#and we also can't sell it bc “it doesn't belong to us''

[mynameisbillandimaheadcase]

.

[yesloulou]

Hi friend.

Actually just today, my friend and I was talking about Daniel after the race. He’s been watching F1 for way longer then me. I expressed my concern over the last two weeks even though this is only the beginning of the szn. He said and I summerised, currently DR can only be in midfield teams is cus while he dose have the skills, he’s too unserious for like SF or MER, but his unseriousness brings great publicity for midfield teams.

I think in some aspects this may be true. But It’s just, like, idk, thought of this hits me. I know this jester aura (?) often surrounded him and people saying it’s great for marketing and stuff, but isn’t that a bit unfair tho? Maybe DR is always DR, way before F1 he is DR, and now all of a sudden his a publicity stun.

(feel sad for millionaires)

Idk what will happen after this szn but I really hope he keeps racing.

You know when you look at someone and look at what they do, you just go like, yeah for sure that’s what they do? I look at Daniel and I have this feeling. He’s a racer, always have been and always will, maybe he’ll go to Indy or some other competitions if this doesn’t work out, but in heart he’s a racer, he belongs to the track and the speed.

That’s just how I feel, and don’t really know who I can say this to, so thank you for letting me vent.

Wish him all the best for home race.

this is so sweet (the way you worry for daniel's prospects) and '(feel sad for millionaires)' got me irl lol 😭 your friend sounds like he's watched f1 for a long time but i would disagree with his conclusion. i provide that:

allegedly ferrari decided to not go for daniel after seeing him dance with daniil kvyat in the pit lane to entertain fans during rain delay at usgp 2015. the situation first of all was fortunately and unfortunately more nuanced than daniel being "unserious". the ferrari at the time was also run by arrivabene during bernie ecclestone's f1 reign. the ferrari today, two team principles later and after liberty media's f1 takeover, has changed in many ways. for example, in 2022 they had charles and carlos do this tiktok trend which definitely, definitely flirted with "the boundaries" (whatever that means) way more. so no, even tho daniel doesn't drive for ferrari, i wouldn't say he is "too unserious" for them.

merc is considered a more "corporate" environment in f1, example is valtteri's change in public image after leaving mercedes. however given that at the end of 2022 toto went as far as literally wearing daniel's merch in an attempt to reserve him for mercedes, i'd say obviously they don't consider daniel "too unserious" either.

publicity in f1 just generally cannot be a bad thing. more people interested in watching a driver means more sponsors willing to pay $$$$ to put their names and logos onto their livery. and more $$$$ means better chances at making a faster car, which is a goal of every team's. one can argue that a successful and financially secure team like red bull or ferrari might not be attracted to the benefit of a driver's popularity as much. but again, sports rely on viewership to sell broadcasting rights and ad spots, and publicity just generally can't be a bad thing.

i know the first two races were not great but this season literally just started. nothing is real yet. and daniel at least ended this week on a positive note so even more reasons to look ahead. the thing about f1 is that there is one winner and nineteen others. so as long as you're watching you're basically guaranteed more bad days than good ones. we can't all be watching bc we all believe our blorbos will be wdc, right? we watch and hope that something good might just happen. like if you think about it even though daniel has been out here causing us stress all these years he still manages to pull off minor to major miracles every year or two. this hopefulness is very precious so i say we watch it for that.

anyways. i hope this made you feel better and more excited about the season ❤️❤️❤️

[facelessxchurch]

Review/Rant: Official Merch Store

General Short Version

Remember how he said he would hire professional artists for the official merch store? Yeah, Landy lied bc of course he did. Pretty sure he designed this stuff himself. I mean, a too big amount of items are his doodles.

I didn't expect much, didn't even hope for merch for my favs, but I expected at least some new SP art instead of recycled art (some art is so old it's still from when the first trilogy was released) and well, text.

And no, Landy's shitty 5-second doodles of Skul and himself don't count as "art". Neither does the skull silhouette on some items. Couldn't even be arsed to add eye socks and nose smh :/

3 pages full of garbage merch. He really went for quantity over quality here.

And to add further insult to injury, the prices of the items he sells are heavily overpriced.

So yeah, this entire store is a sign of disrespect and balant insult to the fandom. I hope no one buys this.

Long Version

The Notebooks/-pads

Too much empty space. WAY too much empty space. You couldn't possibly have done this in a lazier way.

The sarcasm one is hardly even SP-related. Plus, he didn't even attempt to pretty the text up a little with typography. He didn't use the 'bold' font for "Caution" which would have been the bare minimum. This doesn't even count as trying.

I TRIED to make the two with characters on it a little better by reducing the empty space, but it's really hard to polish a turd. Especially if ya don't wanna put more than 5 min in lol

Totem Bags

This store has totem bags, but they are worse than the Kickstarter one. At least the Kickstarter one had text big enough that you could read it from afar. For the text on the new ones, you'll need a magnifying glass.

Clothing

Some of the text has the same problem as the totem bags: too small to read. The only time text should be that small is if it isn't meant to be read or when it's "if you can read this you're too close" T-Shirt. This applies especially to A6.

If you have B2 you don't need B1. What happened here? Did he have an item amount quota to reach?

A3, B3 and C3 are Landy's shitty 5 second doodles again. Unless they are used to signed the cloths they don't belong on the clothes. Pay for a custom design, you cheap ass scammer!

A4 and A5, the stripe with Skul should be thicker. If it's on a shirt you shouldn't need a magnifying glass to see it. Also, the blue stripe needs more contrast, the blue is eating the black outlines of Skul. The red stripe on the blue shirt... I just really don't like that blue tone and I hate that he doubled down on it. For the website too.

C1 should have had the sold letters bc you can't read it from further away with that effect on top.

C2 at last you can read this one. Not getting any creativity points from me tho. Once again it's just text and probably took him 5 seconds to design.

Now listen, here is what I want instead. I have this zip-up hoodie from Killstar. I love and essentially I want this but in SP.

Faceless One version: The symbol on the front is the Faceless Church symbol. The back is a picture with Mev in the middle and his generals around him and it's done in the style of those stained glass windows you see in Christian churches but black and white. I don't know what I want on the sleeves. Maybe bursts of flames, symbolizing Mev's fire attacks. Or perhaps just parts of the 'Gospel of the Faceless' scribbled along on the arms in English, Latin or even Irish??? Or one arm a snake to symbolize Nef and the other a lion to symbolize Baron as his right and left hand men?

China Sorrows Version: The symbol in the front should be a crest with a scorpion on it. The back image is a drawing of China in the Art nouveau style. The arms should be a roll of paper curling down each arm with various symbols drawn on them, artfully intervening with each other.

Hats

I wouldn't say that "We don't talk about vampires" is one of the more iconic quotes of the series, but besides that not even an attempt was made at typography. Or like, a little vampire head silhouette with an open mouth and exposed fangs. or even just fangs around the text or anything at all even.

It doesn't assault my eyes, but it's also incredibly boring.

To the people saying they wanted to buy Skul's head: just go to a hat store and buy a fedora. It's gonna be better quality than whatever Landy would smack on the store for a criminal price.

Everything with his face on it

No. How full of yourself do you have to be to try and sell merch with your face on it. The quotes are awful too

The quotes on the postcards are so awfully 2012 Tumblr "quirky" I'm-not-like-other-people ^w^ edgy bullshit vibes. Wasn't cute when it came from the emo kids back then and it coming from a +50 year old man trying to be relatable to the kids these days is just sad and cringe.

Also, I'm pretty sure by sending people that greeting card is how you end relationships including familiar relationships.

Baby's first InDesign Skull

It's what it says in the title. Should have just used the iconic Skul logo instead to make it look like SP and less like random shit you can find on Etsy after reaching page 100.

Really should have just used the old school icon. Thee is a reason it's so iconic: it's easy to recognize as Skul and not random skull/skeleton number 5643489. Plus, using the old one is about the same amount of effort as making the new one.

Honestly, it should have been custom art, but the iconic SP icon would be the lesser evil by a far.

On top of hat, black text is hard to read on a red background js.

Also, what kind of chaotic evil alinged bastard uses a metal pencil case???

Prints

Ngl I always thought the "Mortail Coil" cover was one of the best of the entire series. I also really love the OG "Dark Days" cover. OG book covers as prints? Easy win! Still fucking overpriced tho. Plus the OG covers also would have looked good on clothing, way better than the shit he ended up slapping on there.

As for the collage with all of the characters in it: I always thought it looked awful. The characters were just thrown in there without much thought or care. Also hate that he used the ugly ass SoW Nef instead of the way better-looking Book 1 cover Nef.

Rainbow Ruler

This isn't even Skulduggery-themed. I feel like HarperCollins told Landy he had to put something in the store for the gays but instead of making something like a cute lil Valkyrie/Militsa pin he just smacked this into the store.

The Skulduggery Apron

The only thing that makes it SP-themed is that they smacked a sign saying "Cooking with Skulduggery" on it. Otherwise, it looks like every other skeleton apron you can get around Halloween.

Coaster

So empty and boring again. It looked way better with the moth eventho it was a "Silent of the Lambs" movie poster rip-off. Still don't know why a skull is the official Sanctuary logo. Seems kinda weird for the good guys. On a meta level: I guess literally EVERYTHING in universe has to revolve around Skulduggery.

Make the Sanctuary seal more interesting and then invert the values so the background if black and the lines are white and this could actually look decent.

Skulduggery Clock

This looks like a your-photo-here clock that you can order at every random print shop. Here are some examples from HP to show HOW a custom clock for the fans is meant to look like next to it. (Also look at this Thresh watch, it's so good I almost regret not wearing watches.)

Lunchbox and Waterbottle

Same thing as with the clock. Tho the water bottle also has too much white space.

Mouse-/Gamerpads

Recycled art again. The mousepads look weird with Val placed smack dead in the middle. Plz apply the rule of thirds and move her a little to the right.

Pillows and Bag

AGAIN WITH THOSE SHITTY DOODLES Someone tell Landy that if it takes about 5 seconds to draw it does NOT belong on merchendise!

Also, that floating "Bad Magic" Skul really doesn't work on it's own, Just... just use the damn Skul icon if you gotta be lazy.

Final Words

Overpriced lazy garbage that Landy definetely designed himself. No person with self-respect would even consider participating in this cash grab.

It's an insult to every fan, really.

How to fix this? Delete everything from the website, hire a professional artist, go for quality over quantity. A few items that sell really well are a million times better than a bunch of items that don't sell. If the shop goes well you can always expand.

Almost all of the store should have been custom art apart from a few exceptions where old promo art and book covers are used for tops and posters.

[princejackal]

Quick question when the MC regain their throne would they be able to abolish slavery and gives the humans equal rights

Partially yes but overall no.

Equal rights sound good on paper but would fail in practice. The lived experiences of people in the kingdom makes it unimaginable.

For example, if someone stole your cattle, who do you go to for help? The central government? No, the kingdom is very decentralized. Even if you could get your case to the vizier or the ruler, it would take time to resolve.

In the meantime, who do rely on when your livelihood is stolen?

Your family. Your tribe.

Arabia is a harsh place. To survive, you need your family for protection and they're your safety net. Intense kinship networks criss-cross the kingdom.

If you belong to a weak tribe that has few members, good luck fighting up against some dude who belongs to a powerful tribe. Equality isn't going to get you anywhere. But the threat of real retaliation from ones family instructs the behavior of others.

And even in your own tribe, are you equal to an elder or even an older cousin? No. Socially, obeying your betters would be ingrained from birth.

The kingdom is very hierarchical. Obedience and conformity is enforced. And guess what, this is also true in neighboring kingdoms. Equality that we understand from our modern world doesn't exist.

Humans are known to even worship some jinn. And jinn can cast magic while humans usually can't. Passing a law stating that jinn and humans are equal would be laughable to everyday people. No royal official is going to enforce said law.

Coming back to slavery. Could your MC ban it outright after retaking the throne.

Not outright. Because the institution of slavery is ingrained in society and also around the world currently.

Even the humans have slaves. They'll also protest any attempt to ban the institution.

But I did say you could ban it partially. Banning debt slavery is possible in the game. Effectively, MC will be banning someone from selling themselves or their children into bondage in order to repay debts.

However, even banning debt slavery will be an uphill battle. Those currently benefitting from the status quo will fight tooth and nail to preserve their privileges.

Usually, kings during this time period chose to forgive the debts of everyone across their kingdom from time to time. This allowed those in debt bondage to go back home. It also provided comfort to the poor who usually inherited unpayable levels of debts from previous generations.

That's another avenue for your MC to take.

There's no magic bullet anon. Don't forget the game takes place around 1000 BC. So what was common place back then is alien to us.

Thanks for the interesting question anon

[avid-avian-lives]

rancher omens au development nov. 11

in addition to being one of the Them, Scott is going to make an appearance in the history section as a former friend/lover of Jimmy. currently, I'm looking into the best ways that he could fit in. details under the cut! this one has a few bulleted lists, so I'll save you the scroll :>

at the bottom of this post is a poll!! y'all can put in your two cents on my conundrum here

in all cases they'd probably stay together for about ten years before Jimmy decides to leave or Scott dies, depending

the first draft I made takes place in 1906, where Jimmy meets Scott (a flower seller) while moping over Tango (who he hasn't seen in fifty years.) after a while, he moves into Scott's flower field. but Jimmy feels an obligation to help in the face of WWI and fakes his own death since he can't tell Scott the truth or bring himself to lie and say he wants to leave.

pros:

Tango has to know about Scott, and he could find out during the 1941 minisode. that could be a really cute moment in which Scott (now much older) says something like "you look so much like someone I used to know"

I really struggled with finding a reason for Jimmy to leave Scott that didn't have them ending on a bad note, and I don't want it to end on a bad note. WWI works as a great excuse for this

poppies were a symbol of death during WWI, meaning that theoretically, a blessing from Jimmy on Scott's flowers could've caused that. that would mean that Scott sold thousands of poppies in the years following WWI in a beautiful gesture towards a man he lost long ago

cons:

I'm not totally sold on the idea that Jimmy would even entertain the idea of friendship with Scott while he's so miserable over Tango. I really caked on the angst during the 1854 scene, so Jimmy wouldn't just get over it (he only barely does so in 1967.)

something doesn't fit about Scott knowing about the tavern. if that's somewhere he regularly goes to sell flowers, even after Jimmy "died," then he should be able to recognize the exact same building that supposedly got sold to someone else many years ago.

currently, Scott just kinda... walks into the tavern?? talk about pushy salesman

my second idea was that they met somewhere between rome (41AD) and wessex (535AD). I'm not totally sure how that timeline would work and I haven't written anything for it lol

pros:

the main pro is that I think it would be reeeeeallly sweet if Jimmy named Scotland after Scott bc "it's his place, he belonged here"

it would also not interfere much with the overarching timeline bc there's a huuuuge expanse of time (~500 years) that is given no official content, so I have a lot of space to work with

cons:

it would be a lot goofier to write bc idk much about the era, but since it's such a wide era I could probably find something to work with

I have no idea how Tango would find out about Scott if it's been hundreds of years since Jimmy saw him. since there's isn't a way that it would end happily, (either Jimmy leaves or Scott dies or something) Jimmy would hardly be volunteering that information. but Tango has to find out somehow, and I want that to be established information somewhere

my third thought was sometime during the 70s with the hippie era

pros:

obviously the theme of "the flower human" (as Tango call him in 2008) fits in fairly well with Scott lol

Tango would be aware of Scott bc he probably met Scott. we could also see Tango get into Queen music which would be kinda funny

cons:

Scott and Tango being around at the same time would be weird. I'm not a huge fan of the idea

established hippie culture doesn't lend itself to two men living alone in a big flower field, so I'm not sure what exactly I'd do with that to work it out

I'd have to take out the line "I'm in love with him, aren't I?" from Jimmy referring to Tango in 1941 bc it wouldn't make much sense to establish that and then turn it around right away

my final thought was during the short stretch of time between Edinburgh (1820s) and St. James Park (1854).

pros:

Tango is missing during this time but comes back soon after

the increased angst potential of 1854 >:) I already increased the angst of this scene and would be all for doing it again

after edinburgh Jimmy would be in Scotland anyway, clearing the tavern problem from 1906

cons:

it's a little pushy in terms of the overarching timeline. both edinburgh and st james are reeeally important parts of the story (even if edinburgh doesn't appear in the history section), and I'm not sure putting another factor in there would be a good idea

I'm also not sure what exactly would happen between them. after a while, Jimmy would spend this time worried about Tango, since he's been missing for 30ish years. would Jimmy be as worried as I need him to be if he spent that time with someone else?

ALRIGHT

currently I only have work down for 1906, but I'll probably end up fleshing out all these ideas more and posting them as bonus content :>

[smallcrystals]

analysing timber spruce time

i don't know if this was intentional or not but i wanna talk about it

so here we have the description of timber's cameo in this short:

i don't think timber is "slightly cowardly" by nature. lemme elaborate.

so, remember what timber did when gloriosa trapping the students?

he runs, grabs his axe and tries to get the students out.

he isn't depicted as cowardly here, in a very serious situation.

keep in mind that timber doesn't have a fucking clue as to what is going on.

his sister apparently found these geodes that can do magic(????) and she's been using them to make this the chs students' best week at camp ever before filthy rich can come and take their land that belongs to the both of them. then, under her increasing stress, she goes and gets the last two geodes that transform her into, essentially, gaea everfree.

but he still goes to help the campers. that's not cowardly. that's not a timber spruce trait we see in legend of everfree. sure, unsolved selfie mysteries can be just showing more insight to his character but why is it that he gets scared at a potential sea monster when he's literally been through this? when he's seen his sister turn into a demon?

trauma.

trauma can lead people to react to even the smallest of things that remind them of what happened before. demon gloriosa vs. "sea monster". timber screaming and hiding behind twilight – and if you focus on him through that part of the short, the boy closes his eyes and shakes – can be seen as a response to what happened at camp everfree.

sci twi has powers and timber knows this, he's literally seen it. she can save people. timber can't do anything. he has tried to before but that led him to being trapped by his own sister. no way is his traumatised mind letting him help again in magic situations when that happened to him. that's probably why he hid behind twilight.

what happens in screenshot 2 isn't uncommon either and it actually fits timber's character. timber has never told anyone "when i was 10 i wanted to sell the camp to go live in the city". it doesn't seem like he's entirely open abt things that make him slightly vulnerable or stuff that's personal to him. trauma is not even "slightly", it is vulnerable state, it is personal.

timber whistling, blushing and looking away could be him trying to sweep his response under the rug and move the attention off himself. the "oh shit how did i let that slip, quick, act normal". that makes sense. maybe timber even did that to be funny, because he does that. try to be funny. perhaps he does it to hide whatever is going on inside his head.

and you know, people do exactly what timber did. there are times where people see stuff that reminds them of their trauma and they respond suddenly, then, if they don't want to talk abt it, they don't. they change the subject, they brush it off.

twilight's reaction is kinda interesting to me. it does make me a little uncomfortable after realising this could have been a trauma response from timber but this could also suggest more abt the point i previously mentioned. twilight may not know what timber's going through. because if she did, she of all people would know how it feels and wouldn't have reacted like that to him. so maybe she doesn't know, maybe timber hasn't told her. that leads us back to my last point that timber doesn't like being vulnerable.

there can be many reasons as to why that's the case. i like to think it's because he's had to grow up fast. you know this point, i've brought it up many times.

he's the younger child. it's common for them to be a lot more vulnerable when it comes to family matters, especially if they're a teenager. but due to his parents' death, he might have thought him being vulnerable and having raw moments of sadness/grief/etc is not going to help gloriosa. growing up fast goes against what should happen, it speeds up a process that shouldn't be sped up. maturity is different for everyone and forcing it isn't good. if sped up, you can get reprocussions or side effects. this might be it.

but yeah, i'm definitely convinced timber's response here was not one out of natural cowardice but bc of his trauma. it makes sense why he would be scared, even if it turns out not to be anything scary. he's young and had to take in a lot of stuff at once, like magic existing and trying to figure out if it's bad or not, and then the climax of LoE.

i don't know, it's just something i noticed and i hope you guys can see what i mean!! it might be that i went way too far into his character but i won't turn down the possibilities. i am a writer, after all.

(people should also stop making fun of him for it, self explanatory. but that is a rant for another day lol.)

anyways, i love timber and want to give him the biggest hug :(

[clownistyping]

A Witch and A Hick

'Meet cute nasty.'

Hi! I'm back kinda? I'm just here to post this lil self insert story of me and Lester Sinclair from House of Wax. He doesn't get enough love and I wanna kiss him so much.

I may change the title, is Lester a Hick????? He can be if you don't think to hard about it. Idk how many chapters this'll be bc its just me writing lol. This also got up to almost 2k words so 😳😳

Also @darling-disastrous here it is uwu

The vans brakes squeal as the girl presses down on them, Elizabeth Mayfield bounced back from the vans push. Her hair covers her face, It's filled with leaves, crystals and hair wraps on single strands. 

"Oh shut it Chariot." She grumbles and smacks the steering wheel, putting the van in park as she looks around her surroundings. 

Parked in a gas station parking lot, barely anybody around and the moon is high and bright, 

"Good night for a reading huh?" She turns to ask the dog in the back of the van. Who raises his head from the mattress in the back, the mutt puts his head back down. Turning on the roof light as she walks, 

"Move over, Mac." She grabs the cards from her bag. Pushing past the hanging crystals and dreamcatchers, she sits next to the dog. 

She hums and closes her eyes as she shuffles the cards. Letting her mind empty itself, her breathing is in sync with the dogs. Setting the cards in a pile of four, she draws the first card. It tells her what's at hand, seven of cups. She raises a brow, 

"Love?" She looks at her dog who sniffs her wrist covered in homemade bracelets, she smiles. Her face heating up, 

"Love." 

The second card speaks of the past and how it's changed her, six of cups reversed. 

"Try to be easy going, I was and I am." She puts the card back in the stack and pulls the 3rd, this will offer her food for thought. 

The high priestess shows, 

"Act more on feelings than facts. Is what I'm doing not enough?" She gestures to her van, hinting at her traveling lifestyle. 

"Is this what you're referencing to?" She lifts the seven of cups and places the two cards down together. Shaking her head she lifts the final card, which tells her a course of action she can take. The chariot arrives in her hand. 

"Again, is what I'm doing not enough?" She says out loud, 

"I named the van after this card. Come on give me a break." She says to no one but Mac listens. 

"Should we go further?" She pets the mutt who leans into her hand, 

"Maybe somewhere, where nobody will bother us." She mumbles and lays on the mattress, 

"Maybe I can be a forest witch," she mumbles and closes her eyes, letting sleep take over. 

Lester spits on the ground, he looks up at the bright moon as it shines through the woods. The music plays gently in the background, 

He hums along with the tune of 'season of the witch.' And pats his thighs to the rhythm, 

"Purdy night ain't it, Jonesy?" He asks the dog that sits on the back of the truck with him. She licks his face and he laughs. 

The sun peeks through the back doors, waking the girl in the van. She hums and sits up, Mac is standing in front of her ready to go. 

"Good idea." She says and takes him out to use the bathroom. When she puts Mac back in the van she tries to figure out where she is exactly. 

She knows she's landed herself in Louisiana, but most of the state looks the same. So she heads in the gas station, In the traffic mirror hanging above the entrance she gets a glimpse of herself. 

Elizabeth wears a long black slitted skirt, both sides are cut and her legs show when she walks. Her tank is wrinkled and her shawl is tempted to fall from her shoulders, she fixes it quickly and holds her side bag close. 

"Can I help you?" The cashier, an older woman asks and Elizabeth blinks. Back in reality, she nods. 

"Actually yes, two things. Where am I?" She asks and the woman points to the pamphlets nearby, 

"Smallwood. Okay, and uh can I use your bathroom?" 

"Gotta buy something first." The woman huffs and Elizabeth quickly searches for some travel food and drinks, 

Her only source of income is tarot reading strangers and selling the jewelry she makes. Not a lot but enough if you make the prices almost criminal. 

Grabbing some powdered donuts, quickly she pays for them and runs to the bathroom. Quickly she fixes herself up, putting on dark eyeliner only to smudge it and swiping on dark lip gloss. She smiles at her dark makeup, it simply makes her happy. Stepping out the bathroom quietly, in hopes of not gaining any attention she tries to leave silently. 

But her eyes catch a drink, staring at the energy drink from the fridge. She looks up at the cashier who's glaring at her. 

In a flash Elizabeth quickly snatches the drink and runs from the building, Mac barks from in the van and the woman hollers. 

"Get back here you freak!" The cashier screams and Elizabeth laughs as she runs. The needed adrenaline pumping through her, slamming the van open she gets in. 

Grabbing her keys, the van sputters and spits. 

"Come on, Chariot! Come on!" Elizabeth yells as she turns the key, the van rumbles as the cashier starts to run towards it. 

"Lets go!" Elizabeth yells as the van roars to life, slamming on the gas Mac is pushed back on the mattress and quickly the van escapes the parking lot with the screaming of its tires. 

Elizabeth doesn't slow the van until she reaches a wooded area, trees tower over the colorful van as it fails to blend in. But they're miles from the gas station and coming down from the high speed. 

"Cheers." Elizabeth raises the energy drink and Mac licks it, she laughs and opens it. 

The drink sprays all over the girls face immediately upon opening. She spits out the blueberry flavor and Mac licks her face all over, laughing she pushes the dog back. 

"I get it! That was well deserved karma!" She yells yells the universe,

Suddenly the van spits and sputters. 

"Oh no." She whispers and the engine cuts itself off. 

"No! Baby please!" She hollers and slams on the steering wheel, 

"Is this my karma?" She whispers and leans into her sticky seat, 

"I regret nothing." She says and sips her drink, Mac pants next to her. He breathes a disgusting smell. 

The two sit as the girl finishes her drink, she cringes as the sticky feeling on her face. 

"I can handle a lot of things," she starts, looking at Mac and then the bones she collects all scattered in the van. 

"But I can't handle a facial." She laughs and gets out of the van, Mac jumps out with her and sniffs the new ground. Elizabeth grabs the water from the back she runs it over her face, washing away the substance. Once the feeling of soda was gone Elizabeth checks her face in the side mirror. 

Her eyeliner was running, she shrugs. 

"Tell me, Mac. How do I look?" She turns, expecting her dog. 

"Mac?" She says and looks around, the dog stands in the distance. His head raised as he sniffs the area, Elizabeth cups her mouth and yells. 

"Hey, Get back here!" Mac looks at her and quickly sprints away towards the scent. 

Elizabeth groans and quickly runs after the speeding dog. But he's quickly lost in the weeds of Louisiana. 

"Mac!" She calls out and hears no response, but a rotting smell hits her. She doesn't flinch, after willingly tearing through dead animals for a good bone. She's numb to the smell. 

And now she knows where that damn dog is headed. 

Stomping her way through the thickets, she tries to keep calm her fingers absent-mindedly fidgeting with her silver coin necklace. 

"Well hey there buddy, where you come from?" Elizabeth hears a voice say and she follows it. 

"Alright load up!" Lester says and opens the passenger door of the truck, Jonesy quickly hopes in the truck and sits down. Ready to ride. In the back is another deer carcass, along with a vulture he accidentally hit. Lester taps his hands against the wheel as the music plays, Johnny Cash sings Ring of Fire on the radio, the chorus sings and Lester joins. 

"And it burns, burns burns! The ring of fire!" Lester sings off key and Jonesey howls with him. 

"If I could, I'd be in a band, Jonesy." The dog licks Lester's face and he laughs, 

"Ah you're right, my ugly mug don't belong on no stage. I'm happy right here." He kisses the dogs head and she barks.  

Lester drives down the bumpy pathway that leads him to the roadkill pit, he always checks to see if any strays show. His heart is soft for animals without a home, he likes to gain their trust. Make them feel safe while also being independent. 

"Think we'll find anything?" Lester asks and backs the truck up to face the pit. As the two leave the truck, Lester hears movement from the hole. Turning towards it he smiles when he sees a collared dog sniffing around the carcasses. 

"Well hey there buddy, where you come from?" 

The dog looks up, his mouth full of the meat. 

"Oh come on you don't wanna be eating that old meat." Lester pats his thighs, 

"I got some good eatin at my place if you wanna come with." Lester smiles and the dog stumbles his way through the pile, Jonesey sniffs the mutts face and licks it clean, the new dog pounces and the two quickly engage in play. 

"Well ain't that sweet, already made a friend huh, Jonesy?" 

Lester says, he lets the two play and opens the back of his truck. Tossing out the carcasses, he then opens the passenger door. 

"Alright you two, let's get going!" Lester pats the door and Jonesy was quick to jump in. 

The new dog stood in place and sat, 

"Oh come on boy, don't be shy." Lester whistles, 

"HEY!" Lester looks up, above the cliff he heard the voice. 

"THAT'S MY DOG!" The person yells and Lester sees the stranger, the said dog barks at the voice. 

A girl wearing dark flowy clothes, her face covered in runny makeup. 

"Hey, watch out!" Lester calls out and suddenly the girl fell off the cliff.