was exhausted and didn’t feel like taking on any huge projects. I’d worked full time on set for over 10 months followed by months on end of travelling. I was craving some stand-still time. I wanted to enjoy my summer and not be a slave to home renovations. In lieu of my laziness we chipped away at projects only on weekends. At first, my boyfriend was the one trying to kick me in the ass to buckle down and get the work done. Fast forward 4 months later – here I am, getting impatient so I’m doing the kicking of the ass…

Going into this, I kept saying that I’d be fine gutting a place to its bones – that I’d done this kind of thing before and the mess didn’t scare me. Which is fact, but what I’d ignored was my need to have a home – a sanctuary – a safe haven. I didn’t realize a gutted house meant a gutted sanctuary. Going into this, I also kept saying ; I need a place to call home. So I’m not sure what I was expecting… maybe I expected things to magically get done on their own, or somehow still have a livable space in the midst of dust and chaos?! How could I’ve missed this? I am not sure…

Everything happened so fast, we’d been casually house hunting for a few months when we discovered what would be our future home. We didn’t think too much of it until the idea of owning it slowly crept in. In fact, at first the house gave me a weird vibe. Something didn’t flow but I was determined to find out what… We agreed to go for a second viewing, at this point we were already talking about our demolition plans. Next thing you know; we put in an offer, we negotiated and closed — It’s ours!

We knew right away we wanted to update the two upstairs bathrooms (they haven’t been touched since the 70′s). Painting was a non-negotiable. We also played with the idea of blowing out the entrance wall to open the space up. Also, the mudroom slash laundry room could use a face-lift. The master bedroom lacked closet space and bathroom space. Needless to say, we had to get creative with the designs to maximize every inch of this place and I’d be lying if I said we had it all figured out. You get the point; the list of projects is never ending.

We tackled the main living areas first. While I was away my boyfriend started by removing the popcorn ceiling in the main living room. This was our first setback. It took weeks to properly remove it all, then, weeks to properly sand & paint. Soon after we decided to demolish the entrance wall (best decision ever). Later we painted the whole main floor… Never underestimate how much painting can do to a space – also, never underestimate how long painting with a roller can take…

Now that we were knee deep in our reno’s, we decided to make our lives even harder by redoing the floors in all main living spaces; main living room, kitchen and TV room. 

The current floor is acacia hardwood flooring. A color that is now outdated, with plank sizes that are also outdated. The lower TV room is covered in a light beige carpet but also has a backyard access. Oh & the hardwood? Scratched to shit. There isn’t one ounce of flooring that isn’t damaged. So here were my thoughts; Why have carpet in a room where you’d be accessing the outside from? If our floors are already damaged & outdated how would that affect us in the long run, for resale value? So first, I tried to match the TV room floor to the acacia wood… Once we started digging to find a matching floor we quickly realized we were most likely never going to be able to match it. Like a salesman once told me “you’re chasing a leprechaun”. Cool cool cool cool…So cool. It would never be a perfect match, in other words — it would be noticeably different. Uh, No. I’m not okay with that. There’s nothing more frustrating and disorienting than walking into a home that lacks cohesiveness. We toyed with the idea of sanding and restaining, until we found out it would cost more than replacing the whole floor.

Thanks to my Design firm, I’ve got access to flooring I otherwise wouldn’t have found on my own. I was suggested an alternative type of flooring that is in theory a Vinyl plank, but in reality, is its own type called SPC flooring (stone plastic composite). It looks and feels like wood. It has no expansion or contraction since its made of stone & plastic. It’s waterproof and highly scratch resistant. This sounds like the perfect floor for a home that would resell to a young family with tons of kids and dogs that may ruin a beautiful hardwood. Want proof? come over and look at ours.

The tricky thing about this flooring is that the planks are quite thin. It offers little to no flexibility, so your subfloor needs to be leveled near perfect to prevent any cracking… In a high-rise or newer house this is easier to accomplish. In a 70′s home where the foundation can and most probably is uneven, not so much. Our challenge was to find the right installer who knew this floor, who’s worked with it before and who understands the leveling specs. We interviewed 3 or 4 installers, one of which was convinced he could not only match our existing floor (ya! right!) but could also sand and restain it a different color. Which fyi, I’d been repeatedly told would be close to impossible to do with acacia…?!… A risk I wasn’t necessarily willing to take. Especially if it’d cost more than installing a brand new – scratch resistant – waterproof flooring! The other installers came in really confident about having worked with the floor before until I started asking questions… Slowly they started hesitating & pulled back from wanting to level our floor. I lost interest in hiring them 1- I couldn’t understand the words that were coming out of their mouths and 2- if there was any chance that they were talking themselves up only to make a quick buck, when in reality they know jack squat about this floor & risk damaging it – That’s gonna be a hard no from me… At this point I was losing interest in the whole ordeal. Let’s keep our damaged floors and move on! Losing hope over here! Just let me buy a couch already!

Let’s back up for a second… All the while this is happening, keep in mind, our house is not furnished. Decorations (the ones we have) are put away. Walls are bare, clothes aren’t put away. It’s a total dissaray. Well maybe dissaray isn’t the right word, but it’s a tiny shit show & it’s getting old.

We couldn’t do anything else until the floor situation was dealt with. Finishing the second coat of paint is now on hold, since installing the floors might damage the walls, we might have to repaint everything anyway. You wouldn’t catch me repainting 1200 sq ft with rollers A THIRD TIME! No way Jose.

Since everything else was on hold. I wanted to start the master bedroom project right away instead of waiting until spring like we’d originally planned. Let’s at least get one room over with, my gosh! So we decided to take the closet project head on and not look back. Our plan was to finish it the weekend we started. Wrong! say hello to our second setback. We are now 3 weeks later and we’re still working on the bedroom. Don’t get me wrong, we got 75% done on that weekend, but we encountered technical difficulties that have lingered since then, including the purge of my closet and organizing it all… this is a project in itself. One that may or may not take just as long as painting a whole house by hand…

The room is essentially done, I’m hoping we can officially wipe our hands clean from the renovations of this bedroom by this weekend and get started on the decorations! 

They say you find what you’re looking for when you stop looking — once we stopped looking for floor installers, we finally got a hold of the supplier who’d recommended someone they’d worked with before. Hallelujah! He was easy to communicate with & he agreed to come over that weekend to give us an estimate. I tried not to get my hopes up, for all I knew we may have invited an overrated installer into our house just to tease ourselves…

Once we met, it was clear we all got along great. He’s clearly worked with the floor before and I knew this because he answered questions I didn’t even get a chance to ask. He knew the specs and explained the process without being dodgy. That’s our guy, I don’t care how much he costs hire the guy! We all know my boyfriend put a stop to that real quick — we stick to the budget, he said. So here I was, crossing my fingers to death. He sent us his estimate the next day and it was within our budget!

YUUSSSSS!!! We finally found our guy, This is so exciting! We have a bit of prep work to do before they come to install, but for the first time in months it feels like the work we’re doing is going somewhere! Floors will be installed by the first week of December!

The best news of all; phase 1 is almost complete! That’s right, we decided to do our renovations in phases. Because we need a break y’all! We will hibernate through winter and get back to it in spring…We will focus on the fun stuff over the winter, like beautifying our home. The rest of the renovations like the mudroom and bathrooms can thankfully be quarantined so we don’t have to look or live in a hot mess for months on end! Home stretch folks! One more month and we can relax for a while.

We have a few fun trips planned over the holidays. We booked a mini getaway in a cabin on Galiano Island, at Bodega Cove, at the end of December (board games for days!). Saying we’re excited is an understatement. We will be hosting a House warming holiday cocktail party right before new years, then, we will head to Victoria to ring in the new year in style! We’ve got a good few months ahead & I’m damn well looking forward to it!

We shed blood, sweat & tears over the last 7 months. I’m not lying when I say it’s been a process, (now that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel) I can finally start to appreciate the journey! 

I’ll keep you posted on all the progress, dontcha worry!

Notes to remember from a fellow renovator to you:

* If you’re doing major renovations or are thinking of renovating - try to do it before you move in. Renovations are stressful enough as it is, there’s no need to add stress by living in the mess. So if you can avoid it, I recommend it.

* Renovating can and most probably will stress you out – healthy lifestyle habits like eating properly, exercising and proper sleep patterns will do wonders. Don’t give up on yourself.

* Try to remember that it’s temporary and keep in mind things will get worse before they get better (yes you read that right... It’s something I somehow didn’t realize). It’s only part of the process. Keep your eye on the prize! If you’re having trouble visualizing it with the walls gutted, create a vision board and put it up in a space where you can see it clearly and daily.

* If things get too intense, walk away from it and go do something that will reward you emotionally. Self-Care is knowing when to walk away. 

* When taking on a renovation project as a couple, it’s an added pressure to the relationship. Relationships are already a lot of work as it is; worrying about work - day to day responsibilities - and having to take care of your family life (if you have kids). Adding renovations to the mix can make you feel overwhelmed. Your schedules will be overflowing with To Do lists – but remember that romance also needs to be a priority. Date nights & relationship time needs to be allocated. Set aside some time to focus on watering the relationship. You’ll need it. Don’t let the To Do lists come between you two. The lists will always be there, time together is precious.

* most of all – try and have fun! (taking my own advice on this one!)

Until then Ctrl+Shift+ ESCAPE but Stay tuned for a closet reveal :)

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Interior Design Tips Through The Pros

There are a lot of people who are saving lots of money currently by designing the inside in their homes themselves. The reason being everyone is understanding that they do not have to employ an interior designer and can make their house look beautiful themselves. Figure out what to do to fix your home together with the tips with this article.

Use mirrors when decorating your home. Mirrors are often very handy, particularly if live in a small space. A mirror on a couple of walls isn't just convenient for fixing your hair on the go. They may also offer the illusion of more space. One strategically placed mirror is capable of doing wonders for opening up a room.

Replacing your kitchen cabinets could be a cost simple and effective approach to drastically change the appearance of your kitchen area. Use glass doors rather than traditional wood doors to look at up your kitchen and make it look brighter. When the glass is within the place, give a few choice pieces you desire noticed for extra room appeal.

You may select one wall to color in an accent shade if you would like to include a dramatic touch to a room without repainting it entirely. This needs to be a vibrant color that coordinates with the rest of the room's colors but definitely sticks out. Consider using a primary shade in the room that's otherwise painted in pastels, as an illustration.

When redecorating your home, always think of resale. Although you might plan to live in your property for some time, resale values are crucial because situations can change. To taste specific or too trendy, it could negatively impact the longer-term resale value of your house, when your colors are too bold.

Maintain the walls of your place simple if you have a lot of items. Many people simply get more items than other folks do. Do not put much on the walls if you do not desire to puts your decorations into storage. Everything else might make your home appear cluttered.

Avoid very dark colored tile inside the bathroom. Even though it might look very good and coordinate well with stylish accents, cleaning is quite laborious. If you've just cleaned them, the film from streaks and soap from steam may have your tiles looking filthy even. Opt for brighter and lighter-colored tiles for a clean and fresh try looking in the bathroom.

It will always be best to possess a plan when attempting to develop a smaller living area. The place should be included first. To get across the space issues, look into pieces that serve multiple functions and those that have fun with proportions and scale. Add lighting to make smaller rooms appear larger.

A great interior-design tip would be to do your personal painting. You can save a lot of money by painting all on your own. You just have to make sure you perform a good job, and therefore it's neat. Everything required for this is a few carefully placed something and tape to safeguard a floor.

If your home does not have a good amount of natural light, you really should consider repainting your walls, particularly if they are dark. Dark colors have a tendency to absorb light while brighter and lighter colors reflect them. Try painting your walls white to get more natural light at home.

One important thing that you can do to improve preparation for the inner design project is usually to watch television shows, read magazines or search the web for various design ideas. There are many sites that allow you to view rooms while they are fully furnished or manually alter the style in your liking.

Leather is really a perennially popular finish for high-quality furniture. Resist the temptation to pick an exotic color which fits your new decor in order to incorporate leather furniture to your next interior design project. Leather furniture may last for decades. You wish to buy it in neutral shades that may easily fit in not merely together with your current home design ideas but in addition with new concepts, you could possibly experiment with in the future.

If you're tied to a room that you employ in excess of on purpose, make sure you use furniture and accessories that can work easily and well together. You may have a full-time income room that doubles as a dining-room. When you are looking for a table with your dining area it ought to go well using the furniture from the living area. Provided you can, and coordinate both rooms with similar accessories, buy furnishings to the two rooms together.

Before you begin, make sure you map out your full project. This will enable to learn regardless of whether you will be able to purchase everything you want. There may be nothing worse than getting half-way completed with a task to only visit a standstill as you ran out from funds.

Make the best use of your interior space by choosing furniture that could multi-task. For instance, consider getting a dresser that has a mirror on the top and might be used as a vanity. You simply will not only have ample space for your shoes and clothes. Additionally, you will have a double function as a vanity.

If you would like to be imaginative, or are sticking to a spending budget, you may use old pieces to help make an issue that looks completely new for your residence. In case you have old dinning room chairs which have cloth-covered seats just replace the material to make it look brand new, without the cost of new chairs, as an illustration.

Hide clutter within pedestrian sink in your bathroom by using a sink skirt. Generally, these sorts of sinks only show unattractive plumbing, and if you wish to store anything under them, everyone will discover it. To solve these problems, try finding or building a fabric skirt to install to your sink.

Even if you are just starting, you could feel as if somewhat of the interior decorating expert. With the right amount of your time applied in this subject, you should seem like you may have what is required to help make your house look wonderful for those guests to envy and appreciate simultaneously.

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Advantages of working with this liquid solution in your home

For anyone who is organizing an inside style and design challenge you ought to decide on your entire textures and colours before you decide to commence.  If you do not strategy all of it out beforehand you can find that you finish up straying from your first plan.  This can be not fantastic, as you want an organized hunting result.

Check out the household furniture you may have with your dwelling and find a blend of colors and home furniture that matches effectively together. You need to have household furniture colors that compliment each other, as well as the colours all-around your property. Stay clear of buying shades that aren't connected, because this can seem like you do not know design and style.

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Ahead of beginning your inside structure project, look at your funds. There are a variety of solutions to go about finishing just one venture, and if you realize your finances, you are going to use a better strategy about the place to begin. Consider the price of materials and labor, then develop a funds that works for you. 

Get started your inside design and style venture which has a temper board. A mood board is often a significant cardboard display screen with unique strategies to get a space pasted on to it and prepared on it. You will get tips from magazines, on the internet and from television demonstrates. The board will provide you with a visual within your own style, and help you to layout a space that fits your flavor. 

Make a decision on the mood for any area or room in advance of commencing to actually work on planning the place. Moods can vary from outrageous and enjoyable to soothing and calm. Finding a temper before you start might help inform the decisions that go into setting up to the space, and may create a far more cohesive really feel from the close.

Opt for your colors meticulously if you're checking out repainting a home. You need to select hues that go effectively together and compliment every other. You don't need shades that clash and combat for attention. You wish your hues to mix together and truly feel natural. Really don't choose a lot of brilliant colors, or you hazard too much to handle your senses.

An easy approach to redesign your kitchen would be to reface your cupboards and change out the hardware. This really is an inexpensive challenge that the majority of men and women can do them selves. You'll find a variety of components items offered in components retailers, and this makes it easy to discover pieces that in shape your specific style. 

A very good inside style tip is always to generally have in mind the level of sunshine that a room is getting.  If a space does not have that lots of home windows, you may want to select a lighter shade of paint or wallpaper in order that the area does not appear to be a cave.

Make use of your possess shots as artwork. As a less expensive plus more private approach to adorn your walls, use photographs that you have taken. Either have prints built and body them or use one of your lots of photo-to-canvas vendors to acquire your photograph designed into a gallery canvas. In case you are extra tech-savvy, you can change your photographs in computer software to create them glimpse much more like artwork.  

Any one that is undergoing an interior-design  project could well be wise to incorporate mirrors in to the place. Mirrors have two big rewards to any area they may be in. First, they offer the appearance which the room is larger than it is actually, and 2nd, they mirror light-weight earning your place glance brighter. 

An awesome interior-design  tip is to commence examining out design and style journals.  There are numerous magazines on the market that should instruct you all regarding how to structure your house and yard, and they will even supply you tons of strategies.  They will also continue to keep you as much as day on every one of the most recent style traits.

Ensure that before you interact in planning your house you have a strategy in position. This could certainly support quite a bit to lessen your stress when you are while in the process of planning your private home. Also, you could manage your finances much better any time a prepare is in position for the task.

Any one that's designing a room of their house would be a good idea to incorporate hold artwork around the walls. Artwork does a terrific career of creating your room look complete. Just ensure that you decide on a chunk or two that meshes using the current decor from the area you are building. 

Converse with mates or loved ones before you take on a job. This tends to assist you to get thoughts that you could not feel of, which you can incorporate into your project. Also, this can help you to definitely reduce the likelihood of building an mistake as somebody else might be able to spot it.

Just about every room requirements a focal point. A focus provides a spotlight to any area and serves as the basis for all other design decisions in the room. Another options, furnishings and accent items in the area ought to attract interest or boost the focal point, not contend with it in almost any way.

Find out how to color a wall before painting a wall. That may audio like prevalent sense, however, if you are not conscious with the good quality of your paint, the best way to apply it thoroughly, and exactly how considerably you would like, you could possibly generate a mess or reduce quite a bit of money. Attempt about to a home-improvement shop for some ideas on procedures and types of paint.

Use slipcovers. In case you have aged sofas and couches you are losing interest with, take into consideration simply buying a slipcover to address them with. Slipcovers can be found in all styles and colours, so that you are certain to obtain one particular that suits the decor in your house. Be sure to wash the slipcover on a regular basis.

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Lots of pros have factors to convey about interior design, and you really should pay attention to them only, to your selected extent. You'll not take care of to create a house that you will be genuinely get pleasure from unless of course you figure out how to have faith in your own judgment and develop an inside layout that demonstrates your personality.

Possess a detailed deal by having an inside designer in the event you decide on to hire a professional. This could reward the the two of you and assure you're over the identical site, without having surprises or cost overruns. A very good inside designer will need a deal anyway, so it can be a great method to build that they're a reputable businessperson.

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Benefits of employing this liquid item in your house

For anyone who is arranging an inside structure project it is best to determine on your whole textures and colours before you decide to commence.  If you don't system it all out beforehand you could find that you choose to finish up straying from your original system.  That is not excellent, when you want an structured looking final result.

Examine the home furnishings you've in your home and look for a mix of colors and furniture that fits perfectly jointly. You ought to have household furniture colors that flatter each other, together with the hues all around your own home. Keep away from picking shades that aren't similar, since this can look like you don't know type.

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Ahead of starting your interior style venture, look at your spending budget. You can find a variety of methods to go about finishing a single venture, and if you understand your budget, you'll possess a improved plan about exactly where to start out. Take into consideration the price of supplies and labor, and afterwards create a spending plan that actually works to suit your needs. 

Get started your inside design job by using a temper board. A mood board can be a massive cardboard display screen with various concepts for a area pasted on to it and composed on it. You can get suggestions from journals, on the web and from tv demonstrates. The board offers you a visual of the own type, and assist you to design and style a home that matches your taste. 

Come to a decision on a temper for your room or place prior to starting to actually work on developing the place. Moods can vary from outrageous and interesting to calming and relaxed. Picking a temper before you decide to start out will help notify the decisions that go into scheduling for that house, and can generate a far more cohesive truly feel inside the conclude.

Pick your hues cautiously if you're considering repainting a home. You need to pick colours that go very well with each other and compliment every single other. You do not need colors that clash and battle for awareness. You want your colours to blend collectively and experience organic. Don't go with a lot of shiny shades, or you threat mind-boggling your senses.

An uncomplicated technique to redesign your kitchen area should be to reface your cupboards and alter out the components. This is often an affordable job that the majority of people today can do themselves. You will discover various hardware pieces offered in hardware merchants, and this would make it uncomplicated to find parts that fit your particular person model. 

An excellent interior structure idea would be to often keep in mind the level of light that a area is finding.  If a room doesn't have a large number of windows, you may want to go along with a lighter shade of paint or wallpaper in order that the home doesn't look like a cave.

Use your have shots as artwork. For a less costly and more private solution to adorn your walls, use photos that you've taken. Both have prints created and frame them or use 1 with the numerous photo-to-canvas suppliers to get your photograph created right into a gallery canvas. Should you be more tech-savvy, you'll be able to change your pictures in application to generate them search much more like artwork.  

Any person that's undergoing an interior-design  challenge can be wise to integrate mirrors to the area. Mirrors have two important benefits to any space they're in. Very first, they offer the appearance that the home is more substantial than it really is, and second, they mirror light earning your place seem brighter. 

A fantastic interior-design  idea is usually to get started examining out design magazines.  You will find a lot of publications in existence that could teach you all regarding how to structure your property and back garden, and they are going to even give you lots of recommendations.  They'll also retain you approximately day on each of the hottest style tendencies.

Make certain that prior to deciding to engage in creating your property you have a system in place. This could certainly help a whole lot to scale back your worry if you find yourself from the strategy of creating your own home. Also, it is possible to manage your finances far better when a system is in place in your job.

Anyone that's developing a place within their property could well be wise to incorporate hang art about the partitions. Artwork does an incredible occupation of constructing your place seem entire. Just be sure you decide on a piece or two that meshes while using the existing decor on the place you are coming up with. 

Converse with buddies or relatives before you decide to take on a job. This tends to enable you to get suggestions that you may not consider of, which you'll include into your undertaking. Also, this will help you to definitely minimize the probability of making an error as another person may be able to location it.

Every room desires a focal point. A focus provides a highlight to any house and serves as the basis for all other layout selections from the place. Another characteristics, furnishings and accent items in the place should really draw interest or increase the focus, not contend with it in almost any way.

Learn the way to paint a wall right before portray a wall. That will sound like typical sense, but if you're not conscious of the top quality of the paint, the best way to implement it correctly, and just how considerably you may need, you could possibly come up with a mess or eliminate a good deal of cash. Attempt likely to a home-improvement retail store for many ideas on tactics and kinds of paint.

Use slipcovers. When you've got outdated sofas and couches that you will be losing interest with, give thought to only purchasing a slipcover to protect them with. Slipcovers are available in all patterns and colours, this means you are sure to locate one that suits the decor in your home. Be sure to wash the slipcover regularly.

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Quite a bit of professionals have factors to state about inside style and design, and you should really pay attention to them only, to some specific extent. You can not take care of to produce a property that you will be genuinely take pleasure in except you figure out how to belief your personal judgment and develop an inside style and design that displays your persona.

Possess a detailed contract using an interior designer should you decide on to rent knowledgeable. This could benefit the equally of you and ensure you might be to the exact same page, without having surprises or price overruns. A fantastic inside designer will need a contract anyway, so it is actually a fantastic strategy to create that they're a good businessperson.

[the-pale-skinned-girl]

Benefits of working with this liquid product or service in your home

When you are organizing an interior layout project you must come to a decision on all of your textures and colours before you decide to commence. If you do not strategy it all out ahead of time you can find that you choose to turn out straying from your initial system. This is often not superior, when you want an structured hunting end result.

Evaluate the home furniture you've on your dwelling and look for a blend of colours and home furnishings that fits very well with each other. You should have home furnishings colours that go with every single other, and also the hues about your private home. Prevent picking hues that are not relevant, due to the fact this tends to seem like you do not know fashion.

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Before starting your inside layout job, contemplate your price range. You will find numerous approaches to go about completing a person task, and when you understand your spending budget, you'll use a better idea about where by to start out. Look at the price of supplies and labor, after which acquire a finances that actually works in your case.

Commence your interior structure job with a temper board. A temper board is really a substantial cardboard show with various suggestions for just a space pasted on to it and composed on it. You can get suggestions from journals, online and from tv reveals. The board gives you a visible of your respective individual fashion, and assist you to design a area that matches your style.

Decide on a mood for any place or room right before starting to truly focus on creating the space. Moods can vary from outrageous and enjoyable to comforting and relaxed. Finding a mood prior to deciding to start out might help notify the choices that go into arranging for your house, and can develop a more cohesive feel while in the finish.

Opt for your colours cautiously when you are thinking about repainting a place. You wish to choose hues that go perfectly jointly and compliment each other. You do not need shades that clash and fight for focus. You need your colors to mix together and come to feel organic. Will not go with too many brilliant hues, otherwise you danger frustrating your senses.

A straightforward technique to redesign your kitchen area would be to reface your cupboards and change out the hardware. This really is a cheap job that the majority of individuals can do themselves. There are many different hardware parts offered in components shops, and this makes it simple to seek out pieces that healthy your specific type.

A good interior layout idea is usually to generally take into account the extent of light that a home is acquiring. If a home does not have a large number of home windows, you may want to choose a lighter shade of paint or wallpaper to ensure that the place won't look like a cave.

Make use of your very own shots as artwork. To be a less costly plus much more particular approach to adorn your partitions, use pics that you have taken. Possibly have prints manufactured and frame them or use just one on the several photo-to-canvas companies to acquire your picture made into a gallery canvas. If you are much more tech-savvy, you may change your images in software to make them look much more like artwork.

Anybody that is undergoing an interior-design venture would be smart to incorporate mirrors in the area. Mirrors have two main positive aspects to any room they are in. 1st, they give the looks that the room is bigger than it's, and second, they reflect mild producing your home look brighter.

A great interior-design tip should be to begin checking out layout magazines. You'll find several magazines out there which will educate you all regarding how to design your house and backyard garden, and they're going to even deliver you lots of suggestions. They will also preserve you around day on all the hottest style trends.

Ensure that prior to deciding to interact in creating your private home that you've got a approach in place. This will enable a whole lot to reduce your stress when you are in the strategy of designing your property. Also, you may manage your funds much better any time a program is set up for your personal undertaking.

Any one who is building a place within their dwelling might be a good idea to incorporate hang art around the walls. Artwork does a fantastic occupation of constructing your home search entire. Just be sure to opt for a bit or two that meshes with the present decor on the space that you are designing.

Discuss with mates or loved ones before you decide to take on a venture. This could allow you to get strategies that you may not consider of, which you'll be able to integrate into your venture. Also, this allows you to lessen the likelihood of building an mistake as somebody else might be able to spot it.

Each and every area requirements a focus. A focus adds a highlight to any space and serves as being the basis for all other style selections in the place. Some other features, furnishings and accent items from the room should attract interest or greatly enhance the focal point, not compete with it in almost any way.

Learn how to paint a wall prior to portray a wall. Which will audio like common sense, but when you're not knowledgeable on the good quality of your paint, the best way to utilize it thoroughly, and exactly how a great deal you may need, you could possibly make a mess or get rid of a great deal of money. Consider planning to a home-improvement retail outlet for a few pointers on strategies and kinds of paint.

Use slipcovers. If you have old sofas and couches that you will be getting bored with, contemplate simply buying a slipcover to go over them with. Slipcovers can be found in all types and colours, this means you are sure to locate 1 that fits the decor in your house. Ensure that you clean the slipcover often.

A lot of pros have matters to say about interior layout, and you also should hear them only, into a particular extent. You'll not regulate to produce a house you are really take pleasure in except you figure out how to have faith in your own personal judgment and build an inside design that demonstrates your temperament.

Use a in depth deal by having an inside designer if you pick to rent an expert. This can benefit the the two of you and ensure that you are over the exact same page, without having surprises or expense overruns. An excellent inside designer will need a agreement anyway, so it really is a good solution to build that they are a good businessperson.

[mailakue]

25 things I learned when I was 24.

I remember waking up on my 24th birthday thinking to myself, “There is no way I’m going to survive this year.” 24 was hard. I found myself defeated for most of it. But I also found that you can’t taste victory until you face defeat. Unfortunately for me, 24 was the year the Enemy would bruise my heel. Unfortunately for him, 25 (and onwards) will be the years I will crush his head. Sorry, not sorry, Devil. Don’t say God didn’t warn you. He definitely prophesied it. Har har har.

The cool thing about God is that He always exceeds our expectations. I merely wished to survive. God made sure I thrived. There are kingdom principles that will never make any earthly sense to me. God has a way of redeeming stuff and working things out for good. 24 was not easy, but it was good. And since I am no longer young and energetic enough to spend my birthday partying it up, I will sit here and write a blog like an old person about things my Heavenly Father has taught me.

Uncertainty is an opportune time to renew your mind. It is harder to renew my mind when I think I know something. It is easier for God to renew my mind when my mind doesn’t know what to think. Uncertainty is transformative when we fill the gap in our mind with His thoughts instead of our own. Feeling uncertain? Yay. You’re well on your way to transformation.

Love is the goal. Everything else is a fruit of love. Want to grow in prophecy? Grow in love. Want to grow in healing? Grow in love. Want to grow in word of knowledge? Grow in love. Your impact will only ever be as great as your love.

Laughter leads to intimacy. Two things have brought me into greater intimacy with the Lord. (1) Crying to the Father. (2) Laughing with the Father. I love that intimacy isn’t just the intense moments of heart-checks, but also the moments when God says something silly or I do something dumb, and we both just laugh out loud about it.

Silence and presence can coexist. Many times, I’d call up my best friend to cry and she’d just sit silently on the other end of the line for hours. I learned that it’s the same with the Father. His silence doesn’t mean He’s absent. Oftentimes when I cry out to Him, He doesn’t say anything because like a best friend, He knows that sometimes His quiet presence will speak louder comfort than words. 

Do not eat spicy rice cakes and work out immediately after. You will regret every single delicious bite you took. It is not worth the heartburn. I repeat, it is not worth it!

The trick is not to get God to speak. The trick is to understand how God speaks to you. It took this year for me to learn some of the ways God speaks to me, like through random objects. One of the most profound words God gave me was through a traffic light. A TRAFFIC LIGHT!!! Had I not learned to keep my eyes open to hear Him speak, I would’ve easily continued on in life feeling like God doesn’t speak to me, and would’ve missed out on an incredible word!

You’ll get answers to who you are when you make it about Him. I found that when my prayers started with me asking God about myself (i.e. I’m hurt! I’m sad! Do you care?!), I eventually got too defeated to stick around long enough to focus on Him. But when I began my prayers focusing on Him (i.e. You are good, You are love, You are holy), He would reveal not only who He was, but who I am in light of those things. And it was impossible to feel defeated in prayer times like this.

If someone hurts you, thank them. Behind every hurt is a lie. Your offender most likely triggered a lie that you didn’t know was there. Their offense against you is an opportunity for promotion in the kingdom. Steward the hurt in a way that will bring you to greater freedom. Your offender is never the enemy. They will help jumpstart you on a journey to discovering truth, and that is the sweetest revenge you can have against the Enemy.  

Heaven’s grading system is based on obedience, not results. The cool thing about God is that He cares less about the outcome, and more about the heart. There’s room to make mistakes! If your YES to Him is 100%, but you completely flop in the attempt, you still get a standing ovation.

There’s freedom in knowing you don’t bring that much to the table. There’s no such thing as pressure in the kingdom. When I felt like I needed to be right, I was scared to do things. When I realized I had been made right, I felt so free to do things.

Acne isn’t just for adolescents. Le sigh. For those of you who thought you got through your teen years without acne, don’t celebrate too soon. Goodbye clear skin. Hello acne. I’M 25 YEARS OLD. GO AWAY.

Ask God what He thinks about you. Making this a daily habit has changed my life tremendously. When I know who I am, the Enemy stops wasting energy trying to deceive me.

Your job is to inspire. The Holy Spirit’s job is to transform. This helped me let go of having to make all the right decisions, have all the right answers or know all the right stuff. And it gave me space to just know my God and inspire people through my relationship with Him. Leave the big stuff to the Holy Spirit.

Ministry is mostly repainting a picture of who God is. I realized that most people just have a distorted image of God, which explains a lot of the poor decisions they make. The point is not to counsel them into making better decisions. The point is to repaint a more accurate picture of the Father for them. When they see Him for who He really is, they’ll begin to make good decisions because He is good!

Before you water a plant, make sure to double check to see if it’s real or not. This is not a profound analogy. Thank you, Anna for the birthday plant. I now know that I’ve been watering a fake plant for quite some time.

It is impossible to be hurt or offended when you know love. God met me with love. It was crazy. Since that moment, I have found it impossible to be hurt or offended by someone I love. I can hurt for them, but I am not hurt by them. Love really keeps no record of wrongs. It’s crazy how true this really is.

Learning God’s voice is not just knowing what He says, but familiarizing yourself with His tone. For example, the Enemy and the Lord will both reveal sin. The Enemy will speak in an accusing tone that will lead to shame and condemnation. The Lord will speak in a kind tone that will lead to repentance. Discerning the tone will help you know whether or not to pay attention to the voice, no matter how “true” it may be seem. 

The call to following Jesus is heavy but it is not burdensome. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. If following Jesus feels too weighty, it is most likely that the weight is you still carrying your old man. Jesus commanded us to deny ourselves and pick up the cross. Something tells me Jesus figured we were much heavier than the cross, so He made sure to notify us not to bring ourselves on the journey. He knew it would only ever weigh us down. 

It really is possible to pay off your student loans. You just have to be okay with never ever seeing a paycheck, ever. But THANK YOU, LORD. I am almost done and debt-free!  

Find people who believe in you and for you. These are gems everyone needs to find and never lose. Surround yourself with individuals who have a vision for you and refuse you to settle for anything less. They are what will bridge you from being good to great.

The best way to fight the Devil is to ignore him. My greatest battles against the Enemy are not the ones where I warred into the night against him. My greatest battles against the Enemy have been the ones where I didn’t even give him one second of my attention. He is an attention seeker, and I win the moment I refuse to give him any.  

You can fall deeply in love in your singleness. I love that God is jealous for me, and it was in my singleness that I realized how much He was willing to fight for me to know and understand love fully. He refused to sell me short of the love that He paid for. It was in this revelation that I fell deeply in love with Him, with myself, and with others. 

Hunger is contagious. The greatest thing you can do in an environment seemingly complacent is to remain steadfast in your hunger. The main reason people don’t hunger for more is because they don’t know there’s more to hunger for. Your hunger is an invitation for them to go after what they never knew was there.

God doesn’t give love as a gift. He gives Himself because He is love. It made a big difference when I learned that love was not a feeling but a person. Because even on days that felt crummy, I knew He was with me and that was more than enough. 

I am a daughter. This is the identity that Jesus restored to me. I am no longer a servant, a sinner or a slave. I am a daughter who serves because I am loved, and no longer a servant who serves to be loved.

You are my hero if you made it to the very end.