#pls appreciate the way i include a lot of threes in her design

[lemonyinks]

PT. 7 of Drawing Legionnaires eyes: Luornu

plus the single colour versions

[duskholland]

Meet Your Match || Mob!Tom Smut

Summary ↠ It’s always awkward when your current boyfriend meets your ex, but it’s a whole new level when it transpires that your ex-boyfriend is the leader of Tom’s rival mob...

Warnings ↠ 18+, contains mature nsfw material. There are extended warnings beneath the cut, but this is quite heavy. 

Word count ↠ 5.9k

A/N ↠ Genuinely am shocked that this came out of my head tbh. It is very intense so please consult the warnings before you dive in ! The entire concept of the first half is very random and almost crack, but then the second half...phew. Sheesh. Thanks to V, mischiefandi, for suggesting I write in a hot Irish mobster as Y/N’s ex...love that for her, and I love you V. I hope you all enjoy this :)

This is a part of my mob!Tom series – a collection of oneshots set within the same universe. You don’t need to read the other parts for this to make sense! You can find the other parts in my masterlist.

18+ do not touch this if you are a minor. 

extended warnings: lol. mob themes including gun mention and punching, a broken nose ft minor mentions of blood, a bit of a dodgy ex who makes some uncomfortable comments, alcohol, possessive!jealous!Tom, d/s dynamics, soft!dom!Tom, mean!dom!Tom, thigh riding, oral (f receiving), spitting, orgasm denial and edging, guided masturbation, rough sex, doggy-style, like two minor instances of spanking, he calls her slut once. im not here to fuck around this goes hard so if you aren’t into rough stuff this isn’t for you. also includes unprotected sex -- please practise safe sex (condoms provide barriers against STIs as well as unwanted pregnancy. pls be safe irl). i would like mob!tom to rail me thank u. enjoy.

--------- Meet Your Match ---------

You’d never given much thought to the possibility of Tom meeting one of your exes. Why would you, when being with him is infinitely more satisfying, loving, and enjoyable than it had ever been with one of them? 

But if you’d had to imagine it, you would’ve pictured it casually. Maybe you’d be out somewhere together - at a café, or a market, with Tom’s arm wrapped safely around you. You’d see your ex - whoever it may be - and there’d be an awkward encounter. The exchange of painful hellos and goodbyes, maybe some piercing stares, and pinched words. Then, you’d move on, and that would be that. 

Never, in your wildest dreams, would you have imagined you’d run into your ex-boyfriend whilst in attendance at a meeting of the London mobs. 

It’s a special event - a large, networking occasion, organised by Tom, as an opportunity for him to meet with his partners and rivals, as they come together to cordially bond over beer and discuss business plans. It’s hosted right in the centre of Piccadilly, in the elegant conference room of a luxurious hotel. You’re just starting to relax and settle in when you glance across the room and see him:

Aidan. Your ex-boyfriend. At… A meeting of the mobs of London? 

“What the fuck,” you mutter. You almost drop your glass of champagne as you narrow your eyes and stare. The conference room is vast, adorned with glittering chandeliers and large banquet tables, but it’s undeniable: Aidan is here. 

“Everything alright, love?” Tom’s by your side, one of his arms wrapped loosely around your shoulders. He’s in remarkably high spirits this evening. The event is fully underway, and judging by the snippets of conversation you’ve been hearing, Tom’s latest plans are coming into fruition - something about warehouses, and a shipment of class A drugs. But none of it matters now, because your mind is entirely elsewhere.

“No,” you state immediately. 

Tom cranes his neck, his eyes seeking you out. You manage to drag your gaze away from Aidan for a brief second.

“What is it?” He’s looking at you with those deep, warm brown eyes, and his gaze is so tender it makes your breath hitch. One of Tom’s fingers moves up to caress your cheek, and you find yourself shifting guiltily on your feet.

“Who, exactly, did you invite to this meeting?” You ask your boyfriend, speaking in hushed tones. Your eyes slip back to Aidan, and you feel yourself relax as you note he’s still deep in conversation with a few men. 

“Suppliers, rivals, allies… Anyone of importance, really.” Tom narrows his eyes, his thumb brushing over your chin as he looks at you closely. “Why?”

“Did you know that you’ve also invited my ex-boyfriend?”

Judging by the look of utter shock on Tom’s face, he had not, in fact, realised his fundamental truth.

“Who?” He asks immediately. His face shifts through several shades before settling on jealous, with his eyebrows bunched together. 

You turn around, resting one hand on the broad shoulder of Tom’s suit before using your other to point out across the crowd.

“Aidan.” 

Tom squints his eyes, a small rumbling noise travelling up his throat. “Aidan?” He repeats, his voice flooded with confusion. You hum affirmatively. “Bloke with the blond hair? Irish?” Again, a hum. Tom releases a short, curt chuckle. “Angel, he’s not called Aidan.”

“What?” You exclaim. 

Tom releases a deep sigh. “That’s Gordy. He runs the Eastside.” 

You feel your jaw loosen. A fake name. “Gordy Byrne?”

“The one and only.”

“Shit.”

You’ve been with Tom for a year. Over those long, fulfilling twelve months, you’ve picked up on several important key pieces of information about the London mob: it’s split into three factions, each sector run by a different figurehead. Tom and his family control the South-West, and they’re in constant disagreement with Gordy, of the East, and Monique, of the North. Each third is continuously testing the waters, trying to take over land, and supplies, and emerge as the solo Kingpin of London. The fragile alliance between the three families is constantly on the verge of disintegration. 

And Gordy is your ex, who you’d met three years ago at the same exclusive club you’d worked in when you’d met Tom. Your relationship had lasted eight months and ended on equal terms as you’d mutually agreed the spark had fizzled away. Despite the considerable span of your relationship, you’d had no suspicions that he’d been involved with the mob. The thought is incredibly jarring.

“Seems like you have a type,” Tom comments, his voice entirely too flippant. 

Before you can call him out on his apparent feelings of resentment, your evening takes a further turn as you realise Gordy has spotted you and is now working his way through the sea of people towards you. 

He looks just as you remember: 6’2, blond, green-eyed. His shoulders are stocky and broad, and his suit bulges with disguised muscles. He maintains that signature swagger you’d come to associate with him, his eyes glinting as he throws out a wild smile. Your eyes catch on the presence of a few new golden teeth fixed in his mouth, and then to the tattooed knuckles that hang by his side.

“Y/N Y/L/N,” Gordy greets, green eyes skimming across you appreciatively, “Who’d ‘a thought we’d meet again?”

All you can really do is let out a squeak of agreement, and pull away from Tom’s side to greet the man with a kiss on the cheek. The familiar scent of Gordy’s musky cologne drifts up your nose, and it makes your head spin.

“What are you doing here?” You ask as you pull away, looking at him incredulously. His pale cheeks wear a scruff of fuzz, highlighting the high arches of his cheekbones. 

“What are you doing here?” He returns, his Irish accent twanging. His eyes shift over to Tom, then back to you, and then they watch as Tom reaches out and carefully tangles his fingers with yours. “Wait…”

“Evening, mate,” Tom greets, voice a little clipped. You feel the grip on your hand tighten, and you let him reel you back into his side. You find home beneath Tom’s heavy arm as he repositions it across your shoulder, keeping you near. “I see you’ve already met my girlfriend.”

The air seems to flicker with tension.

“Interesting,” Gordy comments. He shifts his attention back to you, drawing the lines of your face with his curious eyes. “Didn’t take you for the type, Y/N. Would’ve stuck around if I’d thought you could handle this life.”

His words dig into you, and you find yourself clenching your teeth.

“You told me you worked in banking.”

“Oh, I do.” He runs his fingers down the front of his designer suit, winking. “The mob is quite a lucrative business.” He pauses, and something a little like guilt flashes over his face. “You know my real name, yeah? Gordy, not Aidan. Sorry about that. I hate the lies, but they’re for protection, y’know.”

You feel almost dizzy as you bring your glass of champagne to your lips and throw it back. The bubbles do little to soothe down your discomfort.

“Wow,” you manage. Your eyes shift up to Tom, who’s looking at Gordy with apprehension in his gaze. You understand why: for the past two months, Tom’s been engaged in a brutal turf-war with Gordy’s family over in the South-East. Men have died, shipments stolen. You know one of Tom’s primary motivations for the meeting tonight was to see if he could reach some kind of agreement with them, but the circumstances were tense enough as it was, before this. 

“Isn’t this fun,” Gordy comments. He’s eyeing up Tom now, a cocky smirk hanging from his plush lower lips. “Well, Thomas, it’d seem you and I have a lot more in common than we’d thought, eh? Maybe we’ll be able to come to an agreement.” 

Your stomach turns, and you feel Tom tighten his grip on your arm. He clears his throat, and when he speaks, his tone is so severe that it knocks the air from your lungs.

“Don’t talk about Y/N like that,” he warns darkly. “We will not be making any deals tonight, Gordy.”

You raise your eyebrows, trying to meet his eyes but finding that Tom ignores your attempts and instead keeps staring straight ahead at your ex-boyfriend, a determined frown hanging from his thin lips.

“Why’s that, Thomas?” He quips.

“I don’t like your attitude, I don’t like your policies, and I don’t like the way you’re looking at my girlfriend.” 

Gordy arches an eyebrow. His hand slips down slowly to rest on his hip, but not before his suit jacket has ridden up just enough to expose the sleek outline of his gun, hanging low in the holster on his belt.

“Is this how it’s going to be, Tom?” He asks, shifting his eyes back to you. “Eh? I bed your bird and suddenly business is off the table?”

You can feel the mood sour, and as much as you’d like to reach out and give Gordy a piece of your mind, you are painfully aware of the circumstances: you are standing in the lion’s den. Despite the meeting of Tom’s creation, you know that there’s no chance in hell that Gordy has walked into the evening alone. To initiate any sort of heated discussion whilst surrounded by London’s most notorious gangsters would be a disastrous move.

“Tom,” you murmur, recognising all too well the signs of anger that curl out across Tom’s face: his clenched jaw, the deep frown marks on his forehead, the tight line of his lips. “Let’s go.”

For a moment you think he’s going to follow you. Tom lets you shrug off his arm and take his hand, and his posture loosens as if he’s about to turn and walk across the room with you. But then, of course, Gordy just has to get in the last word.

“Oh, well, if you’re going, you won’t mind giving me a goodbye kiss, eh, Y/N?” He peers at you with mischievous eyes, his voice lilting lightly. “Just like old times?”

Tom’s moving before you can even attempt to stop him, and you hear a loud crack as his fist sweeps up and collides with Gordy’s nose. The man doubles over, groaning profusely, and your eyes widen as you take in the stream of blood that immediately begins to pour from his face.

“Tom!” You exclaim, your eyes wide and your hands shaking. Your boyfriend grabs at your fingers, squeezing your digits in his.

“He’s not allowed to disrespect you like that,” he mutters darkly. 

“I don’t need you to defend me, I can do it myself,” you hiss back. Your heart pounds in your chest, but you feel the hot lump of anger melt away as Tom looks at you through those brown, golden eyes, his mouth positioned into a guilty smile. 

Two men emerge from the crowd and flank Gordy’s side. You feel a deep swell of fear pool in the pit of your stomach, and instinctively your fingers move down towards your bag for the switch-blade you’d buried alongside your lipstick. But you find your actions stilling as Gordy clears his throat, rights himself and holds up a bloody hand.

“It’s fine,” Gordy tells his guards. He tilts his head in your direction. “I deserved it. No disrespect to the lady.” His beady green eyes move to Tom. “We can finish this discussion some other time, Thomas. Good evening to you both.” 

Before waiting to see if Gordy turns around and walks away, you tighten your grip on Tom’s hand and lead him out of the large conference room. It’s completely silent, and the groups of people seem to part like the sea as you escort your boyfriend from the scene, his lips brushing over the back of his bruised hand as he winces. You don’t say anything, not until you’re safely stowed away in the backseat of a large car, the doors locked, windows tinted, and driver separated by partition.

“Love, look, I’m sorry, but I-”

You cut Tom off by climbing from your seat and meeting his mouth with a deep, needy kiss. Your boyfriend releases a noise of surprise, and his hands shift up to grab at your waist as he pulls you onto his lap eagerly, pressing back against your lips with fervour. It’s messy, and you enjoy running your hands through strands of his unruly hair as he keeps you close, his fingers grasping at every area of your front and sides, mapping you out.

“What did I do to deserve that?” Tom murmurs, his curious eyes meeting yours. “Thought I was in trouble.” His hands cup your cheeks, and you give him a coy smile.

“You shouldn’t have punched him,” you tell him, biting your lip as his thumb brushes over the soft skin of your face. “I’m glad that you did, though. He was a dick.” 

Tom hums. “And also the enemy, love.”

Your eyebrows knit together, and you sit back on Tom’s wide thighs as you sigh. “I can’t believe he runs one of the other mobs,” you mutter. “I can’t believe I’ve dated two mobsters, and I didn’t even know.”

Tom’s smile doesn’t quite stretch to his eyes, but he still manages a short chuckle. “I hate the thought of you being with him,” he admits. His eyes stir with something darker, and his fingers dig into your waist. “I hate the thought of you being with anyone other than me.”

You bite your lower lip as you twirl the short strands at the nape of his neck around your fingers. “It was a long time ago,” you tell him. “Our relationship wasn’t anything of consequence.”

Your boyfriend chuckles, but he’s still got that hungry glint in his eyes. You feel a shiver roll down your spine as his gaze sweeps across your face, his hands shifting up to rest on the curves of your breasts. Your dress is thin, and the neckline meant you had to go without a bra. A soft gasp falls past your lips as Tom’s thumbs brush over the lines of your nipples, which prick in response to his touch.

“Is our relationship of consequence?” Tom asks, his voice dancing. He’s staring at your chest now, his smirk widening as you instinctively push further into his hands, enjoying the feeling of his large, warm palms groping at your breasts.

“Of course.” You swallow and bring your fingers away from his neck. With careful movements, you reach up and pull the straps of your dress from your shoulders, meeting Tom’s gaze as you roll down the front of the garment, exposing your bare chest to him. “I love you.”

Tom seeks out your neck with his lips, and you release a small gasp as he sucks firmly on the base of your throat, his fingers moving over your bare chest. You can feel his mouth pulling the blood to the surface of your skin, but the pain makes you cry out in pleasure as your fingers wrap around his suit jacket and fist at the expensive material hugging his back. He takes his time as he works his way up your neck, sucking and biting, and then soothing the throbbing marks with gentle laps of his tongue and soft, open-mouthed kisses. By the time he reaches your ear, you’re squirming in his lap.

“You are mine.”

His tongue teases the lobe of your ear as his hands move all across your bare back, caressing your skin gently with his palms. The cold metal of his silver rings bites to touch, but you shiver in enjoyment.

“Yours,” you agree. Tom shifts from your neck to look at you straight on, his eyes full of dark, heady lust.

“Mine,” he repeats. His mouth is on yours, and you let him prise apart your lips with his tongue. His hands fist at your hair and he pulls you closer roughly, and your teeth collide as he kisses you sloppily, groaning into your mouth. It’s messy - with noses bashing and his digits tugging at your strands and your lips moving everywhere, slick with spit - but you feel him gather you up in his arms as he holds you. He owns you.

You make-out until the car arrives home, at which point your lips are tender and puffy and your entire body throbs with persistent arousal. Tom’s eager with his affection, but you can feel the underlying pulse of fear coasting through his veins; you want so desperately to placate it: to let him know that he has nothing to worry about - that you are his now, and probably always will be. Tom’s not alone in his discomfort - you, too, feel jilted and unbalanced after running into a ghost from your past. You need Tom desperately, in more ways that one. You need him to look after you - to hold you, be firm with you, and show you your place within your relationship. You need him to be your dom, and you crave the release of submitting to him entirely - with your mind, body and heart.  

“You can do anything you want to me tonight,” you tell him. You’re standing at the foot of the bed, Tom sitting up against the headboard. His suit jacket lays off to the side, tie hanging loose around his neck and his top two buttons undone. You’ve made a mess of his hair, but he looks so fucking pretty with his chestnut curls all tousled and his lips bright pink and inflamed. 

“That’s funny,” Tom comments, eyes glinting as he tilts his head to the side, “I thought I could already do that.” 

His words send a shiver down your spine, and you find yourself biting your lower lip as your face fills up with heat.

“Do you want me to take off my dress?” Your fingers toy with the straps, which are all rolled up and uneven thanks to the hastiness in which you’d scrambled from the car.

“No.” Tom sits up, and he pats his thigh invitingly. “Take off your panties and come up here.”

You tease him a little bit, enjoying the way his gaze weighs down your figure. You’re slow to push your dress up to your waist, and you make a show of hooking your index fingers beneath the band to reveal lacy panties. You tug at the material until it falls to pool at your feet, and then you delicately step away from them and approach your boyfriend. You have a sudden thought that it’s as if you are the prey, walking straight into danger, but you welcome it: Tom’s looking at you, his expression hard but excited and his eyes swimming with darkness, and it makes your throat dry up. 

“Such a gorgeous girl, aren’t you?”

The material of Tom’s slacks feels coarse against your centre as you straddle his left thigh. His hands press at your waist, pushing your cunt straight against his leg, and the contact makes you moan softly.

“You look so pretty with your neck all marked up.” Tom presses a light kiss to one of your hickeys, and you gasp as a line of pain ripples out across your skin. “You look like you’re mine.”

“I am.”

“I know.” Tom strokes his hand through your hair, eyes watching you carefully. “I’m just going to remind you.”

“And how exactly do you plan on doing that?” You ask, your voice wavering.

He hums, the noise suspended with confidence. “You’ll see.” His hands dig into your waist a little firmer, and he starts to guide your movements. “Work yourself against my thigh, darling. Make a nice wet spot for me.”

His words make you moan, and you’re quick to comply. You recognise the dark glint in his eyes and the layers to his voice - he’s slipping away into his harder, more dominative side, just as you find yourself eager to oblige him. You grind yourself down over his thigh, and his trousers are rough against your flushed centre. The friction burns beautifully. A few moans slip past your lips, and your eyes squeeze shut as his hands press over you, digging into your waist, guiding you. Tom is very much in control, and as the seconds slip past, you give into it.

“Tell me how it feels,” he murmurs, rich voice drifting into your ears. You bite your lip, your hole clenching around nothing as you swivel your hips and feel the pressure to your hot bud.

“Feels really good,” you admit, voice a whimper. “Love it when you let me touch you.” 

Tom takes your chin between two fingers, looking at you with a hard stare. He pulls your face to him, his tongue licking a wide stripe over your lips. As you try to push forward for a kiss, he just moves away, a teasing smirk on his lips. “No,” he says softly, “You’ll take what I give you, and you won’t be greedy about it. I don’t want to have to punish you, babygirl.”

You nod quickly, the movement hurried and messy. It’s getting hard to think of anything other than the fact you’ve made his trousers slick with your arousal. The burn between your legs is gradually swelling to a crescendo.

“Sorry,” you whisper. Your fingers find purchase on his shoulder, and you find your forehead dropping down to rest there too as your breathing hitches.

“Are you close, darling?” He’s very soft and gentle, and it makes you whimper out a small noise of agreement. Tom chuckles, pulling at your hair as he brings your face back up, his hands bearing down on your hips to halt your movements. “Lie down for me, please.”

You scramble from his lap, your centre pulsing as it leaves his thigh. Your eyes catch on the way you’ve left a large, wet mark on his trousers, and you watch with wide eyes as Tom stands from the bed. He walks around to the foot of the mattress, his figure commanding your complete attention. 

“I’ve been thinking about what I’d like to do to you,” he says, speaking quietly. His nimble fingers work down the buttons of his shirt, popping them quickly. Once his shirt is discarded, Tom works on his slacks. As the metallic sounds of his belt clicking fill the air, he smirks at you. “Are you going to be good for me?”

“Yes,” you say immediately. You squeal as Tom grabs at your ankles and pulls you to the edge of the bed. He kneels on the floor, hauling you closer until your thighs are over his shoulders and his face is near your heat. Your dress scrunches up at your waist, and you whimper as his hands press your legs apart. “I’ll always be good for you.”

“Is that right?” Tom asks, index finger running lightly over the inside of one of your thighs. He looks up at you, eyes hooded and blown wide with lust.

“Yes.”

“Prove it to me,” he instructs. “If you think you’re about to cum, you need to tell me.” Tom’s gaze darkens. “If you disobey me, you won’t enjoy what happens.” With tender lips, he presses a kiss to your inner thigh, looking at you with a gentle smile. When he speaks again, his voice is lighter, “Is this okay, darling?”

You nod.

“Words.”

As two of Tom’s fingers spread your puffy outer lips, you stammer out a broken, “Yes, I understand.”

“Good girl.”

He dives in quickly, and the press of his warm tongue against your pulsing pussy makes you cry out. You’re already feeling hot and bothered from the time you spent rutting against the coarse material of his trousers, and the pressure soothes you. He’s too far away to touch, so you curl your hands into fists and pull at the silky bed linen, eyelids fluttering shut as his tongue caresses you, over and over.

Tom makes out sloppily with your cunt, two of his slender fingers pulling up to push into your heat. He fills you easily, taking the edge off your desire as his tongue flicks over your clit, unrelenting, hard. He’s eager for it, holding nothing back as he coaxes you quickly towards a high, moaning and grunting into your centre. The vibrations drive you mad, and your mind spins off as he holds you in place.

“S-Shit,” you stammer, back arching. As much as you don’t want to say it, Tom’s already pushing you towards climax. As he curls his slender digits up against you, his tips brush against your g-spot, and it has you seeing stars. “I’m gonna cum, Tom.”

All movements stop. Tom’s mouth pulls back from your cunt, and his fingers still inside you. Your walls clench around him, but he relaxes them, halting all stimulation of your sensitive pussy as you whimper.

“Good,” he coos. Your eyes seek him out, and you moan as you see his chin slick with your juices. “You taste divine, sweetheart.” His free hand strokes over your inner thigh, calming you with gentle circles and caresses. “We’ll do this a few more times, I think. I want you dripping onto the sheets. I want you to forget about everything apart from me, and how desperate you are for me.” His teeth nip at your thigh, and you squirm.

True to his word, Tom works you up, over and over again. Each time he brings you to the edge of a high, he pulls back at the last moment, leaving you teetering on the edge for a painful second before your climax goes ebbing away from your reach. The time it takes to build up to each edge narrows considerably with each completion, and you find yourself growing desperate for more. Your skin is hot and prickles, your forehead breaking into a sweat. The muscles in your legs ache from the exertion of almost spasming into climax, time and time again, and your throat hurts from your eager, desperate moans. He’s a demon, his deep brown eyes watching you closely, sharp ears picking up each noise and sound, and he seems intent on drawing this out for as long as possible.

“I think that’s enough,” Tom finally says. Your sigh of relief is so loud and pronounced that it makes him chuckle. “What, you didn’t like that?” His hand comes down over your inner thigh, slapping softly. As the pain ripples across your skin, you whimper. “Don’t lie to me, angel. I know you love it when I’ve got my head between your legs.” His large hands slip under your thighs, and he pushes you up the bed, slipping up over you. With his body suspended above you and a hand either side of your head, Tom raises his eyebrows. “Open,” he instructs.

What he does next makes your eyes roll back. You open your mouth immediately, and he chuckles darkly. One hand holds your jaw, and you watch as Tom purses his lips, eyes you intently, and then spits directly into your mouth. The taste of your cunt spreads out across your tongue, and your hole clenches around nothing as you moan loudly.

“Swallow,” he says. You close your mouth and do just that, and then you stick out your tongue for him to see. “Good,” he coos. Tom kisses you suddenly, the action hard as he sucks on your tongue. When he pulls back, he kisses your nose. “Pretty girl, aren’t you? My pretty girl.”

His lips skate all across your face, dusting you in warm kisses of reward. 

“I love you,” you whisper, wrapping your arms around his shoulders. The gratitude you feel towards him for knowing exactly what you need is boundless, consuming. 

“And I love you.” You share a tender moment of understanding as Tom brushes his hand over your face, and in the look you exchange, you know that he feels as you do: appreciation towards your partner, for reading you and obliging you. He hums softly, slipping away from you after a final kiss to pull off his boxers. “Take off your dress for me, love. Give me a show.”

You’re shaky on your feet, but you manage to stand in front of the bed. Tom sits up against the headboard, working his hand over his erect length as he watches you. You tease him, just like you know he enjoys, taking your time as you roll the sleeves down and unzip the back. The material goes tumbling to the floor, pooling at your feet, and then you’re entirely naked - wearing only his hickeys, and his spit between your legs. 

“Beautiful,” he says, eyes glinting. “You’re an angel, aren’t you?” When you shrug bashfully, he nods. “My angel. C’mere.” You move to him, but he stops you before you can reach for his cock. “I want you to lie down here and show me how you get off.”

“But I want--” 

He shuts you up with a hard stare. “Do you really want to finish that sentence?” When you’re quiet, he hums. You can’t stop staring at the way his hands slide over his length. Your mouth waters at the thought of letting your tongue wander over his leaking tip, collecting the beads of salty precum. “Do this for me, and then I’ll let you have what you want.”

You part your legs, your thighs aching. As you dip your hand between your legs, you whimper to feel your slick mixed with Tom’s spit. Your skin is soaked, and as you nimbly press two fingers into your hole, you find it looser, already stretched from Tom’s exploration earlier. You can feel his eyes on you, watching your hand move as you slowly fuck yourself with your fingers, getting pleasure from the knuckle of your thumb as it brushes up against your clit.

As you begin to whimper, Tom swoops in with his final lesson of the evening. He reaches down, wrapping his hand around yours, guiding your movements. He sets the pace and the angle, speeding up your thrusts. The sound of your wetness sloshing around makes you cry out loudly as he edges you perfectly, like he knows your body better than you. 

“You see this,” he mutters, voice husky. “I give you pleasure. It doesn’t matter if it’s my tongue in your cunt, or my fingers, or my cock. This cunt?” He curls your fingers, and they brush up against your g-spot, making you cry out. “This cunt is mine. You are mine.”

You almost lose it right there, the deep husky tones of his dominant voice sending you spinning, but then Tom pulls away. As your walls flutter weakly around nothing, he pats at your hip.

“Hands and knees, darling.”

Your arms shake as you roll over, adopting the position. Again, Tom stands at the foot of the bed, pulling you back until you’re spread open for him. You feel his cock, dragging through your slick folds, teasing your tender clit until your hips jerk forwards. Your bud aches almost painfully, your body pulled tight with an overwhelming need to climax.

“Please,” you beg desperately, dropping your head between your arms. “Please, please.”

Tom’s hand smooths over the curve of your ass, silver ring biting coolly against you, “Does my darling want to feel my cock?” 

“Yes, please.”

“Hmm.” Easily, he slips the tip of his cock past your entrance. “I suppose you deserve it,” he teases. “Been such a good little slut for me, haven’t you?”

When Tom finally fucks into you, the moan you release is almost pornographic. He’s been teasing you, over and over, drawing you close to orgasm only to jerk it away from you each time, but now that he’s got his length buried up to the hilt inside you, you know it’s been worth it. Nothing compares to the relief you feel as you realise you’ll be allowed to finish soon, your walls squeezing his cock. 

The pace is punishing, and everything blurs together. His hands on your hips, holding you in place, pulling you back rhythmically to meet with his thrusts. As his slick cock pounds into you over and over, his flushed tip nudges against your g-spot. The stimulation makes your eyes tear up, and a few hot tears skate across your cheeks as you whimper and cling to the sheets.

“Fuck, princess, you’re fucking perfect for me, aren’t you?” A hand falls over your bum, and you moan. “So tight and warm. Feels so snug around me, lovie. So perfect.” Tom’s voice comes out firm, but it wavers, and you can imagine the grimace of pleasure on his face. “Always take me so well.” His hand moves to the top of your back, and he pushes you into the bed. Your face buries into the sheets as the angle adjusts, and you gasp loudly as the adjustment means he can rail you harder. 

“S-Shit,” you moan. “Love your cock, Tommy. Pl-Please.”

“What do you need?”

You whimper, the power of his thrusts fucking you further into the mattress. “W’nna cum.”

“You can play with your clit then.”

Tears fly down your cheeks, and it feels overwhelming as you nudge a hand between your legs to fondle your bud. Tom’s hands hold your hips, keeping you nice and open for him, and you’re glad for the heavy pressure on your skin. It keeps you anchored down.

“Are you close?” He asks, grunting heavily as he feels your walls squeeze him.

“Yes.”

“I think you deserve to cum, don’t you?” He pauses briefly, cursing lowly, pace faltering. “Let go, darling. Let me feel you squeezing me. I want to feel what I do to you.”

The action of his deep, fast thrusts mixes with your fingers on your clit, and you cum with a  loud, quivering scream. Tom holds you down, fucking into you as you spasm and writhe in the sheets, and after a few, mind-numbing moments of pleasure, you feel him follow you with a grunt. His hot speed paints your walls, his noises of heady enjoyment mixing with yours, and it just prolongs your climax.

When you calm down, Tom carefully pulls out from you. You whimper at the loss, feeling a little out of it as he turns you over, pushes you up into the centre of the bed and pulls you on top of him. Your head settles in the crook of his neck, his hands palming over your back as he kisses the top of your head, over and over again.

“So good for me,” he mumbles. Your legs tangle together. You can feel his cum spilling from your hole, dripping down onto him, but he doesn’t seem to care. “My best girl. I love you so much.” 

You hum quietly, rubbing your hand over the top of his arm as you whimper. “Love you too,” you manage, voice hoarse. 

Tom’s hands cup your face, and he gently coaxes you up until he can meet with your eyes. His fingers brush away the teary residue from your cheeks, and he kisses you softly.

“Mine,” he mumbles against you, smiling into your lips as you hum in agreement. One of your hands folds into his curls, and you feel your heart stirring contentedly in your chest.

“Yours.”

---------

lol. hope you enjoyyyyed :) 

I’m intending to do some mob!Tom blurbs next week for mob!Monday, so if you have any concepts you’d like to see, please send them to my ask box!

ask box is open for your thoughts!! I’m dying to know what you think of this... 👀

masterlist linked in bio!

[canary3d-obsessed]

Lost Tomb Lewks: Reboot Part 11

(LTL Masterpost) (All Canary Masterposts)(Part 10)

I’m making my post titles more specific because I’m loving the clothes in The Mystic Nine and in Ultimate Note, so I expect I’ll continue this series with other shows when I get to the end of Reboot Season 2. 

Look 56 is - surprise! - a cozy sweater. This one is a deep, huggable brown in a sort of waffle stitch (OP is not a knitter; knitters pls feel free to elaborate in comments). He wears this with loose blue jeans and...shoes. This show doesn’t feature his feet often enough for proper shoe commentary. 

This is a perfect look for pacing and talking, half to yourself and half to your buddy, as he gets absolutely, completely baked. 

Wu Xie is doing his pacing while he gazes at an enormous pin board filled with pictures linked together with red string. The red string board is becoming one of my favorite CDrama tropes. I’ve seen it in Detective L, Mystic Nine, that new show with Wue Xie number 2 Psych Hunter, and probably a couple more shows. It’s a thing in older American detective dramas, too, but not in modern ones and not nearly as often. 

It does look cooler than a whiteboard with magnets, but it seems like a lot of work. For this pin board, Wu Xie Wang Meng had to cut a bunch of red string and print out a bazillion cell phone pictures, which someone managed to take during all of the running around & death defying action. All so Wu Xie could theorize that everything connects to...some random point in the middle of the board? I don’t know who these guys are in the middle picture, but I don’t think they’re responsible for all of the rocks in the other pictures. 

If you change your mind about a connection, and move a pin, do you have to re-loop all the string to keep everything taut? What if you need to move an end pin when you’ve already cut the string? Perhaps OP is overthinking this. 

This look is a comfortable one for lying on the couch when you’ve exhausted yourself with string management. 

(more behind the cut!)

I love the aesthetic of this apartment. It appears to be full of furniture taken from Wu Xie’s study in Wushanju, but because it isn’t mixed in with the fancy older antiques, the vibe is totally different. The furniture is midcentury modern, with a lot of warm tones and leather, which matches Wu Xie’s clothing choices. This quality of furniture subtly reminds us that these guys are antique dealers. Even when they’re down and out, they have discerning taste.

The textiles, cushions, the throw blanket on the table, are all colorful, tactile, and comfortable, matching Pangzi’s clothing and overall vibe. Overall the space is a nice mix of both of their looks, which is appropriate for an old married couple long-term roommates. 

He completes this outfit with a olive-green hooded jacket with lots of flaps and pockets. 

Side note: their buddy  Jin Wan Tang (on the left) might be officially gay? Unlike the blatant subtle queer coding that appears in a lot of CDramas, this character (and that one guy in the Rain Village section) seems flamboyant in a stereotypical “gay best friend” way. But I’ve only ever seen one acknowledged gay character in Chinese cinema--the very stereotypical tailor in Kung Fu Hustle--so I don’t know if the semiotics are the same as in western media. 

Anyway, I dig his mix of business suit and funky jewelry, and I share his appreciation of shirtless Xiao Ge (in Season 1, not today, sorry).

Look 57 is actually a rerun of Look 45, but it’s one of my favorites, featuring a beautiful soft suede jacket in a warm camel color. This time we get a much better look at the jacket, so I’m featuring it a second time. (Previously he wore this to hijack Li Jiale’s truck.) The jacket features detailed tailoring, with pleated pockets with flaps and buttons, and a nice strong collar and lapel that contrast with the softness of the material. 

Under this lovely jacket he wears a cream colored sweater, jeans that fit really well for a change, and work boots. 

This outfit is good for mournfully looking at a heap of smashed ceramics. 

It’s also good for struggling through a gas attack designed specifically to destroy your unhealthy lungs...

...and make you hork up blood, because it’s not a Zhu Yilong show if there’s no mouth blood, and it’s been at least a couple of episodes since we’ve had any. 

This look is perfect for going to visit your snippy ex-boyfriend while you’re unconscious, so he can bitchily save your life. 

“Hey, Canary,” you might have thought up above, “with all these above-the waist shots, how can you tell his jeans fit well?”

This. This is how. 

Oh and hey, we finally get a really good look at his shoes. His shoes, people. 

Look 58 belongs to bitchy doctor/chef Huo Daofu. 

He’s wearing a white double-breasted chef’s coat featuring contrasting piping and buttons. It is perfectly fitted, which will will learn is true of everything this man wears. 

Over the jacket he’s got an immaculate work apron, and under it he’s wearing a thin grey turtleneck sweater with ribbed collar and cuffs. He wears turtlenecks a lot. Whoever is giving him hickeys, it’s not Wu Xie any more because he hates Wu Xie. Hates him! 

Cue endless tender medical care and eventual deep abiding friendship. Also possibly shacking up, it’s hard to tell how many people really live in Wushanju at any given time. 

The first part of Look 59 is a deep olive-green long-sleeve tee shirt worn over a grey undershirt. 

It’s a shirt. It’s green. 

He looks really fucking good in it, okay? His arms are beautiful even when they’re covered up.  This shirt needs three gifs because...it just does.

Look 60 is Bai Haotian’s awesome green satin roller-disco jacket. 

The styling is straight out of 1979, which is long before she was born, making this a fun retro throwback. Or possibly she borrowed it from her grandma. The collar and cuffs have sporty black-and-white ribbing.

The jacket has nice contemporary details to give it a fresh look. These include suns, moons, and mountains (I think) running down the arms in a contrast stripe, and the words “magical altitudes” in embroidered sections on the back and chest. 

Wu Xie’s Look 59, Part 2 is also featured in these caps. He’s put a strangely short waisted grey jacket over his nice green shirt. Other than the short waist, it fits nicely. 

Those jeans, on the other hand. Wu Xie’s ass deserves better treatment than this. Paging Xiao Ge

Periodic reminder: Xiao Bai is absurdly, absurdly pretty. 

So is Wu Xie.

Bonus Look 1: Okay, Xue Wu is a bad bad man but damn, his clothes are always amazing. He favors emphatically Chinese looks, but always  with contemporary tailoring details, so he doesn’t look old fashioned. For his daughter’s wedding he’s wearing a deep blue suit with blue embroidery and this cool gold collar pin. 

Bonus Look 2 is Wu Xie in his favorite blue marl sweater. Or he has a few blue marl sweaters. Anyway, this time he’s lying down and resting his eyelashes while he wears it. 

[palettepainter]

I’ve got post vaccine (moderna gang) shivers so I need to express fluff headcanons to spread good vibes

When Ecto was planning to propose, he had to keep it so hush hush because Higari can easily find things out. He didn’t tell anyone but higaris mother and his own parents. He was very happy that Higari was actually surprised with the proposal. Higari wears the rings on a necklace- his quirk doesn’t exactly make wedding rings easy to find.

As much as Higari prefers being a support hero, search and rescue jobs that go smoothly it’s very rewarding. He often checks up on those he’s managed to rescue, keeps in touch with some too. There’s this lovely older woman who he rescued from a crumbling retirement home who sends him baked goods every holiday. He visits her every month for tea.

When Ecto is sick, Higari cares for him easily. Even when Ecto acts like he isn’t sick. He’ll make him soup, make sure he’s resting, cold compress on his forehead. As stubborn as he is, ecto appreciates it.

Higaris favorite memory with his dad is digging around in the yard with him. Since they had the same quirks, it worked out. He showed him how to carve tunnels without the ground crumbling, or just played around in the dirt. There’s a picture of Higari when he was three, covered in dirt with his head peaking out of a hole. His dad was grinning, sitting near by like he was cheering him on. Sometimes, especially on days where thinking about his dad is hard, he’ll tell Ecto stories.

As someone who also got shivers after getting a vaccine I know the feeling, how you’re doing well!

Ecto proposing, Yes! I love the idea of Ecto proposing to Higari, and his rugged flirting smirking self just crumbles in the face of Ecto holding a ring to him. Ecto’s eyes are so full of love and he has such a soft grin on his face that Higari can’t help but tearing up, he tries to think of something flirty to say back, but he just can’t. He’s overwhelmed - probably ended up tackling Ecto in a hug with a big kiss, which threw Ecto off guard, thinking at first maybe he’d overwhelmed Higari when he started crying.

Higari wearing is around his neck, also yes. Higari’s wedding ring is the only thing that he will spend careful hours cleaning and polishing at the end of each day to make sure it stays in good condition, wears is around UA proudly - though I imagine for interviews outside of UA or when he’s called out for hero work he leaves it at home in a special box on his dresser or safely tucks it away in a drawer in the design studio, as much as he loves wearing the rink around his neck he dreads the thought of loosing it in a rescue, or having some nosy reports pester him for answers if they catch sight of it. 

With Higari’s gear I’m a firm believer he’d be a great rescue hero in say like natural disasters or if a building collapsed. With his giant robotic suit and his know how on construction he could easily map a safe route to evacuate citizens from an unstable building, or quickly find a way to clean up after a land slide. Need to move a giant tree? No problem he’ll move it no prob. Citizen can’t move because they’re leg hurts? He can carry em out to safety. Kids they rescued are bored while they’re waiting for parents to pick them up? Higari tolerates them clambering about on his hero suit like it’s a jungle gym

Anything with Higari caring for Ecto or vise versa is so wholesome! In my NGAU I imagine Higari prolly knows all the tricks to help when someone is sick, he grew up in a big house with tones of little siblings, as kids they got sick a lot with how often they played in the garden and mud, they’ve all got very strong immune systems so it’s rare Higari or his siblings get sick - but Higari still knows all the tricks to help nursing someone back to health. He remembers to give Ecto some medicine, make him some soup, hot water bottle if he’d cold, flannel if he’s too hot and plenty of liquids. A teenie tiny part of Ecto might even enjoy all the attention, appreciating Higari’s concern. Too bad Higari is too stubborn to actually treat himself when he’s sick, with how little he gets sick he doesn’t take it all that seriously - thankfully Ecto is a patient man with many clones, so is willing to drag Higari back to bed if needed XD

And the last one with his dad...

Anon: Are you trying to make me cry-

In my NGAU Powerloader’s dad was all over him, spoiled Higari so so much. Spent many lazy afternoons slacking off work when the missus wasn’t looking to play around with Higari (bragged for like a week straight that he got his quirk, proud dad moment). Higari’s mother came out into the garden to see how the boys where doing, she finds her husband and toddler son covered head to toe in dirt and mud. She gets angry at them, insisting the two need a bath if they want to have dinner. Toddler Higari hated baths from the day he was born apparently, and it’s only until dear old papa gives him a bath is he willing to get clean. His dad puts bubbles in Higari’s hair, and Higari splashes bubbles onto his dads beard, who then makes a silly face to make Higari laugh. Too bad only one hour after tea the two got dirty again-

The first time Higari used his quirk was when he was outside with his dad. His dad was working on fixing up the shed, Higari sitting in a small play pen outside with some toys while his dad stood close by, able to work while also keeping an eye on Higari. Higari, bored of playing with his building blocks, begins to drag his little hands at the ground, and before he knows it he’s tunneling his way to freedome beyond the bounds of his baby playpen. This kind of scneario probably ensued:

Kaigo (PL’s dad): Phew *picks up tool box and turns around* Alright sweetpea, time to go back insi- *freezes when he sees the playpen is empty, and no baby in sight* W-WHAT?! *drops tool box, and rapidly looks around* Uh- H-Higari?! Sweetpea?! Where’d you go?? Come to dad, this isn’t funny! *rushes around a bit*

Higari: *tunnles his way up to the surface in his mothers flowerbed, a small pile of dirt with a flower sticking out the top sitting on his head*

Kaigo: *searching in the bushes* H-Higari?! Higari! Where are you?! *mumbles* Shit I took my eyes off him for two minutes! Where the hell could he-

Higari: BAPA!

Kaigo: *jumps and whirls around*..*heaves and sigh and rushes over* Oh thank god! *scoops him into his arms for a hug* You stupid lil’ ankle biter! Don’t you ever do that again! *holds him out at arms length* How in the world did you even get out??

Higari: *sneezes from the dirt, making the flower fall off his head*

Kaigo:..Wait. Did..D-Did you, DIG your way out?!

Higari: *incoherent baby noises*

Kaigo;...Ooooh you are in SO much trouble young man, you know how many years off my life you just took? Huh?...*scowls as Higari giggles* Oh so you think this is FUNNY?-

Higari: *grabs his nose* BA!

Kaigo:............*sighs* You’re damn lucky you’re cute, you know that?...Uh, how about we DON’T tell your Ma about this, okay?

Ever since then his dad had to watch him like a hawk, one minute Higari was sitting playing with his toys, the next he was trying to dig his way to the other side of the world. When he was old enough his dad did give him some lessons in how to dig safely so the ground wouldn’t become unstable. I imagine Higari may have madea  few tunnels as a kid that where too close to the surface, and his very unsuspecting mum and dad would just sink into the ground collapsing an old tunnel Higari made. And Higari having pictures?? YES. His mum probably has a whole stash of pictures of Higari as a baby playing outside with his dad and her. Including the embarrassing photos, the kind of photos Higari would never want Ecto to see, but his mum showed him anyway. 

Now I wanna write angst with Powerloader and his dad aaaaa-

[whispersafterdusk]

Lost in Time - ch 19

"I'm sorry - I'm not usually forgetful, I'm just dumb today."

About halfway through his patrol Asher had the realization that Eli's story comment DID make sense -- she'd explained her religious beliefs at the memorial service weeks ago, which seemed to revolve around the idea of everyone being born with a story to tell.  He was there, he'd heard it, and he was kicking himself for forgetting it.

Across the table Eli shrugged.  "We're both running on zero sleep and had more important things to focus on, it's not a big deal.  I can still explain it all again or more in-depth if you're curious."

The Round Table was mostly empty; they were a bit early for the lunch rush.  A headache was starting behind Asher's left eye so he was glad it was quiet in here.   "Only if you feel up to it. I'm still really sorry."

"I don't mind.  So, like I mentioned before-"

She abruptly stopped and Asher could see her eyes flick over his shoulder toward the door so he shifted enough to peer behind him.  Harrison had just come in and he had a girl following along behind him; Asher had seen her around town a lot lately. ((Continued below cut))

Eli watched the two of them for a moment then turned her attention back to him.  "Well, that's a good reminder that I need to stop by the clinic for another bottle of aspirin."

"Man, I could use one of those at the moment," Asher sighed.  "I've stayed awake way longer than this but it doesn't mean it's easy on the body."

She nodded, then abruptly stood.  "Actually, be right back."

As she headed over to where Harrison and the girl were seating themselves at a booth Asher shifted again to give himself a full view of the room; it wasn't that he expected their suspect to waltz in through the door but knowing there was someone out there lurking with bad intentions had his paranoia cranked to the max, and no matter how farfetched a scenario may seem he felt he shouldn't ignore anything his brain spat out at him.  

So he watched as Eli chatted with the two at the table briefly then came back and flopped back down in her seat; right as she returned Sonia came to the table with their food and drinks.

"What was that about?" he asked as he grabbed his fork and speared a chunk of tofu off his plate.

"Was asking Harrison to tell Dr. Xu that I won't be coming to my usual session tonight, in case I don't actually make it to the clinic today to let him know myself."

"Ah."  He stuffed the tofu in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.  "-I hope you aren't planning on pulling another all-nighter."

She shook her head and downed half the lemonade in her glass in four huge gulps.  "-I don't PLAN on it just yet but I want my schedule open in case I have to.  Once I'm off the clock for today I'm going to help Selene get whatever transmitters she has the parts for assembled and ready to go."

"Need some help?"

Again she shook her head.   "It'd take me longer to teach you how to put it together than it would for me to do it myself.  I appreciate the offer though."

"If you...you know, need anything.  At all.  You can ask me, you know?"

She drained her glass and set it aside before finally starting in on her food.  "I know."

They both ate quickly (a little TOO quickly in Asher's case - now he had a slightly queasy stomach AND the start of a headache) and paid their respective bills before heading toward the Corps building.  As they passed the graveyard Asher could see one of the construction folks - it was the tall blonde man (that was who had designed that stone in the first place, he thought) - carefully examining the burnt surface of the tombstone.  Since it was just polished rock Asher was certain the man could grind off and re-polish it without too much trouble; he was still mad that someone had defaced the grave but in a way thankful that it would be easy to restore.  And, should the vandal decide to-

"--you know, I think we ought to post a person here for a few nights," he said as he slowed to a stop and then turned to backtrack to the graveyard's gates.

"You think whoever did it will come back that quickly?"

He nodded.  "Darren's stone and the others for your squad mates all look sort of similar - if whoever this is is purposely singling you out they might deface the rest of these and might be brave or stupid enough to come back soon."

"I'd think they'd expect us to be keeping a close eye on the place."

"They might, they might not, they might not even care. But." Asher turned to point down the hill the way they'd come and then used his finger in the air to trace along the line of a stone archway they'd walked under.  It was dotted with windows and had an old, iron-banded wooden door that was heavily padlocked; the inside area was used to store the furniture needed for festivals (he'd helped put the benches and chairs used at the memorial services away inside there).  The windows were tiny and probably a little dusty but if someone took up a position at that middle window at the top of the arch they could probably see the entire cemetery from there, and it would be hard to spot them in the dark at that height from the ground.  "If we hide someone up there, they wouldn't even know we're here."

Eli followed his hand and eyed the archway, then shrugged.  "Right, so, another all-nighter then."

"You DID say you were keeping your schedule open."

"Let's check in with Arlo and see what's what before we pencil a stakeout onto the agenda."

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

Her task today had sounded easy on the surface: cut open the flaps of seed sacks, arrange them in a wagon.  They were heavy but not so much that she couldn't carry them, but the knife she'd been given to cut the sacks open seemed little better than a butter knife -- it was good enough to cut the thread sewing the sacks shut but not sharp enough to cut into the burlap itself, which was proving to be a problem because this last sack was sewn shut too tightly for her to get the knife in under the flap, and she couldn't saw a hole in the burlap either.  She could sort of get the tip of the knife wedged in under each individual stitch and snip it loose that way but that meant cutting almost every stitch, by itself, one by one.

As she picked and struggled with the thread the barn door creaked behind her and someone's shadow fell over the floor; it was too beefy to be Sophie or Emily, and not wide enough to be McDonald.  

"I don't have time to play tag right now," she called out without turning around.

"I prefer checkers."

That was one of the answers she'd been expecting so she turned around to face the man that had walked into the barn.  He was...very muscular.   Maybe all muscle, and the only hair on his head was a black mustache that was the same width as his lips.  Lily hadn't seen him before but he definitely had to have been recruited solely for strength.

"I hope you're good at hide and seek."  A phrase meant to ask 'were you noticed or followed?'

The man shook his head, pulled a folded piece of paper out of one of the multiple pockets on his shirt and dropped it onto the floor, then disappeared out of the barn as quickly as he'd appeared.

Lily grunted and with a yank that hurt her arms all the way up to her shoulder blades finally tore the loose stitches apart and the top of the seed bag was finally open; after a moment to let the tingling in her fingers fade she hauled the bag over into the wagon with the rest of them before she retrieved the paper and looked it over.

>FR, KA, WIN - STBY >PL, des pln. PK SEC. > 385. > Markest > 3t. Har wh ws arc n

Ah, good - everything was falling into place.  There were three more operatives on standby, Harrison's family had been secured, and their escape pilots would be hiding out somewhere to the east waiting for their signal to move in and get them out.

She did have an immediate surge of annoyance though at the identity of their escape pilot: 385.  Sky Sharks.  Lily hated those damn pirates... They were paid an obscene amount of money to remain loyal to Duvos, and she knew without a doubt that if someone with deeper pockets came along then the Sharks would switch sides without even blinking.  WHY did Duvos insist on relying on them?  It was baffling, and all she could console herself with was it HAD to be more than money...it wouldn't make sense otherwise to have such a glaring weakness in their field operations.

That last line of the message indicated that a meeting was set up for tonight at the stone arch that was to the west of the harbor; this was good, as they all needed to meet face to face to identify one another, discuss any last-minute questions regarding their responsibilities and expectations, AND she needed to find out which of them had defaced the grave -- rumors had raced through town and she'd already spotted someone examining it to determine how to repair it.  If it hadn't been one of the agents sent to help then it was one hell of a coincidence...and if it HAD been one of them then she was curious about how they'd learned about Summers and how much they'd learned, and what exactly they intended to do with that knowledge.  Prior to finding those counseling records Lily hadn't really heard anything about the woman that would've pointed her out as something special -- Portians were not immune to gossip but they did seem polite enough to not include a ton of personal details and at the time none of it had seemed to be important enough to look into. Lily knew that if she'd known about Summers prior to her meeting with Xan then it was likely they'd have abandoned the plan to steal the AI and would instead be more concerned with snatching the woman.  

Was that what they were hoping to accomplish? Lily hadn't received ANY orders from Xan regarding a change in their target, and it would be a lot more finicky to try and smuggle a woman out versus mechanical parts.  It was an absolute certainty that if Xan had changed his mind on their target then she, as head of this operation, would have heard about it first... Maybe it WAS a coincidence, as impossible as it seemed.  Or maybe whoever did it thought they were...helping?  Spread the security out thin?  That was more plausible than coincidence but ran a high risk of jeopardizing the mission instead since Lily already knew Portia had called on the help of the Flying Pigs and it wouldn't be hard for them to request a few more.

No... Whatever the reasoning, it had to stop. If they got a chance to grab the woman on their way out then fine, whatever.  But she wasn't about to let this mission get sidetracked away from their ordered target -- not unless Xan himself sent her word to change the plan where she had that proof in her hand or heard it from Xan directly.

Outside the barn she heard hoof beats; quickly she stuffed the paper deep into her pocket and pretended to be fussing over the seed bags in the back of the rickety wagon.  A few moments later and both barn doors opened wide as Sophie's granddaughter came into view leading a rather large horse by a rope - it wasn't proper reins but just a simple braided leather cord hooked to one of the rings on the halter and she had the loose end wrapped around her wrist with plenty of slack in the lead for the horse to look about.

"Hey there, Lily.  I'm sorry - Granny didn't tell me you were out here doing this or else I would've come to help you."

Lily scoffed and leaned against the wagon's side.  "Oh pfft, no worries!  It was a little heavy but not that bad!  Sort of.  Do you have anything to sharpen knives here?  The one Sophie lent me turned out to be dull."

Emily led the horse in further and walked it around the wagon so it's back end was close to the wagon's front; Lily came over and handed her the knife in its little leather sheath, and Emily in turn handed her the lead so she could move between the shelves and the wagon to get a few wooden shafts and a yoke into place.  Afterward she maneuvered the horse into place and hooked everything up, then just as quickly freed the animal.

"...why'd you go through all that effort?" Lily asked as Emily started to lead the horse back towards the doors.

"Usually we use a mare named Sunny to pull the wagon but she's getting on in years.  We're switching over to this fine fellow here-" Emily patted the horse's neck with a giggle "-and he's a bit bigger than Sunny.  I wanted to make sure the yoke would still fit.  Seems there's not as big a difference in size in the places where it matters so it shouldn't rub or be uncomfortable, and it also means I don't have to try and do all the measuring in the morning when there's not a lot of light either and too little time to get another yoke down from the attic."

"Aha.  That makes sense.  ...so we're starting tomorrow morning then?"

Once Emily had the horse outside the barn, but was still framed in the doorway, she slipped the halter off and the horse ambled away out of Lily's line of sight.  "Yep!  Right at sunrise, and we should be done by lunchtime."

Ugh.  A late night meeting and now work at an unreasonable hour.  "Ok!" Lily replied, struggling to keep her usual perky cheerfulness in the tone.  "I'll see you at dawn then - hopefully I don't sleep in on accident."

"It's ok if you do but that'll just mean it'll take longer to finish."

Emily waited for Lily to leave the barn then closed the doors and slid the locking bar into place; Lily offered the woman a smile and a wave as she turned to head back into Portia but inwardly she was groaning in frustration.  If she set an alarm and went to bed now she'd get at least a little bit of sleep before the meeting.  She WAS supposed to have dinner with Harrison tonight but the naive little fool could wait -- more important things needed to come first.

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

The signal transmitter buzzed softly.  It was like having a small insect flitting around his head.

But with it sitting in the storage area with him, hooked up to a temporary power source, it covered the immediate area and would let Arlo communicate with Sam, Remington, and Mali who were all hidden nearby in the commerce guild, the Happy Apartments, and the old, closed cafe down the hill.

So far there'd been no signs of life outside; Asher had come up with this idea and he and Eli both expressed doubt that they would see anyone tonight.  Still, it was a good idea made even better by Selene suggesting they take one of the transmitters with them to temporarily let them coordinate through the Hi-Defs -- Eli and the builder had then both scrambled to get one assembled and re-wired for a power stone bracket, and they'd disguised it inside a crate that they carried into the storage area.  All that was left to do then was wait until nightfall, carefully slip inside the storage area (Arlo was certain he hadn't been seen by anyone who was, themselves, visible at the time) and then plug in the transmitter's cord to the bracket and flip it on.

The moon was bright (not full, sadly) but it was intermittently cloudy; when there wasn't cloud cover Arlo was able to see clearly through the small, smudged clean spots he'd wiped in every window in the storage area.  He did have to be careful to toss his jacket over himself each time he accessed his Hi-Def (the light from the screen would stand out in the darkness, after all) but other than that he was free to silently walk from window to window to keep an eye on the graveyard as well as the surrounding areas that he could see, and he'd been pacing in this manner for the last four hours with nothing to show for it.

'It might not be tonight,' he kept telling himself.  It might not be tonight, or tomorrow night, or even any time soon.  

But, not that long ago he and Remington had gotten the chosen security door ready for transport.  Mint estimated they could have it in place and installed within a week; with the door in place they could stop worrying about someone getting into the facility, and once they reached that point they'd be free to focus the entirety of their attention on catching their spy and vandal.  With all of that in mind the fact that they wouldn't likely catch anyone tonight was easier to swallow.

"Anyone seen anything yet?"

Remington's voice came through the Hi-Def - Arlo had the volume set to just barely above a whisper, to him.

"Not ye- Wait."

Mali's response cut off and Arlo tensed; she was stationed at the apartments -- she usually stayed there when she was in Portia so she'd appointed herself to that position because it wouldn't seem strange if she was spotted at an odd hour inside the building (though the point was, of course, for her NOT to be spotted at all). Arlo gave it several breaths, then several breaths more; the silence seemed to press in so he bent down, pulled his jacket over his head and arm, and prodded his Hi-Def awake.  "Mali?  Is everything all right?"

"I'm fine. But I just spotted our first concrete lead."

"What?  Did you see someone?"

"Not exactly. But either our guest is staying here, was visiting friends here, or Happy Apartments has a ghost problem."

Arlo's eyes narrowed -- their target was INSIDE the apartments?  How?  For how long had they been there?  "So you saw our spy."

"I heard a door open and close upstairs, and shortly thereafter the front door opened and closed on its own.  I didn't see anyone, unfortunately -- the lights in the lobby here are heavily dimmed after ten o'clock.   Whoever this was knows where to walk to avoid casting even a hint of a shadow in this light so I didn't see them pass me."

"And if you'd turned the lights on it would've been a dead giveaway." Arlo shuffled awkwardly in the dark, with his jacket still pulled over him, toward the furthest window that looked toward Peach Plaza.  As expected he didn't see anyone, or anything, with the moon behind the clouds again.  

"Should we try and pursue?  Pick up their trail?" Remington asked.

"No," both Arlo and Mali said at the same time.  Arlo waited a moment, then continued.  "We already know this person will be nearly impossible to spot in the dark, even with the moon out, and we've got clouds in the sky tonight that'll make it worse. We have a starting point.  In the morning we'll see who is staying at the apartments and go from there."

"I'll stay here and see if whoever that was returns," Mali said after a moment.  "If they do, and I can see what room they go into, we'll at least know if this person has been staying here or if someone they're working with is."

"Don't try to apprehend them without help," Arlo warned.  "We still don't know if the spy and the vandal are the same person and if they aren't we don't know which one of them is armed or how many people we may be dealing with here."

"I don't intend to because I think we stand to learn more if we wait. It might be glaringly obvious who our culprit is once we examine the occupancy, or it might not be.  Either way, we make our list of suspects and monitor them.   We'll catch our spy, our vandal, both, or more."

Arlo nodded.  "As good a plan as any.  I'm going quiet again - everyone keep their eyes peeled."

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

It was a very long walk from the apartments out to the arch.  The suit was getting a bit warm by the time she spotted the tiniest hint of a flame on the beach ahead of her; as she drew closer to the flame she could make out the silhouette of the man holding it.

He was tall and almost unnaturally thin; he had a lighter in hand and the tiny flame's light caused the surprising number of knives sheathed across his chest, hips, and thighs to glint softly in the dark.  Next to him was a skinny (but not nearly as skinny as he was) woman who had long red hair worn in a pair of braids that fell forward over her shoulders.  The muscular man who had delivered the message was there standing at the back of the group next to Evangeline and Marcus -- Evangeline was a large woman, close to the size of Marcus and the two skinny folk put together, with platinum blonde hair, and Marcus was a dark-haired man who was otherwise unremarkable in the scant glow of the lighter.

They were looking her way; the suit's chameleon abilities were still engaged but it couldn't prevent her from leaving footprints in the sand as she approached.

"Were you followed?" the muscular man asked when she came close.

"No.  The entire town is asleep.  They don't post night guards in Portia; only out at the facility itself.  That might change when construction begins." She came to a stop and turned off the suit; immediately the heat she could feel began to ease.  "Were any of YOU followed?"

They all shook their heads; it was good to see they had all  been smart about this.

"Where do we stand?" Marcus asked.

Lily unfastened the clips at her neckline and gently slid the extra ventilation slits open on the suit's helmet - the wisps of cool air that immediately filtered in were a blessing.  "Construction has been delayed - I'm not sure why.  We should consider ourselves on standby and be ready to move at a moment's notice."  Before any of them had a chance to speak further she huffed out a sigh.  "Who here defaced the grave?" The muscular man crossed his arms and lifted a single finger; she turned to glare at him.  "Stop it.  I won't have you jeopardizing this."

The man snorted loudly.  "Tell that to Xan.  He's disappointed in you - how the heck did you miss something so--"

Lily jabbed a finger toward him.  "-shut up.  Stop it.  Shut up.  At the time I spoke to Xan it wasn't known what else was here. How did he hear about Summers?"

"You really think there wouldn't be rumors like wildfire in the scholar circles?  They can't shut up about the fact we have a real, live Dubeian in our midst.  Xan wants her and to hell with the AI."

Lily narrowed her eyes.  "I don't believe you.  Xan wouldn't so drastically change things without communicating with ME first."

The man rolled his eyes.  "Shut your damn mouth, brat - you aren't special.  I got my orders from Xan's mouth and I will not and DO NOT have to listen to your whining."

Lily stalked forward until she was nearly nose to nose with the man (or as close as she could get - his forearms were thick and he was taller than she was too).  "I'M in charge until told otherwise.  If there's been a change in the plans then I need to hear from Xan directly.  If you don't like that then you're on your own, and no one here should feel like they need to stick their necks out for you."

As she spoke to turned to look at the others one by one; the red head's expression was stony so Lily wasn't sure which side she was taking on this particular argument, Evangeline seemed just as annoyed with the muscled man as Lily felt, and she couldn't get a read on Marcus or knife-man's mood -- they both had really good poker faces.

"And," she went on into the pause.  "Should you think to sell US out if you get caught...  I don't think I need to remind you what Duvos does to traitors.  I might not be able to save any of you if someone squeals but you can bet I WILL get myself out and back to base to let everyone know who botched this and got us - got YOU - caught. And whoever did will pay for it, even if you get sent to prison.  You know there's no hiding if Duvos decides they really want you gone."

An uneasy silence followed; the man covered in knives flicked the lighter closed abruptly but otherwise no one even moved.

After several tense minutes Evangeline rolled her neck; the number of pops that came from the motion prickled Lily's skin.  "All right, I says we vote.  Original plan, or switch to the new one?  Original?" Lily, Evangeline, Marcus, and the red-haired woman raised their hands.   Evangeline briefly glanced around and then nodded.  "Good enough for me.  Xan wants a change he'll have to tell us the usual way."

The muscled man opened his mouth and the man with the knives held up a hand.  "Enough.  I'M willing to trust you, because you're saying it's Xan, but they do got a point: Xan always gets word to his men through specific channels, come hell or high water.  I don't see why he'd stop doing that in this case.  If we're wrong then we're wrong but at least we got a damn AI out of it.  And it's not like the woman is like to go anywhere anytime soon."

"Thank you...?" Lily said, gesturing for the man to introduce himself.

"Windsor," came the answer.  "Franklin.  Kara."  He gestured to the muscled man and the red head in turn.  "Ain't worked with Xan before now but man's got a reputation for doing it by the book and getting shit done.  I don't like the idea of getting on his bad side by not carrying out his orders but without those orders in my hot little hand or having come directly from his face to my ears I'm not sure I want to make him mad by NOT doing what I'd been told the first time 'round."

Lily nodded to him.  "I appreciate your good sense."  She looked to Kara; her expression was just as crabby as it had been when Lily last eyed her.   Whatever the woman's exact thoughts were they were hidden behind a deep frown but at the very least she wasn't objecting to Lily's orders to stay the course.

"...all right.  Now.  Just so we're all CLEAR-" Lily went on, stressing the last word and all but spitting it at Franklin, "-our next step is simply waiting for construction to begin.   When they break ground we'll meet up again four nights later to plan out the doctor switch -- it's not going to be immediate.  Anyone in regular close contact with the doctor is likely to notice even a slight change in behavior, and there's no way Harrison is going to know every little detail about the doctor's life if he gets pressed.  When the servers and the AI are set to be moved over we'll make our move so there's only a window of a few days where the idiot has to keep up the act.  When we leave, we leave him behind, we get home, Xan lets his family loose if he did everything we told him to.  A good boy gets rewarded."

"Simple 'nuff," Windsor said.  "I like a good, clean getaway."

"Any questions?  Any issues with your cover stories we need to hammer out right now?"

Windsor shook his head.  "Just a traveling performer here, miss.  Staying over in South Block since I was led to believe the growth there would bring new audiences - since it ain't, I'm walking between there and Portia to earn enough to go home."

Lily flashed him a thumb's up and looked to Kara; finally the woman's stony expression broke into something that MIGHT have passed for a smile, if one was holding in a fart.

"Just a ruins delver," was her simple explanation.  She had a voice like cracked glass so Lily was glad she wasn't a wordy person.

After a very lengthy pause Franklin grunted.  "Fishing."

Lily sighed.  "Fishing?  That's it?"

"That's it.  I'm here to fish."

She was all but certain now that if there was a weak link in the group, it was going to be this idiot.  She looked to Marcus and Evangeline.

Marcus shrugged.  "Handy man looking for work."

"Mining - already met Dana and got a position," Evangeline said.  "Ought to be able to give a good report about what natural stuff is down there.   Never know - someone might be interested."

At that Lily reached up to slide the ventilation slits shut again, then turned the suit back on.  "Stick to your stories, stay out of trouble, and keep an eye on the clinic.  We'll meet here, same time, four days after construction starts.  Remember that."

She spun on her heel and left -- they could all figure out their own ways back to wherever they were staying and she had a long walk ahead of her to get back to her room-

...the sky was already beginning to lighten.  She didn't think the meeting had taken that long but that time spent coupled with the long walk back to town...damn it. It took about two hours to properly clean and dry the suit out after she'd worn it awhile, and with how she was currently sweating it might take even longer; if she didn't show up to the farm on time people might go looking for her, and she couldn't just leave the job half-finished or leave the suit hanging in her room and risk someone finding it.  She also didn't trust anyone she was working with to properly care for or hide it.

Where could she stash it...

There was that hot springs area that was near enough to the farm...she knew from poking around that no one seemed to use the attic in that tiny dock house.  That would have to work for now - it would take even longer to clean it later but she needed to lay low anyway, and it was less likely someone would try snooping in her room if they knew she was in it.

When she got to the dock house she picked the lock to the building and climbed to the attic; thankfully she managed to find a loose floorboard that she pried up and stuck the suit under it before putting the board back -- while she really doubted anyone would suddenly decide to come up here at least now they wouldn't immediately see the suit if they did, and who would have any reason to go digging around in the rafters?  It was risky but less so than leaving it out in the open.

As she came upon the fields she could see Emily was already outside with the horse and wagon, and there were a few others that Lily didn't recognize that were standing with her; they weren't anyone she'd seen in town before so she imagined they, like her, were hired on hands to assist.  The farm girl was talking to the others but paused and gestured, with a smile, for Lily to come join them once she noticed her crossing the empty field.  

"-and David, you'll take the cornball seeds.  Lily, I'll have you helping Tracy and Bill with the wheat, if you don't mind."

"Sure!" Lily chirped in response, looking over to the two standing on the far end of the little line of farmhands -- Tracy was an average sized, average looking brunette who seemed like she was barely awake and Bill was a tall man in ratty clothing and straw hat.  "I'm Lily - I've never planted wheat before so is there anything special I should know?"

Tracy didn't make any effort to answer but Bill shook his head with a warm smile.  "Naw.  It's easy.  I'll show you."

"All right!  Let's get to planting everyone!" Emily called out then.  She led the wagon along the rows Lily had marked out and helped one of the other farmhands in setting down the sacks of seed next to their correct markers.

Bill handed Lily a little bag attached to a length of rope and showed her to how tie it to her hip so it stayed secure but also could be removed easily by tugging on a loop in a certain way; she then filled the little bag with wheat seeds and followed along with the man as he showed her what he called the easiest and most efficient want to get the seeds into the ground.  Once she'd had her crash course in wheat planting they separated and worked in a line with each of them taking the rows to their immediate left and right.

While she was rather tired she had to admit that this wasn't all that bad, and in just a handful of hours she could go get her suit and figure out a way to sneak it back into Happy Apartments, then take a shower and crawl into bed.  She might even grab something to eat at some point...or might not.  It would depend on how exhausted she was once this field was planted.

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

"Can I ask you something?"

"Is this related to how distracted you've been all afternoon?"

Arlo grimaced.  "...yeah.  It's..."

Their walk today (Eli never had them in one place for too long when she was teaching) had taken them along the river, passed the island that housed the Haunted Cave attraction, down to the ocean shore, and now they were retracing that path at a leisurely pace.  He'd thought he'd done a decent enough job to hide the fact that his mind was anywhere but in the current moment but...well, considering that Eli was trying to teach him to absorb his surroundings and pick out all the little details in an instant, it was little wonder she'd immediately clued in to even a tiny change in his behavior.

What was bothering him was a proverbial rabbit hole he'd accidentally fallen down earlier today when he was going over their known information and current plan.

They had fourteen suspects staying in the Happy Apartments.  That was a lot of people to keep an eye on, and they'd kept EVERYONE who wasn't a native Portian on that list -- since they couldn't rule out that someone had been hiding in the wilderness prior to renting a room they'd decided against eliminating anyone immediately based on date of arrival alone.   Mali was confident that they could quickly strike people off that list and pare it down to a more manageable one, and he shared that confidence, but it had got him thinking about the general situation.

Arlo had heard and read a lot about the war between the Alliance of Free Cities and Duvos, and had also heard a lot of stories from Remington regarding the recent action at Lucien's border.  Lucien had been nearly destroyed in the war and really, it hadn't known peace long enough to truly rebuild.  It almost felt like the peace accord that Duvos had signed was only a pretense - a stalling effort to let them bide their time, build back up, and try to forcibly expand their borders again later. Portia was far to the south of Duvos so there had never been much fear over being invaded or having their resources abruptly taken from them -- all things considered, Portia had probably never been high on their priority list as there were ruins and other natural resources much closer to the Empire's border; the sink hole opening up into the remarkably well preserved medical facility had undoubtedly pushed Portia square into Duvos's sights and they clearly, desperately, wanted what was within it, and history had already shown how they went about obtaining what they wanted.

It seemed odd to make the jump from a snooping spy to a sudden declaration of war but where else would their current behavior lead?  Things were getting tense in the north and just because they had no word of Duvos gearing up to march again didn't mean they hadn't found some way to keep it hidden.  And while he knew any sort of technology in Duvos's hands was bad news it was a chilling thought to consider what it would mean if they got their hands on Stewart -- they might not be able to replicate old medical technology immediately but the knowledge was invaluable and could, in the near future, drastically cut down on recovery time for Duvos's injured soldiers while the rest of the world would have to scramble to learn what they could from those medical texts they'd found just to keep up.

How to even put all of that into words though...

"...if another war breaks out, what do you think you'll do?"

For a time Eli didn't answer; ahead of them the bridge that led over to the Haunted Cave came into view, and near it was a bald, mustached man who was struggling with the reel on his fishing pole.

"Not sure," came her answer.  They walked on another few steps before she continued.   "Fight, probably. It might sound selfish but in a way I'm glad I'm not in charge of anything or anyone anymore."

He looked over to her; her head was down, her gaze fixed on the ground just ahead of them, so he couldn't get a clear look at her face.  "Why's that?  I would've thought it would be the opposite."

She let out a huff of a laugh. "Maybe, if we were three hundred years in the past.  This isn't my world anymore.  I have no business being in charge of people - how could I order them around when I know less about this world and how it all works than they do?  Like -- imagine if you were thrown into MY time period.  How do you think you'd feel?"

"Overwhelmed," Arlo answered, momentarily surprised at how quickly the word had spilled out.  "More than a little lost, as well.  I've not really been far from Portia so the thought of being in a city where a single building holds more people than I've ever seen in my life is...a little daunting."

She nodded, lifting her head a bit to flash him a smile.  "Now try to reverse that.  Everything I knew is gone, or doesn't work or work properly, or is left like that-" she pointed way off to the west where you could just barely make out the top of a ruined building on the horizon.  "If I had access to tools and tech from my time, we would have caught this spy in a matter of days.  But I don't.  And we haven't.   And I feel like I'm flailing around trying to hold on to anything I can to sort of ground myself but...it's hard, you know?  About all I'm good for is a warm body ready to throw myself on the metaphorical fire to keep it from burning others."

"Don't say that," he interrupted, shaking his head at her.  "You're much more than that - to me, and to everyone else."

"LOGICALLY I know that," she replied.  "Emotionally though... I have my good days and my bad ones; I'm just good at keeping the mask on and rolling with it."

"Well, whatever your brain wants to tell you, if it's negative it's wrong.  You're a good friend, you're intelligent, you're tougher than anyone I've ever met," Arlo went on.  "And if there's anything I can do to help, just ask."

She chuckled quietly and stuck her hands into her pockets.  "You and Asher both have said that.  It's appreciated."

He opened his mouth to keep going but paused, as he wasn't sure what to say next.  They were even closer to the bridge now and Arlo could see the rat's nest of a tangle of fishing line that was around the mustached man's reel ahead of them.  The man noticed them coming and offered a frustrated half wave, which Arlo acknowledged with a nod.

"-so, now that I've had my daily mini mental breakdown, why are you worried about war?" she asked, voice quiet.

"...the more I think about the spy, and what they're after, and where they came from, the more I feel like another war is on the horizon," he replied after a moment to sort his thoughts out.  "And thinking about that made me think about what I would do in that situation."

She nodded, then held up a hand before he could continue; lengthening her stride she adjusted her path to head toward the man with the tangled reel.  

"Everything all right there?"  They were still far enough away that she had to almost yell for the man to hear her -- at the very least, the man wasn't within range to hear them chitchatting.

"Yeah yeah," came the shouted response - the man's tone was clearly annoyed.  "Don't buy cheap reels."

She chuckled a bit; again she adjusted herself to go back to the path they had been walking along - they still had to pass by the man but there would be a healthy distance between them.

As they drew near and then finally passed the man Arlo could hear him swearing to himself as he yanked and tugged at the tangled fishing line...but he didn't really seem to be focusing on what he was doing.  It was slightly hard to tell out of the corner of the eye and with how quick they walked by him but Arlo swore the man was trying his damnedest to watch them while looking like he wasn't paying them any attention.  Arlo resisted the urge to look back, to check if the man was openly staring, and simply walked alongside Eli until the man was far behind them.

"You saw that, right?"

He nodded.  "He was watching us."

"Any idea who that was?"

"No, I've never seen him before."

Arlo made a mental note of what the man had looked like (heavily muscled, bald, mustached) and resolved to ask Gale and Antoine if the man was one of those staying at the Happy Apartments -- he was certainly striking enough to be easily remembered.

As Portia's gates loomed ahead of them he remembered they'd been mid-conversation about Duvos and a potential war...he almost felt like he needed, and should, pick up where they'd left off, as the whole thing bothered him a bit more than he'd initially realized, but there was also a part of him that didn't want to think about it at all.  It was that same part of him that hadn't wanted to consider what "shoot to kill" entailed either.

"Eli!"

Arlo looked up sharply at the shout; Toby was running toward them with Jack and the triplets huffing along trying to keep up with him.  Beside him Eli smiled and shook her head.

"There goes the afternoon I guess.  Unless you need me for something?"

He shook his head.  "Your patrol is done, our lesson is over with, and we already did our morning training.  So far as I'm concerned you're off the clock."  He paused, looking again to where the kid was rushing toward them.  "-unless you want me to invent a task so you can avoid being dragged into whatever Toby has planned."

"Nah, it's fine.  I can handle a gaggle of kids."

Toby would be right on them within a few seconds; in those last moments of peace Arlo stepped just ahead of Eli enough to stop her, fixing her with a look.  "Take tomorrow off.  I'll have Asher cover your patrols."

She frowned.  "Arlo-"

"No, I mean it.  If you're having a rough time I'd rather have you rested and ready for action.  Relax for a day - read a book, hike, visit with someone, just do something you like."

"I LIKE being active, and exactly how much relaxation do you think I'm going to get knowing-"

She cut off her words as Toby came to a stumbling halt in front of them, panting loudly.  "Eli...Eli!  Think you can...whew...think you can help me make a bow?"

"A bow?  What for?"

After a few breaths to collect himself Toby stood upright, beaming.  "I wanna learn how to shoot it!  And then I wanna learn how to hunt!  Mom told me about this stew thingy she liked that had fried sea urchin in it but you can't get near them without them shooting their needles at you - I want to surprise her with some meat but without getting turned into a pincushion!"

Eli blinked as all that came in a rush out of the boy's mouth; Arlo had to give the kid credit -- he was at least thinking ahead rather than rushing off for once.

"Well, seems you have a plan," she replied finally.  "But it's not going to be easy to just MAKE a bow - especially not one that'll take down a target like an urchin."

"But...can we try?"

Arlo smiled a bit at the boy's earnest tone, then wagged a finger at him to grab his attention.  "Just make sure you're not shooting it at anything just for fun," he warned once the boy was looking at him.  "Don't damage any buildings or trees, and DON'T shoot it at wildlife unless you're intending to eat it."    

Toby pumped a fist into the air a few times.  "I won't, I promise!"

Finally the four other children caught up and, after a moment to collectively catch their breaths, they all headed back out through the gates with Eli in their midst.  Arlo watched them go silently; he hoped that his impromptu orders for a day off hadn't upset Eli.  Thinking back to her admitting she was looking for something to cling to, to ground herself with...at the moment, one could think that work was the only thing she was using to cope.  Would his ordering her to take a day off do more harm than good?  He certainly hoped not.

...bah.  His stomach felt a bit knotted with the uneasy feeling from contemplating another war along with concern over whether he just made Eli's life a tiny bit more difficult.  He quickly crossed the plaza and headed up the hill toward the Round Table; by the fountain up ahead he could see a small gathering of folks all watching as a skinny man juggled silvery knives.  There was a battered flat cap laying on the ground in front of him with a handful of gols glinting in the sun; the man was yet another person Arlo hadn't seen before and out of curiosity he continued passed the restaurant to stand with the rest of the onlookers as the man juggled.

From here it was difficult to tell if the knives were actually real but the man was certainly treating them as though they were.  As he watched the knives flip from one hand to the other, behind the back, under legs and around elbows Arlo had to admit the man was rather skilled, and there were "oohs" and "ahhs" and gasps from the people around them as they watched the display of flying metal.  When the man reached the end of his juggling act he caught each knife in quick succession, sheathing them in identical, repeating motions, then gave an elaborate bow to a scattering of applause.  A few folks in the crowd dropped more gols into the hat, and Arlo waited patiently until they'd dispersed before approaching the man.

"Quite a talent."

The man didn't reply at first, choosing to bend and pick up the hat and carefully deposit the gols into his pocket so he could shove the hat back onto his head.   "Yep, sure is.  Drove my mum nuts growing up - couldn't leave anything within reach or I'd end up tossing it around.  You from here?"

Arlo nodded.  "I am.  Where are you from?"

"Born in Tallsky.  Came north because my audience was bored with me and I heard South Block was getting busy.  Dunno what folks's definition of busy is but I barely make enough to buy my dinner there.  Figured I'd try my luck here to sees if I can make enough to head back home."

Again he nodded.  "I see.  South Block is a growing trade post but most people you'll find there are traveling through and rarely stay for more than a day or so."

The man snorted.  "Tell me about it.  -- say, ain't a problem hanging around performing is there?"

"So long as you keep your distance and your knives to yourself there shouldn't be an issue.  Where are you staying? South Block?"

"Sure am," the man replied.  "Hopefully I make enough to move on soon.  Bus tickets might be cheap for some but not when you're picking between a bed, a meal, or a ride."

Arlo reached into his pocket and grabbed a handful of gols; without counting them he held them out.  "Here - at the very least try to get a meal for the evening.  The Round Table has reasonable prices and great food."

The man's eyes lit up and he grabbed for the money, then quickly cleared his throat and tried to look a little more dignified as he stowed the gols away with the rest.   "Thanks, stranger.  It's appreciated."

With a curt nod Arlo spun around to head back to the Round Table, and made a mental note to walk to South Block tomorrow to get a list of motel occupants from Yeye.   They hadn't noticed a lot of foot traffic from South Block lately but a singular traveler moving between the two towns could easily be missed.

It was crowded and busy inside the Round Table; there were a few empty booths but he didn't want to take up an entire one by himself so he took the only open seat at the bar which happened to be between Remington and Adam.

He gave them both a nod and then turned to look at Adam.  "How's it going out at the facility?"

"Alls quiet.  They started digging to place the door.  Mali's out there now with Sam - I'm charged with bringing them supper when I'm done with a few errands here in town."

"You should see the thing now. It sure doesn't look as huge as it did now that it's out of that building," Remington chuckled.

Arlo huffed out a sigh.  "That was a nightmare to deal with.  Little wonder the Old World had robots to do that sort of thing - it we hadn't borrowed that winch and pulley we probably wouldn't have been able to manage disconnecting that door from the wall by ourselves."

Sonia hurried by and went to hand him a menu, seemed to do a double take and realize who he was, then stowed the menu back beneath the counter.  "Hi Arlo!  Your usual?"

"Please. With a glass of orange juice please."  He waited until she left then lowered his voice.  "Keep an eye out for a heavily muscled man, bald, with a dark mustache.  He was eying Eli and I up, and I've no idea who he is."

"Will do," Remington replied.  "-er, by the way - Selene's on the prowl.  Party planning.  Just so you aren't blindsided."

Party planning... Remington's birthday was coming up soon and they STILL hadn't had the little gathering to welcome Eli and Asher to the team.   "Got it.  We don't have time for anything extravagant sadly."

Remington wrinkled his nose.  "Man, even if we did, I don't want extravagant."

Arlo chuckled and nodded to Sonia as she sat a chilled glass of orange juice on the counter in front of him; it was cold, tangy, and satisfying, and he had to will himself not to chug it down too quickly.

He would eat, pick up a few things from Total Tools, then head back to the Civil Corps building to-

"-has Eli ever mentioned to anyone when HER birthday is?" he asked then, looking between Adam and Remington.

"I...don't think so.  Maybe to Asher?"

Arlo turned to Adam.  "Has he said anything?"

Adam shook his head.  "Not a peep, and I'm pretty sure he would have if he knew."

"Huh.  We ought to ask her tomorrow morning then," Remington said into the pause that followed.

Arlo blew out a sigh.  "I gave her tomorrow off so whoever runs into her first..."

Sonia came over with their food (Arlo had no idea when the other two had ordered but all of it came out at the same time) and all conversation was set aside in favor of stuffing food in their faces as quickly as they could before they all went their separate ways: Remington to the Corps building, Adam back out to the facility, and Arlo back toward the plaza where hopefully Mars still had his shop open and had whetstones available.

Tonight Mali and Asher would be staking out the graveyard; they were both insistent that the two of them could handle things on their own and didn't need a third.  He didn't have much choice other than to trust to their confidence but as he picked up the whetstones and was heading up the stairs toward the Corps building he wondered if he should have asked Adam if he wanted another pair of eyes tonight out at the facility.

'If he wanted help I'm sure he would have asked,' Arlo found himself thinking as he pushed the door open to the Corps building and plodded across the sitting area toward his room.

That he was free to get a full night's sleep made him feel a tad guilty but, on the other hand, the better rested he was the more attentive he'd be, and that would only help them.  Probably.

[radramblog]

Every Mono-Black Commander, Part 4: Designed for the Format

In what will be the penultimate edition of this weekly word stream, the cards steadily on average get better, as WoTC realises commander is the most popular format and starts designing specifically for the format. On the other hand, people don’t play lots of these cool and interesting cards because everyone’s obsessed with “multicolour”, the cowards.

Moving on.

Sidis, Undead Vizier (245 decks, 25th most played)

Sidisi is one of those cards I’m surprised sees as much play as it does. Not because it’s bad, but because it seems to belong a lot better in the 99 than in the zone- they’re pretty much just a tutor with a body attached, after all. For a while, though, it was the only commander you could run that was a pure tutor, so if you were into just comboing people out it’s probably not a bad idea.

I think part of the reason I underrate this card is that I always assume it’s 6 mana. And it’s a lot better at 5 than it is at 6. And you can always just sacrifice itself if you really want your commander to just be an overpriced Diabolic Tutor.

 Kothophed, Soul Hoarder (29 decks, 73rd most played)

I actually rate Kothophed a bit higher than I think most do. While as the 2nd of Lilliana’s demons he was obviously a fair bit weaker than the extremely banned Griselbrand, and the only one of the 4 not to be mythic, he does do a couple things really well.

For one, he draws a lot of cards. Things are going to the graveyard all the time, especially in multiplayer, and he makes the artifact/aristocrat decks think twice about popping off. The other is that he’s super cheap, at like 40 cents a pop. And I appreciate that, especially considering some of the cards surrounding him.

 Liliana, Heretical Healer//Liliana, Defiant Necromancer (645 decks, 9th most played)

Baby Lilli herself looks a lot better than Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath as far as Planeswalker commanders goes, and it’s therefore unsurprising that she breaks the top 10. Everybody loves Planeswalkers, lots of people like Lilliana both as a card and a character, and the card that puts her in the zone is quite solid.

What does she do, though? Well, of the 6 Creature->Planeswalker transform cards, she’s one of the three that can theoretically flip the turn you play her without a haste effect (and Nicol Bolas is only on that list by technicality, because that’s a loooot of mana), and it’s not particularly hard to do so considering the colour she’s in. She then protects herself a little with a Zombie token and acts as basically a multiplayer-tuned Lilliana of the Veil, with a bigger number on her plus and minuses that better suit commander. This lets her work quite well for discard decks, reanimator decks, aristocrats decks, zombie decks, and of course, Lilliana decks. She’s just really solid overall, making up somewhat for the fragility of walkers in the format by being cheap and making herself a blocker.

 Drana, Liberator of Malakir (82 decks, 49th most played)

Drana I guess could be used as a tribal or Voltron commander of some description, but to be frank, she’s here for one thing- aggro. Anthem effects are uncommon in black, and Drana just piles on so many counters in such an efficient manner that she kinda makes up for that on her own. I’ve actually never seen anyone piloting a Drana deck (of any of the three Dranas, actually), so I don’t know exactly how effective it is, but putting her at the helm of a stack of tokens or efficient threats just sounds scary. I’m pretty sure she’s only liberating Malakir from its remaining life points.

 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet (124 decks, 38th most played)

Kalitas seeing this much play…actually frustrates me, seeing as he’s basically just a hate piece. Like yeah, he has another ability, and he makes tokens, but come on. You’re just playing this for the exile clause, and it’s never going to make you any friends. Headcrab Vampire over here doesn’t do anything much if your opponents just wait til he’s off the field to do anything spicy, and in that case, what are you doing with him? Very inefficiently voltronning up? Gaining 3 life? It’s a bit sad. I don’t really like him.

 Gonti, Lord of Luxury (550 decks, 11th most played)

Aww man, they’re not in the top 10 anymore? Fucking Tergrid.

Gonti is another card advantage commander, but everything on them lines up to make both a fun and a powerful effect. They’re not too expensive, and in addition to effectively drawing a card, deathtouch makes them a great way to dissuade attacks from other players. Their ETB not only acts as card selection, but it also gives you access to effects mono-black lacks, silver bullets you don’t play, or just surprise threats that vastly open up your options. They can whiff, sure, but that doesn’t happen especially often.

I’m biased, because my Gonti deck is among my favourite of my 100-card children, but Gonti is just such a fun commander that I don’t even mind the lack of direction they hand you. I run them as grindy valuey control, but they work great as the helm of flicker, theft, and even Aetherborn tribal decks as well. Just a stellar little commander.

 Yahenni, Undying Partisan (306 decks, 21st most played)

Speaking of Aetherborn, Yahenni is also here, and I really appreciate that the two Aetherborn commanders we got are both really cool both in game and in the lore. Shame about most of the rest of the tribe being draft trash. Also, WoTC brought all sorts of old tribes back into the limelight for Commander Legends and the Modern Horizons sets, so where are the new Aetherborn at? Wizards pls.

Yahenni themselves is a pretty interesting commander. Their effects combine into a powerful package more subtle than their flavour text suggests- they not only are a threatening body, as a hasty commander that grows significantly as the game progresses, but they’re also incredibly sticky- a free sacrifice outlet that protects itself from most removal. They’re just a card where all the pieces come together just right, and I appreciate that a lot. One job and that’s aristocrats, but they’re good at it!

 Bontu, the Glorified (59 decks, 57th most played)

When we finally got eyes on the Amonkhet gods, I think Bontu was my least favourite. Like, she’s hard to turn on, and has to be done repeatedly? A 3 mana 4/6 menace is a lot, but not enough to justify that in my opinion. And that activated ability is painfully mediocre.

At this point I like Kefnet less, but that’s just because I’ve cast him a bunch of times and I’m pretty sure he’s done nothing most of those times. Both of them are just kind of shithouse though. I expected more from the Magic equivalent of Set.

 Razaketh, the Foulblooded (74 decks, 54th most played)

The only thing foul about Razaketh is that mana cost. 8 mana, holy shit. But you get paid off for it, don’t ya? A free-ish sac outlet that, oh, also just demonic tutors. If you have an infinite combo in your deck, this’ll get it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Razaketh decks therefore get focussed pretty hard once people recognize the power in the zone. Like, running him as a commander is basically saying “sup once I get to 8 mana y’all are fucked”, and in that case people are going to do all they can to stop you getting to 8 mana, whether by blowing up your rocks or just killing your face and dudes. Perhaps consider an alternate route if you don’t like getting beaten up.

 Spike, Tournament Grinder (N/A)

Aight, this is kinda cheating, but shshshsh it’s fine. Now, I’m not sure exactly how this works in the zone, but I’m just assuming it can get any “spikey” card that fits within your colour identity? Or maybe it’s just anything. Either way, this gets some bonkers shit.

Even if we assume it’s only legal commander cards in identity, Spike can still draw you some funny things. Dark Ritual, Crucible of Worlds, Bitterblossom, Demonic Tutor, Ancient Tomb, and that’s just the first page. If we do include commander-banned cards, then you can also use them as a spicy secret commander for such hits as Griselbrand, Emrakul, or Braids. Overall, they’re definitely fair and balanced. Un-Commanders when.

 Tetzimoc, Primal Death (15 decks, 86th most played)

Oh, Tetzy. I love this stupid stupid card, one that seems to get worse the bigger the decks get. And by that I mean, it’s completely stupid broken in its original draft format, fringe playable in Standard at the time (and by that I mean… I mean I played it), and thoroughly mediocre in Commander. And that’s in the 99, because much like Haakon and Phage he doesn’t work in the zone. He’s a fair bit easier to enable than they are, but it’s for much, much less payoff. Alas poor Tetzimoc.

 Demonlord Belzenlok (110 decks, 41st most played)

The last Lilliana contract demon, and the first Dominaria card of the 6 we got to talk about. Belzenlok’s ability is frustratingly awkward, however- while it will never draw you land, in my experience you’re rarely drawing more than two cards off it, and one is very common. Because the thing is, in order to support the dummy thick cards Belzenlok likes to see, you need a lot of cheap ramp and draw, which he does not like to see. And said ability takes up all the space on his textbox that could be used on other things. He’s basically okay, but I don’t see running this over basically any other demon.

I mean, he’s in my Gonti deck, but that’s besides the point, making a fatty and drawing cards is what that deck’s about.

 Josu Vess, Lich Knight (69 decks, 55th most played)

Lilliana’s dead brother is an army in a can that packs a mean punch- 20 menace power is absolutely nothing to sneeze at- but 10 mana is monstrous. And casting him for 4 is just not worth it, especially since it makes that 10 into 12 next time. With that said, I recall once a Dominaria draft on arena where I used Muldrotha to cast this guy kicked twice in a row, and while this might just be magical Christmas land, getting to reroll this guy repeatedly with Disentomb effects might be spicy. You can just bury people in Zombies, ain’t that fun? I mean, it’s still 10 mana, so that’s a lot, but yknow

I guess you can also sac the tokens to some variety of altar, but that’s boooooring.

 Torgaar, Famine Incarnate (99 decks, 44th most played)

Wait, if it’s Famine Incarnate, why is it an Avatar instead of an Incarnation?

I’m woefully unfamiliar with Torgaar, but it seems like a relatively effective general. It hits that 7 mark for a three-hit commander damage kill, while being able to cost as little as two mana, which is enough on its own- but  that chunky power also helps with that second ability, setting someone to 20, assuming other people are willing to help pick up the slack. Fuck your infinite life combo, back down to the ground with the rest of us.

Honestly, this guy just looks really fun. It’s nice that in a pinch you can just have them gain you up to 19 life (or more I guess if you’re Platinum Angel-ing), and they don’t seem broken enough to garner hate. Not bad, potentially underrated.

 Urguros, the Empty One (29 decks, 73rd most played)

On the other hand, I’m not sure why you’d pick this of all cards to head your deck. Looking at it, though, it’s mostly just Spectre tribal, which makes sense to me. Don’t think there’s another Legendary Spectre outside of changelings, though that would at least get you Blazing Spectre.

Shoutouts for Spectre being one of the words with different spelling in America that people don’t know about as well.

Urguros is not a powerful commander. They’re slow and their effect is weak. But if you’re running them, you don’t care about power, you care about creature type, and that’s fine too.

 Whisper, Blood Liturgist (150 decks, 33rd most played)

Oh, ok. blood liturgist.

Jokes aside, Whisper is more popular than I would have expected. Considering they’re basically reverse Victimize, I’m surprised that people are so into them when that card exists.

Ohh, wait, there’s probably a bunch of infinites with this and Thornbite Staff, huh. Yeahhh, that scans. Though even outside of combo bullshit, I bet they get a bunch of fun value stuff with army-in-a-can-type creatures like Abhorrent Overlord and Sengir Autocrat. Shame about the stats.

 Yargle, Glutton of Urborg (208 decks, 27th most played)

A literal vanilla creature, Yargle has overcome the odds to bargle into the hearts of many. The undeniable Best Frog Commander (Gitrog players do not interact), Yargle has clearly captured as many hearts as he’s eaten, considering he got his own Secret Lair filled with cards he can’t really play. His bit in the lore was also kind of hilarious, nearly killing all the protagonists until Muldrotha deus-ex-mythic rare-d him out of there.

The thing is, Yargle is not even that bad aside from the meme. He might be literally vanilla, butt he has 9 fucking power for 5 mana. He’s probably one of the cheapest creatures that breaches the 3-hit rule, and only needs 2 more to get down to 2. And 2 power isn’t super hard. Strap this bad boy with a sword or two and you can just gettem. Let alone the fact that he one-shots things with Tainted Strike. Or Grafted Exoskeleton. Or just about anything plus Fireshrieker. Unironically one of Mono-Black’s best Voltron options.

 Isareth the Awakener (30 decks, 70th most played)

Skipping the Battlebond cards because…who plays Virtus or Regna solo… brings us to the painfully mediocre Isareth. A 3 mana 3/3 that lets you cast one thing from your yard, and only if she risks her own life. And you still have to pay for the reanimate. And it gets the exile clause as well. Man, this was the same cycle as Goreclaw and Sai, too. Hell, I even like Lena more after I designed a deck around her. This just sucks. Like, I cannot imagine playing this over Chainer or something.

 The Haunt of Hightower (168 decks, 31st most played)

Speaking of Voltron, this Buy-a-Box exclusive is basically a self-sufficient beast of a flyer. Cards go into opponent’s graveyards all the time, and one mass mill effect makes this thing get huge fast as fuck. Add in lifelink so it keeps you going and all it’s really missing is the ability to protect itself, and there’re equipment for that.

On the other hand, it’s 6 mana and a 3/3 base, so if you aren’t able to get things in bins (or if a Rest in Peace/Leyline of the Void is out) it basically isn’t doing anything. And Flying is a much worse keyword in commander than one would think, being probably the most common Evasion mechanic. But I think this haunty boy is still solid.

 God-Eternal Bontu (81 decks, 48th most played)

If only the rest of us could age so gracefully. Er, die so gracefully, I guess. Zombie Set is kind of a beating, turning all sorts of useless shash into pure cash. And she can go to your deck if the zone is getting too costly, and she’s a cool crocodile zombie god.

Unfortunately, she does suffer from being an ETB-effect commander, which always feels a bit more mid than I’d like- they do their thing and then just…sit there… and unlike Gonti she doesn’t deter attacks that well. She does attack pretty alright herself, but it’s only 5 power and can’t even trade with two 3/3s. And it’s harder to fuel this all-or-nothing kind of ability repeatedly. There are a few (crocodile?) rocks to use, as well as chump creatures that crave death, but fill your deck with those and that’s all you’ll draw. It’s…fine. She’s fine.

 Massacre Girl (285 decks, 22nd most played)

The final card under the magnifying glass today, and probably still the best boardwipe/commander combo. Massacre Girl basically just kills everything, provided things aren’t too massive and there’s fodder around to bite the dust first. If anyone played Hearthstone back when I did, she’s basically a way, way better Defile.

Wait, that’s also a Magic name now isn’t it, shit.

I still think the notorious M.G. goes better in the deck than the zone, but I suppose control decks would appreciate having one of the things they crave most- board clears- available at a moment’s notice. And if you’re building around her, then you can fill your deck with the fodder that fuels her best. But I’m not sure where you win from there.

Ehhh, probably just Revel in Riches.

This brings us to the end of this edition of Black Commanders, and to the start of 2019. Which means the remaining 21 cards all came out in the last 2.5 years, which speaks a lot to how much they were designing cards for commander, and how many sets they’ve been coming out with. Until then.

[trademarknickersoncharm]

Austin’s spoiler free  ND Rankings from best to worst (with reasons why)

PLS NOTE: There is only one game I actually HATE. Every other game there is something I like about it except my last spot. Keep that in mind.

1) Ghost of Thornton Hall. This game is an absolute masterpiece. It is the best game HeR has made since CUR. It is also the best game I think HeR has put out in recent years. These are characters that you actually FEEL for. Not one of them are unlikeable. The closest you get is Clara, who you wind up feeling for in the end. An absolute work of art (it is also the first game I pre-ordered because from the very beginning I was invested.)

2) Labyrinth Of Lies- Hear me out. I absolutely adore this game. It has Greece, Theatre, and Xenia Doukas. Three things I cannot live without. While I absolutely agree that the whole idea of a rotating set system underground is impossible, this game was a dream come true for theatre kids everywhere. I will never not play this game without listening to Mamma Mia. It’s probably my biggest unpopular opinion of this fandom.

3) Last Train To Blue Moon Canyon- This game breaks my literal heart. Camille and Jake Hurly has always been up there in my eyes with Frances and Dirk from SHA. I have always loved the environment of this game. (This is probably due to the fact that Murder On The Orient Express is one of my favorite books) and this is one game that I always go to when I’m feeling nostalgic. It is also the first time you see the Hardy Boys so that’s a sign.

4) Sea Of Darkness- This is the game that I think has the best graphics HeR has offered. We have a lesbian character which was highly requested as well as a cute dog. The aurora borealis is never not STUNNING to look at and it one of the best games that actually feels like Nancy is “there”. The mystery is also one that I think can be misleading. I always assumed it was Ghost Ship TM but boy was I wrong. Elisabet also has my whole heart.

5) The Final Scene- OH MY GOD THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE SASS FILLED GAME AND I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE FOR IT. I constantly say “I propose you back off!” at every opportune moment. It is the best dialogue Nancy has ever had. Again, it is a Stan for theatre kids everywhere. I have also always thought magic was the coolest thing even though I can't perform it. Solid dialogue and very easy puzzles, which is always a relief.

6) Curse Of Blackmoor Manor- This is not in my top 3 as it is going to be for almost everyone else due to the fact that I think it is a very difficult game. I first played it when I was 12, and it was the only game I could not beat up until that shit show SAW which we will discuss later. Now that I've grown older and wiser, I have really grown to appreciate it more and it is a CLASSIC when looking into this game series. I appreciate the nostalgia value it has and the soundtrack and the characters. Ethel Bossiny FTW. This game also has the best soundtrack of the series.

7) Treasure In The Royal Tower- Another one that will be in everyone else’s top 3 but is not for me, but is still solid. I ADORE this game’s setting and character development- but for me, I never really felt pulled in to the mystery. My time was spent fan grilling over Hotchkiss that the person who broke into the library was on my back burner. HOWEVER, it is still very nostalgic and iconic it is in my top 10.

8) The Phantom Of Venice- Simply put, this game is why I want to go to Italy. I was ALMOST THERE but corona. I absolutely adore the way this game transports you. They included everything they could, even real photos of Venice, which I appreciated as someone who wants to go.

9) Alibi in Ashes- You have to understand how important it is that we finally got a game in River Heights. It was always on the TOP of my list in terms of places I wanted Nancy to go. It did not disappoint. The fact that everyone turned on Nancy so quickly always sends chills down my spine.

10) Legend Of The Crystal Skull- ALRIGHT so another unpopular opinion. This was the FIRST game I every played AND BEAT and so it will always be in my top 10. This is the game that truly got me invested in the series. If it wasn't this, it would not be this high, but it is my number 10 for that reason. Other things I like: Henry, Renee, the setting and music.

11) Warnings At Waverly Academy- WAC’s setting is so amazing. I don’t really know how to explain it, but I have always been intrigued about boarding school mysteries (@ house of Anubis )and this is a solid one. It contains probably one of the best plot twists of the series that blew my mind the first time I played it, and Mel Corbalis is god’s gift to humanity.

12) The Silent Spy- A real tearjerker if there ever was one. This games takes a storyline that has been changed many times (Nancy’s mom) and turns it into something so extremely badass you really wish she wasn't actually dead. Zoe Wolfe is the absolute reason I exist. You also play a cookies mini game which is just about as addicting as crack.

13) Secret Of The Old Clock- Okay, so I feel like this game gets a lot of hate because everyone talks about how weird the time travel is, but this has always been a game I liked. I think personally, that it is the easiest game in the series (if you exclude the dress, which I have never had a problem with) and it is based on the absolute most classic ND story of all. I also highly enjoy this period of time, even though the characters in this game aren't great. Emily Crandall is probably the best one, and even she yells at Nancy.

14) Secret Of Shadow Ranch- Okay. So I’m going to get anon h8 for this. But SHA is... not the best in my opinion. I have talked about this before, but SHA is very tedious in terms of chores and I just do not like that. I wouldn't necessarily mind the chores if they weren't repetitive, but it is the same chores over and over again. With that said, I LOVE the music, the Humber storyline, and the setting, so it is #14

15) Message In A Haunted Mansion- This is probably the only game I have ever pissed my pants over. CUR and GTH didn’t even do that. I think it is bc MHM is one of the first games I played. The hauntings in this game are so AMAZING and when you find out their explanation it totally changes things.

16) The Deadly Device- I love when ND does a Murder Mystery right. This is the time it was done right. The culprit came out of absolutely no where and I loved it. It is ranked this low for me b/c I think some of the puzzles are tedious and hard. Ryan Kilpatrick is an amazing human being and so is Ellie thx.

17) Tomb Of The Lost Queen- Another game which I think gets a lot of undeserved hate. Mummies are badass, especially when the mummy sighting is real and unexplained. Dylan Carter is probably the biggest example of stud you will ever see, and Jamila El-Dine is a bad b****. I am ranking it this high for Jamila alone. 

18) Danger On Deception Island- I absolutely adore this game’s music. But I hate Holt Scotto with all the fire within me. He is why this game is not in my top 10. I love everything about this game except Holt F****** Scotto. I want to put it in my top 10. I do. But Holt Scotto sucks.

19) The Haunted Carousel- This was a game which I vividly remember being bullied in daycare over. I took it to daycare one day and we kept getting our eyeballs poked out by the lathe. Daycare memories suck. Also it is the first game by which we get a literal sexual strut by the culprit at the end, which I have never liked. Pluses of the game? An amusement park. Miles.

20) Ransom Of The Seven Ships- SAY IT OUT LOUD. RAN. IS. NOT. THE. WORST. GAME. The puzzles, although always thrown at your face, are actually sort of fun. I would rank it higher but there is way too few characters in a way that makes the culprit very obvious, but it also isn't at the same time. 

21) The Captive Curse- This is a game by which I thought had so much potential but I think the monster looks very dumb? It’s like? The inbred cousin of Frankenstien’s monster? However, I LOVE THE SONG “girls”from this game and have a huge love for Lukas, so it isn't bottom 10

22) Stay Tuned For Danger- This game is one that would be so much higher up for me, If you didn’t have to look at EVERYTHING to complete it. If you miss ONE LETTER in a magazine, you cannot beat this game. I get stuck on it every time  I play it, but the mystery is amazing and who doesn’t love a good old NYC game.

23) The White Wolf Of Icicle Creek- To begin my bottom 10, ICE. I LOVE ICE as a concept. But, Fox and Geese holds me back from a replay. I absolutely love the idea of a lodge that people are in danger at. The snow atmosphere is amazing and so is Isis. But, Fox and Geese is an abomination.

24) Ghost Dogs Of Moon Lake- I really, really want to like this game because I am a dog lover. However, the insect challenge is such a CHORE to do. I cannot stand to do it. It is so difficult to do in my humble opinion, it requires such a retrace of step that makes it insufferable. Pros? cute doges.

25) The Haunting Of Castle Malloy- YOU ARE LITERALLY THIS LOW BC OF THE END PUZZLE AND YOU KNOW IT. However, not the worst for me because I love Ireland and this game has some of the best music in the series. It is on my top 5 for soundtracks. I love everything about this game except THE END. Fiona is so misunderstood.

26) Secret of The Scarlet Hand- I really like this game, I do, but I am very not interested in the constant phone calls you do in this game. You are on the phone for about 75% of this game and I really didn’t like that about it. LOVE the history behind it though.

27) SCK/SCK2- I really do not like SCK as a concept. School murders are a topic which really turns me off. Not to mention, there is barely a difference between these games but a single character and a puzzle. 

28) Danger By Design- Paris? Yes. Fashion? Heck yeah. But I never have really enjoyed DAN because the mystery can literally be solved by pulling a Phantom of The Opera and dropkicking the mask off. I also HATE the cookie puzzle. The edges never curl upwards for me.

29) Creature Of Kapu Cave- Ugh. Shells and fishing make this game untouchable for me. I LOVE HAWAII CONCEPT and supernatural volcanoes and phenomena. But I cannot stand the big island buck system or the man himself. Sorry, big island homies. Also be proud of me because it took me this long to bring up STUPID FRASS

30) Midnight In Salem- I was so excited for this game. We all were. I really enjoy MID’s mystery and as a concept. But, the new format is not good and neither is the constant talking and only being able to complete the game in one order. I was so excited for nothing (which is my own fault)

31) Shadow At The Waters Edge- GOD. The massive nonogram and sudoko have NO place in this game. I refuse to play it because of these 2 puzzles. However, I do love the scares in it. They are top notch scares. I have beat this game in it’s entirety maybe once?

32) Trail Of The Twister- Internship simulator forever. Chores galore, what a bore. Uncompelling mystery and hateful characters. The only thing I liked was the country music, a sentence you don’t hear often.

33) The Shattered Medallion- I literally played the beta of this game and it was ions better than the actual released product. That’s reason enough.

[himboholhorse-moving]

1 2 4 7 8 9 13 18 20 26 27 29 30 32 39 40 41 43/44 45 46 49 51 53 55 56 57 59 63 65 that is. so many dghsdghsdgv I'm sorry I just see an ask meme and go crazy aaaa go stupid aaaa. You can just answer whichever u like from those!! also 69(nice): you seem rly nice and funny from your 🅱️osts and I appreciate u... I hope you can find better irl friends who aren't trash

HDSKFJKS I completely understand but lucky for u I LOVE to talk !!

1) How are you?

Pretty good, actually!! Which is a nice change of pace. I went to Walmart with some friends yesterday and got a few things, baked a family recipe that my friends LOVE, and finally did my laundry (it’s been a couple weeks we love depression and executive dysfunction dfhkjsfd). I went to Cracker Barrel with some friends and earlier and played a 4-way game of Tetris after. :3c

2) Post a picture of yourself.

Here you go !!

4) What is your entire name?

Sierra Alexis and my last name is something constantly misspelled so I’ll give you the name of a historical figure whose name is a letter off from mine: George B. McClellan, to whom I may or may not be related because last name variations are fuckin’ WEIRD.

7) Your zodiac/horoscope and if you think it fits your personality.

I’m a Capricorn sun and moon, and Libra rising !! And from what I’ve read on Twitter from various astrologers, like Milkstrology, I LOVE her, I’d say it’s pretty accurate with my personality!! I like to say Capricorn’s aren’t cold bitches but, I Have A Tendency To Be One !!

8) What did you do on your last birthday?

God what DID I do on my last birthday… it was in January, so like, I SHOULD remember… OH I went to IHOP with my friends !! I share a birthday with another friend and I got a JoJo notebook and something called a Fuggler! They’re stuffed animals more or less but designed to be “ugly.” I got one that looks like Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty because I LOVE Gritty… he’s so fun and funky.

9) What is one thing you’d like to accomplish before your next birthday?

Get all my requests in my inbox over on my writing blog done KJHFDJKSF it’s been a few months and life has been. Hectic to say the least.

13) If you could change your eye color, would you?

There’s so much weird as hell brown-eye-phobia so like… I think blue eyes would be pretty neat. OR PURPLE… give me some unnatural eye colors pls...

18) Do you have any tattoos?

Not yet!! I’m going to get one the next time I go back home for break. :3c And I have a few ideas for other ones!! I wanna get a big-ass “Dragon Age: Origins” tattoo that’s the dragon on the cover on my thigh. I also wanna get a DA2 and “Inquisition” tattoo… and the Joestar birthmark… too many ideas… 

20) Left or right handed?

Right-handed !! I could have been left-handed or ambidextrous if I broke my arm AFTER I started kindergarten, but alas that was before.

26) Something you are working on right now:

This !! But also the script for my next podcast episode that I record on uhhh Monday I think. Should probably figure that one out dsjfjhsf

27) Do you have any “rules” about food?

I answered that in the last ask !!

29) What would you say is your best quality?

I also answered this in the last ask !!

30) What do you think you’re really good at?

Writing, I’d say! And memorizing trivia about the stuff I’m super into. If it’s stuff pertaining to “M*A*S*H” or old movies or TV shows or actors or specific historical events, I will know that shit FOR LIFE. Don’t ask me to do math pls thank u

32) What talent do you wish you’d been born with?

I wish I was able to do stuff with music. That was never really in my blood, despite all the music classes they make you take in elementary school. I just never learned how to memorize or read sheet music. :/ I would have loved to play violin, tho… my friend plays and she says I would have been a good cellist.

39) Do you sleep with a stuffed toy?

YES… have for years. I still have my Care Bear from when I was 5, Gritty as mentioned above, a plush of my school’s mascot, and a little Fugo !! He’s so tiny.

40) What do you think about the most?

Everything and constantly and all at once. But the past really because I can never let stuff go and even the small things I mess up on haunt me forever… Wish that wasn’t the case but it is !!

41) Share two habits:

Biting my nails and having a very specific routine in which I get ready when I wake up. Like, I’ve gotta go brush my hair before I put my important cards in my left pocket, then put on my silver bracelet, then my beaded bracelet, then my earbuds in my right pocket, then put my earrings in. I HAVE to do it in that order…

And other oddities that include, like, if I need to go around something I HAVE to follow the urge to go one way and not the other, lest I feel the need to go back and fix it. And then which foot goes first before I reach a crack in the sidewalk, or up or down a curb, etc.

43) What are your career goals?

If I can just make people happy or get some kind of joy out of the things I do, I’d call that enough. :)

44) What is your ideal career?

Mmm, either a film historian or a film professor !! Preferably at the college I’m at right now but wherever the wind takes me, I’ll go! Or a Twitch streamer or YouTuber, it really depends on my mood jdhfjskf

45) Is your life anything like it was two years ago?

It was pretty much the same !! Freshman year was pretty lively, I didn’t have a job on campus yet though, or my podcast. Everything else is basically the same!

46) Do you replay things that have happened in your head?

CONSTANTLY… good or bad it’ll play back over and over and over again.

49) Do you have any phobias?

HOO BOY, DO I… fear of heights; fear of insects/bugs/arachnids/bees/wasps; I have a strong dislike of the number 13 but I don’t know if it’s a phobia, I just. REALLY hate it; the unknown, more or less what lurks somewhere beyond where I can see. Not so much a fear of the dark with that one, just what could BE in it.

51) Are you allergic to anything? If so, what?

I answered this in my last ask, as well!

53) Ever come close to death?

Two or three times, maybe? Two of them involved what’s called a laryngospasm, typically it can happen when your sick, which is what happened to me both times. Basically your throat just closes up on your for a hot minute and you can’t breathe. The first time I genuinely thought I was going to die (and my dad still sent me to school that day… HOE), the second time I was also sick and was losing/had lost my voice DURING A JOB RETREAT and it happened in the middle of the night so that was funny sitting there gasping for breath in the pitch dark.

At the FIRST retreat I went on for that job, you had to take pictures as part of a scavenger hunt, and the place used to be an old military fort, so there were still the old bunkers there. We had to take one on top of it and I was taking the picture, and it’s a wide shot so I go to take a step back but before I do I look behind me. If I hadn’t I would have fallen a good 10-15 feet down onto solid Civil War-era bunker concrete. I’d consider that being a “close to death” moment because I really could have died!

55) A random fact about yourself:

I have a half-brother !! My sis and I finally found him after her 23andMe results came back (which she decided to do despite us being like THE GOVERNMENT WILL COLLECT OUR DATA) and we didn’t think our mom would be happy she found him but she was !! My sis might reach out and contact him, she just wanted our mom’s permission first to do it.

56) What are three things most people don’t know about you?

Well, that I have a half-brother. I don’t mention it a lot. Aside from y’all on here and my sister, most everyone else doesn’t know I’m nonbinary! Everyone else knows I’m bi though lmao. And that there were times I’d stretch or bend the truth or lie about something just to impress someone else. It’s a… Bad Habit. Another thing is that most people don’t know I like coffee? Like I need to put a shit ton of creamer in with it because I’m a Bitch, but yeah.

57) An unknown fact about your life:

I wouldn’t call this an “unknown” fact but I’d used to go to work with my dad every now and again when he worked at the Home Depot and he was assistant manager. I’d either chill in the back room which was an office he shared with two other guys, or walk around the store with him. I had my own apron, too, which was my name with “Mini Mac” next to it, “Mac” being my dad’s nickname and something easier to say than my last name. I actually helped a few customers out so I wonder if I should have gotten paid for that despite being like, ages 9-13 when I’d go jshfkjd

And I guess I technically tested video games as a kid? Basically, when my dad was stationed at Fort Knox, they’d get demos of video games that hadn’t come out yet to test I suppose? and I still have a few somewhere. He’d hand them off to me and I’d play them so there’s that.

59) Five weird things that you like:

Eating globs of wasabi for no reason.

Scaring my friends also for no reason.

I wouldn’t say using cotton swabs to get wax out of your ears because it feels good is weird, just more medically inadvisable if anything.

When I was younger I’d like to floss really hard because the slight pain from it felt good. Young me was a #Freaque KJHDFJJDHF

I don’t know if being fond of alphabetizing and reorganizing things is considered weird but I LOVE doing that.

63) A quote you try to live by:

“It matters not how strait the gate, / How charged with punishments the scroll; / I am the master of my fate: / I am the captain of my soul.” It’s from the poem “Invictus” and the last two lines are what I’m getting tattooed !!

65) Weird things you do when you’re alone:

Practice the “Lucky Star” dance. I GOT THE LYRICS DOWN… JUST NEED TO DO THE DANCE NOW…

69) Leave me a compliment:

“you seem rly nice and funny from your 🅱️osts and I appreciate u... I hope you can find better irl friends who aren't trash”

Anon pls 🥺 I do my best to be nice but my friend really do test me sometimes... my feelings bounce back n forth like if they do something my feelings can switch to angry or like, hate, and then if they do something nice I’ll like them again. It sucks but ! I just take it one day at a time. Anon I care for u 💜💜💜

[ssj4]

Sorry to bother you, but I keep seeing posts about a future Goten AU and I keep getting really curious! However, when I try to find links to anything about it I end up at some abandoned URLs.

SECOND TIME TRYING TO ANSWER THIS CAUSE MY IDIOT ASS FORGOT I HAD ONE TYPED OUT AND CLOSED EVERYTHING :)

some disclaimers im getting most of this from an old draft i had written about the au, i havent watched the specific scenes in dbz and dbs that these are based on in well over 2+ years so i dont remember the timeline of events that well so im sorry if some of it just straight up doesnt make sense lol

this whole thing did start out as an excuse to replace the romantic scenes with mai in dbs with goten actually so the truten themes are pretty significant but that aside future goten is a very good boy with a much different personality and outlook on things… much like how future trunks is compared to his main timeline counterpart :3c the whole thing was developed by me and my gf together and we never rly posted too much about it and the broken links you did end up finding were probably from like the one or two times we did but here u go im glad u asked 

I HOPE THE READ MORE LINK WORKS ON MOBILE IF NOT IM SORRY

the big change is it starts out with chi chi getting pregnant before goku dies of heart disease or whatever in the android saga instead of the cell saga, so even after he dies in that timeline she still has their 2nd son and he grows up in the future timeline with trunks.

when they were kids (like 10-15) goten was stronger than trunks just bc gohan and chi chi were there to teach him just a little bit. trunks and goten sparred a lot though so he was able to keep up but never really passed him. (that part isnt really important but i figured it was a nice detail that made sense)

thats when history of trunks comes into play, and they both get really serious about gohan training them. the scene in the movie where gohan knocks trunks out before flying off and getting killed is the same except now he just knocks out 2 kids instead of 1 i guess. 

i feel i gotta add that this au was created when the future trunks arc in dbs was airing, and mai was introduced as his love interest, and honestly in my opinion the scenes were written really well but i just wasnt digging the fact that before she was granted a younger appearance she was already middle aged, like she was old enough to be his mom if that makes sense. so it really isnt a dig on mai at all cause i love her and id die for her its just the romantic plot that i didnt like. so when that was airing i thought “WELL what if that was someone else” 

she’s still with them though in this timeline and she still has her younger appearance! 

the future timeline is still progressing the same as it did in canon, the androids still wrecked the place and no one was strong enough to do much about it so trunks is still set up with a time machine to meet with the other timeline. goten stays back and does his best to protect everyone while hes gone just in case

some stuff happens in between here but skip ahead to trunks coming back from the trip after the cell games i guess! lots of stuff happened obviously like trunks literally dying, spending years in the time chamber with his dad, meeting a whole gaggle of clowns that he’d only heard stories about, seeing gohan as a preteen. hes got a lot of stuff to share!!! now hes back and he can take care of the androids + cell + and goten can catch up and lifes pretty good over there! 😇

during the rebuilding period goten would spend a lot of time with chi-chi and ox-king and still slept over there occasionally which she really appreciated, and he invited trunks and bulma over there with him frequently.

despite this he wasnt present when she died as no one really expected goku black to wipe out the landscape so far from the city, but she and ox-king died along with more than half of the population. (ugh god im so sorry queen i love you😓)

as i said before mai is still here and she’s still the leader of the resistance!

events of future bulmas death is the same as well as mai originally intending to go with trunks when they meet up together in an abandoned building. goten is already there as the three of them rest up a bit and start making their way to capsule corp. goten was planning on staying behind anyways but he wanted to see the two of them off. when goku black interrupts them as they arrive, trunks and goten encourage mai to escape, seeing as she only has a gun and everyone already knows bullets arent gonna work. 

this scene is the same as it was in canon, where trunks tries to rush black but gets beaten quickly. mai trying to buy him time to let him escape is replaced with goten actually fighting him and taking a hit for trunks but getting knocked out as mai did. trunks under extreme stress from already losing his mom today assumes hes dead instantly, (he has dumb bitch disease, he didnt even check for a pulse in canon!🤔) and fires a masenko to escape into capsule on his own 

after trunks pops back in time and black is focused on searching for him, mai sneaks back in to retrieve goten (even though they told her to leave she really just ducked behind some rubble and stayed close, because she wasnt just gonna leave them!)

she takes him back to an underground bunker with other members of earths resistance and when he wakes up she tells him that trunks made it to the time machine and that hes presumably in the other timeline now. 

idk if yall remember it well but i rewatched some of the episodes just for this, and trunks in the main timeline believing goten was killed and mai is alone and he wont be able to get back is so sad. and when he spent that day with gohan and his family and cried thinking about how if black hadn’t have shown up, he couldve had a family too… he doesnt deserve to be this sad 😥

skip to when he’s finally able to get back home with goku and vegeta with him and they make their way to the bunker where he sees mai and goten together! the scene in canon where he rushes over and starts spilling his heart out is the same, with him telling goten he thought he died

they get a really sweet hug moment here when theyre both happy to see the other is still safe and it gives both goku and vegeta some Food For Thought, because goku actually didnt know there was a goten in this timeline, and he doesnt really recognize him at first. vegeta has the idea in his head that this is probably goten.

goten never really had any sort of real attachment to his dad. it makes sense hes never met him, hes only ever really heard about him through others, (his mom, his brother, trunks, and probably bulma has mentioned him as well) so he definitely knows OF him its just that, he doesnt know him. so when he sees the real goku standing there for once a lot of thoughts run though his mind, like, “that looks A LOT like goku black!” “thats definitely my old hairstyle” and “holy shit is that my dad?” but the first thing he actually says out loud is “Holy shit its goku orange” and vegeta really almost loses it because cause any doubt in his mind about this kid being related to kakarot just went right out the window cause only someone related to him would say that

and as you probably know a lot happens after that with them all finding a way to defeat zamasu but i dont want to include all of the rest when you can probably just interpret which scenes were changed  

ANYWAYS now instead of trunks surviving the apocalypse its trunks and goten surviving the apocalypse. thats why its not a really super romantic deal like Who has time for dates when goku black Might possibly be hiding in this abandoned olive garden?? so theyre just very close and privately affectionate

the ending where trunks and mai get to live in a new world with their counterparts is the same except gotens there with them of course, dbs left their ending pretty open 

so that takes care of the story changes, heres some additional details and information on gotens character in this au! 

heres his design, drawn by my girlfriend @ssj2 uwu !! 

he kept his natural hairstyle for a while, but i think he changed it sometime during the rebuilding period after the androids and just let it grow out a bunch. up until then he kept his natural style purely to honor the guy he’s heard so fondly of even if it brought him a lot of mixed feelings when people said he looks just like him. a really distinct feature about his new hairstyle is that the spikes look like horns and i love that a lot !!

and the shawl he wears was the same one chi chi wore 

some personality traits for future goten is that he has a habit of bottling up his negative emotions and has trouble taking care of himself, as hes always more focused on the well being of his loved ones. he can be mischievous and cocky but hes not overconfident (or he hasnt been since gohans death) however in some situations he can be charismatic and assertive which works really well imowhen their timeline is erased and theyre temporarily in the main timeline, goten gets to meet a bunch of people like gohan and his family, chi chi, and even his counterpart 

sorry if this post was messy i wasnt really sure how i wanted to make it look and im kinda bad at dumping information out so if any of its confusing just redirect me to it and ill try again gdjfksjdgsfk 😭❤

hmmm anyways thank u for reading!! its an au we made years ago and we love a lot and i hope u do too! be nice pls!! and send asks about it if you’d like cause its fun to think about! 

[snkpolls]

SnK Chapter 98 Poll Results

The chapter 98 poll closed with a record 1,771 responses. Thank you to everyone for participating. 

  RATE THE CHAPTER (1,711 RESPONSES)

If you disliked this chapter, you were very much in the minority. Only 1% of respondents rated it poorly. Satisfaction with recent Marley chapters have been generally positive, but this is the highest rating since we started the poll.

This chapter was so fire I had to call 911 after I read it

Goddamned life ruining basements.

Sadly, SNK is eventually going to end, and having taken the time to properly explain its unique universe and its characters will that day leave to this world the completed masterpiece it has the potential to be

I gasped during the "I'm Dr. Yeagar'" scene, but I almost threw my phone from excitement from the "Hey, it's been 4 years huh Reiner." I was one of the people that thought I wouldn't care for the young Warriors, but damn, this chapter won me over. Especially Falco. The awesome character building scenes, the mystery behind Tybur & Magath, the attitude's of the vet Warriors, and Eren's new shred of awesomeness made this one of my favorite chapters.

Magath is still making me wet with his humanity, Willy needs a hug and some Hellos D, I can't believe the East Sea Clan is actually a thing (eeeek) and if Falco gets hurt I will die. Also where's Annie.

I think the entire chapter could be my favorite moment.

Willy and Magath vs Levi for clean house?

When Jaegerbowl became SUPER JAEGER BROTHERS, GET HYPE EVERYBODY

  ON THE SUPREME CUTENESS SCALE OF 10-10 HOW CUTE WAS ALL OF THIS??? (1,721 Responses)

Because of our own intense fangirling after reading this chapter, we had to lead off the poll with something fun. Thankfully most didn’t mind and agreed with us that this chapter was packed with supreme cuteness.

Remember when attack on titan was dark? Now it's all rainbows and unicorns. Jk, I loved this chapter.

   ON THE BEST DAD SCALE OF 420-10 HOW GREAT WAS REINER??? (1,721 Responses)

It’s also nice to see that 84% of us agree that Papa Reiner was just awesome! 275 people disagreed, including one commenter below.

Reiner accompanying the kids at the festival was SOOO DAMN CUTE

Reigner is my favourite moment every chapter.

This chapter was great. Seeing daddy Reiner was one of the sweetest moments in SNK

This may be an unpopular opinion but Reigner honestly feels like the least interesting character in the whole arc. We have all these shiny new characters that are in desperate need of character development and all we keep getting is more and more Reigner. Reigner this, Reigner that, Isayama is starting to sound like a bunch of Bertholdts. Where is the love for Colt, Porco, Ms Exactly Right, Theo and more? Grim Reminder 2.0 also needs to happen fast.

this one salty anon saying reiner is the least interesting character of marley are you in your right mind or are your standards simply just low

  THERE WERE SO MANY GREAT MOMENTS THAT WE’RE GONNA BREAK ‘EM INTO TWO QUESTIONS. BATCH ONE IS THE SWEET THINGS. WHICH OF THESE MOMENTS MADE YOU SMILE THE MOST? (1,720 Responses)

I love how difficult it was for people to choose a best moment. “Reiner as Marley’s Best Dad and ATM” eked out the number one slot by just 1 vote. “All of the above” was second and Falco’s near confession was a distant third.

Reiner awkwardly avoiding eye contact with Galliard.

Eren spending one month undercover by disguising himself as Sad Keanu

Porco being low-key supportive of Falco and the parallels it draws with his own life/relationship with Reiner.

Falco's proud face when he guides Reiner to the basement.

  BATCH TWO ARE THE SERIOUS THINGS. WHICH OF THESE MOMENTS MOST CAUGHT YOUR ATTENTION? (1,718 Responses)

Basement Reveal 2.0 was our favorite moment. Twenty-four percent of the fandom couldn’t pick just one, making “All of the above” the number two selection. Eren meeting his grandfather and the mysterious Asian women round out the third and fourth pick.

When Reiner Meets Eren

The asian woman is about on par with basement 2 electric boogaloo but i could only pick one so im cheating a bit pls dont be angry

While you've mentioned all the moments that stood out most to me, I can say I definitely appreciated the variety of races drawn as they were distinct, reasonable designs. All in all, these are all awesome moments, it's hard to pick favorites in this chapter.

  DID YOU HAVE A FAVORITE MOMENT WE FAILED TO MENTION? (237 Responses)

You can sense the excitement for a chapter when 237 people take the time to gush in the comments section. If you want to read them all, you’ll need to visit the full poll results but here are a few.

Zeke's three-level comment about being a big brother (works for Colt, Porco and Zeke himself), also Zeke playing catch with Colt and Eren playing with Zeke's ball.

Eren basically slamming that baseball right in his gorgeous face is kinda one of the best moments!?!?

PORCO SMILING AT FALCO'S VICTORY

Gabi waking up. Those panels were so detailed on her face, I'm worried that little Gabi is waving her death flags. I almost had a heart attack because I thought for a second she was Mikasa when I first read through.

Gabi's relationship with Udo and Zofia and the "devil" line

Cory in the house finally meeting the fresh prince of bel-air

black people being not so stereotypical. they just looked like people, not over-cheerful big lipped afro hair stereotype or anything like that

The attitude and mystery of that old asian woman

  SEVERAL CHARACTERS HAD THEIR SASS GAME ON STRONG. WHO DID IT BEST? (1,718 Responses)

Eren’s “Good to see you made it back home” was declared the  sassiest line by a significant majority. Sassmaster Pieck was second with her slam about entrusting the Paradis operation to four kids. My personal favorite was Porco’s hugely sarcastic “We have some awfully bright officials leading us”, but only 5% agreed with me.

While “Good to see you made it back home” was the winner, it wasn’t without controversy. I saw several comments on Reddit and Tumblr from people who thought that Eren wasn’t being sassy when he said them. It’s possible I suppose, but unless a lot of has changed in the last four years, I find it hard to believe he was being sincere.

  WITH ALL THE NEW CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, IT’S TIME TO ASK AGAIN. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE OF THE NEW KIDDOS? (1,701 Responses)

Perfect little bean Falco wins by a landslide! Was there every any doubt? Gabi is far more polarizing but has maintained a loyal fanbase. She came in second with 16.9%. Zophia received 133 votes (7.8%). Colt received 98 votes (5.8%). The wine-spilling, multi-lingual, “not from around here” Udo received the fewest votes with 76 (4.5%).

Falco's smile, I just want to hug him as if he were my little brother/cousin ^^

Falco cemented his status as a cinammon roll. I'd hate for him to get toasted in the next chapter, considering what's about to go down in the basement!

Gabi's ego is charming.

CUTE ZOPHIE

Udo is the most precious kid and I love him a lot and if he dies, I die. (I keep saying this about all my faves but it's true.)

  ON A SCALE FROM 1-5 (1=STILL CAN’T STAND ‘EM; 5=DAMMIT I GOT SUCKED IN), HAS THE NEW CAST WON YOU OVER? (1,717 Responses)

Isayama deserves mad props for introducing a brand new cast and gradually making us care about them. More than 65% of us now have strong feelings for the Warriors and candidate kiddos .

Pieck. Just Pieck.

I can't believe I got sucked into Marley. This chapter just solidified my new found affection for 90% of the Marley characters, and even though I do miss the main cast I'm totally fine with more Marley chapters! Gabi went from hate to fave in a heartbeat. I must be sick? Not to mention all the pokkopikku moments... Honestly I'm in love with SNK all over again. RIP Me.

I used to not be very fond of the warrior cadets, but this chapter just filled me with love for those kids. My only problem is that I KNOW Isayama is trying to get me to sympathize with them before ultimately crushing my soul and having something terrible happen  :(

I still hate all the kids, but Reiner has got some brownie points with me now.

ANY THOUGHTS ON WHAT WILLY'S "SINGLE ANSWER" IS? (1,685 Responses)

Our single answer to Willy’s single answer is that we are all over the place with ideas. A slim majority believe that Willy is going to propose a genocide starting in Liberio, but there were almost 100 write ins with other options. Here are a few.

Definitely the elimination of Paradis

I think he found a way to turn even non-Eldians into titans and he will try to create some sort of balance of terror.

I think he'll give a long winded speech, and just when he's about to lay it all out, *loud boom* *lightning* Grim Reminder part 2

A possible solution for all of this is Eren eating all shifters and sealing himself in a crystal, like Annie, forever. We still haven't seen if Annie has aged inside the crystal or not though. I wonder if this is Willy's solution.

Someone will kill him before he tells the answer

High School Eldian Musical

I dunno.  But it sure as hell ain't anything good, that's for sure.  Just what are you up to, you slippery snake?

I have no idea but I'm 300% convinced that the Tiber family was in contact with the Reiss one the whole time (remember the "Armored - Braun" vial Rod Reiss had? That was Reiner's spinal fluid and how the frick frack it ended inside the Walls??). I think that will play a big role in whatever Willy Billy is planning to do.

I'd say gather Loki and the Avengers to obtain the nine titan powers, using it to control the the Eldians who'll win over foreign leaders and defeat Marley, then proceed to turn on said ambassadors as well as the Eldians they're controlling.

Destroy all perceptions that Eldians are the only ones who can turn titans and use the ambassadors as an example, bringing chaos

Dunno how plausible this is but...maybe he knows how to get rid of the Eldians's capacity to turn into titans, and that's his single answer ?

Either kill all non-Eldians or gain the coordinate and somehow mindwipe all Eldian and non-Eldians alike somehow. Or something idk. I just feel like mindwiping will come into play. Either that or unite Marley and Eldia and ally with the Asians and fight against literally the rest of the world.

Final solution, Willy Hitler

"We will allow the Paradisians to live in peace if they can win a game of baseball against our best team: The Warriors."

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  DO YOU THINK WILLY WILL ULTIMATELY BE THE BIG BAD OF THE SERIES? (1,710 Responses)

“Willy or wont he” be the big bad of the series? Gray morality wins. But whatever Willy has planned is making a large number of us uncomfortable.

This chapter made me feel really uneasy. Willy Tyber is throwing me off, and I'm really nervous for whatever he has planned next chapter. I feel like this was almost too good, too sweet, too happy. Something big is about to happen, I can feel it, and I know Tyber's gonna be at the center of it. I don't trust him, and I love that this chapter made me feel something this strongly. 

I feel like Willy's "If only the titans didn't exist" was a giveaway. Willy will try to remove all titan powers, either by killing all Eldians (he should know that's gonna be hard to accomplish), or by collecting all titan powers and locking it up idk how. But genocide is not out of the question. He might do it, but even if he does, I don't think I'll really see him as your typical "villain."

Well, damn guys... What if Willy's not even the bad guy, huh? He has shady plans of his own, no doubt... But to just say he's seeking genocide is too far fetched, in my honest opinion. Yes, I don't have a clue as to what he's going to do, but I'm not ready to label him a murderer yet. Maybe I just got charmed by that "Thor-like" haircut, but to me it seemed like he genuinely felt bad for closing his eyes on the treatment of Eldians, and wanted to change that. Of course, Paradis could be the scapegoat, but I don't know about that either. Oh well... We have to wait and see, I guess...

  WHO DO YOU THINK MAGATH'S INFORMANTS ARE THAT LET HIM KNOW ABOUT THE EXISTENCE OF "MICE IN THE HOUSE"? (1,678 Responses)

Eren, Pieck, P A T H S and Colt received the most write-in votes (in that order), but the majority believe we haven’t met the person spying on the inside for Magath.

I didn't understand what they meant by this when I first read it, and I barely still know after reading it again after reading this question.

I wanted to say the SC being spies, but I really think it's either other countries' spies or just mean other countries' leaders/elites had arrived.

It would be interesting character-wise for Magath if he discovered Zeke was legitimately (I have my doubts) conspiring with Eren/Paradis. Magath could be more grey, should he prosecute Zeke, keep it to himself, or join in.

Probably some competent high-ranking Marleyan soldier but the ultimate plot-twist would be Pieck (imagine Zeke being the one snitched out by his most trusted warrior)

Zeke. If Zeke's working with Eren (and not just talking to him but actually helping him), then I think it's possible that Zeke's sort of double-crossing Magath. He could act like he's interested in cleansing Marley by ridding it of the "mice," or he's simply acting interested in Magath and Willy's plan so as to get inside info on what they're up to.

  DO YOU THINK EREN HAS BEEN CORRESPONDING WITH ZEKE? (1,714 Responses)

The baseball glove was proof positive for 86.1% of the fandom.

I wonder if Zeke realizes that it's Eren with whom he's communicating? He only saw Eren once, when his glasses were off, so even if they met in person, I'm not sure he'd recognize Eren.  Eren could be hiding his true identity from Zeke to avoid being stabbed in the back for the coordinate.

  DO YOU THINK ZEKE AND EREN ARE WORKING TOGETHER? (1,711 Responses)

The majority say yes!

We should ask Pieck if Zeke is working with Eren... Because Pieck is exactly right.

Zeke has no side. He is with Eren but he will also rat him out to Magath.

  DID ZEKE KNOW THAT EREN WAS IN THE BASEMENT AT THE FESTIVAL? (1,708 Responses)

Zeke looked at his watch and gave Falco permission to escort Reiner to the basement despite it being almost time for the program to begin. That, plus the baseball glove, is enough to convince 72.5% of us that Zeke was in on the Reiner/Eren reunion.

  DO YOU THINK A REZ (REINER, EREN, ZEKE) ALLIANCE IS GONNA HAPPEN? (1,708 Responses)

We were a little more divided here. Most are convinced Zeke and Eren are working together but they are less confident that Reiner will join them.

He doesn't forgive but does work with reigner and zeke.

I can see Eren working together with Zeke or actually manipulating and using him, while Zeke thinks he's his pure cinnamon roll brother. But I don't think a Reiner/Eren alliance will work. Like why would Reiner want to help Eren? Why would Isayama want to fucking ruin Bertolt's life after his dead even more?

I hope Reiner and Eren will be good boys and won't fight. I also hope November will come quickly.

I'm dying to know WHY Eren gave away his presence to Reiner. like WHY take such a risk omg. I gotta read the next chapter asap!!!!

  DO YOU THINK EREN IS OPERATING ALONE OR WITH SC PERMISSION? (1,717 Responses)

My personal feeling are in the #2 red zone here. More than half the fandom feels that Eren’s appearance in Marley is fully sanctioned by the Survey Corps.

If Eren really had gone rogue & left Paradis, that means Paradis are one 1 shifter less so more reason for them to recruit Annie as Eren's replacement

Why would they send Eren of all people to Marley? Eren is very well known as a person who can't easily control his emotions, and someone who isn't very good at acting. Just look how bad he did in the Stohess Arc. If he was the only person who could regenarate limbs, I'd understand. But why not send Armin? He has shown to be much better than Eren in both acting and manipulating people. He was also shown to have some slight understanding of Reiner's feelings, so why not him? How could they trust the most emotional person on the team? Has Eren really changed that much?

  TIME SKIP EREN SEEMS VERY DIFFERENT FROM HIS 15 YEAR OLD SELF, MAYBE COLDER, CERTAINLY MORE IN CONTROL OF HIS EMOTIONS. WHERE DO YOU THINK EREN NOW LANDS ON THE MORALITY SCALE? IS HE STILL “ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS”? (1,710 Responses)

This poll result surprised me. On the far extremes, 253 people think Eren is a cinnamon roll while 52 individuals categorize him as essentially scum of the earth. The majority seem to be taking a “wait and see attitude” about his intentions.

"Eren is the same old cinnamon roll"  .......Since when has Eren "I will destroy all titans/murder these rabid dogs masquerading as humans/make sure your death is the most painful possible" Yeager been a cinnamon roll?  Sin-amon roll, maybe.  But even that's kinda a stretch.

I think he: is older and wiser, has a better understanding of the world (and how cruel and unfair it is, I think he's kind of emo) and the memories are affecting him somewhat.

war changes a man

This kid has seen some shit. I don't doubt he's haunted as hell. And that's pretty haunted.

  IF EREN IS ACTING DIFFERENTLY, WHAT HAS INFLUENCED HIM THE MOST? (1,715 Responses)

Close to 60% of respondents believe the influence of Kruger and Grisha’s memories have made Eren a changed man. Basic maturity was the second pick with 30%. In third place, 6.6% of respondents think he hasn’t changed and believe that Eren’s cold demeanor is only an act.

A lot of things have changed Eren, starting from him losing his family and friends, seeing the titans,fighting them and discovering the truth about them, his father and his half-brother. Also seeing the state the Marleys and Eldians are now. So a lot of things have changed Eren and turned him into who he is now.

All except 'he hasn't changed' but I do think the memories had the most affect. Hell after he got those memories he didn't even care about the ocean anymore. I think he realized that there was no freedom inside the walls or outside of them. Which basically made his original goal to 'break humanity out of its cage and eliminate all the titans' meaningless. Really sad honesty.  

All of the coordinate boys get chill eventually

Blurrier moral realization combined with his dwindling lifespan

If we remember the kind if shit he went through it's only natural to assume that he changed. Just like Reiner, all his childhood dreams and goals were shattered to pieces when he saw the bigger picture.

Revenge against the people who genocides our folks generally do that to you.

depression's a bitch

He's coming more dickhead than before that's all

HE'S CHANGED GIVEN THE GARBAGE CIRCUMSTANCES

Marley pizza. That shit is life-changing. Reiner can testify.

  IF EREN’S ACTIONS BRING HARM TO THE WARRIORS OR CANDIDATES (FALCO OR PIECK, FOR INSTANCE), WOULD THIS IMPACT YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT HIM NEGATIVELY? (1,703 Responses)

I suppose the bottom line here is that the fandom likes the new kids, but they like Eren better. This is war and people get hurt. A slim majority will not hold it against Eren if his actions hurt the warriors or warrior candidates.

If Eren manipulated Falco and doesn't care about him, I will cry.

I LOVE REINER BRAUN AND EREN BETTER LEAVE HIM AND ALL THE OTHER MARLEYAN WARRIORS AND CANDIDATES ALONE

Can we discuss that all the Jaegers are probably ruining the lives of the Grice family? Grisha with the original, Zeke playing Colt, Eren adopting Falco... Poor kiddos.

PROTECT FALCO AT ALL THE COSTS

  HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT TO RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL CAST ON PARADIS? (1,712 Responses)

No matter how much we enjoy the current chapters, these poll numbers barely change. A significant portion of the fandom remains desperate to see the main cast.

Although a few fans are impatient to see the SC, I enjoy to see that Isayama is taking is time and is not rushing this part.

I still want the series to bring back the Paradis cast while staying in Marley. I have the feeling things are about to kick into overdrive next chapter, with the landmark chapter 100 incoming, and I'd love it if the finale remained in Marley while having the whole cast there. Have Paradis left for flashbacks/explanations and the epilogue, the mainland's a perfect staging ground for the end of this.

I swear to Ymir if we leave Marley in this cliffhanger there will be riots

I want the 104th back.

With the reveal of the Asian clan symbol (FINALLY), I strongly feel as though Mikasa and the rest of the Survey Corps are going to show up really soon. I expect them to finally return on issue #100, but on next month's issue would be even better!

ISAYAMA-SAN PLEASE SHOW TIME-SKIP LEVI.

  WHICH CHARACTERS DO YOU GENERALLY ENJOY THE MOST? (1,714 Responses)

RIP my beloved Vets :(

  WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? (1,695 Responses)

  ANY OTHER CHAPTER THOUGHTS YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE?

Hajime Isayama blowing my mind

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGG *screams into the abyss*

With tgis new infomation its more liekly that the marleyans have sour cream

He [Willy] will tell the real story of how the titans came into existence, and by fusing all nine titan powers together you get the same powers as the original Ymir Fritz had so you can do some voodoo shit and "cure" all Eldians of their curse. Everyone gets to live happily ever after, oh, and Levi opens up his tea shop.

I really liked the scene with Eren playing with the baseball. He looked so calm

I really enjoyed the entire chapter. It felt like a break but it revealed a ton. I am so eager to keep reading.

P A T H S

Reiner looks so handsome in his uniform >.>

RIP Reiner's wallet

The Asian woman I need to know more

I appreciated the worldbuilding in this chapter. The festival scene in particular showed how big the scale was compared to Paradis. Leaning Eldians lived in other parts of the world and not only Marley, puts things into perspective about their goals. If Paradis is submitted, other Eldians would melt in the population slowly but surely. The REZ alliance or whatever its' called, is completely bull: Zeke isn't going to team up with someone going against his plans. Also Eren didn't mature. He still shares the same goal, but he became way more cunning about it thanks to Kruger and Grisha's memories. He inherited their democratic skills and would gladly use them against Reiner. He never forgave Reiner and isn't going to forgive him. Since Bert died and Shiganshina was rebuild, that alleviated his rage, but he feels like he has to take Reiner down.

It's not so much this chapter sucked, it's just that I'm so sick ok Marley, so I couldn't enjoy it that much

On a serious note, finding out that Grandad Yeager is also a trauma patient at the hospital was heart-breaking. But it makes sense: both of his children are dead and his grandson Zeke is due to "pass on his powers" (die) soon too. I wonder what he'll do if he finds out that Eren is his grandson too, is also a Titan AND has the Founding Titan power? Uh oh! Also worth happy screeching about: That symbol on the back of the Asian lady's kimono. That had to be a deliberate reveal? Is that the symbol of the East Sea Clan from whom Mikasa is descended from and will she reveal that symbol on her wrist?! Last but not least, Reiner gets his own basement reveal and Eren is in there!

The cult of reigner has affected the typesetters i must now retire to the forest where i will live as a hermit with the treefolk only coming out once a month to read the mangastream translation this is my vow so help me god and may the lord be my witness

I know I say this every month, but man is next chapter gonna be a doozy! Eren and Reiner finally meeting is going to stir up some feelings and arguments.

Is Willy going to let the cat out of the bag about the Tyburs being the power behind the leaders of Marley? Will the play be the true history of what happened after the Titan War?

With the reveal of the Asian clan symbol (FINALLY), I strongly feel as though Mikasa and the rest of the Survey Corps are going to show up really soon. I expect them to finally return on issue #100, but on next month's issue would be even better!

I think Willy is actually plotting to overthrow the Marleys and bring power to the Eldians Maybe he's joined forces with Eren and Zeke and we still don't know. I think he wants to restore the Eldian race.

I hope we get to know more about the actual history of "The Subjects of Ymir", perhaps in the form of a theatrical play on that stage. Where do people get this genocide thing from, only from the Nazi parallels? If Willy were planning it, then why did he talk about how the whole world wants exactly that to happen and how he thought up a solution to this problem? Really sounds like he's got something entirely DIFFERENT up his sleeve, and I guess it's got something to do with how Ymir created titans in the first place.

Is Willy going to let the cat out of the bag about the Tyburs being the power behind the leaders of Marley? Will the play be the true history of what happened after the Titan War?

Pieck and Porco are ALWAYS together what's up with that and also we never see Zeke's eyes in this chapter

Zhophia is a Annie relative, Udo is Naruto's son too (Boruto's brother).

Eren meeting Reiner has me so FUCKING HYPED for the next chapter that I so anxious for November. Isayama you damn torturer!!!!

Zeke is a majestic beast leaping for that ball.

Eren meeting Reiner has me so FUCKING HYPED for the next chapter that I so anxious for November. Isayama you damn torturer!!!!

99/100 hype is real

[fallish]

attended my first hackathon today and i had a blast!!! it was so much better than i thought it was going to be and i wasnt intimidated at all. in fact, its the most fun ive had in a while.

highlights include:

a girl looking at her code and saying “this better work” hitting enter and grinding her teeth to say “it didnt freaking work”

a girl who brought her whole ass desktop that you could see for miles over a sea of laptops

“i didnt come here to win but i would really like just one $5 participation giftcard”

three people playing smash bros on some dudes computer

the subtitle on a presentation that read “we have 8 people in our group so pls give us 2nd place so we can all have $50 gift cards”

the cup stacking competition that was unnecessarily intense. these 2 teams tied at 18 cups tall and the mlh leader made them keep putting one cup more on top until the tower fell over. except the towers didnt fall. eventually it got to the point where she was like, ok you gotta just pull one cup out of the first ten rows and whoevers tower is taller at the end wins. team fun won. it was fantastic (imagine a bunch of nerds yelling “OHHHHHHH” and going batshit every time a cup was successfully placed. and like people getting lifted and on each others backs to do it. god it was good)

we didnt code a single thing the whole time

“maybe the real code was the friends we made along the way,”

“no, i think it was the three caffeine bars you ate in a row, dipshit”

industry officials were real chill. too chill maybe.

four of them introduced themselves with their name, company, and how long they worked there

and then that dude justin from goldman sachs who introduced himself like “my name is justin and i like long walks on the beach, i play volleyball three times a week so my abs are great, and i love world of warcraft!!” freaking bless man

i got 3 free tshirts and a fuckton of stickers

i actually learned a lot. i went to a talk about parallel processing and quantum computing and i understood some of it. i got to watch a dude demonstrate ai training. i talked to a lot of people in cs and i actually really enjoyed meeting them. the github presentation was the best trainwreck ive seen in my life. i got some hope for living life after graduation from people who were actually really worried about graduating before they did it. i even knew some of them from previous events id been to. it was a genuinely fun day filled with activities and general excitement for being in computer science, regardless of what kind of programmer or designer or business whatever we were. it was really cool.

“what inspires you to continue working in STEM?”

“the PAIN”

a girl carefully outlining someones hairline with leftover icing from the cookie decorating event

“bruh. what. what is that?” asked to a guy clearly not knowing what piece of hardware was in his hand with a slightly perplexed face that said he clearly did not know how he got it

leaving was smooth and painless and i always appreciate that in an event

everything about it

[marcelinomathias-blog]

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A Whole Bunch of Amazing Fixer-Uppers North of New York City

by Elizabeth Finkelstein (Image courtesy of Northern Dutchess Realty Inc.)

It’s almost embarrassing to admit how much time I spend looking at fixer-uppers for sale. Ethan (my husband) and I do nothing but dream about landing a big, old farmhouse rife with peeling wallpaper and sited on a hill somewhere up the Hudson River, where we’d live out the rest of our days surrounded by multiple sets of pocket doors and ornate plasterwork from a bygone era. IT’S GONNA HAPPEN, JUST YOU WAIT.   You can imagine my excitement when my friend Christina Poletto (whom I met when she reached out to me to write a piece about CIRCA for Today.com) asked me to collaborate with her on a series of pieces for local publications focused on fixer-uppers for sale north of New York City, which you can read in The Journal News and The Poughkeepsie Journal. Christina was the PERFECT person to help me with this, considering she’s got an eye for lovely, old things. Christina actually runs a staging and furniture refurbishment business just north of New York, so if any of you agents or homeowners needing organizing or staging, check her out at Dovetailor Design Studio!   Anyway, the two of us found far more fixer-uppers than we could squeeze into a newspaper article, so we’ve decided to cull together the rest of them and showcase them here, in a definitive list of the most spectacular fixer-uppers currently for sale in the counties just north of New York City. Because I know we’re not the only ones who share this dream.   (Psst… We don’t personally represent any of these homes. We’ve provided a link back to the original listing in the description for each home. Click through if you’re looking for more information!).    

1  58 Snake Rd, Catskill, NY   Source: HOUSE Hudson Valley Realty   $495,000 4.2 acres   Magnificent Victorian Manse with outstanding views of the Catskill Mountains. Built of brick and stone, ready for a complete restoration, this solid house is located on a bucolic dead-end road just minutes from Catskill Village. A grand staircase rises to a high ceilinged second floor of large bedrooms and a sleeping porch. The full third floor has additional bedrooms and yet another sleeping porch. Surrounded by 100 plus acres of forever-protected land this property is an ideal investment in the future. Just 5 minutes form Catskill Village.  

    2  20 Garfield Pl, Poughkeepsie, NY   Source: Zillow, courtesy of River Realty Services, Inc. $199,900 (pending offer) UPDATE: Sold! 0.57 acres   This is an important historic home protected by local listing on the national, state and local registers. House is eligible for New York State historic homeowner rehab tax credits which can be considerable. Grand old Victorian in need of restoration to bring it back to the charm of yesteryear. Amazing space and architectural features you will not want to miss. Inlaid hardwood flooring and ceilings are stunning. Please see all associated documents for more info. Sold as-is. Buyer to pay NYS Transfer Tax. Cash offers only with proof of funds. **Please see agent remarks for access, showing instructions and offer presentation remarks.** Employees of Bank of America or its affiliates or subsidiaries are strictly prohibited from directly or indirectly purchasing any property owned by Bank of America.  

        3  210 Clove Rd, Salisbury Mills, NY   Source: SHAHAR Management LLC   $114,900 (foreclosure) 0.94 acres   This Fannie Mae HomePath Cape Cod has wide plank original floors throughout. Exposed original wood beams, 3 fireplaces, Eat-in-Kitchen, Spacious Living Room, Den & Formal Dining Room. There is also an Enclosed Deck and an additional deck great for enjoying the outdoors. 2 Car Detached Garage.  

        4  225 Germonds Rd, West Nyack, NY   Source: Keller Williams Realty NY   $280,000 2.26 acres   Step back into the past with this c. 1812 time-tested home built on over 2.26 acres of land. This prime corner lot location includes an expansive yard with a barn, private stream and pond. Take notice of the many historical accents throughout this classic 4 bedroom / 3 bath home in Rockland County. Tour its grounds to truly appreciate the natural beauty of this unique property. Home is in excellent school district. Convenient travel to New York City, NJ, Westchester & Ct. House is being sold AS IS. Property is currently assessed at $400,000.  

        5  813 Flatbush Rd, Kingston, NY   Source: Murphy Realty Group   $749,000 19.4 acres   Charming country farm with a fabulous Dutch Barn that sits 19+/- acres. Original beams,some exposed brick and so much more.Where would you find such beautiful rolling meadows and space for the animals. Farm house has 3 bedrooms and a full bath. Spacious rooms and a little love ..Could turn this home back to where it was back in the day. Located on Rt 32, half mile from Davis Park and the Hudson River. Few minutes from Kingston – Rhinecliff Bridge, Saugerties, Kingston Airport,City of Kingston and the Ulster Airport.  

        6  303 River Rd, Nyack, NY   Source: Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty   $772,000 1.6 acres   Spectacular 1.6 acre property offering amazing Hudson River views located on a very quiet section of Grandview close to the Piermont border. Adjoins nature trail in rear. Renovate, expand or build a new home in a tranquil setting. Mid 19th Century with simple period details. Owner will suit to build approximately 4,000 sq.ft. home for asking price of 1,995,000.  

        7  1141 Main St, Malden On Hudson, NY   Source: Realtor, courtesy of ANDREASSEN PROPERTIES LLC   $150,000 (foreclosure) 0.41 acres   URGENT CALL FOR COSMETIC SURGERY! Originally “The Parsonage”. Two outbuildings. Also two bedroom third story apartment with deck and separate entrance, for a mother daughter or income producing apartment. A consent to judgement that is in the courts, which will eliminate the liens against the house will not be completed till April23,2017.So any offers cannot be submitted until that time. Taxes based on previous assessment.  

        8  1437 State Route 213, Ulster Park, NY   Source: Zillow, courtesy of Mary A. Real Estate   $89,999 3.1 acres   Come and check out this farmhouse high on the hilltop. Surrounded by woods this property has lots of potential. Great views and house sits on Main street, off of 213. Enjoy nearby park, waterways and a quick ride to the Kingston waterfront to enjoy a night out – also not far from New Paltz. The house is being sold as is. There is really not a basement – the “basement is accessed from inside or out – not below grade. It is just a partial space with furnace, oil tank, etc. Crawl space for the rest of house. There is an attic for storage.  

        9  299 Upper Cherrytown Rd, Kerhonkson, NY   Source: Realtor, courtesy of Westwood Metes & Bounds Realty, Ltd.   $299,000 3.83 acres   This charming farmhouse has infinite possibilities for bringing it back to the gentle ambiance of another time. All the rooms are period except for the kitchen which was installed in 1935 with knotty pine cabinets and modern appliances. The room next to the kitchen with the rustic barn wood siding, hand hewn beams and wide board pine flooring was an addition to the house in the 1970’s. It was used as the dining room. The stucco wall is actually the original exterior laid-up stone wall of the house. The reclaimed barn wood siding and wide board flooring came out of an old farm house. The room with the fireplace hearth was used as the living room. The chimney was removed to create a closet upstairs so the fireplace is not functioning. However it is possible to create a new chimney by installing a triple wall metal chimney for a wood stove or pellet stove. The entry way with the brick floor was used as an office. There are three Dutch doors on the first level, two of which lead to the large deck that overlooks the expansive lawn. There is a full bath on each level.  

        10  228 Churchill Rd, New Lebanon, NY   Source: Estately, courtesy of Dream Street Properties   $219,900 18.23 acres   What a great opportunity to open a bed and breakfast or have an amazing 2nd home and country retreat!! Beautiful Wrap around porch. 18 acres, 2 car garage, Lots of potential here..  

        11  10 Broadstreet Hollow Rd, Shandaken, NY   Source: Zillow, courtesy of The Machree Group, LLC   $129,000 1.8 acres   Wonderful house, constructed for the workers on the Ashokan Reservoir. Gracious sized rooms, lovely front porch. Stone fireplace, four bedrooms, four baths. This house is in rough shape; it needs someone to love it. Of the four bathrooms, only two are partially functional. We are in the process of cleaning it out.  

        12  18 Frost Rd, Rhinebeck, NY   Source: Northern Duchess Realty, Inc.   $599,000 8.82 acres   A Restorer’s Dream – This antique Rhinebeck Farmhouse, c1750/1900, is offered for the first time! A few miles from the village, along a quiet walking road, this local family farm was home to the Frost family until just forty years ago. The present 8.8acres are a pastoral landscape of sunlit meadow, exquisite, mature specimen trees and lush flowering gardens reflected in the spring-fed swimming pond. The centerpiece of this scenery is the often-toured rare 1850s Dutch barn with its intact traditional hand-hewn beams, mortises & tenons. Nestled in a grove, is a true Scandanavian wood-fired sauna a sprint away from the pond, and there is also a heated south-facing workshop/studio. This residence was a farming family’s home: Simple, practical, basic. Yes, there are the requisite wide-boards, hand-hewn beams, antique hardware & doors, 12×12 windows, and plenty of local lore. Families, animals, and crops were raised here. Benson Frost was good friends with FDR throughout their lives. This serene property provides a canvas, a platform for your vision of a true country home. The American heritage of this residence is intrinsic to Rhinebeck’s history. Come, bring it back to life.  

        13  99 S Main St, Castleton On Hudson, NY   Source: RealtyUSA, courtesy of Speicher Select Properties   $289,900 2.78 acres   Historic 18th Century Home of Hans Van Buren that retains many of its original features and sits on 2.75 acres. The classic Dutch exterior has the original brick, wide board floors that are nearly 250 years old, a rumford fireplace, specimen trees, 16’x25′ sun porch with double doors and a view of the Hudson River across 9J. This rare find needs updating but offers great potential for an historically minded restoration. There is a separate building that is ideal for office and also a tandem 4 car garage.  

        14  120 Old Army Rd, Scarsdale, NY   Source: Houlihan Lawrence   $500,000 8,712 sqft lot   Use your imagination to restore this charming home to its original beauty. Living room and dining room feature original fireplaces, beamed ceilings, built-ins, paneling, and leaded glass. Great location within easy walking distance to the Scarsdale RR, shops, restaurants, hiking/biking trails, etc. *”Collector” in residence*. House has good bones but needs extensive renovation and TLC.  

        15  136 Hudson Ave, Chatham, NY   Source: Realtor, courtesy of Washington Square Realtors   $325,000 1.3 acres   Classic 1850 Victorian with a lovely slate Mansard roof. It is 3 floors of living, original wood floors, multiple window seats. The house has the potential to be the stately home it once was. Carriage house. Pool that needs a new liner. Private back yard with 1.3 acres of lawn and woods. Walk to all the restaurants, grocery store , movies. Great quality of life. Potential to be B & B or Inn with separate quarters for the owner. Multiple spaces for artist or studio space.  

        16  164 Elmendorf St, Kingston, NY   Source: Zillow, courtesy of Win Morrison Realty   $149,900 7,840 sqft lot   This historic Kingston home was originally built in 1927. Placed on a corner lot in a local neighborhood, the home has a large front porch and many windows which allow for maximum sunlight. True to it’s era, it encompasses original hardwood floors, large 4-6 inch original trim, native fire places throughout the home, high 9 ft. ceilings, and a wide stair case upon the entrance. The main floor has a large kitchen, living room space, bedroom suite and full bath. Heading upstairs, the master bedrooms have wide plank flooring and decorative fire places. The attic contains a sizable third floor living space with large-scale windows and elevated ceilings. Finally, it has a new roof and is truly a diamond in the rough. This once beautiful home is in need of a new owner who will instill a rebirth and allow it to thrive to its original historic beauty.  

        17  168 Filors Ln, Stony Point, NY   Source: William Raveis Real Estate   $399,000 0.84 acres   THE GLAMOUR OF A NEWPORT MANSION MEETS BROADWAY & THE ARTS – Stony Point, Circa 1850. Imagine… Brick Baron James Garner built this French Maison with double brick construction, River Views & a 2 Story Barn, on a separate included deeded lot (3 Ewald Pl). Steeped in history with a flair of show business of the 20s, came Rollo Peters of NYC Theatre fame as the next owner. Through the passage of time, new owners Bill Golden (designed the famous CBS Eye) & wife Cipe Pineles (Art Dir., Vogue Magazine), added to this avalanche of splendor, mystique & character, “purging the house of frivolous aspects.” The Goldens remodeled & redecorated in “good judgement & taste,” in their eclectic style, creating more of a “Paris Manoir Romantique.” This home served as a stage for occasions that were memorable for everyone. While living here will definitely inspire the new ownership to creatively restore the faded patina of the past, this is truly a home that one can’t duplicate today, 40 mins to NYC… *** HOUSE & BARN SOLD AS IS, THIS IS NOT A SHORT SALE *** CASH OR 203K LOAN *** SALE INCLUDES SEPARATE .38 ACRE RIVER VIEW LOT WITH TWO STORY BARN, which is right next to the listing, but has a different address & street access from 3 Ewald Place. *** 168 FILORS LANE IS ACCESSED THROUGH MARIAN RETREAT EASEMENT (turn right into the Marian Retreat, 168 Filors driveway on left) *** TAXES SHOWN ARE FOR BOTH LOTS. Taxes for 168 Filors Lane are approximately 10833. Taxes for 3 Ewald Place are approximately 3525, both listed WITHOUT STAR exemption of 1873.  

        18  290 Ulster Landing Rd, Kingston, NY   Source: Select Sotheby’s International Realty   $5,500,000 34.5 acres   This unique property is at the Rivers Edge and offers Spectacular Views. Nearly half a mile of Hudson River direct frontage and an ownership tracing back to the famed Livingston family is a once in a lifetime opportunity for some one with a dream of building and owning a grand estate on the Hudson river. The home was originally built by Dr. Livingston and remained in the family for several generations before being sold. The house, in need of complete restoration, still has original window panes, floor boards, original kitchen in the basement, a scullery and a dumb waiter going from the kitchen up to the dining room. There are also multiple building sites on the property to create your own history. There is a small watch tower facing the river and wood carved posts on the porch typical of the area in the early 1800s. Just 90 minutes from NYC, this could also be a perfect match for a developer with a vision to create a collection of high end homes with Hudson River frontage. This property has been in our family for years, and has been used as reunion site and summer home for generations. The farmhouse, barn, meadows and trails along the river are perfect for horseback riding. The river is wide and gentle at this point of the Hudson, and the commanding view from the front porch is well suited for watching the sail boats and other river traffic.  

        19  421 N Liberty Dr, Tomkins Cove, NY   Source: Keller Williams Realty   $169,000 1.1 acres   Imagine this….heading out the back of your home and into the wilderness! Go for a hike in your backyard, or keep traveling and before you know it, you’ll be in Bear Mountain State Park!With a little vision and creativity this home would be a great weekend retreat or a primary home! Easy commute to major cities. Close to the ferry to Westchester.  

      20  5681 Route 22, Millerton, NY   Source: Steed Real Estate   $4,914,000 466 acres   This listing is a a 466 +/- acre farm which has been surveyed and individually described in three parts. There are natural division lines by Rte. 22 and McGhee Hill Road.The sale of any individual parcel is subject to final T/O Northeast subdivision apaproval.This listing consists of a large 13 room Victorian as described with high ceilings, generous rooms, hard wood floors and classic Victorian detail inside and out. There is also a 2 BR 1 Bath cottage, an antique poast and beam barn with new roof and a large auction/concert barn being approximately 6160 sq. ft.the approximate 170 open acres is under crop lease and will be planted again this spring.Farmer of record will be allowed to remove their crops post title transfer if applicable. Approximately 300 acres is in old and new woods with access points and wood roads. The main house could be a very interesting Bed and Breakfast after renovation. We are also inprocess of investigating allowed uses for the Auction barn.  

      21  1726 Old Kings Hwy, Saugerties, NY   Source: Zillow, courtesy of Win Morrison Realty   $135,000 2 acres   A stately, very well situated, 4 bedroom vintage Victorian home on a sturdy foundation, landscaped two acres with views of mountains from the front and views of one of the finest golf courses (Lazy Swan) in the Hudson Valley in the back. While it needs work to bring it back to its original glory, the large living room with a finished hardwood floor, and some of the original trim and moldings provide a great start. The location is prime, directly adjacent to the golf course, near HITS for the horse enthusiasts and on a lovely quiet country road but only a few minutes from the New York State Thruway exit 20 and close by to Woodstock, Catskill and the center of the Village of Saugerties.  

        22  3040 State Route 28, Shokan, NY   Source: Murphy Realty Group   $200,000 0.92 acres   Classic Victorian Home: Hardwood floors, pocket doors, large windows, original trim & mouldings, built in shelves, high ceilings, etc? OR Classic Income Producer, current owner was using the 3rd floor as an apartment w/ separate entrance, separate 2 bdrm cottage, , zoned commercial, think B&B, work & live, family compound, gallery/ studio, etc? What?s your vision? Either way, This property will need attention to bring it back to life.MAKE AN OFFER!  

        23  308 Main St, Catskill, NY   Source: Century 21 New West Properties   $399,000 0.3 acres   Put your imagination to work with this super opportunity on Catskill’s thriving Main Street. This 10 room, brick, single family residence has served for many years as the parsonage for the First Reformed Church. Parts of the structure date back to the 1800’s and many more original features remain, including hardwood floors, eleven foot ceilings and servant’s stairway from the kitchen to second floor. Open the front door and you are welcomed by a 7′ wide foyer bordered on one side by a 16×25 living room and on the other by a 16×18 parlor that leads to a covered porch. The open stairway leads to the 4 bedrooms and 1 bath on the second floor, then another full stairway provides full access to a full attic with potential for a home studio. Outside is a private rear yard and a 22×24 two car garage with electric, that could easily convert to a studio.  

        24  2115 County Route 17, Walden, NY   Source: Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty   $453,000 124.3 acres   Calling all builders, renovators or Historians. Over 3500 square foot farmhouse in need of renovation. Farmhouse sits on 28.3 acres of partially wooded land. There is a small barn/garage on property. The original part of the home may have been built in the 1700s. The property was used as a dairy farm called Snug Harbor in its hay day. There are 4 fireplaces, wood flooring through out, walk up attic and rocking chair front porch. Plus an additional 96 acres located in Montgomery across the road from Farmhouse is included in sale.  

        25  2253 Bulls Head Rd, Stanfordville, NY   Source: CENTURY 21 Alliance Realty Group   $300,000 0.66 acres   Own a piece of history with this 1780 home.Owner states that home was used as an old Quaker meeting house.Zoned as a 2 family, home can be restored to a single family home,possibly a B&B. Needs work/updating.  

        26  2657 State Route 23, Hillsdale, NY   Source: Copake Lake Realty   $225,000 0.28 acres   (What a) Wonderful World — go back in time when you enter this Historic Hillsdale District Home. Architectural details from days ago including a formal parlor, fireplace, wood stoves, and wide-plank floors. Kitchen redone. Zoned mixed use, but presently used as residential. Lots of options here. Needs some TLC — but well worth the investment in up and coming Hillsdale.  

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      AUTHOR ELIZABETH FINKELSTEIN

Elizabeth is the founder of CIRCA and a practicing writer, architectural historian and preservation consultant living in Nyack, NY. Elizabeth has loved historic houses for as long as she can remember, having grown up in an 1850’s Greek Revival gem that was lovingly restored by her parents. Elizabeth, her husband Ethan and their beagle Banjo remain on a relentless hunt for their perfect “Thanksgiving house.”        

from House Retoration Tips http://circaoldhouses.com/a-whole-bunch-of-amazing-fixer-uppers-north-of-new-york-city/

[juliasmathewus]

A Whole Bunch of Amazing Fixer-Uppers North of New York City

by Elizabeth Finkelstein (Image courtesy of Northern Dutchess Realty Inc.)

It’s almost embarrassing to admit how much time I spend looking at fixer-uppers for sale. Ethan (my husband) and I do nothing but dream about landing a big, old farmhouse rife with peeling wallpaper and sited on a hill somewhere up the Hudson River, where we’d live out the rest of our days surrounded by multiple sets of pocket doors and ornate plasterwork from a bygone era. IT’S GONNA HAPPEN, JUST YOU WAIT.   You can imagine my excitement when my friend Christina Poletto (whom I met when she reached out to me to write a piece about CIRCA for Today.com) asked me to collaborate with her on a series of pieces for local publications focused on fixer-uppers for sale north of New York City, which you can read in The Journal News and The Poughkeepsie Journal. Christina was the PERFECT person to help me with this, considering she’s got an eye for lovely, old things (she actually runs a staging and furniture refurbishment business out of Nanuet, NY, so if agents/homeowners needing organizing or staging – check her out at Dovetailor Design Studio)   Anyway, the two of us found far more fixer-uppers than we could squeeze into a newspaper article, so we’ve decided to cull together the rest of them and showcase them here, in a definitive list of the most spectacular fixer-uppers currently for sale in the counties just north of New York City. Because I know we’re not the only ones who share this dream.   (Psst… We don’t personally represent any of these homes. We’ve provided a link back to the original listing in the description for each home. Click through if you’re looking for more information!).    

1  58 Snake Rd, Catskill, NY   Source: HOUSE Hudson Valley Realty   $495,000 4.2 acres   Magnificent Victorian Manse with outstanding views of the Catskill Mountains. Built of brick and stone, ready for a complete restoration, this solid house is located on a bucolic dead-end road just minutes from Catskill Village. A grand staircase rises to a high ceilinged second floor of large bedrooms and a sleeping porch. The full third floor has additional bedrooms and yet another sleeping porch. Surrounded by 100 plus acres of forever-protected land this property is an ideal investment in the future. Just 5 minutes form Catskill Village.  

    2  20 Garfield Pl, Poughkeepsie, NY   Source: Zillow, courtesy of River Realty Services, Inc. $199,900 (pending offer) 0.57 acres   This is an important historic home protected by local listing on the national, state and local registers. House is eligible for New York State historic homeowner rehab tax credits which can be considerable. Grand old Victorian in need of restoration to bring it back to the charm of yesteryear. Amazing space and architectural features you will not want to miss. Inlaid hardwood flooring and ceilings are stunning. Please see all associated documents for more info. Sold as-is. Buyer to pay NYS Transfer Tax. Cash offers only with proof of funds. **Please see agent remarks for access, showing instructions and offer presentation remarks.** Employees of Bank of America or its affiliates or subsidiaries are strictly prohibited from directly or indirectly purchasing any property owned by Bank of America.  

        3  210 Clove Rd, Salisbury Mills, NY   Source: SHAHAR Management LLC   $114,900 (foreclosure) 0.94 acres   This Fannie Mae HomePath Cape Cod has wide plank original floors throughout. Exposed original wood beams, 3 fireplaces, Eat-in-Kitchen, Spacious Living Room, Den & Formal Dining Room. There is also an Enclosed Deck and an additional deck great for enjoying the outdoors. 2 Car Detached Garage.  

        4  225 Germonds Rd, West Nyack, NY   Source: Keller Williams Realty NY   $280,000 2.26 acres   Step back into the past with this c. 1812 time-tested home built on over 2.26 acres of land. This prime corner lot location includes an expansive yard with a barn, private stream and pond. Take notice of the many historical accents throughout this classic 4 bedroom / 3 bath home in Rockland County. Tour its grounds to truly appreciate the natural beauty of this unique property. Home is in excellent school district. Convenient travel to New York City, NJ, Westchester & Ct. House is being sold AS IS. Property is currently assessed at $400,000.  

        5  813 Flatbush Rd, Kingston, NY   Source: Murphy Realty Group   $749,000 19.4 acres   Charming country farm with a fabulous Dutch Barn that sits 19+/- acres. Original beams,some exposed brick and so much more.Where would you find such beautiful rolling meadows and space for the animals. Farm house has 3 bedrooms and a full bath. Spacious rooms and a little love ..Could turn this home back to where it was back in the day. Located on Rt 32, half mile from Davis Park and the Hudson River. Few minutes from Kingston – Rhinecliff Bridge, Saugerties, Kingston Airport,City of Kingston and the Ulster Airport.  

        6  303 River Rd, Nyack, NY   Source: Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty   $772,000 1.6 acres   Spectacular 1.6 acre property offering amazing Hudson River views located on a very quiet section of Grandview close to the Piermont border. Adjoins nature trail in rear. Renovate, expand or build a new home in a tranquil setting. Mid 19th Century with simple period details. Owner will suit to build approximately 4,000 sq.ft. home for asking price of 1,995,000.  

        7  1141 Main St, Malden On Hudson, NY   Source: Realtor, courtesy of ANDREASSEN PROPERTIES LLC   $150,000 (foreclosure) 0.41 acres   URGENT CALL FOR COSMETIC SURGERY! Originally “The Parsonage”. Two outbuildings. Also two bedroom third story apartment with deck and separate entrance, for a mother daughter or income producing apartment. A consent to judgement that is in the courts, which will eliminate the liens against the house will not be completed till April23,2017.So any offers cannot be submitted until that time. Taxes based on previous assessment.  

        8  1437 State Route 213, Ulster Park, NY   Source: Zillow, courtesy of Mary A. Real Estate   $89,999 3.1 acres   Come and check out this farmhouse high on the hilltop. Surrounded by woods this property has lots of potential. Great views and house sits on Main street, off of 213. Enjoy nearby park, waterways and a quick ride to the Kingston waterfront to enjoy a night out – also not far from New Paltz. The house is being sold as is. There is really not a basement – the “basement is accessed from inside or out – not below grade. It is just a partial space with furnace, oil tank, etc. Crawl space for the rest of house. There is an attic for storage.  

        9  299 Upper Cherrytown Rd, Kerhonkson, NY   Source: Realtor, courtesy of Westwood Metes & Bounds Realty, Ltd.   $299,000 3.83 acres   This charming farmhouse has infinite possibilities for bringing it back to the gentle ambiance of another time. All the rooms are period except for the kitchen which was installed in 1935 with knotty pine cabinets and modern appliances. The room next to the kitchen with the rustic barn wood siding, hand hewn beams and wide board pine flooring was an addition to the house in the 1970’s. It was used as the dining room. The stucco wall is actually the original exterior laid-up stone wall of the house. The reclaimed barn wood siding and wide board flooring came out of an old farm house. The room with the fireplace hearth was used as the living room. The chimney was removed to create a closet upstairs so the fireplace is not functioning. However it is possible to create a new chimney by installing a triple wall metal chimney for a wood stove or pellet stove. The entry way with the brick floor was used as an office. There are three Dutch doors on the first level, two of which lead to the large deck that overlooks the expansive lawn. There is a full bath on each level.  

        10  228 Churchill Rd, New Lebanon, NY   Source: Estately, courtesy of Dream Street Properties   $219,900 18.23 acres   What a great opportunity to open a bed and breakfast or have an amazing 2nd home and country retreat!! Beautiful Wrap around porch. 18 acres, 2 car garage, Lots of potential here..  

        11  10 Broadstreet Hollow Rd, Shandaken, NY   Source: Zillow, courtesy of The Machree Group, LLC   $129,000 1.8 acres   Wonderful house, constructed for the workers on the Ashokan Reservoir. Gracious sized rooms, lovely front porch. Stone fireplace, four bedrooms, four baths. This house is in rough shape; it needs someone to love it. Of the four bathrooms, only two are partially functional. We are in the process of cleaning it out.  

        12  18 Frost Rd, Rhinebeck, NY   Source: Northern Duchess Realty, Inc.   $599,000 8.82 acres   A Restorer’s Dream – This antique Rhinebeck Farmhouse, c1750/1900, is offered for the first time! A few miles from the village, along a quiet walking road, this local family farm was home to the Frost family until just forty years ago. The present 8.8acres are a pastoral landscape of sunlit meadow, exquisite, mature specimen trees and lush flowering gardens reflected in the spring-fed swimming pond. The centerpiece of this scenery is the often-toured rare 1850s Dutch barn with its intact traditional hand-hewn beams, mortises & tenons. Nestled in a grove, is a true Scandanavian wood-fired sauna a sprint away from the pond, and there is also a heated south-facing workshop/studio. This residence was a farming family’s home: Simple, practical, basic. Yes, there are the requisite wide-boards, hand-hewn beams, antique hardware & doors, 12×12 windows, and plenty of local lore. Families, animals, and crops were raised here. Benson Frost was good friends with FDR throughout their lives. This serene property provides a canvas, a platform for your vision of a true country home. The American heritage of this residence is intrinsic to Rhinebeck’s history. Come, bring it back to life.  

        13  99 S Main St, Castleton On Hudson, NY   Source: RealtyUSA, courtesy of Speicher Select Properties   $289,900 2.78 acres   Historic 18th Century Home of Hans Van Buren that retains many of its original features and sits on 2.75 acres. The classic Dutch exterior has the original brick, wide board floors that are nearly 250 years old, a rumford fireplace, specimen trees, 16’x25′ sun porch with double doors and a view of the Hudson River across 9J. This rare find needs updating but offers great potential for an historically minded restoration. There is a separate building that is ideal for office and also a tandem 4 car garage.  

        14  120 Old Army Rd, Scarsdale, NY   Source: Houlihan Lawrence   $500,000 8,712 sqft lot   Use your imagination to restore this charming home to its original beauty. Living room and dining room feature original fireplaces, beamed ceilings, built-ins, paneling, and leaded glass. Great location within easy walking distance to the Scarsdale RR, shops, restaurants, hiking/biking trails, etc. *”Collector” in residence*. House has good bones but needs extensive renovation and TLC.  

        15  136 Hudson Ave, Chatham, NY   Source: Realtor, courtesy of Washington Square Realtors   $325,000 1.3 acres   Classic 1850 Victorian with a lovely slate Mansard roof. It is 3 floors of living, original wood floors, multiple window seats. The house has the potential to be the stately home it once was. Carriage house. Pool that needs a new liner. Private back yard with 1.3 acres of lawn and woods. Walk to all the restaurants, grocery store , movies. Great quality of life. Potential to be B & B or Inn with separate quarters for the owner. Multiple spaces for artist or studio space.  

        16  164 Elmendorf St, Kingston, NY   Source: Zillow, courtesy of Win Morrison Realty   $149,900 7,840 sqft lot   This historic Kingston home was originally built in 1927. Placed on a corner lot in a local neighborhood, the home has a large front porch and many windows which allow for maximum sunlight. True to it’s era, it encompasses original hardwood floors, large 4-6 inch original trim, native fire places throughout the home, high 9 ft. ceilings, and a wide stair case upon the entrance. The main floor has a large kitchen, living room space, bedroom suite and full bath. Heading upstairs, the master bedrooms have wide plank flooring and decorative fire places. The attic contains a sizable third floor living space with large-scale windows and elevated ceilings. Finally, it has a new roof and is truly a diamond in the rough. This once beautiful home is in need of a new owner who will instill a rebirth and allow it to thrive to its original historic beauty.  

        17  168 Filors Ln, Stony Point, NY   Source: William Raveis Real Estate   $399,000 0.84 acres   THE GLAMOUR OF A NEWPORT MANSION MEETS BROADWAY & THE ARTS – Stony Point, Circa 1850. Imagine… Brick Baron James Garner built this French Maison with double brick construction, River Views & a 2 Story Barn, on a separate included deeded lot (3 Ewald Pl). Steeped in history with a flair of show business of the 20s, came Rollo Peters of NYC Theatre fame as the next owner. Through the passage of time, new owners Bill Golden (designed the famous CBS Eye) & wife Cipe Pineles (Art Dir., Vogue Magazine), added to this avalanche of splendor, mystique & character, “purging the house of frivolous aspects.” The Goldens remodeled & redecorated in “good judgement & taste,” in their eclectic style, creating more of a “Paris Manoir Romantique.” This home served as a stage for occasions that were memorable for everyone. While living here will definitely inspire the new ownership to creatively restore the faded patina of the past, this is truly a home that one can’t duplicate today, 40 mins to NYC… *** HOUSE & BARN SOLD AS IS, THIS IS NOT A SHORT SALE *** CASH OR 203K LOAN *** SALE INCLUDES SEPARATE .38 ACRE RIVER VIEW LOT WITH TWO STORY BARN, which is right next to the listing, but has a different address & street access from 3 Ewald Place. *** 168 FILORS LANE IS ACCESSED THROUGH MARIAN RETREAT EASEMENT (turn right into the Marian Retreat, 168 Filors driveway on left) *** TAXES SHOWN ARE FOR BOTH LOTS. Taxes for 168 Filors Lane are approximately 10833. Taxes for 3 Ewald Place are approximately 3525, both listed WITHOUT STAR exemption of 1873.  

        18  290 Ulster Landing Rd, Kingston, NY   Source: Select Sotheby’s International Realty   $5,500,000 34.5 acres   This unique property is at the Rivers Edge and offers Spectacular Views. Nearly half a mile of Hudson River direct frontage and an ownership tracing back to the famed Livingston family is a once in a lifetime opportunity for some one with a dream of building and owning a grand estate on the Hudson river. The home was originally built by Dr. Livingston and remained in the family for several generations before being sold. The house, in need of complete restoration, still has original window panes, floor boards, original kitchen in the basement, a scullery and a dumb waiter going from the kitchen up to the dining room. There are also multiple building sites on the property to create your own history. There is a small watch tower facing the river and wood carved posts on the porch typical of the area in the early 1800s. Just 90 minutes from NYC, this could also be a perfect match for a developer with a vision to create a collection of high end homes with Hudson River frontage. This property has been in our family for years, and has been used as reunion site and summer home for generations. The farmhouse, barn, meadows and trails along the river are perfect for horseback riding. The river is wide and gentle at this point of the Hudson, and the commanding view from the front porch is well suited for watching the sail boats and other river traffic.  

        19  421 N Liberty Dr, Tomkins Cove, NY   Source: Keller Williams Realty   $169,000 1.1 acres   Imagine this….heading out the back of your home and into the wilderness! Go for a hike in your backyard, or keep traveling and before you know it, you’ll be in Bear Mountain State Park!With a little vision and creativity this home would be a great weekend retreat or a primary home! Easy commute to major cities. Close to the ferry to Westchester.  

      20  5681 Route 22, Millerton, NY   Source: Steed Real Estate   $4,914,000 466 acres   This listing is a a 466 +/- acre farm which has been surveyed and individually described in three parts. There are natural division lines by Rte. 22 and McGhee Hill Road.The sale of any individual parcel is subject to final T/O Northeast subdivision apaproval.This listing consists of a large 13 room Victorian as described with high ceilings, generous rooms, hard wood floors and classic Victorian detail inside and out. There is also a 2 BR 1 Bath cottage, an antique poast and beam barn with new roof and a large auction/concert barn being approximately 6160 sq. ft.the approximate 170 open acres is under crop lease and will be planted again this spring.Farmer of record will be allowed to remove their crops post title transfer if applicable. Approximately 300 acres is in old and new woods with access points and wood roads. The main house could be a very interesting Bed and Breakfast after renovation. We are also inprocess of investigating allowed uses for the Auction barn.  

      21  1726 Old Kings Hwy, Saugerties, NY   Source: Zillow, courtesy of Win Morrison Realty   $135,000 2 acres   A stately, very well situated, 4 bedroom vintage Victorian home on a sturdy foundation, landscaped two acres with views of mountains from the front and views of one of the finest golf courses (Lazy Swan) in the Hudson Valley in the back. While it needs work to bring it back to its original glory, the large living room with a finished hardwood floor, and some of the original trim and moldings provide a great start. The location is prime, directly adjacent to the golf course, near HITS for the horse enthusiasts and on a lovely quiet country road but only a few minutes from the New York State Thruway exit 20 and close by to Woodstock, Catskill and the center of the Village of Saugerties.  

        22  3040 State Route 28, Shokan, NY   Source: Murphy Realty Group   $200,000 0.92 acres   Classic Victorian Home: Hardwood floors, pocket doors, large windows, original trim & mouldings, built in shelves, high ceilings, etc? OR Classic Income Producer, current owner was using the 3rd floor as an apartment w/ separate entrance, separate 2 bdrm cottage, , zoned commercial, think B&B, work & live, family compound, gallery/ studio, etc? What?s your vision? Either way, This property will need attention to bring it back to life.MAKE AN OFFER!  

        23  308 Main St, Catskill, NY   Source: Century 21 New West Properties   $399,000 0.3 acres   Put your imagination to work with this super opportunity on Catskill’s thriving Main Street. This 10 room, brick, single family residence has served for many years as the parsonage for the First Reformed Church. Parts of the structure date back to the 1800’s and many more original features remain, including hardwood floors, eleven foot ceilings and servant’s stairway from the kitchen to second floor. Open the front door and you are welcomed by a 7′ wide foyer bordered on one side by a 16×25 living room and on the other by a 16×18 parlor that leads to a covered porch. The open stairway leads to the 4 bedrooms and 1 bath on the second floor, then another full stairway provides full access to a full attic with potential for a home studio. Outside is a private rear yard and a 22×24 two car garage with electric, that could easily convert to a studio.  

        24  2115 County Route 17, Walden, NY   Source: Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty   $453,000 124.3 acres   Calling all builders, renovators or Historians. Over 3500 square foot farmhouse in need of renovation. Farmhouse sits on 28.3 acres of partially wooded land. There is a small barn/garage on property. The original part of the home may have been built in the 1700s. The property was used as a dairy farm called Snug Harbor in its hay day. There are 4 fireplaces, wood flooring through out, walk up attic and rocking chair front porch. Plus an additional 96 acres located in Montgomery across the road from Farmhouse is included in sale.  

        25  2253 Bulls Head Rd, Stanfordville, NY   Source: CENTURY 21 Alliance Realty Group   $300,000 0.66 acres   Own a piece of history with this 1780 home.Owner states that home was used as an old Quaker meeting house.Zoned as a 2 family, home can be restored to a single family home,possibly a B&B. Needs work/updating.  

        26  2657 State Route 23, Hillsdale, NY   Source: Copake Lake Realty   $225,000 0.28 acres   (What a) Wonderful World — go back in time when you enter this Historic Hillsdale District Home. Architectural details from days ago including a formal parlor, fireplace, wood stoves, and wide-plank floors. Kitchen redone. Zoned mixed use, but presently used as residential. Lots of options here. Needs some TLC — but well worth the investment in up and coming Hillsdale.  

        Love cheap, beautiful old houses?

  Follow CIRCA’s Instagram feed at @CheapOldHouses, on which we showcase only gorgeous historical homes for sale for under $100,000.

      AUTHOR ELIZABETH FINKELSTEIN

Elizabeth is the founder of CIRCA and a practicing writer, architectural historian and preservation consultant living in Nyack, NY. Elizabeth has loved historic houses for as long as she can remember, having grown up in an 1850’s Greek Revival gem that was lovingly restored by her parents. Elizabeth, her husband Ethan and their beagle Banjo remain on a relentless hunt for their perfect “Thanksgiving house.”        

from Home Decoration Ideas http://circaoldhouses.com/a-whole-bunch-of-amazing-fixer-uppers-north-of-new-york-city/

[cristinkgarzaky]

A Whole Bunch of Amazing Fixer-Uppers North of New York City

by Elizabeth Finkelstein (Image courtesy of Northern Dutchess Realty Inc.)

It’s almost embarrassing to admit how much time I spend looking at fixer-uppers for sale. Ethan (my husband) and I do nothing but dream about landing a big, old farmhouse rife with peeling wallpaper and sited on a hill somewhere up the Hudson River, where we’d live out the rest of our days surrounded by multiple sets of pocket doors and ornate plasterwork from a bygone era. IT’S GONNA HAPPEN, JUST YOU WAIT.   You can imagine my excitement when my friend Christina Poletto (whom I met when she reached out to me to write a piece about CIRCA for Today.com) asked me to collaborate with her on a series of pieces for local publications focused on fixer-uppers for sale north of New York City, which you can read in The Journal News and The Poughkeepsie Journal. Christina was the PERFECT person to help me with this, considering she’s got an eye for lovely, old things (she actually runs a staging and furniture refurbishment business out of Nanuet, NY, so if agents/homeowners needing organizing or staging – check her out at Dovetailor Design Studio)   Anyway, the two of us found far more fixer-uppers than we could squeeze into a newspaper article, so we’ve decided to cull together the rest of them and showcase them here, in a definitive list of the most spectacular fixer-uppers currently for sale in the counties just north of New York City. Because I know we’re not the only ones who share this dream.   (Psst… We don’t personally represent any of these homes. We’ve provided a link back to the original listing in the description for each home. Click through if you’re looking for more information!).    

1  58 Snake Rd, Catskill, NY   Source: HOUSE Hudson Valley Realty   $495,000 4.2 acres   Magnificent Victorian Manse with outstanding views of the Catskill Mountains. Built of brick and stone, ready for a complete restoration, this solid house is located on a bucolic dead-end road just minutes from Catskill Village. A grand staircase rises to a high ceilinged second floor of large bedrooms and a sleeping porch. The full third floor has additional bedrooms and yet another sleeping porch. Surrounded by 100 plus acres of forever-protected land this property is an ideal investment in the future. Just 5 minutes form Catskill Village.  

    2  20 Garfield Pl, Poughkeepsie, NY   Source: Zillow, courtesy of River Realty Services, Inc. $199,900 (pending offer) 0.57 acres   This is an important historic home protected by local listing on the national, state and local registers. House is eligible for New York State historic homeowner rehab tax credits which can be considerable. Grand old Victorian in need of restoration to bring it back to the charm of yesteryear. Amazing space and architectural features you will not want to miss. Inlaid hardwood flooring and ceilings are stunning. Please see all associated documents for more info. Sold as-is. Buyer to pay NYS Transfer Tax. Cash offers only with proof of funds. **Please see agent remarks for access, showing instructions and offer presentation remarks.** Employees of Bank of America or its affiliates or subsidiaries are strictly prohibited from directly or indirectly purchasing any property owned by Bank of America.  

        3  210 Clove Rd, Salisbury Mills, NY   Source: SHAHAR Management LLC   $114,900 (foreclosure) 0.94 acres   This Fannie Mae HomePath Cape Cod has wide plank original floors throughout. Exposed original wood beams, 3 fireplaces, Eat-in-Kitchen, Spacious Living Room, Den & Formal Dining Room. There is also an Enclosed Deck and an additional deck great for enjoying the outdoors. 2 Car Detached Garage.  

        4  225 Germonds Rd, West Nyack, NY   Source: Keller Williams Realty NY   $280,000 2.26 acres   Step back into the past with this c. 1812 time-tested home built on over 2.26 acres of land. This prime corner lot location includes an expansive yard with a barn, private stream and pond. Take notice of the many historical accents throughout this classic 4 bedroom / 3 bath home in Rockland County. Tour its grounds to truly appreciate the natural beauty of this unique property. Home is in excellent school district. Convenient travel to New York City, NJ, Westchester & Ct. House is being sold AS IS. Property is currently assessed at $400,000.  

        5  813 Flatbush Rd, Kingston, NY   Source: Murphy Realty Group   $749,000 19.4 acres   Charming country farm with a fabulous Dutch Barn that sits 19+/- acres. Original beams,some exposed brick and so much more.Where would you find such beautiful rolling meadows and space for the animals. Farm house has 3 bedrooms and a full bath. Spacious rooms and a little love ..Could turn this home back to where it was back in the day. Located on Rt 32, half mile from Davis Park and the Hudson River. Few minutes from Kingston – Rhinecliff Bridge, Saugerties, Kingston Airport,City of Kingston and the Ulster Airport.  

        6  303 River Rd, Nyack, NY   Source: Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty   $772,000 1.6 acres   Spectacular 1.6 acre property offering amazing Hudson River views located on a very quiet section of Grandview close to the Piermont border. Adjoins nature trail in rear. Renovate, expand or build a new home in a tranquil setting. Mid 19th Century with simple period details. Owner will suit to build approximately 4,000 sq.ft. home for asking price of 1,995,000.  

        7  1141 Main St, Malden On Hudson, NY   Source: Realtor, courtesy of ANDREASSEN PROPERTIES LLC   $150,000 (foreclosure) 0.41 acres   URGENT CALL FOR COSMETIC SURGERY! Originally “The Parsonage”. Two outbuildings. Also two bedroom third story apartment with deck and separate entrance, for a mother daughter or income producing apartment. A consent to judgement that is in the courts, which will eliminate the liens against the house will not be completed till April23,2017.So any offers cannot be submitted until that time. Taxes based on previous assessment.  

        8  1437 State Route 213, Ulster Park, NY   Source: Zillow, courtesy of Mary A. Real Estate   $89,999 3.1 acres   Come and check out this farmhouse high on the hilltop. Surrounded by woods this property has lots of potential. Great views and house sits on Main street, off of 213. Enjoy nearby park, waterways and a quick ride to the Kingston waterfront to enjoy a night out – also not far from New Paltz. The house is being sold as is. There is really not a basement – the “basement is accessed from inside or out – not below grade. It is just a partial space with furnace, oil tank, etc. Crawl space for the rest of house. There is an attic for storage.  

        9  299 Upper Cherrytown Rd, Kerhonkson, NY   Source: Realtor, courtesy of Westwood Metes & Bounds Realty, Ltd.   $299,000 3.83 acres   This charming farmhouse has infinite possibilities for bringing it back to the gentle ambiance of another time. All the rooms are period except for the kitchen which was installed in 1935 with knotty pine cabinets and modern appliances. The room next to the kitchen with the rustic barn wood siding, hand hewn beams and wide board pine flooring was an addition to the house in the 1970’s. It was used as the dining room. The stucco wall is actually the original exterior laid-up stone wall of the house. The reclaimed barn wood siding and wide board flooring came out of an old farm house. The room with the fireplace hearth was used as the living room. The chimney was removed to create a closet upstairs so the fireplace is not functioning. However it is possible to create a new chimney by installing a triple wall metal chimney for a wood stove or pellet stove. The entry way with the brick floor was used as an office. There are three Dutch doors on the first level, two of which lead to the large deck that overlooks the expansive lawn. There is a full bath on each level.  

        10  228 Churchill Rd, New Lebanon, NY   Source: Estately, courtesy of Dream Street Properties   $219,900 18.23 acres   What a great opportunity to open a bed and breakfast or have an amazing 2nd home and country retreat!! Beautiful Wrap around porch. 18 acres, 2 car garage, Lots of potential here..  

        11  10 Broadstreet Hollow Rd, Shandaken, NY   Source: Zillow, courtesy of The Machree Group, LLC   $129,000 1.8 acres   Wonderful house, constructed for the workers on the Ashokan Reservoir. Gracious sized rooms, lovely front porch. Stone fireplace, four bedrooms, four baths. This house is in rough shape; it needs someone to love it. Of the four bathrooms, only two are partially functional. We are in the process of cleaning it out.  

        12  18 Frost Rd, Rhinebeck, NY   Source: Northern Duchess Realty, Inc.   $599,000 8.82 acres   A Restorer’s Dream – This antique Rhinebeck Farmhouse, c1750/1900, is offered for the first time! A few miles from the village, along a quiet walking road, this local family farm was home to the Frost family until just forty years ago. The present 8.8acres are a pastoral landscape of sunlit meadow, exquisite, mature specimen trees and lush flowering gardens reflected in the spring-fed swimming pond. The centerpiece of this scenery is the often-toured rare 1850s Dutch barn with its intact traditional hand-hewn beams, mortises & tenons. Nestled in a grove, is a true Scandanavian wood-fired sauna a sprint away from the pond, and there is also a heated south-facing workshop/studio. This residence was a farming family’s home: Simple, practical, basic. Yes, there are the requisite wide-boards, hand-hewn beams, antique hardware & doors, 12×12 windows, and plenty of local lore. Families, animals, and crops were raised here. Benson Frost was good friends with FDR throughout their lives. This serene property provides a canvas, a platform for your vision of a true country home. The American heritage of this residence is intrinsic to Rhinebeck’s history. Come, bring it back to life.  

        13  99 S Main St, Castleton On Hudson, NY   Source: RealtyUSA, courtesy of Speicher Select Properties   $289,900 2.78 acres   Historic 18th Century Home of Hans Van Buren that retains many of its original features and sits on 2.75 acres. The classic Dutch exterior has the original brick, wide board floors that are nearly 250 years old, a rumford fireplace, specimen trees, 16’x25′ sun porch with double doors and a view of the Hudson River across 9J. This rare find needs updating but offers great potential for an historically minded restoration. There is a separate building that is ideal for office and also a tandem 4 car garage.  

        14  120 Old Army Rd, Scarsdale, NY   Source: Houlihan Lawrence   $500,000 8,712 sqft lot   Use your imagination to restore this charming home to its original beauty. Living room and dining room feature original fireplaces, beamed ceilings, built-ins, paneling, and leaded glass. Great location within easy walking distance to the Scarsdale RR, shops, restaurants, hiking/biking trails, etc. *”Collector” in residence*. House has good bones but needs extensive renovation and TLC.  

        15  136 Hudson Ave, Chatham, NY   Source: Realtor, courtesy of Washington Square Realtors   $325,000 1.3 acres   Classic 1850 Victorian with a lovely slate Mansard roof. It is 3 floors of living, original wood floors, multiple window seats. The house has the potential to be the stately home it once was. Carriage house. Pool that needs a new liner. Private back yard with 1.3 acres of lawn and woods. Walk to all the restaurants, grocery store , movies. Great quality of life. Potential to be B & B or Inn with separate quarters for the owner. Multiple spaces for artist or studio space.  

        16  164 Elmendorf St, Kingston, NY   Source: Zillow, courtesy of Win Morrison Realty   $149,900 7,840 sqft lot   This historic Kingston home was originally built in 1927. Placed on a corner lot in a local neighborhood, the home has a large front porch and many windows which allow for maximum sunlight. True to it’s era, it encompasses original hardwood floors, large 4-6 inch original trim, native fire places throughout the home, high 9 ft. ceilings, and a wide stair case upon the entrance. The main floor has a large kitchen, living room space, bedroom suite and full bath. Heading upstairs, the master bedrooms have wide plank flooring and decorative fire places. The attic contains a sizable third floor living space with large-scale windows and elevated ceilings. Finally, it has a new roof and is truly a diamond in the rough. This once beautiful home is in need of a new owner who will instill a rebirth and allow it to thrive to its original historic beauty.  

        17  168 Filors Ln, Stony Point, NY   Source: William Raveis Real Estate   $399,000 0.84 acres   THE GLAMOUR OF A NEWPORT MANSION MEETS BROADWAY & THE ARTS – Stony Point, Circa 1850. Imagine… Brick Baron James Garner built this French Maison with double brick construction, River Views & a 2 Story Barn, on a separate included deeded lot (3 Ewald Pl). Steeped in history with a flair of show business of the 20s, came Rollo Peters of NYC Theatre fame as the next owner. Through the passage of time, new owners Bill Golden (designed the famous CBS Eye) & wife Cipe Pineles (Art Dir., Vogue Magazine), added to this avalanche of splendor, mystique & character, “purging the house of frivolous aspects.” The Goldens remodeled & redecorated in “good judgement & taste,” in their eclectic style, creating more of a “Paris Manoir Romantique.” This home served as a stage for occasions that were memorable for everyone. While living here will definitely inspire the new ownership to creatively restore the faded patina of the past, this is truly a home that one can’t duplicate today, 40 mins to NYC… *** HOUSE & BARN SOLD AS IS, THIS IS NOT A SHORT SALE *** CASH OR 203K LOAN *** SALE INCLUDES SEPARATE .38 ACRE RIVER VIEW LOT WITH TWO STORY BARN, which is right next to the listing, but has a different address & street access from 3 Ewald Place. *** 168 FILORS LANE IS ACCESSED THROUGH MARIAN RETREAT EASEMENT (turn right into the Marian Retreat, 168 Filors driveway on left) *** TAXES SHOWN ARE FOR BOTH LOTS. Taxes for 168 Filors Lane are approximately 10833. Taxes for 3 Ewald Place are approximately 3525, both listed WITHOUT STAR exemption of 1873.  

        18  290 Ulster Landing Rd, Kingston, NY   Source: Select Sotheby’s International Realty   $5,500,000 34.5 acres   This unique property is at the Rivers Edge and offers Spectacular Views. Nearly half a mile of Hudson River direct frontage and an ownership tracing back to the famed Livingston family is a once in a lifetime opportunity for some one with a dream of building and owning a grand estate on the Hudson river. The home was originally built by Dr. Livingston and remained in the family for several generations before being sold. The house, in need of complete restoration, still has original window panes, floor boards, original kitchen in the basement, a scullery and a dumb waiter going from the kitchen up to the dining room. There are also multiple building sites on the property to create your own history. There is a small watch tower facing the river and wood carved posts on the porch typical of the area in the early 1800s. Just 90 minutes from NYC, this could also be a perfect match for a developer with a vision to create a collection of high end homes with Hudson River frontage. This property has been in our family for years, and has been used as reunion site and summer home for generations. The farmhouse, barn, meadows and trails along the river are perfect for horseback riding. The river is wide and gentle at this point of the Hudson, and the commanding view from the front porch is well suited for watching the sail boats and other river traffic.  

        19  421 N Liberty Dr, Tomkins Cove, NY   Source: Keller Williams Realty   $169,000 1.1 acres   Imagine this….heading out the back of your home and into the wilderness! Go for a hike in your backyard, or keep traveling and before you know it, you’ll be in Bear Mountain State Park!With a little vision and creativity this home would be a great weekend retreat or a primary home! Easy commute to major cities. Close to the ferry to Westchester.  

      20  5681 Route 22, Millerton, NY   Source: Steed Real Estate   $4,914,000 466 acres   This listing is a a 466 +/- acre farm which has been surveyed and individually described in three parts. There are natural division lines by Rte. 22 and McGhee Hill Road.The sale of any individual parcel is subject to final T/O Northeast subdivision apaproval.This listing consists of a large 13 room Victorian as described with high ceilings, generous rooms, hard wood floors and classic Victorian detail inside and out. There is also a 2 BR 1 Bath cottage, an antique poast and beam barn with new roof and a large auction/concert barn being approximately 6160 sq. ft.the approximate 170 open acres is under crop lease and will be planted again this spring.Farmer of record will be allowed to remove their crops post title transfer if applicable. Approximately 300 acres is in old and new woods with access points and wood roads. The main house could be a very interesting Bed and Breakfast after renovation. We are also inprocess of investigating allowed uses for the Auction barn.  

      21  1726 Old Kings Hwy, Saugerties, NY   Source: Zillow, courtesy of Win Morrison Realty   $135,000 2 acres   A stately, very well situated, 4 bedroom vintage Victorian home on a sturdy foundation, landscaped two acres with views of mountains from the front and views of one of the finest golf courses (Lazy Swan) in the Hudson Valley in the back. While it needs work to bring it back to its original glory, the large living room with a finished hardwood floor, and some of the original trim and moldings provide a great start. The location is prime, directly adjacent to the golf course, near HITS for the horse enthusiasts and on a lovely quiet country road but only a few minutes from the New York State Thruway exit 20 and close by to Woodstock, Catskill and the center of the Village of Saugerties.  

        22  3040 State Route 28, Shokan, NY   Source: Murphy Realty Group   $200,000 0.92 acres   Classic Victorian Home: Hardwood floors, pocket doors, large windows, original trim & mouldings, built in shelves, high ceilings, etc? OR Classic Income Producer, current owner was using the 3rd floor as an apartment w/ separate entrance, separate 2 bdrm cottage, , zoned commercial, think B&B, work & live, family compound, gallery/ studio, etc? What?s your vision? Either way, This property will need attention to bring it back to life.MAKE AN OFFER!  

        23  308 Main St, Catskill, NY   Source: Century 21 New West Properties   $399,000 0.3 acres   Put your imagination to work with this super opportunity on Catskill’s thriving Main Street. This 10 room, brick, single family residence has served for many years as the parsonage for the First Reformed Church. Parts of the structure date back to the 1800’s and many more original features remain, including hardwood floors, eleven foot ceilings and servant’s stairway from the kitchen to second floor. Open the front door and you are welcomed by a 7′ wide foyer bordered on one side by a 16×25 living room and on the other by a 16×18 parlor that leads to a covered porch. The open stairway leads to the 4 bedrooms and 1 bath on the second floor, then another full stairway provides full access to a full attic with potential for a home studio. Outside is a private rear yard and a 22×24 two car garage with electric, that could easily convert to a studio.  

        24  2115 County Route 17, Walden, NY   Source: Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty   $453,000 124.3 acres   Calling all builders, renovators or Historians. Over 3500 square foot farmhouse in need of renovation. Farmhouse sits on 28.3 acres of partially wooded land. There is a small barn/garage on property. The original part of the home may have been built in the 1700s. The property was used as a dairy farm called Snug Harbor in its hay day. There are 4 fireplaces, wood flooring through out, walk up attic and rocking chair front porch. Plus an additional 96 acres located in Montgomery across the road from Farmhouse is included in sale.  

        25  2253 Bulls Head Rd, Stanfordville, NY   Source: CENTURY 21 Alliance Realty Group   $300,000 0.66 acres   Own a piece of history with this 1780 home.Owner states that home was used as an old Quaker meeting house.Zoned as a 2 family, home can be restored to a single family home,possibly a B&B. Needs work/updating.  

        26  2657 State Route 23, Hillsdale, NY   Source: Copake Lake Realty   $225,000 0.28 acres   (What a) Wonderful World — go back in time when you enter this Historic Hillsdale District Home. Architectural details from days ago including a formal parlor, fireplace, wood stoves, and wide-plank floors. Kitchen redone. Zoned mixed use, but presently used as residential. Lots of options here. Needs some TLC — but well worth the investment in up and coming Hillsdale.  

        Love cheap, beautiful old houses?

  Follow CIRCA’s Instagram feed at @CheapOldHouses, on which we showcase only gorgeous historical homes for sale for under $100,000.

      AUTHOR ELIZABETH FINKELSTEIN

Elizabeth is the founder of CIRCA and a practicing writer, architectural historian and preservation consultant living in Nyack, NY. Elizabeth has loved historic houses for as long as she can remember, having grown up in an 1850’s Greek Revival gem that was lovingly restored by her parents. Elizabeth, her husband Ethan and their beagle Banjo remain on a relentless hunt for their perfect “Thanksgiving house.”        

from House Retoration Tips http://circaoldhouses.com/a-whole-bunch-of-amazing-fixer-uppers-north-of-new-york-city/