#but now hes wearing some designer rectangle shades ??

[jrueships]

thinking abt how other wide receivers are dressing josh allen in their drip, and it doesn't even match his dopey bull in a China shop gentle cow doe eyes aesthetic... it just doesn't feel Right. it just doesn't feel like. Them. (Diggs/Allen)

[hit-me-with-a-ladle]

Ch.5 of Creepepastas x fem!reader

A/N: This is ch5 of a long-running series. The next chapter is going to dive deeper into other characters so I hope you'll like them. The chapter is very long so enjoy<3

TW: blood, organs injuries.

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Minutes felt like hours, hours felt like days, and by the end of the excruciating training, the girl had travel back to the cabin covered in cuts and bruises barely able to stand. As for Jack, he was fine and dandy, not caring that she kept panting and groaning in pain while walking. Though, after tripping for the third time because her knees couldn't hold the weight of her barely moving body, Jack got considerably aggravated. "Can you hurry up," He spat, contempt undoubtedly evident from the way he was standing and continued on his way not even bothering to wait for her. She glared daggers at his back and slowly stood with the help of a nearby tree. Supporting herself on anything she could find in her surroundings, slowly but surely she was finally able to walk to the cabin.

Before entering enter. She noticed Jack had already arrived and was reading. Rage tainted the girl's mind, ' That scum-bag, how could he not wait for me?' Storming in with a limp she didn't even look in his direction, instead, immediately going to the stairs to go to her room. But as she was about to leave, Jack spoke up out of nowhere. "There's a medkit in the bathroom, which is across the hall from your bedroom. You should stop the bleeding and take care of all the cuts," What he said made the girl even more hostile," Why do you even care?" She spoke sneeringly, not paying him any mind, carrying on her way. "Well, we will be training again in a few hours so you should fix everything up and get some rest." He stated again with a sigh and continue reading. The girl loudly forced out a breath in reasonable frustration while attempting to go to the bathroom, not carrying to answer.

Solace washed over her as she reached the final step of the long narrow wooden staircase, and slowly approached the bathroom door. Grabbing the circular handle and gently twisting it, she entered. It was a considerably small rectangle-shaped room although perfect for single-person use. Located inside by the far right corner was a small walk-in shower with sliding plastic doors that seemed to have a foggy design. Right next to it, a white basket meant for storing dirty clothes, and a boiler connected to the walk-in shower, and the was toilet positioned opposite the shower. Near it was the sink with cupboards above and a dirty mirror and next to the sink, a washer and a drier placed one on top of the other. There was also a long vertical mirror across the doors

Looking at the wall she noticed that bark brown marble tyles covered the lower half of the wall while the upper half was painted in a dull shade of white. Nearing the sink, she opened one of the cupboard doors that were lazily covered, in cheap grey paint. Glancing inside, she noticed the medkit Jack informed her about, it was covered in cobwebs and had dust all over it, slowly reaching within she grabbed it and instantly pulled it out. Causing all of the trinkets inside to vigorously rattle. Turning around and putting it down on the clothes basket, she looked at herself in the mirror. Suffice to say she was surprised that the coveralls she was wearing didn't have any tears, just a bit dirty.

Taking them off, she tossed them in the washer and turned it on. " So it'll only take ten minutes to wash, that good." She said to herself, relieved. Scowling, when she looked at her wounds. There was a rather large bruise on the lower part of her leg, though it wasn't as bad as she thought it would still get infected if she let it be. There were also many deep cuts sprawled all around her body. ' I should take care of this.'

Reaching for the kit and opening it up, she looked to see what exactly the red metal box contained. Inside were many items, most of them she could name. There were different sized band-aids and sterile gauze pads, adhesive tapes, elastic bandaids, antiseptic solution, and much more. She first grabbed the antiseptic solution and dabbed some on the gauze pads, slowly cleaning the deep cuts she had. And then after finishing she swiftly started bandaging up the wound she had on her leg.

Though feeling great pain, she still soldiered through and cleaned all of the injuries. After finishing, she grabbed the clothes in the washer and put them in the dryer. "Guess I should wait another 10 minutes. What should I do now?" Walking out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body she ran to her room.

Opening the door she noticed her old clothes were gone and one of the closet doors was slightly open, feeling a little uneasy she went to check it. She could feel her stomach turn the moment she opened the closet doors but was soon taken aback by the area of the same blue jumpsuits Jack gave her this morning. They were all the same size, odourless and finely ironed. Not bothering to question why and how they were there, she sighed in relief that she had something to wear. Instantly changed and limping to her bed to lay down for some rest.

Slamming her head in her pillow she looked up at the ceiling, 'What's happening? Is this just some sick dream?...No,...it can't be, if it was I should have woken up by now. But never the less, there has to be a way out and I'm going to find it. I just need to gain their trust first and work out my plan as time passes.' Reassuring herself, she fell into a slumber.

After a few hours, she woke up. Getting up in a tired daze she looked around the room confused but soon remember why she was there and let out a loud grunt of frustration. Slowly limping out of her room she went downstairs not bothering to see if Jack was still there. Peering into the kitchen she saw the silhouette of a hunched man leaning over the refrigerator. Uncertainty washed over her as she was not sure who that was but soon assumed it was Jack. Though, as she was about to enter she was stopped in her tracks as the hunched man tore himself away from the fridge giving the girl the chance to take a good look at him.

Her face turned pale when she did as she saw Jack's mask lifted to the half of his face revealing his hark-like teeth covered in some kind of tinted red liquid. She assumed he had put something back inside the fridge. The man had a crooked smile on his face as he slowly put his mask back down his face. ' How didn't I notice it earlier when I was eating? Was it even there? No, it couldn't have been I would've noticed. Right? Yeah, yeah I would've definitely noticed!' Her mind was in a panicked frenzy as she was zoning out while looking at the ground not noticing that Jack was approaching her until he spoke up. "You're able to walk I see?" He remarked sarcastically as he towered over her. She gulped, but her throat was dry so it felt like sandpaper was going down her throat walls.

"Yeah..." She murmured turning her head away from him, even though she couldn't see his face anymore she could still feel his eyes piercing into her soul as she entered the kitchen. Slowly approaching the fridge she tried to act unfazed. Couthesly opening its doors her stomach started spinning, though getting a better look she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, all until she looked deeper inside. In the back, blocked by all the other food, there was a jar slathered in red liquid with some kind of bean-shaped meat, it almost resembled a kidney.

All of the worst possibilities passed her mind as her face turned pale and her mind went static. Jack seemed to notice and suddenly slammed the refrigerator doors shut as he stood in front of the girl. The sudden action made her look at him as she gulped. "What are you looking at?" He spoke up, crossing his arms, he seemed more amused than anything else as he looked down at her. "I was just getting something to eat." She quickly replied and backed away anxiously. "You sure? I mean you were looking in there for a while, did you see something you didn't enjoy." He darkly expressed as he approached, but she stood her ground, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of her withdrawal even if she was shit-scared.

"No...I should make myself something to eat now." Blanckly retorting she moves past him, in an attempt to get herself out of the uncomfortable situation she was in. Reaching the kitchen counter she avoided getting near the refrigerator at all costs as she searched the cabinets for something else to eat. That morning she noticed that all the food in the cabin was very nutritious, there was nothing that could be deemed unhealthy. Inside she could see some cereals and bars of what she assumed was granola, but also different varieties of pasta. Taking in a deep breath she took ahold of it and got ready to cook.

Placing the pot filled with water on the stove for it to boil she searched for salt. With every step she took Jacks eyes didn't leave the back of her head. He seemed intrigued by what she was doing almost as if he had never seen anything like it before. After a while, she was finally done and put all of the food on a plate. Glancing back she noticed that Jack had sat down on the table with his head resting on his right hand, looking at her. Carefully approaching the table, she sat across from him. Starting to eat, she didn't look at him, choosing to stare at her food instead.

"You have ten minutes to eat before we go back to training." He vocalized as he calmly waited for a response. "Ok." She muttered still not looking up at him. "I know you saw me eating. That's why you've been so quiet." His whole demeanour was calm as his words piercing her stomach like knives. Her eyes widened for a second as her face contorted in surprise. "Well, I didn't see anything so...it doesn't matter." She promptly addressed, ultimately peering up at him. "Oh c'mon now. Don't lie. I mean do you think that I didn't notice you gawking at me as I ate. That's rather rude don't you think?"

She kept her mouth shut as her gaze wandered around the room. At that moment Jack got up from his seat getting closer to the girl's direction, her body went tense. "Tell me, do you want to see what I eat? Arent you even the slightest bit curious." He mused as he inched closer and closer. She again refused to look at him so he took ahold of her face, making her. "Answer me." He demanded. Taking in a sharp breath she just said "No." Jack then straightened his back as he neared the fridge calmly opening it up and searching inside. After a while, he finally found what he was looking for and quickly pulled it out.

It was the red jar, Jack then placed it in front of her. Opening it up a foul stanched advanced through the room. Her face scrunched up and she felt as if she was going to throw up just by the smell itself. "Wanna give it a guess to what it is?" He asked as he got another plate putting it in front of the girl. He took the substance out of the jar, red dripping down his hand as he placed it on the plate. She froze as her eyes widened, she was sure of what it was. "It's...it's a kidney." She said squeezing her eyes shut, pushing the plate away.

Jack darkly chuckled, "Lucky guess." He said amused by her reaction. He was forbidden from physically hurting her but that didn't mean he couldn't have some fun. "Wanna try it?" He spoke as he grabbed the organ shoving it in her face taunting her with it. She shook her head trying to get up from her seat. "Oh well, too bad." Jack grabbed his mask and put it halfway up his face, his shark-like teeth were perfectly visible again, they were extremely sharp and had a silver tint to them. He took a big bite from the organ, a sickening ripping and mushing sound was heard from jack as he ate it. The girl watched in absolute horror and quickly got up and running to puke in the sink.

Jack could be heard laughing at her as he chewed. "Well get cleaned up, were going to train again in a bit." He spoke with delight as he put the kidney back in its place and in the fridge. She could hardly stand as she saw him walking out of the kitchen. Gaining her composure after a while she finally went to find him. The training was as gruelling as the last time and at the end of it, she was extremely tyred.

Going to her room she lied on the bed and eventually, she fell into another dreamless slumber.

[sometimes-love-is-enough]

Character sheets and illustrations for @kieraelieson‘s @ts-storytime Big Bang story, Searching For Home! I’m very, very glad that I jumped in to pinchhit for her, because doing all this art has been an absolute blast. 

Click on those bad boys for full size and details.

[image description: Below cut, due to length.

The first three images are digital art  showing 'profiles' of the various characters - with one full-body illustration to the far left with their names next to them, and various smaller illustrations of them to the right.

First image:

1: 'Dee' - a medium-height man with shoulder-height wavy brown hair. His skin is light brown, and his ears are pointed. The right side of his face are covered in a dotted pattern, and he winks mysteriously at out at the viewer. He is wearing a long black cloak with bright golden highlights, and his arms are lightly crossed beneath it. Underneath it, he has a plain brown suit and long pants. He is barefoot.  Next, a shot of Dee from behind displays that his cloak has a long gap in the back. He is glancing over one shoulder at the viewer. Handwritten text next to this reads 'back of cloak is also open to make room for wings' An illustration of Dee facing away from the viewer, now with a set of large golden-yellow wings on full display. They're similar in shape to butterfly wings, with two distinct sections to both sides and ragged edges, like a goldfish's tail. Light orange patterns run through them like veins. They appear to glow, faintly. Above this is a small doodle of Dee flying with these wings, arms outstretched to either side. He is glowing brightly, and a dotted line trails out from behind him, marking where he's flown frown.

2: 'Virgil' - a short child with pale skin and messy dark hair. His arms are crossed protectively over his front, and he looks out with his eyebrows raised and his mouth slightly open. His shirt is grey and has many patches and tears on it, and his pants are a dark purple and in a similar state. His brown shoes are untied. Next to this, Virgil sits cross-legged on the ground, expression delighted as he pets and plays with a very large black fluffy spider with red eyes. A small purple heart hovers over his head. Virgil faces away, displaying a set of large wings that are attached to his back. His wings are similar to a monarch butterfly's, but purple and violet in coloring. The edges have bright white and purple spots on them, and the middle of both has intricate dotted patterns with teardrop-shaped black and white 'eye' markings on them. They are glowing faintly white. Above this, a sketchier drawing of Virgil attempting to fly with these wings. He has an expression of panic on his face, and is flailing his arms wildly. A handwritten note pointing to this illustration reads 'Too skinny, clothes are a bit too baggy + beat up.'

Second image:

1: 'Logan' - a tall thin man in a long black trenchcoat with silver buttons. Underneath, a dark blue shirt with ruffles and a pair of full-length brown pants with a silver belt. He has light skin and brown hair parted neatly over his left ear. He's wearing square spectacles and raising one hand in greeting, with the other tucked behind his back. Next to this, Logan is giving a Patton  (see next character description)  a ride on his shoulders. He's holding firmly onto Patton's  legs, and smiling up at him. Patton's  eyes are closed in contentment and his arms are folded on top of Logan's head. There is a swirl of dark blue in the background of this. A handwritten note next to this indicates that 'this is the right way to carry a child.' Logan, no longer his his long coat, has fallen asleep next to a pile of books. He rests his head in the crook of one arm, with a cartoonish 'Z' in a bubble above his head. Logan, in motion as he sprints towards some unknown destination. His eyes are wide and his coat swirls dramatically around him. A circle of dark color encircles his head. Two small sketches of Logan carrying Patton. In the first, he has Patton tucked inelegantly under one arm, like you might carry a football. Both of them seem unconcerned, and Patton is smiling. In the second, Logan lifts Patton  up, holding him under the armpits with a blank expression. Patton flails his hands happily, grinning. The handwritten text next to this notes that 'These are probably not good ways to carry a child'.

2: 'Patton': a short chubby child with a bright grin and square glasses. His skin is a darker brown than Dee's, but still fairly light. His hair is curly and dark-gold, and he's wearing a light grey coat with lighter grey fluffy bits at the neck, sleeves, and bottoms. His jeans are cyan and fall just below his knees. He wears brown boots and a light-blue shirt underneath the coat. Patton in profile from the chest up, facing right. He isn't wearing his coat, and he's still grinning. A note pointing to his glasses reads 'Doesn't actually need glasses! They're frames. He wears them so he can look like Logan' Patton, waist-deep in water, with his coat pulled up around his head. His eyes aren't visible but he's still smiling. His hands are extended outwards, like he's venturing further into the water. He's surrounded by specks of light. Two doodles of a baby seal, whose fluffy fur and coloring greatly resembles Patton's coat. There are spots of gold the same shade as Patton's hair on its back.. The first shows the seal lying on its side and looking left, flippers pulled close to its chest and water droplets exploding out around it. A label declares it '(FLUFFY)'. In the next, the seal pup is splashing downwards into water, bubbles spiraling out around it.

Third image: 1: 'Remy' - a medium-height man with brown skin, wearing sunglasses (from behind which yellow eyes are faintly visible) and a necklace with a yellow pendant. Short orange horns extend from his dark brown hair. He's grinning crookedly and flashing a peace sign at the viewer. He wears an unbuttoned black jacket with a ragged hem and a dark shirt visible underneath it, and black sweatpants with dark brown boots. He balances his weight on one foot, tipping the other back. A handwritten note pointing to him reads 'hides horns under hair, hides yellow eyes behind dark glasses'. An illustration of Remy's dragon form - a tall black dragon with the same coloring as Remy's jacket, and massive dark wings that are extended above him. His tail is long and ends with a puff of wavy brown  fluff. A note pointing to it reads 'swishy soft tail'. He has the same orange horns as humanoid-Remy does, except longer and curved backwards, and glowing yellow eyes. His neck is curved and bent downwards as he looks at a pink sketch of a fat man with wings, who is there to provide size reference. The man barely comes up to the base of his neck. An illustration of Remy in flight with Emile riding him (see next description for details). Remy's massive wings extended out to catch the wind, and his limbs and tail  are bent as though he's turning in midair. He glances up at Emile, on his back. Emile is grinning, his own wings open to catch the wind, and is holding tightly to Remy's neck.

2: 'Emile' - a fat medium-height man with light brown skin and light brown hair streaked through his pink. He has square-ish spectacles and a half-smile on his face. He wears a light pink-grey sweater patterned with salmon stripes, and a pair of light blue jeans. His shoes are brown. He also has a pair of large wings extending from his back. They're dark brown at the top but the color transitions from there into a lighter brown, into even lighter brown, and from there into cream. Emile faces away from the camera, his wings fully extended behind him. From here, we can see that they resemble a falcon's wings, and that the dark brown is more prevalent on the back of them. A note pointing to this explains that they're 'Slightly too small to properly fly with - better for gliding'. An illustration of Emile in flight. His wings are extended to catch the air and are not rendered in very much detail. His arms are raise and one foot is extended, as if he's coming in to land. Behind him is a blue sky and faint wispy clouds.

The fourth image shows all of the full-body portraits from the previous images positioned next to each other to show their heights in relation to each other. In order from tallest to shortest, this is Logan, Remy, Emile, Dee, Virgil, and Patton. Behind them is a light pink-to-blue gradient, with lines extending from the top of their heads to emphasize their heights. They are standing on a nondescript grey rectangle.

The last three images are watercolor A4 portraits featuring the character designs from the previous images.

Fifth image: Virgil and Dee, both with their wings out, are in the middle of a lush green forest, surrounded by oversized flowers and blades of glass. The gnarled brown wood of various trees frames the scene. Dee is standing barefoot in the grass, facing sideways with his glowing golden wings extended behind him. He's smiling up at Virgil, with an encouraging hand extended upwards and the other holding onto Virgil's own hands. Virgil is giggling and hovering in midair, wings fluttering and legs slightly askew as he tries to work out how to fly. They're illuminated by a beam of sunlight from above. A spider appoximately the size of a small perches on the wood in the left foreground, watching them.

Sixth image: Logan walks through a rushing deep blue river that comes up to mid-calf height. His long coat swishes around him and he is glancing back with a worried expression on his face at Patton, who he's carrying on his back. Patton's arms are wrapped around Logan's chest and his legs are behind supported by Logan's hands. He's wearing his grey coat and flasses and appears to be asleep. Puffs of white mist swirl near Logan's head. Behind them both, a black-and-blue night sky is patterend with many, many white stars, some of which are connected in constellation patterns. The moon is bright white in the sky, a half-crescent that illuminates both Logan and Patton from behind.

Seventh image: Remy, in his humanoid form, kneels  behind Emile on a bright yellow beach. Remy peers over his sunglasses, looking concerned, as he touches Emile's wings gently - they're tattered and ragged with blood covering them in messy splotches. Emile is sitting with his hands pressed into the sand, glancing back at Remy with a sheepish smile. In front of them, the ocean is visible with bright blue waves foaming white. Behind them, there are many rocks in red, pink, orange and yellow gradients. The sky above is blue with fluffy white clouds, and the sun shines down brightly on the scene.]

[ismatofalltrades]

Eyyyy, and here's those commission sheets!!

[ID:

Image 1. There's two drawings, one in the upper left corner with dark orange trim, and one in the bottom right corner with mint trim, against a green and orange gradient background. The upper left drawing is the sketch art of a yelling chicken and beside it is the label "} sketch $15." The bottom right is the se drawing but now inked and beside it says "lineart $20 {."

Image 2. The same layout as the first photo. The upper left corner drawing is the inked chicken now coloured with light green feathers, dark pink skin and a light purple beak with the label "} flats $40." The bottom left the chicken now has shading with dark green around the edges of the feathers, dots on the comb and waddles for shading and texture and a dark purple on the inside of the mouth giving the drawing depth. It's label reads "full colour $45 {"

Image 3. A monochromatic drawing of a fish eye lens of an ex-coworker of mine and her partner takes up most of the page. They stand under a covered porch and behind them a door and a window can be seen as well as some vegetation where the porch opens up. My ex-coworker stands to the audience's right, an arm looped around her partner's shoulders. On her visible arm rings can be seen on her middle finger and thumb and a bracelet can be seen at the middle of her forearm. She has chest length wavy hair, large lens glasses, a tank top, leggings and sneakers. Her other arm is out of frame. Her partner on the left has short cropped curly hair and a beard. He wears a kikkoman logo t-shirt, jeans and socks and in his free hand is a pen. The drawing is in a dark orange trim and below it in white texts it reads "price per additional individual $5"

Image 4. An image of a elf with medium brown skin and light hair close cropped to their skull takes up the right half of the page. This is Juniper and they are feeding a blue jay perched on their shoulder. They wear clothing made of leaves and stems woven and sewn together. They have a chest plate, knee and shoulder pads made of brown leaves and hold a dark brown staff with vines growing from it in their hand. At their feet is a bag full of mushrooms and herbs, with lots of pockets, a few small vials secured on the outside and twigs sewn to the bottom of the bag to make noise as they move through the forest. Juniper sits on a stump covered in moss, mushrooms and grass. The rest of the background is transparent save for and orange and green box to match the style of the commission sheet, and the drawing is labelled "partial background {$10."

Image 5. On this gradient image with dark orange trim is a draw of me on a skateboard, drinking through a bendy straw stylized to look like 100 from a glass of lilac coloured liquid. I'm wearing a dark blue helmet with pink highlights, a light green hoodie, orange shirt tucked into blue shorts, elbow and knee pads that are pink, green and blue and pink and green sneakers. There's two bandages on my left leg. The skateboard matches the helmet and I'm skating along a black road. Behind me is a blue wall covered with triangles, circles and rectangles coloured yellow, purple, green, pink and orange. The text labelling this image reads "simple backgrounds $10 {("

Image 6. Once more on the right of the gradient background is a drawing trimmed in dark orange. The image is of May from Pokemon. She stands in the tall grass a pencil in her left hand and an orange notebook in her right looking at a Yanma (dragonfly pokemon) that's hovering at eye level. She wears a red hair band and matching tank top, a yellow and green backpack, a black sweater tied around her waist, and white, grass stained pants. The pants have a pocket on the side where she's stored her pokeballs and are designed to mimic the appearance of a pokeball. Behind her the

grass stretches out until it meets a winding path and beyond that is more grass and trees. There are a few bushes dotting the grass, one can be seen with a pokeball behind it. Two oddish can be seen sticking their leaves above the grass, a spinarak can be seen hiding on the tree branch in the upper right hand corner, a shroomish sits at the base of a tree with balm mushrooms sprouting by the roots and a taillow can be seen silhouetted against the sky. The sky is made up of alternating bands of sunbeams and blue sky. The label reads "complex backgrounds $15 {"

ID end]

[felixmaxwell317]

write a kids book like one hundred pages

moon spinners

dream 

one paragraph a page

three sentences a paragraph

inside of the clock shop was an old man sitting at a desk working on a clock with clock maker tools. on the desk is an hour glass full of sand, papers with the designs for clocks and a few pieces of ancient chinese gold. the door bell sounds at twelve o’clock midnight and someone walks into the old clock shop with the old man and the old chinese money.

at twelve o’clock midnight and four seconds someone says “is there anyone here?” and looks around inside of the clock shop where there are lots of books on the shelves covered in dust and lots of clocks everywhere and lots and lots of pocket watches under glass cases.

the old man heard the door bell sound. 

the old man heard elliott maxwell walk into the clock shop.

the old man works harder on the clock and moves the lamp to draw attention to himself so elliott maxwell will happen upon him working on the clock.

elliott maxwell moves towards the light across the clock shop and happens upon the old man working intently on the clock at twelve o’clock midnight at the desk with an hour glass full of sand, papers with the designs for clocks and a few pieces of ancient chinese gold on the desk, behind a tall stack of old books with dust on them.

the old man moves some papers around on the desk.

it’s really quiet in the clock shop. the only sound now are the echos of clocks around in the two story clock shop that used to be a french restaurant.

“i know it’s late sir but i saw a light on in the clock shop from outside while i was riding my bicycle and i felt curious enough to wonder if i should see if the door would happen to open and when the door happened to open, curiously enough, i found my way inside all the way to here. i saw the lamp light move from across the clock shop and i... my name is elliott maxwell.” elliott maxwell extends his hand for a handshake...

the old man looks up from his desk and up from his glasses with his scraggly white and grey hair, messed from all the thinking about the clock and the best ways to assemble the machine, and looks at elliott maxwell and smiles with the light of the lamp in his eyes and looks back down at his work and continues to work on the pocket watch and says “...elliott maxwell...” with a tone like he’s more interested in his work on the pocket watch “...is that elliott with one ‘t’ or two t’s? either will do, or even if the last name was salinas...” the old man takes a pause and pats his coat jacket pocket with his left hand where a gold pocket watch rests inside the coat jacket pocket. “...i have a... pocket watch for a spanish man as well... but that’s another time i know, i know... another time... this story is for elliott maxwell and elliott maxwell’s pocket watch...”

the moment when he was looking at elliott maxwell with the light in his eyes felt like a grand dramatic moment where something miraculous might happen or is happening or is about to happen or happened or will happen or is happening or all of them or some moment, definitely, some important moment is occurring on the planet earth and all the clocks are ticking in the old clock shop that used to be a french restaurant and even the ghosts of french restaurant are aware of an ever increasing brightness to the moment coming from the only lamp on in the old clock shop and although the two men are meeting for the first time there is some familiarity to the moment like the moment itself is a ghost like them or that’s just because they’re all ghosts and drinking fancy drinks and eating fancy foods and the moment they’re living in is alive or because the moment is like a ghost, the moment is like a ghost in some way and the brightness has been getting brighter for the last two or three seconds.

“elliott maxwell, i’ve been expecting an elliott maxwell here for the last...”

the old man at the desk with the pocket watch, the sand, the papers with designs for clocks and ancient chinese gold looks at the watch on his wrist. the time reads twelve o’clock. midnight.

“...for the last twelve hours, since noon!”

and takes a drink out of a glass, looks like water...

“the watch is almost done...” the old man says as he continues working on the pocket watch.

“the pocket watch is for time travel. it’s made of pure gold, the old gold... the real stuff... i know, i got it...” the old man takes a pause to screw another screw in the pocket watch. “...from a secret island and the gold there, well...” the old man looks up “...the gold...hmmpff...” and purses his lips so his white and grey mustache bunches up “...acquired by...stealing...with...time travel...”

at this point elliott maxwell has been holding his hand toward the old man for a handshake for at least thirty seconds or more and the old man looks up again and sees elliott maxwell’s hand and puts down his clock working instrument and gives elliott maxwell a handshake and says, “how do you do? my name is john wheeler.”

the two men, picturesque icons in the whole scene with the dust on the books in the clock shop and the ghosts over there noticing the bright light coming from the lamp light just then and happening upon the whole conversation and having kept fairly quiet the entire time, shake hands for the first time.

“very nice to meet you mr. wheeler. how have you come to be waiting on me for such a time as twelve hours since noon, you said?” elliott maxwell says to john wheeler, the clock maker.

“i am a time traveler and i make time travel clocks and time travel watches and time travel pocket watches among other fine objects and i happen to know a decent amount about the future from time to time when i get the chance, mostly about the past, i mostly know about the past...” and the clock maker returns to his work and says “...because i remember the past and i don’t really or... i have yet to figure the telepathic way, exactly, so to speak, of how to remember the future like remembering the past is so easy... if that makes sense... with my mind like leaning on some kind of temporal eye glass or uh... i had the thought most recently... oh, yes, an optical telescope but a psychic one that i could angulate or somehow position to incline or determine the time, the future that is or even circular... like my grandfather had once talked about having a dream...he said time was like a sphere... he was a time traveler...”

elliott maxwell looks at his watch. the time reads twelve o’clock and ten minutes and eleven seconds...

“...what time was it then?”

“twelve o’clock and ten minutes and eleven seconds, sir.”

“that’s good...we’re on time.” the old man, john wheeler, is looking at the watch with an extra glasses lens on and says “i’m almost done... i’ll need you to go into the area that used to be a dining room for the last part. the mecurial gold is of such a quality that i have to wear a special pair of glasses to view it so that my eyes retain their material form. you understand.”

elliott maxwell looks at the dust on the top of the book that became about the air after having taken one book, a philosophy book to liking and has been flipping through it for the minute while the old man, john wheeler, was talking about the pocket watch...

“sure, i’ll just take this book over that way and you let me know when you’re done...”

“that sounds good...”

elliott maxwell turns around and walks towards the dining room tables...

“...by the way, were you listening?” the old man, john wheeler says to elliott maxwell...

“i was doing both!” elliott maxwell says as he talks over his shoulder with the closed book in his hand.

“i was listening and reading, i’m a writer. i write books.”

“just checking, it’s important. i was talking about my grandfather.”

the old man with the glasses, john wheeler, says as he puts on a pair of dark day-time shades in the dark library looking loft of his old clock shop, in the back with the lamp light on and the dust all dancing around the air to like the ghost of music from some other holy place...

and the old man with the glasses, john wheeler, retrieves a clear glass bottle of golden mercury from the desk drawer and it burns bright in the atmosphere. 

for a moment, all the lights go on in the old clock shop, and the ghosts of the french restaurant notice and the whole wave goes up a little bit, about two or three inches, a little more than usual when the old man with the glasses, john wheeler, normally does this part of the clock assembling and especially at twelve o’clock, midnight in the old clock shop with all the lights off and one lamp light on, in the back where all the dusty books are... in the country the united states of america, on the planet earth...

elliott maxwell is reading a book on philosophy written by lawrence doogood, an austrailian philosopher, about the mind and geometry called “the motions of considerations and the motions of motions on geometry; the thinking mind.”

elliott maxwell reads on page forty-two an entry and the entry reads

the philosophy of mind is centered around geometry and how the procession of forms occurs in a most general way and the way being from center to center by lines, wherein the phrase by what line of logic originates from, and the thoughts occur like machines in the mind as sentences consist of multiplicities of forms that when assembled by the process of logic produce the fruit of the fundamental nature of mind as an organizing prima materia does so it’s own transcendental activity by sequences.

the mind is beautiful.

and that’s what the whole entry read on that page. that was it.

the mind is beautiful.

the pages on the book were long and looked collegiate as if the book was longer than most books, and it was. the book had a quality to it, perhaps it was the knowledge inside that took a stretch on the mind that caused it to appear more flat and more long than a normal book and after all the book only had two-hundred and thirty pages in it. the book was a long, flat rectangle with genius concepts inside making the book intellectually attractive and when one held the real philosophy book it was wealthy to do so. elliott maxwell felt more wealthy holding the philosophy book written by lawrence doogood than any other time in his entire life and because the book was the best book he had ever read. the motions of considerations and the motions of motions on geometry; the thinking mind was the best book elliott maxwell had ever read in so far as reading materials are concerned thus far and all of the books in the clock shop of john wheeler, a philosopher who built clocks and who is a time traveler on the planet earth...

“the pocket watch is done dear boy! come look, have a look see at the watch and we’ll see if you can... take it for a spin...” john wheeler looked at the watch with his clear reading glasses in the lamp light and tinkered with the knob that sets the seconds, minutes and the hour hands. “...and we’ll see...we’ll see if you can take it for a spin on any of the hands she’s got, that’s just right. on any of the hands she’s got.” he set the time to twelve o’clock and twelve minutes which it was and looked at his wrist watch. the seconds read one second into the twelfth minute and he felt the most holy feeling of the excitement of rushing to place and placing the second hand on the eleventh second number place and click the knob just at the exact second that the twelfth should happen, after the click of the eleventh second letting fate ring as a click to echo like a ghost around and about the hour of his old clock shop on the midnight this calm night and then so and all done in four seconds and now...

fifth second of the twelve o’clock hour, the midnight happening to be this december night...

elliott runs over to the desk with the old man and the lamp and the pocket watch.

tenth second of the twelve o’clock hour, the midnight happening to be this december night...

the grand pocket watch is in john wheeler’s hands and elliott maxwell says,

“wow!” and grabs the gold pocket watch and looks at the gold pocket watch and presses the notch on the gold pocket watch.

click.

tock.

the twelfth second happened then on the tock part. it was glorious.

it was good.

that was a good moment when all of the numbers lined up perfectly and for a moment the number twelve was in three places at once and did invisible magic with it’s power as a number and the number twelve was also in two places at once then, once as the number twelve in three places at once and twice as the number two and the number three as the number twelve is in three places at once. god counted there somehow like this...

one...

two...

three...

from one twelve, to three twelves simultaneously as the number two and the number three.

when it happens, it’s good to take note. the big machine, the big sky machine...

the big, big star machine must be working when the arithmetic is so perfect. a scientist would take note.

a philosopher would take note.

an astronomer would take note, the mystic kind.

that moment happened today, december twelfth. 

...

that december twelfth is in this year nineteen twelve. 

what a beautiful moment.

what a good moment. 

the stars shine there like twinkling bright yellow magic in the air. 

those moments are so important to us, i think. 

this is how it also happened, exactly... 

that moment felt like there was a space there, maybe a few more seconds than usual...

and...

life...

life flowed through elliott maxwell and the big dramatic air blew in from the outside and threw all the papers around the whole old clock shop and threw their hair around and for some reason a big grandfather clock let out a gong-bellow when the bell rung on that twelfth second and elliott maxwell turned around towards the door where all of the wind had come busting in like a big swell and shook up all the papers in the old clock shop. 

where there had only been soft grey rain clouds on the eleventh hour dressing the town streets with soft shadows now there was a full on storm blustering up the outside of the old clock shop...

with rain...

with thunder...

and with lightning...

when elliott maxwell had come to face the open door where winds rushing in poured into the old clock shop, he saw all the papers flying around about the wind rushed in with the notes written with black ink and pencil and saw the rain pouring down outside of the old clock shop windows and saw the shadows on the ground outside on the street and the puddles of rain and the green blinking lights on the road from the green blinking traffic lights down the road for a few blocks in the rain and in the shadows on the ground outside and in the puddles of rain and on the windows of the old clock shop where rain drip down and water splash on the windows of the old clock shop...

and the big thunder and lightning crashed all around and struck the twelfth second of the twelfth hour of the twelfth day of the twelfth month of the year nineteen twelve and the electricity was in the air and was at the air of the twelfth second now with the crack of the sound and elliott maxwell looked at his brand new gold watch, a gift from the old man john wheeler, and back up to watch the papers and to watch the rain and to feel the lightning and thunder so close...

there was a moment so grand...

the papers all seem to float in mid-air now and stay like time was frozen and somewhere in the periphery of the scene, golden names on books to the left of the clock shop door shined and gleamed on black wraps that are wrapped around the books in the old clock shop...

this moment felt slow and long...

elliott maxwell looked around and turned his head to the right and thought to himself, “these papers are floating, they’re staying clean in place... still falling like feathers but... much slower now...” and elliott maxwell turned around to the old man john wheeler and said, “this is a time travel watch?”

john wheeler was sitting and then stood and said to elliott maxwell as he clasped his hand kindly, “yes, this watch is a time travel watch. it’s gold and it’s yours for free.” elliott maxwell’s eyes lit up with excitement and joy.

“this watch puts a sphere in time in some ways sometimes, it’s happening from the pocket watch right now and the moments there all about when you pressed the notch on the right side of the watch controlling the machine effects of the watch caused time, where we are here now to become suspended in a state of transcendental motion such that we can exist in normal time while the time of our environment...” and the time traveler, john wheeler, grabbed a piece of paper and tilted it to the side like a feather would “...is still and all the objects of our environment... isn’t that grand?” 

“why, yes. thank you very much sir, mr. john wheeler sir. i’ve only dreamed moments like this and... this is very good gift.” elliott maxwell turned around to look at the papers in the air and the books on the wall and asked the time traveler, john wheeler, a question.

“why did you give me this watch?” and turned around to hear the time traveler, john wheeler, answer and the time traveler, john wheeler said “because...” 

and the time traveler, john wheeler, laughed hysterically into the hall and put his left hand on his hip with his right leg bent and he tossed his grey, white hair up and said “because... i don’t know...” and he got serious with his tone “you must be someone important elliott maxwell to be in a dream like this, receiving such a fortune beyond payment and prize to witness the events wherein now all the papers stay in their fall like feathers on dime...” elliott maxwell looked puzzled for a second and then the time traveler, john wheeler, raised his right eyebrow and said “...the time...” and tapped on his watch with his right hand and then pointed at a few of the clocks around which were totally stopped, frozen by the gold time travel pocket watch given to elliott maxwell by the time traveler, john wheeler. 

“let’s have a steak and some sodas.” the time traveler, john wheeler, said to elliott maxwell.

“that sounds good. i could use a midnight snack.” elliott maxwell said.

“steak and mashed potatoes and carrots and asparagus and soda.” the time traveler, john wheeler, said to elliott maxwell. 

and the time traveler john wheeler and elliott maxwell had steak and mashed potatoes and carrots and asparagus and soda at midnight while time was frozen in the old clock shop that used to be a french restaurant. 

after that, elliott maxwell went home on his bicycle to the maxwell family mansion on peridot lane.

the house has twenty seven rooms in it. 

wesley maxwell and florence maxwell were inside, in the master bedroom, reading books in bed. wesley maxwell was just getting out of bed, the sheets still on his right leg and on his lap sort of.

in three seconds his left foot will touch the soft carpet and he will put his shoes on that are resting by the door of the master bedroom and then wesley maxwell will walk downstairs and find his son standing at the door looking at the clock opposite the front door with a gold pocket watch on a golden chain and although in this dimension there are no signs of anything strange, in some other place right close to here, elliott maxwell has swirls in his eyes, the sign of a time traveler. 

in this world, the entire interaction was very bland and dry. 

“elliott, what are you doing at the door son?”

elliott maxwell stares at the clock in front of him like it’s far away, like he’s staring into a long and wide and big desert. he feels really solid. maybe it was the steak and the mashed potatoes and the soda, or the carrots.

“i went to an old clock shop four miles away and that old man, john wheeler, he gave me this free gold watch. it’s a time travel watch.”

wesley maxwell walks down the stairs in his silver toned pajamas with purple and blue moons on them. it’s twelve o’clock and forty four minutes at the midnight hour this december evening. 

“that sounds great son. why are all the lights on? it is twelve o’clock you know...”

the bright lights burned at the former dim light in the room from all the lamps, the chandelier making the room drunk on it’s own light. 

being in the room at that moment was good. the space felt like a memory.

“i rode my bicycle all the way home with all of the rain stopped in the air...the rain moved a little bit i guess. this is the gold watch i have now.” and elliott maxwell raised the gold time travel watch and the gold time travel watch spun clock-wise slowly and the air in the downstairs guest room area was different, thicker and there was more space. a few steps felt like it was taking a few more seconds than normal and the moment was gliding on the moment, the time about the time as the aura of the watch somehow did something to the house by relativity and especially because it is twelve o’clock on the midnight hour of this december night. 

and because it is twelve o’clock on the midnight hour of the december night, the twelfth of december in the year nineteen twelve, elliott maxwell is staring at the big clock in the downstairs guest room area of the maxwell family mansion and he looks like he’s staring at a flat wall, almost like the clock isn’t there at all...

elliott maxwell dreams of a desert where the clock is and dreams of pools of calm water, water like milk, thick and calm... and elliott maxwell dreams of a desert full of sand where the clock is and dreams of, has visions of, in a post-time travel trance, bottling up the desert into one hour glass and selling the sand in the hour glass for a million dollars a grain. elliott maxwell, the rich son of the wealthy bank owner wesley maxwell, dreams of selling grains of sand for millions of dollars.

“well, that’s all great son but it’s fairly late and you should get to bed. you look kind of tired staring at that clock so blank... do you feel okay? would you like some medicine?” wesley maxwell says to his son elliott maxwell.

“medicine?” elliott maxwell asks...

“yeah, medicine. i have some opium in a bottle upstairs right next to my reading glasses and the vacation catalog i was just looking at for time shares at the florida keys...”

“the florida keys?”

“yeah, come on. you’ll have some opium and then you’re off to bed.”

“okay that sounds good.” elliott maxwell rubs his eyes and realizes he’s in his house and that the lights are so bright that his father is squinting through the glare of them.

“the lights sure are bright.” elliott maxwell says...

“yeah, you turned em’ on i guess to stare at that clock on the wall. are you sure you feel alright?”

“yeah, i feel okay.” elliott maxwell rubs his forehead with his right hand as he puts the gold pocket watch in his interior right side coat jacket pocket.

“that is a nice watch though son. you said that old man john wheeler gave it to you? for free?”

“yeah, he said...”

elliott maxwell remembered the whole episode at the old clock shop and felt like maybe it was all a dream. 

“...he said i could have the watch. i took the gold watch from his hand when he was done assembling it. there was a lot of rain and lightning...” 

wesley maxwell, at this point, has already had himself several spoonfuls of opium and is half-way dreaming himself. 

wesley maxwell pulls a cigarette out of his front shirt pocket of his silver toned pajamas with purple and blue moons on them and lights the cigarette in the hallway on his way to the master bedroom and gets high on the cigarette and walks to the master bedroom and opens the master bedroom’s door.

“go show your mother the gold watch boy, i bet she’d love to see it. looks really grand my boy. looks old, looks victorian.” wesley maxwell says as he sits down on the left side of the bed and unscrews the cap of the opium bottle. “when you’re ready the opium bottle is there and there is a spoon on the bedside table next to the opium bottle.”

“sure. thanks dad.” elliott maxwell says to his father wesley maxwell.

“your welcome son. have a good night, i’m off to the dreamer for some milk...” welsey maxwell yawns and continues to ramble like the good father he is on the midnight hour, twelve o’clock. “...milk and cookies...”

“hey mom, look at what i got. it’s a gold watch.” elliott maxwell says as he walks toward his mother, florence maxwell, resting on the bed and reading a law rhetoric dictionary. she looks like she’s been reading for a few hours. 

“that’s very nice dear, i can see. you got it from the old man who owns the old clock shop a few miles away, good john wheeler?” 

“yes, i did. how did you...” for a moment elliott maxwell wonders how she could know that and he had just told his father downstairs but that was downstairs and this is upstairs and the upstairs master bedroom is all the way down a hall...

“...i overheard you talking to your father dear.” she says as she skims the page and looks at the gold watch in her son, elliott maxwell’s hands. “let the watch here darling, it does look wonderful.”

“oh, it is wonderful mother. it’s a time travel watch.” elliott maxwell says to his mother florence maxwell.

“a time travel watch? why do you think so?” florence maxwell says to elliott maxwell.

“just press that notch right there on right side of the watch, or... pull it out and then press it again, one time i think...” elliott maxwell says to his mother florence maxwell. 

the mother of elliott maxwell looks at her husband through above the top of her reading glasses and wonders for a second, and a long curiosity happens in her mind like as if the second she was turning to look at her husband, wesley maxwell, the second had become stretched flat and long, maybe by two more seconds or three more seconds or four more seconds or five more seconds even...

“let’s just see about this...” and elliott maxwell’s mother florence maxwell looked at her son with wonder and she opened her mouth playfully and looked at her son with the appreciation and care of a lover of stories and books and dreams...

the rain outside pours and washes against the window of the upstairs master bedroom.

some distant thunder and lightning occurs a few miles away and florence maxwell dreams the lightning through telepathic inclination, just like always, like everyone does...

a crash of some lightning strikes the house in a circle almost

click.

... and everything stops... now everyone in the upstairs bedroom is frozen, all except florence maxwell...

“wow...” florence maxwell says and looks around the room. 

“the rain has stopped?” florence maxwell asks...

the moment feels like a soft bell has been rung in the atmosphere... maybe it’s the gold on the watch, the aura of the gold time travel watch that john wheeler gave to elliott maxwell earlier this hour at twelve o’clock and the twelfth minute of the midnight hour on the twelfth of december, the twelfth month of the year nineteen twelve...

maybe the watch gives a sound from the gold when it stops time...

perhaps, the watch becomes alive in some other dimension and fills out some official form and hands it to the clock on the wall, if there should be one, and the watch signs an agreement to stop the time for a moment and the clock personified approves of the time travel motion to stop time and lights a cigarette or takes a mint to relax for a moment while the time travel clock does something so amazing, that it really is a wonder how it should all occur and the gold time travel watch stands up like a human being and holds the second hand on the clock, real strong and the whole environment slows down, time stops...

did you ever think of that?

did you ever know that? 

when did you know that? 

florence maxwell looks at her watch. it’s totally stopped. the second hand is absolutely still...

“the time has stopped here.” florence maxwell says and waves in front of her husband, wesley maxwell’s face and wesley maxwell, in his silver tone pajamas with milky purple and milk blue moons and white milky stars doesn’t move at all on the bed that moment...

...and...

and her son, elliott maxwell, is also there totally still.

she thinks, “this is a... time travel watch... a real gold time travel pocket watch.” with her mouth open and then lifts the notch and presses the notch on the right side of the golden time travel pocket watch...

click.

the whole scene resumes...

“well...” wesley maxwell says “are you going to try it dear, he says the rain stopped at the old clock shop.”

“the rain did stop.” florence maxwell says “i just saw you two, right here, you two in front of my pause like still pictures, stopped in time and, and my watch. the seconds hand on my watch was still as well... totally stopped.” 

“just now? just this very moment?” wesley maxwell asks his wife florence maxwell...

“yes, just now. just now this very moment, the most recent one.” florence maxwell tells her husband wesley maxwell and looks at him dearly and says “honestly, here just go ahead and try it.” and florence maxwell gives the gold pocket watch to her son elliott maxwell.

“i knew it wasn’t just a dream. i rode my bicycle all the way home for four miles and it only took one second in the real world...” elliott maxwell says to his parents, wesley maxwell and florence maxwell.

elliott maxwell. just a twelve year old rich kid from washington who acquired a time travel pocket watch, for free, at the perfect time and the perfect place. what lay ahead may very well be the most important moments in all of human history as the young boy, now time traveler, elliott maxwell, takes his new machine out for it’s spin... 

on the world perhaps... 

twelve years pass by in the story.

consider telegraphs, money, paper money, playing cards, calendars, clocks, coins, and articles of the sort. they’re all flashed around like in memory in order and twelve years has become a passer by in the story.

twelve years.

elliott maxwell is twenty four now. elliott maxwell is a man. elliott maxwell is a rich man. 

do you think he still uses his gold time travel pocket watch? of course he does. he uses his gold time travel pocket watch from good john wheeler all the time. elliott maxwell is doing good.

elliott maxwell uses his gold time travel pocket watch to steal money from banks all around the world. 

here he is at his desk in his big house counting a lot of money that is now his, this time it’s paper bills but elliott maxwell got big on cash by stealing the pure gold of the world and, well...

how did elliott maxwell become a time traveling thief? 

the story is somewhat like this...

elliott maxwell, seventeen and in his senior year of high school, has gotten used to running around with his lucky gold time travel pocket watch and has collected one million dollars from banks around the country. 

he likes throwing the money on the dirt in the backyard because it looks good to see the money covered in dirt and reminds him of buried treasure and the wealth of his youth brought to him in the form of literature and stories about wonders he could only ever dream about and now, at the end of his schooling, he is the only one he knows who happens to own, who happens to have in his pocket, a gold time travel pocket watch and who uses it for the acquisition of paper money, real paper money with the numbers on it and a lot of those now...

it’s night time now in nineteen eighteen and the hour is the seventh hour of the evening and the minute is the fifteenth minute at the big number three on the clock and the seconds are passing by as elliott maxwell walks down the street in his nice black suit and with his nice black suitcase, filled up with the real paper money from the banks with all the cash inside the vaults, just there twenty miles down the road in the town of bellevue as he walks back to his home town everett and as the seconds pass to the world outside only the blur on the side of the road. elliott maxwell has the right side notch of his lucky gold time travel pocket watch pressed in and set to the transcendental time beyond normal linear time. 

he’s swinging the gold pocket watch in a clock-wise circle as he walks down the road. it’s taking a while but he has another ten thousand dollars in his nice black suitcase. 

elliott maxwell thinks to himself, “this is a good story. i like this story where i am here.” and notices fourteen blades of green grass on pasture alongside, beside the road beside him, along side him. beautiful green grass, fourteen of them, blades they are... 

what a good time.

and elliott maxwell smiled at his walked down the road back to his mansion home in everett, washington in the nineteen eighteen. such a good year, full of... lots and lots of money that year, green paper money with the numbers on it, real money... lots of money and lots of it.

elliott maxwell was planning and making maps and charts of towns and had spent a great deal of his weekends acquiring the blueprints of banks around the country and all on the free way he had made himself with his choice to a repose destiny... he always said he was saving up for a vacation to the florida keys and that when he got there he was going to order a fruit drink with lots of vodka and the bright flower umbrellas for the drink and relax in the sand and when the waves permit to swim and have the days on his yacht there on the florida keys. 

elliott maxwell heard about the florida keys on the popular radio machine in a motor car received as an early gift from his father’s brother, a man from australia, who worked in the military establishment and worked to produce the modern day motor car with the radio transmitter machine installed into the front section of the modern day motor car.

there were lots of maps in elliott maxwell’s room and when elliott maxwell was the age of fifteen he told his father that he had been stealing and the money was from banks in the town and that he was using his gold time travel pocket watch to stop time to steal all of the free money and his father told him that if he needed any more paper for maps that it would be good to go to the store together, for old time’s sake, and elliott said, “yeah. for old time’s sake.” and all the maps were all over the room and elliott maxwell’s room was littered with maps with the lines and all the beauty of cartography in it’s form as obsession on the genius scenery of a wealthy room in the state of washington and there’s a globe in the room and the clock can see the crumpled up maps, territorial maps thrown all across the hours full of planning on walking into a bank full of people and pressing the right side notch on the gold time travel pocket watch from john wheeler and watching the scene pause and all of the people are still and the air is quiet there and everyone is smiling in that place full of money and jumping on top of the counter and and then jumping down onto the floor and putting all the money in the canvas bags and then jumping on top of the counter again and with his arms resting on his nice slacks, looking out at the bank where all the people are paused in time and then out at the door where the light pours in from the outside, the sunshine, and then jumping down onto the tile floor of the city bank, with the business people money and walking out and waiting maybe a few businesses to reset the time to normal and then smiling as all the cars resume their speed, and the whole town scene is the all good news of the american dream with the clean walk of the modern business man, the good day.

while elliott maxwell walks home in the transcendental time beyond normal linear time he thinks he sees another business man on the road but the images are only flashes and strange as the business man only appears in the peripheral of his vision and way far out in front of him and sometimes like twelve or twenty four of the same business man in front of him, dressed in an all black suit just like him and with a single crumpled dollar bill in his left hand and held so that it looks drifted to the left with the direction of the road. 

one man in a business suit with the single dollar bill in his left hand way far out on the road, perhaps a mile, one mile, and stands there looking at the horizon or whatever over in front of the two of them and then looks back and disappears again. 

elliott maxwell walks down the road at seven o’clock, the hour of the evening on the planet earth and thinks to himself, “should i have turned the hour so about this watch that i hallucinate a man dressed such as i to be all about and around this empty road at an hour like this and this day, on this day, and these moments are so dreamlike and do make me wonder of the nature of that i have... seen. perhaps, it is all just a dream of my mind or should there actually be a man dressed in a suit such as i and in this time place then what should i do, for all the warnings to take and consider as i walk alone on this road all the way to and close by bellevue far from the town where i have been growing up this time all along and then this gun i have should be good for me to have.” and “i feel okay here on this road alone in this time made by my, luck gold time travel watch.” 

the one man in the business suit appears and winks at elliott maxwell and places the single american dollar bill in the top pocket of his nice black suit jacket and disappears again.

elliott maxwell feels reassured and relaxes and it calm and for a moment, only a second, thinks that he is dreaming the entire hallucinatory scene with the man dressed in a nice black suit such as himself on the empty road, alone until he, and only a second later, notices the green on the paper dollar bill in his black suit jacket pocket and the fabric is on the blue of the evening, like the water where the dirt is and the steel factory. the blue there is all over the hours, somehow in the air and on everything, sort of... like looking through a rainy day on a window, inside the motor car on the dirt road. maybe they’re all related. anyways, elliott maxwell now has a single crumpled american dollar bill in his nice black suit jacket and knows the man with the nice black suit such as he is real and has been time traveling and appearing in flashes for only seconds of the seconds he has paused on the hour and been on the road all alone with the ten thousand dollars in the nice black suitcase.

elliott maxwell puts the nice black suitcase under his left arm.

elliott maxwell reaches for his gun. it’s black. it’s loaded. the dirt on the road is hard and crunchy and the man is nowhere to be seen. 

elliott maxwell pulls out his gun from the shoulder holster on his left side and cocks the hammer and points his nice black gun in front of him and then he looks around and looks behind himself on the long road from bellevue and looks to the left so fast and to the right, so fast, where the field is beginning to turn to a shadow as the evening sets on the planet earth and the road still looks fairly long. about three miles.

then all of a sudden out of nowhere the man in the nice black suit who had been appearing and disappearing all evening appeared and in five motions, one knocked the gun out of elliott maxwell’s right hand with the back of his left hand then two pushed elliott maxwell in the chest with his right palm like pushing a thirty pound bag of thick flour with the hum lo ra push hands technique and then three pushes the nice black suitcase full of ten thousand american dollars out and away from under elliott maxwell’s arm and then four places his left hand and thumb on elliott maxwell’s left hand and thumb which are on the lucky gold time travel pocket watch and then and finally, five places his three fingers, thumb, ring finger and middle finger on elliott maxwell’s forehead and puts elliott maxwell into a telepathic trance like state with the three fingers glowing, bursting with light on elliott maxwell’s forehead... on the...

“it’s quiet here.”

and the buddha was meditating and was in the nice green garden and there were clocks with the number twelve and all the minutes were at fourteen of the twenty four clocks in the buddhist monastery called the hum lo ra and the moment was comfortable and peaceful and the buddha realized the truth that enlightenment is the natural state of being.

the light from the three points on elliott maxwell’s forehead glow as elliott maxwell returns to normal consciousness in a rush then and quick then and then with an inhale, a fast take of air, the deep breath, the rushing kind, soft and fair and cool with the rush of the moment and time reverses. elliott maxwell falls forwards into the past and the present moment and watches three fingers pull back and sees a hand happen off of his left hand clutching the gold time travel pocket watch and looks out of the corner of his eye at the nice black suit case as it returns to his side, under his arm, and then as his gun returns from turned aside in the air, mid-air and turned about a few turns, to his hand and he feels the flat wall of the resumption of the forwards time there with his lucky gold time travel pocket watch and his arm is then placed with the gun facing upwards towards the sky and he sees a man he has never known before standing in front of him with a nice black suit such as he with a gold time travel pocket watch and with his gun also facing the upwards towards the sky and the man he has never known before standing in front of him with a nice black suit such as he with a gold time travel pocket watch and his gun also facing upwards towards the sky disappears and elliott maxwell finds himself alone on the long, three mile road to everett with a business card in his top black suit jacket pocket and elliott maxwell places his black steel gun back into the left side shoulder holster and then quickly, very quickly retrieves the business card from his top black suit jacket pocket and inspects the business card to see a white card bearing the image of a black ink bicycle and some typewriter type that reads, “the wheeler society” and, and an address located in new york but all the type where the numbers were and the letters reading the street name were all washed out and covered with some dirt. 

elliott maxwell looks up and out at the long, three mile road.

elliott maxwell is standing on the long, blank road, the empty road, with the business card in his hand and ten thousand dollars under his arm and he remembers what happened to him and how the man with the other gun stood there with his gun facing upwards towards the sky and elliott maxwell smiled.

elliott maxwell remembers his father wesley maxwell and remembers a three day vacation when he was fourteen. (the vacation memory)

elliott maxwell goes home that evening and lays down in his comfortable bed, on the right side, closer to the door than before and looks at the card given to him by a man in a nice black suit, a man in a nice black suit who held his gun in the air and walked away. a man in a nice black suit who took his gun out of his hand and put it back. a man in a nice black suit who appeared in many places at once and had a pocket watch. elliott maxwell lays in his comfortable bed with the business card bearing the image of a bicycle pressed in black ink and with the trypewriter type that reads, “the wheeler society” and, and... 

and an address located in new york...

“i wish i could know the... all the type where the numbers were and the letters reading the street name were all washed out and covered with,” elliott maxwell rubs the washed out type with his right hand thumb. “... some dirt.”

elliott maxwell takes a breath, a sigh and presses his brow to a thought of a new york building, the archetypal sort with the windows with most of the lights off and only a few lights, lamps most likely, or ceiling fan lightbulbs, and the thought is a night-time thought and... 

the consideration takes him nowhere. the thought happens upon an empty, clear mental object and the ceiling fan light in his bedroom shines on the walls.

and on the tile floor.

elliott maxwell is holding the business card with the bicycle on it and the faded type in his left hand by the bottom left side corner.

there, the air there is all quiet and calm and still and the moment is... nothing is happening at all. it’s boring. it’s a boring moment.

it’s a boring moment for fifteen minutes or twenty minutes.

“why?” elliott maxwell asks, and not to himself, he just asks the question. “why is the typewriter type all washed out? who was that man on the road back there?”

elliott maxwell notices the washing machine downstairs and considers the washed out type on the wheeler society business card and then he thinks about the pantry, and thinks about getting up to get some bread from the baguette and some cheddar cheese and some moscato and gets up from his comfortable bed in his good bedroom and holds the card in his left hand, more firmly now as he moves towards the door on the right side of the room. “perhaps i’ll find some way to read the address on this business card...” and elliott maxwell throws the wheeler society business card towards the window on the other side of the room and when it passes under the ceiling fan light in his bedroom it flickers...

and the numbers 1521 jaoquin lane new york, new york 10042-1915 flash in decadent silver and the moment is in slow motion now as the card turns and elliott maxwell holds onto the silver, shining silver type bearing the secret information, the address of a new york building in new york and then the business card flies through the air to the window faster than a normal business card would and hits the window...

just then someone knocks at the front door, four times.

“i’ll be right there.” elliott maxwell said.

in that moment, elliott maxwell knows a lot...

and in that moment, elliott maxwell knows a lot about time travel and has seen objects become imbued with the fifth dimensional time travel energy that he travels through with his lucky gold time travel pocket watch.

and elliott maxwell knows that the wheeler society business card from the man in the nice black suit had to have been imbued with some kind of time travel energy... or resonant fifth dimensional energy because the man in the nice black suit is a time traveler...

and he was faster than elliott maxwell, whatever his name was...

the washing machine makes a bell sound, a ding, or a ring-ding, a bright one and elliott maxwell looks down at the tile floor and considers the washing machine and then looks at his watch on his right side wrist. 

the time reads twelve o’clock and one minute and three seconds now...

four seconds now...

five seconds now...

someone knocks at the door four more times...

elliott maxwell looks up from his watch and realizes that the wheeler society business card is on the tile floor under the window in his good bedroom and walks over in his nice black suit to pick up the wheeler society business card that has just... flown across the room after passing through the light of the good bedroom ceiling fan light bulbs... and walks over to the bedroom door to answer the front door, to see who is there...

someone knocks at the front door four more times, again. 

someone knocks at the front door four more times, again and louder this time.

“elliott!” a female voice said with a singing call, “elliott, i’m here to give you a gift elliott!” she sounds blonde and young. 

elliott maxwell knows the woman’s voice. it’s madeline bell, the pretty one from the music store in town. elliott maxwell has had his eye on a particular guitar for some time, a gibson l1 and...

someone knocks at the front door four more times...

“elliott!” madeline bell said with a singing call... 

“elliott maxwell!”

“i’m almost to the door, i’ll be right there.” elliott maxwell said as he walks towards the front door.

elliott maxwell undoes the locks on the front door and opens the front door.

the blonde madeline bell stands at the door with a gibson l1 with a sparkling, red bow on the gibson l1 and smiles and pushes the gibson l1 with the sparkling, red bow towards elliott maxwell.

elliott maxwell reaches out with his left arm this time...

normally elliott maxwell reaches out for things with his right arm, elliott maxwell is right handed, after all.

“thank you mrs. madeline bell.” elliott maxwell said to mrs. bell with cheer. 

“your welcome elliott.” mrs. madeline bell said to elliott maxwell with a smile. 

“you can come inside if you would like.” elliott maxwell said to mrs. madeline bell and mrs. madeline bell smiles and walks into the front guest area and sits down on a comfortable sofa in the living room area and then, “i’ll be just back. the soap here always smells so good, like a duck so i’m going to wash my hands in the bathroom.” mrs. madeline bell tells elliott maxwell.

“sure.” elliott maxwell said and went to fill up a glass of water for the young, pretty mrs. madeline bell.

in the bathroom, in the hall next to the library room, the bathroom smells like flowers, flowers and good soap. the kind of soap that smells like ducks. the kind of soap that smells like ducks smells like the most wonderful kind of duck smell, and most exactly like the saliva produced from the tongue of a duck. the smell is wonderful, it smells like flowers and more gentle and causes comfort by the smell... most wonderful, most wonderful. and mrs. madeline bell is washing her hands in the bathroom with the good smelling soap. it’s as if the soap smells like fish, like the sort of fish that smell like soap or if you’ve ever seen the sort of nautical aesthetic around the sea fairing kind. and anyways, mrs. madeline bell is washing her hands in the bathroom with the most wonderful smelling soap and she thinks of elliott maxwell and feels glad that she has gifted elliott maxwell with the new guitar from her music store that she has noted him noticing for the last few days. mrs. madeline bell washes off the last amount of soap from her hands as the cool water runs onto her hands and she smiles. the cool water feels good in the nice bathroom with a soft red chair and good yellow flowers on the wallpaper border. mrs. madeline bell smiles again in the bathroom and notices the time. it is twelve o’clock and mrs. madeline bell has to think of an excuse as to why she is giving elliott maxwell a guitar so late in the evening, midnight to be exact. 

she thinks quickly.

she realizes that she could have been at the music store cleaning up and arranging items in the store and she had to move the gibson l1 to the stock room and she remembered that the good boy elliott maxwell had been in looking at the gibson l1 a few times and she figured it would be good to give a gift to the talented piano player who said he was all self-taught and had played, played most wonderfully. 

mrs. madeline bell walks down the hall back to the front guest living room and finds elliott maxwell drinking a glass of water and listening to a record quietly by the artist berryman and the champions, soft modern music with the lovely singing. elliott maxwell, seventeen years old, looks over to twenty one year old mrs. madeline bell with beautiful blonde hair and gorgeous green eyes with yellow in the flower petals and with orange and red in the flower petals, most wonderful green eyes, green eyes like green apples fresh on the spring-time tree and rich emeralds... rich emeralds, rich emeralds he sees, elliott maxwell sees rich emeralds in her eyes. her eyes are rich emeralds, beautiful and green. 

mrs. madeline bell goes to sit down on the comfortable plush velvet yellow couch in the front guest living room part of the house room and looks into elliott maxwell’s eyes and tells elliott maxwell, “you know, i’m twenty one and i can drink alcohol now.” and elliott maxwell says, “that’s good. i’m eighteen and my father said i can drink any alcohol i want, whenever i want since i turned twelve and he said that’s good luck to drink alcohol when you’re twelve because eleazar maxwell, my great-great grandfather is named eleazar maxwell ... eleazar maxwell drank some alcohol when he was twelve and so everyone in the family is allowed to drink alcohol when they turn twelve.” mrs. madeline bell is looking at elliott maxwell with her lips pursed with open, kind of up and out, or like a flower, with curiosity and interest. “and we can drink alcohol right now. i have some moscato i was going to drink anyways and i was also going to have some bread from a baguette in the pantry and also a block of some cheddar cheese... from the refrigerator...” elliott maxwell says to mrs. madeline bell. “i was going to enjoy a french style evening while i tried to figure out exactly where a certain address was located in new york. i was going to go to new york then and... pursue an interest of mine.” mrs. madeline bell looks more intently at elliott maxwell and puts her hand on his hand and says, “do tell me what the interest is of...” and elliott maxwell says, “the interest is concerning something of quite a mystery to me but i will tell you because...” and elliott maxwell looks at mrs. madeline bell and says, “...because i feel like i can trust you and we’re about to drink some good alcohol and have a french evening in my fathers house in the front guest living room on this soft, velvet yellow couch with soft, velvet green arm rest pillows and i assume we might fall asleep here on this couch because you’re attractive and i’m attractive and i am a wealthy person here and also, i’m a genius and if i’m correct then my confidence will have taken me to the places i am to be... if that makes sense.” mrs. madeline bell clutches elliott maxwell’s hand gently and says to him, “you know, i’m twenty one and you are seventeen elliott, but i think understand what you’re saying. you’re saying there is some nice alcohol in the kitchen for us, for you for us, and... and i would like some alcohol.” elliott maxwell says, “i’m rich mrs. bell. let’s go have us some alcohol and some nice food.” mrs. madeline bell smiles and says, “okay, let’s drink some alcohol.” and the two paramour get up from the soft velvet yellow couch and walk to the kitchen to get some moscato and glasses for the moscato and plates and silverware for the block of cheese and napkins for the bread crumbs from the bread so the breadcrumbs won’t get on the couch too much because they’re drinking alcohol and... and the breadcrumbs should stay on the plates and the napkins...

“her eyes are very beautiful, like emeralds... like emeralds.” elliott maxwell thinks in the kitchen as the two paramour... happen upon the moscato in the pantry...

...the napkins are for the bread...

paper napkins.

a few of them, paper napkins.

and the block of cheddar cheese can go on the napkins also, or the plates, or whatever... there’s alcohol. it’s a french evening.

the time is now twelve o’clock and twenty four minutes and forty four seconds.

in the library room there is a book entitled, “the green flower encyclopedia of love” the forty fourth edition by rachael mary and the book has four hundred and forty four pages in it and it’s on the fourth shelf and it has four corners. all books have four corners but the number four is here a lot... a lot a lot. 

the book is all about flowers and filled with love poetry. 

really good love poetry, it’s prose. wow.

the two paramour drank and talked a lot, mostly about philosophy and each other and asked each other lots of personal questions to get to know each other and drank the good moscato wine from the pantry and had a good time and talked until and into the fourth hour of the french evening and then mrs. madeline bell fell asleep on elliott maxwell’s shoulder as they talked and then elliott maxwell woke up mrs. madeline bell from his shoulder and told her, “let’s lay down on this soft, velvet yellow couch with soft, velvet green arm rest pillows and we’ll dream good dreams.” and so then, the two paramour fell asleep on the soft, velvet yellow couch with soft, velvet green arm rest pillows laying down and dreamed good dreams. 

on the floor, under the soft, velvet yellow couch with the soft, velvet green arm rest pillows is the receipt with the address

1521 jaoquin lane new york, new york 10042-1915

scribbled on it with a smooth black ink pen, the sort that doctors use.

the note was there all night, ever since elliott maxwell wrote it down on a receipt that he got from the bank that he stole all that ten thousand dollars from. he took the receipt because it was stylish and cool to print a receipt for all the money he stole since he knew he was going to get away with it because he has a lucky time travel gold pocket watch from the old man john wheeler.

seven hours pass and the twelfth hour of the day is on. the sunlight shines from outside and through the front guest living room window onto the tile floor in the front guest living room.

it’s the morning and elliott maxwell is waking up. it is twelve o’clock in the morning and the sun is shining in through the front guest living room window. the air is crisp and clean and the atmosphere is flat there. 

mrs. madeline bell is laying on top of elliott maxwell and her head is resting on his chest, she dreams she is married with elliott maxwell and they are living a most wonderful life in the year nineteen nineteen when elliott maxwell is available to marry after having cleared his schedule for the autumn months.

elliott maxwell taps mrs. madeline bell’s shoulder with his index finger for her to wake up and she wakes from her dreaming slumber and smiles that she on top of elliott maxwell in elliott maxwell’s mansion. mrs. madeline finds her way to standing on the tile floor of the front guest living room area from elliott maxwell who is laying on the soft, velvet yellow couch and stands up to tell elliott maxwell, “i’m ready for breakfast and i can help with breakfast unless you are ready to make all the breakfast for the both of us.” and elliott maxwell says, “i can make the breakfast for the both of us.” and mrs. madeline bell says, “we can both make the breakfast this good morning.” and the two paramour in the lovely morning smile at each other. the two paramour in the lovely morning make breakfast. eggs and bacon and toast and orange juice and oranges and pears and bananas and peaches and apples and coconuts and pineapples and even some strawberries and blueberries and, and even some delectable flowers from the yard that florence maxwell has brought in since she’s been gardening since ten o’clock this morning and the maxwell family eats flowers. 

the two paramour are enjoying breakfast at twelve o’clock since the first meal of the day is breakfast even if the hour is past seven o’clock or eight o’clock and especially if the meal food entrees are breakfast food like eggs and toast and orange juice and an assortment of fruits and even a few delectable flowers from the yard that florence maxwell has brought in, from earlier this morning... around breakfast time, or after or whatever...

elliott maxwell is making a call to book a ticket for a train to new york, new york for four o’clock and talks on the telephone for a few minutes and asks mrs. madeline bell, “would you like to attend me on my journey to new york, new york so that i can figure out the meaning of this business card?” and elliott maxwell holds up the business card with the bicycle image on it, pressed with black ink and the faded, washed out type and mrs. madeline bell says, “sure, i would love to attend you on your journey to new york, new york so that we can figure out the meaning of this business card.” the time is takes for the train to get to new york, new york from seattle, washington is three days and eight hours. and so then elliott maxwell told the person on the telephone at the airport business, “so, then i would like to order two tickets on that train to new york, new york because i have a guest traveling with me, i mean, my associate, she’s, her name is madeline bell and we would like two tickets to the new york, new york at four o’clock.” and elliott maxwell took another drink from a bottle of moscato at the twelve o’clock in the morning. “first class.”

elliott maxwell hangs up the telephone after finishing the conversation with the train station employee.

elliott maxwell picks up the newspaper on the table and starts looking through the new york times newspaper and is looking for the fashion section of the new york times newspaper with all of the latest fashion trends...

“by the way, the reason i am traveling to new york, new york by airplane this afternoon is because i have a lucky gold time travel pocket watch and i intend on stealing a lot of money from a lot of banks and this business card with the bicycle image printed on it will lead me, i think, to some powerful people who might have a considerable amount of wealth...” 

elliott maxwell thinks back to when the man in the nice black suit on the long road from that town he stole the ten thousand dollars from a bank from put the ten thousand dollars back under his left arm and thinks, “why did i mention the possible amount of wealth?” and then mrs. madeline bell says, “... and then?” while elliott maxwell looks through the fashion section of the new york times newspaper.

“uh, ...” elliott maxwell moves the new york times newspaper to the left and bends the newspaper inwards from the top right-side corner, his right-side, her left-side... he’s reading the new york times newspaper so it’s the right side, since he’s reading the new york times newspaper, and looks at mrs. madeline bell in the eyes and says,

“and i think they wanted me to find their building. it appears to be a nice hotel and when i called the number on the business card on the telephone there was a dial-tone but it just kept ringing which leads me to believe that there is electricity there, or that at least someone is paying the electric bill there but when i called the new york city business council they said there was no such address that existed, even the zip code doesn’t exist in their registry.”

“what’s the zipcode?” mrs. madeline bell asked.

“10042-1915″

“oh,...” mrs. madeline bell said.

(that was the fourth chapter)

hours pass and elliott maxwell and mrs. madeline bell are on the airplane on their way to new york, new york in the first class section with fine drinks and cigarettes and it is four in the afternoon. 

the two paramour, elliott maxwell and mrs. madeline bell, are sitting across from each other having conversations about visiting art museums, the ones on parlor boulevard and taking walks about the arts district, and visiting james maxwell, elliott maxwell’s brother who has been taking six-week vacations to new york since nineteen-fourteen for and quote, “personal studies with a french architect who knows how to edit professional films and has made plans to assist wesley maxwell with films in the near future”, unquote. and elliott maxwell had considered making plans to see james maxwell for the last three weeks ever since james maxwell boarded a train to go to new york, new york three weeks ago and told elliott maxwell, “i am going to take more french lessons with adalene legrand. me and adalene legrand are in love. i wish you the best.” 

the maxwell brothers have tended to like teachers over the years and because the maxwell family is rich the maxwell brothers have purchased a decent amount of private tutoring time with their favorite teachers. they learned a lot. it was a good time.

on the train, on the train... elliott maxwell and mrs. madeline bell are on the train to new york and elliott maxwell has decided to meditate on the seat of the passenger car crossed legged with his right leg under the left leg and his right hand, karate chop style, placed in front of his forehead to meditate on his third eye. the seats on the train are comfortable and blue and have golden designs on the soft fabric, they’re like flowers and with the typical, common dancing pedicels all over, all over the nice blue fabric. 

there is one bed and then a sliding door which leads to a living room type room with one nice blue couch, and two places to sit. one is a blue chair. 

there is another sliding door and then past that is a room with one long blue couch and a long flat, cherry oak wooden table with a slick finish on it and then there is large, thick glass window the size of an entire wall which one can look on the horizon from.

the train is a locomotive. the train is the steam engine locomotive.

for three days the paramour talk and chat and enjoy the train ride all the way from seattle, washington to new york, new york and the two paramour arrive in new york, new york at midnight exactly. one puff of smoke happened there out of the chimney, the... the smokestack. one puff, or a lot, maybe it was a lot of smoke and it billowed out at midnight and perhaps it was so much that someone mistakenly identified the smoke for rain clouds and hurried to purchase a yellow rain coat and anyways, the two paramour are walking to the building on jaoquin lane in new york, new york and it’s dark outside and the moon is out, a glowing yellow one like a big wheel of cheese only, still real, and there are clouds out and the streets of the new york are empty on the planet earth. 

a yellow taxi cab drives by. you can see the puddle of rain water splash there on the street.

“we’re here. this is address.” elliott maxwell looks down at his worn out business card with a black bicycle printed on it in black ink and the faded type and elliott maxwell reads out loud, “1521 jaoquin lane new york, new york 10042-1915.″ “how can you read that? it’s all washed out, there’s dirt here.” mrs. madeline bell said and rubbed the business card where the dirt is and the where the address had once been printed. “i threw this business card in my room across the room and through the light coming from the ceiling fan and then i felt as if time slowed down and i saw the address printed with silver, shining silver letters and then the business card threw itself into the window in my bedroom and then the business card fell to the floor. that’s how i know the address to this building. it looks like it’s abandoned.” 

elliott maxwell and mrs. madeline bell hold hands and look at the black building on jaoquin lane in new york, new york.

elliott maxwell lights one cigarette and gives one cigarette to mrs. madeline bell and says,

“let’s go inside. i’m sure someone will talk to us about whatever all of this is about. i have ten thousand dollars to give them for the secret if it means anything to them and if i have to, i’ll pause time with this lucky gold time travel pocket watch and steal the secrets from right under their noses, for free.” 

and then elliott maxwell and mrs. madeline bell walk up to the front door of the building at fifteen twenty-one jaoquin lane in new york, new york one hundred forty-two nineteen fifteen and elliott maxwell knocks on the door three times with his hand in a fist and his palm facing the door. the door is painted black and there is a gold door knob and there sounds like there is the shuffling of feet on the other side and the organizing of papers and maybe there are other people on the other side of the black door with the gold door knob. 

elliott maxwell waits four seconds and then presses on the black door with the gold door knob with his right shoulder...

the door pushes open.

“hey,” the two paramour look at each other with smiling and cheer and elliott maxwell continues to say, “the door is open.” and turns to look from mrs. madeline bells emerald eyes to see an empty building. there is no one inside. only newspapers littered around and some of the windows are smashed and there is a single telephone with the box opened up revealing metal components and copper wires, all tangled up with each other and some of them are disconnected, on the wall about three hundred meters into the black building at midnight, emitting sparks frequently. now it is twelve o’clock and thirty minutes, inside of an empty black building in new york, new york on joaquin lane. 

elliott maxwell can see the telephone on the wall by the moonlight coming in from the broken windows and the light from the ghosts of businessmen and feels compelled to repair the telephone on the wall and elliott maxwell repairs the telephone in three minutes and calls the number on the wheeler society business card by spinning the call wheel, like this, to the right, clock-wise, one and then one and then two and then... 

“you know, i was thinking, maybe all those ghosts were really just the  ehloyvaiyvelerarerarerarer.” 

“the what?” mrs. madeline bell asked elliott maxwell.

“the holy ghost mrs. madeline bell.” elliott maxwell said.

three and then seven and then one and, and the call wheel clicks and rings, then two and then zero and then eight and then zero and the telephone only puts out static, silence, nothing and in the static elliott maxwell can hear a dial tone and then the dial tone grows and breaks through the reality like a dream, like a telephone conversation is breaking through crumpled paper, trash, newspaper trash and the ghosts of the past or the ghosts of the future or ghosts or whatever and the lights inside of the black building on joaquin lane in new york, new york flicker on and off and then... someone answers the telephone. 

“good day elliott maxwell... this is, the wheeler society. my name is benjamin alexander. i am a spy.” elliott maxwell takes a drag of his cigarette. “we are interested in working with you. if you would like to find out who we are and what we do, click that gold pocket watch and press the telephone into(s) the wall.” the telephone goes cold and there is only white noise, white noise and dry static. 

benjamin alexander does some cocaine from a newspaper on a desk with a one hundred dollar bill, on the other side of the wall, invisible to elliott maxwell, and smokes a cigarette and takes a drink of milk from on the desk resting in front of the automatic picture analytics processor machine which blinks information on a screen and prints reports that indicate that elliott maxwell is about to press the telephone into the wall. the clock on the wall lets out a bell sound three times and then the wheeler society members in the room on the other side of the wall are in transcendental time and are ready to receive elliott maxwell and his guest, mrs. madeline bell.

elliott maxwell stands up to hold mrs. madeline bell’s hand and while walking a few feet over to her pulls the lucky gold time travel pocket watch from the inside jacket pocket of his black suit jacket and pulls the notch and grabs mrs. madeline bell’s hand and then presses the notch. elliott maxwell and mrs. madeline bell are now in transcendental time and still holding each other’s hands, the two paramour walk to the wall with the sparking telephone and elliott maxwell presses the telephone into the wall and the telephone machine goes into the wall three inches and then the wall begins to turn to the left and another room is seen here, there are lights on and the sound of business activities with machines printing and cigarette smoke and people on telephones and the two paramour walk into the office on the other side of the telephone machine wall. 

and the smell of cigarettes and flowery perfume dressed the air in that room, on the planet earth, in new york, new york, in... inside of a building that... inside of a building that...

some rain pours outside, the lights of a lamp light on the street shine on the drops... and someone fluffs some pillows in their house...

inside of a building that appears to have no record... 

in any database...

in the world...

dream sounds on the scenery there, the theater of life... a golden apple levitates...

elliott maxwell and mrs. madeline bell walk into the office building filled with twenty four people who are dressed in casual business attire and there are people walking around with files in their hands in a room filled with smoke and flowery perfume and the two paramour look at the busy room for seven seconds and then the man who, the man in the nice black business suit who had approached elliott maxwell on the road and had appeared in many a psychedelic form and all around him and so fast about the picture-esque scenary and who had given him back his gold time travel pocket watch and who had put back the ten thousand dollars in his black suit case and placed a business card in his hand and then disappeared on the road and the man in the black business suit greets elliott maxwell for the first time and says, “welcome to the wheeler society elliott maxwell, my name is jon york. i am a spy for the american government. i am a federal agent in the central intelligence agency. the wheeler society is beyond the government, beyond the c.i.a. and is totally private, privatrau, the wheeler society is an independent social company. we’re going to need to do a polygraph test now, it’s only three questions so you’ll be okay and i know you stole that ten thousand dollars from that bank when i met you on that road back there but i don’t care, we all...” jon york looks around the office and other wheeler society members look at him, “we all steal here. we steal the gold of the whole world and we are the shadow pushers of the american government. we are the whole world.”

jon york puts his hand on elliott maxwell’s shoulder and says, “elliott maxwell, meet aaden lucksee.” and turns to aaden lucksee and says, “aaden lucksee” and motions to elliott maxwell, “meet elliott maxwell.” elliott maxwell and aaden lucksee shake each others hands and jon york says, “aaden lucksee will show you to your room. this place is also like a hotel for us and you have a home here with us. when i was on that road with you there in washington, i saw your heart. you were stealing money and you weren’t violent. your gun had all the bullets in it and you seemed like the buddhist i know you are. i know you’re a buddhist. i read the machination data collection report. you’re good with us.”

elliott maxwell and madeline bell were shown to their fancy, luxury hotel room and aaden lucksee gave elliott maxwell ten thousand dollars and a black gun and said, “that’s for your safety on the island. everyone who gets to this point gets one.” and “if you need anything just call this number, it actually works anywhere, like normal, i mean like in the real world, normal life. the number is three one seven four two four five three and five four. just call and ask for octavio, or anyone. just tell the operator on the telephone what you need and they will take care of everything for you.” and then elliott maxwell and mrs. madeline bell slept in the luxury hotel room all night and were woken up at seven o’clock in the morning by aaden lucksee and they were told they could eat their breakfast in the hotel room if they wanted or they could eat in the cafeteria with the other members of the wheeler society.

“we’re members of the wheeler society now?” mrs. madeline bell asked aaden lucksee.

“well i suppose you might as well be, you look the part and... and i hope you become official members of the wheeler society, uhm, officially.” aaden lucksee said and pointed his index finger upwards into the air with joyful optimism.

“why, thanks aaden, what is it like to be a time traveler?” mrs. madeline bell asked aaden lucksee. 

“good, i steal gold from the past all the time and i get richer everyday and i have the greatest time with all of my colleagues working towards the same goal and we’re all safe because felix maxwell set up the whole, ‘the american government steals all the gold in the world with time travel machinations like bandits’ with the american government in eighteen thirty one, you’ll find out about that. it’s in the training manual you’ll get and especially since elliott maxwell is a maxwell. do you know felix maxwell, elliott maxwell?”

“felix maxwell? yes. he’s my father, wesley maxwell’s brother. felix maxwell is a federal agent and a book writer. i always wanted to write books like felix maxwell has, the books he writes are wonderful. wonderful and good.” elliott maxwell said to aaden lucksee as he nibbled at the cilantro on his plate, minimally and laid back on the fancy hotel bed and then started on the eggs as he smoked a cigarette. 

“yes they are good. the books are interesting and really come to life, the best. just the best.” aaden lucksee said to elliott maxwell. 

“what time is the whole evaluation process at?” elliott maxwell asked aaden lucksee.

aaden lucksee looks far off and says, with a monotone stare, 

“twelve o’clock and thirty minutes. exactly. by the way, we are in the transcendental time now and only a few seconds have passed in the outside world. if you were to look outside of your window you would see the moon still shining and the black of the night on the new york city buildings and motor-cars and yellow taxis and people on bicycles, all still and totally paused to us while we still have the ability to move around normally and do whatever we want in the real world.”

“so, twelve o’clock it is and then...” and elliott maxwell flips an green olive with the red pimento in the center of the green olive into his mouth on the comfortable hotel bed.

the company continue their conversation and then aaden lucksee left the two paramour to their comfortable hotel room and the two paramour fall asleep and are dreaming of being in love and dreaming dreams together, romantic dreams with the frills and fancy of luxury all about the dream, like ribbons, like ribbons and banners of gold, like flowers, much so like greek styles, the greek styles resembling strength and passion and gentle care.

(the breakfast and then activities during the day) 

it’s midnight on wednesday, august eighth in the year nineteen eighteen.

elliott maxwell and mrs. madeline bell are standing in the office of oceanne alice donnadieu.

“this watch is for you. it’s a gold time travel pocket watch.” oceanne alive donnadieu said to mrs. madeline bell and gave her a gold time travel pocket watch, identical to the one elliott maxwell has.

mrs. madeline bell smiles and says, “thank you.”

“press the notch to the right of the clock on the pocket watch.” mrs. madeline bell looks down at the gold time travel pocket watch and then looks back up at mrs. madeline bell and then back down at the gold time travel pocket watch and presses the notch to the right of the clock on the pocket watch. time stops.

mrs. madeline bell looks around the room on wednesday, august eighth at twelve o’clock, the midnight hour, and all of everyone in the room is totally still, and… mrs. madeline bell is in the transcendental time beyond the transcendental time since everyone was already in transcendental time in the whole wheeler society office.

mrs. madeline bell notices some flowers outside of the office window that are falling off the tree. yellow flowers. beautiful yellow flowers falling, totally paused in time, staying there in mid-air in the moonlight of the black midnight hour. mrs. madeline bell looks around the room and everyone is still paused and for the first time in her life she realizes that she is someone great, someone who now has the power of time travel and can be in a world where everyone is paused in time, or where she is beyond, beyond the natural time, where she is in transcendental time. mrs. madeline bell is in the transcendental time beyond the transcendental time. mrs. madeline bell is now a great, great person.

mrs. madeline bell pulls the notch on the gold time travel pocket watch and then presses the notch on the gold time travel pocket watch.

“well, press it. did you press it just now when i had said that, when i told you to press the notch to the right of the clock on the pocket watch? did time stop?” oceanne alice donnadieu takes a pause and puts her pencil with a soft, bouncy eraser to her lip and looks up to the right side corner of her right eye. “did it appear as if time stopped?”

“yes, why yes it did appear as time stopped. time was stopped. i was in the transcendental time all by myself while you, elliott maxwell and jon york were all paused in the office and i turned to the window to watch the yellow flowers fall from the tree outside, just right outside.” mrs. madeline bell said to oceanne alice donnadieu.

“those flowers do fall from the tree from time to time. congratulations, you were just in the transcendental time beyond the transcendental time on this midnight hour on wednesday, august eighth nineteen eighteen.”

(in the original version the events occurred in the year nineteen seventeen and the date of the year has been changed to cushion the dream of the events and the whole reason why makes more sense when one knows why the date of the year has been changed to cushion the dream of the events in the story because, well, it makes sense to know things that one knows.)

teleportation to the tele’varillion islands...

arriving to the island, the beach, fancy hotel part, machination wall, maps wall

inside of an office hall, the calling the t.v. person reading all the notes, person saying “larelleon” person reading the sand, weighing 100lb of gold to a feather within the presence of the grandfather, eleazer maxwell, if the feather weighs the same, then it’s all “congratulations, you’re a maxwell!” with a woman the feather levitates. hooked up to ekd, polygraph, telephones, television, gps, and lights, stereos and headphones.

1123712080

kether

animal crackers and rain forest shirt 

  the next part is on the airplane and then the new york part with the wheeler society and then the time travel adventure and then the relaxing home part.

sure, wesley maxwell owns the motion picture company.

put it in the book. 

  the evening goes well and the two drink moscato until they both fall asleep on the yellow velvet living room couch with the green velvet arm rest pillows, the one’s with soft, frilly fabric on the edges of the green velvet arm rest pillows... and with love...

... / ... and i’ve been having these dreams of a man dressed in a vacation flower shirt and a black suit jacket playing guitar on the plaza in some town in new mexico and he’s singing the most wonderful melodies about dreams and such and such the likes of, ... such beautiful melodies... 

progression, the book article sections get longer and longer until there is twenty pages of full normal book pages 

the gift from madeline bell (7)  and then going to new york and then meeting the wheeler society on the island and then one long time travel adventure and then one relaxing story at the house (just one more chapter... just one more chapter... just one more chapter)

silver last name

m / a-created 

maxwell

m>/a->x/well

puts him into a trance state

lays him flat on the ground to read his mind

and then the telepathic time traveler jon york rewinds the seconds and minutes on the pocket watch to twenty minutes and holds the pocket watch close to his teeth so he can stop the seconds exactly and press the pocket watch notch on time to resume the forwards motion of the time 

jon york 

more than one time travel watch

time travel bicycle

    a man that builds clocks and makes a lot of money selling clocks and then someone buys a clock one day and time travel acquires the time travel clock

the person who acquires the time travel clock can stop time, slow time and speed up time and travel to the future or to the past or to anywhere in time 

the time traveler starts to steal money from banks, just a little bit, a thousand dollars and then a lot, one million dollars!

the time traveler meets someone in a business suit who tells them about the eyes of time and that they have to respect time and then tells them they saw them taking the money from the banks and then they have a time travel chase around the town and then the business suit time traveler tells the time traveler that they have a special situation set up with the other original time travelers who stole all the money first and that’s how they knew who was doing what and then they offer to take them to their private island bank to give them some free money, real money and tells them that all the money used to be made of gold and then the original time travelers ran around and replaced all the gold there ever was with paper notes. what a trick. and now the time travelers have all the real money and everyone else has the pretend money and the time travelers put numbers on everything so they even know where are all their pretend money is since it’s real money now and it is real money since it’s pretend and it’s got the numbers so everyone wins because of the numbers and there’s lots and lots of money out there. 

the man who builds the clocks is apart of the time travelers secret society and made time travel clocks to find others to see who would be found by the spirit of time travel and most clock makers are, that’s why they’re all old. they’re just pretending but the spirit of time travel makes them want to pretend they’re old because of the whole father time myth and some story about all the time travelers being only one person and it took a long time to get all the money because there’s so much time but it doesn’t matter. there are lots of myths about time and time travel, mostly about getting stuff for free and how to do math with philosophy, the truth.

in order to get in you have to take a polygraph test. you get ten thousand dollars just for taking the polygraph test and if you pass then you can have one million dollars for free and join the secret time traveler society and start stealing all the money in the world today. there’s a whole schedule of machinations and it’s all the gold from ten thousand b.c. to now which in total is twelve thousand years and there’s some speculation that this all might be a dream, my dream or your dream, since the number twelve is involved.

there are twenty four members of the time travel secret society.

in any given century or country or whatever. 

Mr. Sterling offered the prestigious position to Elliott Maxwell because Elliott Maxwell made himself apart of a time travel machination the way he acquired the time travel clock, with pure luck and looking at the clock on the wall at a desk on the wheeler society island. 

The Wheeler Society.

the emblem looks like the figure on the back of bicycle playing cards. the time travelers eventually started time traveling on bicycles to travel easier, smoother and faster. 

the wheeler society was into magic, naturally because of their time travel power and they eventually each took one card as their own from an original tarot deck by some jewish mystic who was the first ever tarot card maker to make actual magic tarot decks that could control life.

synchronicity with the time numbers / numbers / letters and words

there are objects inside of the clocks like feathers or dirt or gold or sand 

a man that makes magic clocks and dreams of the waverly, the time travel orb clock and the waverly time travels. 

inside of a house

something strange happens, the clocks work so good

the clocks are so beautiful

the clocks have gold on them

time travel 

  twilight zone 

[psychosistr]

Sparks Fly- Part 1 (CaeJose Dancer! AU)

Part 4 of my CaesarxTrans!Joseph Dacer!AU (I honestly never thought I’d go this far with this little idea, but I can’t bring myself to stop now XD)

Summary: Joseph receives a gift from a secret admirer that may come in handy for her upcoming date with Caesar.

Joseph was relaxing on her couch, reading through the latest issue of one of her favorite detective comics when a familiar, sharp knock sounded at her door. She looked up from her comic with a mildly annoyed frown. “Always right at the good part…” She grumbled but rose to her feet, setting the comic aside on the coffee table for the time being. Joseph really wanted to keep reading, but had learned all too well what hell would await her if she took too long and heard a second knock. “I’m coming!” She called while walking to the door. Opening it without bothering to look through the peep hole, she saw the exact person she expected. “Hey, mom. What’s up?”

Her mother, as usual, invited herself into Joseph’s apartment. Joseph noticed that she was carrying a few envelopes as well as a rather large box. “I picked up your mail while I was downstairs. This one is yours.” Lisa Lisa said while setting the large box down on Joseph’s coffee table.

Joseph cringed slightly when the corner of the box crumpled the page of her comic book a little. “Thanks, mom…” She walked over after closing the door and rescued her poor comic from under the box before poking at it. “Well, at least it’s not ticking.” She commented before going to grab a knife from the kitchen.

“It didn’t feel heavy.” Lisa Lisa idly replied while sitting on Joseph’s couch and going through a few envelopes with her own name on them.

“Didn’t see a return address, so whoever sent it probably didn’t care about it getting lost in the mail. Maybe it’s some of uncle Speedwagon’s cartel friends trying to frame me for something.” Joseph joked as she returned with a small knife and made short work of the box’s tape before opening it. Pulling the flaps open, Joseph peered inside curiously. “…?” Her face lit up with bright, excited eyes and a huge smile. “OH MY GOD!!” She yelled loudly in her excitement, startling her mother slightly.

“What is it?” Lisa Lisa asked after grabbing the envelope she dropped during Joseph’s outburst.

Joseph reached inside and pulled out the contents with an excited grin stuck to her face. “It’s a dress!” She held it out for her mother to see, holding it against herself to get a better idea of how it looked.

The dress was truly stunning. It was a gorgeous mermaid-cut dress in a shade of rivulet green that complimented her eyes perfectly. It was made of satin with long lacy sleeves- the lace weaving together to form patterns of stars in varying sizes all the way from the wrists to the shoulders of the gown. At the shoulders, the lace then straightened into a fine mesh that turned into the illusion-cut neckline above the bust of the dress. The cut of the dress in general looked like it would be very snug, at least until it got to the legs where, for comfort and a bit of sex-appeal, there was a slit just off-center. The way the fabric wrapped and folded around the area would allow for a bit more movement, but also added to the overall look of the green gown by making the remaining fabric just below the knees billow outward in the classic mermaid-dress style. To top the whole thing off, there was a gorgeous design all along the front of the gown- a series of golden beads that spiraled together like a galaxy with its center being on the left hip of the dress and spreading outward along the front of the fabric in a dazzling display.

“My, my..” Lisa Lisa said while looking over the dress slowly from behind her usual sunglasses. “It’s lovely.”

“I know!” Joseph practically squealed while hugging the beautiful article of clothing to herself. “I’m gonna go try it on!” She announced while running back to her room to change. She didn’t even wait for a reply from her mom, she was just too excited! She quickly changed out of her shorts and tee-shirt and slipped into the gorgeous gown. Once she had it on and smoothed her hands down the sides to make sure it was wrinkle-free, she looked at herself from all angles using the full-body mirror in her walk-in closet. “Hey, mom, come check this out!”

She was practically bouncing with excitement! This was incredible! She wasn’t a “girly-girl”, by any means, but she loved to dress up every now and then and feel pretty- and this dress made her feel downright beautiful!

She heard the clicking of her mom’s heels and turned to face her when she entered. Lisa Lisa looked her over from head to toe with a small, caring smile. “It suits you, Jojo.”

Joseph grinned, practically beaming with pride as she turned back to look at herself in the mirror once more.

It really did suit her: The color, as she already suspected, complimented her eyes perfectly, almost matching them in shade. The gold of the beads combined with the green of the fabric made her think of her favorite green and yellow scarf. The dress was already perfectly fitted to her every curve and angle, showing her figure off in a very flattering way and even cupping her chest just right to be appealing without too coquettish. To top everything off, the dress was actually COMFORTABLE. Yeah, it was definitely satin for the main material, but it had to be mixed with something else because it stretched and moved so seamlessly and comfortably whenever she moved that there had to be some sort of elastic or nylon or something- especially along the arms and shoulders.

“Yeah,” She said with a smile while doing a quick twirl to see the fabric swish and flutter around her long legs. “It does!” She held one arm out and traced her fingers along the lace designs. “I wonder who sent it..”

“This may shed some light on the matter.” Lisa Lisa said while holding up a small white rectangle between two fingers.

Joseph turned to her again and took it with a curious expression. “A card?” She looked over the fancy script on the little card and read the words aloud. “A beautiful lady deserves an equally beautiful dress. May this help you shine ever brighter, Miss Joestar. –Forever Yours, CAZ”

Lisa Lisa’s lip quirked up slightly as she raised an eyebrow. “Your secret admirer again?”

“Yeah, looks like it.” Joseph said while turning the card around to make sure there was nothing written on the back. As usual, there was nothing else but the simple message.

Joseph was all too familiar with the style of writing and the pen name by now. For the past two years, ever since she was about sixteen, she would receive gifts like this: There would be bouquets of flowers sent to her dressing room after shows, many of them beautiful and quite expensive- she would often take her favorite flower from each bouquet, preserve it, and turn it into one of her hair clips. For her birthday and Christmas she would receive jewelry that was sized to fit her perfectly- the stones alternating between diamonds, emeralds, and her birthstone, sapphires. Each gift would be accompanied by a card with a sweet message but no return address- all signed CAZ.

At first she had been confused by the gifts. Receiving such lavish, expensive gifts from an anonymous stranger? Why would someone go to that much trouble and not even put their name? Was it technically creepy that someone sent her that stuff constantly? Her studio and home address were both public record, so it’s not like it was stalking or something (at least as far as she knew) and the gifts were nice.

Also, the cards he sent to her..well..they made her feel better.

Around the time she’d received her first bouquet from CAZ, she had publicly come out about herself. It was met with…mixed reviews, to put it extremely nicely. Her family already knew and each and every one of them accepted her. She told herself that was all that she needed, but dealing with the constant mocking, harsh insults, and disgusted stares whenever she went out in something that was more comfortable for her or when she performed her first few shows in the correct tights and leotards…it…it started to wear on her. Then, like a beacon of light in a dark tunnel, a bouquet of pink roses and lilies arrived at her dressing room one evening with a note that said “You are the beautiful star the stage deserves- let no one ever tell you otherwise, Miss Joestar. –Forever Yours, CAZ”

It was the first time someone outside of her family had referred to her correctly and it made her so happy that she broke down in tears. It was such a small thing, a card with some pretty flowers, but it meant the world to her at the time because it was just what she needed to hear. The knowledge that there were other people out there besides her family that would support her, even if it was only one other person at the time, gave Joseph the courage and strength she needed to get through that difficult time in her life.

In the end, she decided to just accept the gifts and wait to see if the guy sending them ever revealed himself. He hadn’t yet, so she was left to imagine what he was like. He had to be someone kind and thoughtful for constantly sending such expensive gifts, right? Whoever this CAZ was, she’d love to meet him in person one day and thank him for both his presents and his kind words.

Joseph felt her mother pinch at the fabric on her shoulder to inspect the dress herself. “Well, he certainly spent quite a bit of money on you this time- this looks like a custom order.” She looked up at Joseph over her sunglasses. “You know..this is actually quite sophisticated. If you wanted to wear this for special events, it would be perfect.”

The way she said that made Joseph flinch a little. Guess she was still a little sore about what happened to her suit before. It was expensive, after all…

“Ahaha, oh yeah? Wow, what a lucky break.” She gave a nervous laugh, shriveling slightly under her mother’s piercing gaze. Then, with a gasp, a thought occurred to her. “Oh my god!” She looked herself over in the mirror, her excited smile back again. “I can wear this on my date with Caesar!”

Her mind was already racing with thoughts of what jewelry to wear with it. Oh! Maybe those golden stud earrings with the emeralds! Yeah, those would be a good start. She could pair it with that nice cocktail ring that looked like an emerald flower with a diamond in the center. The sleeves were long enough that she wouldn’t really need any bracelets, but maybe she could wear one of her necklaces? Nothing that would hang too low, of course, what with the collar of the dress- oh! She had that black choker with the small rows of diamonds, that would look good if she paired it with some black stockings or shoes and-

“So, you have a date with Caesar? When were you going to tell me about this?” Her mother’s voice was like being stabbed in the back with an icicle, making her shudder a bit.

“Ummm…probably after it was over?” She answered with a nervous smile while looking at her mother’s reflection in the mirror. “It just kind of came up while he was here. Not like I meant to keep it a secret or anything, I just kind of…forgot to mention it?” She felt a little bad about that, but, like she said, she didn’t MEAN to forget..

“Hmh..” Lisa Lisa’s lack of a direct answer for an extended period of time made Joseph squirm uncomfortably with the weight of guilt that was being placed on her. After a minute, though, her mother sighed and patted her back with a calm smile. “It’s fine. You’re a grown up now, and are allowed to make your own decisions.” She smirked ever so slightly, her tone teasing. “Just remember not to put out on the first date- make him work for it.”

Joseph’s face turned red and she hid it in her hands with a groan. “Mooooooom! That’s just- augh, I can’t even-!” She groaned again and hid her face deeper into her palms. She could hear her mom chuckling smugly over the ringing in her own ears and, after a moment of breathing to calm herself, she looked back up at her a little bit, peeking between her fingers. “Hey..mom..?”

“Yes, Jojo?” She replied, still looking rather amused with herself.

“On Saturday..could you..y’know..help me with my hair and makeup? I wanna make a good impression and, well, you’ve seen what it looks like when I do it myself…” Joseph liked how she did her own makeup for shows, but she was aware that it was a bit over the top for every-day application.

Lisa Lisa gave Joseph’s back another comforting pat. “Of course, Jojo.”

Joseph managed to smile a little bit. “Thanks, mom.”

She still felt nervous about the date, but she was determined to make a good impression, no matter what- and this thoughtful gift from CAZ would certainly help!

<-Previous Story Next Part->

-From the Beginning-

[georgesmithddayear2infographics]

World Chocolate Day Infographic Process

25.10.18

This will probably be quite a long post, but I’ll do my best.

So, we had been given the mini-project of essentially creating an infographic on a particular area of chocolate in celebration of world chocolate day—the history of chocolate, for example. The post below this one contains my research on the history of chocolate in fact, though it has much more information, like the uses and effects of chocolate. Have a read through that if you want an insight into how chocolate came about. Anyway, long story short, I chose to do trivia for my infographic, since there was a lot of trivia I’d gathered, and I thought it would be fun to make certain graphics, like an Aztec or the money. 

Sketchbook Work

So below are two pages of my sketchbook which I designated to drawing out ideas which I thought would look good from the information which I collated. I’ll start with the Aztec in the top left—I thought it compulsory to make an Aztec warrior-looking guy, since chocolate was enjoyed by them back then. I looked at a couple different random references of Aztecs, and came up with the simple design that you see. I also drew a mug of hot chocolate next to him, since it was enjoyed as a “hot, frothy stimulative with restorative properties”. Next to that is another mug with a kind of spotlight shining on it—it’s supposed to look like some kind of heavenly ray, hence the clouds also. This was because it was the “food for the gods”. 

Below the top row of drawings, are a couple of Olmecs, the earliest known major civilization in Mexico following a progressive development in Soconusco. They are said to have produced chocolate in present-day Mexico as early as 1900 B.C., so I thought it necessary to celebrate them and make graphics of them. They were fun to draw—they have very defined facial features. I put a simplified version of the Mexican flag behind them too, and some cocoa beans in front of them, to make it look like they just discovered them. Also 1900 B.C. for measure. Below them is one I thought would be fun to digitise in Illustrator—the cocoa beans to currency. Yeah, they were used as currency back then. It’s just two stacks of coins and some dollar bills flying around. Next I drew a simple couple getting married, since you would use hot chocolate in ceremonies and such. There’s a little heart and a mug of chocolate above them too. Then at the bottom of the first page lay five flags of Europe, which says when chocolate reached each country, until it reached Britain. 

Onto the next page, I started by drawing a mug of chocolate (final mug of hot chocolate counter: 4) which looks pretty random since I forgot to annotate why it’s there, but it wasn’t really important anyway, since it was there to show how chocolate was used in Mexico, which was just as hot chocolate. Next to this is a Formula One car, which runs on chocolate, among other things, but I’m not very good at drawing cars, so it didn’t turn out very well. Then on the left again is one of my favorite drawings on these two pages—it’s a bottle of medicine with some cocoa beans and text that reads: TAKE TWO A DAY on the front. It was discovered that the Yucatan used medicine containing cocoa beans. Then finally on the right, there is a dismembered head—I mean happy face enjoying a bar of chocolate. Above are miniature dismembe—happy faces which are supposed to portray dopamine, which essentially makes you feel good. Oh, and to his left is a health cross underneath a no entry sign, which shows that chocolate isn’t good for your health. That’s everything for my sketchbook work, but I also wrote some notes on other aspects of my infographic, like what kind of palette I would use. I didn’t use one since I had way too many assets to stick to one palette of around 6 colours, so I thought I would just use colours corresponding to the respective asset. I will probably use my usual slightly desaturated colours overall. As for fonts and such, I will most likely use sans-serif fonts since it will fit better with a bouncy, colourful infographic. 

Anyway, to start with the process, I created that mug of hot chocolate that I was oh so excited to make (actually not sarcasm). It was fun to make, as was mostly everything else on my final infographic. It’s comprised of a couple main shapes, like rounded rectangles and a circle that I cut into with a smaller circle for the handle. I added a shine across the visible hot chocolate at the top and gave it a nice glow. I gave the mug a slight white to blue gradient and a drop shadow underneath the rim of the mug at the top, to give some more depth. That was it for the mug. Next it was time to create what I thought would probably be the most fun to make—the Aztec dude. It was indeed fun to make, and basically, I started by making a shape using the line tool for the head. I made his head quite toned and refined, he’s an Aztec warrior dude after all, I think he’s worthy of one. I gave it a slight gradient (I really like using subtle gradients) from red-brown to a more slightly desaturated brown. The facial features were fun to make—I mainly used the pen tool as well as some basic shapes that I warped to my liking. The crown(?) turned out good too and was fun to make, it’s just some rounded rectangles and some circles that look like bolts or something. Next I made the feathers which stick out from the crown(?). I made them red and green to keep it simple.

I’m kind of proud of this particular asset, so here is a bigger image of it: https://imgur.com/a/l5XgL0v

Next up I thought I would make the stone Olmec statue, which again was fun to make. It’s comprised of a bunch of (warped) shapes like rounded rectangles, again, and then lots of pen tool-created things, like the mouth and the laugh lines around his mouth. The shadow under the nose I thought was a nice touch, and also the shade under the helmet thingy. Alongside this, I made a golden ring using the ellipse tool and placed it around the mug of hot chocolate. I did this because I’d tried doing that heavenly light thing that I mentioned in my sketchbook work, but I couldn’t really get it to look good, so I did this much more subtle nod to the fact that hot chocolate was the “food for the gods”.

This next screenshot is a big update—So after I’d made the Olmec dude, I duplicated it and placed it next to him, like with what I did in my sketchbook, except they were both different. Anyway, I stayed faithful with the Mexican flag behind them—albeit, a bit of a simplified version of it. Then I went on to make the cocoa beans that would be placed in front of them to make it look like they stumbled upon them—discovering them if you will. The beans were fairly simple to make, I just made some ellipses and warped them a bit, and gave them a brown gradient. Next, I wanted to make the money, which I thought would be pretty fun to make, and it was, and the result was very good in my opinion. I had initially planned on doing just two stacks of coins, but after I created one, which I did so by making some rounded rectangles and then adding some lines on the sides to look like ridges. Then I duplicated it and accidentally placed it over the top of the original, and so I thought that it might look good if I did multiple stacks which made them look 3D. For the notes, I just made a rectangle and put some ellipses in and some random letters and numbers. Then I went to envelop distort under object and then I clicked on wave to make it look like it was waving.

Next, I moved onto the flags of Europe, these flags were to show what year chocolate reached that particular country. 1528 for Spain, 1606 for France, 1615 for Italy, 1646 for Germany, and finally 1650 for Britain. I made the Spanish flag much more simplified than it actually is since it would take a long time to get it to match with the actual Spanish flag, so I decided to just make a kind of shield shape and put a white square in the top right of it since those were the main details. The rest of the flags were just comprised of rectangles, though the Union Jack was kind of tedious to make since I had to make different sizes of rectangles and put them in the correct places. Either way, this was probably the most tedious part about making the graphics, but at least I’m satisfied with how they turned out.

Now I had to make the two people getting married with the mug of chocolate and the heart above them, to show that it was used in ceremonies like weddings. The two people were fairly easy to make, using ellipses for heads and rounded rectangles for torsos. For the bride’s head, I put a put a transparent sheet over her head since that’s what they tend to wear. The man is in a simple suit and tie. I gave him some hair using the pen tool. After this, I decided to make the bottle of chocolate medicine, which I made using the rectangle tool for the bottle and then the pen tool for the top and the rounded rectangle tool once again for the cap. I duplicated the shape and put it inside the original and coloured it a dark brown and made a shine on the left side by cutting into the shape using the pen tool. I also added the label which I drew in my sketchbook that says “TAKE TWO A DAY” and some cocoa beans at the top.

Lastly, for the assets, it was time to make the happy face who’s eating a bar of chocolate. It was fairly easy to create since I’ve made a similar thing in another class recently, that and it’s just a simple face. I chose a nice yellow with an orange stroke and used the ellipse tool for the head as well as another shape to cut into an ellipse to make it into a semicircle (for the mouth and eyes). The hand was also easy to make, it’s just a rounded rectangle with some pen strokes to look like fingers. Again, the chocolate bar was simple—it is just a rectangle with some squares inside using the pen tool and the same gradient that I used for the cocoa beans and the medicine bottle. Finally, (for now) I made the health cross and the no entry sign to show that it’s not good for health. Both easy to make—just using basic tools and methods.

So, after finishing the assets (for now) I moved onto the layout, which I had a couple of ideas of what I would do. So what I did was make some squares and gave them some depth by making them look like they were sticking out. The whole background would be a faded chocolate bar, faded so it wouldn’t take away from the assets that I’d made. I think I pulled it fairly well in my opinion. For the title, I thought I would keep it simple by just calling it “World Chocolate Day” in some very appealing browns might I add. I chose an easy-to-read font that is quite blocky. Moving on, I made these card things which would have my assets on along with some trivia relating to the image. I think they look quite appealing—the brown with spots and the cream-coloured border, they look like some kind of chocolate snack. I decided to put the Aztec underneath the border, so I cut into him. Then I put the hot chocolate mug with the golden ring under the text, and lowered the opacity. For the text, I made it white and in a font that is clearly legible. Underneath this is the one containing the flags, which I resized as I thought they were the most flexible assets on here, and it wouldn’t matter if I’d made them even smaller than they are now. I made the dates underneath also clear to read, going from white to yellow on the end where Britain is, to show that’s where it ends, though this might be a bit misleading.

Next up I duplicated the border from the first card and put it beneath the Olmec and the Mexican flag and the cocoa beans. Instead of putting the box around all of the things (namely the cocoa beans) I only put it around the Olmec and the flag as there’d be too much empty space if I did put it around the beans. Next to this is the box containing the cocoa beans to currency, which I think looks quite good—I made the money and cocoa beans stick out of the box (which is the original box with inverted colours). II changed the arrow which I made earlier because it looked really obnoxious and ugly in contrast with the nice browns which I’d picked out. Also I made it go down and right, instead of it just going straight right. Finally for this update, I just moved some of the remaining assets around until I found a place which I thought they would fit.

So I did move the assets around some more, and added some boxes behind them when I was happy with their positions. The wedding ceremony asset I am particularly pleased with, since it looks really nice with the box that I chose to put around it, and I like how I separated the text from the top. I also did this with the box in the bottom right which I recently added. Anyways, that box contains the medicine aspect of the graphic—I thought it was too plain with just the medicine bottle on its own, which I realised when I had placed the text—so I thought I would make other things relating to medicine, and so I made a syringe, as well as some small pills. To the left of this box is the health and effects of chocolate trivia, with the happy face and dopamine emanating from it, as well as the health cross which I put across from the happy face. I thought the best thing to do here would be to put the text between the two assets. With that, my graphic was pretty much complete, with some minor tweaks.

Final World Chocolate Day Infographic

Imgur link (clearer)

[insomniac-arrest]

The Omnipotence Theorem: Chapter Two

words: 2k

genre: cold war, sci-fi, wlw original

summary: a group of scientists tries to unlock the secrets of telepathy as cold war pressures mount and a fever rises in the belly of the Pentagon

Chapter One X

Ao3 – Wordpress

Chapter Two

“Red,” she blinks, “blue.” She takes a breath, “green.” The lights flash behind her eyes, “red, again.” A doctor was frowning at her through his mask and it’s all Cindy can do to keep her eyes straight ahead. A crown of wires whizzed around her head and she feels more like a rat running through an electro-shock maze than a team player.

She blinks her eyes and feels a pulse in her temple, the wires sent a little spark of electricity through her. She doesn’t flinch, Cindy holds herself still.

Two steady blue eyes stare back at her. “Green.” She says softly and the scientist next to her keeps scribbling things down.

Cindy imagines the notes on his pad absently: ‘candidate 5- sleep deprived?’ ‘Has not guessed a single color right,’ ‘forgot to brush my teeth this morning,’ ‘look at the cans on candidate 4.’

‘Still haven’t brushed my teeth.’

Perhaps she should be more charitable with him, she barely remembered his name after all. But he was breathing on her and he, nor anyone else, had asked her if she needed to pee in the last four hours.

And for the record, to hopefully be documented, preserved and studied with the rest of the paperwork. Cindy really really needed to pee.

“Blue.” The woman across from her forms the words with a soft curve to her mouth, like she was kissing a cloud with her palette. Cindy looks down at her lap.

The doctor on the other side of the room clears his throat, Cindy forces herself to look back up and look at candidate five in the face. Louise gives her a curious look but pronounces the word ‘yellow’ like she was going to take it out to lunch.

Cindy takes a deep breath and tries to be more charitable again, Louise was from Minnesota, things were different there.

She thinks about the wonders of what must be Minnesota as she looks the other woman in the eye and little buzzes go through her forehead. Connecting the left and right brain synapses, stimulating the cerebellum.

Activating neurotransmitters between two totally different individuals.

“Red.”

She hears a deep sigh behind her and Cindy feels the buzz of the machine, a wall of wires and transmitters and entire processing system, power down. The fritzing, whirring sounds slowly tapers off as Cindy exhales.

The little electric pulse in between her ears stops and she takes that as a sign to pull out the pads on her temples.

“Let’s break for lunch ladies,” the doctor says behind her and Cindy takes the opportunity to not look any one in the eye again. It was the little pleasures.

She stretches and flattens out her skirt as she plans to go dart to the restroom as fast she can.

“Be back by half past one.” The doctors weren’t looking at her, but stood in her way as they reminded her of their Very Important Work. “I know sir,” she nods at the man she wished at least try out a toothpick or flossing one of these days.

She passes the next military scientist and hopes Doug was bumbling about somewhere, Doug always let her pour over the numbers once she was free and walking around again.

Cindy darts over the woman’s restroom (newly installed) as she hears a pair of footsteps trailing her, she looks over her shoulder to nod at Louise.

“Be right back,” she says with a wave.

“I’ll save you spot in the cafeteria.” The woman must have an iron bladder, Cindy shakes her head as she watches the other participant retreat. Cindy ducks into the small sterile gray restroom, there were still urinals in the corner from before the room had been ‘repurposed.’

She sighs heavily in relief and tries not to touch the bruised areas around her forehead before she’s done.

“Red, yellow, blue, green,” she snorts and picks at her nails, looking at the walls as she finishes.

The underground military facility felt and tasted like a knock-off brand of seltzer water, sparkling and vaguely unpleasant. The ruling design theory was functional and grey, grey like the inside of a dying man’s mouth, grey like storm clouds that make your chest rumble. Grey.

It was being sucked into an entirely different world, and needing to pee most of the time you were there.

Cindy washed her hands and was pleasantly surprised by the pinkness of the soap, it was the little thing.

She takes a deep breath and spends some time fixing her hair, she wasn’t sure she was going to miss the sun or personal space. But it turns out some part of her was attached to both those things.

She relishes her time alone in the restroom before one of the cleaners steps in and they nod at each other before Cindy heads out.

“Red,” her heels click on the cool floors like a bad joke, “green.” She passes several brass with papers and whispers between them, there were other experiments going on in this same facility. They were just the only ones trying to unlock the powers of bad hotline psychics.

Cindy was so close to rolling her eyes into a coma as she thinks about it. She concentrates on the smell of stew and white bread as she enters a bustling cafeteria, a small Asian woman waves at her from the corner.

She waves at the table of women and waits patiently to be walked, fed, and walked again to a little rectangle surface. Everything was made of boxes and squares and more rectangles, it was like a geometry sex dungeon.

She crosses off the last part in her mind and lets the thick stew pour onto her plate, she inhales deeply. The food at the very least wasn’t bad.

“Cindy,” one of the girl’s was grinning as she waved her over.

She shuffles over through the other long school tables to where the four other woman sat. There were roughly eight of them living down there in total, not counting the cleaning staff that came down regularly.

Cindy wasn’t sure if they bunched them all together to increase ‘telepathic potential’ or just out of convenience, either way, she kept telling them they needed a bigger sample size anyway. They told her they had been doing these same things on men for 3 years now.

At least it was equal opportunity brain rot.

Cindy sits down delicately as her skirt sweeps under her, “Martha,” she grins with a nod, “Tric.” Martha was a friendly girl from South Florida with a psychology degree, as most of them did. Tric was a secretary that got stuck down there with them.

“See,” the women slicked her beehive black hair back, “it’s unrealistic, no one wants to shave that much muff.” She shoves a magazine under her nose and Cindy politely pushes it back.

She was currently browsing a playboy she found in one of the restrooms like it was a Sears catalog. “It looks like a terrible tiny mustache.” Tric was squinting her eyes, “The things they do to these women, jeez.”

Cindy doesn’t look down at the naked woman on the magazine, “Stew is nice and warm today.” “Is it a Tuesday?” The frazzled Mrs. Catherine at the end had her notepad out and was calculating something. The days of the week next to the months next to an astrology chart.

She had a degree in communications and math.

“God, someone tell me it’s a tuesday,” she chewed on her bottom lip, “it’s been two hundred fifty two days, Venus is in retrograde…” She was mumbling to herself, she was also candidate number one and the first one they dragged into The Depths (as Cindy was calling it) to see if their tickers could talk to each other.

“Did you see Dr. Stevens today,” Martha beamed at her, “he sure was handsome with those new glasses.” Cindy wrinkled her nose as she tried to remember which one that was, “I’m sure he was.” She reassures as she organized her plastic spoons and forks on her trey.

“Don’t bother Cindy with that sort of thing,” And there she was Louise.

Louise was seated two spots away from her, wearing her regular fleece pink sweater with a baby blue skirt. She always had the look of someone who rather be knitting or talking about the different shades of sycamore trees.

A sweet girl with bright eyes and soft round everything from her personality to everything else.

Though, of course, Cindy always had the temptation to give her a Catholic Speech on numerous things, and Cindy wasn’t even Catholic.

“She’s a woman of science,” her lips turned up, “She’s already married.” They tittered around her and Cindy’s not sure if she should be relieved or offended, it felt like the time for a Catholic Speech about teasing. And smokey eyes and long lashes and whatever else the Minnesota girl was doing.

“No wonder my son has hang-ups, none of these women got any marks on ‘em,” Tric took another long drag of her cigarette and Cindy sighs.

Louise delicately continues her meal and Cindy couldn’t guess what she was thinking if she tried. And she’d been paid to try.

It had been one week in The Depths of the Pentagon with several hundred scientists, but Cindy had barely got to touch a spreadsheet. The fairer sex was meant to be tied into whirring machinery and watch the own gears in her head wear thin.

She keeps these complaints all to herself as Martha talks about getting cookie dough here for the winter season and Tric compared the January and February centerfolds. Miss Catherine went into the depths of her paperwork, submerging into the relative position of Uranus.

Cindy wondered at what point she might start to gradually grind herself down into a distilled crazy paste, but she had a vision that it wasn’t going to be as interesting any of these women.

Louise quietly talks about her new knickers with Catherine until the other woman gets her tarot cards and takes out the hanged man.

“I’m not sure if I really need another one of these Miss Cathy,” she laughs hallowly and Catherine gives her spooked fish look.

“It’ll increase your chances.” She whispers in the way that would make Edgar Allan Poe write poetry.

“Right right, of cracking the case.” Louise grinned, “Don’t worry miss Cathy, we are on it!” More tittering.

Catherine slips her another card, “hide this under your pillow.” Louise was smiling but her face was slightly paler, she had been dealing with these women a lot longer than Cindy. She just mildly turns her face away and gets re-engaged with the very rosy Martha talking about the letter her sister sent.

Cindy watches this all go by like a film of someone else’s life, not for the first time she wondered if she made the right decision. Or if there was one.

She moves the rest of her stew around the plate moodily before throwing the rest of it away and following the other woman back to the test rooms. The giant wall of machine was already getting warmed up again and Cindy could see someone waving.

“Oh thank God,” Cindy murmurs and jogs up to a portly middle-aged man. “Doug,” she greets, “Good to see you.” “What? Yes.” Dr. Doug Johnson had slight hearing problems from his time in the war, but was an overall agreeable figure.

Cindy almost bounces, “I was hoping to get a peek at any data before the next session starts.”

He nods back, “yes, yes, I did appreciate your last observations on some of the wavelength fluctuations.”

Probably just anomaly, but Cindy doesn’t say that out loud. She nods as they let her into the backroom, she can feel Louise looking at her curiously again from behind her. She doesn’t quite look over her shoulder.

“Progress is slow, but we think if we keep up the transcranial stimulation with the right locations, we’ll be getting you all to be reading morse code to each other in record time.” He was beaming with his gapped front teeth and round cheeks.

Cindy is more grateful than the time she got her period during her ‘fear of immaculate conception’ phase of teenagehood.

The cool military fans blow against her face, keeping the test samples and piles of paper dry and clean. Cindy turns toward the analysis, gingerly picking up the spreadsheets as her mind swims, the points read off their electric current stats.

“Would that mean we should start shaving our heads?” Cindy asks hoarsely before frowning, “it might open up more vectors of magnetic connection with the machine.” She blinks, it made more sense to have multiple stimuli around the cranium. She glances at him to see if he was listening.

Doug Johnson laughs slightly, “we did that with the boys, but got similar results.” He winks, “plus, I’m not sure if all the ladies would be as willing as you to let go of those pretty locks.” Cindy blew air out of her nose but just nods stiffly, she surveys the data points quickly as she considers the different existing communication pathways they could be using. They seemed to be hooked into the right sectors, but perhaps the wrong surgical connectors.

She opens her mouth briefly, “could I take these to my room tonight?” Doug flattens his mustache out, “I think I’d get in a little more trouble if I let these out of the room.” He hums and adjusts his glasses, “besides, they're not too different from the last ones.” She frowns again and puts them down, the clock was almost at exactly one thirty. Doug pats her on the back, “you’re a great asset Ms. Jabiyev.” “Thank you,” she feels her stomach bottom out and she follows him out of the back room, Louise waves at them warmly as they come back.

“See anything worthwhile?” She grins, “any changes?” Cindy just shakes her head, “nothing to report on.” “That’s a shame,” Louise clicks her teeth, “but I have a good feeling about today.”

“That’s our Louise.” Dr. Johnson laughs and pats Louise also on the back before disappearing into another one of the rooms where one of the other pairs was.

Cindy eyes him before she feels a slight nudge on her ribcage, she turns around to see Louise’s bright blue eyes staring widely down at her. She was a good head taller than Cindy.

“Did you sweet talk him into that back room?” Her full lips were in that same elegant curve.

She shrugs, “I listened to him talk about his kids for two hours and he seemed to warm up to me.” Louise chuckles, “they musta hired you for your listening skills.” Her eyes twinkle and Cindy finds her somehow mildly more round and tolerable.

“That, and my exceptional ability to sit in chairs.” Cindy says dryly because no one else was around.

Louise lets out another laugh, “you don’t say, is it in any way connected to your above average ability to say colors out loud?” Cindy covers her mouth to laugh slightly, “I was color naming champion at my college.” Louise slaps her knee, “you are a delight miss Cindy!” She snorts before grabbing Cindy’s shoulder, “no wonder you could sweet talk Mr. Doug.” Cindy glances down at Louise’s dove-white hands before looking back up, “I wouldn’t call it sweet talk,” she catches her breath, “More like… psychology. Nice things.”

Louise nods and Cindy looks down at her shoes, she jumps when she feels a warm hand on her shoulder. “Tell you what.” Louise says, “I was a psychology major myself,” she says with her chest puff out, “if we put our heads together we’re bound to make that data sing.” Cindy cocks her head to the side, “you want to see it too?” Louise bites her bottom lip and turns back to the room as it opens, “better than sitting on our bums and having ‘em shock us day in and out.” Cindy exhales, “I’m glad I’m not the only one thinking that…” Louise squeezes her shoulder and they hear the machine ding as it finishes warming up. “Some time then.” She enters the dim whirring room again and sees the next new doctor preparing the electro-helmet that attached at her temples. She stares wearily ahead, vision blurring together as she watched Louise be plugged into the exact same machine across from her.

Sometimes they did the experiment with a sheet obscuring each other, sometimes they thought eye contact helped. Cindy personally thought it was better double-blind, but no difference had been recorded yet.

The heat of the computer electroencephalogram (EEG) bathed the left side of her face, preparing to translate and stored their thoughts. A piece of paper is put in front of Cindy.

“Now, you know the drill miss Jabiyev, concentrate.”

Cindy looks up and makes steady eye contact with Louise, she turns her thoughts into a pointed dagger trying to stab out into the darkness. A little prickle goes through her skull again and she can feel the electric currents working through her. Toward her.

She takes a deep breath and the light blinks for them to start.

“Yellow.” She says dryly as Louise's mouth stays a shapeless flat line. She concentrates, “Blue.”

[dngrs-untld-hrshps-unnmbrd]

The Tattoo Parlour

Zavala x Reader humour/romance | G-rated | Gender neutral

This story is inspired by several things seen in Destiny. The first is of course Zavala's neck tattoos, which drive me a bit wild. Stern, serious Zavala has tattoos? How many? Where are they? What do they look like? Oh I need to lie down ...

The second is a quote from the Legend of the Titan mission: 'Before I stepped into my role with the Vanguard I was ... much more spirited.' And the last is the Mark of Bluster: 'The Blustery Brew is a favourite City tavern amongst Titans.'

What follows is a story about Zavala's younger, spirited days, featuring his good friend Shaxx and you, dear reader. Oh, and I headcanon Shaxx as ALWAYS TALKING IN CAPITALS. Big shouty good-hearted boy.

'You're drunk. I'm not doing it.'

The Awoken man grins at you disarmingly. 'I'm only a little bit drunk.'

Behind him, an enormous man in orange-and-white armour is peering at the tattoo designs tacked up on the walls of your shop. 'I'M GOING TO GET A DRAGON. NO, A TIGER. ZAVALA, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS TIGER?'

The one called Zavala is watching you and smiling. 'We've only had three pints. We're perfectly in control of our faculties, aren't we, Shaxx?'

You look at him narrowly. It's gone midnight and you were about to close up and go to bed. Plenty of people come to you at night to get their tattoos done because they work most of the day, but occasionally that means people coming out of the Blustery Brew a few doors down and making the decision to get a tattoo on impulse. It's one of your personal rules: never ink a drunk person. Ever.

'THIS TIGER. HE'S PROWLY. WHERE SHOULD I GET HIM? I'LL GET HIM ON MY HIP, SO HE'S PROWLING DOWN TO MY -'

You clear your throat meaningfully. If they've only had three pints apiece then you're the Speaker’s left ass cheek.

Zavala's eyes drop to your arms and he looks at the leaves and wildflowers inked down to your wrists. You can't help but notice how thick and dark his eyelashes are. You've known a few Awoken, and inked even more, and you've always found them to be unusually attractive. This man, however, manages to be beautiful and handsome at the same time. He'd be a pleasure to ink.

He reaches out to trace the patterns on your arms with a forefinger but then seems to remember his manners and stops himself. He raises his gaze to yours and the light in his eyes makes your stomach do a swooping thing. 'They're beautiful,' he murmurs. His eyes travel up your arm to where the tattoos disappear inside your sleeve. You see the question in his bright eyes: Where else do you have them?

They're all over your body, but you don't go around showing just anyone.

You point to the door. 'Sorry, not tonight. Come back another time.'

Shaxx has overheard and turns to you. 'WHAT? BUT WE WANT TATTOOS. ZAVALA, SHOW THEM THE CANVAS. THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO RESIST.' Shaxx reaches for the hem of Zavala's tunic and yanks on it.

'Get off.'

But despite Zavala's protests Shaxx wrestles the Awoken man's tunic up and over his head. He points at Zavala's naked torso. 'LOOK AT HIM. DON'T YOU JUST WANT TO DRAW ALL OVER HIM?'

Zavala clenches his jaw, amused and exasperated. Despite yourself you look, and he's a lovely sight. Broad through the shoulders and muscled, and either he shaves his chest or just doesn't have a lot of body hair because his skin is smooth. He has several tattoos already, two small designs on either side of his neck, some strange dragon-bird thing on his right bicep and a six-sided Titan symbol over his heart.

He looks sheepish but hopeful as he watches your face. 'I was thinking of getting the Crucible symbol here, on my shoulder.' He twists a little to show you the expanse of his shoulder blade, as yet unmarked by a needle.  

'BEST GUARDIAN I'VE EVER HAD IN THE CRUCIBLE,' Shaxx roars, thumping Zavala on the shoulder before swerving back to look at the tigers. Distracted, he doesn't notice when you step forward and tug Zavala's tunic from his fingers.

Pressing it into Zavala's hands you lean close and whisper, 'How many pints did you really have?'

He glances surreptitiously at Shaxx. 'Eight. But I promise you we know what we're doing.'

His proximity is making you a little light-headed and you're becoming more and more tempted by the second to push him into your chair so you can ink him. His skin looks very soft and smooth and is a lovely shade of blue.

He smiles, sensing you weakening. 'What do you say?'

You take a deep breath and look him in the eye. 'No. Tattoos are forever, and you boys have a lot of forever ahead of you. I'm not going to be responsible for some drunken mistake. Now off you go, I'm going to bed.'

The larger Titan protests loudly but Zavala seems to sense that they're imposing and hustles him out. The last thing you hear as you switch off the lights and lock the door is, 'THAT TIGER, ZAVALA. HE WAS BEAUTIFUL. DON'T LET ME FORGET ABOUT THAT TIGER.'

You don't expect to see the two Titans again but the next evening Zavala is back. It's early and the sun has only just set. There's a rifle holstered to his back and a smear of dirt across his cheek and nose.

You fold your arms and look at the weapon. 'Are you going to shoot me if I don't ink you this time?'

He looks sheepish, and glances at you from beneath those dark lashes. 'Sorry. I just came in from patrol and I wanted to apologise for our behaviour last night. We were rude to you.'

His smile is infectious and you find yourself smiling back. 'Not rude, but perhaps overly enthusiastic. Your friend really likes tigers?'

'Oh, he does. Wouldn't stop talking about that design all the way back to the Tower. I'm Zavala.' He holds out his hand and you shake it, telling him your name. He watches you for a moment. 'I still want that tattoo by the way, if I haven't used up all my goodwill with you.'

You remember what his bare, muscled shoulder looks like and your heart starts to race. What's wrong with you? Inking people is a job that you've done for years, a fun job certainly but it doesn't usually get you fluttering like a teenager. You pretend to consider it for a moment. 'All right. But I don't know what a Crucible symbol looks like.'

He thinks for a moment, and then pulls a rectangle of burgundy fabric from his hip and holds it out. There's a symbol stitched onto it in white, two crossed swords inside a diamond. You're disappointed by how simple it is. It won't take long at all.

'Okay, take off your ...' But he's already unbuckled the little armour he was wearing and pulled his tunic over his head, and your mouth goes dry. He's just as toned and well proportioned as you remember. And so much bare skin. You could waste a lifetime lovingly inking that skin.

'What, um, colour do you want?'

He points to the Titan mark over his heart. 'Do you have this shade of dark blue? All my tattoos are this colour.'

You step closer and examine it, for a few seconds longer perhaps than is necessary. 'Um. Yep. I've got that colour.' You point him to your chair and take a seat behind him on a stool.

This part is pure ritual, marking out the design and readying your needles, and even though the broad expanse of his back is right there it's easy to concentrate on what you're doing. As you start to ink the design into his skin you talk over the buzz of the needle, and he's surprisingly knowledgeable about books, especially pre-Collapse poetry. You didn't think anyone else read that stuff. He's easy to talk to as well, listening to what you have to say and asking questions. Most people talk about themselves in your chair.

He glances over his shoulder at you. 'Those designs on your arms are lovely by the way. What are they?'

You glance at your forearms. 'Plants and wildflowers that grow in the Cosmodrome. I used to go out and draw them.'

'Used to?'

Damn, you hadn't meant to say that. 'Yeah. It's dangerous out there, you know.'

You hear the smile in his voice. 'Oh, I know. But you can still go out there, to some places, if you're careful and know how to shoot.'

'I can shoot.'

'Well, then?'

For some reason you don't mind showing him. Putting down the needle you pull back the short sleeve of your shirt and show him the jagged, five-inch scar across the top of your arm. 'Got cut up by a Vandal and nearly bled out. Didn't think it was worth risking my neck to draw plants after that.'

He's quiet for a few minutes, thinking. 'How long ago was that?'

'Four years.' And you haven't been outside the Walls since.

Zavala's silent for a long time after that, but it's a thoughtful, comfortable silence. Fifteen minutes later you’re done and you sit back to admire your work. The symbol looks good on him, and it's pleasing know he'll be bearing something of yours everywhere he goes.

Once you've bandaged him up and he's paid, and he's carefully put his gear back on, you notice his eyes straying across your ink again, the patterns that he can see on your collarbone.

Giving him a teasing look, you say, 'You're wondering where else I have them, aren't you?'

'No! No I ... wasn't.' He smiles. 'All right. I was. They're very beautiful. I recognise some of the plants now.' He thinks for a moment, his smile disappearing. 'I could take you out there. I know some places beyond the Wall where it's more or less safe, and you could draw while I keep watch.'

The offer is so surprising you can't speak for a moment. 'But you've got enough to do. All that Guardian stuff.'

'I have free time. There's so much beauty out there, you should see it again. I noticed today that all the wildflowers have come out.'

'I ...'

But you trail off, because his eyes have dropped to your mouth. He steps closer, slowly so you could stop him if you wanted, but without hesitating. You don't stop him, and he kisses you softly. You haven't been kissed in some time and you're not sure what to do with your hands for a moment, but then he pulls you closer and they're resting on his chest.  He feels very warm and solid beneath your fingers, and tentatively you open your mouth and he deepens the kiss.

He pulls a way a little, and speaking softly his fingers trace a vine that curls up behind your ear. 'It's my day off tomorrow. How about I come pick you up in the morning, around eleven, and take you out to a place I know?'

'Just so I can draw some flowers? Really?'

But he just smiles and kisses you again. 'Really. I'll see you in the morning.' Then he's gone, and you move around in a daze for a while, tidying up and wondering how two drunk Titans wandering into your shop turned into kissing and going outside the Wall for the first time in years.

I noticed today that all the wildflowers have come out. He's out there fighting, and he notices stuff like that? And he seemed to care whether you saw those things again. Smiling to yourself, you shake your head.

Just over an hour later your hear heavy footsteps approaching and Zavala's large friend pokes his head into your shop, grinning broadly.

'ZAVALA SHOWED ME HIS TATTOO. IT'S AMAZING. SORRY ABOUT LAST NIGHT. CAN I TALK TO YOU ABOUT THAT TIGER IF YOU'RE NOT BUSY?'

You laugh. 'Of course, come in. Now, remind me, where exactly did you want it prowling?'

Thank you for reading! I don't have a tattoo fetish/kink/thing but for some reason the idea of inking Zavala gets me all flustered. I hope it got you a little flustered too.

[blazekurumu]

My Secret Precure Exchange gift for @ohayo-hannah-chan! I had fun making this collage along with the character cures you gave me. Cure Peace and Cure Gelato are the coolest and cutest cures to work with. So I hope you enjoy the story I made for you as well!

Summary: Aoi meets Yayoi and the two team up to save the day! With some cameos at the end!

"What a lovely day for a nice walk!"

Yayoi hummed to herself as she walked through Precure Park, where all the cures could meet up with each other. She was taking a break from her homework to get some inspiration for her new comic idea. Candy has insisted to come along, but Miyuki wanted to spend a day with her shopping for new books. Reika lent her a sketchbook for her so that she could draw with. The yellow cure sat down to draw some more Power Rangers fanart when a loud rift from a guitar sounded off in the area. The music startled the shy girl. She walked around the corner to see a wild haired blue girl practicing on her guitar. Yayoi's eyes widen at how sharp her teeth was and how fast she was shredding on her instrument. Who was this strange girl?

The girl turned around to wave at her. "Yo! How's it going? Are you new here?"

Yayoi felt her face flush at the question. "N-N-Nooo...I mean, I've been a cure for awhile now." She held out her hand towards her. "I'm Kise Yayoi, nice to meet you!"

The girl shook her hand and grinned. "Tategami Aoi at your service! So what brings you out here in Precure Park?"

"I'm here to get some ideas for my new comic!" 

"You draw comics? How cool!" Aoi looked at her sketchbook. "Your drawings are so neat!"

"R-R-Really? I expected someone like you to not be interested in my art." 

That comment made Aoi laugh. "Why not? None of my teammates can draw like this. You have a real gift."

Yayoi smiled softly at her. "Thanks, my teammates always tell me my drawings are good, but I just lack the confidence to show them in public." 

"Are you nuts? You should be proud of your work! I sing in my band and I am proud of it! Your art should fire you up with a great passion!"

Yayoi was amazed by the energy that Aoi was giving her. Perhaps she was right, her passion for drawing was what made her the person she was today.

Suddenly, a large shaking noise erupted from the park. To their surprise, a Akanbe emerged in front of them, this one being a tall tree. Yayoi took out her Smile Pact while All took out her Sweets Pact.

"Is this a monster of yours?" All asked her, giving Yayoi a determined expression.

"Yeah, that's an Akanbe! Usually when they appear, one of our villains can't be far behind." She replied, hoping she was wrong.

A red oni character appeared on the scene, Yayoi recognizing him to be Akaoni. He gave them a wicked grin.

"Well, if it isn't the crybaby Cure Peace!" He bellowed, making her glare at him. "And you have a little friend too! Is this one as wimpy as you?"

"Shut up, you red troll! I'll kick your butt!" Aoi shouted, growling like the lion she was. "Don't talk to her like that!"

Akaoni was shocked at the blue haired girl's statement. "What? HOW DARE YOU!" He turned to the Akanbe. "Finish them!"

Aoi held up her pact. "Are you ready to fight Yayoi-senpai?"

Yayoi gave her a small smile. "Let's do it!"

"READY?! PRECURE, SMILE CHARGE!"

"CURE A LA MODE, DECORATION!"

"GO! GO! LET'S GO PEACE!"

"WITH FREEDOM AND PASSION, LET'S LA MIX-IT-UP!"

Yayoi transformed in a bout of yellow sparkles. Her bangs were styled in curls. Her eyes became a brighter shade of yellow to match. Her tiara had two angel wings attached, and she wore it on the right side of her head. Her outfit was mainly yellow, with dark yellow lining and white highlights. Her sleeves are double-layered with a puffy piece below, and the bow at her chest is big with a small white frilly piece behind it. Her back of her top is split into two coat-tails, each of which is split in the middle to give a petal-like appearance, and her skirt has a frilly layer underneath it. Her arm protectors are extremely short, with dark yellow ribbons at the wrists. Her boots are short with yellow at the top and small dark yellow ribbons.

Aoi grinned as she transformed in powerful icy blue. Her ponytail grows in length to resemble a messy blue lions mane while she gains short forelocks and thicker bangs. On top of her head are light blue lion ears and a gold crown with a scoop of white and light blue ice cream. Her earrings are gold crowns. Her attire consists of a blue jacket with yellow cuff and lapel and a thick, loose collar with fluffy trim and a sky blue choker. Her balloon skirt is split into two designs with fluffy trim on top, one side is sky blue with white swirls, while the other is pale cream. Sticking out from the bottom is a blue lions tail, while her Sweets Pact rests on a light blue ruffled bow on the left hip. Her blue gloves are thick with a yellow rectangle on top of the hand. She wears thick blue and white ankle-length boots with sky blue socks, with the right one pulled up to the thigh and the left one worn above the ankle.

"Sparkling Rock, Papers, Scissors!" Peace made a paper motion as she twirled. "I'm Cure Peace!"

"Cure Gelato! Ready to serve!" Gelato did a rocker pose to finish her transformation.

Both of the girls nod as they charge the Akanbe together. Peace was putting in some good kicks and punches while Gelato supported her from behind with a few punches from her ice encrusted fist. 

"Uh Gelato, can you actually fight without the use of a magical item?" Peace asked her, making the lioness give her a weird look.

"What's wrong with the way I fight? Don't you fight with magic too?" Gelato asked her, giving the Akanbe a good punch in the nose. "I thought all cures fought with magic? The two groups we teamed up with used magic all the time."

Peace tossed the Akanbe over her shoulder, sending him flying in the air. "That's not how we fight classically. Old cures fought with magic, but only for a last resort! You need to fight with your passion, like you told me with my drawing!"

Gelato's eyes widen at that revelation. She was right, her team didn't even use fighting methods that much! With the exception of Macaroon and Chocolat, the rest of the girls don't use fist for fighting! She put her Sweets Pact up and gave her a grin.

"Alright Peace, let's fight this monster the old fashion way!" Giving her a thumbs up, Peace smiles at her. "How hard should we punch this idiot?"

"Hard enough to make the Shadow Realm feel it!" Peace said, charging up the thunder. "Let's do it!"

Both of them charged the Akanbe and gave him a powerful punch to the red rubber nose. Akaoni watched in amazement as the two worked together to beat down his Akanbe! How did they just get more pwoerful with every punch? Was he really losing his touch?

"No way! How did they get so powerful? What happened between those two?" He wondered aloud, his face sweating with fear. "Master Pierrot is not going to like this!"

"Time to end this!" Peace said, as the two made the Akanbe fall to the ground. Gelato grinned as she summoned her Candy Rod.

"I couldn't agree more with ya Peace. Let's crank up the power!"

Peace put two fingers in the air as an electric shock ran down her back. "PRECURE!"  She then spins around with the lightning bolts circling her, concentrates the energy onto both hands in their peace signs. "PEACE THUNDER!" Then she unleashed the powerful bolts of lightning.

Gelato created an ice ball with her wand. "KIRAKIRAKIRARU!"  Then she let the shards of ice to coalesce into a giant ice ball.         "GELATO SHAKE!"  She then repeatedly punches the ball with her ice-encased left fist, causing it to shatter and send shards flying at the target.

The attacks combine to form a barrage of electric shards of ice. The akanbe gets hit with these attacks as he denigrates into nothing. The two girls cheered loudly as they give each other a high five. Akaoni growled at them as he disappeared.

"You did such a great job! We should team up more often." Gelato said, jumping up and down. "Next time, we should bring the whole group to fight!"

"Yeah! Let's do this again really soon. Maybe we can team up again." Peace agreed.

Then the two spent the rest of the day talking about all their adventures and trading their hobbies. Yayoi got to sing a couple of songs with Aoi while she helped her find the perfect idea to draw.

The two walked around Precure Park with a new sense of vigor and moral until...

"This was a fun day! We should hang out again sometime." Aoi said, slinging her guitar case over her shoulder. "Wonder when that day will be."

"I'm not sure, but I want to go home and take a long nap after that fight." Yayoi yawned as she rubbed her eyes. "Let's just hope that nothing happens on the way home."

A loud explosion goes off behind them as they turn around to see a giant monster rampaging the city. Aoi slowly took out her Sweets Pact as Yayoi took out her Smile Pact. But a gloved hand stopped both of them as they looked to see six teens with attitude in colorful spandex and helmets standing behind them. Yayoi's jaw dropped at the appearance of them while Aoi gave them a weird look.

"Who are you guys?" She asked them, still confused at their sudden appearance.

"Who are we? Have you not been in Japan for a long time or something?" The green one said. "We are the Power Rangers!"

Yayoi squealed loudly at this. "Oh my gosh! You guys are super cool! Can I get an autograph?"

The red one patted her head. "No problem, as soon as we defeat this giant monster...."

"No! Allow us to defeat the monster!" They all turned around to see more spandex heroes. "I am Kamen Rider and this is my crew!"

"Wait...which version are you? Are you the new ones or the 90s edition?" Yayoi asked, her eyes swirling in confusion.

"Doesn't matter, we have more people to fight monsters like this." Kamen Rider said, looking at her. "So let a great team of spandex heroes fight this one."

"Are you a threat? Are you trying to make us mad?" Green Ranger said, going in his face. "Cause we can fight this right now!"

Aoi leaned over to Yayoi before the heroes were about to fight. "Are you sure these are the heroes you idolize so much?"

But Yayoi didn't hear her, she was too busy fangirling over the awesomeness of her two favorite series teaming up together.

[wholesalestore-blog]

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[the-thirteenth-note]

Interlude; Freedom, Lost, & Perseverance

------------------------------

13; 0088 U.V.A.

------------------------------

In a small living space tucked away within a remote corner of the city, a man of science pays dearly for the fruits of his labors.

"Father, please I can hel-"

"No Nish." He said firmly, silencing her as he shook his head.  

She knows that tone all to well any further argument would be a waste of time, his mind was set. How long ago it had been set she couldn't be sure but it was obvious that he wouldn't budge on this decision.

"I need you to hide and suppress your psionic power like your Mother taught you," He grabbed a hardlight page minimized down to the size of a small card off a work desk covered with miscellaneous notes and technological devices, tools and half built machines littered the area, each with an open book or a hard light page with a neat frantic handwriting etched onto them.

"This has all the information Professor Toldar will need. No matter what you hear, don't come out and please wait at least an hour before you head out to take it to him just to be sure."

The Gyiyg child nodded, sliding the card into a pocket in her Poncho as she levitated up to a panel in the roof that slid open as she got near.

Before she could enter, her father reached up to take hold of one of the tassels on her Poncho stopping her momentarily.

"I love you, sweetheart," He told her pulling his daughter into a tight hug.

Not knowing if it'd be the last time they would see each other.

"I love you too Father..just...please try to be safe." The little girl replied.

A jarring knock abruptly ends a father and daughters last moments together as Nish hurried into the safe chamber installed within the tiny apartments ceiling.

"Valisi highgard! Open, or we will enter of our own volition!"

Ithos looked up at his child's hiding place once more before going to answer the door. It slid open quickly with a swish, tucking itself away into a slot in the wall.

"Yes how can I help you?" Ithos said giving his friendliest smile to hide the rapidly growing sense of dread settling in the pit of his stomach.

Outside his cluttered and disorderly apartment stood two Valisi soldiers, outfitted in the standard Pangolin generated armor worn by the foot soldiers of the Gyiyg military.

Not bothering to open her helmet the taller of the two spoke first. "Are you Professor Ithos? Former employee of Enkei Technological Developments Incorporated?" She asked.

"Yes?" Ithos replied in a curious tone as he stepped outside. “Better for them to just take me right away and not risk discovering Nish.”

"Has there been some trouble?"

"Playing innocent won't save you Professor, you should be smart enough to know that."

The taller soldier pulled out a green and black collar and secured it around Ithos’ neck, it beeped once to confirm that it had activated and was working properly.

The second Valisi tapped their Pangolin then touched both of the Professor's hands covering them in a dark silver metal that shifted and formed into solid cylinders going all the way up to his forearms, cuffing him.

"You are wanted under the suspicion of the development of advanced self-aware A.I."

“How long had they known?” He could only stare at the floor mutely as the two Valisi soldiers escorted him down the hall to be tried for his crime.

Even as his future and freedom was ripped away his thought were only of his daughter. “Nish, stay safe.”

---

"You are wanted under the suspicion of the development of advanced self-aware A.I."

Nish's heart skipped a beat at hearing that, incredulity and pride for her father’s achievement slamming together in a terrible wreck leaving her awed.

“He had finally done it, he was always going on and on about theories and tests but he actually did it,”

She could hear the footsteps becoming more distant as the Valisi took her Father away. She went into her pocket and took out the amber colored transparent rectangle, thinking of how her Father had traded his freedom, his life for this collection of information.

Nish could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she began to rub them while yawning.

“I can't cry, I have to take care of this for him.”

“I'll make sure it wasn't all for nothing. I have to.” Grief and resolve intermingled within her, an amalgam of isolation and determination.

Nish closed her mind to the well of fresh emotions and focused on her breathing. Getting her mind into a place of tranquillity, meditating just as she had been taught.

She could almost imagine her mother’s soothing voice in her mind, “Centering oneself within a state of nothingness will help your mind to focus on what is truly important.”

She closed her eyes and laid her head down on her arms. Sequestered in a warm dark place she tried to focus, tried to spend the hour meditating as she waited.

Instead she began to doze off dreaming of better days long past.

---

A red-skinned Mook wearing a white scarf walks off the busy streets into an apartment complex. 

Quickly making his way past the front desk, to the elevators before taking one up to the fourth floor. Hoping that he isn't too late, hoping there's still time to make a difference.

His tentacles tapped on the metallic floor as he bustled hurriedly down the hallway toward the last door on the left. As he reached toward the door, Toldar heard a gust rushing down the hall from some unknown source. He felt the wind push him slightly, tossing his scarf to and fro.

Before he could react the wind swirled beneath him then leapt up encasing him in a rotating sphere of air, he tried to run but was lifted off the ground by the localized current. He called in vain but the air was siphoned from his lungs, wrenching his breath away the second he opened his maw.

Somewhere far away he could hear a muffled voice...no two voices speaking. But between the rushing wind, and the lack of air sending him tumbling toward the fringes of unconsciousness he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Immobilized and utterly helpless, he panicked and flailed at empty air as the edges of his vision began to blur. The wind steadily abated as he slowly fell to his knees gasping for air and he heard a figure approach as he coughed and attempted to catch his breath.

"Oy, see here. We're needing some information, and you being the first person to show up after Ithos got pinched tells me your savvy to the whole operation. So I'll keep this real simple; tell us what we need to know or we can see what a color a red Mook turns when he runs out of air."

Toldar rolled on to his back as he sucked in great gasps of air. Standing over him was an insectoid alien known as a Nevidian, a tall bipedal race, covered in a light coat of yellowish brown fine hairs. He wore a dusty black and red cloak, had four arms one set larger than the other and four eyes the color of bright sapphires.

Floating to the Nevidians left, inside a hovering vehicle was a Mr.Saturn. 

"Start making with the info KayO?" He said in his strange Saturn dialect. "Good tip we gots, we knowing you're knowing Ithos, Boing!"

Toldar didn't speak didn't even try to get up, he just nodded.

The moment he had heard his colleague had been taken into custody by the Valisi he thought there was chance he could make good on his word, thought there was a way he could at least make sure his friends efforts were not in vain.

But just as quickly as the air had left his lungs so to did hope, and all that was left in its place was failure. Failure and hot shame. Shame at not being good enough, shame at being a coward. Shame that Ithos' trust had been misplace in one such as he.

---

Two Gyiyg sat at a table in a dark parlour overlooking the streets below. The shorter of the two had ash grey fur and golden eyes. He was wearing a white and black hooded poncho though with his small frame it could easily be mistaken for a cloak. He sat with a natural ease, though his eyes were alert; scanning the room for any signs of a disturbance. Across from him sat a much taller Gyiyg, his fur was a deep navy blue and his eyes a distinct shade of stark green, he wore gloves and a long cloak. Both a muted shade of brown.

"Kesta, do you ever think these things through?"

The shorter of the two asked, as the sweet smelling haze of some herb imported from the oasis' of the Neveous wafted about, lending to the dreamlike relaxing atmosphere. Pink nimbus' exhaled by several customers at the tables surrounded them on all sides. The plant was a favorite among the many patrons, especially Nevidian's looking for a small taste of home who frequented the Blackstone Tableau.

"Of course Oisin, of course." Kesta cut another bite of his Gabilan steak as he attempted to reassure his brother.

"Listen, we've done numerous jobs this past year for the gangs of the southeastern quadrant. The Streza Quarter has been quite lucrative. Assassinating top members, sabotaging operations, strike and counter strike."

The taller brother paused to take a bite of his meal savoring each morsel before he continued.

"And as they fight and lose strength we gain both prestige and wealth, I plan to capitalize on this carefully cultivated weakness tonight."

Oisin had been wondering for the longest time now the reason for Kesta's obsession with these gangs and crews. Their original freelance work since beginning this endeavor had been largely restricted to bounty hunting and some light thievery, when he had first inquired into the nature of his plan, Kesta had said something about 'A grand design' but wouldn't elaborate further.

Things had been going smoothly so far. There had no real reason push the issue, as long as the credits were steady Oisin had elected to trust his younger brother with the task of finding them stable work.

“How so?” Oisin inquired.

"I've set up a meeting for the four leaders of the respective gangs we've been working for. They each think one of the others has called a parlay for negotiation to settle their disputes, they've all lost tremendous resources and manpower to this conflict. So many are eager to bring the fighting to an end. When the time is right they'll be assassinated by a few bounty hunters that own me a favor and  some credits. Those who would take up leadership have already bent the knee to my cause so after tonight I'll be the master of all four."

"Wait...wait wait."

Oisin leaned forward putting, both hands on the table, eye wide. 

"The Madclaws, Warlords, Shadowlanders, and Old Hunters have all been subjugated?"

"Exactly." Kesta flashed a predatory satisfied smile before taking a long drink.

"But not only will we take these groups under our wing; we will forge them into Nucades deadliest elite crime guild. Training the most skilled collection of Assassins, Thieves and Bounty Hunters in the city."

"But how would that even work? Won't they just fight among themselves once they all learn they've been gang-pressed into joining forces."

The shorter Gyiyg laughed to himself at his own unintentional pun.

A well dressed Mook in a suit holding three trays on three different tentacles walked pass. Kesta raised his empty glass and the man nodded,  indicating he'd return soon as he strolled over to the next table to serve more customers.

"Listen. Once the main assassination is done I've ordered those within the gang who will take leadership to have everyone meet during the cease-fire under the assumption that the negotiations have been completed successfully. I'll show up, explain the new management situation and we'll move forward from there."

"You're going to 'explain the new management situation'?" The grey Gyiyg asked as he took a small sip from his own glass. Though his words belied not disbelief, but a genuine curiosity as he smirked wondering what mad scheme Kesta had formed this time.

"Brother do not worry. While loyalty is a common feature among these people another one is greed. It'll be mutually beneficial for all involved to join. They'll have things they never had as mere gang members." The last words were said with no small bit of disdain.

"Steady income, the highest grade of weaponry and technology, training in both mind and body. They'll even be allowed to keep their separate group titles. You, I, Vera & Quan will represent Solaras Wings and we'll become Vim'mir Penta."

Oisins rubbed his chin as he said. "Five under one."

Kesta cuts off another bite of steak as his second bottle was brought over to the table and uncorked by the waiter.

"It'll be run like a business, outside of the four of us there are other freelancers I've hired to train our members in these skills. Once I determine who is of worth and who can be cut we'll begin working all throughout the city taking contracts from clients."

Oisin leaned back in his chair, curiosity tempered with prudence still lining his features as he asked.

"And the Valisi...the E.I.D. and the other factions are going to just let this happen will they?"

"Oisin come on, I've told you; I've thought this through. The Monarchs hounds will be none the wiser. Greed too will make a way for us. Credits can open many doors and make a man deaf, blind, and dumb. As for the other gangs in the city? Let them have the streets and their paltry territories. In three or four months time we'll be ready to take it all."

A Gyiyg approached the pair, grabbing a chair from one of the nearby tables and taking a seat.

She was of a medium height for a Gyiyg, around six foot nine, had seafoam green eyes and purple fur with intricate patterns and symbols. Black twisting markings that danced up her fingers and arms meeting at her neck, wrapping around it and leading toward her back. She wore a long coat, beneath it were several harness' and bandoliers, holstered with knives and firearms. Fastened around her waist and over her shoulders.

"How are my favorite siblings and upstanding citizens doing this fine afternoon?" Vera said as she sat down.

"Vera! Good to see you, I was just giving my dear brother the finer details of our business plans." Kesta replied.

He popped the cork out of the new bottle, refilled his glass, and handed the rest over to Vera to drink at her leisure.

"Really? What do you think of it 'Golden Eyes'?" She lifted the bottle to her lips and took several, healthy gulps.

Oisin scratched at his chin as he considered Kesta's new 'business'. "I believe the operation has potential," He said slowly still sounding hesitant.

"And here comes the ‘but’" Kesta added eating the last portion of his steak.

"There are several factors to consider; Where are we supposed to be training these 'agents' ? What will be the extent of our contracts? What do we do? And inversely what are we not willing to do? Who will be our clientele? And the list goes on and on and on."

Vera refilled Oisins glass. "This is why we need you in on this 'GE' your mind is built for this kind of work."

"Of course leave all the hard work up to me, you're good for nothing besides cracking skulls."

The Violet colored Gyiyg shrugged. "Alas good sir, you know me all too well. I do what I'm good at, and I'm good at what I do."

The waiter walked by and retrieved the empty plates and left a tightly rolled cigar in the middle of the table, Kesta gestured toward Vera, who eagerly snatched it up and stored it away in on of the many pockets of her coat. "Woldbrack straight from Neveous? You spoil me." She said as she chuckled, taking another sip from the bottle in her hand.

"Vera is right Ois, you've always been good at spotting the things I miss. Do me a favor and compile a list of these 'factors'. I want to make sure I do this right."

"How much time do I have to make this list?" Oisin asked.

"There's no rush. Once I make my proposition to the four gangs. I'll give them time to mull it over, and we'll take that time to finalize the details of the organization."

"A guild of dangerous elite agents performing contracts all over the city, this plan could be very...lucrative."

Vera raised her bottle high in the air for a toast. "To new beginnings!"

Kesta and Oisin both clanged their glasses to Vera's bottle as they downed their respective drinks.

With their meeting adjourned the group exited the establishment, leaving behind a considerable tip earned by ill gotten means. They went their separate ways as Vera elected to head to the rendezvous to make sure everything went smoothly in preparation of tonight's meeting.

The evening sun shone down on the multilayered metropolis as the brothers strolled through the streets of the Ceaseless City. It was a clear day, so much so that one of Enkeis moons could be seen hanging in the sky. A golden lunar disk silently observing the countless nooks and alleys the world hid on its surface.

The planet sized city was so incredibly massive that one could walk for years and still not see all of it, not to mention the three sublevels. People from all over the Virindis came to Nucade, and the constant influx of visitors coupled with the large number of citizens ensured that the ecumetropolis' name sake held true.

They walked for several minutes in silence, taking in the many sights and sounds of the city. The multi colored traffic of ships zooming over head, the hodgepodge of alien life intermingling making up the shifting crowd that moved around them, like a living sea. A stray bolt of destructive PSI arching off in some direction that could have easily been the brewing beginning to an argument or a signifier of its end. A Gyiyg flew above the crowd in full Pangolin armor zipping past, a jet fueled metallic blue blur turning a corner and fleeing between two buildings.

A few moments later a trio of fully armored Shamblers flew by, taking the same path. The moment they turned the corner in pursuit of the Gyiyg an explosion could be heard and one of the three was blown back by its concussive force, sent careening into building. Crashing through a window and eliciting screams from those inside who'd just received an unwelcome visitor.

"You've been quiet Ois, what's on your mind?" Kesta asked, tuning to Oisin before letting his eyes roam over the ever changing current of people.

Like his brother Oisin was keeping a vigil of the crowd around them. Nucade was the type of place to drop unfortunate occurrences on those not sufficiently aware of their surroundings.

"I'm thinking of how we can get this idea of yours off the ground."

"Oh?"

"First we'll need somewhere spacious and covert to train our specialists, somewhere we can build and steady convert into a headquarters. And second, we need patrons."

"What for? I told you I've put away sufficient funds to finance this operation."

"Yes but what we're building is connections. We dig up dirt on those in positions of power; Philanthropists, Goveners, CEO's and the like. Rich fools with more credits than sense. We request a donation and let it be known that if they have a problem that can only be solved by unsavory means, we're the ones to call. Word will spread and that will give us a small bit of stability and a channel by which to acquire clients. Of course these are just the first two steps."

"Of course." The younger brother said smiling.

"What we really need i-"

Out of the corner of his eye Oisin noticed a rush of movement, and as the brothers passed an alley he could see a Mr. Saturn riding a hovering metal saucer and a Nevidian approaching a small child; trapping them on both sides.

They attempted to flee. Trying in vain to fly away as a section of the Mr. Saturns metal craft transformed revealing a pair of remotely controlled arms, allowing him to grab the yellow furred Gyiyg child by the tail.

Oisin sped down the alley without a second thought, eating up the distance is several quick strides. He flipped over the Mr. Saturn while simultaneously shooting a white hot bolt of PK Fire from his finger tip through the metal arm clutching Nishs tail, freeing her.

Using the momentum from the flip, he kicked the Nevidian in the chest sending him flying six feet backwards into a pile a debris. The Mr. Saturn conjured four more arms and swung wildly at Oisin who dodged and sidestepped one blow after another effortlessly. Forming a dagger using his Pangolin as he avoided the ineffectual flurry of attacks.

Nish tried to fly away again, but only managed to levitate away for a few seconds before a powerful gust surrounded her in a spinning ball of air. Oisin avoided another swing simultaneously jumping off the wall of the alley, turning in midair and throwing the dagger at the Nevidian behind him in one continuous movement.

The blade sank into his shoulder with ease, breaking his concentration as he clutched the knife wound. Before the child's small body could plummet to the ground Kesta caught her, landing behind his brother.

He set the child down as he as he said. "Ois, get the kid out of here, I can handle the rest of this."

"Oy! Who do you think you are!? When I-" Was as far as the Nevidian got before Kesta smoothly unholstered one of the Burners on his hip.

Without a word he turned and fired two plasmatic rounds, reducing the Nevidians kneecaps to smoking husks barely attached to his legs. The man's rage turned to whimpers all too quick then.

Oisin hopped back and turned to kneel down next to Nishs unconscious form as Kesta took his brothers place in the fight, pulling his brown gloves on tight before walking forward.

"Hey." Oisin shook Nishs shoulder, trying to rouse her awake. "Hey kid time to go while we still can."

The young girl sat up with a yell, looking around frantically. Oisin held up his hands in a placating manner showing he meant no harm. "You okay?" He asked.

She nodded in response.

"Can you fly?"

Another nod.

He stood up, helping the child to her feet as they both began to levitate away.

"Is there somewhere you can hide?"

She was quiet for a moment before answering. "I was supposed to deliver something to Mr. Toldar." Sounding tired but resolute.

"Lead the way, I'll make sure you get there in one piece."

They took off toward the skies flying over and under the unending, twisting paths that made up the city.

---

Kesta blocked a swing aimed at his face, catching it at the last second. He focused and reached toward that familiar pool of psychic energy, still holding the metal arm in place while his eyes glowed softly. A pale green light began to shine from beneath the surface of the piece of steel in his grip.

Bit by bit and piece by piece the metal began to deconstruct, first the smallest components. The screws and wires and bolts, then the bigger panels and parts. They floated off the arm and began to rebuild into a gauntlet around Kestas hand. He tapped a finger on the other three arms before the Mr. Saturn could react to the reformation of the first.

The segments of metal and technology whirled around Kesta reconstructing into three small saucer drones. They flew in dizzying patterns around the Mr. Saturns craft, firing searing lasers and spraying clouds of noxious smoke into the small aliens face.

Kesta lifted his hand and sent out a pulse of psychic power.

“Brainshock” he thought as he directed the mental assault at the Mr. Saturn. Leaving him reeling, confused, and pursued relentlessly by three small but deadly drones.

He walked over to the Nevidian who was still laying in a pile of refuse, and sat down next to him as he reached into his cloak pulling out an amber colored transparent card.

"I'm guessing this is why you two were after the brat, You mind telling me what's on it?" He held it front of the the mans face but just out of reach, his tone glib as if he were talking to an old friend.

The insectoid alien looked up at him, fear plain on his features as he cradled his ruined knees. "I…I-I can't say anything, they'll-"

"Kill you?" Kesta said guessing the mans next words. "Well you say that based on one assumption."

Kesta pulled out the fine hand-rolled cigar of Woldbrack, lit it and inhaled deepingly. Tasting the subtle flavor of the sweet smoke before exhaling twin streams of hazy pinkish clouds from each nostril, he puffed it twice more then handed it to the injured man he was interrogating.

The man hesitated for a moment before accepting the cigar, he motioned toward Kesta and the Gyiyg relit the dimming ember using a small flame at the end of one his fingers.  

The Nevidian puffed the cigar twice himself before asking, "And that would be?"

"That I’ll let you leave this alley alive."

---

[bricksmasons-blog]

Bricks Masons

Men's Gifts - Practical Meaningful Gift Ideas

Masonic swords fantastically engraved freemason jewelry or etched with a number of.

Masonic symbols and logos maintain nice significance to members of the order of Freemasons (Masons). There are several totally different types of Masonic swords, and masonic jewelry store online

each model can use totally different coloured metals masonic jewelry meaning comparable to silver, gold, brass and bronze to

kind the blade, hilt, pommel and other parts of the sword. Every type of Masonic

Sword may also bear a number of different masonic jewelry repair engraved Masonic symbols and emblems,

each symbol or emblem having its own significance in the Masonic world. Masonic swords often have colored inlays that also add to their visible attraction, and they are sometimes set with gems or jewels. Masonic daggers - shorter variations of Masonic swords with blades which might be solely 12 to 14 inches long - additionally exist, and these are also highly adorned with Masonic symbols such as the Compass and Sq..

Masonic Swords are grounded in honor, history, and tradition:

Swords usually have historically and historically been seen as devices of would possibly, justice, honor, integrity and truth. They have been used for 1000's of years, not just as weapons, but also as symbolic devices that indicate status. As a result of swords are so highly emblematic of so many different virtues, they are nonetheless worn for ceremonial functions at varied essential occasions. Many of the values that swords symbolize are at the center of Freemasonry, and for that reason, Masons typically wear Masonic swords throughout their ceremonies and rituals.

No one is certain in regards to the specific origins of Freemasonry, but it is doubtless that the organization developed out of the stonemasons craft guilds that flourished during the Middle Ages. The Knights Templar, a corporation of Christian knights that was fashioned throughout the Crusades to protect Christians during their pilgrimages to the Holy Land, most likely had a big influence on early Masons. And that historical influence almost actually continues even toay. Swords are intimately associated with the purpose and history of the Knights Templar, and this affiliation could very possibly be

another reason for the symbolic, ceremonial freemason jewelry significance of Masonic swords in Masonic

rites, both previous and present.

Masonic swords are stunning, extremely ornamental and extremely symbolic devices which can be worn by Masons throughout sure Freemason ceremonies and rituals. They are finely crafted symbols of satisfaction in being a Mason and of their owners' status throughout the group. They are symbols of the dedication of all Masons to justice, honor, integrity and reality additional info - all of which are keystone principles in Freemasonry. Masonic swords are visual symbols of their bearers' degree of feat inside Masonic society and structure, however they're much more than that. Masonic swords are symbols of Freemasonry's custom of working to make the world a greater place, and their vibrant blades reflect honor, history and custom.

For those who're looking to buy Masonic rings it most likely means you are a member of the Freemasons. A bunch that can trace itself traditionally back to June twenty fourth, 1717 when 4 London lodges met to ascertain the Grand Lodge of England, but some state that the masons have ties going all the way again to Historical Egypt.

The tools represented within the Masons image are working instruments (the sq., level, plumb, and many others.) which remind members of the tenets of the craft. Members at present are mentioned to be of the 'craft.' Freemasonry exists in many parts of the globe as a principally social membership with many ranges of standing for the members to work their means via. When a member has reached a better degree there is a ceremony to formally confer the new rating.

Stonemason's instruments represented within the Masonic image are used to stand for primary virtues. The three overriding Masonic ideas are cohesion, aid, and fact. Most will wear rings bearing the symbol of the Masons with other certain attributes like background colors to indicate that they are a Mason and are available from a particular lodge or that you've attained a specific diploma of status inside the Masons.

Some rings can be quite costly for many who have gained the next degree throughout the Masons. Most members' rings run a median of 100 dollars. They're quite daring in statement, with a wide band and a few containing gem stones and gold or silver. The more averaged priced ring will simply be the steel or brass with the Masonic emblem on a coloured background. A lot of ring manufacturers pride themselves on with the ability to provide these rings handcrafted one by one, by Masons for Masons.

It's no secret that the members of fraternal organizations, golf equipment and associations get pleasure from receiving, sporting and even amassing lapel pins. Lapel pins determine the person as a member and they're an amazing source of satisfaction for those who put on them. Badges, medals and insignia of membership are as old because the establishments themselves. Lapel pins and emblematic jewellery items have change into an vital a part of fraternal tradition the world over.

Fraternal organizations can use customized lapel pins in quite a lot of methods. Lapel pins are used to promote membership, commemorate the time period of a presiding officer, celebrate anniversaries, recognize veteran members and raise funds for charitable and different tasks.

Lapel pins and emblematic jewelry are (1) VERSATILE - appropriate for men and women; older members admire them and youth suppose they're fun; they arrive in virtually limitless sizes, shapes and colour combos. (2) DURABLE - they final; most individuals have emblematic jewelry gadgets that were handed down from their parents and grandparents. (three) VALUE EFFECTIVE - no other item might be customized by dimension, form, quantity and course of to suit any price range.

Now I will answer common questions associated with ordering customized lapel pins.

What issues should I consider when Here is Social Profile designing my custom pin?

The weather of your design will embrace: theme, symbols, colors, form and size. Your theme will depend tremendously on the aim of the pin. For instance: If you happen to're designing a pin to commemorate your term as presiding officer, possibly you could have adopted a slogan that embodies your purpose for the time period. This slogan could be incorporated into your design in an effort to promote your theme through the time period. In the event you're designing a pin to rejoice your group's anniversary you may wish to embrace the title, location and anniversary date into the design.

What symbols or emblems https://www.bricksmasons.com/ ought to I embrace?

Most fraternal organizations have many symbols from which to choose, every with their own meaning. Nevertheless, there's usually one primary symbol or logo that's most commonly used. In Freemasonry, it is the square and compasses with the letter "G". With the Odd fellows, it is the "three links". In some BricksMasons organizations the presiding officer might undertake an emblem he or she likes that's not necessarily taken from the ritual or symbolism of the group. How a few chicken, flower or fruit? Should you're from Georgia, a peach can be acceptable. You should utilize one image or several, the choice is yours.

How ought to I determine what, if any colours to make use of?

Does your organization have standard colours that you wish to include? The Order of the Jap Star's primary symbol comprises five colours that make a fantastic emblem. Choose colors that you just like. If you're of Irish heritage, use some green. When asked about the shade, you'll have the chance to talk about Wikipedia Here it! Pins don't all the time have to include shade. Many designs look stunning in brilliant gold or silver finishes with out enameling. With the variety of manufacturing processes, the sky is the restrict. You may need to think about a die struck pin that has an "antique" or even a "sandblasted" end.

What shape and measurement should I choose?

There are actually hundreds of "customary" shapes of pins. Commonplace shapes embody: spherical, oval, sq., rectangle, triangle, state outlines, flags and everything in between. Membership pins and presiding officer pins are sometimes made in the form of the respective state or jurisdiction. Would your image be a superb total shape in your pin? In case your major image / emblem is an apple, you might make the outer form that of an apple, put further symbols and your identify and 12 months inside the shape and enamel it in pink. Sometimes the knowledge and symbols to be included on the pin dictate the form.

The size of your pin is essential. A very good rule to comply with is this: If you cannot easily learn what's on the pin, it's too small! Pins are usually made in sizes from half of" to 1-half of" and value varies with dimension. After you've sketched out your design and selected a shape, you're ready to pick a size. A trick to determining size is to make use of a photocopier. For best results, draw your design on plain white paper utilizing black ink. Place the paper on the photocopier and shrink the image. Preserve shrinking it till it seems right to you and the wording continues to be legible. Utilizing a ruler, measure the design on the longest distance between points. Example: a square is measured diagonally.

While you develop into a Freemason you are a joining at fraternal group with a historical past that scholars date back to the early 17th century or earlier. In the present day's members keep this wealthy history Bricks Masons bracelet and custom alive by following guidelines that are honored and respected. This consists of wearing Masonic rings that display to different Freemasons your private lodge membership or diploma in the organization.

Whereas the sq., degree and compass are the standard symbols associated with all Masonic lodges, many orders do have their own unique indicators and symbols which might be specific to their order or lodge affiliation inside the larger fraternity of freemasons internationally. Searching for Masonic rings online is a good way to view totally different designs of this meaningful piece of bijou that may act as a visible image of your dedication.

As with all jewellery crafted, value ranges fluctuate depending by yourself personal taste and selection. Many newly entered apprentices discover straightforward conventional designs of these rings to be the best models to start out with before contemplating having a customized ring made. The preferred materials used are stainless-steel, silver, titanium, and gold. Having a particular engraved message added to the interior part of the band is a special touch if you're giving the ring as a gift to a friend or member of the family that has joined a lodge.

Longer standing members usually select to have special custom rings designed with each degree they gain over years of loyal commitment or their fellow members give them as an honored reward. Trying to find Masonic gadgets online will put you in touch with many reputable outlets that can deliver precisely what you need from a simple design to a more elaborate one made to your exact specs.

These are elegant and essential symbols that are essential to any Mason that is active within the group. When deciding on a hoop it's always good to keep in mind that it will most likely be passed down from era to generation as a prized family heirloom. Whether or not you're buying online for Masonic rings or in particular person one can find the appropriate one for you or one to be given as a gift.

Freemasonry has piqued the interests of many as this old and huge group has faced a lot of controversies and that many people in addition to groups and organizations have plenty of assumptions about this organization. The truth is, it has been named 'secret society' as a result of most of its operation as well as membership is hidden or held secret.

The secrets of freemasonry has been a topic of curiosity by many. Even in the earliest instances of the organization, it has been questioned and criticized and allegations have emerged right here and there.

Although the members of freemasonry usually are not hiding their affiliation, in truth they typically wear jewelry that identifies them as one, the overall membership and the scope of the fraternity will not be fairly clearly established to many. They is probably not a 'secret masonic signet rings for sale society' as freemasons themselves call it, but there are a variety of elements in the organization that remain hidden from the general public. The truth is, they hold secret meetings, they've secret codes, rituals and symbols through which meanings are hidden from the public.

One of many 'secrets and techniques of freemasonry' can be is their rites and rituals of initiating a brand new member into the organization and subsequently initiating him into the totally different ranges or degrees of being masonic jewelry ebay a freemason. Other than these points of the group and their 'secret society' label, there had also been loads of controversies and allegations thrown on the organization, from conspiracy theorists to teams and organizations.

The freemasonry was even discouraged by the Roman Catholic church amongst its members and the group has been tagged as anti-Christian. It has also confronted the issues on utilizing their brotherhood to gain favors, particularly that many members of the organization have high positions in the government, even prime ministers and presidents and plenty of are also identified and well-liked being sports activities heroes and celebrities.

The membership of the organization can be extensively distributed worldwide and with that, the query of what actually is their true common objective has been one of many major questions that bugged many.

Allegations about their being a religious cult or in another case, being the illuminati has also made towards the group. With the freemasonry only accepting males, they've also confronted the issue of being discriminatory against ladies.

Probably because of the secrecy of the primary function of their group that a few of their members may not even knew, there have been numerous accusations thrown at them. Other than being tagged as anti-Christian, they've also been accused of being Satanic, but in fact, till the folks have actually recognized what's the common purpose of freemasonry, it'll in all probability remained as a 'secret society' to many and may remain bombarded with accusations.

However in fact, it is important to be aware that the freemasons have also been energetic in civic activities, in charitable work in any of their jurisdictions, and this has been their main actions. Of course, if you're too curious in regards to the deep secrets and techniques of the freemasons, you can also find a lot of resources that deal with a few of them.