#anyway don’t move to Denver it’s not worth it I promise

[spaceskam]

Plot twist, I wrote you something anyway @cosmicclownboy ❤️

ao3

"I blame you."

"Not a surprise, you always do."

Michael dropped the tent that was missing a few poles to glare at Alex.

"I do not."

"You literally just did," Alex said, far too smug about being right when they were literally lost in the woods.

"That doesn't count."

"Sure," Alex said, carefully getting to his feet to admire the fire he started like a good little boy scout. Michael, despite their arguing, watched him to make sure he didn't lose his balance. "I'm gonna go check the car to see if a pole or two rolled under the seat."

"Fine."

Michael turned his attention back to the tent until Alex's back was to him and then he watched Alex walk away. They'd agreed the best way to work on their relationship was to spend time together which meant chasing alien leads together. There was no way there was just one prison full of aliens and they intended to find another one.

They just hadn't expected for Alex's fancy SUV ("Let's just take my truck." "No offense but it's old and I don't really want to get stranded." "She's never stranded me before." "We're taking my car, it's more reliable.") to die on them in the middle of nowhere at night with no phone signal. They weren't far from a national park district though so they planned to just wait until morning before making the trek to ask the park rangers to jump them off.

That just meant many hours with nothing but each other. Which might've romantic if it wasn't so damn tense considering it'd already been five days straight with only each other's company. Now they didn't even have the radio or the internet to distract them.

Michael waited until he heard the familiar crunch of footsteps coming close again before he acted like he hadn't been giving Alex his full attention, even when he was out of sight, just in case he needed him. It was too dark and there could be anything in these woods. Michael hadn't ever thrown a bear with his telekinesis, but he wanted to be prepared to if he needed to.

"I found one more, but that's it. Think you can make it work, handyman?" Alex asked, stepping up quite close to slap the pole into his hand.

Michael blinked at him, at the fact that Alex's chest was inches away from his shoulder, at the fact that he had that cocky look on his face, at the fact that he was Alex and this was the longest they'd shared space and they weren't even fucking together. He had to take a breath.

"Yeah, give me some time," Michael said. Alex hummed, nodding before her went back to the fire.

They were lucky, really, that Alex was who he was. He had an entire emergency survivalist kit in trunk, complete with a tent, a sleeping bag, MREs, flares, a stocked first aid kit, water bottles, flashlight, matches, etc. Michael would've been more impressed if he didn't already know Alex.

It took a lot of finessing and little bit of telekinesis, but he eventually got the tent to be solid enough structure that he was sure it wouldn't collapse on Alex when he slept. He even used his telekinesis to replicate wind to double check and it didn't collapsed. When he turned to Alex to tell him, he saw him already staring with a small smile.

"Thanks," Alex said.

"No problem," Michael responded, sitting on the ground on the other side of the fire. Alex watched him openly and it was a little jarring. Michael fidgeted with the worn fabric on his jeans. "So, uh, are you gonna be okay? Your leg, I mean, I know you need to wash the liner and shit."

Alex sighed and rubbed his hand over his thigh as he thought about it. Michael watched perhaps a little too closely.

"I was gonna just rinse it with a water bottle and hope for the best," Alex said. Michael nodded.

"Where'd you say we were again?"

"About an hour south of Denver."

"Near Larkspur by chance?" Alex tilted his head in question before nodding. "Cool, I know a guy there, owes me a favor, I'll call him tomorrow when we get the car working and ask to use his shower so you don't, like, get an infection."

"You know a guy in the middle of Colorado that owes you a favor?" Alex said skeptically.

"Yeah," Michael said, smirking just a little bit, "Sanders always says not to owe anybody, but it's really cool when they owe you."

"And you're gonna use your favor on a shower?" Alex said. Michael shrugged.

"Maybe some food too. His wife says I'm too skinny so she usually force feeds me anyway," Michael said easily. Alex stared at him for a minute before huffing a laugh and shaking his head.

"How is it there's still more to learn about you?" he wondered. Michael shrugged.

"I don't know, I'm pretty boring. I know there's tons of stuff to learn about you left," Michael said. Alex took a deep breath and that warm smile never faded.

"Ask me something then."

"Don't put me on the spot, I'm not prepared," Michael said. Alex rolled his eyes. "Uh, fine, what's your favorite food?"

"Uh," Alex hummed, "You know what, I haven't had margat bamya since I was in Iraq and I remember it being incredible, maybe that."

"Maybe we'll find a place that has it somewhere," Michael said, already planning to google places as soon as he had signal.

"Doubt it. And if they do, it won't be as good."

"Then maybe I'll learn how to make it for you."

"Mm, okay, that'd be interesting."

"I bet."

They stayed up for a little while longer, talking back and forth about nothing until Alex yawned. Michael had to suggest that he go to bed and he stood, making it half way to the tent before he realized Michael was still sitting by the fire.

"Are you staying out here to keep guard or something?" Alex asked playfully. Michael grinned and turned to him.

"No, but I totally could."

"Come to bed," Alex said, soft and inviting and entirely sincere. They'd shared hotel rooms since they'd started traveling, but they'd always had different beds and Alex never said that. It made Michael's stomach drop into his feet.

"The tent's only for one person and there's only one sleeping bag, so I was just gonna sleep out here," Michael said dumbly. Alex didn't even roll his eyes, he just grinned and nodded towards the tent.

"We've fit in a sleeping bag together before."

Michael felt so fucking dizzy.

"Yeah, when we were both like 20lbs smaller each," he said. Alex rolled his eyes that time.

"I'm not gonna force you, but I think it'll be fine. But you can stay out here if you want."

"No," Michael said, maybe too quickly as he stumbled to his feet, "No, yeah, I'll–We–Uh-huh, I'll fit."

Alex smiled like the sun. "Cool."

Alex climbed into the tent after leaving his shoes on the outside, the flap closing after him. The inside lit up with his flashlight and Michael felt stupidly frozen as he watched Alex's shadow remove his jacket, his jeans, and then his prosthetic. It was weirdly erotic for a goddamn shadow. He didn't move until Alex froze and his head faced the entrance.

"Guerin?"

"Coming!"

He was already unbuttoning his jeans on the way, stumbling as he tried to get out of his boots without wasting time. He left them on the outside of the tent and crawled inside. Alex looked at him, eyes drifting to where his jeans sat halfway down his thighs before he laughed. It was a nice sound. Michael got rid of them completely.

"Okay, I'll get in first," Alex said, getting in the sleeping back and beginning to zip it up more before he stopped. "Actually, get in and I'll zip it up the rest of the way."

Michael did as he was told.

He laid chest to chest with Alex, staring at him up close. Alex's hand slowly zipped up the sleeping bag, sliding up his back the entire way. It wasn't until it was finished and Alex rested his hand on Michael's hip that he realized he probably couldve just used his telekinesis for that. Still, he used it to shut off the flashlight.

And then it was just them. Together. Breathing. Platonically.

"Hey," Michael whispered, "Sorry for blaming you."

"You're forgiven," Alex said, his thumb rubbing small circles into his hip, "Go to sleep."

"I'm busy."

"Doing what?" Alex laughed, "Staring?"

"Maybe."

"Go to sleep," Alex repeated, "And I promise I'll make it worth it when we wake up."

Michael didn't really know what that meant, but he trusted him enough to close his eyes in anticipation. Alex kissed him between his eyebrows and that alone was enough.

"Goodnight, Michael."

"Goodnight."

[thegoodgayshit]

Luz’s mother really doesn’t want to send Luz to camp. She knows once she leaves, there is no going back. But Luz has a knack for getting into trouble, and one day she stumbles into the same type of people her mother would have preferred she avoided. After helping Luz dissolve her high school bully into dust, Eda and Lilith know right away that this kid is just like them - a child of the gods. So Luz hops on a Pegasus and heads to Camp Half-blood, where she embarks on a dangerous quest that makes her both friends and enemies... and she might even save Olympus along the way.

Chapter 10 - The Magic Map Shows Me the Way

The taxi driver, who had told them that his name was Davide, was more than happy to lend them a ride into Cincinnati for free, just like Antheia promised. Despite the ride being longer than an hour, he insisted they not pay him. Feeling guilty, (Luz imagined his kindness was likely due to Antheia’s effect on people) she left a twenty in the backseat, hoping it would cover gas.

Luz had never been to Cincinnati before, and she didn’t get a ton of time to see much of it. The three of them rushed to the nearest train station, ducking inside and getting out of the street.

“Keep your voices down, and try to avoid talking about anything from… our world,” Gus said quietly to Luz. “It’s bad luck, and could send out signals to… things we would like to avoid.”

Luz suddenly remembered the phone in her backpack, and she wondered if she should have told Willow and Gus she brought it. The morning she left for her quest she had sent her Mami a text saying where she was going. She was likely working overtime during the day and wouldn’t read it until she got home, but she probably was going to have a lot of questions. She doubted she would buy that she had gone on a “field trip” with the rest of camp to Colorado Springs.

If even mentioning monsters could attract them, Luz was starting to feel paranoid about what having her phone might mean.

Willow had grabbed a route map off the wall and opened it, peering over her glasses at the options before her.

“We can either take a train or a bus. Regardless of which one we take, we have to stop in Indianapolis. The train will go to Chicago first and then Denver, but then we have a couple of options for busses…”

“The train sounds like it would be a lot of money,” Gus said, leaning over to look. “We can’t spend too much or we won’t have enough for a way back.”

“I don’t think we’ll have enough for the way back anyway,” Willow said, her mouth set in a firm line. “Especially if Amity is with us.”

Luz had been internally battling with if she should tell her friends about her phone, but something on the page caught her attention, and the thought completely slipped her mind. When she looked over at the map, the highlighted sections showing the routes were so bolded with color it’s like they stood out on the page. Luz blinked and leaned in. She didn’t understand why Willow and Gus were talking about money either. The prices were right there on the map, and they even showed the cheapest seats they could get highlighted in red.

The right course of action was obviously to take the next bus to Indianapolis and from there to Kansas City, before finally stopping in Denver. The map even said that the next train left in an hour at 2:00, and after that, the next bus would leave at 6:00.

“We should take this bus,” Luz said, pointing to the line with her finger. “The train leaves soon and they have four seats left. We can get the tickets for fifty bucks.”

Willow and Gus paused, looking over at Luz like they couldn’t understand.

“What?” Luz said, feeling her cheeks pink in embarrassment. “Did I say that in Spanish or something?” It wouldn’t have been the first time she’d gotten excited and done that.

“Luz, where are you seeing these prices?” Willow asked, turning the map over in her hands. “It just shows the routes.”

Luz shook her head in confusion. “They’re right here! Look, it’s one of the legends on the left side of the page.”

Willow and Gus’s mouths dropped open, and Luz’s stomach began to flip. She wondered if they were making fun of her.

“Luz, there’s no legend on the map,” Gus said seriously, and Luz felt herself begin to get frustrated. She took the map from Willow (maybe a little too quickly) and pushed through her friends walking further into the station.

“Look, I’ll show you what I mean.”

She walked up to the counter where there was a middle-aged man in a dark blue uniform standing there at the computer. He was hunched over his desk, drinking a coffee while looking at the screen. When he heard Luz approach, he didn’t even look towards her and away from his computer.

“What can I do for ya?” He said in a thick midwestern accent. Luz threw the map down on the counter and looked up at him.

“I need three 2:00 tickets to Denver with a stop in Kansas City.”

“Sorry, we’re sold out,” the man drawled, and Luz huffed in annoyance.

“No, you’re not! It says that you have four left right here,” Luz exclaimed, pointing down at the map.

“Watch your tone, kid,” the man grumbled, still not looking at Luz. “I don’t do this to deal with brats like you.”

“Excuse me?” Luz said, leaning forward angrily. She was not usually a violent person, but this man was really starting to piss her off. She had half a mind to draw Aletheia and scare the daylights out of him. Willow and Gus rushed forward, holding her by the shoulders.

“Just forget it, Luz,” Willow whispered firmly. “He’s not worth it.”

“No, it is not okay for him to talk to people like that!” Luz exclaimed angrily. “His job is to help people like us, not be rude. He won’t even turn away from his computer to look at me!”

“You want me to turn away from my computer?” The man said in annoyance, finally looking at Luz. The second his eyes met hers, he blinked, before collapsing into his chair. While he’d previously been hunched over, his back straightened and a calm, easy-going look passed over his face.

“I… I don’t remember what I was saying there. But my apologies for being rude,” he said, in a much softer tone. “Let me look into those tickets for you.” Luz relaxed her posture out of surprise, the anger leaving her body, and Gus chuckled under his breath.

“The flower crowns,” he whispered to them. “He’s compelled to be kinder.”

Luz, for what felt like the fiftieth time today, silently thanked Antheia. She really didn’t want to deal with annoying customers on top of Willow and Gus not being able to properly read the map.

The man turned back to his computer, typing for just a moment before turning back to them with a nod.

“You are correct, I do have four tickets available for 2:00 to Denver, with stops in Indianapolis and Kansas City. They are currently priced final sale at seventy dollars.”

Gus frowned. “But Luz, I thought you said they were supposed to be fifty?”

The man shook his head. “Unfortunately, seventy is the lowest these tickets will go to.”

The three of them shared a look. Luz knew they were all thinking the same thing. That barely left any money between them in case something happened.

Willow cleared her throat, doing her best at a smile. “Is there any kind of youth discount we can get?”

The man frowned, like this situation personally affected him too. Gods bless these flower crowns.

“I’m sorry, miss. But no.”

Luz groaned, leaning forward and pointing at the map. “But sir, look right here! The tickets are supposed to be fifty dollars.”  

“Luz, there’s nothing on that map-“ Willow tried, but the man looked down anyway, he clicked his tongue, and when he looked up at Luz, something had changed. His eyes had gotten misty, and his mannerisms had slowed.

“Ah, yes… the tickets are indeed priced at fifty. My apologies, Miss Noceda.” He reached down and typed at his board, his gaze flickering back to Luz one more time. “And for the trouble, I will bump it down to forty. This was my mistake.”

Willow and Gus were stunned. But Luz just broke out into the biggest smile and squealed in excitement, bouncing up and down on her toes.

“There we go! I told you guys the tickets were cheaper.”

Luz went into Willow’s backpack and took out the hundred and twenty dollars, paying the man who took it without another complaint, handing them three train tickets.

“The Greyhound will leave from the University, there is a city bus heading there in a few minutes.” The man said, and Luz and her friends nodded.

“Thank you for your help!” Luz said with a grin, and for a second the haze cleared, and the man smiled.

“Not a problem, kids.”

Luz and her friends rushed out the door and hopped on the city bus outside the station, and through the window, as they left, they watched the man’s smile fade into a frown, and the last they saw of him was the rubbing of his head before the bus started moving and vanished out of sight.

They paid the bus driver, (who insisted a single five was fine for the three of them, thanks to magic flower crowns) and sat down, and Luz shot her friends a happy smile.

“See, guys? Everything worked out! We’ll make the bus with fifteen minutes to spare too!”

Willow and Gus did their best to smile, but Luz knew something was bothering them. She frowned, looking back and forth at them. “What?”

“Luz,” Willow whispered. “What exactly did you see on that map?”

Luz frowned, knowing that it was wide open and they saw it too, there was no need to pretend they didn’t anymore. But regardless, she told them everything she saw, all the way down to ticket price.

“Luz, I swear to Zeus, when we looked we didn’t see any of that!” Willow exclaimed.

“That’s what you’re focused on right now?” Gus scoffed to her, turning to look at Luz with big eyes. “That man knew Luz’s last name. She never told him! I don’t think whatever hazy thing happened to him had to do with the flower crowns.”

Luz was stunned. She hadn’t realized that any of what had just happened was unusual. She figured he’d been nice because of the crowns, and she thought everything she’d done was just because she’d shown him the map.

“But… the map had all that information on it!” Luz’s stomach swirled uneasily, and the three of them sat in tense silence for the rest of the bus ride. When they got off at the university and waited outside the bus station for the GreyHound, she felt Gus poke her to get her attention.

“Look across the street.”

Luz looked and frowned. She saw a boy who was about the same age as the Blight twins, maybe a little older, standing across the street in one of the University of Cincinnati sweatshirts. He had a deep tan and curly brown hair shaved at the sides, and there was a book bag slung over his shoulder. He saw them looking and smiled, adjusting a notebook in his left hand and a pen in his right. He started to cross the street, and Gus inhaled sharply, but Willow just shot him a look.“Gus, what’s wrong?” She said quietly, so the boy wouldn’t hear. Gus just shook his head, too anxious to respond.

“Are you waiting for the bus too?” The boy said as he approached them, standing a little awkwardly across from them. Luz smiled and nodded.

“We are! You can wait with us if you want,” she offered, and Gus’s breath caught in his throat. Willow nudged him, giving him a pointed look to be nice.

“That’s very kind of you,” the boy said with a smile. Luz’s heart fluttered a little in her chest, and she hoped her cheeks weren’t turning pink. He was very cute. His pearly white teeth poked out when he smiled, and his shoulders were wide and broad, Luz had no doubt underneath his sweater he was likely very toned. Willow seemed to be feeling similarly because she shuffled her feet anxiously and wouldn’t look at him.

“It’s no problem, we’re all going the same way, and we’ll be on the bus together for a while! You know, since we’re going the same way and everything…” Luz said with a laugh. Oh, gods, she was rambling. Clearing her throat, she stuck out her hand. “I’m Luz. These are my friends Willow and Gus.”

Thankfully the boy laughed, reaching out and shaking her hand. “I’m Theo. It’s nice to meet some new people before a long journey.”

The bus took that moment to roll up, and Theo gestured for Luz and her friends to walk on first. The bus driver looked at their tickets and nodded for them to go on. They made their way to the back of the bus and took the back row of empty seats, Luz sitting between Willow and Gus. Theo got on just after them and said a few words to the driver, before heading in their direction. Gus practically stabbed Luz with his elbow, and she hissed in pain.

“What, Gus?” She said in annoyance, and he turned to her in panic.

“He didn’t have a ticket!” Gus whispered urgently, “he just got on without a ticket! I know you don’t think anything is wrong, but this guy is not human!”

Willow rolled her eyes at him but didn’t remove her gaze from Theo who was closely approaching. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You’re telling me this guy is a m-o-n-s-t-e-r?” Luz said, spelling out the words, and Gus swallowed hard.

“I don’t know if he is I’ve never read about one like him. But I know things from our world. He is not human!”

Luz hummed in the back of her throat, not sure what to think. She knew Gus was smart, and that he was rarely wrong, but Theo seemed like your typical guy. Not a cause for a reaction like this.

Theo approached them and smiled. “Is this seat taken?” He asked, gesturing to the one next to Willow. She shook her head, practically melting as Theo sat down.

The bus started rolling, and soon Gus had no choice but to accept that Theo was now a part of their conversation. The four of them talked back and forth, Luz and Willow asking a ton of questions about Theo and his life. Luz and Willow told Theo they were visiting their friend Amity in Colorado, (not really a lie) and he said he was going to Denver and then taking another bus south. They learned he lived with his dad in San Francisco, and that he’d been away for a long time and was heading that way to see him.

“Because you’ve been busy with school?” Gus asked, unable to keep the suspicion out of his voice.

“Kind of like that, yeah,” Theo replied with a smile that was almost wistful. Gus must have not liked that answer, because he crossed his arms. “To be honest, because of other stuff we’ve been away longer than I would have liked. But I’m back now, and I’m going to make sure I see my dad. I just have something to take care of in Denver first.”

“What do you have to do?” Luz asked curiously.

Theo shrugged, but he had one of those mysterious smiles on his face Luz had grown to be familiar with. “Stuff.”

Soon, they had passed the first stop in Indianapolis, and a decent-sized group of people got off before they left again and were rolling into Illinois farmland. The whole back was practically empty, and they could talk as loud as they’d like without disturbing the other passengers. Gus had slowly come around to acknowledging Theo’s existence, and instead of sulking quietly, he was now half-engaged into the conversation.

Around the time it was getting dark, and the conversation had whittled down into quiet silence, they were well into Missouri, and Luz was getting so hungry her stomach growled.

Theo turned his head to look at them. “You guys haven’t eaten?”

The three of them looked at one another before blushing in embarrassment.

“We had tea around early lunchtime, but the day kind of slipped away from us,” Willow admitted in embarrassment. “We’ll have to wait until we stop in Kansas City to eat, which wont be until tomorrow afternoon probably.”

Luz fought the urge to groan. She already missed the meals at camp, and honestly, she didn’t like the idea of going a whole day without food.

Theo adjusted the notebook and pen on his lap and reached into his bookbag, pulling out four Tupperware’s stuffed with food. “I packed extra food if you guys want to share. If you like PB&J anyway.”

Luz and Willow eagerly accepted, thanking Theo profusely, but Gus gawked, sitting up so quickly in his seat he almost fell over.

“There’s no way you could fit all that in your bookbag.”

Theo shrugged, reaching over to hand a container to Gus, who just stared at it like it was poison.

“No way,” Gus said with a frown. “This is weird. This is so so weird. Who are you?”

“Gus!” Willow hissed, and Luz turned her head to him in shock. There was no way Gus was going to reveal them to Theo, not after they’d gotten on so well.

“No, Willow! There’s something weird going on here,” Gus insisted, turning back to Theo who was watching him humorously. Gus leaned right in, staring him down. “I’ve been watching you this whole time. You haven’t once moved that notebook or pen from your lap. Your stories are so weird, like half the pieces are missing. You’re acting very nice, but it’s not because of the flower crowns. You know who we are, and I want to know how right now.”

Willow and Luz shared a look of panic, realizing that Gus just outed them to Theo. But when they turned, Theo wasn’t confused. In fact, he laughed, gesturing for Gus to take the container from him.

“Alright, you caught me. You sons of Athena were always too smart for your own good.”

Luz, Willow, and Gus froze, all of their mouths dropping open comically. Luz felt her heart come to a complete stop. Willow full on dropped her Tupperware. Even Gus, who looked satisfied he’d gotten it right, recoiled like he couldn’t believe what he’d heard.

Theo was still holding out the container. “Will, you just take this and eat it? It’s not poison. I would never hurt another half-blood.”

This news built slower until Gus tentatively took the container and sat down. Theo smiled, looking at them with an unreadable expression on his face.

“I have to admit, I was naïve to think I could get away with keeping this a secret,” he said airily. “Being dead for thousands of years really makes a guy overconfident.”

Willow leaped away from Theo, and Luz and Gus were quick to reach for their weapons. Right before Luz drew Aletheia, Theo held out his hand, laughing.

“Sorry, sorry! Bad way to start I guess. I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to bring you a message.”

Luz slowly lowered her hand away from her ring, and tucked herself closer to Willow and Gus. Theo sighed, running a hand through his perfect soft hair. For a dead guy, Luz thought it was very stylish.

“My name isn’t really Theo. In Athens, I was Theseus, the son of Poseidon. I have a message from my boss. Amity is not with him.”

[puckinghell]

tyson barrie seems like the dude who thinks Christmas music should start in like fucking September. so 22 with him feels fitting.

i hate the holidays more than anything in the world and you drive me nuts because you love the holidays more than anything in the world and this is why we aren’t friends (enemies to friends to lovers hello)

—

It’s September 3rd when “All I Want For Christmas” by Mariah Carey blasts through the hallways, and you’re ready to commit murder.

“Barrie!” you yell, banging on his door. “It’s fucking September!” 

The door opens and reveals Tyson, standing there in sweats and a Christmas jumper, with an annoying smirk on his face.

“Hello, roomie,” he drawls. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” 

You cross your arms and glare at him; it doesn’t have the desired effect, as Tyson just laughs.

When Morgan came to you because one of his friends needed a place to live, and weren’t you looking for a roommate, you offered your spare room up without really getting any information on the guy. Morgan has been a long time friend of yours, so you figured, if he liked this guy, you would like him too.

Except then Tyson Barrie moved in with a lot of noise, and never stopped making noise after that. 

He’s just… So there. Always talking, always listening to music, and he has people over way too much. Usually pretty girls that you meet early morning as they try to sneak out of the apartment, and never see again. 

And now this.

“You can’t be playing Christmas music in September,” you tell him.

Tyson frowns. “Why not?” 

“Because…” You pause. You know why not, but you can’t really tell him that. “Because it’s September!” 

And when Tyson asks: “What do you have against Christmas, anyway?” he sounds so genuinely confused that you almost tell him.

Almost. 

“None of your business,” you snap. “Just keep that shit down.” And then you stalk back to your room.

Christmas is the worst, and you should’ve known a person like Tyson would love it more than anything. It’s gonna be a long four months.

—

After that day, Tyson doesn’t play Christmas music again and you think, relieved, that he got the message. You don’t see him around the apartment as much anymore: you work long days and he spends half his nights at the rink, and the other half out wheeling girls.

You stop dreading going home so much.

It was stupid to let your guard down.

The first thing you see when you open the door to your apartment, one evening late October, is a string of Christmas lights draped over the window sill, and then you notice the soft melody of some whiny Christmas song in the background.

“Barrie!” you call out. 

“Hey, Y/N!” Tyson is standing at the kitchen counter, using a roll of ducktape to tape another string of Christmas lights around the counter, and it takes everything in you to not smack the stupid thing out of his hand. “I’m decorating the apartment.” 

“Decorating the apartment?” you echo, dumbly. “For Christmas? In October? Tyson, fuck, it’s not even been Halloween.” 

Tyson crosses his arms, stares at you defiantly. “It’s just lights, Y/N,” he says, and he sounds properly annoyed, now. “How are you offended by lights?” 

You stare at the yellow lights surrounding your window and swallow back tears. It’s not like you can just tell him, but currently, you don’t feel like you could say anything without letting him know how much this is getting to you, and that’s not what you want. 

“Just take them down,” you finally say, and your voice is surprisingly steady. “Please?”

Something deflates in Tyson’s stubborn eyes, but you’re out the room too quickly the notice the pensive look on his face.

—

The entire month of November, there’s nothing Christmas related happening in your house.

It’s a surprise: every day when you get home, you expect there to be something, anything, but there’s not. Instead, Tyson seems to tread a little more carefully around you, seems to quiet himself down whenever you’re home.

You don’t like it as much as you thought you would. 

One day, he’s cooking in the kitchen, but when you walk in he takes his food only half cooked and eats it in his room.

Another evening, he’s watching a movie on TV, and when you kick off your shoes by the door he’s turning off the TV and disappearing to his room.

You notice he doesn’t play music out loud anymore, not even in his room, and he doesn’t have people over either. 

“I can just come to you,” you overhear him say, one time. “No, here isn’t good, my roommate is home tonight.” 

It’s stupid. This is what you wanted, your peace and quiet back, and yet, every time he leaves the room without even looking at you you feel your heart sink a little deeper into your chest. 

The thing is, when he moved in, you really thought this was going to be great. You really thought your lonely nights were over; he’d always be there, to hang out with and have fun with. Morgan even told you: a friend of Tyson’s is never alone when they don’t want to be.

And you know you don’t open up to people easily, and maybe you weren’t as excited about the things that Tyson wanted to do in Toronto when he just got here, but you thought you could still be friends.

Until he started bringing girls home and it hurt you more than you’d ever admit, so you decided it would be better if you weren’t friends at all. 

That night, you come home after a long day of work, and Tyson is on the couch watching a Christmas movie. You know the movie, because you watched it last Christmas, on Christmas Eve while you were drowning your sorrows in ice cream and hot chocolate as you laid in bed alone and wallowed. 

Tyson starts standing up, and you just snap.

“Fucking hell, Tyson, you don’t have to leave every time I come in the room, my lack of Christmas spirit isn’t contagious!” 

Tyson stops dead in his tracks, turns to you, and blurts out: “I just don’t want to make it worse.” 

Now you’re confused. “Make what worse?” And then Tyson goes bright red and you understand. “Morgan told you, didn’t he?”

Tyson lets out a breathy “yes” and you sigh, making your way to the couch and dropping down on it with a groan. 

“My dad loved Christmas,” you start, very skillfully avoiding Tyson’s eyes as you talk. “Really got into it, every year. He’d start with the songs and the decorations the day after Halloween, and then we’d get our tree a week or so later. My mom would always tell him that if he got it so early, it’d be dead by the time Christmas came around, but he would do it anyway and then it would be dead by Christmas and he’d get a new one the day or so before.” You let out a humorless laugh. 

“Then, the Christmas I turned 11, he went out to get the new Christmas tree and he never came back. I didn’t see him for 7 years, and when I turned 18, I got a Christmas card from him. He lives in Edmonton now, with his new family, and his new wife, who he apparently had been cheating with on my mom for a year before he left.” 

“I’m so sorry, Y/N,” Tyson mumbles, and it’s not until he carefully wipes at your cheek that you notice a tear is rolling down. “I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have put up the lights if I’d known.” 

“How could you know?” you tell him, truthfully. “I didn’t tell you. It’s not your fault. I just… Holidays are a tough time for me. But you clearly love them, so don’t let me hold you back, okay? That would just make me feel worse.” 

Tyson sighs. “You already don’t like me, associating me with the holiday you hate isn’t going to help that.” 

And that, well… 

You always thought Tyson didn’t really notice, that you weren’t always super friendly towards him. And you always assumed if he did notice, he didn’t care. But his voice is genuinely upset, now, and for some strange reason it makes your stomach flip; and not in a good way. 

It’s not his fault that you’re too scared of liking someone, that you push yourself to hate him instead. And he shouldn’t have to pay for it.

“I don’t hate you,” you tell him, because of that. “I know I haven’t always acted like it, but I… I would like to be your friend, Tys.” You turn to him and are surprised to catch a small smile on his face. You smile back. “Just maybe start Christmas in December, like a normal person, okay?” 

“Okay,” Tyson promises, and he squeezes your knee quickly before throwing himself back into the couch. “There’s this new thriller I want to see…” 

—

It’s December 10th and there’s no Christmas decorations in your house. 

Things have been going well with Tyson: it’s finally like how you imagined it would be when he moved in. You have dinner together at least twice a week, watch Netflix on the couch, and he always makes you laugh by sending you weird memes over text, even if he’s in the same room. 

Your crush on him has gotten substantially bigger, but you’re handling it - kinda - and it doesn’t have to get in the way of your friendship, so you’re content with that situation.

And since you’re his friend now, you guess you have to do something for him, today.

“Tys!” you call out, as soon as you step in the door. “I need you to help me get something from the car!” 

Tyson comes out of his room, wrapped up in a hoodie and wearing some ridiculous fuzzy slippers that you’re pretty sure Nate sent him from Denver. 

“But it’s cold outside,” he whines, sidestepping you when you try to shove him. Instead, he wraps an arm around your shoulder and presses a wet kiss to the side of your head.

He’s been doing that lately, greeting you with hugs when you come home. It’s stupid, because it makes you want things you can’t have, but you’re not strong enough to tell him not to do it.

“I promise you it’s worth it.” 

Tyson shoots you a look, but he dutifully starts making his way downstairs. 

When he finally comes back up, his eyes are shining with excitement and his nose is red from the cold. Behind him, he’s dragging a giant Christmas tree.

“You got us a tree?” he yells from the door, and he sounds so happy that you decide it was worth the ten thousand pine needles that are now surely in your car. 

Tyson puts the tree up, sets up the lights, but when he’s ready to start decorating he calls you over.

“I don’t think I’m in the mood for decorating, Tys,” you try to get out of it, but Tyson has grabbed your hand and is dragging you towards the tree. He stops right in front of it, and takes an ornament from the box at his feet.

He hands it to you. “Come on,” he says. “This is our first Christmas together, our first tree. We have to decorate it together.” 

And it’s… too much, the excitement in his eyes, the fondness in his voice, too much to say no to, so you dutifully put the ornament in the tree. Tyson hooks an arm around you from behind.

“One ball at a time,” he jokes, and you can’t help but giggle as you lean into him. 

—

It’s December 22nd and Tyson is leaving tomorrow.

“You can come with?” he offers, for the millionth time. 

“I told you, I’m not gonna ruin your family’s Christmas with my sour mood,” you tell him. You’re curled up on the couch with a blanket, watching Home Alone - the only Christmas movie Tyson has been able to force you to watch, cause it’s just that good - with the tree standing tall behind you. 

Tyson is sitting at your feet, one hand wrapped around your ankle. You can tell he’s overthinking stuff, because he’s got a deep frown etched into his forehead. 

“I don’t want you to be alone on Christmas,” he says, finally. He kinda just blurts it out while the McCallister family finally get reunited with Kevin. 

“I will be fine, Tys,” you tell him fondly. It means a lot that he cares, but you don’t want him to ruin his Christmas over it.

To be honest, so far December hasn’t nearly been as bad as all the other Decembers. Tyson has convinced you to like, in no particular order, Christmas lights, Christmas drinks from Starbucks, gingerbread men, and ugly Christmas jumpers, especially when Tyson is wearing one himself.

It’s only the tree, really, that kinda leaves a bad taste in your mouth, but it made Tyson happy enough that it’s worth it. 

“I know,” Tyson says softly, “I just wish Christmas would be more than just fine for you, you know?” 

“You should be proud,” you laugh, “every year before this Christmas has been torture but now it’s fine. That’s an improvement, you know, and it’s thanks to you.” 

Tyson has a weird look on his face when he looks at you, and you’re just about to make a stupid joke to get out of the awkward silence, when suddenly he’s leaning forward. 

“Tell me if this isn’t okay,” he mumbles, and you say nothing. Finally, his lips touch yours; tauntingly softly, and you reach forward to pull him closer.

The kiss is everything; it makes your world spin and slow down at the same time, makes something warm and comfortable settle in the pit of your stomach. 

Eventually, Tyson pulls back, just enough that you can see him smile.

“Merry Christmas, Y/N,” he mumbles, and then he drops his head in your lap and focuses on Home Alone. 

“Merry Christmas, Tys,” you tell him. 

And you think that maybe, this year, and every year from now on, it will be. 

[kariachi]

Me: *wakes up**immediately goes ‘when I say Everybody Live I mean Everybody Lives, including Gabby*

Also Me: *proceeds to write out exactly how*

~~

Gabby wasn’t entirely sure what to think as she and Casey made their way up three stories of stairs. A necromancer. His aunt talks them into quitting their jobs and moving out west- them with a baby on the way- and the first thing she does is direct them to a necromancer forty minutes from her home. Gabby hadn’t even known magic and aliens were a thing until a month ago and now here she was putting her trust in both. Specifically, in the rodentlike alien she saw when they opened the door, with long ears, golden eyes, and covered in light brown fur. They turned as the door opened, chattering, and immediately started waving them about.

“Hello, hello, I haven’t seen you around,” they said in a thick accent as they ushered Gabby towards one of three large stations consisting of tables and shelves full of what seemed like random stuff. Casey they urged towards the front wall, lined with stacks of chairs in various sizes. “Grab a chair for the dam and yourself, go on now.”

“Hi,” Gabby replied, pasting on a polite smile to hide her nerves. “We’re new. I’m Gabrielle Jones and this is my husband Casey.” The necromancer turned their appraising gaze, which had been on Gabby since she walked in, to Casey.

“Jones, Jones, kin to Devin’s litter?” Casey, the great lummox, grinned more easily.

“They’re my cousins,” he said, and the necromancer nodded.

“I should’ve guessed, from the size of you. Going to be at least as big by my guess.” And that, it seemed, was enough for them, as they turned back to Gabby.

“Was the climb alright for you?”

“It was fine,” she said with a nod. Her back wasn’t happy, but she’d been working on her feet for too long to call a twinge in her back trouble anymore. The necromancer did not seem convinced. They waited until she was seated, giving a sharp look to the chair that was just a few inches too low for Gabby’s comfort, before coming closer.

“I’m Rilev,” they said, their hands and eyes glowing green as they slowly, methodically even, waved them in front of her, hovering longest around her belly, “and if those stairs start causing you any pain or tiredness you tell me so, so we can meet at ground level, or at your home.” ‘At their home’, as if they weren’t staying with Casey’s aunt and her husband. Gabby opened her mouth to give an instinctual polite reply, only to be cut off with a sharp look. “Any pain or tiredness. A long pregnancy wears on the body enough, it doesn’t need any help at it.” She nodded again.

“Well, my back is a bit sore after it,” she said, and Rilev nodded, turning their magic on Casey.

“Then we’ll use the spare room on the ground floor next time, unless you’d be more comfortable at home?” They frowned at Casey, ears twitching back. “I’m sorry that magic won’t be able to help with your injuries. Brains are finicky and you have to get at them while the wounds are fresh. I will be able to give you something for those headaches though.” Casey tensed at the same moment Gabby did, wide eyed and blinking. Okay, so Rilev probably knew what they were doing, part of them hadn’t actually expected anything. Or, well, part of Gabby hadn’t at least.

“That would be, great,” Casey said hesitantly, squeezing Gabby’s hand, “we’re staying with my aunt though, and don’t exactly have a lot of money…” They’d been barely making ends meet and certainly not covering medical bills before, between Casey’s problems and the baby. Now they were running off their minuscule savings and were unemployed and living in his aunt’s guestroom and- Rilev’s calloused hand landed on Gabby’s arm before she could truly work herself up with stress and worry, the necromancer whirring soothingly.

“No worries,” they said, “a proper necromancer prices to their customers.” What did that even mean? “Now, you.” They waved a finger at Gabby. “Everything seems to be going good and proper, but you aren’t eating enough, and not healthy enough.” Fuck but Gabby had heard that more than her fair share.

“Food costs money,” she said automatically, the same thing she’d said to her doctor back in Denver every time he’d chastised her for not eating right. Given she and Casey had been in that ‘too successful for aid and too poor to live’ category, there hadn’t been much she could do. Rilev tutted, went to one of their tables, and pulled some paper and a pen out of seemingly nowhere.

“This planet,” they muttered, “‘work hard so you can starve productively’, I swear it.” Their writing was slow and deliberate, a reminder that English probably wasn’t their first, maybe even not their third language. “Go to these stores, they’re on Main Street- drive north from here until you see a big, redbrick building and that’ll be it- you’ll find them easily. Armando is human and so is Yelt’s husband, so they’ll know what they have that you can eat. Tell them I sent you and that you need a balanced diet.” They finished the note with a flourish and held it out for them. Casey took it, holding it so they could both look it over. Two businesses were named, along with a basic outside description and some notes for their purchases. Things like ’40 red 60 white’ under the butcher shop and a whole list of suggested fruits and vegetables, several of which they didn’t recognize.

“We can’t afford-”

“No worries,” Rilev interrupted again. “They’ll take care of you. Especially since this is prescribed.” Gabby had her doubts and it looked like Casey did too, but Rilev continued anyway. “Gabrielle, I want you back in for another check in fourteen days, same time. There’s a blue door at the back of the building, it leads to a spare office for just these occasions. If things change or you need to get a hold of me for any reason, my number is there on the bottom of the page. Casey, I’ll need time to prepare your tea, but it should be ready in an hour or so. I’d suggest doing your shopping, then coming back before you head home to pick it up.” And, well, that seemed to be that, shoulders tense like they were waiting for a blow to land Casey got back to his feet and helped Gabby to hers.

“And, how much do we owe you then?” Chittering, Rilev’s eyes flicked about for a moment before they nodded.

“For the tea, little Kevin keeps raving about your mutton ribs, so a rack of those should cover the next few months. We’ll see if I like them and how well the tea works before deciding on any recurring payments. For pregnancy consultation and birthing aid-” they took another moment “-bring me a chair poor Gabrielle can sit comfortably in. I won’t have a patient of mine being uncomfortable, especially not when they’re carrying.”

Gabby didn’t know what the opposite of sticker shock was called, but she was sure feeling it. From the way Casey mirrored her dropped jaw and bugged eyes, he was too. Rilev just chuckled and waved dismissively, like she hadn’t just promised the rest of Gabby’s baby-related healthcare and several months of medication for Casey for a fraction of what one obstetrician appointment had cost them- without tests- back in Denver.

“I wasn’t reared on a mud fence,” they said, “there’s no reason you should have to struggle just for being hurt and having children.” There just, there were no words. There wasn’t air.

“Thank you,” Gabby breathed, relief and hormones threatening to ruin her composure even as Casey damn near vibrated next to her. Rilev shook their head with a smile, waving them back towards the door.

“Nothing to thank me for, child, I’m just doing my duty. Now you two go enjoy your day, come back later for your tea, and eat right. You’ll suffer more than the kitten without, I promise you.”

Three hours later found them heading back to Bellwood with a week’s worth of produce (put on a tab that Yelt was happy to set up, trusting that of course Eva’s nephew could be trusted to pay it off when he could), plenty of fresh meat (put on the tab of a man neither of them knew, but who supposedly was a friend of the family and would be happy to have helped if he even noticed the addition at all), and a jar of a pungent, silvery powder that should last Casey a month if the instructions were followed. They’d also received two truly massive lunches to-go for about ten dollars, a list of people to talk to about empty apartments and buildings in progress, another list of people around the town who were hiring at the moment, and some not so subtle advice that someone who could get a hunting license and use it well could probably make some good income selling hides, carcasses, and other bits and pieces around town.

Amidst all this Casey had wrecked on alley (‘No damage done, just spooked the kids, that composter is sturdier than that’) and somewhere along the line Gabby had started crying and not been able to stop no matter what she did.

This might actually have been a good idea after all.

[beerecordings]

I had a dream that you wrote a thing about Eric meeting Jackie or Jamie or the Septics in general, and then I woke up and I am Enraged™️ that my brain would play such a cruel trick on me.

yeah hi i’ve been in an airport for three hours and i love you so of course i wrote this

there is, however, a twist

I am currently reading the Bartimaeus series

and I can finally make my oWN DEMON AU HEHEHEHEHE

have y’all seen these? it’s the best universe ever it’s like there are magicians and most of them use spirits from the other world as weapons and slaves, but there’s this one kid who starts to become unwilling friends with an equally unwilling demon and then ahhhh

so anyway, have this. i’ve been thinking about it a lot lately lol. written in about an hour at the Denver airport, playing TAZ from my phone and eating overpriced chicken tenders OH DAMN TIME TO BOARD BUT ANYWAY

“Jackie,” hisses Jack, shoving him back in his pocket. “Stay hidden.”

Jackie’s little mouse head pokes out again, obstinately. “But I want to see!” he squeaks, trying to climb up Jack’s suit jacket.

“Joachim,” Jack warns, picking him up by his little pink tail and tucking him back in his pocket. “You have to stay hidden! You know I can’t let the other magicians know how well I treat my spirits, mouser.”

“I will turn into a mosquito.”

“No, you’ll get swatted.”

“A cloud of smoke.”

“Too noticeable.”

“A louse on your head.”

“Gross! Stay in my pocket!”

“Fine,” grumbles Jackie, curling up in his pocket with his mouse arms crossed over his chest. “But I’m turning into a slimy little frog.”

He makes good on his promise and ribbits irritably. Jack sighs and rubs a finger over his head, sitting back in his chair and exchanging overly-polite smiles with the magicians nearby.

“Why are we even at a fancy little party anyway?” sighs Joachim. “Everyone here is a dick.”

“Thanks for the encouragement.”

“I’m serious, Sean!”

Jack hisses, giving his pocket a little shove. “Shut the hell up! If anyone here learned my real name – ”

“Yeah, they’d curse the hell out of you. Cause everyone here is a dick. Jack, these magicians would sell you out for a thimble’s worth of power. And we both know they’re here talking shit about you for living in that little cottage downtown, and for not taking a limousine here, and because they’re jealous that you keep five spirits at once.”

Jack sighs.

This is not entirely untrue.

“Besides,” sighs Jackie. “Everyone else here treats their spirits like shit.”

Glancing around with glasses enchanted to allow him to see on the second and third fields, Jack sees imps and foliots scattered around the room, and even a couple of djinni like Joachim, all close to their master’s hands. Some are curled up in pockets, some sit on shoulders as birds or cats, some are even little monsters snarling around their masters’ bodies. Each one of them is enslaved, bound to the master who summoned them to the mortal realm. Each one of them would be punished if it dared to disobey – maybe killed. And certainly none of them know their master’s true names.

If they did, they would kill them. And Jack can’t blame them. If he were a spirit – an imp, a foliot, a djinni, an afrit, or a marid – He would kill his slave-driver too, and go back to the other realm, and be free.

Jackie turns back into a mouse. Jack strokes his fuzzy grey head, grateful for his company. Grateful for his friendship. For his trust. He remembers when he first summoned Jackie, the first djinni he ever attempted. Jackie would have happily killed him to be free, and Jack barely restrained himself from using curses like stippling or silver to punish him for his insolence.

But he’s a researcher, not a warrior or a leader. He asked questions. They talked. Jackie accompanied him through many dangers. Over time, they learned to trust each other. And then the day the little monster came –

They trust each other with their lives now. Jack isn’t sure any other magician has ever had a bond like this with any spirit, let alone five. Fuck, to think that Magnificence and Haimerich and Blood Chaser and Nectarian could just be slaves if he hadn’t called them to himself –

“Let’s get some air,” he sighs, rising from his seat. Slipping past high-ranking politicians, corrupt to the core, up-scale salesman, making their wealth off magical goods stolen from other countries, and the exhausted, spiteful spirits enslaved at their sides, Jack makes his way to the door, and then to the garden.

Tended as neatly as it is, there is little love from the owners of the house. A gardener has helped heavy fruit trees to bloom into pink flowers for the spring, and flowers are inhaling up from the earth, swaying gentle in the warm night air.

“That’s better,” sighs Jack, undoing his tie to let himself breathe.

Jackie scurries out of his pocket and leaps towards the ground, transforming into a handsome red hunting dog before he hits the earth. “Someone out here,” he warns gently. “With a spirit of their own. Don’t be too loud.”

“Who?” asks Jack, frowning. Most everyone is inside kissing the prime minister’s ass. There’s supposed to be a speech in a few minutes.

He hears voices on the wind before Jackie can answer.

“Just breathe, buddy.”

“I can’t, I can’t, I don’t feel well, please, please, master.”

“Hey, come on, what have I told you about calling me that? What’s the matter? Talk to me, talk me through this. Please breathe, buddy.”

“I don’t know, I don’t know.”

“Do you need to be sent back to the other world? You know I’ll set you free in a second if you say the word. We just need a pentacle, and then – ”

“No, please, I don’t want to be back there either.”

“What the hell?” whispers Jack, moving towards the voice, hidden from him by a copse of orange trees and a great green hedge. “Jackie, you hear that?”

The dog barks out an affirmation and the voices stop suddenly. There is a quick hiss of warning, and then Jack is rounding the hedge, and there, before him, stands a single magician, all alone.

His dark hair is cast in gold by the falling sun and he tilts up his proud chin with a flash in his eyes, straightening up and folding his hands loosely behind his back as he surveys Jack with a cool gaze, his curled mouth displaying an unhidden contempt. Jack would return his haughty look, but he’s almost too startled to process it.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, backing away again, glancing around. “I thought I heard someone… um, talking?”

The other magician tugs the sleeves of his fine navy suit down to the wrists, sighing self-importantly. “Did you now?” His voice is rich and calm. “And you just thought you would interrupt, Mr…?”

“Jackson. Sam Jackson.”

“Mmh.”

“It sounded like someone was having a panic attack. It sounded like you were talking your demon through a panic attack. Joachim, is there a spirit with him?”

Jackie barks again.

“T-talk my demon through a panic attack,” the other magician stammers out. “I’ve never heard something so – so preposterous.”

But there is fear in his eyes, a dark panic flashing through his deep brown eyes. He backs away slightly, fidgeting with his sleeves again.

He isn’t much older than Jack, both in their early twenties. Looking at him, Jack would guess that the stranger is a government worker, and a prominent one at that – all that slicked back hair, the fancy clothes, the shiny blue dress shoes. Something in him fills up with contempt – and yet, looking at him, he does not feel his usual disgust or discomfort.

Something squeaks softly. The other magician flinches, a hand drifting up to cover the pocket on his breast.

“You treat your spirits with respect,” mumbles Jack. “You care for them.”

He needs to steady himself. He places a hand on Jackie’s warm red head.

“Jack,” says his djinni.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” whispers the other magician, drawing away.

“No, wait,” cries Jack. “Jackie, Jackie – ”

They’ve been together for a long time and the brotherhood between them makes it easy for Jackie to understand his unspoken request. The dog rises up on its hindlegs and transforms, this time into Jack’s own form, identical in every way, except a red hoodie thrown over his suit and a streak of djinni blue across his eyes.

“This is my djinni, Joachim,” says Jack. “But I call him Jackie. He’s my – he’s my friend.”

He turns and meets Jackie’s twin eyes. His friend smiles at him, reassuring.

“He’s my equal,” adds Jack, grinning back.

And the change in the other magician is instantaneous, is incredible; all his contempt disappears as though evaporated, his haughty posture falling away, and he stands shocked and gasping in front of Jack, his hands out-stretched uselessly.

“Oh,” he whispers. “Fuck, I thought I was the only one. Man, I don’t – I thought – I’m Mark. Shit, it’s good to meet you.”

He moves forward, smiling, and if there are tears in his eyes, no one seems to mind, and he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tiny black hamster with thick, wild fur.

“And this is Eric,” he says.

“Eric?” laughs Jack.

“His real name’s Eristebus or something really fancy,” laughs Mark. “He’s a foliot, fourth level – oh, Eric, don’t be scared, bud, it’s okay.”

The hamster trembles fervently in his hand, covering its eyes with little pink paws.

“I – I’ve never seen a foliot act like this,” admits Jack. “It’s okay, little guy.”

Hard anger returns to Mark’s voice. “That’s because spirits who cannot carry out the cruel orders of cruel masters are almost certainly killed or worse – trapped in bottles or entombed in magical buildings for the rest of eternity. Illness and shows of fear have been bred out of these creatures not by time, but by murder. One of my teachers summoned him to demonstrate how to bind a foliot to me. In the two hours he had Eristebus in his control, he tortured him horribly for every shake and tremble. It’s a terrible way for an innocent spirit to live. So, soon as I was powerful enough, I summoned him myself. Now no one else will ever punish him again.”

“Yes!” cries Jack, so loud the sihouettes in the windows of the house startle, and Mark jumps. “Sorry, it’s just – I’ve never met anyone who gives a shit before!”

Mark bursts into laughter, and opens his mouth to speak again, but Jackie interrupts him by scooping the hamster up into his own hand.

Jack steps back, curious as to what his djinni will do. Eristebus is a lower-level spirit than Jackie, around the same power level as Chase, and he’s already afraid. He wants to warn Jackie to be gentle – but no, he trusts him. He trusts him.

“Hi,” says Jackie, softly.

Eric stares up at him with dark little eyes.

“You’ve had some shitty masters, huh?” whispers Jackie.

And then, in Sumerian, he tells him, “That makes us brothers.”

Jack lets out a choked laugh, grinning ear to ear. Fuck, he’s so fucking lucky to see something like this. How long have these creatures been their slaves? Spirits like Joachim and Eristebus taught to be weapons of violence since the day they were drawn into the world – and, in the meantime, all this goodness trapped inside of them, waiting for a chance to be freed.

“Your djinni is so kind,” Mark murmurs. “How did you teach him that?”

“I didn’t,” laughs Jack. “Just gave him the chance to be what he’s always been.”

“It’s going to be okay,” soothes Jackie, and, mimicking his master, he rubs his finger over the top of Eric’s head.

A moment later, the hamster transforms into a man. He takes Mark’s image – a sure sign of respect – except, from the knee, legs made entirely of stone. Some lower-level spirits tend to have difficulties taking on complex forms.

“Hi,” he whispers, in a voice that shakes, and yet, on his mouth, there is a growing smile. “Hi, I – I’m glad to meet another spirit who doesn’t want to eat me.”

“Well, yeah, you smell pretty good.”

“Jackie!” reprimands Jack.

“No, I’m used to it,” sighs Eric.

“Yeah, Wilford’s tried to eat you like four times this week,” agrees Mark.

“Is that a djinni?” laughs Jack.

“Nah, a marid.”

Jack’s mouth falls open. For a moment, he can’t speak at all.

“You keep a marid on hand?”

Mark grins, torn somewhere between pride and modesty. “Well… two.”

Even Jackie turns at that, staring.

“Hey, they don’t call me an up-and-comer for nothing,” laughs Mark. “Don’t be jealous, they’re both terrible. I love them a lot.”

“An up-and-comer – you are a politician, aren’t you?”

“I have a minor position in State Affairs.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m keeping you from the pm’s speech.”

“Are you kidding?” Mark blows a raspberry with his mouth, rolling his eyes. “That dick? I’ve heard him talk plenty enough for one lifetime. Anyway, I think he thinks I’m out to steal his job. And I’m like ‘give me a couple years first, man!‘”

“So you can’t let anyone know you treat your spirits like this. Because if you did – ”

“We’d be laughingstocks,” Mark nods.

“At the least! Man, I think it’s more likely we’d be labeled radical fanatics and exiled or assassinated.”

“I’d never let that happen,” Jackie pipes up, his teeth drawn in a smile. He has fangs, suddenly.

“So we have to be careful,” Mark sighs. “But, shit – we don’t have to be alone anymore, do we?”

“No. No, I guess not.” Jack can’t help it if there are tears in his eyes. He feels stupid – but at the same time, so very, very happy. “Dude, we have so much to talk about.”

“We really do,” agrees Mark, beaming. He reaches out to clasp his shoulder, drawing him in close. “It’s just been me and the spirits for so long!”

“You really keep house with two marids?” Jackie is asking Eric. “What is that even like?”

Eric’s eyes are big and exhausted. “Awful,” he says weakly. “But then again, also… wonderful. Some days, you almost get eaten, some days, they’d destroy armies for you…”

“I think we all have a lot to talk about,” Mark grins. “So, what do you say? Want to get the fuck out of here?”

Jackie and Eric are already moving towards the sidewalk away from the house, headed back to mortal homes, chatting about everything and nothing.

“Yeah,” says Jack. “Yeah. Let’s get out of here, man. Let’s talk.”

[babbushka]

For the prompt please! It can be whoever you choose!! H: “Here’s your coffee.”“I would move heaven and earth for you, my savior.”

I wanted to pull a wild card and write for someone different but i really do just love Flip so much lmao. I hope you like it, thank you for requesting my dear friend!!!

Word count: 1400

Warnings: none!

(prompt from this list!)

It was raining out when you pulled up to the station for the third timethat week. Armed with your umbrella, you made a run for the front door from yourcar, careful not to jostle the armful of things you were carrying on the way.

“(Y/N)! Good to see you again, how are you today?” One of thesecretaries, Sylvia, greeted you as you hurried to put your umbrella in aplastic sleeve so it wouldn’t track water all over the station.

“I’m well, thank you!” You smiled back at her. She came around the counterto help hold your things while you shrugged out of your coat, hanging it up onthe rack next to your husband’s parka. “I trust everything is alright with Samand the kids?” You asked, graciously taking back your belongings.

“Oh they’re doing just fine.” Sylvie beamed, “Marty just got acceptedinto his top pick college, we’re very proud.”

“Mazel tov!” You exclaimed, so proud of young Marty too. “Please sendthem my love!”

“Thank you, and of course.” Sylvie said, before pointing to the backwith a wink and whispering, “Your man’s down in his usual spot.”

“Thank you Sylvie.” You winked back, slipping past the authorized personnelonly door that non-officers really weren’t supposed to use.

But frankly, you spent so much time at the station that you werepractically exempt from the rules, and you smiled at everyone who greeted youon your way to visit your favorite detective.

Flip was surrounded by paperwork when you rounded the corner and passedthrough the door where the detective’s desks all were corralled.

You were glad that you decided to pay a visit, with the way Flip lookedup to his eyes in manila folders. Bored at home, you had decided to visit your manat work, a thermos of joe in one hand and a brown paper bag of pastries inthe other. Flip, Ron, and Jimmy were in the middle of a huge narcotics case –big enough to be working with Denver PD, and you knew it was going to be a longnight for him.

You had been with Flip long enough to know that the job wasn’t alwaysglamorous or high-energy like tv or movies made it seem, and you knew that onnights like these, the ten cent office coffee wasn’t going to do much for him.

“Are you real? Or have I finally lost it?” Flip asked dreamily when youstepped into the room.

“I’m real honey.” You said with an easy smile, crossing the room andplacing the thermos and the pastries on his desk, right on top of one of thefiles.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes, ketsl.” He sighed, his big hands on yourwaist as he pulled you to sit sideways in his lap, hugging you.

“You have been here a while huh.” You pressed a kiss to the side of hisstrong nose, making him smile.

He was the last one behind as per usual in the detective’s unit. He hadspent just about twelve hours working so far, with at least two more to go, buthaving you around made him forget how tired he was, or how he had been staringat the same sentence for twenty minutes just trying to make it make sense. Withyou there, he felt revitalized.

That feeling grew when you unscrewed the cap of the thermos and poured someof the freshly brewed coffee into the lid for him.

“Here’s your coffee.” You handed it to him, his hands immediatelyseeking the warmth of the steel cup.

He took a long sip and exhaled happily when he was done, humming aroundthe taste of the familiar home brew. And then after he savored the taste of it,he took another big gulp that scalded the back of his throat, but it wasabsolutely worth it. He could practically feel the caffeine perk up his system.

“I would move heaven and earth for you, my savior.” He thanked you bypressing little kisses all along your neck and on your cheeks, and you laughedat his dramatics.

“Maybe you have lost it.” Youteased, kissing him anyway with a big goofy smile. “Can you tell me anything?”You asked, situating yourself more comfortably on his lap.

“Nope.” He said, in that way that absolutely meant when we get home.

You grinned and snuggled against his chest for a minute, content to justbe with him and see him, but the more you sat in his spot, the more thepaperwork felt like it really had to be done. As much as you loved Flip and youloved visiting him, you never wanted to actually get in the way of his work,especially with how important the work was.

“I don’t want to stay too long and distract you, I just missed you.” Yousaid, making the motions to get up.

“Please distract me, ketsl.” Flip groaned, not letting you go anywhere,his strong arms tightening his grip around your middle, making you laugh.

“Maybe I can help?” You offered, but he shook his head.

“You really shouldn’t be looking at this.” He made no move to block anyof the top secret information though, and you quickly glanced over everything.

It looked like some sort of cocaine ring bust that they were setting up,and you already started committing names and faces to memory.

“Then take it home where I can’t look at it some more.” You kissed his dimplewhen he laughed.

“You’re trouble, you know that?” He asked, letting you go so you couldstand. You walked over to the radio and turned it on low, bringing in some softrelaxing jazz music to fill the silence of the air.  

“Yeah but I’m yours, and I bring scones.” You gestured to the bagsitting on Flip’s desk.

 He grabbed the brown bag and his thermos in one big hand, and took yourhand in the other as he lead you to the lounge where you could relax on the bigsoft sofa. You brought the radio along and happily sang along to Ella Fitzgeraldand Louis Armstrong.

You spent only the next half hour there, making sure he ate the sconesand got some sugar in his system to go with the caffeine. You’d be sure to worksome healthy vegetables into his meals the next day, but right now you knew heneeded the energy boost.

You and Flip played cards with the deck that you brought, you winningevery round. Flip maintains that he was just too tired to play properly, but youknew that he let you win on purpose. One of these days, you were going to give hima real run for his money – but today was not that day.

The rain lightened up by the time you finished up the fourth round ofrummy. With a sigh, you looked at the clock, it was ten p.m., and as much asyou hated leaving him, you knew he’d be here for a long while still.

“If you’re not home by one, I’ll come by with more coffee.” You said, gettingup from your spot on the couch and stretching.

“I love you so much, you’re too good to me.” Flip said, wanting nothingmore than to go home with you. He knew that the faster he got through all this,the faster he could leave.

“I love you too chamudi, come down here and kiss me.” You could see the renewedspark in his eyes, even if they were a little red from the strain. Seemed likecoffee, good company, and cards were just what the doctor ordered to getthrough a long day of work.

He happily obliged, kissing you gently on the lips before pulling backand kissing your forehead.

“I’ll walk you out?” He offered, but you shook your head.

“No, no more procrastinating.” You teased, squeezing his hand. He rolledhis eyes with a smile, and squeezed your hand back before letting you go. You slungyour purse over your shoulder and kissed him again, “I’ll see you at home?”

“As soon as I finish, I’ll be there.” He promised.

With a happy nod, you left the station, waving goodnight to Sylvie onyour way out. Small trips like these to the station always brightened yourmood, and definitely made Flip’s night better. Remembering his miserable expressionfrom before he noticed you in the doorway, you gave a little chuckle.

You wondered how he ever got anything done without you, but then thoughtthat it didn’t matter, because he’d always have you to look after him in thefuture.

Tagging some pals! :) As always, if you’d like to be added or taken off the list please just shoot me a message!  @fullofbees@spinebarrel @oh-adam@dreamboatdriver @bad–bad–man@thecurlycaptain @bourbonboredom@driverficarchive@aweirdlookingtree@rosalynbair@redhairedfeistynerd@adamsnackdriver@glitzescape@arwarz @adamsnacc-kler

[bookaddict24-7]

Hello!

Work has been busy and I honestly have been so behind on this feature. I have been unhauling other titles on my shelves and I’ve also been reading a lot of my ARCs from my basement shelf. It’s the books I’ve set aside for this feature that have been sitting around, collecting dust. 

Recently, I tried to read one of the books that I prepped for this post. I thought it would be a book I would love, but I honestly felt indifferent towards it. I have this thing where I need to feel that urge to keep reading a particular book. If I find my mind wandering while I’m reading, or if I choose to watch Netflix instead of reading, then I know I either have to a) try harder with the book I’m reading, or b) put that book down. 

Over the years, I’ve started noticing my tells for an incoming reading slump. But anyway, let me talk about these three books!

___

A gentle reminder: Just because I’ve unhauled the books in this post and in future posts, it doesn’t mean that they’re books not worth reading. They’re just not right for me. This is more of an incentive for me to free up space and give these books better homes than my basement.

Read my original post and how I’m going about this challenge here.

Have any of you practiced this challenge this past week?

___

The Afterward by E.K. Johnston

Decision: Saved for later!

I do want to try this book in the future because the synopsis sounds awesome. I’m just not in the right mood to read a book like this one, but I want to give it a shot. Maybe next time around I’ll be more in the mood to read The Afterward. 

Synopsis: 

“It has been a year since the mysterious godsgem cured Cadrium’s king and ushered in what promised to be a new golden age. The heroes who brought the gem home are renowned in story and song, but for two fellows on the quest, peace and prosperity do not come easily. 

Apprentice Knight Kalanthe Ironheart wasn't meant for heroism this early in life, and while she has no intention of giving up the notoriety she has earned, her reputation does not pay her bills. With time running out, Kalanthe may be forced to betray not her kingdom or her friends, but her own heart as she seeks a stable future for herself and those she loves.

Olsa Rhetsdaughter was never meant for heroism at all. Beggar, pick pocket, thief, she lived hand to mouth on the city streets until fortune--or fate--pulled her into Kalanthe's orbit. And now she's quite reluctant to leave it. Even more alarmingly, her fame has made her recognizable, which makes her profession difficult, and a choice between poverty and the noose isn't much of a choice at all.

Both girls think their paths are laid out, but the godsgem isn't quite done with them and that new golden age isn’t a sure thing yet.”

___

The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody 

Decision: Unhauled

Normally, I would devour a contemporary novel like Brody’s. However, as I was reading, I found myself not only uninterested, but distracted. I had just read some incredible contemporary novels and I expected another great read. To be honest, the constant back and forth from the past to the present, and the standoffishness and meanness of the protagonist also threw me off. Maybe if there had been multiple POVs I would have liked this more, but I sadly put this down when I admitted to myself that I just didn’t care about this story. 

Synopsis: 

“Ryn has one unread text message on her phone. And it’s been there for almost a year.

She hasn’t tried to read it. She can’t. She won’t. Because that one message is the last thing her best friend ever said to her before she died.

But as Ryn finds herself trapped in the Denver International Airport on New Year’s Eve thanks to a never-ending blizzard on the one-year anniversary of her best friend’s death, fate literally runs into her.

And his name is Xander.

When the two accidentally swap phones, Ryn and Xander are thrust into the chaos of an unforgettable all-night adventure, filled with charming and mysterious strangers, a secret New Year’s Eve bash, and a possible Illuminati conspiracy hidden within the Denver airport. But as the bizarre night continues, all Ryn can think about is that one unread text message. It follows her wherever she goes, because Ryn can’t get her brialliantly wild and free-spirited best friend out of her head.

Ryn can’t move on.

But tonight, for the first time ever, she’s trying. And maybe that’s a start.”

___

The Art of Losing by Lizzy Mason

Decision: On this month’s TBR

I’m going to try to read this as part of my TBR for July. I really do want to give it a go and see if I enjoy it. I don’t have much to say, other than I expect a lot of tears while reading. 

Synopsis: 

“On one terrible night, 17-year-old Harley Langston’s life changes forever. 

At a party she discovers her younger sister, Audrey, hooking up with her boyfriend, Mike—and she abandons them both in a rage. When Mike drunkenly attempts to drive Audrey home, he crashes and Audrey ends up in a coma. 

Now Harley is left with guilt, grief, pain and the undeniable truth that her ex-boyfriend (who is relatively unscathed) has a drinking problem. So it’s a surprise that she finds herself reconnecting with Raf, a neighbor and childhood friend who’s recently out of rehab and still wrestling with his own demons. 

At first Harley doesn’t want to get too close to him. But as Audrey awakens and slowly recovers, Raf starts to show Harley a path forward that she never would have believed possible—one guided by honesty, forgiveness, and redemption.”

___

Have you read any of these three books? What were your experiences with them?

I’ll be back next week with another three picks!

Happy reading!

[softsiwickii]

Starting Fresh - Andrew Siwicki

(Hi everyone! This is a new little pic that I'm working on and wanted to share the first part with you. Let me know how you like it..I have plans for it and love writing this!)

Pt. 1

“I don’t know Morgan, it’s a pretty big step to take so soon..” I stall with my iPhone pressed up against my ear, aimlessly wondering around my childhood bedroom.

“If I can do it at twenty years old, you can do it at twenty years old” I hear Morgan giggle on the other line. I sigh and flop down on my bed. 

This has been a topic between us for months: me moving to L.A. Truth be told, I never really saw myself as a Cali girl. I always saw that stereotype as girls who walk down the streets with designer clothing, flaunting everything they have and living the “glamorous life”. I pretty much assumed that in a place like L.A, I would stick out like a sore thumb. I’ve never really cared about labels or anything super materialistic. I know, I know. I sound like another kind of pretentious snob, but I promise that I’m the exact opposite. Morgan knows it too and she always rolls her eyes. 

“Come onnn” she whines ‘You take all of your classes online anyways, so it’s not like your transferring schools or anything”. 

“True” I huff, staring up at the ceiling fan going in rapid circles. “I just don’t know. I don’t know if I can leave my mom and if my dad will be pissed at me and—“

“You know that you’re making up excuses just to make up excuses right now” she cuts me off, shutting down my bullshit. I know her so well that I can almost hear her eyes rolling through the phone. 

“Just pull the trigger already, Olivia. I promise that you wont regret it. Would I ever lie to you?”

“No” I cant help but chuckle a little. “God you really know how to convince me.”

“My specialty” she brags “you better book that plane ticket and pack your bags, shishtar!”

I smile to myself “Okay I’ll let you know when I do” I reassure her. We say our goodbyes and I hang up, throwing my phone across the bed with a little sigh, nervously running my fingers through my dark hair. I take a deep breath, trying my hardest to not let my anxiety flood my brain. I remind myself that if I were to trust any friend with my life, it would without a doubt be Morgan. We have been best friends ever since 6th grade, which people find to be surprising since we seem polar opposites. She was always the crazy, party friend while I would rather be inside, curled u[p on the couch watching a movie with a warm cup of coffee in my hands. Despite our differences, she was the yin to my yang. The peanut butter to my jelly. All of those cheesy comparisons. We have always been there for each other, and the more I think about it, the more I cant wait to roommates with her. 

I booked my one way ticket from Denver to LA within a matter of minutes after that phone call. It felt like such a relief. Like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I’ve been considering this on and off for about 6 months now and to finally pull the trigger feels so damn good. 

Maybe I don’t necessarily have to fit into the Cali girl stereotype. Maybe I can be more free to be myself than I’ve ever felt here at home. 

———————————————————————————————

Within a few days, my entire life was packed up into three suitcases and all of a sudden it became real life. I was finally moving out of the house I grew up in and becoming an actual adult. It was thrilling yet scary. For years I’ve let my anxiety control my life: my choices, my relationships..basically everything. Not anymore. As the plane ascended into the air, I felt as though I was leaving all my worries behind me (as cheesy as it sounds). Yes, I knew I would be facing different challenges in LA, but the bad memories of Denver could stay in Denver.

When the plane landed at LAX, my phone immediately buzzed from a dozen messages from Morgan:

“I’ll be here when you land!”

“Are you on your way?”

“You don’t have service do you?”

“Traffic is sooo bad”

“Dude I’m so excited to have a roomie”

“I’M HERE!!!”

“Can we get Chipotle afterwords?”

“Let me know when you land”

I can’t help but roll my eyes and giggle to myself. As annoying as she was, I was really happy to be seeing my best friend again.

It wasn’t long until shrieks filled the airport and Morgan and I’s arms were wrapped tightly around each other. We were both laughing like idiots and a few tears were definitely shed. I mean, come on, wouldn’t you cry after not seeing your best friend for two years?? I guess you ought to think we would loose touch, but it was almost as if we had never left each other. 

After we picked up my luggage from the carousel, we headed back to her white G-wagon. 

“So listen” she started while putting the key in the ignition “I know you’re probably tired but I want to introduce you to some people.”

“Morgaaan” I complain, lulling my head back on the car seat “I was just on a plane for two and a half hours. I don’t feel like meeting anyone.”

“You’ll like these guys, I promise! Plus, they are probably the most low-key people in LA to be completely honest. Just my brother, his boyfriend, and their two friends.”

I bit down on my bottom lip, feeling nerves kick in and Morgan almost immediately noticing.

“They’ll love youuuu” she moaned, one hand on the wheel and one reaching over to shake my shoulder “Just a few hours.”

“Fine” I give in “But they better be worth it”

“Oh, it will”

[in78weeks-blog]

FAQs About Living in My Car

1. Where do you shower?

Why is this always the first question I get asked when I tell people I live in my car? Are you all trying to tell me that I smell bad?!

Anyways, I have a gym membership at a 24 hour fitness so I have access to a shower at all times. It's also a great motivation to go the gym so, win-win. Since starting my job in Denver, I have been working out every day at the gym in my office building so I shower during my lunch break. How convenient!

2. Where do you sleep? I currently park on the streets of the suburban town of Boulder, Colorado. I've got a handful of spots that I've vetted that I know are safe and comfortable spots to park, so I'll rotate through spots as to not raise suspicion or annoyance with the people live/work there. I've picked out spots on a couple residential streets, office parks, and around industrial buildings.

3. What do you eat? I eat a pretty simple diet. I don't cook (because I can’t) and I try to limit how often I eat out. I usually prepare a glorious salad at work for lunch and usually eat raw vegetables and a simple source of protein in the evenings. I have a refrigerator at work that I use to store my ingredients, and replenish it often. This way I'm able to eat healthy and reduce food waste. Of course, I'll go out to eat with friends on occasion as well :)

4. Where do you use the bathroom?!

This question always comes as a whisper. I find that particularly funny.

Grocery stores and gas stations are open pretty early/late, so I make sure to keep one close by. I also combine (almost) daily grocery runs with bathroom runs! But worst comes to worst, I'll find a bush.

5. How do you stay warm?

This is always the hardest question to answer, because truth is, I'm not always warm. The summer months are amazing, because all I need is a light blanket and I get to open my sunroof for a light breeze. But in the winter, it can get pretty brutal. I have a blanket and a down comforter that I use to bundle up and keep myself warm. It's usually enough to keep me at a slightly uncomfortable but tolerable temperature and I only really start to worry if the weather forecast predicts the temperature to drop below 20 degrees.

The lowest temperature I've slept in is 8 degrees, so I know it's possible, but too many miserably cold nights I'm sure could lead to some medical problems. So on those painfully cold nights, I'll take refuge at a friend's house.

6. What do you do during the day?

I work from around 7:30 to 4:30 so most of the day I’m in the office. In the evenings, sometimes I’ll lounge around in my car (Netflix anyone?) but not having a traditional place to lounge encourages me to reach out to friends, go to a coffee shop, go to the gym, basically anything to be in public spaces. It’s a great opportunity to engage with people in my community and make new friends!

7. What kind of car do you have?

I have a 2002 Toyota Highlander. once you put the seats down, there’s actually a lot of space to move around!

8. Why are you doing this?

There are so many reasons, but I didn't start living in my car out of choice. My car-life journey began in November 2017 when I was attending a coding bootcamp. I was excited about changing careers and making bold moves in my life to escape the rat race. I didn't have the bandwidth to get a part-time job while focusing on my studies, so I was quickly exhausting my savings.

Soon, I realized I was no longer able to afford rent and had to figure out how I was going to make things work. I did a quick calculation in my head and realized that I was spending ~$23 per day on rent per day. I was only ever at my house to sleep and shower, and I started to wonder if there was a way I could reduce or eliminate that cost altogether. Being a little stubborn and prideful, I wasn't ready to ask my parents or my friends for help, so I tried car camping around my hometown for a week, and to my surprise found it to be very manageable. So, I made the desperate and spontaneous decision to move out of my old house, and into my car.

I couldn't have done it alone. I had three amazing friends that stored my belongings while I was trying to figure out what I needed and what I could get rid of. I had a couple trusted friends that I watched out for my safety and checked in with me to make sure I was doing alright.

I got a job as a barista in January, and then as a software engineer in Denver in April. So why do I continue this lifestyle even though I'm financially capable of living in an apartment?

The short answer is, I love the freedom.

I’ve gained the freedom to spend my hard-earned money on things that are important to me, rather than watching my money disappear into the renters abyss. I get to spend my money on travel and life experiences, and to me, these experiences are worth so much more than the comforts of a traditional living space. I love the freedom that comes with living a life of minimalism - to reduce my possessions to a bare minimum and not letting the weight of my belongings control my thoughts and feelings. By reducing my carbon footprint and minimizing my environmental impact, I feel like I am intentionally and actively doing my part in the environmental crisis of the 21st century. I’m free from the expectations of our modern society, that our life has to look a certain way to achieve happiness.

This lifestyle, as exciting and adventurous it may be, also comes with challenges. Sure, the extra effort to find a safe sleeping spot, the inconvenient bathroom runs, and finding places to spend my evenings are challenges in themselves. But through this lifestyle, I have a unique look into the harsh reality of homelessness and poverty. I'm not trying to say I understand the life of the homeless of the poor, because as a well-educated, middle-class Asian-American, I was born into privilege that so many in this country don't have. In my lifetime, I will never understand the life of the homeless but this lifestyle allows me to relinquish my privilege in the circumstances I do have control over. I can relate with the homeless about having to sleep in the cold. I can relate to them about inconvenient bathroom runs. I can relate to the fear of being asked to leave because they consider you a loiterer.

I still have a lot I’m wrestling with, and I’m still not sure what kind of story God intends to paint with my life. But I want to continue to learn and grow, and I’ve accepted that this lifestyle is part of that journey.

9. How long will you continue?

I don't know. I’ve thought about building out a van, but if I do choose that route, it won’t be for at least another year. For now, I’m letting things take their course, and until things change, I’ll be on the road, embracing the freedom that comes with this lifestyle. While I lead this life though, I hope you will join me on my journey and be inspired to start saying yes to the things that scare you.

Be bold in the decisions you make, and take control of your life. Do good in the world, wherever you are, and however you can. I promise, the world is a kinder, more beautiful place if you just let yourself see it. See the world, and learn from it. 

And if you want to, move into your car. I bet it will change your life.

[hookingminor]

close quarters (2) - andre burakovsky

a/n: here’s part 2! hope y’all enjoy please leave me a message w your thoughts I love hearing what you guys think

word count: 2,735

one / two / three / four / five

-

Despite his sudden aloofness that past few days, Andre knocked on your door the following Thursday.

“Hi, Andre, did you need something?” You asked curiously. He never bothered you in your room.

“Actually, I had something for you. I know you’re still looking for a place, so I talked to some people and got you a showing for tomorrow at five,” he replied.

“You didn’t have to do that,” you thanked him, “Really, I can find my own place.” Though, you weren’t really sure if that last part was true. It had been a couple weeks, and you were still at a loss.

“It’s no problem,” he said with a blush, “I can send you the address and phone number of the agent later today.”

“Wait, you’re not coming with me? You have to come with me, Andre. I can’t just show up somewhere for an appointment I didn’t make,” you said hurriedly before he left.

“I don’t think—,” he began to say, but you cut him off before he got any further.

“You sent me your schedule, I know you don’t have anything going on,” you said with an accusatory finger to emphasize your point, “You have to come with me.”

Andre opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came out. He knew he’d been caught, and you weren’t taking no for an answer. You raised your eyebrows, putting on a hopeful face as your lips slowly quirked into a smile.

“Great!” You said cheerfully when you knew he wasn’t going to argue, “I’ll be ready to leave at three!”

When you closed the door in front of him, a victorious smile on your face, Andre threw his head back to gaze at the ceiling, cursing himself for not being able to tell you no.

-

You and Andre walked to your showing the next day as it was only fifteen minutes away and the parking in Denver was hell. When you arrived at the opulent building, you stopped in your tracks to berate Andre.

“Who the hell did you call? I can’t afford a place like this,” you said in awe, mouth agape as you stared up at the high rise.

“I may or may not have promised the landlord two years worth of season tickets in exchange for a favor,” he said, chuckling at your stunned expression.

“You really should not have done that,” you said, though the bite in your voice wasn’t as harsh as you intended it to be.

“It’s not a problem. I don’t have any family near me anyway, and I have the tickets to give away,” he said with a shrug.

Andre ushered you through the lobby and up to the seventh floor, apparently he’d been given the entrance code already. You didn’t say anything the entire way, too taken aback by the cleanliness and luxury of the building. You read the signs in the elevator that indicated the floors of a few amenities, pausing when you came across the information for a pool. This had to be way over your budget even with Andre pulling a few strings.

A middle-aged woman greeted you when you stepped out the elevator, tapping away on her phone as she stood outside the door you presumed was the apartment.

“Hi, you must be Andre. I’m Ellen, I’ll be showing you around today,” the woman said, using a key to unlock the door.

You followed her into the entryway, your eyes immediately noting the open concept and large kitchen. Granite covered the countertops, a perfect contrast against the white cabinets.

“As you can see, there’s a lot of natural light that comes from the large windows and balcony, high ceilings in all the rooms, new appliances in the kitchen, bathrooms were redone a year ago,” she listed on, but you were already sold the minute you entered.

“There is a gym on the first floor, each unit comes with its own washer and dryer, pool is on the roof, though it’s only open during the summer,” she continued as you wandered through the living room.

It was much bigger than what you needed but beautiful, nonetheless. Ellen led you to the hallway along with the attached bedrooms.

“This is the master bedroom, ample space for a king-sized bed and plenty of room for clothes and shoes in the walk-in closet,” she described with a chuckle.

“Oh, we’re no—” you started to say, shaking your head at the insinuation of you and Andre being a couple.

“We love it, thank you,” Andre said loudly, drowning out your voice, “Would you mind giving us a few minutes alone?”

“Of course, I’ll be out in the kitchen if you need me,” Ellen said with her best saleswoman smile. She left the two of you in the room, and you gave Andre a funny look.

“It’s easier if they just assume we’re a couple. Less awkward,” he explained, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. You gave him a smirk that said “sure, I totally believe you” as you allowed yourself to pace across the bedroom.

“So, what do you think?” He asked after a moment, slipping his hands into his pockets.

“It’s perfect. Way out of my price range but perfect,” you replied.

“Don’t worry about that, it’s all handled. I promise it’s within your budget now,” he said.

You stood at the window, overlooking the city and taking in the view. It was the perfect location: only a few blocks away from your new job but still close to the interstate if you needed to go somewhere. There was a grocery store on the corner across the street, and you could see three coffee shops just from your view from the window.

“I don’t know how to thank you for this,” you said sheepishly. You hated owing people, and this felt like one huge favor no matter what Andre said.

“Think of it as a welcome to Denver present,” he said, “So should we go sign the papers now?”

As much as you wanted to say no, to tell him this was too much, the offer was too good to pass up. You weren’t going to find another place like this that you could afford, and Andre had already promised the landlord tickets. It would just be rude to refuse now. At least that’s what you told yourself when Andre led you back out to the kitchen.

“We’ll take it,” Andre announced when you’d joined Ellen back in the kitchen. She set her phone down on the counter when she heard his voice.

“Perfect!” She said joyfully, removing a packet of papers from her purse and setting them on the table, “I have to make a quick call, but let me know if you have any questions.” She pulled out a pen from her purse, handing it to Andre before moving to a different room.

Andre gave the pen to you as you began rifling through the lease. You scanned the apartment rules and contract appendices, noticing the way the monthly rent had been blacked out and replaced with a new price.

“I don’t even want to know what the real rent is,” you chuckled lowly, signing where it indicated.

“I wasn’t going to tell you anyway,” he replied, leaning his elbows on the counter as he watched you read.

You flipped through the rest of the pages, most of the words were a formality and discussed liabilities, not that you intended to break anything. When you had finished filling out the last signature, Ellen appeared back in the kitchen, the same bright smile on her face.

“All finished?” She asked, putting her phone back into her purse. You nodded your head, handing the stack back which she tucked away with her phone.

“You’re going to love this place. It’s very popular with young couples starting out on their own, so you’ll have a lot of neighbors like you,” she said as she escorted you back out of the apartment.

“The least starts on the first, and there is a service elevator just out back that you will be given a key to,” she added finally, locking the door behind you, “If you have any more questions, you can call me any time, or I’m sure you have the landlord’s number.”

It was clear Ellen had another appointment to get to, so you said your goodbyes quickly and left the same way you came.

When the elevator doors shut, Andre turned to give you a big smile.

“Don’t look so smug,” you said with an eye roll, “I’m going to be surrounded by young couples all the time now.”

“Well, you can always just invite me over if you need a fake boyfriend to show off,” he said without hesitation. You widen your eyes in surprise at his proposition, and Andre is quick to backtrack

“I didn’t mean like— I just meant that… If you ever need company…” he stuttered, cheeks heating furiously. You laughed at his uncomfortable shuffling.

“It’s okay, Andre, I know what you meant. And you’re always welcome here, you’re kind of my only friend in Denver anyway,” you chuckled playfully, trying to ease the tension.

The elevator hit the ground floor, and you exited, eager to leave that awkward conversation behind you.

“Back to the apartment, then?” You asked to change the subject as you both stepped out of the building onto the sidewalk.

Andre glanced down to look at you, entranced by the way your eyes glittered in the sunlight. So, he decided to take a risk.

“Actually, do you want to get dinner? I know a good sushi place,” he asked in a hopeful tone, “You know, to celebrate the new apartment and all?”

You didn’t think your mood could've gotten any better, and Andre didn’t think your smile could get any wider, but both of those things happened when he asked you out for dinner.

“I’d love to,” you replied.

Andre walked you throughout downtown Denver to a fancy sushi restaurant that sat on the corner of the street. Despite not making any reservations, you were lucky to see it wasn’t that busy and you were able to easily get a table for two.

He ordered a bottle of wine for the table when the waiter stopped by as you read over the menu.

“Do you want to get some sample platters and just share? That’s what I usually do when I’m with the guys. It’s also the best way to try everything,” Andre asked, pouring out two glasses of wine. You agreed at his suggestion, placing the order when the waiter came back.

“So,” Andre started, bringing the wine glass to his lips to take a sip, “How do you know Taylor and Tom? In all my years in D.C., they never mentioned you.”

“Taylor and I actually met in college, she was the senior assigned to mentor me freshman year. So, we spent a lot of time together. I moved to D.C. after graduation, and she was currently there with Tom so I reconnected with her and that’s how I know them,” you explained, taking your own sip of wine.

Andre nodded his head along with your story, and then he launched into the story about how he met Tom. You knew it was because of hockey, obviously, but he went into more details about their friendship and living situation with Latta.

“I always wondered why you had three ketchup bottles in your fridge,” you chuckled along with his story. You’d only been to Tom’s apartment a handful of times and it was usually because Taylor had to swing by and pick something up but you always found it odd why one household had three bottles of ketchup and absolutely no other food. You just assumed guys were weird and didn’t know any basic cooking skills; it turned out you were not all that wrong.

“Yeah, the domestic skills of the apartment were not very high,” Andre laughed with you.

He asked about your jobs after school and why you moved to Denver, and you asked about his home back in Sweden. Questions turned into recalling childhood memories and other hobbies and interests you had outside of your careers. The sushi came halfway through an anecdote of how Tom broke a hotel TV in Calgary because he was trying to kill a spider.

You continued into a story of how your sister tricked you into walking on a bee’s nest, which resulted in ten different stings and a trip to the hospital. An hour passed and the sushi between you slowly disappeared as you took turns telling stories and taking bites. Soon, the plates were empty, the bottle of wine was finished, and you could feel the waiter hovering near the wall waiting for your signal to deliver the check.

Exiting the restaurant, you stumbled out on the small ledge that dropped down to the sidewalk, your arm instinctively reaching out to grab Andre’s arm for stability. You chuckled when you made contact, clearly a little more tipsy than you originally thought. His hand slid down to your waist, holding tightly until he felt you were steady enough without the support. And even though he removed his arm from your hip, you kept your arms snaked around his as you began walking. Andre didn’t retract his arm or look uncomfortable with your proximity, so you kept it there.

He steered your bodies towards the direction of his apartment, and you knew you were probably a good thirty minutes away. The bubbly atmosphere from the restaurant followed you the entire way back to the apartment, both of you continuing the banter from earlier. It seemed as if the wall that was between you, the one that had you dancing around each other because of the unusual living situation, had been broken down and you were finally past the stage of awkward acquaintances and into the stage of friendship.

Well, you hoped it was at least at the stage of friendship, though you were silently hoping it had progressed past that. You would’ve been blind to have not found Andre attractive, but with his schedule and odd behavior and the fact that you lived together, you decided not to act on it.

But tonight you were feeling like pushing the envelope a little bit further.

The two of you entered the front door of the apartment, and for the first time in nearly two hours, a silence fell between you. It wasn’t uncomfortable by any means, but it was clear that your night out was over and the bubble that surrounded your date had popped. Now, you were back into the temporary roommate bubble.

Your hand finally released its grip on his arm when you both reached the kitchen counter. Andre stood between you and the marble countertop, his eyes still twinkling as he gazed into your eyes.

“I had a great time today,” you blushed, “Thank you for dinner… and the apartment.”

Still in a blissed out haze from the date, Andre didn’t think twice about lifting his hand to brush aside a strand of your hair. You leaned slightly into his body as his hand paused to rest behind your ear for a second.

Taking a deep breath, you tilted your head up a couple more inches, hopefully communicating that you wanted him to kiss you.

It was this action that seemed to snap Andre out of his stupor because one second he was moving his finger to lift your chin, and the next second he was dropping his hand and stepping away. He blinked away the lustful mist that clouded his eyes before coughing awkwardly.

“Uh, I have to get to bed,” he said, taking a few more steps out of your reach, “Practice in the morning.”

“Oh, okay,” you said dejectedly, your lips turning into a frown. Were you reading the situation wrong? You could’ve sworn he was feeling the same way you were.

“Yeah, uh, goodnight,” Andre mumbled, turning on his heels before speed walking to his room.

The air around you felt awkward for the first time that entire night. You were bouncing off each other the entire night, why was he closing himself off now? Your brows furrowed in confusion as you took a few seconds to process Andre’s suddenly bizarre behavior.

What the hell just happened?

[junker-town]

5 winners and 3 losers from Week 4 in the NFL

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

This version of the Cardinals is different, and very special.

I’m drinking the Cardinals Kool-Aid, big time. I’ve been warned against falling for its intoxicating scent. Given reason not to give in to its sweet promises. But dammit, at this point I’m willing to take a big swig, even if it kills me.

After the first week of the season I noticed this was a very, very different Cardinals team to the past. There have been established expectations for Arizona that existed long before the Kliff Kingsbury era. They established themselves as a team that lived or died by the pass, with almost nothing else to show for it. There are times this approach has worked well, like the 2008 team that made the Super Bowl — but what is often forgotten about that team is just how average they were.

Kurt Warner having one last run made for a heck of a story, but this was a really bad team propped up by a hell of a playoff run. The Cardinals went 9-7, in the regular season, had the worst rushing attack in the NFL, and a defense that was in the bottom third of every statistical area. The narrow loss to Pittsburgh for the Lombardi Trophy was the absolute maximum juice that could ever be squeezed out of that orange.

We know that Kingsbury’s approach was bold. He was taking the Air Raid offense and porting it over to the NFL, and for a while it seemed destined to follow in the path of other bold offensive choices that flourished, before fizzling and failing.

Now in 2021 it’s working, or it would be if this was a true Air Raid. Calling what Arizona is doing by any label would be inaccurate, because they’re absolutely unique. Sure, the bread-and-butter of the offense is overwhelming teams through the air with a host of weapons, but the running game has increasingly become a focal point — and it’s been trending this way for a couple of years.

The concept that the Cardinals are marked by Kyler Murray throwing 50 times a game is definitely true at times, but not in 2021. Rather, they’ve been remarkably balanced. Murray has thrown the ball 134 times this season, while the team has run the ball 114 times. This near-parity has positioned Arizona as 19th in the NFL in passing attempts, and 11th in rushing attempts.

This offensively balance was on full display against the Rams, who really didn’t have an answer defensively for the Kingsbury approach. Now with a 1-2 punch of Chase Edmonds and James Conner at running back as their shifty and power back respectively, there are just infinite ways this Arizona offense can attack you — and this season they’ve finally found a defense that’s good enough to get the job done as well.

A win over the Rams is of extra significance to Cardinals fans, who have seen this team struggle so much against Los Angeles in recent years that it’s their Moby Dick. Entering the game on Sunday Arizona had never beaten the Sean McVay led Rams, with an 0-8 record against them. Now sure, 1-8 isn’t much better — but that’s a very important symbol. In doing so it’s also catapulted Murray into potential MVP conversation, even though the season is young.

In four games Murray has been, well, incredible. He’s thrown for 1,273 yards, which projects to well over 5,000 on the year. While his 9 TD to 4 INT ratio is good, but perhaps not incredible — it’s really two other statistics that jump out to me. Murray is completing a ludicrous 76.1 percent of his passes, while converting at yard-per-attempt of 9.5. Keep in mind that averaging over 8.0 is normally a sign of an elite quarterback, and this number is just astonishingly good.

Oh, have we mentioned he can run too? 109 rushing yards for three touchdowns this season. Nothing to exactly write home about, but he’s also been incredibly efficient on the ground when needed — averaging 4.7 yard-per-carry.

What this means in totality is that Murray makes everyone’s life so much easier because he’s locking down an entire phase of the game. It’s meant that the defense doesn’t need to be in world-beating form, just enough of a speed bump that it’s impossible to hang with a team averaging 35 points a game and succeeding against everyone they’ve faced.

Now at 4-0 and coming off a big divisional win over Los Angeles I’m ready to double down on the Cardinals this season. They are that damn good, and this could be their best season ever.

Winner: Dallas Cowboys

It’s not like beating the Panthers is some huge statement game that solidifies the Cowboys in the NFL elite, but there’s a trend to this 3-1 team that’s worth following: Their offense is extremely good, and very difficult for teams to manage. Dallas hasn’t really had an easy “gimme” game this season so far, and they’re still on the right side of the ledger.

Time will tell whether their offensive explosion against Carolina is an indictment of their defense just not being as good as we thought, or if it’s a case of how good the Cowboys’ offense is — but either way this was an important win to take a grip on the NFC East.

In the next four weeks Dallas plays the Giants, Patriots, Vikings and Cowboys — which could absolutely position them at 7-1 as they reach the halfway point in the season.

Loser: Tennessee Titans

If you lose to the Jets you’re a loser of the week. I don’t make the rules around here, I just enforce them.

Winner: The Panthers and Broncos

This was a major statement week for both teams who entered Sunday at 3-0, but neither of whom really had an actual test. When the dust settles I think fans of both teams should remain pretty excited about their teams.

Carolina definitely made mistakes on Sunday, and their defense was exposed by Ezekiel Elliott — but without Christian McCaffery on offense the team still made this a one score game. Assuming McCaffery isn’t out too long there’s every chance this team can get back on track and continue to surprise this season.

Meanwhile the Broncos deserve plenty of props too. The scoreboard might not appear too favorable, but Denver was able to hang very close to Baltimore up until Teddy Bridgewater was forced out with a concussion. The game got away from them after that point, and it became clear a comeback wasn’t in the cards, because Drew Lock is terrible, but this is another case where I think Denver can move past this and put together a good season.

Even if 2021 isn’t the year in Carolina or Denver, both teams are showing that they’re trending in the right direction.

Loser: Urban Meyer

‘Nuff said really. You can find the video, I’m sure.

Winner: Patrick Mahomes

The Chiefs are a bit of a mess this season if we’re all being honest. Defensively Kansas City has been one of the worst teams in the NFL, and when that side of the ball is so bad that Mahomes can’t bail you out, well, you know there’s trouble.

That aside, we can’t just ignore a player throwing five touchdowns — even if it meant just a 12 point win over the Eagles, who are lost and confused this season.

I don’t think the Chiefs have it in 2021. There are just too many issues on defense to imagine this team making a playoff run in a division with the Raiders, Chargers and Broncos (who are better than expected), and I just realized that’s an actual sentence that I said, and not as a joke.

This is all so wild. This season rules.

Loser: Everyone who sat through the Patriots vs. Buccaneers broadcast

The game between Tampa Bay and New England was fantastic. Easily one of the best of the weekend — and it was absolutely ruined by how far the hyperbole in this match was pushed.

Every Patriots series we heard Cris Collinsworth talk about what a win over Tom Brady would mean to Mac Jones. Whenever Brady made a throw there was a cut away to show him warming up before the game, walking into the stadium or hugging Robert Kraft.

Then, just when you thought “this game is so great we don’t need to rely on Jones vs. Brady being a thing,” NBC played this video of Patriots fans leaving voicemails about Brady like it was call in radio, and it was awful. People saying they felt like Tom betrayed them, others saying watching him win a ring in Tampa was tantamount to seeing an ex get married.

Jesus Christ people, dude gave you unparalleled success for 20 damn years. Chill maybe.

Anyway, Mac Jones was good. The Patriots have a solid foundation, the Buccaneers are still the dangerous — and we just didn’t need any of this.

[jodyedgarus]

The Biggest Surprises From The First Week Of The NBA Playoffs

sara.ziegler (Sara Ziegler, assistant sports editor): We’ve had almost one full week of games in the NBA playoffs, and trends are emerging. Golden State took a 31-point third-quarter lead over the Clippers on Thursday night … and didn’t lose! So after a few early surprises, things seem to be getting back to what we expected.

One series not playing out according to seeding is San Antonio-Denver. The No. 7 Spurs beat the No. 2 Nuggets 118-108 on Thursday to take a 2-1 lead in the series. This comes as a surprise to the FiveThirtyEight NBA Predictions model, which had Denver as an 88 percent favorite to move on. The Nuggets are still favored, but just 60-40. Are you guys surprised by how this series is going?

chris.herring (Chris Herring, senior staff writer): Not all that much, no. I think I picked Denver out of respect for the season it had. But this was the one team basically everybody had questions about coming in.

I had the series going seven games, with Denver winning. It could easily be 3-0 Spurs right now.

tchow (Tony Chow, video producer): I am surprised, but I don’t think we really should be. It’s the Spurs being the Spurs again.

natesilver (Nate Silver, editor in chief): Our model doesn’t like San Antonio very much, so given their regular-season performance and home-court advantage — and Denver has a big home-court advantage — the Nuggets were pretty clear favorites. But it didn’t really like the Nuggets all that much either. They aren’t a great playoff team because their depth doesn’t really help them in the playoffs, the topline talent is not all that good, and they don’t have much playoff experience.

So I’m surprised that we had them as high as 88 percent, frankly! But not surprised that the Spurs are ahead in the series.

chris.herring: On Denver’s home-court advantage: The Nuggets haven’t beaten the Spurs in San Antonio in 14 tries now.

tchow: I am surprised because at one point in the season, our model gave the Spurs just a 4 percent chance of even making the postseason. We had a story a while back that talked about how they started turning it around (better defense, better bench production), but they were still underdogs going into this series, in my opinion.

sara.ziegler: Yeah, I had sort of counted the Spurs out a long time ago.

Let that be a lesson to me: Never count out Pop.

The experience factor really seems to be hurting the Nuggets so far. (And our model took 3 points away from them for their lack of playoff experience.)

chris.herring: Nuggets coach Mike Malone has talked about the experience factor a pretty decent amount in the past week

His young starting point guard, Jamal Murray, began Game 2 going 0-for-8. Malone was asked if he gave thought to pulling him because of Murray’s performance. He said no, in part because he needed to show his young players that he believed in them, and that he’s with them, win or lose. Murray responded by hitting 8-of-9 in the final quarter to bring the Nuggets all the way back for a dramatic win.

The win probably saved their season for the time being. But it speaks to the volatility of having such a young/young-minded club.

tchow: Murray wasn’t much better in Game 3 — just 6 points and two assists. I’m not trying to pin Denver’s failing’s this postseason all on Murray, though. All the Nuggets starters were pretty terrible in Game 3.

chris.herring: It’s a pretty big contrast between the teams.

While we’re talking about the growing pains for a young team, it’s worth pointing out that the Spurs are being led in part by youngster Derrick White, whose defense is his calling card. I think this is his first real exposure to a national audience, but he’s been playing really well for months.

tchow: White’s Game 3 performance was kind of a reminder for a lot of people who don’t watch the Spurs that he existed.

sara.ziegler: LOL

chris.herring: White’s experience has been different because of all the injuries they’ve had. But White and Dejounte Murray are going to be an annoyingly good backcourt once the team is healthy again next season. AND there’s Bryn Forbes, too.

natesilver: The whole Nuggets backcourt feels like it’s way short of championship caliber. It needs an anchor. There are lots of useful pieces you could rotate around that anchor, like Murray and Gary Harris, but without that anchor, it doesn’t quite come together.

chris.herring: It’s tough: They have a fantastic, sure-handed backup in Monte Morris, who led the NBA in assist/turnover ratio.

sara.ziegler: MORE MONTE MORRIS

Cyclones, represent!

chris.herring: He may not win a game for you. But he’s extremely unlikely to ever lose one for you, which you could argue Murray either occasionally does, or comes close to doing. Again: These are the growing pains for a young team sometimes.

sara.ziegler: On to another team that has seemed shaky at times this postseason: the Philadelphia 76ers. But they seem to have recovered from their upset in Game 1 — they’ve beaten the Nets convincingly twice in a row now. What looked different for them in Games 2 and 3?

tchow: Ben. Simmons.

natesilver: Sen. Bimmons.

chris.herring: Yeah, that sounds about right. Whether it was Jared Dudley that got in his head, or just him recognizing that he had to be more aggressive, Simmons has been a completely different player since Game 1.

tchow: Simmons had a -21 plus/minus in Game 1. Game 2 he was +23, and then +11 in Game 3 with a 31 point performance on 85 percent shooting.

chris.herring: I hate to say this, because maybe it’s premature, but I was beginning to think that the Nets could steal this series if things broke right for them.

tchow: I think a lot of people thought that, Chris. The Nets are legit and play really hard.

chris.herring: The Nets stole home-court advantage in Game 1. Were basically even at halftime of Game 2. And then get a gift rolled out on a platter for them, with Joel Embiid sitting out of a Game 3 played in their home arena, in front of a fan base that hasn’t hosted a playoff game in four years.

Thursday was their chance. And I think with the loss now, that might be about it.

natesilver: I’m in the Ben-Simmons-is-underrated camp. Yeah, he doesn’t really have a jumpshot. But he does pretty much everything else well. And there have been a lot of players throughout NBA history who have survived or even thrived without jump shots — Giannis Antetokounmpo basically does that now. The advanced stats like Simmons.

tchow: I think it’s very different for a player like Giannis to not have a jump shot than Simmons.

chris.herring: While we’re on the issue of Simmons, I think we learned that Embiid not being there might have been a help for him

For all the wonderful things Embiid does, he plays at a plodding pace.

Someone like Simmons thrives in an up-tempo environment because of his inability to shoot.

tchow: Sara, I found the hot take for next week’s Hot Takedown episode: FiveThirtyEight’s Chris Herring says Sixers are better without Joel Embiid.

sara.ziegler: LOLOLOL

Yes!

chris.herring: They might be in this series! Well, probably not: Greg Monroe was rough.

If they had more depth, they might be.

natesilver: That’s the thing about Philly. Look how bad their bench is:

Everyone’s like, “Why are these four stars such awkward fits together” — and I’ll admit that they’re a little awkward, but with a half-decent bench, it’s an entirely different team.

chris.herring: I don’t think it’s a terrible bench. And the truth is, you can stagger when you have that many stars.

But the spots in which it’s terrible … yeah.

tchow: Sixers’ bench: Who? Who? Who? The big guy. Who? and Who?

sara.ziegler:

chris.herring: That’s their issue, I think. I’m not sure Boban Marjanovic would work against every team. But he’s their backup big.

natesilver: I saw Boban at the United Airlines lounge at Newark Airport one time. He was very big and tall and sitting in a giant lounge chair and still looked very big and tall.

chris.herring: I tweeted last night that I’m pretty sure he dunked last night with one foot still on the ground.

Anyway: I want to talk more about how disappointed I am in Brooklyn

tchow: Are you just disappointed in their central A/C system at Barclays, Chris?

I promise it's no warmer than 8 degrees in Barclays Center right now. Cold as hell in here.

— Chris Herring (@Herring_NBA) April 19, 2019

chris.herring: Well, that too.

sara.ziegler: Are you disappointed that their slogan is “We go hard,” and then they didn’t?

chris.herring: They did go hard!

It’s not a question of effort with them. It never is. But I think what Nate alluded to is exactly the issue here. The Sixers’ bench isn’t great/may be bad. And the Nets’ second-best player is their bench.

natesilver: Yeah, Brooklyn’s not totally unlike Denver. Excellent depth, no playoff experience, frontline talent is meh.

tchow: Nate, they’re both small-market teams. I get it. (Queens represent!)

sara.ziegler: OMG

Tony trying to start a borough war here.

chris.herring: You generally see Brooklyn go on these massive runs in the second quarter of these games. But then after halftime, the game gets broken open, and Kenny Atkinson — who I really, really like — waits too long to call a timeout!

The Sixers went on a 21-2 (!!!!) run in Game 2 before Atkinson called for timeout. It took a 1-point deficit and expanded it to a 20-point lead for the Sixers. And then the game was over.

tchow: Maybe Atkinson is from the Phil Jackson school of letting the players figure it out on their own.

natesilver: What was the atmosphere like at Barclay’s, Chris? I think it’s one of the coolest venues in sports from an architectural/amenities standpoint, but every time I’ve gone, the fans are sort of half-hearted.

chris.herring: Last night was amazing to start the game. But I think they were sort of stunned to see the team run out of steam.

And as Tony said: I was freezing.

sara.ziegler: Well, it is a hockey rink, too.

chris.herring: So maybe the have to have the ice ready? But good lord.

My phone turned off at one point because of how cold it was.

sara.ziegler: Wow

That’s cold.

chris.herring: The atmosphere was really great. It’s good to have the playoffs in Brooklyn again. And hopefully Manhattan at some point in the next couple years. (side-eyes Knicks)

natesilver: Knicks fans should be rooting against Boston and against Golden State, right?

chris.herring: I’ve heard the same stuff everyone else has about Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving coming to the Knicks. As much as I hear it, I just have to see it to believe that it’ll actually happen.

natesilver: I think KD could leave either after a championship or a flameout. But Kyrie — yeah, he’s already flip-flopped enough that I think Knicks fans want the Celtics out by Round 2.

chris.herring: I think I’m just too conditioned to believe that nothing overwhelmingly good can happen for/with the Knicks unless there’s an enormous downside that comes with it.

sara.ziegler: LOL

natesilver: My current scenario is that they get Kyrie and also draft Ja Morant and somehow that turns into a disaster.

sara.ziegler: Speaking of Kyrie, the Celtics are making quick work of the Pacers. Indiana doesn’t seem to have quite enough offense so far to hang with Boston.

chris.herring:

tchow: I’m actually interesting to read Chris’s thoughts on this series. I remember A LOT of people were down on Boston going into the playoffs.

chris.herring: Yeah. I had some hope that this could be an interesting series.

But I also was tasked with writing an Indiana-based primer for the ESPN side ahead of this series. When I got to the “Why Indiana can win section,” I sat and stared at my screen for like an hour.

So this actually doesn’t surprise me all that much.

They simply don’t have enough offense. Or ingenuity.

natesilver: I haven’t watched much of that series; pretty much my only recollection was seeing a score that was like 76-59 in the fourth quarter of Game 1 and thinking I needed to update my contact lens prescription, but nope, that was the actual score.

chris.herring: They basically hand the ball off to Bojan Bogdanovic and say, “Do something.” Kind of like a kid who does a magic trick, but is still holding the quarter in his hand, in plain sight, for everyone to see.

tchow: Has Boston done anything to change people’s minds about their chances though?

chris.herring: No. They’re merely beating a flawed, weakened team, IMO.

tchow: That’s what I figured about Boston. The real test, if they do end up beating the Pacers, will probably come against Milwaukee.

chris.herring: In fairness to Nate McMillan and the Pacers, this was always going to be an uphill battle, because they’re playing without Victor Oladipo. It was a great accomplishment to go 21-21 this season without their star player after going 0-7 without him last season.

sara.ziegler: Yeah, they don’t really have anything to feel embarrassed about.

chris.herring: I really like Indiana, and have a soft spot for Little-Engine-That-Could sort of teams. But they need some reinvention.

They could use more firepower. But they need better schemes.

natesilver: I feel like the whole first round could use more firepower. Between inexperienced teams, teams with injury problems, teams without any star talent … it feels a little bit like spring training or something.

tchow: I agree, but it has been more interesting than I imagined.

chris.herring: A little.

sara.ziegler: Let’s talk about the other interesting series in the East: No. 2 Toronto has had its hands full with No. 7 Orlando. The Magic took the first game, but the Raptors stormed back in Game 2. The teams will face off Friday night in Orlando. Do we think the Magic have a realistic shot in this series?

natesilver: Mayyyyyybe?

chris.herring: It depends on what you define as “a shot.” I think they can get another game, potentially. I don’t think they will win the series. The Raptors responded in Game 2 the way you hoped a top-flight team would.

sara.ziegler: But the Magic are underrated, Chris!

I heard you say so.

chris.herring: Oh, they are. And not enough people know that.

But I don’t think that I ever conflated them being underrated with the notion that they should somehow beat the Raptors in a series.

tchow: Kyle Lowry responded in Game 2 the way you hoped. Chris wrote about Lowry’s Game 1 woes before, but he responded in a big way.

natesilver: Orlando is a weird-ass team, and they played very well in the second half of the season.

If you’re looking for an upset pick, I’d rather pick a weird team than a normal one.

chris.herring: If they had played competitively in Game 2, sure.

Or had a matchup they could readily exploit.

sara.ziegler: The Raptors had a 98 percent chance to win this series before the playoffs start, and now they’re all the way down to 93 percent. So things are still looking pretty good for them.

In the last series in the East, the Bucks had a little trouble with Detroit before pulling away in Game 2. But the most interesting thing to me about that game was Blake Griffin picking up his second technical foul of the series.

Blake Griffin, you’ll recall, has not actually played yet in this series.

tchow: Bucks in four. I think we can move on?

sara.ziegler: LOL

chris.herring: Yeah. That’s literally the only thing I find interesting about this series. That, and finding out how far away from the basket Giannis can dunk from.

tchow: The NBA tweet highlights of Giannis dunks have been the only saving grace of this series.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Destroyer of Worlds pic.twitter.com/WaXh410LQo

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) April 18, 2019

chris.herring: If and when the NBA move the first round back to a best-of-five, they’re going to use this series as evidence as why. (edited)

natesilver: I think there needs to be a mercy rule where you can concede your playoff series and get like three Lottery Balls or whatever.

sara.ziegler: OK, let’s move back to the West. The Trail Blazers are off to a great start, up 2-0 against the Thunder. Our model is surprised at this series — it had given the Thunder a 77-23 edge. Are you guys surprised?

chris.herring: Yes. I’m surprised. Maybe stupid, too.

natesilver: I mean, if Paul George isn’t himself, our model is gonna screw that series up.

tchow: He’s hurt!

chris.herring: I feel like a contrarian now, but I don’t even think he’s shoulder is the problem anymore. He shot the ball semi-decently last game.

Russ is shooting like he’s the one injured.

tchow: Our model can’t predict that Russell Westbrook will shoot 35 percent and 10 percent from 3-point range in this series.

chris.herring: EXACTLY

What I will say is that I don’t have a lot of faith in OKC if it’s simply relying on the notion that its shooting will improve.

They are shooting 16 PERCENT from three in this series.

Which, while God awful, is only a slight regression for them!

natesilver: That whole quadrant of the bracket — OKC, Portland, San Antonio, Denver — seems incredibly weak to me.

chris.herring: If OKC had a team full of sharpshooters, I could understand having more confidence.

But Russ still defends Damian Lillard as if he’s surprised that Dame can/will pull up from 35 feet.

The guy needs to be treated as if he’s Steph at this point

tchow: I don’t want to take anything away from Portland. Yes, they lost Jusuf Nurkic, but CJ and Dame have been awesome this series.

chris.herring: I came in thinking that this might be a sweep or a 4-1 series in favor of OKC. Simply thought that not having Nurkic would hurt against someone like Steven Adams. I thought CJ McCollum would struggle to find a rhythm (he’s coming off an injury and wasn’t good vs. OKC during the season). We watched Dame log 35 a night against the Thunder during the season and still get swept 4-0 during the regular season.

tchow: CJ has been

chris.herring: I didn’t think they had a great chance in this series. They had lost 10 playoff games in a row. With the exception of perimeter shooting, I thought just about everything else would be in OKC’s favor. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

tchow: If Dame wasn’t in Portland, would he still be this underrated? It feels like this is a storyline every season.

sara.ziegler: That’s a good question.

How many people regularly see him play?

tchow: Basketball nerds: “Look at Damian Lillard!”

Basketball fans: “Who this?”

chris.herring: I guess we have to define underrated.

natesilver: He was All-NBA First Team last season, no?

But, yeah, Portland has to be one of the least-watched teams in the league, or at least by people not in the Pacific Time Zone.

chris.herring: Even if you know who he is, and how great he is, I think you could objectively look at this series — and what the Blazers have done the last two years in the playoffs (0-8) — and say OKC should have been favored.

tchow: For OKC to take Game 3, they need to ____________.

And don’t say something like “play better” (looks at Nate).

sara.ziegler: SHOOT BETTER

chris.herring: … shoot better than my 4-year-old nephew does from outside of 23 feet.

natesilver: I’d say they need to play better basketball.

sara.ziegler: In the other non-Warriors series out West, the Rockets are handling the Jazz easily so far, setting up a showdown with Golden State in the second round. This has played out about as expected, right?

chris.herring: I had higher hopes for Jazz-Rockets. Am impressed with how dominant Houston has looked, but thought Utah would play better than this. Their defensive scheme has looked downright nonsensical to me

tchow: If Chris has a soft spot for Indiana, I think I have a soft spot for Utah. I love this team and wanted more out of them this series.

sara.ziegler: Utah is a very likable team.

natesilver: I didn’t expect Houston to dismantle Utah quite so thoroughly.

In fact, I think that’s the story of the first round so far. It’s a highly consequential story because the Rockets are absolutely good enough to give the Warriors a series.

chris.herring: The disappointment I feel with Utah is equivalent to how excited I am for the second round, with Warriors-Rockets.

That will seemingly be the Western Conference finals, just a round early.

natesilver: It would be quite something if the Rockets actually need fewer games to dispatch Utah than Golden State needs with the Clippers.

chris.herring: Seriously.

tchow: The Jazz just seem like a team that’s so close to figuring it out. Maybe not to a point where you think they can beat Golden State, but they’re so good in the regular season. I don’t know what happens to them in the playoffs.

chris.herring: Yeah, I sort of agree in theory, Tony.

But I think what I’ve learned is that I have to be leery of a team that relies on such a young player to be its leading scorer.

natesilver: Maybe you just need more isolation scoring in the playoffs? Or more scoring, period?

chris.herring: I remember a stat from last year: Donovan Mitchell was the first rookie to lead a playoff team in regular-season scoring since Carmelo Anthony.

I think there’s a reason we don’t see it happen much. And I think it’s even more problematic for a team built like that to have all sorts of horrible defensive breakdowns, because at that point, you know they have no shot at keeping up in a shootout against one of the best scorers in modern history.

If Quin Snyder rolls out the exact same defensive scheme that he did in Games 1 and 2, this series will end in a sweep.

natesilver: Is Mitchell … a little bit like Carmelo Anthony in that he’s taking too many shots? I mean, I guess he has to take a lot of shots with that lineup. But Utah really needs another player who can create his own shot.

tchow: What if you played a player like Royce O’Neale more? He’s +1.8 on defense (according to our model), and it looks like they do a bit better defensively with him on the floor.

chris.herring: He’s another example of what Nate is talking about, though: A guy that isn’t likely to create his own shot.

This is a team that will need to take a long, hard look at itself this summer despite how well it’s played during the second half of these last two seasons.

tchow: One obvious fix would be to get rid of Grayson Allen.

KIDDING!!!

natesilver: I also think Utah benefits from being a bit unorthodox. Rubio is an unorthodox point guard. They’re defense-first. They can play at a slow pace, although they picked up their pace a lot this year. They’re well-coached. So there’s an advantage from game-planning in the regular season. But Daryl Morey and the Rockets are going to study the hell out of the Jazz and know how to counter.

chris.herring: Some of these teams are built to play really, really well in the regular season. And there’s incredible value in that, for seeding purposes, etc.

But the inability to change your playing style when you’re forced to is often fatal this time of year.

sara.ziegler: Finally, Golden State seemed like Golden State in Game 3 of their series against the Clippers. So that panic appears to be over?

chris.herring: Hell, they seemed like Golden State in Game 2 to me!

It was just a massive collapse at the end of Game 2.

sara.ziegler: LOL

chris.herring: I actually pointed out yesterday that the game played out exactly the same way for a long while:

Steph got his fourth foul tonight with Warriors up 24. Kerr subbed him out at 8:39 in the 3Q.

Steph got his fourth foul on Monday with Warriors were up 28. Kerr subbed him out at 8:39 left in the 3Q.

— Chris Herring (@Herring_NBA) April 19, 2019

natesilver: Our model thought the DeMarcus Cousins injury was a pretty big deal. Although I think it overrated how effective Cousins had been this season.

sara.ziegler: All season, Cousins has been more about potential in our model.

But the Warriors didn’t need him early in the season, obviously.

tchow: I have nothing much to say about this series, but I do want to point readers to this interview KD gave before Game 3.

Kevin Durant goes extremely in depth on the Clippers style of defense, the overhelp, why he won’t get caught up in a 1-on-1 battle with Patrick Beverley pic.twitter.com/nOdmTDY4yi

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 17, 2019

natesilver: It’s not that they’re going to lose to the Clippers, but I do just have to wonder about a team’s mentality when they can blow a 30-point lead.

chris.herring: NBC analyst Tom Haberstroh pointed out that Steph was only averaging 19.9 points per 36 minutes this season with Boogie on the court, and that he essentially morphed into Malcolm Brogdon.

Averaged 31.4 points per 36 minutes without DeMarcus on the floor.

sara.ziegler: Wow

natesilver: I mean, part of that might be that Steph was being deferential in an effort to get Cousins feeling like himself again.

chris.herring: EXACTLY

Which … there isn’t time to do that in the playoffs.

tchow: Definitely. I think Steph went through a similar dip when KD joined too.

chris.herring: The last thing you want is Steph playing nice when you need him to be Steph.

natesilver: It does just seem kind of impossible when you have to shut down Steph AND KD and Klay. Even if the rest of the team kind of sucks.

chris.herring: I tend to think this helps them for now, but the Rockets series was one of the overarching reasons they signed Cousins — to make it so Houston couldn’t switch as much as they did on them last year

natesilver: Yeah. So in some ways, we’re back to last year’s series, which was as even as it gets. The Rockets lately are playing as well as last year. And the Warriors without Cousins are basically last year’s team.

sara.ziegler: After this matchup, will we even want to finish out the playoffs??

natesilver: Well, the Western Conference finals are likely to be an anti-climax.

tchow: LOL. Yes! I for one am very interested to see who comes out of the East to play against Warriors/Rockets.

Check out our latest NBA predictions.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-biggest-surprises-from-the-first-week-of-the-nba-playoffs/

[kansascityhappenings]

Couple says botched floor installation forced child to spend final days in hospice instead of at home

BRIGHTON, Colo. — A Brighton couple says a botched floor installation forced their 14-year-old daughter to spend her final days in hospice instead of at home.

A year after the 14-year-old’s death, they still haven’t reached any resolution with the companies responsible for the floor.

She and her husband, Kevin, had invested in new floors at their new Brighton home, just over a year ago, to better accommodate their daughter’s needs last summer.

Their daughter, 14-year-old Sierra, was born with VACTERL, a disorder that affects different organ systems.

They moved to Brighton to be closer to Children’s Hospital Colorado, and a new floor was their top priority.

“That meant needing to have a solid floor that went throughout all the rooms of the house, so that the wheelchair could easily get around the house,” Kniss said.

They purchased the material through Floor and Decor, which referred them to “Installation Made Easy,” who told the family they could finish the job in three days.

“Installation Made Easy subcontracted to a subcontractor, that subcontracted to another subcontractor, and they all started to fight amongst each other,” Kniss said.

Those two subcontractors were RMM Subcontracting and 2nd Chance Flooring.

Kniss recalled and one point during the installation, one of the crew members was searching on YouTube “how to install flooring.”

“Maybe it’s naive, but when people tell us this is what they’re going to do and they make a promise, we assume they’re going to follow through on it,” she said. “And they promised us they’d get it done in three days. It would have been understandable if it were five days. I think we could have lived with that.”

Sierra was terminally ill, and things had taken a turn for the worst.

She wanted to spend her final days at home, but the floor wasn’t finished after three days.

They still tried to get her home, anyway.

“They had covered all of the heater/air conditioner vents, and it was July, and she couldn’t be here in the heat,” she said. “So she spent one night here.”

Sierra died at Denver Hospice a couple days later.

“She had two regrets,” Kniss said. “One was that she didn’t go to Japan, and the other was that she didn’t get to leave any memories in this house.”

The family halted the remainder of the installation after Sierra’s death, telling KDVR it was so poorly installed it would need to be entirely replaced.

They say one of the subcontractors was fired, and the other continued to harass them about finishing the job — including the day of their daughter’s funeral.

“We had asked to be left alone on the day of the funeral,” Kniss said. “We got phone calls 60 seconds before the funeral started.  We got phone calls between the funeral and the burial, we got phone calls at the burial, we got phone calls after we got home.”

They chose not to pay the final estimated $1,800 to finish the flooring—after discovering the installation was done so poorly, they’d need to entirely replace the floor.

Kniss said the product they purchased was damaged, and in some areas, destroyed, during installation.

“Over the last year, the pieces have pulled apart or broken. There’s no way to make it right, or even salvage enough material to add more material into it to redo the floor,” she said.

But the family said they can’t afford to replace the floor.

“We didn’t have extra money after going through burial costs, and bills, and moving,” Kniss said.

They reached out to both Installation Made Easy and Floor and Decor to help recoup the costs.

“I tried to negotiate some way we could come to an agreement getting the floor fixed,” she said.

But Kniss said both companies refused.

“Each time it came down to, ‘We’re not going to do anything.  We don’t have to,'” she said. “And I get that maybe, legally, they don’t have to, but I don’t see how you can destroy $5,000 worth of something and not be responsible for it.”

KDVR also reached out to both companies, seeking comment, but our emails went unanswered.

Kniss admitted she and her husband were in a hurry to get the floor installed and didn’t do their homework first.

“Time was of the essence,” she said.

The couple chose to reach out to KDVR in hopes of preventing others from going through what they did.

“I wish there were people that had let us know—that if we had done any research, we would have known,” Kniss said. “I was just incredibly naive.”

Kniss said Installation Made Easy didn’t give them the option to choose the subcontractor.  She said in hindsight, they should have asked who it would be and researched them, before allowing them to step foot into her home.

“It wasn’t a fly by night company.  They have multiple stores.  We should be able to trust them,” she said.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/07/13/couple-says-botched-floor-installation-forced-child-to-spend-final-days-in-hospice-instead-of-at-home/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/07/14/couple-says-botched-floor-installation-forced-child-to-spend-final-days-in-hospice-instead-of-at-home/

[metawitches]

It’s been almost 2 years since we last visited with the residents of the Greater Nazi Reich, the Japanese Pacific States and the Neutral Zone, and things have changed both in the real and fictional worlds. The Man in the High Castle has undergone huge behind the scenes changes, including a new showrunner. So has Amazon’s television division. There has been turnover in the cast as well, and last season brought the end of the first “book” in the series.

This season starts a new long-term story arc. Let’s see if it’s worth the wait.

At the end of season 2, Juliana is in the Neutral Zone and reunited with her sister from another reality, Trudy, as the Man in the High Castle, Hawthorne Abendon, looks on. Frank and Sarah appear to be lost in the explosion they set in the San Francisco Kempeitai building to assassinate General Onoda. Kido and Tagomi survive the explosion. Kido gives Smith one of the movies that Tagomi brought back from an alternate Earth, as proof that Japan also has the bomb, in order to avoid nuclear war. Ed and Childan have left San Francisco on a bus bound for the Neutral Zone.

Smith brings the film to Berlin. Hitler dies, Joe and his father are imprisoned in Germany for treason and Himmler assumes control of the Reich. He rewards Smith for his loyalty. Thomas is inspired by his father’s service to the Reich and turns himself in to be euthanized by the state as a useless eater. Juliana kills Dixon, Trudy’s father and a Resistance member, which sets off a chain of events that prevents Germany from dropping an atomic bomb on San Francisco. Hawthorne has Lem bring Tagomi the remainder of his films after he burns most of them.

Season 3 picks up almost 6 months later. The cold opening shows an alternate Juliana who is a resistance soldier. Her armed, uniformed unit attacks a Nazi unit in a forested restricted zone. Juliana stops and takes a handheld movie camera from one of the dead Nazi soldiers, then she continues into the restricted area.

Time for Eidelweiss and the desecration of monuments, which will be a major theme this season. We’re going to be weighing values and considering what’s worth fighting for, what’s worth preserving from the past and what it is that makes us who we are. Or who.  Sometimes the consideration is who we’re saving, remembering or allowing to have influence, and that’s an equally important question.

First, let’s take another look at the atomic bomb test from the season 3 trailer that destroys Monument Valley in Southern Utah. All of the major players of the Japanese Pacific States are in attendance at the viewing station, and drink a toast in celebration.

No matter how long I live, I will never understand celebrating the thought of mass murder, or of the destruction of wild spaces and landmarks.

Admiral Inokuchi, who’s in charge of the affair, notices that Trade Minister Tagomi isn’t as excited as the others. Tagomi cautions the admiral that they haven’t achieved arms parity with the Germans and an arms race will bankrupt them. The admiral feels they have no choice but to play out their part in an arms race.

The officials leave, other than Kido and Tagomi. Kido, ever the voice of optimism, tells Tagomi that sooner or later the Germans will figure out that the film he showed Smith was a fake. When they realize that the Japanese don’t have the powerful weapons they claim to have, what will they do? Tagomi thinks the Germans still might attack anyway, even without figuring out the Japanese don’t have the weapons. The Germans will use more subtle, long-term means than an atomic bomb.

Juliana picks up her mail from the Denver post office in the Neutral Zone and discovers she has a post card from Santa Fe. It says, “Made it to Aunt Judy’s. All’s well.” It’s not signed and there’s no return address. Juliana is using a post office box as her address. She tries to answer the card right away, but realizes she can’t without an address. Clyde, the postmaster, sends her to the Grand Palace Hotel to look for Wyatt Price, who’s known for being able to get anything you need in the Zone.

My guess is the post card is from Ed and Childan, who were last seen on their way to the Neutral Zone. They would be looking to continue their antiquing business, which would require moving around to buy and sell stock.

Wyatt is doing business with another man in a small private room inside what can only be described as a saloon when Juliana finds him. The bar is gilded and ornate, like it was decorated during the Gold Rush and hasn’t been touched since.

Once Wyatt is free, Juliana tells him she needs the mailing address for Judy Bridger, who lives in Santa Fe. Wyatt gives her a calculating look and tells her to come back tomorrow.

Oberst-Gruppenführer Smith returns home from Berlin to find that Helen has gone out, sent the maid home for the day, and left their two daughters alone in the penthouse apartment in which they now live.

John and the girls make dinner together. Helen comes home while they’re eating. She tells John that she went to visit their old house. The people who live there now gave her a ride home.

She’s not coping well with the loss of Thomas.

Trudy as been in this alternate reality for 6 months, and is getting antsy about returning to her own world, but she also isn’t ready to leave Juliana behind. Juliana is dead in her world, just as Trudy is dead in ours. She can’t travel because she’s too attached to Juliana.

Trudy becomes ill, and Juliana takes care of her, reminding Trudy about when she used to do the same thing when they were younger and Trudy had the measles. Trudy says that she never had the measles. Juliana still soothes her.

Juliana and Caroline, Mrs Man in the High Castle, do some target shooting out in a field. They’re both good shots. And they have a spectacular view of the Rocky Mountains.

Joe has been in prison for the last 6 months, growing a mountain man beard and hairstyle and getting woken up with an invigorating spray from a fire hose everyday. He’s also been tortured and enduring the infamous Dr Josef Mengele’s behavioral conditioning program. Or reeducation, as they refer to it. He’s eventually taken to see his father, who says that the Germans have been teaching him how wrong he was to conspire against the Reich. He makes Joe promise not to go against the Reich, and to remember their bond of blood and love.

Joe reads a confession in front of a camera that was clearly written for him: “Martin Heusmann was my father. His false beliefs came to infect me. We were both guilty of wrong thinking against the Führer, which gave rise to an unspeakable criminal scheme to assassinate our great leader, our one true father. Wrong thinking against the Führer, against the Party, against the true science of National Socialism. Martin Heusmann was my father.”

Martin is still alive at this point.

Joe is dragged into a large room where Martin is waiting and a camera is ready to record. Joe is given a hand gun by Dr Mengele, and told that he knows what he needs to do. Everyone stands back. Martin tells Joe to kill him and save himself. He chants “A heart of steel” until Joe shoots him in the head.

A very satisfied Himmler comes from behind Joe and attaches a small pin to his lapel. It looks much like a peace sign, but I doubt that’s what it means to Himmler.

Hawthorne shows Juliana the first film in his collection, a fake that he created himself in order to boost morale. He was a projectionist in a little theatre in the Neutral Zone, so he had access to old movies and news reels. He cobbled together a short film that made it look like the Americans had won World War II, using old news reel and documentary footage.

He showed it publicly a few times, and people loved it. Travelers started bringing real films from alternate realities to his door, and he accidentally became a symbol for the Resistance movement.

Juliana asks Hawthorne to rewind the film a bit. She’s spotted herself as a 7 year old child at a victory parade in the archival footage. Hawthorne didn’t even know that he’d put her in the film. It’s a shot from February, 1942, when the US retook Hawaii. The whole city of San Francisco was in the streets celebrating the victory.

Caroline sees it as the sign they’ve been waiting for. Hawthorne is ready for someone else to take over for him as the shadowy head of the Resistance. He and Caroline think that Juliana’s presence even in the first, supposedly fake, film, when she’ so important to the movement and the films overall, prove that she’s the one who needs to step up and take charge.

Juliana promptly rejects this idea. She’s had enough of being a chess piece who doesn’t understand the rules of the game. Hawthorne tells her, “You can either embrace your destiny or dodge it.” The bad guys are catching up to them, and he’s getting too old and tired to keep running. He tries to impress on her that he didn’t choose her as his replacement, fate did.

In the middle of the night, Juliana, who sleeps in the attic, hears noises coming for downstairs. She grabs a gun and tiptoes down to find out what’s going on. There are two men dressed like cat burglars attacking Hawthorne and Caroline. Juliana guns them both down before they realize she’s in the room. A third man steps out of the shadows, but Trudy followed Juliana downstairs, and she shoots the third man.

Those bad guys were even closer than Hawthorne thought. The dead men are wearing lapel pins like the one Himmler put on Joe, with the symbol that looks like a peace sign. It’s hard to imagine Himmler having any interest in a peace sign.

The four Resistance fighters realize they have to get out of the house immediately, before someone comes looking for their attackers. Hawthorne and Caroline drive Trudy and Juliana into Denver. Caroline tells them to get a room at “Danny’s”. Hawthorne gives them some cash and says he’ll contact them when it’s safe, and send for them.

They’ve turned into an adorable family of fugitives.

Before they leave, Hawthorne tells Juliana that he sent the remaining films to Tagomi, and that she’s in every film. If she wants to understand her story, she should go to see Tagomi, because she has a deep connection with him, and she should watch the films with him.

Hawthorne’s dramatic streak strikes again. Did he have to wait to tell her that until just before going into hiding? But on this show, all information is need to know. I’m pretty sure Hawthorne is the Phillip K Dick stand in who’s dreaming this universe into being, so he’s probably making up the rules.

He is, after all, the omniscient narrator in the recap video.

Tagomi contemplates the videos, as if he’s trying to divine their meaning without watching them.

Kido arrives at Kempeitai headquarters, unmoved by the ongoing executions that are part of the JPS’ excessive reprisals against the gaijin for the bombing. In his office, Kido examines his murder board. He’s after Preacher Hagan and Juliana, and has former Resistance leader and violent psychopath Gary and Resistance fighter Sara listed as definitely dead. He also has Frank Frink listed as definitely dead, but until I see a body or hear an honest eye witness account, I won’t believe it.

Kido interviews an applicant for the newly vacant position of his assistant, since the last one, Hiroyuki Yoshida, was killed in the bombing. The candidate, Sergeant Nakamura, describes himself as “hapa”, Hawaiian slang for half Asian and half white, or anyone who is mixed race. He is American-born and Japanese is his second language, which makes him questionable to Kido, just barely better than any old gaijin off the street. Or the firing line. Though Kido gives Nakamura a chance, he treats his new assistant with disdain from the start.

Nakamura’s first mission is to round up the Criminal Priest Hagan, since Kido has received a tip on his whereabouts. In what will become a running joke theme this season, Kido explains to Nakamura that he needs Hagan brought in alive, since he can’t question a dead man.

Joe presents himself to Smith with orders from Himmler to go to San Francisco semi-undercover as a deputy trade attaché at the Reich’s embassy. Smith assigns his right hand man, Erich Raeder, to make Joe’s travel arrangements, and to do it discreetly.

Joe is all business, a thoroughly reeducated Nazibot. Smith tries to act a bit fatherly toward him, giving him some cash for walking around money while he waits for Raeder to create his new identity, and offering condolences for the loss of Joe’s father. The condolences might seem more sincere if Smith wasn’t the one who got both Joe and Martin arrested to begin with.

Joe says he’s sorry too, waits a beat to give the message a double meaning, then adds, “About your son.” He leaves without another word. I don’t think Joe’s going to forget that Smith got his father killed and him tortured for 6 months, even if Martin did need to be stopped. Smith conveniently benefitted from his supposed good deed, as always.

Nicole Dörmer, Lebensborn and bad influence extraordinaire, is sent to Manhattan to work with the Ministry of Propaganda. She’s teamed with Don Draper wanna-be  and Minister of Propaganda Billy Turner, who isn’t happy about being forced to coddle the Führer’s inexperienced pet. Nicole bats her eyelashes and puts him in his place, immediately telling him how to improve the marketing campaign he’s got set up in his office, a supposedly heartwarming series of posters based on painter Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms series.

Turner’s posters are cold and militaristic. They’re too close to the reality of the Reich. Nicole quickly zeros in on the one image that is welcoming and inspirational, a woman’s torso cradling a globe, and suggests the slogan, “Now more than ever, we care about you.” The image and the sentiment are much closer to the nostalgic, idealized mood created by Rockwell’s images of a home we never really had, but all wanted to go back to.

This is what the Reich and the Ministry of Propaganda are going for, since pretending to be a warm, family-oriented culture is what the GNR is all about. But Turner and the other ad men are too cynical to pull it off.

Freedom to Procreate vs

Freedom from Want

Turner takes another shot at shutting Nicole out of the process, so she gives him her letter of introduction from dear Uncle Reichsminister Goebbels, which informs Turner that she’s in charge of the new propaganda campaign. She tells him that she needs a film crew for the documentary she’s about to begin filming, then dismissively takes her leave.

Trudy and Juliana get stoned in their hotel room. Juliana confesses to Trudy that she killed Trudy’s father, Dixon, in this world. Trudy already knows, and understands, because Juliana had to stop a terrible event from happening. Plus, Trudy knows that this world’s Dixon wasn’t her actual father.

They decide to get a drink in the saloon, which is loud and busy. Wyatt finds them and gives Juliana Judy Bridger’s address. He hangs around, looking for some company. Trudy goes back to the room, but Juliana dances with Wyatt to the Elvis song “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, which isn’t an Elvis song in this reality.

The tragedies caused by the Reich just keep piling up.

They have a drink and a kiss afterward. Wyatt tells her that he moved from Ireland to NY, then eventually to the Neutral Zone. He’s a Black Market smuggler. They agree to keep the rest of their information secret, since they don’t know each other well.

When Juliana gets back to the room, Trudy is having a seizure. While she’s helping Trudy, Juliana suddenly acquires memories from her alternate self in other worlds. She remembers being Tagomi’s daughter-in-law, as she was in the world he traveled to.

Nicole visits to Joe’s hotel room and apologizes for not being able to help him or his father while they were imprisoned. He’s cold to her but lets her stay. She tells him that she wants him to be part of her film on the Lebensborn and their specialness.

Joe shrinks from Nicole’s touch. She realizes how terrible the reeducation was, and soothes him. Once he feels more comfortable, they have sex.

Smith has a discussion with Helen and the girls about the ceremony they’ll be attending tomorrow honoring Thomas, who’s being celebrated as a hero of the Reich for his noble and willing sacrifice/choice to die because he had a chronic genetic illness. His high school is being renamed after him with all sorts of pomp and circumstance involved.

Smith tells the girls that they need to play along no matter how they feel. One asks how he feels, and Smith explains that he misses Thomas everyday, but Thomas also belongs to the world now. Amy says she’ll be happy and sad at the ceremony. Helen drinks a big glass of wine.

The next day, the family is dressed up, all of the dignitaries of the American Reich are there, and Nicole and her film crew are shooting everything for their documentary on Thomas. Helen didn’t stop at the one glass of wine and likely had more before the ceremony.

We’re introduced to two intriguing historical figures, the American Reichsmarschall George Lincoln Rockwell and J Edgar Hoover, Director of the American Reich Bureau of Investigation. In real life, Rockwell was the founder of the American Nazi Party and a Holocaust denier. Hoover was the first director of the FBI and held that position for 37 years.

When Rockwell greets Smith it’s obvious that there’s no love lost between them. Hoover kisses Helen on the cheek and tells her, “Your son is an inspiration to the youth of the entire Reich- a hero to last a thousand years.”

Thomas offered himself up for a pointless death because he wasn’t perfect, even though he lived in a prosperous country that could have afforded to pay for his medical care for years to come. The Reich is still a death cult that’s trying to engineer a master race, teaching its children to glorify the death of anyone who doesn’t match their image of the perfect human.

Inside the high school, there are memorials and shrines to Thomas. It’s difficult for John to bear, but Helen can’t handle it at all. A newspaper reporter, Thelma Harris, attempts to ask Helen a question, but Helen doesn’t hear it amid the crowd noise and flashing lights.

Rockwell pulls Hoover aside for a consultation in the mens room. Himmler will be calling later to check in about the operation to capture Abendson. He’s not happy that three Lebensborn were lost. This gives us confirmation that the pin Himmler gave Joe is a symbol representing the Lebensborn, who are his secret weapons.

Rockwell and Hoover debate how to handle the fallout, since they want to keep the failure from Smith, but also wouldn’t mind blaming him for it. Hoover reminds Rockwell that there are other things they can use against Smith, like Helen’s drinking.

We enter the ceremony during a solo performance of “Tomorrow Belongs to Me”, a song with a fascinating real life history.

During the song, Hoover tells Thelma that he’ll have a juicy tip for her soon. Thelma says that she loves juicy. Hoover says that he knows she does, his way of telling her that he knows she’s a lesbian, which is illegal in the Reich.

Rockwell makes an inspirational speech, praising Thomas for his heart and his ability to make the tough call in a crisis. He calls Thomas an exemplar of the Aryan Race, and he says it without irony. A curtain rises behind Rockwell, revealing a 15 foot tall mural of an angelic Thomas with his hand on his heart, looking heavenward.

Nicole makes sure the camera is on Thomas’ family. When Rockwell finishes his speech, first Amy, then some of Thomas’ classmates, then Jennifer, then the whole room stand and salute Thomas, chanting, “Sieg Heil, sieg heil…” Helen and John stand last, and clasp hands rather than saluting. It’s a chilling, disturbing moment, watching the children salute their comrade for choosing suicide over a life with a chronic illness, especially for anyone with a chronic illness or disability of their own. Especially if you paid close attention to the last presidential election.

Tagomi watches one of the films. Juliana is brought to a military camp as a prisoner. Joe is one of the military guards. They are taken inside mining tunnels to meet the infamous Dr Josef Mengele, who is known for his horrific experiments on prisoners in the concentration camps.

The film is interrupted by Juliana and Trudy knocking on Tagoni’s door. Trudy is mostly unconscious.

Erich brings Joe’s new credentials to him at his hotel. Joe meets him outside, in a dark corner behind the building. Once Joe has the paperwork and knows how to pronounce his new last name, Cinnedella, he picks up a nearby shovel and hits Erich in the head, hard enough to kill him. As he walks away, two men move in to clean up the body. This was a planned assassination.

The costume and set designs continue to be amazing this season. I was born in 1961, so I remember the time not long after this. It’s stunning how the production designers make everything look authentic to the time period and culture, but then give them a little twist that brings the context into this reality. And they’ve set up four distinct cultural settings, NYC, Berlin, San Francisco and Denver/the Neutral Zone, that are easily distinguishable from each other and feel like fully fleshed out, real places, with so few episodes.

Nakamura’s heritage is the same as Frank’s fellow Resistance fighter and lover Sarah’s. If I remember right, she’d been raised in the Manzanar concentration camp and was hated by both the Japanese and the Americans, driving her to the Resistance. Something to keep in mind regarding Nakamura.

Is Trudy supposed to be sick because she’s stayed in an alternate reality for too long? This goes against the show’s previously established rules, since Tagomi’s assistant Kotomichi came from another reality and has lived in this one for years without issues. Does he briefly travel back to his home reality every few months to avoid this illness? Or is Trudy’s illness something else, perhaps a fraying between worlds? Other strange things are happening, like Juliana’s recovered memories of lives she hasn’t led, that may indicate a pattern.

Elvis got famous by incorporating African-American musical styles into his own in the 1950s. He was a significant early influence on the development of rock music. It would make sense for the Reich to squash any public use of African-American styles, given their adherence to white cultural supremacy. Does that mean that rock and roll would never develop in this reality? Or would it take a different, more winding underground path, with the Blues still surviving and evolving in pockets of the rural South and in the Neutral Zone? Seriously, does this mean there’s no Berry Gordy and Motown in TMITHC? Or does he operate in the Neutral Zone creating underground music sold on the Black Market? Think of how culturally sterile this world must be.

The same would be true for film and television. The Japanese Pacific States are unlikely to encourage the continued evolution, or even existence, of Hollywood as we know it. They would have no interest in most of the material produced, much of it would be too subversive, and, probably most importantly, the entertainment industry has always had many Jewish people working at all levels, top to bottom. They’d all have been executed in the 40s, between the Reich being in charge of New York and pressuring the Japanese to purge their Jewish residents.

Theatre, film and television would also be culturally sterile, other than whatever artists managed to escape to the Neutral Zone and continue to work there. Art, literature and music would probably thrive in the Zone, since it would be the only place people could express themselves freely. There would be a huge underground market for banned works, with books being hoarded, and hidden if necessary.

Joe Cinnedella is a name Joe uses in the book.

Tomorrow Belongs to Me is from the 1960s musical Cabaret, which takes place in 1931 Berlin, as the Nazis are rising to power. The songwriters, Kander and Ebb, who were both Jewish men, meant for it to sound like a German folk song, but it is not. It’s been used in our reality as an anthem by white supremacist groups, against the wishes of the surviving songwriter, John Kander. Ironically, it would never have been written in the reality of TMITHC.

  Images courtesy of Amazon Prime.

                The Man in the High Castle Season 3 Episode 1: Now More Than Ever, We Care About You Recap It's been almost 2 years since we last visited with the residents of the Greater Nazi Reich, the Japanese Pacific States and the Neutral Zone, and things have changed both in the real and fictional worlds.

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Why $5 Million Is Barely Enough To Retire Early With A Family

When toddlers close their eyes, they think other people can’t see them. But I wouldn’t expect grown adults to think the same way.

Despite half the United States population living in expensive coastal cities and other high-cost areas of the country, there is somehow disbelief and even outrage a family might need multiple millions, let alone $5 million dollars, in order to retire early comfortably.

I recognize the attractiveness of lower cost areas, hence why I’ve aggressively invested in the heartland of America. Migration to the heartland is a multi-decade trend I want to be a part of. But I hope more folks can also recognize some of the reasons why people live in higher cost areas as well: higher pay, more job opportunities, greater diversity, sometimes better weather, amazing food selection, and family to name a few. 

An Average Retirement Life With $5 Million

In my after-tax investment amounts by age for a comfortable retirement, I included a more aggressive after-tax investment chart for those who want to retire in an expensive city like San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Boston, San Diego, Seattle, Miami, or now Denver.

Again, not everybody wants to or can relocate to Des Moines and leave their friends and family behind. As a refresher, let’s review the high cost of living retirement chart.

If you retire at 40 with $2,500,000 in after-tax investments, you’ll only be able to generate $100,000 a year in gross income or $75,000 in after-tax income based on a 4% rate of return. Is this enough? Not according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which considers $100,000 a year “low income” for a family of three living in San Francisco, for example.

Yes, you could potentially earn a higher rate of return than 4%, but when you’re counting on only your investments to support a family, it’s better to have a more conservative portfolio.

Private grade schools and private universities give financial aid to families who make $100,000 a year or less per child. Why is that? Because they agree with the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Living Off $5 Million In Retirement

Based on simple math, $5,000,000 in after-tax investments at a 4% annual return will generate $200,000 a year in gross income.

To give you an idea of what $200,000 a year in passive income can cover, let’s profile Jerry, a Financial Samurai reader’s budget. Jerry is 45 years old, has a 8-month-old daughter and a non-working spouse named Linda, 38. They’ve lived in Los Angles for the past 20 years.

Both have decided to retire early in order to spend as much time as possible with their daughter. After both negotiated severance packages equal to $100,000 for Jerry and $60,000 for Linda, they have a combined net worth of roughly $6,300,000 if you include the $600,000 in equity they have in their primary residence, and $700,000 in their combined pre-tax retirement accounts.

Their goal is to never go back to full-time work again and perhaps do some part-time consulting once their daughter goes to kindergarten in five years. Neither parent is doing any sort of side hustling at the moment, contrary to most early retirees I know, including myself.

I’ve cross-referenced all the numbers based on my family’s own household expenses over the past year since we have a 18-month-old toddler and also live in California. All the expense line-items are realistic, if not a little conservative.

Please review J&L’s expenses below.

Retirement Income Analysis

One of the biggest benefits of earning passive investment income versus job income is a lower federal marginal income tax rate. J&L’s $200,000 in investment income is taxed at 15% versus 24% if it had been earned through employment. After paying roughly 8% in California state income tax, Jerry and Linda’s effective federal + state tax rate is only ~24% versus ~30% if they were W2 employees.

Due to the State And Local Tax (SALT) deduction being capped at $10,000, they’re losing out on at least $5,000 in tax refunds they would have received before Trump’s Tax Reform Act was passed. This painful realization will be felt by millions of HCOL homeowners in 2019 when they do their 2018 taxes.

Because Jerry and Linda want to be completely present parents, they’ve promised not to do any activity to generate money at least before their daughter goes to pre-school. They’re burnt out anyway. As a result, they must be disciplined and stick to their budget if they want to remain retired.

Retirement Budget Analysis

Kids Are Expensive (~$36,000/year)

The 10 hours a week of childcare assistance is extremely important so J&L can keep their sanity. Sometimes they use that time to go on dates, other times they use those hours to have “me time” to get away from each other. Being stay at home parents 24/7 is no joke. But it’s getting a little easier every month as their daughter sleeps a little better through the night.

J&L take their daughter to swim class twice a week and gym class once a week. On the other days, they go to the local science museum, where they have an annual family membership for $150 as well as the zoo, where they also have a $150 annual family membership.

Despite being able to each contribute $15,000 a year to their daughter’s 529 plan, they can really only afford to contribute $11,000 each if they want to maintain their lifestyle. They don’t believe making their daughter a 529 millionaire is a particularly wise move given the possible lack of motivation so much money might cause. Although, sending their daughter to public school in order to have the option to make her a millionaire sounds brilliant.

J&L will start their daughter off in public school to save money and see how she does. If they find she needs a smaller environment with a different style to thrive, then they will consider paying for private grade school.  Their #1 goal is give their daughter a wonderful foundation so she can be a strong and independent woman.

Property ($4,794/month)

Having a gross monthly property cost of around $4,794 for a single family home in West LA is reasonable believe it or not. J&L live in a modest 1,600 sqft, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home at the edge of Santa Monica. Their house is assessed at around $1.3M, or $400,000 below the median priced home in the area since they are further inland.

J&L have been thinking about upgrading to a remodeled house closer to 2,500 sqft. But such a house in their neighborhood would cost around $2M. They read my Buy Utility, Rent Luxury strategy for real estate investors and have decided to keep costs low and earn a higher rental yield in other parts of the country through real estate crowdfunding and aristocrat dividend stocks instead.

Not living large in Santa Monica, CA for $1.395M

Healthcare Premiums ($1,650/month for a platinum plan)

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average annual premium for employer-based family coverage in 2018 is $19,616 or $1,635 a month. You can see the breakdown of what the average employer and worker pay in the chart below.

Average healthcare premiums nearly $20,000 for a family

Given J&L no longer have jobs, they bear the entire cost of health insurance. With an 8-month-old daughter, they’ve decided not to mess around and maintain a gold health insurance plan.

Their daughter not only sees a pediatrician every three months, but also an ophthalmologist every three months because she has ocular albinism and strabismus. They need to make sure her daughter’s prescription is correct to help her eyes align properly during development. After about age five, the neural pathways that go from the brain to the eyes tend to hardwire.

Health insurance is clearly one of the largest and most necessary expenses early retirees must consider. You could get Affordable Care Act subsidies if your household income is below a certain threshold, but J&L need the income to live and don’t want to draw down principal so early.

Food ($1,800/month)

J&L value their time more than anything. As a result, they are happy to pay $5 for food delivery and save 1-2 hours cooking in order to spend more time with their daughter. J&L supplement their grocery shopping with Amazon Prime about once a month as well. They still prefer doing their own grocery shopping because they’re better at picking out fruit than the delivery guys.

Non-essential Expenses

J&L hardly ever buy new clothing for themselves. They have no need since they don’t have to look good in front of anybody for work. If they need to look fancy, they’ll wear their old work clothes that still fit 10+ years later because they have maintained their same sizes.

Ryan Gosling has strabismus & that’s OK

J&L feel their $330 sports club expense is well worth it. Los Angeles has a huge fitness culture. The club provides a physical and social outlet three times a week. They’ve made many friends from the club. Without their health, their wealth is meaningless.

Finally, they’ve decided to stay local for the first two to three years of their daughter’s life. They have so much of Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Big Bear, and San Diego left to explore as a family. Besides, they agree with me that extensive travel before the age of three is a waste of time since their daughter won’t remember a thing when she’s older.

Budget Adjustments If Necessary

J&L could cut their expenses by contributing less to their daughter’s 529 plan, ordering less food delivery, and spending less money on childcare to free up an extra $5,000 – $10,000 a year. But they’re not sure the additional savings would outweigh the decline in their lifestyle.

Half the population lives in the more expensive blue zones

They could move to a lower cost area of the country, but they’d rather stay warm all year round, rather than face brutal Midwest winters. Further, as a Latino (Jerry) and Asian (Linda) family with a mixed-race daughter, they prefer the diversity of LA that can only be matched by even more expensive places like New York City or San Francisco. This feeling of comfort is underestimated by the majority.

Instead, it seems better to just continue sticking to their budget, and earn supplemental income if they need more money or want to spend more money.

Jerry worked in managing consulting for 23 years and Linda worked in digital marketing for 15 years. Prior to retiring, Jerry was earning a base salary of $300,000 + $100,000 – $200,000 in bonus. Linda was earning a $180,000 base salary + $50,000 in stock compensation.

Every $10,000 of supplemental income earned equals $250,000 in after-tax capital earning a 4% rate of return. J&L could easily consult part-time for a combined 10 hours a week at $100/hour and earn $52,000 a year if one of the following concerns comes true.

J&L’s financial concerns in early retirement include:

1) What if they want and have another child? They need to allocate at least another $20,000 a year for basic expenses, college savings, and childcare help.

2) What if the stock market and real estate market roll over? Their $5 million after-tax portfolio could easily shrink by 10% – 20%, leaving them with passive income of only $160,000 – $180,000, not enough to fund their existing lifestyle with one daughter.

3) What if their daughter has future unknown medical issues? Nobody really tells new parents this, but it takes years before you can find all the issues that need addressing. For example, autism usually only starts showing signs between 18 – 36 months old.

4) What if one or all of their parents get sick and need to move in with them? All parents are still alive, but not all have long-term care insurance. Housing one or two parents will require extra funds.

Worst case, either Jerry or Linda can go back to work full-time, or they can start eating into their after-tax retirement principal until their daughter goes to kindergarten.

Again, please be aware the vast majority of people who espouse FIRE are working hard to make extra income or have a working spouse. Even though my wife and I are also stay-at-home parents, I continue to publish 2-3X a week on Financial Samurai partly because I enjoy writing, partly out of habit for the past 10 years, but also because this site makes a healthy amount of revenue.

While J&L have settled on $5 million in after-tax investments to raise their family, we’re shooting for more just in case our boy can’t win the SF public school lottery. My fingers and mind still work, so I might as well keep going until they don’t.

Let There Be Understanding

Despite detailing the numbers and providing context around J&L’s financial situation, I’m sure there will continue to be disbelievers that $5 million or more in after-tax investments is what’s required to live a comfortable, but not extravagant lifestyle in a high cost location.

It’s also become a national pastime to hate the rich, no matter how hard or long they studied in school, no matter how many hours they’ve worked a day, no matter how many risks they’ve taken to provide a better life for their family, and no matter how much in taxes they pay.

Like how more international travel and the mastery of a second language can help to create more harmony, hopefully, this article can help lead to more understanding by those who do not understand.

Related: When Earning $1 Million A Year Doesn’t Make One Couple Happy

Faced with having a family to provide for, aging parents to take care of, taxes to pay, and inflation to counteract, do you think it’s necessary to have millions of dollars in order to live a comfortable early retirement lifestyle in a HCOL area? Why do you think some people in low cost areas of the country refuse to acknowledge half the population? Are there any parts of J&L’s budget you would cut?

To continue this series, I’m looking to profile families living in Houston, Austin, Miami, Seattle, and the Washington DC area if you’d like to leave a comment with your contact info. So far I’ve covered NYC, SF, and LA. 

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Eagles Offseason: The History of the 32nd Overall Pick

As of March 6th, the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles have six selections in the 2018 NFL Draft, set to kick off April 26th in Dallas, Tejas.

Here’s what Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas are working with:

Round 1, pick 32

Round 4, pick 131 (from the Eric Rowe trade)

Round 4, pick 132

Round 5, pick 156 (from the Matt Tobin trade)

Round 5, pick 169

Round 6, pick 206

The Birds are tied with three other teams for the fewest selections in the draft, but as domestic litigation attorney Joe Cordell would say, “that’s okay.” There aren’t a ton of holes to fill on a squad that needs salary cap-related roster tweaks, but hardly a makeover.

What, then, are the positions of need?

That’s something I’ll dive into for another story, but if you’re losing one or more of Nigel Bradham, Trey Burton, Beau Allen, or Patrick Robinson in free agency, then I think you can go straight swap here to replace one of those guys. I think you’re okay at cornerback with Sidney Jones coming back and Rasul Douglas available as well, but if Burton walks and Brent Celek is released, you need someone behind Zach Ertz. Using the pick on a third DT behind Fletcher Cox and Tim Jernigan might make a lot of sense, or you can find another linebacker to jump in with Mychal Kendricks and an oft-injured Jordan Hicks.

But we’ll get into that some other time, with a look at the top prospects in those positions.

For this story, I want to look at pick #32 and how teams have used that selection over the last decade.

2017: Saints

Ryan Ramczyk, offensive tackle, Wisconsin

New Orleans wound up here after trading Brandin Cooks and a 4th round selection to the Pats for a 1st and 3rd. They used their natural pick to get the studly Marshon Lattimore at #11 overall.

Ramczyk was the second tackle off the board after Garett Bolles went #20 to Denver. He slid right into the starting right tackle job and played every single game this season. The Saints then went on to draft Alvin Kamara and Marcus Williams, so I’d say they knocked it out of the park last April.

2016: Browns

Emmanuel Ogbah, defensive end, Oklahoma State 

In a quirk, this selection actually took place in the second round of the draft. Reason being, New England had to forfeit their first round draft pick as part of the deflate gate mess. So while Ogbah technically goes down in the books as pick #32, he’s identified as a 2nd round selection.

Ogbah broke his right foot and only played 10 games this season. He logged 4 sacks and 2 forced fumbles and was on pace to match the 53 combined tackles he put up as a rookie.

Joey Bosa, DeForest Buckner, and Shaq Lawson were the defensive ends who were plucked before Ogbah.

Fumble!@EmanOgbah strips Dalton and the @Browns recover! #CINvsCLE #Browns pic.twitter.com/jXrbYNcUBh

— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2017

2015: Patriots

Malcom Brown, defensive tackle, Texas

One of the few talented players on a Pats’ defense that allowed 41 points to the Birds in the Super Bowl.

I tend to agree with this post-SB take:

No clue if Patricia will be a good head coach. But you show me where all this talent is on Pats defense. Pretty ridiculous all he got out of that group. It’s Gilmore, McCourty, Malcom Brown and a bunch of dudes.

— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) February 5, 2018

The Pats have to decide if they want to pick up Brown’s 5th year option.

2014: Vikings

Teddy Bridgewater, quarterback, Louisville

Minnesota traded a second and fourth to Seattle to get back into the first round to select Bridgewater. They snagged linebacker Anthony Barr at 9th overall with their natural pick.

You know the story with Bridgewater, it’s the injuries. What happens to him in free agency this offseason will be one of the more interesting developments around the league.

2013: Ravens

Matt Elam, safety, Florida

A very good rookie who regressed a bit in his second year then got hit with injuries. He’s only played nine games in the last three seasons and Baltimore fans consider him to be a big bust.

2012: Giants

David Wilson, running back, Virginia Tech

Wilson’s career was cut short when he suffered a neck injury in a game against the Eagles back in 2013. Not sure if you remember, but it was this play below, where he was tackled at the goal line by Cedric Thornton and Nate Allen:

Wilson missed the rest of the season with a herniated disc, then felt numbness and nerve problems in training camp the following summer. He quit football at the advice of doctors and moved on with his life.

2011: Packers

Derrick Sherrod, offensive tackle, Mississippi State

A promising offensive lineman who broke his leg as a rookie and never recovered.

2010: Saints

Patrick Robinson, cornerback, Florida State

He came to Philly, played his ass off, and won a Super Bowl.

Before that, Robinson played three solid seasons with the Saints, missing time in 2010 and 2013 with injuries. He later did one year in San Diego and one in Indy before signing with the Birds. Robinson was the fifth corner off the board in 2010, a crop that included Joe Haden, Kareem Jackson, Devin McCourty, and Kyle Wilson.

2009: Steelers

Ziggy Hood, defensive tackle, Missouri

A rotational guy who gave the Steelers five decent years. He’s 31 now and has been okay playing the last two seasons for the Redskins. I don’t think Warshington fans are very high on him.

2008: Dolphins

Phillip Merling, defensive end, Clemson

This is similar to 2016, when the Patriots had to forfeit their first-rounder, this time due to the Spygate bullshit. So Merling was technically a second-round pick, even though he was the 32nd player off the board.

He had two decent seasons in a non-starter role before being arrested for battery and seeing his career peter out in 2013.

Takeaways

It’s been hit or miss in the last ten years, but if you want to go back even further, you come across high quality players like Logan Mankins, Mathias Kiwanuka, Ben Watson, and Drew Brees at #32 overall. You also find some clunkers or flame outs in guys like Patrick Ramsey and Anthony Gonzalez.

The pattern over the last ten years seems to suggest that you can get a decent starting quality or rotational defensive lineman with this selection, or an offensive tackle. If the Birds lose Beau Allen to free agency, you can probably find his replacement here, a rookie who can give you those 400 or so snaps you need. Ironically enough, Allen and Derek Barnett finished with 423 and 424 snaps this season, respectively. This is a good interior d-line class, and there are some good linebackers, too, so I think you can find an Allen or Bradham replacement at pick 32.

You don’t need a quarterback or running back, and if you cut Torrey Smith, I think you’re okay with Mack Hollins as a WR3. Corner isn’t a pressing need with Jones coming back. And if Celek goes, do you use a first rounder on a Zach Ertz backup? Doubtful. This is considered a relatively weak tight end class anyway.

If you go offensive tackle, consider that the Patriots pick at #31 and their left tackle, Nate Solder, is a free agent. There are three OTs projected to go in the first found, and they might all be off the board by then.

Of course, trades are always on the table, and you see the Seahawks traded out in 2014. They made a second trade with Detroit and wound up with a 2nd, 4th, and 7th, which turned into Paul Richardson and others.

So the Birds don’t have a lot of picks, but they’ve got some options here, and it looks like they’ll be able to at least replace one of their departing free agents if they stand pat.

For what it’s worth, the Birds haven’t had the 32nd overall pick since 1963, when the draft was only 14 selections per round. They went with center Dave Crossan. We’ll wrap it up with that useless piece of trivia, but hopefully you learned something from the 1,250 prior words.

Eagles Offseason: The History of the 32nd Overall Pick published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/