#so I actually bought my party's poster and put it up the board

[greatspacedustbin]

Someone took down all the EU election posters in my town 😩😩😩. (well, only 4 out of 10+ possible parties were represented so far, but still)

Like.... what are you trying to achieve here? Don't want people to vote? Jealous that you didn't think of putting up a poster yourself? Hope that people won't vote for left and centre parties? Grow up.

[gemma-collins-ily]

It’s my birthday today and I was wondering if you could do Jesper celebrating the reader’s birthday?

Jesper Celebrating the Reader's Birthday

a/n - keep in mind, fics don't normally come out this quickly, but I saw this and wanted to release it on your special day! This may be a little uncoordinated but I hope you enjoy and have a brilliant day! Also, just to let everyone know, requests are closed for a few days, just so I can catch up on requests xoxo 💞

Warnings: nothing?

Tagged: @mrs-brekker15 @i-am-the-1930s @inthegistoftime

it is guaranteed

you hear me?

guaranteed

that he will try to plan you a party

it's Jesper, he has to

so he'll set up streamers and a huge poster displaying your age

for all who enter the Slat to see

he'll get Nina to distract you, taking you out for waffles probably

his words would probably be exactly like this:

"I don't know Neens, just take them away from the Slat and don't come back till, like ummm seven."

she'd look at the half hung decorations and many more still in boxes disapprovingly and ask:

"You didn't plan this out did you?"

"Are you accusing me, the Jesper Fahey, himself, of being disorganised?"

She grabbed her coat and you, covering your eyes as she went, very clearly conveying something was happening, then left without a word more.

so, by now, you knew something was happening

or at least suspected it

but would go along with it for Jesper

trailing after Nina until your feet were sore

finally having enough and asking if you could stop and sit on a bench

she agreed with a groan

so, she was obviously tired too

"How long do we need to stay out?"

"I really do not know what you're talking about, (Y/N)."

"Come on, I know there's a surprise back at the Slat, I just need to know how long I have to wait to go home."

she'd continue to blatantly refuse the very idea of a surprise until she randomly gave in

and you'd smirk, happy to get the answer

as soon as it neared seven, she'd try to drag you back to the Slat but you'd tell her they wouldn't be ready yet

Nina would not listen and take you firmly by the wrist, marching back to the Slat

when you got there you were right

of course

bestie, can you predict the future?

no, actually

you just know how frazzled your boyfriend can get

but you were surprised to see even Kaz was helping

it did not look like he wanted to be there voluntarily

but still

you take what you can get

it was an effort so you appreciated it

when Nina would let out a dramatic gasp at the sight of Kaz Brekker hanging up decor, Jes would notice you

yelling at Nina to take you out again or to your room

just go over and peck him on the lips, tell him you don't really care about the streamers and he'll relax

even if he wanted it to be perfect

you have all the calming techniques down bestie

Kaz will sigh exaggeratingly and drop the colourful swirly thing he was eyeing with disgust

it would be between his forefinger and thumb as he did so

and this meant it was twice as funny to you

oops you may have laughed

you received a glare in return

aww such a nice present

everyone say thank you Kaz

anyway

there's probably a table with gifts on it

kaz got you a new book

but left it anonymously

no message on the tag even if you know it's him

you thank him and he pretends he has no clue who gave it to you

"Awwww, thanks Kaz."

"I didn't get you a gift, (Y/N). It's obviously from someone else."

Inej would get you some sort of herbal tea I think

if you don't like tea then it's probably also a book

wow what a match for those two

thinking the same thoughts

Nina may have forgotten to get a present and would promise waffles instead

or she'd have tried to sneakily get a board game while you were out earlier

you acted like you did not notice

it's a grammy award for you

Matthias could have either gotten you some kruge because he wasn't sure what you wanted

or a new scarf, coat ect.

he has a pretty good taste in fashion

now, Jesper would either wait till later to give you his gifts

because aww, sentimentality

or he'd give you them with everyone else's to make you blush publicly

at that point, you wouldn't care

either way, he'd keep at least one spare to give to you in private

I think his gifts would be a little something like this:

a type of jewelry, whether it be a necklace or an anklet, it would have a J on it

he probably bought a matching one for him with your initial on it too

a necklace feels a little more personal but could be taken advantage of by enemies

like in finding out you were together

not like it was oBVIOUS or anything

but an anklet would ultimately be sturdier and less likely to be taken as a means of affection from a loved one

so anklet it is

chocolates that are actually quite rich in flavour and are rare in Ketterdam

he saved up some money for those

if you like to play with his rings

he'll have bought you one

again, it may be a little blander to avoid it being interpreted as a gift of love by enemies

you didn't mind it being a little more hidden

Jesper was happy with you and you with Jesper

so you felt no need to show off to the world

you would probably take it off if you had to do any good old fashioned fist fighting

pocketing it quickly

he'd also give you a nail makeover the next day

but you would have to paint on his nails in return because if he tried, he would probably mess up while using his non-dominant hand to paint the other

you could match because #couplegoals

he'd bring you breakfast in bed the day after your birthday

being so busy planning the day before, he didn't get you any

I hate to disappoint but it would not be made by him

he would burn everything

so Matthias' second present to you is the breakfast

delivered by Jesper

he'd probably be sat at the counter making snarky remarks about Matthias' cooking

until he got whacked with a tea towel

if you're an early bird

Jes would be given the task of distracting you and stopping you from walking downstairs

or getting out of bed at all

this could be easily done with the persuasion of cuddles

then Matthias would yell for him and he'd have to leave to get the tray

when he brings it up he'll sit you between his legs, leaning your back against his chest and resting the tray on your knees

may feed you bites that sOMEHOW end up like a lady and the tramp scene

even if it's a slice of french toast, he'll manage

would tactfully steal little bits off your plate

and you couldn't really be mad at him because he would just smile charmingly

(maybe with half a piece of bacon sticking out of the side of his mouth)

but charming none the less

he might have a gift hidden in the corner of a chest of drawers somewhere you find one day and he remembers he was supposed to wrap that up and give it to you

if it's almost a year later and near your next birthday

just leave it on his dresser

no words need to be exchanged

the only difference is now one of your presents is less of a surprise

oh cards

kaz would write in his a simple,

'Inej made me write this. Have a good day. You are one year closer to being dead. Congratulations.

-Signed sincerely, Kaz Brekker'

Nina and Matthias share a card

meaning she wrote it and he signed his name with an extra

'I hope you have a lovely day, (Y/N).'

Nina's message/ the main one in the card would be:

'I can't believe we're all growing so old now! Anyway, we love you, hope you enjoy the presents and your birthday. You deserve it! Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Nina'

Inej's would have a very sincere message:

'(Y/N),

You are truly a wonderful friend and person, helping everyone with anything they may need. I feel so lucky to have you as my friend and I hope you will continue to be for years to come. You deserve a fantastic day and I hope you get one, I know Jes will try to make it perfect!

-From, Inej x

p.s - I tried to get Kaz to sign a card, but he was smirking and wouldn't let me see it before he put it in the envelope, so I'm terribly sorry if it's rude.'

now to Jesper's

'Love,

I adore you with all my heart and wish you a truly happy birthday. I hope you like the gifts I bought, I wanted to symbolise my love for you through each. I know one or two presents are a little bland but I hope they mean as much to you as they do to me. You are the most amazing partner I could ever dream of having, and every time you do something, I never expect it.

You are unpredictable, my love, and I can honestly say I do not mind it. In fact, it is one of the many factors that made me fall in love with you. Have a happy birthday!

-Love from Jesper, xxx

p.s - Kaz looked terrifyingly happy when he finished signing your card so be careful, he probably pulled something.

you might have cried

yes

you, a Crow, feared on the streets sniffled over even Kaz's message

knowing if he didn't actually want to, there was no way he would have signed that card

all in all, you have a great birthday and Jesper (and everyone else) makes you feel really special

[likeawildthing]

in terms of design advice, any ideas for a broke college student apartment room? 💕💕

college is a weird time because you are kind of a grown up but also definitely not! and your interests and tastes will change so rapidly in the next few years. so honestly it’s a great time to experiment and be creative. this advice all depends on your particular space, but in any small space everything that can be double duty, should be double duty (night stand is also a tv tray/laptop tray, art is also bulletin board or jewelry holder), the more uses you can get out of something, the better! going vertical on the walls where you can get away with it is amazing. here are a few easy and cheap ways to upgrade and some basic design principles:

take this design quiz to find out your style (plug in a fake email) and then google or pinterest away. you’ll see repeat themes (for ex. major bohemian trend is macrame, which easily DIYable, or MCM is all about legs and clean profiles). maybe that would be fun post - to highlight different styles and trends. but here are some upgrades that translate to any design style for cheap:

PLANTS

don’t go to a nursery and drop a hundred dollars you don’t have. a plant or two or three you really love will change the vibe of the whole space, and give you something to take care of, which is ofc good for your mental health. tips for getting plants and planters on the cheap!

think of a relative or friend who already has houseplants and ask for free ones next time they’re splitting. i literally did my entire garden this way in my first place. 

look on like FB marketplace or whatever your swap site is because people are often selling plants or cuttings for a discount.

i have literally split the cost of a plant with a friend and then split it in half, like a baby before Solomon

pothos plants of any kind are easy to take care of and can split into smaller plants pretty regularly.

succulents are usually a few dollars at the store and everyone loves them! start with one simple succulent.

herbs! if you get herb garden seeds or plants you literally make what you eat!

if you have pets, make sure they are pet friendly.

i do not spend a lot of $$ on planters! i use terra cotta because 1. they’re cheap as hell and 2. cute! some of my favorite planters are terra cotta pots kristina painted for me! you can also thrift pots, which i would encourage, or reuse food containers by putting small holes in the bottom. 

create hanging plants by making yarn macrame holders! youtube is your friend on this! you can get a ceiling hook for like $3 if it’s a solid ceiling (drywall) and super easy to patch up when it’s time to leave.

ART

function + form. something organic that you can change out inspiration or art, like a cork or inspiration board (look on like a varage sale or in a thrift store for this).  you can get four12x12 cork boards from target for $7 and create something like this from two of them, which is in and of itself a piece of art (and you can take it down w/out damaging walls)

other cheap things i have done for art:

calendar or magazine pages in thrifted frames  (my favorite cheap tricks is to get matte black or white craft paint for $1.25 from wm or target and paint a bunch of odd frames to unify them)

a picture ledge like this from ikea is your best friend because you can interchange the art to be whatever you want!

embroidery hoop fabric bulletin boards

seriously, posters are cool. get a cheap poster online and hang it with washi tape. it’s not precious. if you want something more grown up, try to thrift a frame for it for cheap. if you don’t like the color of the frame, paint it! if you can’t hang something heavy like this on the wall, use command velcro strips OR set it on top of a dresser or bookcase and lean it against the wall.

i love tassels and buntings. just google either of those and you’ll get thousands of cheap ideas. in my last bedroom i just had a bunting i cut and made over my bed and it acted like a bedframe and i loved it.

just free prints from the internet hung up with little clips like this ($2 from target) or bulky push pins – those holes are so easy to patch!

when my kids were little until two weeks ago i had an entire wall covered with their artwork. i’m saying maybe go to the thrift store, get some ugly canvases with your friends, and have a painting party. everyone brings a $4 thing of acrylic paint and a brush and have a party. good memories + new art for everyone. swap at the end!

pictures! actually print out those pictures and tape them to the wall with washi tape. you can also do something like this with push pins for as big or small as you want to make it (i have this in my living room

here’s a proper primer on the 7 elements of design, but you can skip that and go here if you want!

BALANCE

white space and focal points. in the same way that you need to break up one massive wall of text into digestible paragraphs, you also need to break up the focus in your room. a FOCAL POINT is a statement area in your room (i.e. the window, over your bed, your desk) that your eye is drawn to, and where you want your eye to be drawn to. ideally rooms should have ONE focal point (that’s like the adverb room for writing) but in a dorm apartment, that isn’t practical because it HAS to be multifunction. the important takeaway is that white space on your walls is okay, and important. it gives you a soft space to land, visually, which is important in making you feel more relaxed and even productive.

groupings – grouping like with like makes great sense organizationally AND design wise. a collection of postcards will look amazing on the wall together rather than spread around the room. 

LAYERS

adding layers can make a space feel luxurious – curtains, rugs, extra throw pillows or an extra blanket on your bed or chair. plants are great for this, but fabrics and baskets can add another layer. these can be pricey so i would a. raid your mom’s house if that’s an option and ask if she needs ‘x’ rug or curtains anymore. you can also thrift curtains for cheapppp or even look for clearance fabric – once you wash the curtains they really are safe to use. clearance frabric can be hemmed without being sewn and hung with curtain rings if you need to. and $5 tension rods can work as a curtain rod inside a window frame if needed. i could do a whole post on this but a cheap rug next to your bed and something soft on a window can do wonders!  dude i have also bought cheap cotton weave cloth from walmart and used rit dye to make turqoise curtains and i loved for years. see also: RIT DYE

so decorative pillows are expensive as HELL but regular, cheap pillows are like $4. i get cheap fabric or thrift fabric and sew my own, which you could do by hand, really, and use the pillow stuffing to make it. ikea also sells great cheap pillow covers! 

COLOR

gosh there are no hard and fast rule here but here is a great primer series on color theory for design that you can translate to your room

simplifying a color palette will feel more calming to you, and so will using cool colors like blues and greens. but again, no hard and fast rules. repeat a color or element (shape, pattern) throughout a room 3x (ex. i have a blue rug and that same blueish tone is in a chair and also on a bookshelf. they don’t have to be the same blue, just color family, and it makes it all seem more intentional)

HOW TO DO IT CHEAPLY

buy secondhand. there are entire thrift makeover and upcycle youtube channels that are amazing! same for diy blogs. 

reuse and repurpose what you have. i turned a dvd player box into a toy oven for my kids and they used it as a play kitchen for four years. my bookshelf that stores our games in my living room was $12 from salvation army - i just painted it and added casters for $15. my dresser was a thrift from the REstore, a habitat for humanity store. my end tables are actually butcher block pieces that were in my dad’s factory for forty years. i love bringing old things back to a different life. and you don’t always need a ton of tools to do it.

barter and trade. i traded a one of my kid’s dressers for the hutch that holds our toiletries outside of our upstairs bathrooms. 

sell and repurchase something that works for you. i sold my old bookshelves on fb marketplace and bought another that actually works better. this isn’t applicable to everyone!

make muffins for someone in exchange for their sewing skills or knowledge. i’m teaching my friend to sew right now! libraries often have classes and such to learn new skills.

OK so i have rambled enough. i could ramble more. i hope this gets you started and if you have more specific or follow up questions, on this or organization side of things, let me know! remember these are all just guidelines and the most important thing is having a space you love, that makes you feel comfortable and that you’re proud of and happy in. comparing yourself to others isn’t always the best and you can make it a space you love no matter where you are. 

[oreochaniiee]

❝Next Time❞ || l.flx

☆ fluff 

summary: Prom is just around the corner and so is y/n’s birthday, felix wants to ask y/n to be his girlfriend but will it be too late...

warnings: none, just fuff. 

author-note:  this is my first short story on this account, but not the first in my life. I hope you enjoy this mini story, of friends to lovers. (p.s requests are open! pls send me some or dm me!)

felix p.o.v

 Should I feel this way, with my own best friend? I don’t even know how she feels about me. I’m afraid to tell her my feelings, she may feel disgusted, or worse...push me away. Pulling my attention away from the cold glass classroom window, i shift my attention to y/n, watching carefully how she notes down key information the teacher has said. The way she bites her bottom lip in concentration, how she squints her eyes and how she doesn’t give mind to the ruckus being created around her. If i could and i would, give the world to her. shes the best.

 The bell rings, and students start to pack their stationary into their bags. Before i turn to leave y/n calls me. “Felix~ wanna go get lunch with me?” I gulp nervously and shook my head, allowing her to go first in front of me.

We walked down the hallway, chattering, make out sessions happening around us. Slowly Y/n stopped walking when she saw a poster on the board. A prom poster to be specific. Y/n clapped her hands and jumped in joy, “Lix! do you see this proms coming up oooh im so excited!” “Who are you..going to go with?” A small blush crept up to my cheeks when the thought of me asking my best friend to go to prom with me. “Hm i don’t really know yet, we’ll just have to see.” She replied confidently. At this time I really wanted her to consider going with me. “Well..you and-” Being interrupted at this time was very bad timing. very bad. Channie hyung had jumped onto my back ruffling my hair “Whats happening, mate?” Chan asked in english his strong Australian accent hitting y/n off, i also replied in english. “Nah, we just checking out this prom poster” “Ah, i see” Chan secretly wiggled his eyebrows at me, me hitting his shoulder playfully.

Chan hyung knows about my feeling he’s the only person i’ve told. Always telling me to open up to y/n, and let her know, but it isnt that easy.

After school we both went our separate ways, i told her i was tired and wanted to go straight home but i actually went shopping. Deciding what to give to y/n as a birthday present. My eyes set on a pretty silver jewelry set, yes! thats what i’ll give her..its kinda expensive but worth it! 

(two days before y/n’s birthday) 

Everyone had been secretly planning for y/n’s 17th birthday, y/n is super nosy always poking her nose in our business. trying to find out if we are throwing her a party or not. Ah! shes cute even without trying! Some thoughts have been roaming my mind ever since i bought Y/n’s birthday present. I decided i should go to chan for some advice and that’s exactly what i did. 

Chan stared and me with open eyes and mouth parted. “You- you want to what!?” .. “yes you heard correctly, i want to ask y/n to be my girlfriend on her birthday.” Chan closes his mouth and puts on a stern face, looking at me which was kinda scary i gulped. But gradually it turned into a big smile he gave me a hug and some advice on what to do. Like be confident, let her know its what you really want or something like getting on one knee and propos-

“Wait, what? i’m not going to marry her channie!” My cheeks turn rosy pink as the thought of Felix and Y/n walking down the isle. “Yeah. but you might as well no?” I shake my head and sit on the bed burying my face in my hands. “I just-just want it to go well. What if she rejects me hyung?” Chan sighs and crouches in front of me and reassures me “Then she doesn’t know what shes missing out on..” 

[purplesurveys]

921

LOL was gone for a while to attempt doing that ridiculous 5000 survey myself again and I really thought I was going to breeze through it this time. 2 1/2 weeks and 2500 questions later, I need a fucking break. Need normal surveys plz.

What was the best thing to happen to you this week? Got to visit Gabie today! I brought Cooper as well so that she, her sisters, and their puppy Tofu could finally meet him. Fun day, but I am beat. The blackout yesterday also made me revisit painting, and that felt so good too.

Where do you put your keys when you get home? It always differs, idk why I never picked up a routine. Sometimes I set it on the dining table, other times on the decorative table in the living room, and other times I bring it up with me to my room.

Do you prefer hot coffee or iced coffee? I preferred hot (warm would be more accurate) for the longest time but once I went iced, I never wanted to go back. 

What's your phone background picture? I recently changed my lock screen to one of Audrey Hepburn. My home screen is still Hayley Williams.

If you could move to any country, what would it be? Anywhere with a clean and honest government sounds like heaven.

Have you ever seen a snake in the wild? No. Can’t say there’s a lot of them here in the city, and I’ve never seen any in my trip to provinces either.

What's your favourite movie from the 80s? Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Do you have any posters, paintings or other artwork on your walls? I have at least one of each of these, yes.

What would your dream wedding be like? Huge. I’d want a long guest list, expansive food choices, and acts that can provide good music throughout the evening. I never really throw parties for myself, so I would want at least my own wedding to be big.

Would you ever take a trip to space if given the chance? Yesssssss.

How do you cope with anxiety? I'm lucky to have found different outlets, so that said I usually choose from taking surveys, watching a favorite channel on YouTube, turning to my dogs, going to social media to see dumb memes, or taking a nap altogether. Of course there’ll always be those days where none of these work out and I’ll have to just cry through the anxiety attacks until they’re over.

Are you expecting any phone calls or emails? I’m expecting an email from my college, yes. I’m currently applying for civil service eligibility and they’re asking for documents that only the college can provide, so I emailed them a couple of days ago asking for assistance, and that’s considering we’re still under a lockdown and most offices are still under skeleton staffing.

What's the weather like in your part of the world right now? LOVELY. I actually wear oversized sweaters to bed now and I even managed to wear a thick denim jacket out today. The rainy weather has settled beautifully, and I’m perfectly fine with 24ºC-28ºC everyday.

What was the last takeout food you ate? My mom bought me and my siblings a chicken sandwich and chicken nuggets each from McDonald’s last week.

Who makes you laugh the most? Definitely someone from my college barkada. I can’t decide whether it’s Aya, Kate, JM, or Jum; they’re all equally hilarious as fuck.

Do you know anyone with the same middle name as you? See these questions are always weird to me because my country has its own naming customs; it’s basically a mix of American and Spanish customs. We have two first names (where Westerners would understand their second ‘first’ name to be their middle name) and our actual legal middle name is our mother’s maiden surname (which I think doesn’t apply at all in the Western world). So to answer this I’ll go with our own customs and say that no, I don’t know of anyone who has the same middle name as me. It’s not a very common surname anyway.

What did you have done the last time you saw a dentist? Had a tooth removed. I don’t think it was a wisdom tooth; it was just a tooth at the back of my mouth that had been in pretty bad shape for years but was only discovered at that time.

What does a successful relationship look like to you? I believe the formula is different for every couple. Like I value constant communication and checkups, but others might not feel the need to be clingy or update their significant others all the time.

What do you like to put on your baked potato? Don’t really have these a lot, but I remember when my mom used to make baked potatoes with bacon and cheese and those were unbelievably good.

What field of science interests you the most? Biology. <3 I’m sure I would’ve taken up medicine if I only wasn’t so bad in the rest of the sciences.

What's the closest shop or restaurant to your house? There aren’t any nearby shops since I live in a gated community, but once you get out of the village’s main gate, the first thing to the left is a McDonald’s. To the right is a small complex with a hair salon, burger place, music school, and one of those boujee stores that sell hype clothing.

Do you have any family that live in another country? So many relatives. We’re Filipinos, man. We migrate everyfuckingwhere. As far as I know I have family living in the US, Canada, Vietnam, Japan, China, Australia, and New Zealand.

What colour is your couch? Gray.

Do you know how to care for plants and keep them alive? Not at all. Every single plant that I’ve been given as a gift or party giveaway has died on me.

What was the most memorable birthday you've had? 18th was awesome. Cruise trip, hotel stay with friends, Tiendesitas + noodle date with Gab. How I got away with three separate celebrations without my parents saying anything about it I’ll never know.

Would you rather go to the beach or the mountains? Beach. The area where I live is mountainous as it is; as someone who’s always lived and studied in the city, a trip to the beach in the province never gets old.

What do you do for work? I don’t have any yet but I’m waiting for openings for our national agency for either history, or culture and the arts. My plans have shifted recently and I’m now eyeing to work for either instead of rotting away while underpaid at a corporate agency.

Have you ever been to see the circus? No. I wouldn’t be interested either; they all just seem so harsh and unethical. 

Are there any words that you hate or make you cringe? Sure.

What is the best house you've ever lived in? The one we live in today has been the most comfortable; but I also hold a lot of nostalgia for my dad’s parents’ house in Tondo because of how raw Manila life was there. Life wasn’t pretty, but it did feel real.

What was the first CD you ever bought? The first CD I actively wanted my parents to buy for me was probably the High School Musical soundtrack, heheh.

Do you look in the mirror before you leave the house? Yeah, always. Wanna make sure my shirt is tucked in properly (if it is), or that my jeans aren’t cuffed funny or whatever else.

What's the most unusual thing you've ever eaten? I’ve mentioned this before but it was the Indian dessert gulab jamun. Really did not expect the flavor that came in when it hit my mouth.

Have you ever seen someone quit their job in a dramatic way? I’ve never had a legit job, but when Jeuel quit the org a couple of years ago because of ~irreconcilable differences~ between him and us officers in the executive board it did feel a tad bit dramatic and passive-aggressive.

What movie reminds you of your childhood? Shrek 2 or The Game Plan.

Do you know why your parents named you what they did? The singer named Robyn was really big then and they ended up being fans of the name.

Do you have any bills that need to be paid? None of my own. My parents usually pay the family bills immediately, so I don’t think we have any pending payments for now.

What do you like to dip your fries in? Mayonnaise.

Is your house clean or messy right now? It’s always clean as my mom is extremely tidy.

What was the last email you received? It’s one of the job-hunting websites I’ve signed up for, giving me job alerts for new openings in my chosen industries.

Do you know someone who speaks without a filter? Yeah and I know people who do it responsibly and those who just come off as tactless.

Are you in any social groups? We call our college group the Daydrinkers, since our friendship began when we started constantly hanging out at nearby bars at like 2 PM, during our breaks lol. I used to be in a barkada in high school but Angela and I broke apart from that since we couldn’t deal with Athenna’s toxicity anymore, though I still keep in touch with most of them, like Chelsea and Kaira. Since then Angela and I have formed our own group consisting mostly of Angela’s friends from architecture and Hans’ friends from Ateneo.

How many hours of sleep did you get last night? Sigh, around 4. I don’t know why it was so few, but it also means that I’m currently drowsy as all hell at 9:03 PM. I will most likely turn in for bed after this.

What's your favourite kind of museum? Those that cover history, so museums that have artifacts and fossils and shit.

Do you believe in alternate universes? I like the idea, and I love literature that explores the idea of alternate realities, multiple universes, pocket universes, etc. Whether or not I believe they exist...idk. I don’t think about it that much in literal terms. < Yeah pretty much. Gaby Dunn wrote an amazing piece on multiverses and that was what got me to find comfort in the idea.

Whose house did you last visit? I was at Gabie’s place this afternoon. We had burritos, talked about career prospects, and puppy-sat our babies.

What games do you play on your smart phone? I turn to 1010 when I’m bored or anxious. I have like 30 other games but I never touch them lol, but I do keep them should the time be right to whip them out.

Have you ever been to Los Angeles? I have not.

What was the first concert you ever went to? Paramore, February 2013. I was a late bloomer; kids my age started going to concerts at least three years before that.

Do you know anyone who is colourblind? I don’t think so.

What's your favourite season and why? The wet season, because it’s colder and I hate the heat during the dry season.

Are you the youngest, middle or eldest child in your family? I’m the eldest.

If you had to make something for a potluck, what would you make? I recently watched this phenomenal recipe for 48-hour chocolate chip cookies that looked absolutely bonkers when they were done baking. I’d for sure give those a try for dessert. If that fails I’d just buy the food so that what I bring is more guaranteed to be good.

What kinds of decorations do you put up at Halloween? My family has never cared much for Halloween. It’s not even a legit holiday, so as much as I love Halloween I don’t think I would spend for decorations myself to decorate my own place. The only instance I imagine doing so would be if I have kids of my own who may want to get into the Halloween ~spirit.

How many tabs do you have open right now? In my current window, eight.

What's something you've been meaning to do but keep putting off? Taking another online course, just because it’s great to learn new things and earn free certifications while at it. I haven’t been doing a good job at being consistent with them, though.

What's the first thing you check on your phone at the start of the day? Facebook since it’s my primary social media now. Literally never thought this day would come.

Have you ever flown a kite? Yeah but it’s been a while.

Who was your favourite music artist when you were 16? This was the time I was slowly moving away from my punk phase and inching closer to Athenna’s music tastes, so I was into acts like Hozier, Banks, Daya, Twenty One Pilots, etc.

What are three things you usually always have in your fridge? Water, bread, eggs.

[thenovelartist]

Homecoming Queen (I’ll Steal You Away), chapter 1

A No-Curse, American High School AU Fruits Basket story. Because I can XD

AO3   Fanfiction     Next>

Today was one of those days when both Kyo and Yuki could drive her to school. Which meant a fight to see who would win the honor.

It was the way of the Sohma house hold, one she found herself part of the summer after her freshman year of high school when her mom suddenly passed in an accident. She could have lived with her grandfather on her father’s side, but her classmate and friend, Yuki, was the one to invite her to live with him and his cousin. It was a crazy idea, and the last thing she wanted to do was be a burden to anyone, nevertheless someone who wasn’t her blood family. Yet, they’d come to an agreement that she could cook and clean for them in exchange for room and board. Beyond the initial shock of seeing how messy the two men were and then the initial cleaning the house, it was really simple to keep on top of the chores and prepare meals.

The fact she worked at the grocery store down the street made it even simpler.

Two bachelors soon became three that summer when Kyo had arrived. Shigure had agreed to take him in after Kyo had been picked up by the police twice in a year and his guardian thought that Kyo needed a change of scenery. The deal was that Kyo could go back once his anger issues had gotten under control, which meant six months without a run in with the law or a fight.

Fighting with Yuki aside—because Tohru quickly learned those two got on like fire and water—Kyo passed that test after seven months. Yet, he remained. Apparently, his father figure thought the small town was good for him and suggested he stay, and Kyo, despite all his insisting he wasn’t going to stick around long, had easily agreed.

That’s just how life had been for the last two years. Tohru loved the odd family dynamic that had formed, even if Yuki and Kyo were still enemies of sorts and fought often. Like, for example, ever since the duo each learned to drive and bought cars, it became a thing to fight over who drove her to and from school as well as too and from work. 

Rules had to be determined pretty early on after there were a couple times their bickering almost made them late to school. So, the first rule that was laid down was one took her to school while the other took her from it. On days that either boy could take her to and from school, they would spar­—outside to save poor Shigure’s house from any more holes in the walls or broken furniture—to decide who got her in the morning. If Kyo had practice or Yuki had student counsel duties, then they would drive her the time they were available while the other would drive her the opposite time. If there was a draw and neither could drive her, Tohru’s friend, Saki, would swoop up Tohru and laugh in victory.

However, today, Yuki was the winner of the morning drive, much to Kyo’s frustration.

“Don’t look so upset. You get to take me home,” she assured Kyo.

“Yeah,” Yuki goaded. “If you want to take her in the mornings, then all you have to do is beat me.”

“You know what—!”

“No, what.” Yuki deadpanned.

“Guys,” Tohru whined. “Don’t fight. It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a short car ride.” Honestly, Tohru didn’t understand how it was a thing at all. They could just take turns on those days, alternating between who took her in the morning or not. But Shigure said they’d take any reason they could to fight, and Tohru had learned he wasn’t lying.

“Yeah, it’s just a car ride,” Yuki said, his eyes narrowing at Kyo. “Not like you lost anything more than your pride.”

Kyo looked like he was about to snap when Tohru shoved herself in between the two boys. “Please don’t fight again,” she said. “We have to get to school.”

With a growl, Kyo backed up. “Fine,” he relented, marching to his rusted orange truck.

“Why anyone would buy a hunk of metal like that is beyond me,” Yuki commented.

“Because it’s still in good condition and could beat your little, dinky car.”

“In what?” Yuki challenged with a grin. “Mine has better gas mileage, safety features—”

“Um, we should really get to school,” Tohru said, interrupting their conversation.

“Fine,” the two boys said in unison.

“I’ll behave.”

“You were the one goading me on!”

“Have a good day, you three,” Shigure called, purposefully interrupting them, for which Tohru was grateful for. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“You wouldn’t do a lot of sane things,” Yuki retorted.

“And would do a lot of bad things,” Kyo added in.

Tohru just laughed, silently agreeing with them. She loved Shigure, but a role model he wasn’t.

She also had to laugh at how one of the few things that could bring Kyo and Yuki together was when they were fighting Shigure—or Ayame, but that was another story.

Yuki, ever the gentleman, held open the passenger side car door for her. “Thank you,” she said, slipping inside the gray car and putting her backpack by her legs.

“You’re welcome,” he returned with a grin before shutting her door. By the time he hopped into the driver’s seat, Kyo was already zipping off, his truck engine revving all the while.

“Typical,” Yuki commented. “He’d get better gas mileage if he wasn’t such a lead foot.”

“You better not tell him that,” Tohru commented with an amused grin. The two definitely had different driving styles, Yuki being the safer of the two. But Kyo was more comfortable behind the wheel, Tohru noticed, which made her feel equally comfortable with both boys. “But I don’t get what the big deal is. Isn’t it a hassle to drive me to and from school?”

“Never,” he assured, starting his car. “It’s truly an honor.”

Tohru smiled, hoping her blush wasn’t evident. Honestly, she’d always thought that it was a hassle and a burden. But they always assured her it wasn’t. It made her feel not as bad because honestly…

It was really nice being driven to and from school and work by her friends.

It didn’t take long to get to school. Yuki was always pleasant company in the mornings, and conversation flowed easily.

When they got to school, they caught sight of Kyo’s truck already there as well as Saki’s black car. Meaning that all her friends were there already. When they walked onto campus, they were immediately assaulted by the sheer number of posters on every conceivable surface.

Yuki sighed. “When I told them to make sure the posters were clearly visible, this was not what I meant.”

Tohru giggled. “To be fair, I don’t think anyone is going to miss the fact that homecoming is coming up.”

“Not even the most dim-witted person could miss it,” he said. “Are you planning to go?”

“It would be fun. But between the tickets and the dress, it’s just too expensive.”

Yuki hummed. “As practical as ever.”

“Saki and Arisa will probably want me to go, but I’ve actually been saving up for the big senior dance at the end of the year because those tickets have always been really expensive, but it’s the one big, fancy senior party, so I thought if I could only chose dance one to go to, it should be that one.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Yuki agreed. “It’s always the most extravagant one, so it seems like it would be worth it.”

“Yup. Besides, I’ll be at the homecoming game.”

“You’d better.”

Tohru turned to see Kyo standing there. He gently knocked her head in an affectionate way. “It’s my last year and first as team captain. You better show up.”

“I try not to miss any of your games,” she said, lightly punching his arm. “And you know it.”

He smirked. “Your right-handed jab still sucks.”

She just giggled as he tapped her head once again before turning to head off to class. “Come on. If we’re late for first period, the teacher will have our heads.”

“Coming. Bye, Yuki. See you third period.”

“See you then,” he said with a wave before marching off to his class.

Tohru then whipped around and scurried to Kyo’s side. They made it just before the bell rang.

…

“So…”

Tohru turned to face Arisa. “So what?”

“You chose one of them yet?”

Tohru blinked, feeling very lost. “W-what?”

“I think that’s a no,” Saki answered, filling the silence.

Currently, they were sitting together in second period, the only class period that Tohru didn’t have Kyo or Yuki in. Fortunately, she had her two best friends. She thought they liked it, too. They’d mentioned more than once how they liked having her all to themselves for a class.

“Come on, Tohru,” Arisa said, smirk on her face. “You know we’re talking about the Prince and Carrots.”

“We already told you they both like you.”

Tohru blushed hard, remembering that conversation. “I knew that,” she said in a quiet voice. Because she had known it. Deep inside her heart, she was aware that both Kyo and Yuki had gradually changed around her, their actions with her different from with anyone else. She’d known, yet had simultaneously been ignorant of it until Arisa and Saki brought it up.

And now that she knew, she couldn’t un-know it, and it turned her into a mess.

“You gotta pick one of them, or they’re just gonna keep up their pissing match of who gets you or not,” Arisa said.

“I know,” Tohru whined. “But I choosing one will hurt the other, and I don’t want anyone to get hurt, but I know I have to do something! I just don’t know what to do.”

“Come on,” Arisa goaded, playfully poking her. “You gotta like one more than the other.”

Tohru whimpered. Both boys had their special ways of tugging on her heart, and just when she thought she could choose one, the other would come along and do something that caused her to doubt that decision.

“You’re overthinking it,” Saki pointed out. “I think you have one picked out but really, you’re scared of hurting the other one.”

Tohru’s mind went blank. “Huh?”

“Really?” Arisa asked. “What makes you think that.”

“I can sense her waves with both men,” Saki said. “One set is more harmonious than the other. But beyond that, if you study her hard enough with both men, it becomes clear.”

“I watch as much as you,” Arisa snipped. “I don’t think it’s exactly crystal.”

“But don’t you have a guy you want her to end up with?”

Tohru’s blush somehow deepened. “Wait… what?”

Arisa grunted. “Yeah, I do.”

“You… wait.” Tohru’s eyes screwed shut in confusion. “Stop. What are you talking about?”

“It’s quite obvious.” Saki said. “After careful consideration, we decided who to ship you with.”

“How? What do you mean? I don’t think it’s obvious. How can I choose? Who do you think I should choose? I don’t understand.”

“Calm down,” Arisa said, resting a hand on Tohru’s shoulder. “I’m kinda beginning to agree with Saki’s saying you’re overthinking it.”

“I’m insulted you doubted me.”

“Then what do I do?” Tohru asked.

“Pick one and don’t feel guilty about not choosing the other,” Saki bluntly said.

“She’s right,” Arisa said. “Only one guy is going to get our precious Tohru, and the other will be a man and suck up the loss. It’s what guys do.”

Tohru whimpered. This was not going to be easy.

“On a different note,” Saki said. “Are you certain there is nothing we can do to convince you to come to homecoming with us?”

“Yeah,” Arisa chimed in. “Come on, Tohru. It would be really fun for you to be there.”

Tohru smiled. “I know it would, but I want to save up for the senior ball. Those tickets are expensive. And if I went to homecoming, I’d have to get a dress now instead of when I saved up for it. So my budget’s smaller.”

“Okay, we get the dress thing,” Arisa said. “But once you have the dress, you could wear it twice. And the homecoming tickets aren’t that expensive. They’re the cheapest of any of the dances.”

“Or better yet,” Saki said. “Save money both times by having the boys agree to take you as their date. They’d be obligated to buy you tickets, and you would only have to worry about the dress, which I’m sure you could find for less expensive somewhere.”

Arisa lit up. “Oh yeah! That’s a great idea.”

“But I couldn’t!” Tohru cried. “That would be so much money for them to have to spend!”

“The boys could afford it. And I seriously doubt they’d mind,” Arisa said.

“Yes,” Saki agreed. “And then, after all the obligatory dances with them, you can spend the rest of your time with us.”

“But they bought the tickets so we could be together,” Tohru argued. “I couldn’t abandon them after they spent money on me like that. That is, if that happened. But it’s not going to because I couldn’t let them do that.”

“Sure, you can,” Arisa encouraged. “Have one take you to homecoming and one take you to the Senior Ball.”

“I would assume you’d let Kyo take you to homecoming since he is the captain of the football team and the dance is partly to celebrate them,” Saki said. “Which would mean you let Yuki take you to the Senior Ball, which means you have the Prince of the school escorting you to the fanciest event of the year. That makes perfect sense to me.”

“You’d really score either way.”

Tohru whimpered at the thought. Using them like that felt wrong. But then again…

Going to the dances with either of them sounded really fun.

“I can’t exactly ask them.”

Saki hummed in thought. “Maybe they’ll ask you.”

“And if they don’t,” Arisa added. “We’ll drop hints.”

Tohru barely had time to blush before the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class.

“All right, students,” the teacher called, marching to the middle of the classroom and effectively bringing their conversation to an end. Which Tohru was grateful for because she wasn’t sure her stomach could be in any bigger of a knot.

[ancientbooshartifacts]

Pantomime

Author: BeansidheBaby

Year: 2008

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Howince

It was easy to forget that Vince had been raised in the forest these days. He never stopped to speak to animals any more, or told stories about Bryan Ferry and his childhood adventures. He had lost the slightly naïve wonder he used to regard the whole world with. Now he smirked and swaggered (well, minced really) with an arrogant grace, that was completely divorced from the awkwardly gangly teenager Howard had lured away from the vacuum that was state education with promises of adventure and millet rotas. Howard was shocked then, to discover that Vince had never heard of Cinderella. Later he realised that there was no logical way that he would have known. Leopards are not known for their knowledge of the collected works of the Grimm's Brothers and Bryan was more the lullaby than the bed time story type. “Howard,” Vince bounded up excitedly “What?” Howard muttered barely looking up from his copy of Global Explorer “Can we see this?” he held up a poster, “It looks well trendy. It's about a girl who gets made a princess because she had great shoes. Imagine that!” Howard looked more carefully at the poster. “Vince, this is for the panto. It's for kids,” he said flatly, “Besides you already know what happens in the end, so what's the point paying twenty quid to see some sad collection out of work soap actors and and has-been pop stars torture us with two hours of double entendres and dodgy slapstick?” “Why, what happens? Does she win X-factor?” Vince asked with sincerity shining from his eyes. Howard eyed him suspiciously. “Are you trying to say that you never heard the story of Cinderella?” he asked incredulously, “You know the words to every Gary Numan song ever written and you don't know what happens at the end of Cinderella?” “Yeah,” said Vince churlishly, “So are we going or what?” “I'll book the tickets,” Howard sighed. He had forgotten how loud it was. Even as a child he had found it all very unnecessary and tedious. It was worth it though, to see Vince staring at the play wide-eyed, whooping for the good guys and hissing at the bad guys. Howard had been ready to tackle any and all questions about girls playing boys and middle aged men playing old women, with historical background notes on the theatre prepared in bullet points, but Vince had taken it all in his stride. Typical. At the moment he was admiring the actress who played Button's tight knee length trousers. “Those are genius! Do you think that the Victorian butler look could be coming back?” he asked in Howard's general direction. Howard chose to see this as a rhetorical question, as Vince would hardly ask him his opinion on fashion trends in dead earnest. During the interval, Vince bought a bag of liquorish all sorts “to share” (translation: he ate them and picked out the plain black ones for Howard) “Thanks for taking me Howard,” he said with his cheeks full of sweets, looking more childlike than he had in years. His free hand rested on Howard's armrest, his long fingers plucking at the worn nap of the velvet. The lights dimmed and the curtains reopened. The second act was beginning. Vince impulsively grabbed Howard's hand and rested his head on his friend's shoulder. Ooh that's low, thought Howard, wait until I can't make a fuss. It didn't actually bother him very much really. But it did worry him that it didn't. He nervously reached out an arm and placed it self consciously around Vince.

Vince was quieter during the second act, not heckling the dumber heckers any more or throwing all-sorts at the people in the stacks. He just sat slumped against Howard's shoulder and fiddling with a loose thread on his sleeve. Howard sat as stiff as a board with his arm mechanically around his friend's waist, trying so hard to be nonchalant. Vince shifted and his cheek came into contact with Howard's neck. Howard flinched slightly, but tightened his grip on Vince. He spent the rest of the performance focusing solely on Vince's hot breath against his throat. When the curtain finally fell after three curtain calls (three too many, thought Howard) they rose to their feet awkwardly. Howard shifted away from Vince and looked steadfastly at the ground but, made no move to take his arm away. They walked towards the exit holding on to each other loosely but closely, bumping hips and legs together occasionally. I missed this, Howard realised abruptly. Doing stupid things with Vince that neither of them would ever normally do. Vince touching him. He told Vince not to touch him so man times that apparently he'd stopped trying. “What I don't understand is,” Vince said tiredly, “why did Cinderella marry the prince?” “Fitted the shoe. If the shoe fits, wear it,” Howard replied “No, I mean why did she want to marry him not how did she manage it. And I'm not even going to go into how unlikely it is that one person would have a different shoe size to everyone else in the country and still be able to find fab shoes” “Why wouldn't she marry him? He's the prince. That's how stories go” “But what about Buttons?” Vince insisted. How did bloody chocolate come into it? “Buttons loved her and she liked him better than anyone else she knew. Why does she drop him?” Oh that Buttons. “Button's being in love with Cinderella is supposed to be a joke. She didn't see him like that even as a possibility,” Honestly a footman who was a very ineffectively disguised girl over the heir to the thrown? “That's bullshit,” said Vince vehemently, “No one falls in love with people they hook up with at parties. You wake up, you find your clothes, you go home and never call them and they never call you. Those are the rules!” “You're absolutely right Vince. We should write a letter to Disney immediately and tell them that they're perpetuating a falsehood about the 'rules' as regards classic fairy tales,” Howard said with a sarcastic wave of his hand “Don't get shirty with me. I'd rather marry my best mate who loved me rather than some pouf that fancied me for my shoes!” Vince snapped back “Stories aren't supposed to be realistic, Vince. It's supposed to be an escape,” Howard said quietly “Haven't they seen 'When Harry Met Sally'?” Vince was patently sulking now. Howard sighed and pulled him closer and ruffled his hair. “Here don't get upset, little man. It's only a story, yeah?” “Yeah,” Vince muttered against Howard's coat. It was only forty five minutes later, when they were home and Howard was folding his clothes for the next day onto the end of his bed, that he remembered exactly what Vince had said. I'd marry my best mate who loved me rather than some pouf who fancied me for my shoes He put his shirt down carefully and sat down on the bed. Had Vince meant that literally or was he talking about some hypothetical best mate that he'd marry. Who he'd marry?! Howard decided suddenly that he didn't care if he looked like a fool and Vince teased him about this for a year. He walked towards the door quickly, gaining speed as he made his way to Vince's room. He burst into the room and just as suddenly realised exactly how embarrassing this would be if he'd gotten it wrong. And how stupid it looks to burst into a room sheepishly. Vince was semi undressed and sitting on his bed. “Took you long enough. I thought you were supposed to be the clever one?” he said casually but with a delicate tremor in his voice that was only just noticeable. “So what now?” he asked plucking at his shirt in a way that was equal parts sultry and nervous fiddling. “Vince I-” Howard coughed and blushed before looking up, “I think traditionally I would produce a white charger from somewhere and we'd ride off into the sunset” “Nah, that's princes you're thinking of,” smiled Vince, “you're my narky little butler who adores me from afar and then gives me up the second a jazzy village wench walks by” “So what now?” Howard echoed Vince's earlier question, feeling slightly hurt by the reference to his birthday party. Vince sashayed across the room until he was a foot away from Howard. He then shuffled closer until they were nose to nose (nose to chin to be completely accurate). He stood up onto his tippy toes and looked into his friend's eyes before pressing a gentle kiss against the corner of his mouth. “Vince-” Vince shushed him and laced their fingers together before resting their foreheads together. “Do you know what friends with benefits are Howard?” Oh shit, thought Howard. Vince continued without asking for an answer. “We've been sort of married without benefits for ten years now.” Hang on, what? “I want to be with you. Just you. And really with you. You know?” Was Vince actually nervous? Howard wrapped his arms around Vince and kissed him firmly. “Why me?” he asked incredulously. “Because you love me and I love you. That's usually a good reason,” Vince smirked cheekily. “I'm not. I've never,” Howard stammered, becoming increasingly aware of his friends erection pressing into his thigh. “Don't worry, I'll fix that.”

Howard shuffled anxiously while Vince's cocky grin flickered. “We don't have to do anything you don't like,” he said quietly, all traces of his earlier confidence gone. “I do want to have done it. It's just doing it makes me feel a bit funny,” Howard admitted. How did it work anyway? He knew only the theoretical aspects of how to do it with a girl, was it different with men? Obviously it was different but, how different? Did Vince want to bum him? He had somewhat mixed feelings about that and he had been sure that his feelings on being bummed had been clear and to the point yesterday. Not that he thought of it much. Hardly ever. It was scarcely his fault that Vince insisted on wearing those tight trousers that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Which unfortunately only made his imagination competitive. It was impossible to look at him and not wonder what being fucked by him would be like. It would be like going to a race track and ignoring the cars. Vince's face froze slightly. Howard realised his mistake. “Just take it slow. I'm new to all this,” he said sheepishly. This made Vince smile again, though more affectionately condescending than arrogantly this time. “Nice and slow,” he agreed and pulled Howard into a gut wrenchingly slow, sensuous kiss. Their lips slid across each other in a lazy fight for dominance. Howard captured Vince's tongue in his mouth and gave it an experimental suck. Vince groaned and muttered, “Oh Howard” into his mouth. Not with the intonation that those words usually received either, like he was a puppy that had shamed itself in the middle of the kitchen floor. No, this “Oh Howard” was a creature far removed from the “Oh Howard” of old. This “Oh Howard” was doing something very, very right. Emboldened by this success he nipped at his friend's lower lip and teased it between his teeth. That went down quite well, with Vince making a small noise in the back of his throat and pressing himself closer to Howard's body and pulling their hips together suddenly. They were both hard and straining against their flies. Howard yelped girlishly and jumped at the pressure causing Vince to break away and look up worriedly, “Too fast?” he asked nervously “No, no just right,” Howard said breathlessly. Vince flashed an impish grin before cupping the bulge in the taller man's trousers and squeezing. “Too much!” Howard squeaked. “Seriously?” Vince asked, “Sorry. Maybe we should lie down for a bit” “Ho ho, Vince. I'm not that bad,” snapped Howard. Vince waved his hands hurriedly “No, no. Look like this,” he said, grabbing Howard's hands and lay back on the bed, pulling Howard on top of him. He spread his legs and settled Howard between them before grinding upwards with his hips. He guided Howard's hand above their heads before wrapping his arms around his neck. “That good?” he asked sounding a bit winded. “Aren't I too heavy?” Howard asked concerned “Naw, I'm not made of glass. If Naboo can support a fully grown primate, I think you n' me'll manage.” Howard looked as though he was going to ask for an elaboration on what Vince had just said but, he soon forgot everything about tiny shamen and what they got up to on business trips with their familiars, when he felt Vince's sharp incisors against his jugular vein. It felt very nice and then very painful. For about ten seconds he was sure Vince actually was the vampire of Shoreditch and had seduced him so he could drink of his virgin's blood. Or something like that. And then he got used to the pain and wet suction and it was very, very nice again. Vince might be mistaken for a women with startling frequency, but from this position there was no denying that he was a man. His stubbly cheek was scraping the delicate skin on Howard's neck, there was a taut if spare manly musculature writhing underneath his body and if any doubt could still remain on the topic, the hard cock digging into his groin put it firmly to rest. Abandoning the neck, the thinner man kissed up the whiskery jaw and nibbled at a fleshy ear lobe. “We're going to have to lose the clothes, Howard. That bloody corduroy monstrosity is a mood killer if I ever saw one,” Vince muttered a wet explosion into the shell of Howard's ear. Without asking permission he instantly got to work on the practical belt buckle that was responsible for the restraint of said corduroys. “And the less said about the shirt the better,” he went on, his voice was shaking slightly from the effort of unfastening the buckle. Rather than throw a strop, Howard decided to concede this sartorial victory to Vince and started to unbutton his shirt, blunt fingers fumbling with the tiny buttons. Two warm little white hands batted his away impatiently and wrenched the garment off, sending the buttons flying in every direction. “I've wanted to do that for years,” Vince said with a voice husky with lust. Howard toyed with the idea of asking him if he meant destroy his shirt or ravage him but decided neither answer would be totally satisfying. It was better to retain some degree of mystery in a relationship. Vince wiggled out from underneath him and started undressing. There was no question of helping him. True love or not, no one manhandled Vince's wardrobe. Suddenly Vince was completely naked and Howard was down to his socks and underpants. Vince smiled at him ironically and went down on one knee taking one of Howard's feet in his hands. He hooked his fingers around the elastic and eased the sock down the foot , pausing to kiss the Achilles heel, the instep, the ankle. When the sock fell to the ground he gently sucked each of Howard's toes in turn like tiny fat phalluses. Howard was thinking in a small part of his mind that he was glad that he'd washed and cut his toenails recently. The rest of him was not thinking much at all. When Vince released the big toe with an audible pop, he kissed his way back up Howard's leg, rubbing his cheek against his inner thighs like a pet cat and licking and nipping gently upwards. Howard held onto his shoulders, more to ground himself than to try to control Vince, and whimpered. Vince's face was in the hallow where his thighs met and his breath was coming in warm gusts that Howard felt through his pants. There was a slim hand on his stomach with a dexterous thumb stroking above the top of his undergarments. No matter how he tried to angle hips, that thumb stayed where it was. “Please, Vince,” Howard begged pitifully “Please what?” asked Vince with faux innocence, “Tell me what you want” “Want you,” Howard gasped “I'm right here. Tell me what to do,” Vince stroked, stroked, stroked. Please there! “I don't know but do it soon, please!” Please, please, please. “Howard-” “Please touch me!” Oh god, that was embarrassing. Howard tried to look away, but couldn't escape Vince's smiling eyes. “As you wish,” he said and pulled off the underpants in one smooth motion, pausing only for Howard to raise his hips. He moved fluidly, taking the head of Howard's purpling cock in his mouth, pumping the shaft with one hand and cupping his testicles with the other. Howard watched the dark head bob between his legs with astonished fascination. Then, Vince looked up and the sight of his engorged penis slipping in and out of that familiar mouth was almost too much. “Stop, too much,” he gasped. Vince stopped and looked up. “Are you freaking out up there?” he asked, “Do you need to stop, stop?” “No, not that. I just don't want to, you know, not yet,” he looked away blushing. You would think that it would get easier to say these things to someone who had been moments ago sucking you off. Apparently not. “Alright,” said Vince hoisting himself up and slithering up Howard's torso like a snake or a professional slitherer. “Can I still kiss you, or is that weird after what I just did,” he asked two inches from Howard's face. Howard grabbed him by the back of his neck and tasted his own precome on those sweet lips. Salty, but not as bad as he thought it would taste. Vince smiled against his lips and opened his mouth hungrily. He began to rock and grind against Howard, who tentatively bucked back. They found a rhythm and ground against each other, erections digging into hips, lips on necks, ears, noses. Howard reached between their heaving bodies and grabbed their cocks together in his large hand. “Wank me off, Howard,” Vince whispered in his ear urgently. Cock against cock, they both fucked Howard's tight fist desperately. Howard felt a tell tale tingle in his lower belly spreading downwards rapidly. He let go of the cocks and gripped his friend's shoulders. “Vince, I'm going to- I'm, I'm,” overcome with sensation and modesty he hid his face in the crook of Vince's shoulder and bit down on the tendon. “I'm going to too,” Vince said and screwed up his face before they came moments apart. The electro boy collapsed bonelessly on top of his jazz maverick. “That was really good,” he said into the pillow. “Really? I mean I thought it was but you've had more-” Howard spluttered slightly hysterically “Howard,” Vince turned his face off of the pillow, “You were the best” “Don't mock me,” Howard scowled. “I mean it. And now I know you've been holding out on me, I'm never ever letting you go,” Vince snuggled closer limpet-like, hooking his legs around Howard's. “Do you really mean that? You're not toying with me?” “Well it was a bit of a lie,” Vince said thoughtfully, “I'd still never let you go even if you were rubbish and I had to teach you everything. Go to sleep.” “I would but I've got a disenfranchised princess on me,” Howard said and tickled Vince playfully. “Gerroff you northern idiot.” Vince squealed and rolled off and to the side of Howard, where he latched onto him again and hummed contentedly. They lay twined together sticky and naked until the next morning when a surprisingly nonchalant Naboo casually informed them that shops didn't open themselves and would they mind terribly to take a moment out of their busy schedule to do their bloody job before they were out on their ears. “Yes stepmother,” groaned Vince reluctantly detaching himself from his new lover.

[figurative-critter]

You know, with all the posts going around and always talking about those assholes who feel entitled to free art and don't want to pay for commissions, I just want to talk about a few times I've seen people do the right thing, even, and especially, with young artists who are/were still in school.

First off, I just want to point out that my father was not an asshole, and he saved enough money to be able to commission a piece from his favorite artist on Instagram of his wife and dog, which he bought two prints of, without arguing the set price of commissions that the artist used. This is the baseline that everyone should be using when buying art, and I just want to point out that it isn't hard not to be an asshole.

Secondly, last year in my drawing II art class, our final project was to do a colored pencil portrait of someone, and I chose to do my one friend, partly because she had super cool red hair and a very unique, pretty face, you know, the kind of face that makes a person extremely recognizable, and I thought it would be cool to draw her. I did this on a piece of light seafoam green matte board which I got for free from the class, obviously, and my own set of prismacolor colored pencils, which I had the 150 piece set of thanks to my mother, who bought them for me as an early graduation present ( I also feel that it is worth noting that the 150 set of prismacolor pencils is normally about $200, but my mom had a 60% off any item coupon so we got them for $90. Score!).

So, I had finished the piece and turned it in and gotten an A on it, then got the piece back after grading and took it home with my other pieces. And so, at my graduation party, we had decided I was going to put up some of my art pieces around the venue, kind of like another friend had at her party. And so when my friend who I had drawn came with her family, her mother saw the portrait for the first time, as her daughter had never told her that I was drawing her. Her mother later asked of she could buy the portrait, and let me do the research on how other artists would price their colored pencil portraits. Since it had been for a class, and we hadn't spent much on supplies beyond the colored pencils I would be using anyways, and it was a fairly small portrait, not to mention they were really good friends of ours, we said about $35, and we even threw in a frame. My friend's mom paid $50.

Another time, where I was an observer, that fall when I was in the school musical, there was a crew member, who was a freshman who had originally tried out for the show but didn't get in, as the show that year required a much smaller cast (all of the other shows I had been in had over 50 cast members at least, this show only needed about 25 people, main cast and ensemble included). She was super sweet and shy, but she loved musicals and was super into art, and I had seen a couple of things she had done for Hamilton fan art. On opening weekend she had drawn a small poster of some of the main characters of the show, which everyone loved, and the director asked her of he could make and laminate copies which we hung up next to the photos of the cast and crew that were outside of the auditorium for the production.

Later, the mother of the cast member who played the main character's mother asked this girl to make another version of the poster just for her that included her daughter's character and offered to pay. I'm not actually sure of the specifics on how the transaction went down, but the artist made a special edition of the poster with the new character added especially for this mother, and she got paid for it.

I just think it's always good when people immediately understand and want to pay for art, rather than expect it for free, especially when working with young artists who are primarily only doing art as a hobby. By asking how much a person wants for their work, it not only teaches younger people how transactions and commissions within the art world go and sets a standard for how much is fair for a commission, it also builds young artists to realize that their art has worth and helps to boost their self-esteem and confidence as an artist.

So, my point is, be a good person and pay for the art that you want and enjoy. If you really want or need that art, then any money you spend on it should be worth it, and it will only help the art community to grow.

[raevylle]

Chapter 8: Don’t lose your fire

Session 8 - 01/03/2020

September 12th,  36 TE. With the notice of Belziros that it might take a couple of days for him to gain access to the library, the trio decided to go do the quest in Nisher. Uncertain of what they actually needed to do, they went by the League of Coins. Raevyn told the party that she was nervous to go to the League of Coin since they had just killed one of its members. She wasn’t particularly good at this whole secret thing so she was going to find a place to get some diamonds. They would meet back at Belziros again before heading out to Nisher. Raevyn took the gemstones and found a bank where she could change the currency. It wasn’t possible to get some diamonds for it but the banker did exchange the gems for 1768 gold. Which seemed like a good deal to Raevyn. She exchanged the gems into gold and made her way back to Belziros. Meanwhile, Arati and Vieryn got some clarification on their contract. Arati mentioned that they believe the actual owner of the tavern was killed. Did they still need to make the owner pay or confiscate the property? The man-made clear that he wanted the key to the place, he didn’t care too much about the ‘new owner’. With that information, they left the League of Coin and waited for Raevyn to come around. Walking up north Vieryn said he wanted to stop by the Burning Grove to make amends with Nemia. He wasn’t able to come back to her the night before and let her down. Walking up to the Burning Grove, the party sat down at a table as Vieryn made his way over to Nemia. ‘’I am really sorry Nemia, I wasn’t able to make it last night. I was kind of - out of it.’’ He scratched the back of his head, thinking back at what happened in the Flirtatious Fairy. ‘’Out of it?’’ she asked him with the cold shoulder. ‘’You know, I drank some Devil’s Delight and it just didn’t hit well.’’ Nemia started laughing at Vieryn. ‘’You were never one to hold your liquor well. So you were at the Flirtatious Fairy? Getting high on drugs and alcohol just like me, you & Alexander liked to do?’’ She cocked her eyebrow at him. ‘’Yes, but it was for a reason. The little one came up with a plan to take out Marvin.’’ Vieryn pointed at Raevyn who was counting down the money she got from the bank. ‘’So you're telling me that the elven girl that screamed ‘murder’ in this tavern, came up with a murder plan?’’ Nemia frowned at Vieryn. ‘’Yes and it was a good plan, I just had to get him drunk and so ended up drunk myself. However, I want to make it up to you.’’ He leans on to the bar. ‘’You can make up to me by buying me a drink.’’ Nemia picks up one of the most expensive bottles she has and pours herself a glass. ‘’Ah, of course. Sure how much?’’ Vieryn grins and reaches for his purse. ‘’10 gold please.’’ Damn, that woman knew what game she was playing. Vieryn laid down 10 gold. ‘’Oh and you owe me a night, you better come back Vieryn.’’ Nemia’s gaze got a bit more intense. ‘’Well, I will be gone for a couple of days. I might come back with a new scar.’’ he winks at Nemia. ‘’Who likes pretty boys without scars anyway? Scars tell stories.’’ Nemia smirks at Vieryn as he heads for the party table. ‘’150!’’ Raevyn yells out. ‘’What are we doing?’’ Vieryn asks Arati and sits down. ‘’Raevyn is distributing the party funds equally.’’ Arati looks at the pile of platinum and gold coins on their table. ‘’Each of you gets 50 platinum.’’ Raevyn gives them their shares. ‘’The rest of it goes in the party funds!’’ They talk a little bit about what to do next. Raevyn mentions that if they are going to Nisher she’d need to have some diamonds. She is wondering if Nemia may have some access to them. Vieryn wants to hold her back but she already stood up and made her way to the bar. She had observed Vieryn many times when he hung around Nemia, so she decided to imitate his behavior, leaned into the bar and smiled at her. ‘’So Nemia, do you happen to have any diamonds?’’ Nemia doesn’t really appreciate the approach of Raevyn. ‘’I warned you Raevyn.’’ she says, minding her own business. ‘’Oh, you remember my name?’’ Nemia turns around and crosses her arms. ‘’I know your name and I know where you sleep.’’ Raevyn squints her eyes at Nemia. ‘’Yes, next to Vieryn.’’ you could see the rage in Nemia’s eyes gather, but Vieryn pushed the two apart. He again apologizes to Nemia and promises he makes up for it. ‘’That girl is going to get you killed, Vieryn.’’ Nemia rolls her eyes and goes back to work. With their bags full of gold and no diamonds, they went to the Arcane District. If there was anywhere in town they would sell diamonds, it would be here. It was a rather aesthetic place. A circular plaza with small magic shops around it. One of them with the name ‘Stardust Supplies’. They entered the store and the inside was breathtaking. The ceiling itself was an illusion of our galaxy. A female tiefling with sparkling skin welcomed the party. ‘’Welcome to the Stardust Supplies, my name is Elise Starborn, what can I help you with?’’ Raevyn seemed particularly interested in this store. ‘’I am looking for diamonds for spellcasting, do you happen to have some?’’ ‘’Certainly, I do. Are you a student at the Academy?’’ Raevyn shakes her head. ‘’Do I need to be a student before I can buy anything here?’’ Elise smiles at the girl. ‘’No, it’s just that students get materials for a cheaper price.’’ Elise walks to the back and gets two diamonds for Raevyn. ‘’You do look familiar though. Have I seen you before?’’ Elise asks Raevyn. She thinks hard but can’t remember ever encountering Elise. ‘’You may know my dad, he works at the Academy apparently,’’ she answers while putting down the 10 platinum pieces. ‘’Who might that be then?’’ ‘’Magnus Arcadia, long black hair, half-elven man.’’ Raevyn puts the diamonds in her backpack. ‘’Oh, Magnus! He was her roughly 3 days ago. I know him yes.’’ Raevyn looks back at Elise. ‘’Wait he was here? 3 days ago? I have been looking for him! What do you know about him? Where did he go?’’ Raevyn almost leaped over the counter. ‘’Wow there, I don’t ask my customers about what they are doing. I just know he bought some rare chalk, gem dust and some incense.’’ Elise responded to the eager girl. Raevyn sighed and let her head hang. ‘’Oh, well if you see  him, can you mention that his daughter is looking for him?’’ Elise nodded. ‘’I will do that. Anything else you wanted to purchase?’’ Raevyn tabs her chin. ‘’Some more offensive magic?’’ Elise frowns at her. ‘’Can I see your Mage Legality paperwork then? I can’t sell offensive magic to ‘illegal mages’.’’ Raevyn never heard of these papers before. ‘’I don’t have that, but Magnus trained me himself! He works at the academy.’’ She tries to pursue her but fails. ‘’I am sorry Raevyn, I can’t sell you offensive magic.’’ a bit disappointed Raevyn wanders around the store while Vieryn commissions a hand-made dagger. After purchasing their necessities they go to the Oakgate stables. They ask for a ride to Nisher and the man gets a bit suspicious. ‘’Didn’t you buy a horse a couple of days ago?’’ Raevyn tries to tell the man that the horse is still in Nightdark with a friend of theirs but he doesn’t seem to buy it. He tells them the next ride to Nisher is tomorrow, by a guy named Fredrick. The party already knows this man and asks where he is off to now. The stablemaster tells them he had to make a trip to Nightdark a couple of days ago, escorting a grey-skinned tiefling woman. That’s a red flag. They know that person and what is going on in Nightdark at the moment. Fredrick was probably not coming back. ‘’It’s alright we will walk,’’ Arati told the man. ‘’You can always try the other stables.’’ the stablemaster yelled after them. Walking away from the stables, Raevyn noticed that the wanted poster for her dad had been taken off the board. She tries to think of explanations but Vieryn tells her not to overthink it. They arrive at the Irongate stables. They can provide the party with a ride to Nisher in a couple of hours. It’s some merchants from the Longsaw family that are going to Nisher. Vieryn being obviously a bit uncomfortable with this wants to back out, but Arati says that they will take it. After paying for the ride, they wait in a tavern across the road. Raevyn scribes in some spells while they are having some lunch. A young boy comes running into the tavern and tells them that the cart to Nisher is ready to leave. Raevyn gives him a silver coin and they walk out. On arrival, the carts look a lot more fortified than Vieryn could remember. Must have been alterations made by Alexander’s father. They take place in the cart. Next to them is a stoic Dwarf. There are some more people in the cart, talking about leaving Avarra cus the Plague was in Avarra now. The journey to Nisher itself was going to take roughly 8 hours of travel. The perfect time to rest a little bit. September 13th,  36 TE. In the early hours of the morning, the cart arrives at the gates of Nisher. The party is getting off and Raevyn tells the grumpy dwarf goodbye. He doesn’t seem to respond to her. She tries it again in Dwarvish. He looks up, a bit surprised that an elf just greeted him in Dwarvish. He nods at her. It is also here that Raevyn notices that the wanted posters of her dad are missing. ‘’Maybe he took them down himself and doesn’t want to be found.’’ Arati is trying to cheer her up but it doesn’t really seem to work. The city itself is pretty empty during this hour. There are some shopkeepers setting up their stalls and some drunkards wandering the streets. It would be the perfect timing to go to a tavern right now to get the keys. A plan was made to get the keys, Raevyn was going to be the bait and Arati and Vieryn were going to get the keys. When entering the Lying Weasel, the place seemed to be packed. There were some people sleeping on tables, probably passed out drunk. Raevyn talked to the owner, David. He remembered her from the previous encounter. He gave her rather short answers and seemed to be on edge. Raevyn ordered a drink and sat down at a table. Right as Arati and Vieryn came walking in. Arati got a lot of looks, being a hunter and all. Vieryn told her to go sit next to Raevyn since she would probably get in trouble later. Arati noted that and went to the back of the tavern to sit next to Raevyn. Raevyn took out Jinx and let her explore behind the bar. She saw that David was going into the back and she trailed him. He seemed to be packing something. ‘’Does Soralon think I am stupid? Sending a hunter after me?’’ Raevyn gasped and whispered to Arati. ‘’He is fleeing out of the backroom, stop him.’’ Arati took notice of that and ran past Vieryn. ‘’He is escaping, we need to stop him!’’ They both made their way outside and ran towards the back. Raevyn used her Misty Step to appear next to her familiar outside. She waited until the others caught up. They could hear a voice screaming from the tavern. ‘’David, Soralon is here to reclaim what is his.’’ They recognized his voice, it was Victor again. ‘’Apparently, Soralon is after this guy. I can trail him, but I need a minute.’’ Raevyn took a twig from the bush next to her and cast the Locate Object on one of the daggers David was holding. She got a ping not far from here, somewhere in an ally. They began to run after him and cornered him. ‘’I knew he would send someone after me,’’ David told the party as he took his dagger. Vieryn & Raevyn tried to pursue the man by giving up the keys, they were not here in the name of Soralon. He could just leave and start a new life if he handed over the keys. He didn’t buy it. ‘’What about this? You kill Soralon and then I will give you the keys.’’ Arati had enough of his bullshit, took out her scimitar and placed it against his throat. ‘’You are giving us the keys now. You either get killed by Soralon or by us, your choice.’’ The guy got scared of the hunter. ‘’Fine here, have it.’’ He ran out of the ally way. With the keys on hand, the party had fulfilled their quest. Walking out of the alley they saw ember sparks in the sky, it seemed that the tavern was on fire. Before they want to run off, Vieryn holds back Raevyn. ‘’Maybe it is better if you put on a hood, with fire around and you being an arcanist.’’ Raevyn understands and they decide to keep a low profile. Raevyn takes them back into the alley and changes Jinx's appearance to that of a raven again. ‘’Jinx, mimic this; FIRE’’ the raven repeats the words and flies around town. ‘’So much for keeping a low profile,’’ Vieryn added. ‘’At least everyone will know that there is a fire.’’ Arati laughed softly. Walking past the Lying Weasel, they could see people storming towards the fire with small buckets of water. They were talking of a demon or arcanist that had set fire to the tavern. Arati wanted to help out but the rest told her not to get involved. They could handle it themselves. They walked towards the Town Hall since Raevyn wanted to see if there was any news on her father. While walking there they saw some Priests of Melendi running towards the fire to help extinguish it. At the Town Hall there was indeed a letter for Raevyn. It contained all the wanted posters she had put up around the different towns, and a piece of hair, from her father. She was confused, what did this mean? Vieryn asked the lady from the Town Hall who delivered this letter. She told him it was a group of mercenary boys. While walking out of the Town Hall, Vieryn tried to calm Raevyn. He then spotted a group of boys hanging around the burning tavern. They seemed to look like the mercenaries that the lady had described. ‘’Give me a second, I’ll catch up,’’ he said to Arati & Raevyn. He took the letter with the wanted posters and walked over to the kids. He confronts the guys with it. They start provoking Vieryn by calling him names. Making fun of the little girl that is looking for her father. ‘’How did you get the hair?’’ Vieryn asks him. One of the guys took off his helmet and showed his own black hair. ‘’It’s just black hair, easy to trick. Imagine the face of the girl when she finds out.’’ he started laughing but one of the kids got rather anxious about the drow. ‘’Maybe we should stop guys?’’ Vieryn agrees and walks off without responding to the guys anymore. ‘’Yes run away Drow, I heard your kind are runners. Running away from the beasts in the Underdark.’’ Vieryn waves it off and walks back to the girls. He gives back the letter to Raevyn. ‘’Don’t worry about it Raevyn, just a bunch of kids fooling around. Just replace them around town again.’’ Raevyn gets a bit feisty and tells them to take her to the boys. Vieryn pushes her back and tells her it’s exactly the reason he went alone. The morning hit and they go around town. They visited Deidre to thank her for the tip to go to Belziros, got some fresh bread and went to look for a ride back to Avarra. They got themselves a spot on a cart that was leaving town late in the night. In the meantime, they got some rooms and had an off day to rest a bit. Raevyn wrote down some more spells and Arati wandered around town a bit until it was time to go. September 14th,  36 TE. A journey of half a day later the party arrived in Avarra again. A rather uneventful trip and a successful quest done. Going straight to the League of Coin to cash in their bounty. The man at the counter told them he would send someone to information about the status of the building. If it all seemed well, they would get paid after. Vieryn told the party that they should head to Belziros’ house to spend the night, he was going to spend it at the Burning Grove. They said goodbye and Arati and Raevyn walked up to Belziros’ house. Alensta opened the door and let the girls in. Arati told Alensta that Victor showed up in Nisher and that he escaped again. It made her a bit nervous, knowing that Victor was still around and so close. But being around Belziros made her less skittish. ‘’Come girls, you can sleep in my room.’’ Alensta walked upstairs but Raevyn stayed behind and called Arati back. ‘’Arati, Belziros gave me this spell a couple of days ago. I have been thinking of using it but I am too afraid, especially after finding out that all my posters had been ripped off the boards. I want to contact my father, but can you please hold my hand?’’ Raevyn asked her with a shaky voice. Arati nodded. ‘’I am here’’ She took Raevyn’s hand as she was casting the spell. ‘’Hey dad, It's almost been a month. I've been trying to find you. I'm in the capital right now. I miss you. I'm scared.’’ The words left her mouth awaiting for a reply.

[grantfieldgrove]

Your friends want you to fail.

It’s true.

It’s true and it sucks.

But the sooner you realize this, the better off you’ll be. You can set yourself on the course for success while leaving them behind.

That’s exactly what your friends don’t want, but you have the capability to make it happen.

I’m not trying to be negative, but I’ve learned this the hard way.

Let me back up a bit.

Ten years ago I was working a dead end job at a grocery store. I hated it. The pay was crap. The work was crap. Most of the customers were crap. But I had friends!

I was miserable. I had a temper, I was angry about everything. I was bitter that I worked this job I didn’t like when I knew I should be doing better. I was all over social media, posting about everything, even belittling people I didn’t even know by snapping pictures of them and posting them, then enjoying a laugh at their expense.

That’s bottom of the barrel, self-esteem wise.

I would fight with people who held different political beliefs than me, different opinions about religion, or even movies. I was the loud mouth Fred Flintstone type, but I always got laughs. At least some.

It didn’t take long after my son was born to realize that something wasn’t quite right with him. He was extremely delayed and obviously autistic. I blew it off and didn’t believe it, making excuses as to why he was so behind.

We had to enroll him in a special school at age 2. The bitterness grew.

One day I decided to buy an iPad. Just because.

I took it home, unboxed it, and sat on my floor to play with it. But instead of playing games, I started writing.

I literally started writing a novel out of nowhere. It was a hoot. I started carrying a little notebook around work, thinking of plot points. It was great, because when you carry a notebook and pen around while working, people assume you’re working really hard!

Before I knew it, I had a book. I didn’t know what the hell to do with it, but I had one.

I found out you can self-publish books on Amazon, so that’s exactly what I did. I gave it a once or twice over, figured out how to format it, and it was published. And wow, did it have a lot of typos. The story was good, though. Some people bought it and it actually got good reviews. Some friends even bought it, though I doubt many of them read it. But still, it felt good. So I started the second book and finished it in record time. This one was even funnier and I liked it a lot, although, once again, I skimped on the editing.

Shortly before the release of that book, I had a falling out with most of my friends. I had planned a big party in Las Vegas, everyone was going to attend, but it was just a disaster. We had a suite at the Aria, but none of my friends even stayed in the hotel. Not a problem, but they stayed way down the strip at Paris. Then got so drunk at the pool, not a single person showed up. So yeah, I was pissed. And the party wasn’t just for fun, it was a special occasion for my wife. And every one of them let me down. So that’s that. We left first thing in the morning, leaving them all in the dust.

Nothing was really the same after that.

All of this is just specific backstory that doesn’t pertain to you, but the basic elements could. The moral of the story remains the same.

Cut to ten years after I first sat down to write that novel. I now have 11 books, including the first ever murder mystery series for kids, which even, somehow, became the runner up for some award I already forgot the name of. Three of my books have been produced into audiobooks and two have advanced to the semi finals in an Amazon-sponsored fiction contest where out of 10,000, 400 advanced. I’ve gotten positive reviews from Kirkus, and a few other publications.

These are facts that I am proud of. I share these from time to time on social media, although I am still not comfortable with talking about myself.

But, now my friends don’t buy my books. Maybe one or two, not even my “Facebook friends” who were on board at the beginning. The last book published is my favorite. I’m so happy with it and proud of it. I literally tried to give away copies to people I know. I didn’t have a single taker.

I would promote the book being free on Kindle during a particular day or weekend, or whatever, and not a single person would respond to it. I tried to give away Audible audiobooks. Not a single taker.

It’s so bizarre.

Why?

I could understand if the books were garbage. There are a lot of genuinely bad books out there, especially since self publishing has gotten so popular and easy to do. But my books aren’t those books.

I started a small publishing services company, just as a side job to help people out. People who were lost like me when I first started.

My friends didn’t care.

Granted, it’s not very exciting, and with the emergence of “multi-level marketing,” starting a business isn’t that impressive, apparently. (Remind me to tell you about this amazing magical wrap thing! Kidding.)

One thing I forgot to mention earlier, is that I went without Facebook for about a year and a half. I hated it. I hated the fakeness of it. And I was bitter. Bitter that I was trying to better my life, to branch out from a dead end job and try to make something of myself, and I never got any good feedback from it.

My son is severely autistic, he’s ten now and still completely non-verbal. We don’t have a typical life. We have to adapt to whatever life throws at us, and that’s what I was trying to do. My son hated when I had to go to work. He didn’t understand why I had to leave, often in the middle of the night. So I tried to change things.

And still I got nothing. So, bye bye Facebook. Good riddance.

It was weird at first. I still had this urge to let everyone know what I was doing. Like, them knowing would someone validate me doing it. If your Facebook friends don’t know what you do, are you really even doing it?

While I’m typing this, my Facebook is back. But there is a reason. Over the summer, while I was doodling on my iPad, I had an idea. I could put these things on tshirts. I would totally wear them.

So I looked it into. I saw that the possibilities were seemingly endless. Why stop at tshirts when you can make leggings? Why stop at leggings when you can make backpacks?

It goes on like this.

So I went all in. And I mean, ALL IN!

I had quit my job at the supermarket a few months prior. I had enough money to survive for a while while I explored new paths. So I sunk everything into this little venture. I was going to make horror related clothes. The horror market is severely underused. There are, of course, some major players in the horror game, but they all had to start at the bottom, too. So I went for it. I made a website. I made an Instagram and a Facebook. And after a week of the site being up, I made a sale. And then another sale.

Turning a profit is tricky, though. I needed word of mouth. I needed friends.

So I got back on my personal Facebook page after a year and a half, and let everyone know what I had been up to while I was gone.

It landed with a thud.

Nobody cared.

In the time I was gone I had a kid’s book, and novel, and this clothing company all launch.

I got nothing.

I started booking comic cons and would post pictures.

Nothing.

I have a little booth downtown, with all my stuff displayed, where you can walk in, buy something, and help support me and my family, by buying small, staying local.

I’ve had one friend visit it.

One.

It’s been there for six months.

I posted a few pictures of horror-celebrities wearing or showing off something I created.

Nothing.

I drew posters for a few events, movie screenings, even a stage play. I posted them. The most recent one I posted got 6 likes.

I have 590 Facebook friends and 6 of them liked a poster I did for a Scream 2 screening.

I have a family member whose daughter wanted “something Michael Myers” for Christmas. I have tons of Myers stuff. Stuff I poured my heart and soul into. Stuff you can’t find anywhere else.

This person did not buy from me. She bought a generic Myers t-shirt from a major store and probably spent more than she would have with me.

Right now, through luck and hopefully hard work, my work is in the processing of being officially licensed. Which means, with a little more work and a whole lot more hustle, it could end up in stores like Hot Topic, etc.

And then what?

I don’t know. I like to daydream. And I would like someone to be proud of it, someone who doesn’t live with me.

But, there comes a time when you have to let that go. Your friends won’t be proud of you. They will belittle you. They will find something to nitpick about what you’re doing.

And it sucks.

Strangers will support you. Your friends will not.

The sooner you know this, the better. You can delete your personal Facebook, you can shrug your shoulders at all the people holding you back and making you feel bad about leaving your comfort zone and taking a risk.

There is no law that you must remain friends with the people you were once friends with. Cut em loose.

This is about you. It’s about your dreams. Your life. Not theirs.

If they don’t want to follow you on your journey or cheer you on, cut them loose. Release that anchor from around your neck and push full-speed ahead.

You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish when you stop worrying about what so-called friends think and start realizing that no matter what you do, there will be someone who admires you and looks up to you, just as you’ve looked up to someone else when you started your self-fulfilling journey.

Be the person you would want to look up to.

You can do it.

Start today.

Two months ago I had to attend a wedding where all of these people would be, all these “friends.”

All I heard were complaints. Whoever we struck up a conversation with, complained.

Complain complain complain.

I understood what was wrong.

We didn’t complain. My wife and I, we only told positive stories.

Our complaining days are over. We’ve moved on. We seemed out the positives from our lives and choose to focus on that.

All this did was draw out more complaining from the wedding guests.

So tone deaf and these people we’ve left behind, they were complaining about students (the teachers we knew) that are very similar to our son.

Like, really?! This is our life. You go home at 3. We live with this. And we still don’t complain.

So far back these people are, I had to hear outdated and cringeworthy jokes, I had to hear casual sexual harassment, breasts referred to as fun bags, in front of the girl they were talking to, and the groom’s nieces. They still use the R word to describe anything, despite knowing my son is extreme special needs.

Once you realize that you don’t want to live in the world these people still inhabit, the sooner you can progress to where you want to be.

You’ll never be happier leaving them, and their outdated thinking, and their complaints, and everything else that makes you miserable to hear about, behind.

And you can do it.

You can do it right now!

Log out of Facebook and get to work.

Find people to look up to and follow them. Do your own thing. People will begin to follow you.

I’m not saying it will be easy. I’m just giving you a heads up of what’s to come.

You can sidestep it completely.

You just need to realize that your friends want you to fail.

Prove them wrong.

Don’t even tell them.

Start now.

Go.

[throughtheglassdarkly]

Missing Pieces, part 3

Welcome back. When last you were here, I was molting and got framed for petty theft. Onward.

After we got the crystal swan back from Charlie, we brought it back to the Autumn Court and told the freehold as a whole about Charlie and what he was doing. The Autumn Court was super grateful that we got the Token back and they all started treating us more warmly afterwards. It was a good feeling – I’d been really unhappy about the whole framed-for-theft thing, but getting the swan back was a way to prove myself to the Court I planned on pledging loyalty to. The Dagda also re-scheduled our pledging ceremony for the next major event, which was going to be the Winter Formal. No, I’m not joking. That’s actually what it’s called.

At any rate, about a week after we got the swan back, Yova came up with an idea that we were all on board with: namely, throwing a surprise belated birthday party for Pam. Pam had had a bit of a rough patch getting back to the mortal world and had been throwing herself into her work at the restaurant, and we hadn’t had much of a chance to see her. We all split up the responsibilities: Bella got some flowers for decorating, Day got the booze, Yova called in some favors to get catering done, and I handled the cake and offered to host. We also all got some presents for Pam: Yova and I went in on a specialty stand mixer for her and Day, much to my surprise, asked me to come with him to help him pick out some gifts. He got her a really nice apron and oven mitt set and a hardy African violet, something that could make it through the upstate winters. It was actually kind of nice spending some time with Day. He was so worried about getting something nice for Pam and I was pleasantly surprised that he trusted my taste enough to help him. (His first instinct was to get Pam a fifth of Wild Turkey and a pack of Virginia Slims. I had to gently tell him that something that was good enough for his mom wasn’t good enough for Pam.)

A couple of days before the party, Bella started feeling sick and ended up not able to make it. A couple of years in Arcadia didn’t do much for our immune systems and each of us got laid up with a cold or two in the month we got back, but Bella ended up with full-on influenza. She sent the flowers over along with about eighty thousand million bajillion sad emojis. Day and Yova came over to my apartment about an hour before showtime. Yova dropped off the catering and started decorating with a ton of fairy lights. Day plunked his ample behind down on my poor secondhand sofa and tried (and failed miserably) to fold napkins. Yova decided that it would be a better use of his time to sample the mocktails she was making and tried to get him to keep his damn socks off of my coffee table. I had no time for any of this because I was racing the clock to get the cake ready before Day went to pick up Pam.

At her place, Pam was just settling in and trying to relax after a long day of work. She was reading up on some chemistry articles that she’d been meaning to take a look at, but as she did, she felt something nudging at the back of her head, an intrusive thought. She managed to keep it at bay, at least until Day picked her up (leaning on the horn of Yova’s crappy pickup) and took her back to my place. She’d been told we were just going to be watching The Great British Baking Show (shut up, it’s awesome and you know it) and having some snacks, so she was pretty gobsmacked when we all yelled, “Surprise!”

Now, this next part I’m going to chalk up to ignorance. You see, it’s hard to understand, even looking the way we do, that we’re not human anymore and things that we wouldn’t normally struggle with can cause serious moments of reckoning. For me as a Beast, it’s if I accidentally hurt somebody without thinking about it. Yova as a Fairest can’t handle it if she leads somebody into danger or if her inaction causes somebody problems. Day as an Ogre gets very upset if somebody who he doesn’t think is an enemy runs from him or is very scared by him. Bella as a Darkling goes bonkers when she finds out something she previously thought was true isn’t. And Pam? Well. Wizened really, really, really don’t like being surprised.

To Pam’s credit, she managed to hold it together pretty well, even though I could see that her smile was a little tighter than I was used to seeing. It turns out that she wasn’t really focused on us. The thought she was trying to push back from earlier got through and was taking over her whole conscious. All she kept seeing was a red ribbon with a silver bell hanging over her daughter’s bed. After she managed to clear that from her head, she was touched when we told her that we wanted to celebrate her birthday because of everything she did for us. I pulled out the cake and Yova pulled out the crappy guitar she’d managed to bring back from Arcadia in true battle-bard style and we all did our best to not make “Happy Birthday to You” sound like the funeral dirge it is.

About halfway through singing, however, I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw Evain was calling me. I ducked into the kitchen as Pam was blowing out the candles on her cake (lit courtesy of Paisley, natch) and answered, asking what was up. It wasn’t Evain on the other end, however – I heard a very annoyed woman saying, “I can’t deal with him right now, you’re going to need to babysit him. I’m outside your apartment,” and she hung up. I trusted Yova with cutting the cake and slipped out and down the stairs.

When I got there, I saw a very annoyed Stella (the grouchy Autumn courtier we all saw when we got to the B&B), holding up a drunk-looking Evain. She practically threw him at me and said, “Apologies, but I have neither the time nor inclination to deal with him now. He’s your problem,” and off she sped. Evain was clearly not in a good way and I started helping him up the stairs while I texted Yova in all caps, “DISTRACT DAY. DISTRACT DAY.”

As I was helping Evain up to the second floor where my apartment was, I realized he actually wasn’t as drunk as I thought. He was drunk, for sure, but he seemed more upset than anything. I asked him what was going on and he let out a deep sigh, telling me that he couldn’t find his daughter’s picture. “It’s the last thing I had of my baby girl and it’s gone.” I told him that we could try and figure out where it went once he sobered up and he nodded.

When we got back to my apartment, I peeked inside to see what was going on. Day was crouched in front of my TV, fiddling with the Wii U to try and get Netflix going, Yova was standing between him and the door and Pam was on the couch. I brought Evain in, giving Pam a pleading look to not say anything. Then I tried to pick Evain up and slip him past the living room. I managed to pick him up easy enough, but the dumbass decided he was going to try to squirm out of my arms. I was trying desperately to fight him and keep him from making a scene, but he tumbled out of my arms and I ended up going over the back of the couch with him, ending up in a pile of feathers and bark, right as Day looked over.

“What the hell is he doing here?!” Day asked, standing up and glaring. I tried to explain how Stella had just dropped Evain off with no warning and I was just planning to have him sleep off the booze in my room. Day snorted and said, “Whatever. Just keep him out of my sight.” Evain was trying to figure out what was going on and what we were celebrating. “It’s Pam’s birthday. Well, belated birthday,” I told him. “Oh. Happy birthday,” he told Pam. “Thank you!” she said.

I got Evain settled in the bedroom and got a glass of water for him. Day went out on the balcony to sulk with a platter of noshes and a beer. Paisley, sweet girl that she is, went out to sit on his shoulder and nuzzle him. Around this time, Yova noticed that there was a scrap of fabric wedged in between the couch cushions where Evain fell and she pulled it out. She and Pam both saw it was a tarnished silver bell tied at the end of a red ribbon. Pam, as you might imagine, was pretty keen on trying to find out where Evain got this, given the vision she saw earlier. She and Yova marched into my room just as I was about to head back out.

Pam asked Evain if the ribbon was his. As soon as he saw it, he about leapt over the side of the bed to grab it and shove it in his pocket. All he admitted was that it was a keepsake, but when I asked him if it had to do with why he was upset (and Yova leaned on him a bit), he wasn’t able to keep it together. “It’s all I have left of my baby girl. When I got back, I was at Wal-Mart. Trying to buy some clothes or something, I don’t even remember. And I saw her on a missing person poster. I went to her foster parents’ house and found that ribbon out in the back yard.” He told us that it was perfect that we were having a party, because the day before would have been his daughter’s twenty-fifth birthday. We were quiet for a moment, but then Pam told us about the vision she had. It seemed like it was way too much to be a coincidence.

I pulled out the refurbished laptop I’d bought off Craigslist and started trying to find any significance of red ribbons and silver bells. At first I thought about looking at fairy tales and trying to see if there was anything there. But then I stumbled across an old forum that was attached to an online game designed for pre-teens, like Neopets.

…shit. I just remembered my Neopets.

Okay, back. They were happy to see me, which is always good. Anyway, the forum thread I found was actually pretty creepy. It was for kids who were having some trouble, either because their parents were going through a divorce or they were in foster care, or something else was causing them some pain at home. The post that caught my eye was one that told other kids about a ritual where if you take a white silk ribbon and soak it in your own blood, put a silver bell on it, and ring it before you go to sleep, it will start a spell that can bring your parents back.

When I finished reading that out loud, I looked up and the other three all had the expression of horror that I’m sure was on my own face. Evain was visibly agitated and Pam started texting her Fetch on red alert. The two of them quickly started planning how they might help Pam’s daughter. At least, Evain was offering some ideas – when he tried to get up, he winced and fell back on the bed. “Listen, I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but the one of us who’s probably going to be the best at figuring out how to get to the bottom of this is Day,” I told Evain. He gave another one of those unpleasant laughs and said, “Oh, that’s rich. It’s his fault she’s gone.” We asked him what he meant and he said, “If he hadn’t arrested me, she would never have been in foster care.” Yova and I exchanged a flat look and we stepped out. “You know, just when he had me feeling sorry for him…” she said.

Pam told Yova and me that she would take care of Evain in the meantime, which meant Yova and I had to go convince Day to help us figure this out. I cut a giant slice of cake and put a couple scoops of ice cream on it and Yova grabbed a new beer out of the fridge. Yova sidled out onto the balcony and held out the beer while I held out the plate from inside the apartment (I wasn’t going to trust that ancient balcony to hold three people on it). He took one look at us and said, “Ohhhh, no. Nope, I am not taking any bribe to help him out.” Yova and I exchanged another look. “It’s not Evain we’re asking you to help…” Yova began. “It’s Pam,” I finished. That got his attention.

We went over the vision Pam had, the ribbon Evain had found where his daughter last lived, and the forum post I found. Day grabbed the cake from me and unhinged his jaw, swallowing it all in one bite. “I’ll do it, but just to help Pam,” he said. Yova looked pleased as punch and I barely got out, “It took me six hours to make that cake. Six. Hours.” “And it was well worth it,” Day said with no small amount of glee. “You didn’t even taste it! It just went straight down your gullet!” I said.

While Day and I were bickering over the etiquette of not chewing the cake your host proffers, Pam managed to get in touch with her Fetch. The Fetch said she’d confiscated the ribbon, but found something burned in an ashtray in Sierra’s room that smelled like rosemary. Pam told her Fetch about the ribbon and they agreed to keep each other filled in on everything. (A few days later, Pam got an envelope from her Fetch filled with clippings about the things that those teenagers get up to these days, don’tcha know.)

Yova suggested that we go talk with the Autumn Court about it, which was definitely the best idea any of us came up with (we won’t mention who came up with the suggestion of finding a kid in foster care and trying out the ritual with that kid). I texted Stella to let her know that we were on our way and that Evain was sleeping off the drink. I held out my hand to Paisley and told her, “Come on, girl, we’re going on a field trip.” She flittered up and settled on my shoulder with delight. I gathered everybody in my bathroom and cut open my finger, smearing some blood on the mirror. I activated my Mirror Walk contract, the same one Evain did when he took me to the Autumn Court’s lodge in the first place. The four of us linked hands and crawled through the mirror, coming out in the foyer of the lodge.

I have to admit, I felt pretty proud showing off the place to my motley. It was the first time any of them had been there and I could see they were impressed, even Day. I gave them a brief tour on the way to the library. Once there, Day, Pam, and I hit the stacks, trying to track down anything that we might be able to find about any ritual or creature that sounded like this. Yova, however, decided that turning on the charm was the right course of action. She turned the full force of her schmoozing onto Marigold, a mousey Darkling intern with Coke bottle glasses who I’d seen before but hadn’t been introduced to. Marigold was absolutely taken with Yova and Yova slipped Marigold her number, promising to take her out for coffee if she could help us with our research problem.

Marigold took Yova directly over to the stack that Day was already thumbing through. With the five of us working together, it wasn’t long until we managed to find an older file labeled “The Shepherd of Lonely Roads.” It was dusty as hell and had obviously been there a while without anyone touching it. The name of the changeling who’d compiled the report was “Creighton,” which I didn’t recognize. The file said that the Shepherd was an unknown creature – it could be fae, goblin, hedge ghost, nobody was sure. Surprisingly, the file said that the Shepherd didn’t seem antagonistic and did show some degree of empathy.

The problem we came across was that all of the information in the file was secondhand. The Shepherd only dealt with children, and even though the first portion of the rules for summoning it were in the file, nobody in the Autumn Court who’d tried was able to get it to reveal the rest of the summoning spell. What we learned was that the ribbon had to be soaked in the blood of the person wanting to summon the Shepherd and left out to dry in the full moon. You were to then tie the bell to it, hang the ribbon over your bed, and ring it once before going to sleep every night for seven nights. Some Autumn courtiers had managed to summon the Shepherd on the second night, but it always refused to answer any questions or deal with them in any way; it claimed it would only come to children who need it.

After we got that info, we talked about what we might do. Pam suggested that if it dealt with children who were missing their parents, it might be willing to at least talk to a mother who was missing her children. We figured it couldn’t hurt to try the ritual and went back through the mirror to my apartment. Evain was sitting on the couch in the living room, looking a little better, and I saw there was some food and cake missing. He thanked me for letting him crash and got up to go. Before he did, I asked him if he wanted us to help him find the picture. He says that the picture itself wasn’t anything special, just the last missing persons poster. “As long as it was up there, I figured there was somebody who still cared about her and wanted her to come home,” he said. I thought for a second and told him we could probably pull up the missing poster online and print out a copy for him to have. I went in my bedroom and got my laptop, then pulled up Google. “Okay, so what’s your daughter’s name?” I asked him. He took in a breath and said, “Cassi. Cassi Rodriguez.”

I about fell off the back of the couch where I was sitting, and from the look on Pam, Yova, and Day’s faces, they felt the same. “Um, Cassi with one I?” I asked. “Yeah,” Evain said. Yova asked, “Was her favorite movie Cinderella?” “Yeah… okay, this is getting creepy,” Evain said, looking at us with slightly narrowed eyes. “Um. Well, the good news is she’s still alive,” I said. “SHE’S WHAT?!” Evain asked, stumbling. “The bad news is she’s the right-hand changeling to a changeling gone mad with power who’s fighting the True Fae,” Yova said.

We explained to him how we knew Cassi and Yova brought us upstairs to her apartment where she’d kept the poster she’d taken with Cassi’s image on it (I did mention Yova lives in my building, right?). He took the frame and stared at it for a minute before he put the whole thing in his pocket. I could tell Yova wanted to protest, but she decided against it. I was mostly looking around at the antique shop that had thrown up in her flat and asked her, “Yova, when did you get all this crap in here? I live downstairs!” She gave me one of her damnably zen smiles and said, “Sunday is for DIY.”

Evain looked like he was feeling a lot better and told us he was going to go home and get drunk, but to celebrate the fact that his daughter was still alive and sticking it to the Gentry. “If you ever need anything, you know where to find me,” he told us before he left. And, I noticed, he and Day exchanged a nod in each other’s direction. Progress!

With Evain gone, the four of us decided to try out the ritual. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but one of the benefits to becoming a changeling is that you become a lucid dreamer: you can basically craft your dreams into what you want them to be, and even enter each other’s dreams with permission. We made a quick pledge to all protect Pam’s dreams and I witnessed it. Yova produced a mostly silk ribbon from her sewing basket and I used my Trivial Reworkings contract to turn it pure white. Pam took it and a silver bell that Yova got out of her applique basket. She cut her arm and bled into a basin, then soaked the ribbon in it and let it out to dry. I went downstairs for some pillows and blankets and Paisley and we all set up in Yova’s living room, waiting to fall asleep.

The first night, nothing happened. We all got into Pam’s dream, which to be honest looked like Audrey’s fantasy home from Little Shop of Horrors. We mostly sat around in the living room watching old game shows on the TV and awkwardly attempting conversation. The second night, however, was completely different. It started out the same, with things nice if a little awkward, but then the television went weird. The Wheel of Fortune puzzle started spelling out “TURN AROUND.” When we did, we saw that the rest of the house was gone: it was just void left. A tiny, faint green light was coming toward us. As it got closer, we could see a pale figure stepping forward slowly and with every step a viney path appeared before it.

When the Shepherd eventually reached us, it looked almost translucent, a figure of indeterminate gender wrapped in robes and carrying a crook. It looked around to the four of us. It didn’t move its lips, but we could all hear in our heads, “I see no child here.” Pam explained the situation and the Shepherd suggested that she go to her daughter. “If you do that, she’ll have no need of me.” It told us that once things were set in motion, they couldn’t be stopped. It didn’t seem like the Shepherd was interested in causing any harm: it told us that all it did was create a path between the child and its parents, but it had no control of what happened once the child entered the path.

Pam asked if it had a lot of contracts open or started and it admitted that it didn’t. “You must understand that these contracts are how I sustain myself. I cannot break them because if I did, I would cease to be. If I cease to be, then I cannot help,” it said. When she asked what the child’s end of the contract was, the Shepherd told her that the children who asked for its help made it offerings: each offering has some Glamour, and when the Shepherd got enough, it could open the way. The opening didn’t require much Glamour, so it could keep the rest for itself.

Yova brought up the point that we weren’t sure if Sierra’s path would even lead back to Pam, since Sierra was adopted. She asked the Shepherd, “When you say you get them back to their parents, is it who the child considers their parents or by blood?” “It is not always the case that they look for the one to whom they are bound by blood. I promise a way for them to know the touch of their parents once more, and in exchange, they provide me offerings,” the Shepherd told her. Yova, against all logic, decided that trying to act all dreamy to the Shepherd to get it to help us was a good idea. It just looked confused for a second before it said, “Ah. Seduction.” Dammit, Yova.

Yova at least had the good sense to change gears and she and Pam both started talking with the Shepherd, asking it for help. Pam brought up her work with the foster kids she was volunteering with and started talking to it about wanting to help. It told us about some of the children it came into contact with and how they would share their feelings and worries with it. “Even if I cannot understand human sentiment the ways you do, I still feel like I am doing something worthwhile,” it said. It seemed to consider for a moment, then said, “I promise children a way to feel their parents’ touch. Can you give me that?” Pam asked what it meant and it clarified that if she could provide it with a touch that it could deliver to Sierra, it could do so without opening the path.

Yova had an idea about sending Sierra an invitation to a theater program for kids and that Yova could give Pam a spot as a volunteer. “Thanksgiving Break is coming up. I can put some feelers out. Kids from all over the country come to those camps,” Yova told her. Pam was completely overjoyed and hugged Yova tight. Yova asked the Shepherd if that would suffice and it told her it would, but that it still had to deliver a message. At that, I tore out a page from my journal where I was taking all of the notes and handed it to Yova along with my pen, telling her to engrave an invitation. She did so with her fanciest handwriting and Pam signed off, including a reference to a nickname she had for Sierra. The Shepherd took it and – seemed pleased? It’s hard to get a read on an extraplanar being, but it did seem to approve of what we were doing. It said it would deliver the invitation to Sierra and wouldn’t open its own way for her before it departed.

Shortly after that, we all woke up and Yova told us that she loved us dearly but that we had to get the hell out of her apartment. And so I think I’ll wrap it here for now. When next we come back, Bella’d recovered from her bout with the flu and you’ll find out what further messes we managed to get ourselves embroiled in. Until then, stay safe, and if an Ogre is coming for a party, may you invest in one of those giant ten-pound tubs of Cheeto balls.

[spaceorphan18]

Changed For the Better 11 [Klaine Advent Day 11]

Rating: SF for Shenanigans and 4th wall breaking Word Count: 3451 Summary: AU - Kurt’s a struggling actor living in New York, and is currently working on a Made-for-TV movie starring Cooper Anderson.

A/N: Written for Klaine Advent Day 11: Key

Thank you do the supremely suburb @snarkyhag for taking a look at this <3

LINK TO A03

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8] [Part 9] [Part 10]

///

Changed for the Better - Part 11/24: Thriller or Heads Will Roll 

“So, the whole thing lasted about an hour, I was asked, like, three questions, and that was it,” Kurt said.  He and Blaine were getting coffee at the local shop down the street from the theater; the same ritual they’ve had for the past few weeks.  

“Wait - so this whole big press thing, wasn’t really a press thing?” Blaine asked, as he paid the barista.  He had also bought a couple of sugar cookies, and without a word, handed one over to Kurt.  

“Not really,” Kurt said.  “I’m guessing the little clips will air during commercial breaks? The whole thing is kind of depressing.  I mean, they’re going to air this in a few days -- in August! Not even for the whole Christmas in July thing.  And then it’ll be swept under the rug and forgotten, not even dragged out for those holiday marathons the network does every year in December.”

They sat at their usual table, in their usual spots across from one another.  Blaine tilted his head and watched as Kurt played with the plastic lid on his coffee.  

“I thought that’s what you wanted?” Blaine asked.  “I mean, for the movie to be buried and forgotten about.  It’s not like you’ve been exactly raving about it.  Even Cooper has managed to forget about its existence. Mostly.  Though Cooper does have a hard time focusing on anything other than what’s right in front of him.”  

Kurt gave a little shrug.  “I know, but I guess I can’t help but think that all I’m doing is going from one absolute failure to the next.  Maybe I should be buried and forgotten about, too.”  

“Hey,” Blaine reached out his hand and grabbed it.  “I don’t think you’re a failure.”

Kurt gave him a smile, happy for the reassurance, even if he didn’t fully believe it himself.

“Ku-urt!” A familiar voice rang through the coffeeshop.  It was Rachel, with Jesse following not far behind.  She promptly sat down at the table, squishing herself to Kurt’s left as Jesse sat next to Blaine.  “I knew I’d find you here. I’ve been wanting to come here for ages and, oh my god, this is so much lovelier than I thought it would be - you never know with these places.  Sometimes a cute little cafe, all rustic and inspirational, sometimes a front for the mafia.  Remember the time I tried to use that barber shop and almost wound up murdered? Oh, hey is that sugar cookie? Kurt - I told you that you should cut out cookies or else you’ll get back the baby fat in your cheeks you had during high school.”

Kurt took a deliberate large bite out of his cookie.  “Hello, Rachel, what brings you here at this exact moment in time?”

Rachel lit up.  “Oh, now that it’s official I can finally tell you.  I’ve been cast in a one-woman show!  And everything about it sounds amazing!  It’s this tear-jerking, gut-wrenching play written by this first time writer who’s had accolades from professors at NYU, and she asked me, after seeing me in my pivotal portrayal of Janet in Rocky Horror, to do the honors of portraying her mother in this play.  We’re going live in just a few months!”

“So, looks like your little boyhood boarding school play is going to have some competition this fall,” Jesse said.  “Because Rachel’s really going to shine.”  

“Well,” Blaine said, “say what you want about my little play...our well funded, Broadway acclaimed cast and crew, which includes having the one of the best up-and-coming stars I’ve ever seen,” he gave a wink to Kurt, “is going to rock the Broadway world.  But please, tell me about your show.”  Jesse and Rachel sat stunned as Blaine went back to finishing his cookie.  

Kurt smirked.  “Rachel, this is Blaine.  Blaine, Rachel.”  

Well,” Rachel said, obviously in competition mode now.  “We already have a marketing strategy ready.  I’ve barely seen a poster related to your show.”  She dug through her purse and fetched out her phone, quickly shoving it into Kurt’s face.  “We’re on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Snap-Chat, Reddit - well Jesse’s running a Reddit thread but there’s just a lot of foul-mouthed weirdos on there, and we have three interviews set up with prestigious Broadway sites.”  

“Oh my god, Rachel, you’re naked!” Kurt said, as he flipped through the photogallery she had pulled up on her phone.  It’s not like he’s seen Rachel nude before - she had a tendency to be pretty open about her body when they were roommates - but he had never seen her like this, on a public website no less.  

Rachel seemed unphased.  “Well, yes, most of the show I’m naked.”  

“It’s classy,” Jesse added.  “And Rachel has a fantastic ass and perky boobs.”  Kurt cringed, Blaine looked away.   “And should not be ashamed of how amazing she is.  The show is about being open - on the inside and on the outside.”

“Really?” Kurt asked sarcastically.  

“Look - see, we already have a million followers on this one,” Rachel said, pointing to the number on the screen.

“That’s because you’re naked,” Kurt shot back.  

Rachel pouted, grabbing her phone back.  

In the meantime, Mercedes and Sam had come into the coffeeshop, ordered coffee, and were coming up to the table, Mercedes pulling up a chair to Kurt’s right, while Sam slid into an empty chair next to Blaine.  

“Hey guys! I thought we’d find you here,” Mercedes said.  “Hope you don’t mind that we joined you.  I could hear Kurt and Rachel arguing from the line.”  

Rachel rolled her eyes as they all got snug around the table, which was now getting too small for their crowd.

“Anyway,” Kurt said, deliberately changing the subject. “What are you up to, Mercedes?”

“Oh, Sam and I were just out,” she said, looking adoringly at Sam.  

“Yeah, Mercedes is helping me get all of these modeling auditions,” Sam said excitedly.  “I actually have this one I’m excited about.  I’d be doing ads for sports stores - most likely football since the season starts soon.”

“Ooh, I love football,” Kurt said.  

“Kurt,” Blaine said “the only thing you like about football is that the guys wear pants tight enough appreciate all their assets.”  Blaine gave him a wink and a smirk, a flirtatious smirk if Kurt didn’t know better, before taking a sip of his coffee.  

Kurt looked at him suspiciously. Then underneath the table, Kurt stretched out his leg, and daringly ran his foot up Blaine’s calf.  Blaine, however, didn’t seem to notice.  

“Kurt, is there a reason you are using your foot to caress my leg?” Jesse asked.

“Nope, just a cramp.”

Mercedes laughed into her coffee.  

“Hey, look, it’s all my special friends.”  This time it was Brittany who was joining them.  She bounced up to Kurt, and gave him a huge hug from behind.  “Hello, favorite unicorn.”  

“Uh, hey Brit,” Kurt replied.  “Let me introduce-”

“No need,” Brittany said, pulling a chair from another table to push her way in-between Kurt and Rachel.  “Obviously, you’re my favorite unicorn friend.  And there’s your boyfriend,” she said pointing to Sam, who gave her a weird look.  “And your other boyfriend.” She pointed to Blaine.

“Oh, no, Kurt and I are just friends,” Blaine said.  

Kurt’s face fell, crestfallen.  He brought his previously roaming foot next to the other, feeling foolish for trying to flirt.  What was he even doing?

“Your snapchats would say otherwise,” Brittany said without explanation.  “And that’s the next Beyonce over there.”  Mercedes smiled at the compliment.  “And this is the loud girl, who Santana says needs a boob job if she’s going to try to make it as a porn star.”

“It’s not a porno!”

Brittany ignored Rachel.  “And the guy over there is my old choir director’s illegitimate son.”

Jesse gave her a strange look.

“Brittany, how do you know all of this?” Kurt asked, not sure if he liked the idea of Brittany knowing so much about all of his friends.  

“Lord Tubbington stalks all of you,” Brittany said, as if not sure what the problem was.  “He just wanted to make sure you were all safe before I invite you to my webshow Fondue for Two.”

“That’s it,” Blaine said suddenly.  “Kurt, that’s the key - if you want people to see your movie, let’s flood all the online possibilities. We can get the word out on all those social media sites.  If it’s already working for Rachel, there’s no reason it won’t work for you.  You guys need to do something big.”

“I am not taking off my clothes for this,” Kurt said, which made Blaine chuckled and Rachel groan.  

“Is it strange that we should worry Cooper might?” Blaine asked.

“I’m not shooting myself out of a cannon again,” Brittany said, to everyone’s confusion.  

“I meant,” Blaine continued, “maybe you guys can do a live premiere party or something.  If your network won’t put in the leg work, why don’t you guys.”

“Blaine, that’s brilliant,” Kurt replied.  

“You know, Blaine gets all his brilliance from me.”  And that was when Cooper arrived, all toothy grins, and his arm around a blonde woman with glasses that he had never seen before.  Blaine rolled his eyes and sunk a little lower in his chair.  Kurt wondered why he and Blaine’s normally quiet morning coffee time was continually being interrupted.  

“Coop, what are you doing here?” Blaine asked.

Cooper beamed - as if waiting for an opening to start his act. “Hello, little brother.  Best friend.  Best friend’s boyfriend.  Fake girlfriend.  And other people I don’t know, but I know will make a fantastic audience.  I know what you’re thinking - why would such a renowned actor of my status be found in a Friends-knock-off coffee lounge.  Well, I’ll tell you.  I, Cooper J. Anderson, am in love.  And when I saw you through the window, Blainey, I needed to tell you straight away that I have found the most wonderful person on the planet.” The woman let out a delighted little squeal.  “Her name is Arby.”  

“Like the restaurant?” Mercedes asked, confused.  

“You see, this morning, I was walking to my agent’s to see if they had any new work for me, and pondered some new poses for updated headshots,” Cooper paused to pose.  There was scattered and uneasy applause.  “And then, I saw her.  This woman, protesting in a church’s parking lot. I’ve never seen anyone who pointed with such intensity.  I had to compliment her.  And then our eyes met and it was like lightning.  I felt it.  She felt it.  We both felt it as we made passionate love in the back of that car.  I know now that I have found the person that I am supposed to be with.”

“God, isn’t he amazing?!?” Arby shrieked.  

Cooper began to kiss her face.  Everyone else groaned.  

“So, Brittany,” Kurt said doing his best to ignore them.  “Tell me about this webshow you have.”  

Cooper pulled off his new girlfriend.  “Did you say webshow?  Will it be live?”

///

Brittany: Hello! And welcome back to our very special live edition of Fondue For Two.  We are getting you all psyched up to watch my new, brilliant, TV-movie, as well as doing interviews with the cast.  With me now is Sam Evans.  Sam, the viewers want to be know, how do you feel to officially come out on this movie?

Sam: Um, Brittany - I’m not actually gay.  I mean, I’m totally cool with it - and I’m trying to be a good ally.  I just play gay on TV.  And on stage.  

Brittany: Are you sure?  Because Santana says those lips were definitely made for sucking on balls…

Sam: What?!

Brittany: Personally, I think they’re like two big pillows to rest your lips on…

Sam: I don’t...I’ve never had... uh, shout out to my wonderful girlfriend, Mercedes Jones!

Kurt was running just a little behind.  It was hard to decide what exactly to wear to a live screening of a made-for-TV-movie-slash-web-show interview.  He chose his favorite pair of skinny jeans with a black vest and red button down, and arriving at the banquet hall just as Brittany was wrapping up her interview with Sam.   

“Trying to be fashionably late to your own show?” Blaine met him near the entrance and handed him a glass of wine.  And if Kurt wasn’t mistaken, Blaine took a long moment to notice what he was wearing.  

“Well, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from your brother, it’s always make an entrance,” Kurt said.  Blaine laughed.  “Wow, this place… Santana really out did herself, didn’t she?”

Brittany’s girlfriend took charge on the whole ‘do a live show’ thing.  The banquet hall was decked out with Christmas decorations, a fake tree near where Brittany was filming her web show, Christmas lights hung from the ceiling, and all of the chairs facing the large screen where they’d be watching the TV-movie that night had red and green garland taped to the back of them.  There were a ton of people, too, most of them mingling near the buffet on the far side of the room.  Kurt didn’t know who they were, but suspected that many of them might be reporters… or an odd hodgepodge of Brittany’s friends.   It was hard to say.  But there were plenty of people from production there as well -- crew members, extras, and a few of the supporting cast.  It was a mini-reunion.  

“I think it’s sweet,” Blaine said.  “Brittany’s girlfriend wanting to support her by putting this all together.”  

“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far,” Kurt said, taking a sip of his wine.  “Santana’s job is public relations.  I’m sure she got some kind of compensation from the network for doing it.”  

“I saw them chatting earlier, Brittany and Santana,” Blaine said.  “And Santana seemed to have nothing but adoration for Brittany.  You know, I like to think that some people do things for others just for the sake of doing something nice.”

“You really haven’t met Santana, have you.”  

“Where’s your sense of romanticism?”

“I used it all up in this performance,” Kurt joked.  “And what’s left is this old cynic.”

“I don’t believe that,” Blaine said, giving him a tiny nudge in the arm.    

Not a moment later,  Kurt was being summoned over to the corner to do his interview with Brittany.  Brittany grasped at him quickly the moment she was in reach, excited about the interview, and the atmosphere in general.  She was in her zone, and it made her glow in a way Kurt had never seen before.  

“Hello, viewers out there,” she told the camera.  “I have a very special guest for you now.   He’s one of my favorite people that I met on set, even if he doesn’t know his own place in the story -- Kurt Hummel.”  Brittany applauded for him.  

“Uh, thank you?” He gave a little wave to the camera.  The bored tech guy behind it yawned.  

“So, Kurt, tell us what it’s like to be in love?”

“...You mean on the show or…”

“On the show obviously,” Brittany said, rolling her eyes.   “I mean, in real life you’re a stick in the mud who doesn’t believe in love.”

“I have never said that.”

Brittany clicked her tongue.  “Well, if you were in love, you wouldn’t be single.  You’d have a tiny, compact boyfriend who smells like raspberries, and who believes in his own magic the way you don’t believe in yours.”

“Well, I…love is…” Kurt looked up, past the bored tech guy and the camera, across the room, to where Blaine was standing, chatting with Brittany’s girlfriend.  Santana was actually smiling, as if enjoying his company.  Kurt didn’t think he had ever seen Santana genuinely smile that.  Of course, Blaine could charm anyone…  

“Love is what, Kurt?” Brittany’s question hung in the air.  

“Love is…” -- unexpected?

Kurt wasn’t sure he had felt quite like this before, as he watched Blaine warmly work his way around the room.   

There was so much he liked about Blaine - the way he was so kind to others, the way he laughed so easily,  the way they could talk or text until 2am, the way Blaine always had a drink ready for him, or the way he put his hand on the small of Kurt’s back as they walked into a new room. Or the way their voices sounded when they sang together.  He didn’t just like Blaine.  He was falling in love with Blaine.  

But his past experiences with love had always been so hard.  And everything about Blaine felt so easy.  Was that really what love was?

Blaine, almost instinctively, looked in his direction, and from across the room, their eyes locked.  And Blaine held on, almost as if reading Kurt’s mind.  

Kurt wanted to chase that look. And suddenly he felt very nervous - but in a good way.  They didn’t really need to see this movie, right? Even if it was Blaine’s idea, and his movie, and Blaine’s brother’s show, and he said he’d be there.  He and Blaine could just be alone.  Why were they never just alone?

“Kurt…?”

“Sorry, Brittany, there’s something I’ve got to do.”  

Kurt abruptly stopped the interview, though Brittany didn’t seem to mind.  In fact, she almost looked excited.  But Kurt didn’t pay her much attention as he made his way across the room.  

It was time - time to ask Blaine out on a real date.  Time to let these feelings be more than bottled up inside him.  Time to see if Blaine really did feel the same way.  

“Hey, Blaine-” Kurt’s heart fluttered.  

Blaine looked at him eagerly - waiting.  “Yes?”

“There’s something I wanted to ask you about, but, uh…”

“Hey, Kurt, I’m glad I found you.” Elliott arrived, guitar in hand, and band in tow.  He threw an easy arm around Kurt’s shoulders.  “You will not believe how lost we got trying to get here.  I texted you.  Dude, you need to check your phone more often.  We’re still singing tonight, right?  Where am I supposed to set up?”

“Uh…” Kurt didn’t even know Elliott’s band was playing tonight, let alone what to do with them.  “I have no idea - Santana’s running the show somewhere.  I’m sure you can find her, there’s something I was doing…”

“Kurt, go ahead and take care of them,” Blaine said, giving a disappointed frown to the floor.  “I should probably go any way.”  

“What? Blaine, you can’t leave - the movie hasn’t started,” Kurt said.  “And Cooper hasn’t even arrived.”

“I know,” Blaine said softly.  He was avoiding Kurt’s eyes, and Kurt didn’t understand why.  “But I have an early call time.  And I wouldn’t want to disrupt your night.”

“But - Blaine.”  He reached out for Blaine’s hand, but Blaine took an unexpected step back.  What had just happened? He looked up at Elliott, but Elliott only shrugged.    

“Night, Kurt.  I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Blaine proceeded to give him the most awkward hug, before turning to leave.  

Kurt wanted to run after him, but before he could he was met by Cooper Anderson entering the room.  Cooper insisted Kurt follow him, all but dragging him and a few of the other cast members back over to where Brittany was hosting her show.  Cooper then pushed Brittany’s current subject - one of the crew members - out of the way so he could be in full view of the camera.  

“Hello my dear, dear audience - made up of friends, colleagues, and people of the internet,” Cooper announced, loud enough that everyone had stopped to watch him.  “The time has come for what you’ve all been waiting for.  I, Cooper J Anderson, have taken the stage.  And I want to thank you, all of you, and especially my new superbly hot girlfriend Arby, for being here.”  Cooper took a dramatic pause, and pointed to where his girlfriend was standing on the side of the crowd.   “You see - we are here to witness one of the great cinematic pieces of our time.  And in order to enhance the experience, I am willing to give back.  Some may call this a publicity stunt, but I call it good press.  So, my dear audience, you will have not just me - but all of me tonight.”

And with that, in front of the hundred or so people in the room, and the thousand or so people watching live online - Cooper Anderson tore away his shirt and pants until he was wearing only a thong, and proceeded to shake his ass at the camera.  

Kurt’s jaw dropped to the floor.

Cooper’s new girlfriend gave a shriek of delight.  And then promptly fainted.  

[oldnintendonerd]

Tis the season... to be hunting

Aw yes! Here we are folks. Yard sale season. You know what that means. Actual finds. Spring cleaning has come and gone! People are now having Yard Sales, and donating to thrift stores. We are already chock full for this post, so sit back and relax, I have pictures of everything, and it is a long one.

First up is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for Playstation - Found 2018.04.20 at Goodwill

I have never played this game, and have no intention of playing this game. Hate to start out o a bit of a negative note, but Harry Potter is of no interest to me. It was $0.99, so with tax, $1.06 out the door. Strictly resale bait. Anything I can sell for about seven to eight times what I paid for it, I’ll always pick it up.

Next up, you are witnessing the very first yard sale I was able to get to this season. It was literally within walking distance of my house. I happened to see the sign on the way out to get breakfast on the morning of April 21st. It was so convenient I really had no thoughts of actually finding anything. But of course I stopped anyway and lo and behold... three very nice condition PS2 games. Nothing earth shattering, but I’ve been wanting to try the Ratchet and Clank games for a while. Now is my chance.

Ratchet and Clank - PS2 - Found on 2018.04.21 at a yard sale

As you can see from the masking tape price tag, it was only $0.50. Those are my kinds of prices, especially for clean, well taken care of games. It is complete and in great condition.

It has instructions/poster. Which are in A condition, as well as a solid A disc, and A case. I will be looking forward to checking out this game in the near future. Not sure when, but soon. Especially since the lot came with an additional Ratchet and Clank game...

Ratchet and Clank Going Commando - PS2 - Found on 2018.04.21 at a yard sale

Another one in pristine condition for being as old as it is. Same ratings accross the board as it’s prequel. Could not ask for much more. Solid games for a very good price at this sale.

Once again, just minty fresh, and complete with instructions/poster. Definitely going in the collection, right along with Ratchet and Clank.

The third one they had may go in a bundle or be trade bait, I am not a big Star Wars, or Lego movie/game fan, don’t get me wrong, I love Legos. I just always thought the games and movies were hoakie and kinda blah. But, for $0.50, its hard to really pass up any title. I may have bought freakin Madden games for that price just to have extra cases or bundle fodder.

Lego Star Wars The Video Game - PS2 - Found on 2018.04.21 at a yard sale

Once again, just immaculate condition. A’s accross the board. There were kids at the sale, but I cannot imagine this was ever handled by them, I have a feeling the homeowner was also the PS2 owner. There were no other games or consoles out. Which is strange. Who puts out just three PS2 games. However, being the first sale, and so dumbstruck was I that I even found something, I broke my very first rule. I forgot to ask about more games. So I’m not sure if they would have had any more, or be willing to part with them if they had. Dropped the ball there, it won’t happen again.

An item that is a little off topic from the usual blog content, I also picked up a really nice Sony dual tape deck for $1 at the same sale, it says “turns on but won’t play”,  I immediately figured it needed belts. I opened it up and it does in fact need belts. They are snapped and gooey, wrapped around the flywheels and gears. I have ordered a set and I can’t wait to get those in and fix it up, and listen to all my old cassettes. Maybe even turn a few of them into MP3. Not traditional music Cassettes, these are recording I made when I was a kid, and even live concerts i recorded off of the radio back in the early 90′s. Can’t replace those. So backing up to digital would be very nice.

Well. Since that is not related to the normal content of this blog we’ll just stop talking about that one right there. Though if you don’t mind seeing a few things here and there outside of gaming for finds, I’m happy to toss one in here and there. Leave a comment if you feel one way or the other on that topic. Here is a pickup recap photo with the tape deck in it for fun anyway.

Moving quickly on, or this will be a mile long and you will be here all day reading this post. I think it may get to be a mile long anyway. Sorry about that.

A couple days later I popped back into a Goodwill and found a game I never could get to play on any of my machines at the time it came out. I think I had a demo, and it absolutely destroyed both my rigs at the time. It was unplayable. It is old enough to be on 5 CD ROM discs, no DVD ROMs here! In a nice condition double disc jewel case I found...

Far Cry - PC - Found 2018.04.23 at Goodwill

I picked it up and thought, there has to be a missing disc, or they are all scratched to hell. But nope, every disc was accounted for, and they were in immaculate condition. Ubisoft releases patches for their older games, and after a quick Google search in the store, it appears there is one that will allow this to work on Windows 10. So I bought it. $1.06 out the door from the CD bin. I haven’t tried it yet, and even if it doesn’t work, that’s a cool piece to have.

Next up is another one I had a long time ago, not valuable or rare or anything, but was a good game that I enjoyed playing in the early 2000′s.

Fable - XBox - Found 2018.05.03 at Goodwill

This was in a little rougher condition than I’d have liked, but it might still play. See the scratches on the disc below.

Worst case I can get it resurfaced for like $2. The scratches do not have a “catch” to them when you run your fingernail over them, which is a good sign. They will likely buff right out and it’ll be good as new. Unfortunately that would put it up to a total cost of $5.21 since this guy cost $3.21, and with a value at only $7.36 it doesn’t really make it much of a bargain. But I can live with that if it is added to my collection in working order.

Still a couple bucks under retail, and if I’m lucky, I won’t have to resurface it, making it even closer to a bargain at about half price. So disc is about a C. The case has a small crack, placing it at about a C+, and there is some wear on the manual. The manual though is not falling apart so it stays in the B’s with a B-. Some days later I found a minty “Platinum Hits” edition of Fable at another Goodwill, but the case was empty. I took it to the counter to ask if I could have the case, and they said no, unless I wanted to pay $3 for it. Bummer.

I don’t know why all of a sudden most of the Goodwills in the area are keeping people from taking empty cases. The one closest to my house still lets me take them if I get the right employee/manager on at the time, but the others still won’t let me take them without paying at least a little bit for them. At least they don’t want full price. Maybe they are getting a good deal on recycle material or something. It’s irritating though, glad I got the cases I did throughout last year while I had the chance.

Anyway, moving on.

This was actually the same store and trip that I found the empty Fable case. The game section had close to zero games in it, and I was about to leave (and see if the cashier would give me the Fable case) when I decided to eyeball the toy section in case some controllers or other accessories got tossed over there. For some reason three PS2 games were sitting on the shelf. Two of them were of no interest and were not valuable enough to even buy at $3. But, this one I was interested in playing. I had Defender of the Future on the Dreamcast a LONG time ago. That version is a lot more valuable than this one now of course. By about double, but if it is the same game, I’m in.

Ecco The Dolphin Defender of the Future - PS2 - Found 2018.05.06 at Goodwill

Another very good condition case and disc. Id put the case at an A-, you can see some wear on the outer plastic. Disc is a solid A, as is the manual.

I was always mesmerized playing this game on the DC, how fluid, and realistic the movements of the dolphin were through the water. If this one is as good as the DC, and plays the same, it will stay in the collection as well.

Side bonus to this one, the clerk only charged me the DVD price of $1.99, instead of the video game price of $2.99. Score! I’ll take any small discounts I can get. That $1 could be a GameCube game at a yard sale or something.

The very next day I wound up at another Goodwill and noticed a Wii bundle in the showcase. It was marked $49.99. I noticed there wasn’t a power cable, video cable, or sensor bar sitting with it, which was making me start to shy away from it. It did have several games with it, along with a first party Classic Controller, which I could use, I don’t have one, and have been on the look out for one. Additionally it had two first party nunchucks. I need nunchucks, I only have one first party nunchuck. As far as stuff that did not help the value, there was a Wii balance Board and it also had two third party controllers with it. Which were junk. Additionally it was missing flaps. So I felt at the top end, I was willing to pay maybe $25. The store manager noticed me looking at it and immediately apologized for there not being a sensor bar, power or AV cables with it. He said he usually tries to get them complete before they are put out, he wasn’t sure why this one was out, and it was definitely priced as though it was complete, so he dropped the price to $30 right there. Okay, now we are getting somewhere, but another $5 off would be better.

I said thank you, I appreciate that, that does compensate mostly for the missing cables, though I have a couple other concerns. The GameCube controller port covers are missing, and the two Wiimote controllers it has are absolute junk. How about $25? He didn’t even think about it, he immediately said yes, and dug it out of the showcase to bring it over to the register for me. I wish I’d offered $20 first now. Worst case he comes back with $25 and we end up there anyway.

Wii Bundle - Found 2018.05.07 at Goodwill

I looked closer at the games while he ran around behind the counter for a few moments, then helped a couple other employees with something, and they are all in extremely good condition. Of the games in the bundle, I am interested in adding Mario Galaxy, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz to my collection. So I will do close ups on those below. The rest are in almost as good condition and I’d like to sell off as a bundle, and get close to or more than I paid here for it. Sonic was in the DVD / Games bin and cost an additional $3.21 to get that as it was obviously not part of the Wii bundle. It was also in immaculate condition. So I couldn’t pass it by. I included it in the picture because it was all the same purchase. As he was ringing me up, and because he was so eager to get me going, I almost thought maybe he knew something was wrong with it. But when tested, it booted right up and reads discs OK. Likely it was just busy in there and he was looking to get the transaction taken care of and me on my way.

As for the games themselves, well, have a gander.

Sonic Mega Collection Plus - PS2

I have been playing Sonic games almost as long as Mario games. Maybe less by perhaps 4 or 5 years. While not as near and dear to my heart, I do hold them up as quality games. I owned a Genesis/32X/Sega CD monstrosity for a number of years and played Sonic 2, Sonic CD, and Knuckles Chaotix a lot in my later teen years. I also had a Game Gear with a Sonic game, and this title proclaims to have Game Gear titles on it as well. So I’m looking forward to that.

Super Mario Galaxy - Wii

What can I say about this find? Freaking. Perfect. Condition. Perfect. Like someone took the cellophane off, and brought it to Goodwill. So crispy. I absolutely LOVE finding games in this condition. It is nearly flawless. Close to crystal clear outer art sleeve.

Manual is an solid A, one tiny dent there in the lower right-ish corner prevented the A+, but otherwise looks like its never even been touched. So happy to have this one in the collection finally. I never owned it, even having owned a Wii since at least 2008, I’ve never played it until recently. Looking forward to giving it a proper spin.

Donkey Kong Country Returns - Wii

Wow. Just. Wow. Immaculate. It astounds me that something this old can be in this good of condition coming into a Goodwill. This game was released when? November 2010 according to Wikipedia. So it could be anywhere from roughly six to eight years old or so depending on when this copy was actually manufactured and bought. This belonged to someone who either didn’t care at all, or hated the game the first time it was played, set it on a shelf and it was forgotten until donated, or it was loved and well taken care of. Considering it was donated, I’m going to wager a guess on the former scenario as the most likely.

The crispiest of manuals. A+. Just look at that. Did anyone EVER play either of these games!? I love it. Disc is A+, not a mark on it, flawless. Case is a solid A as well, very clear jacket, no dings, dents, cracks or chips.

The game itself to play is quite good as well, good play control, the visuals are on par with the DKC series, and is updated into the “New Super Mario Bros Wii” style, by rendering everything then fixing the camera in position to create a side scrolling platformer that can be smoothly zoomed in and out, as well as create pseudo parallax scrolling by placing layers of rendered backgrounds behind the area in which you are playing. Backgrounds become the play field in this game as well. I’m enjoying it so far.

I dig this game a great deal, and will also be giving this a proper play through sooner than later.

The condition of most of these finds this month has been stellar so far. Super crispy and clean games. The exception to this is the following game.

Super monkey Ball Banana Blitz - Wii

Really good shape for the most part though, the only blemish on this game is the sticker. GAH! At least we can get that off of there with relative ease, the blog post from a while back I did shows my technique for this. It is very effective and uses nothing more than a damp cloth and packing tape. No goo gone required. So case is an A-. I do however, find the two stickers inside to be rather amusing. They appear to be actual Chiquita banana stickers, with Monkey Ball characters on them, so I think those will stay. It adds to it in my opinion. Manual is A+, very crispy. Disc is a solid A as well.

This game isn’t great because of the controls in my opinion. I much prefer the GameCube games, but my son is a big fan of the series and played the original and the second one on our Wii with a GameCube controller pretty regularly. He has tried this one, and was not as thrilled with it because he cannot use the controller easily, it is all motion/tilt control. But I can see him trying again when he understands the control better. Hes still only three, he will pick it up I’m sure.

Side tangent for a second, does anyone else hate certain games on the Wii because of the controller options? Or rather, severe lack there of? Taking a series like Monkey Ball, or Metroid Prime, that originated on the GameCube, and then make it so you HAVE to use a control scheme that incorporates the new Wiimote motion control. It infuriates me. How hard would it have been to allow fans of the series that played the games on the GameCube to plug in their favorite controller, and seamlessly pick up the game using the same control scheme they know and love. It was simply left out of the game entirely. A big middle finger from Nintendo. Nope, you have to use our new way, we innovated this new motion control platform, and we are going to force you to use it in EVERY game. Plugging in a GameCube controller to a game series that is a continuation FROM THE GAMECUBE should at least be an OPTION. Another example, a game like Twilight Princess, where it was actually a GameCube game ported to the Wii. Not just a series continued from the GameCube. But an actual GameCube game. The original control scheme with a GameCube controller should be an OPTION. But it isn’t. They even mirrored the entire game just so Link would carry the sword in his right hand to match up with 99% of people’s “sword hand”. Really? Oi.

Speaking of Zelda...

*grumble grumble*

Moving on.

To round out this month’s finds I have two more to go. First is a small find from Goodwill. A single game, but, it is on a system that I just do not see games for in Goodwills around here. Gamecube. Nothing spectacular by any stretch, but I had to grab it considering it was GameCube.

Medal of Honor Frontline - GameCube - Found 2018.05.09 at Goodwill

Relatively good shape, I’d give the case a B. Manual is an A, very crispy. Disc is a solid B, a few light scratches, but no question it will play. It will go in the collection for now, but might not stay forever, FPS games and I do not generally get along on consoles.

Still happy to get it, of course it ran the standard $3.21, it only weighs in at a little over $5 on pricecharting though. Oh well. A GameCube game is a GameCube game these days.

Last but certainly not least, my final yard sale find of the month is a Glacier Game Boy Advance, with Pokemon Red version included.

Game Boy Advance with Pokemon Red - found 2018.05.11 at a yard sale.

I’ve only ever owned an original Game Boy DMG-01. I played Tetris, Revenge of the Gator, Metroid II, TMNT, Mega Man, Super Mario Land and other games for hours as a kid growing up in the late 80′s and early 90′s. The GBA was released after I’d become an adult, and portable gaming was lower on my priority list at that time. I was doing less riding in cars on road trips because I was now the driver on road trips. I had a girlfriend/wife or friends to talk to on those trips in any case, so even if I wasn’t driving, it wasn’t like I was bored off my ass in the back seat while we drove to another family vacation. Or sitting in school or something. I had a job. Way less free time.

So, having never owned some of them when they were new, I am down to get my hands on a few of these portables at this point. If nothing else, I can give them to my son to play with on some family road trips!

I saw this one in a picture in a Cragslist ad, the person’s ad for the Sale had photos. It was on a table along with a TI-84 Plus and an Apple TV. No price tags were on any of it in the photos. I’d hoped to get all three for a steal, and flip the Apple TV and calculator for a profit to help fund the collection. My hope was about $10 for the Apple TV, $15 for the Calculator at most, and perhaps $10 for the GBA. I arrived at the sale only a minute or two after it was scheduled to start. Of course there was already a swarm of people and I thought “damn, I’m sure it’s gone by now.” However it was not gone, as you can see from the picture, marked at $20. Double what I was hoping for. Probably why it was in still there. A glacier GBA is only worth about $25 according to Pricecharting, and I would also assume that price assumes the battery cover is present. This one does not include the battery cover. So I asked the guy if the price was flexible. He said he could go $15. I pointed out it was missing the battery cover and that I was hoping for $10. He said he hadn’t noticed the battery cover, and in that case he could go as low as $12. Knowing Pokemon Red had to be at least a ten dollar bill, I bought it.

As you can see it works fine. I figure this could also be a unit I will take thrifting with me to test GB, GBC, and GBA games right in the store before buying them. Will be handy.

Incidentally the TI-84 was marked at $40, they are only worth about $50 to $60, and this one was a little rough. The Apple TV was marked at $30. But only worth $40 to $50. If I could have gotten them for the prices I was hoping for, I may have picked them up, but given the price he wanted for the GBA, I don’t think I could get him that low, so I didn’t bother even making an offer. The only item I was really after was the GBA, and I think I got a good enough deal on that.

That wraps this post up for a little more than about the last month of hunting. A lot of stuff this time around, the season is just starting to hit stride. Hopefully this continues. The finds have already been fairly good.

So now down to the official business. We had $57.46 at the end of the last posting.

Harry Potter was $1.06, that takes us to $56.40. Ratchet and Clank, Ratchet and Clank Going Commando, and Lego Star Wars were 50 cents each, taking us to $54.90.

Then we found Far Cry, another $1.06 takes us to $53.84, and Fable at $3.21 takes us to $50.36. Ecco the Dolphin Defender of the Future was only $2.13, but that still drops us to $48.50.

That takes care of most of the one off stuff and brings us to the Wii bundle with Sonic Mega Collection Plus. All of it was $30.08 out the door. A little ouch compared to what we have available for funds. But a good deal for what I got. That shrunk the total to $18.42. But it was worth it, those games were in stunning condition. Plus, I should be able to eventually make back every penny on the leftovers. Assuming I'll run across some cables at some point. A Wii bundle with the games that were left, the Wii Fit Board, the controllers, nunchucks, and all the cables should fetch at least $30 - $40.

The last one off game was Medal of Honor Frontline for the GameCube. It ran $3.21. Taking us down to $15.21. Only just enough to bring home the last item, the Glacier Game Boy Advance with Pokemon Red Edition. That $12 brings us down to what I believe is a record low. $3.21.

Ironically, just enough money to buy ONE game at a Goodwill without going negative if one turns up.

Not to fret though, I have a small pile of items I will be listing very directly, which should refill our till so we can move into peak Yard Sale season fully armed.

Slated to hit eBay soon are: Pokemon Red Sealed copy of Wii Fit Plus Sealed copy of Wii Play A copy of Dragonball Revenge of King Piccolo The Lot of 007 Games from last post.

I might list the entire 007 lot for something between $12.99 and $17.99 buy it now with free shipping. I feel like that should move fairly quick, but we'll have to see what's going for what price as I'm listing it all to really choose final pricing.

That’s all for now, happy hunting to my few readers! I love you all.

2018.06.02

[larynx-lover]

The Making of Wonder Woman

Okay so we’re gonna take a quick break from medical content so I can talk to y’all about what I’ve been busy with for the past few weeks outside of applying to residency.

My halloween costume. 

I’ve known since last halloween that I would be Wonder Woman this halloween. And then the movie came out and everyone told me I looked like her again and so the deal was sealed. Unfortunately, all of the store bought Wonder Woman costumes are.... pretty inaccurate looking. When I do Halloween, I do it big. And when it comes to my favorite super hero... well, let’s just say I wasn’t going to settle for something crammed into a bag. After scanning the internet, it was clear that I couldn’t shell $500-$1000 dollars on a professionally made WW costume... so to save some money and get the costume I wanted, I decided to do it myself. Here was the result:

NOT BAD, RIGHT?? I had never done anything like this before, so I’m pretty proud of myself. (also sorry the picture quality is meh. I’m getting the iPhone X this week and then DEFINITELY re-take pics. Honestly, I might do a photoshoot. I don’t know)

People have been asking like crazy, so I’m going to breakdown how I made the costume a little bit here to cover the basics. For the most part, all of this can be found on youtube, but I’m going to post my pics here just to take y’all through my process.

First: Making the mold. You’re gonna need help. Wrap yourself in Saran Wrap and get someone to put duct tape all over you to get a pattern the shape of your body. I had my brother help. 

Draw markings where you want to cut the tape off and to help you line up the edges, then take those pieces, make notches in them so they will lay flat, and trace the patterns onto EVA floor mat foam. Then, cut out the foam, heat it with a heat gun and hold it against your body to make it curve correctly, then use liquid cement to glue everything together.

So once that was done, it was time to make the pattern on the armor like Wonder Woman’s armor. For this, I used a soldering tool that’s shaped like a pen. First I freehanded the pattern from her armor onto the foam with a pen. There has to be a better way to do this, but I don’t know what it is. When I started, it was kinda rough because I didn’t let it heat up all the way before I started carving and that made my lines kinda scraggly at the start. Luckily, I got the hang of it. 

Now for the REALLY hard part... making the gold top of the armor. Holy cow. This part took me a day and a half. So I drew it on heavy poster board paper and cut it out, taped it to the armor, redid it again... and again... and again...

Once the paper was perfect, I cut the foam out and again glued it all together and taped it to the rest of the armor to make sure it looked right.

This was on the Tuesday before Halloweekend. I only had about 4 days to finish the whole rest of the costume... At this point I pretty much had all the supplies I needed, I just needed to really start putting everything together. 

Next came the belt. Which sits flush with the bottom of the armor. To accomplish this, I took thin paper and drew the shape of the belt I needed on top and then transferred that onto the foam. I cut the belt out of the EVA foam I used for the armor and dremeled down the back of the belt and the bottom of the armor in the shape of the belt so that they fit together. Then... it was painting time.

First I covered all the foam in black plastidip, which is a rubber spray coating. It seals the foam for painting.

The gold metallic spray paint was very easy to find. Any Walmart is gonna have it. The red metallic spray paint.... not as easy. Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Michaels... they all failed me. What didn’t fail me? O’Reilly Auto Parts. Grabbed a can of metallic car paint and HOLY COW. Man that stuff works wonders. I only needed one small can, which was good since it was the only can they had in stock. It’s great stuff. 

I’ll be honest... I had to be convinced to weather my costume. I wanted it to look all brand new and shiny and like Diana had just stepped off the island... I’m glad my friend told me to not do that. I cut notches into the armor with a razor blade and held my heat gun over it, causing the foam to open up. Then I went over it with black paint and wiped it away so it stayed mostly in the cut. And get this- that little pink tube? Old mascara. The brush gave me the perfect worn metal texture I needed. On the bodice of the armor I also filled in the grooves with black paint to give them more dimension, and I did a little shading work, which I didn’t photograph. I’m sorry. But here’s what the bodice looked like after I finished painting.

HUGE difference, right? I actually went and weathered the top even more after this picture was taken. I attached the belt with velcro (honestly, don’t do this. Just use super glue. Use all the super glue) and the top with liquid cement.

So what was left at this point? Skirt, gauntlets, arm band, lasso? For the record, I bought the boots and the tiara. I’ll link them at the bottom.

For the skirt, I bought some kids XL volleyball shorts from Academy, brown leather from Hobby Lobby that was some kind of furniture fabric, a gold paint pen, and blue spray paint. I bought high gloss. I should have bought matte. Hindsight. I had to wait to do the skirt until the belt was done, because that’s how I based my measurement of how wide the front flaps needed to be. The middle one is just wider than the bottom of the W. I patterned the pieces looking at a reference picture of Wonder Woman, and I tried to staple them onto the shorts, which did not work because staples are not stretchy and the shorts are. I ended up whip stitching some pieces and glueing others literally while the shorts were on my body. I wish I had pictures of this process, but I’ll post the youtube video I used for guidance down at the bottom. Anyway, then spray paint, then gold paint pen to do the gold details on the bottom of the skirt.

Ugh. Gauntlets. So hard. Went back to the 3mm craft foam. wrapped it around my wrists to get the size they needed to be. Again, while looking at reference pics, I drew them by hand. 

I should have plastidipped these, but then I’d lose my markings. I ended up just painting straight onto the foam. Probably should have mod podged them first, but whatever. Gold and black paint pens are your best friend for this.

Arm band. I looked up a reference image, enlarged it on my computer screen, turned up the brightness, and traced it onto paper and then transferred it to the foam. Sprayed the foam with metallic spray paint, then weathered pretty much as before. With black paint and mascara. 

The gauntlets and arm band were held together with velcro. I just made them overlap at the back. I took the easy way out. I admit that. I used a shortcut. TAKE THAT ORTA PHONE INTERVIEW. YES I BELIEVE IN SHORTCUTS. Still turned out great.

For the lasso of truth, I just bought rope and spray painted it gold, and bought 2XL brown belts from Walmart and super glued them together to get the rope holster.

To get the armor on, I cut it down the back and laced it up with more gold rope. make sure you put the holes far enough apart that the foam won’t tear.

And then I just... put it all together! Skirt went on first, then a tube top under the armor, then the boots, then the armor (because you basically can’t bend over in the armor to put on the boots), then all the arm stuff and the tiara.

I’m blonde right now, so to get dark hair I used a black rinse from Sally’s beauty supply to darken my base, and then that black powder hair spray from Party City. Please do this BEFORE you do your makeup and maybe do it outside so the black powder doesn’t get all over your bathroom. and cover your shoulders and arms and face because it gets EVERYWHERE. Or buy a wig. Up to you. I also tried to contour my face to look more like Gal Gadot. Whether or not that was successful.... who knows?

(taken from a friend’s snap story)

So that’s that. That’s how I did the thing. Below are all the links I promised.

Breastplate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlmLchJcT7A

Skirt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2GFmSqg7V0&t=229s

Gauntlets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c25sKA2LpLc

Click for Tiara Click for Boots Click for Plastidip Click for Red paint

[otc-dramaturgy]

Miranda Monday

This might be the best blog post I make this year, because it highlights the work of one of the hardest working people at Olney Theatre Center, Kate Brittingham, our Props Master, as well as the incredible work of Props Apprentice Grisele Gonzales (G-money, as she is known around these parts) and scenic artist Fred Via. Today, on our second design feature, we’re talking all about props.

Now, I don’t know if you all know this, but there are a lot of props in In the Heights, which Kate and Grisele were working on simultaneously to all three National Players shows. I don’t think either of these women slept for the first few weeks I was here. I had the opportunity to walk the set with Kate and Grisele and hear them talk about the hard work that went into things, as well as some Easter Eggs you might miss. (I’ve broken down the next bit into sections with hopefully clever titles for ease of reading)

"When You’re Home:” A Look at the Apartments

Our set, as featured on last week’s Miranda Monday post, has a second story, in which several apartments and fire escapes are fully functional. At the first rehearsal onstage, Kate and the other designers realized that, from our mezzanine, you can see inside the windows of said apartments, even with curtains. So Kate decided to fully furnish both of these two living rooms. 

The stage right apartment is described as being for a “mid-century young artist.” This person is traveled, as seen by the Chinese dragon on their wall, as well as the books inside their table (see below). Their artistic style is Cubism, as seen by the reproduction of a Picasso painting on their easel. 

The stage left apartment belongs to “an old Brazilian man.” He has a Brazilian flag hanging on the wall, next to a picture of Jesus, because he likes to “keep God and country close.” There are cigarettes in his ash tray and the photo on the table is of his family on the beach. My personal favorite touch is the monkey with cymbals who lives underneath the ash tray. (I’m led to believe, by this description, that the Cosmo on the coffee table belongs to the actress who uses this fire escape, rather than the fictional character Kate created, but maybe he has a penchant for sex quizzes, I don’t know, I don’t judge him)

More seen by the audience is the apartment of the Rosario family, featured in the party scene. This apartment, which coincidentally is right above Rosario’s Car Service (they have the same curtains), shows off the pride Kevin and Camila have for Nina: her Stanford acceptance letter and high school diploma hang on the wall, prominently displayed. Also on the wall are pictures of their extended family (these pictures are in fact of Grisele’s own family) and a lighthouse from the city they lived in before they moved to the United States (I didn’t get a picture of this, but you can see the frame on the edge of the first picture). 

Another small nugget that is hard to see from the audience are the mailboxes in Abuela Claudia’s building. Of course, Abuela lives there, but so do the five members of the creative team, Robin de Jesús, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kate Brittingham, her sister, and Josiane Jones, our Associate Production Manager/ Company Manager. Unfortunately, these people are all living without air conditioning; a box fan is placed in a window. Perhaps this is why Abuela starts her song by saying, “Calor! Calor! Calor!” (translation: “Hot! Hot! Hot!”). 

Several of the apartments onstage are also for rent, as shown by the “Se renta” signs in the window; these buildings are owned by Latinx landlords, rather than Uptown Investments, who is buying up the block, as seen by the influx of their flyers across the block. 

Stage Business: Working in the Barrio

There are three businesses onstage: Usnavi’s bodega, Daniela’s salon, and Kevin’s car service. Each of these is filled with Easter eggs of their own.

The bodega, for instance, is fully stocked with products, both empty and full, that were provided by the cast, crew, apprentices, etc. The cigarettes on the shelves, for instance, are empty cartons from three different employees, who were having a competition to see who could provide more. One of those same packs of cigarettes is actually full, but sealed shut, because it was accidentally left onstage. Ironically enough, there is an advertisement for Newports on the wall, but there are no Newports available in the store. The baked goods on the top shelf were provided by our finance office, who always have snacks available. Kate, upon watching the invited dress rehearsal, realized that Usnavi talks about Abuela Claudia loving glass Coke bottles, so she bought some to make sure the bodega was stocked with them.

The fridge in the corner of the bodega is the old concessions fridge from our Lab Theatre. The cash register, which is fully functional, was borrowed from Signature Theatre. The Slushie Machine and the Pepsi Machine, due to space limitations, couldn’t be fully realized; instead, there are simply wall decals. 

The salon has a sign that says “Cash only,” with a sign directly underneath that says “American Express.” The mirrors inside had to be frosted because of the lights (and because the actresses in the salon kept looking at themselves during scenes). Daniela’s is closed on Wednesdays because the 4th of July, when the salon officially closes, would have been a Wednesday in 2005 (when we had initially discussed setting this show, though we’ve since updated it to 2008). 

Rosario’s Car Service has similar hidden gems. The mail, for instance, is printed and addressed to the Rosarios. The mic, which was bought for $9 on eBay, is actually fully functional, much to Kate’s surprise; this is highlighted in “Benny’s Dispatch.” There are papers on the board detailing shift schedules, as well as notes, etc. 

Paciencia y Fur: A Story in Animals

There are three birds on the set of In the Heights, one of which migrates during intermission. The first of these birds lives on top of the lamp post near upstage center. The second of these birds lives in a “New York” bird’s nest (a bird’s nest made of trash and all sorts of things that don’t belong in a bird’s nest) on a stage left fire escape. The final of these birds, nicknamed Sketch, was backstage when I visited him; he lives on the trashcan near upstage center, but flies away during the riots at the end of the first act. Scenic artist Fred Via really brought these birds to life by adding bird poop on the fire escapes. 

(Yep, that’s me and Sketch hanging out in front of an Uptown Investments flyer)

There is a cat in the bodega, named Fe (as in Paciencia y Fe), who similarly flees during the riot. Fe is electronic and therefore moves at several points during the show. There was a Paciencia, but Marcos Santana, our director, decided that she was “too clean,” saying that she was “an upper East Side Cat.” (Ironically enough, Kate didn’t buy Fe. She was looking at electronic cats on eBay, but didn’t purchase it. Then, several days later, Fe showed up at her door.)

There are also four rats in the sewer. The sewer is in no visible from the audience; there is a grate onstage where subway lights and steam emerge from, but there is no direct line into it. However, if you come to the edge of the stage, you can look in and see one rat sitting atop the hazer, with three rats near him. Kate says, “They are having a meeting to conspire against us all.” 

Also featured on the set are two dogs. No, not real dogs, that’s happening in Annie, don’t get ahead of yourselves now. There are lost dog posters hanging throughout the set: one of these features Kate’s dog, Penny Lane, and the other features the recently-deceased dog of Marcos Santana and Nova Bergeron, our assistant director. 

“She sang the praises of things we ignore:” Other Odds and Ends

There are plenty of other things to note about Kate’s amazing prop work:

- In New York, it is illegal to put plants on fire escapes. Marcos asked Kate for “illegal” plants and she said, “Like marijuana?” Four of these plants can be seen in the show.

- The payphone, which is owned by Olney Theatre Center and has been borrowed by many of the local theatres, is the only push button payphone prop that Kate knows of in the D.C. theatre scene. There is a quarter in this payphone during the show, but it gets stolen by an ensemble member. 

- There are posters onstage for a Dia De Los Muertos event; in the club scene, the eyes on these posters glow.

- The garbage cans onstage normally live outside, in the Bank of America Plaza at Olney Theatre Center

- We set this in 2008, which allows us to use smartphones; the first iPhone came out in 2007.

- The fire hydrant, which is from Traverse City, Michigan, was originally yellow, but Kate painted it black, per Milagros Ponce de Leon’s research; the rusting effect was added by Fred. 

- There are a huge number of flags used in the show: three from the Dominican Republic, one from Puerto Rico, one from Mexico, one from Brazilian, and one from Cuba. Kate provided stage management a “How to fold this flag” guide, to ensure that we are being respectful. The Puerto Rican flag was the hardest to find, because the flag commonly sold in the United States is the wrong shade of blue. These “wrong” flags use the same shade of blue as the American flag, but it’s actually much lighter. The Puerto Rican flag painted on the Piragua cart is the correct shade of blue as well. 

- Speaking of the Piragua cart, there’s a rumor that Marcos said it’s better than the one used in the Broadway production. 

- Two Baby Ruth bars have disappeared from the shelves in the bodega... 

- Fred Via deserves another shout out; his attention to detail is massive. For instance, he painted all the graffiti seen onstage, as well as the “Yo <3 Mi Barrio” on the back wall. His work on dirtying the set, adding dirt to ledges and such and the aforementioned bird poop, shows just how much focus went into this set. 

Alright, I know that was a long post, but I’m so happy I get to highlight these amazing artists. Come see In the Heights to see everything they and the other designers have done! 

[travelswithzsubes]

Boston.

It’s strange to sit in the quiet of your own home, the familiar yellow comforter on your bed wrapped around you. The same poster is on your wall that’s been there since college. Everything feels the same, and still, and quiet. That’s strange. It’s strange because you’re lying there, and you realize you just did something that you’ve been looking forward to your entire adult life.

That’s what Boston was for me. The goal that I couldn’t accomplish, the thing that was just perpetually out of reach. I’m overdramatizing it a little bit, but that is how it felt. 

It was 2008 when it became a goal. I signed up for the Pittsburgh Marathon in 2009, only to go way too hard and tweak a hamstring during training that still bugs me to this day. I qualified in 2011 at Delaware, but I didn’t get in. I qualified in 2012 at Ocean Drive, but said no and went to China. I got injured. I ran slow times. I doubted if I would get there. I started from scratch, crosstrained, ran a lot, hurt my knee, ran faster, and gutted out the Philly Marathon in 3:01:41. Ten months later I found out I got into the race, tears springing to my eyes as I saw the happy email on my computer.

Fast forward another seven months. I trained better than I thought I had for Philly, and D and I took the bus to Boston, coolers of food in tow, knowing that we’d be part of something amazing but not really sure what that would mean.

My goal was to run a faster than 3 hour marathon for the first time ever. My mom had promised that if I did that, she would try to qualify for next year, and we would run Boston together in 2018. 

Pre-race

It was Passover. I decided to keep the holiday. That meant no pasta, no PB&J, none of the carboloading that I’ve always done. It did mean a lot of quinoa, which was a strange thing. That’s where the coolers of food came into play - we brought lots and lots of food with us. More on that later.

The first order of business, though, was going to the expo to pick up my number. For me this was the most emotional part of the entire weekend. Something about handing over my credentials and getting my very own Boston number, and hearing tips from the volunteers on how to run the race and on how it the streets would be packed with wall-to-wall people, all cheering for me and making me feel like a rock star - it was too much for me to handle. It would be a lie to say I didn’t choke up.

Getting that elusive number and T-shirt.

I recovered for the athlete’s capitalistic party that was the pre-race expo. Every running or even athletic product you can imagine - it’s there. People buying half-price shorts, testing out some sort of leg sleeve massage contraption, taking free samples of green and red and brown gels...that is what was going on. We stayed for an hour before I started worrying about staying on my feet for too long, but not before we checked out the ubiquitous Boston Marathon jackets that cement people’s status as a legit runner and were given a free poster that listed, in small print, every one of the 30,000 runner’s names that was registered for the race. (I bought a jacket later - with all the people walking around Boston after the race wearing them, their purchase kind of feels like an involuntary part of your marathon registration fee.)

Then it was home for a bowl of quinoa and cheese and tomato sauce and endless tinkering with my gear, wondering what shoes I would wear, and so on. I finally got to bed a little after 10pm. It was on.

The get-up.

Monday Morning

I actually slept pretty well - not long, but deeply. I woke up excited, threw my clothes on, and was out the door quickly, off to Central Station, where I hopped on the train with other clear-bag-toting folks en route to Boston Common, where we would board buses to Hopkinton and the starting line.

The ride to Hopkinton takes an hour. “We’re going to have to run this whole way?” someone said. Indeed, we would.

Course map - 26.2 straight east.

The marathon has a true army of volunteers that don’t seem to leave your side throughout the entire marathon experience. They’re there in Boston Common, repeating the same directions over and over for hours. And they’re certainly there when you get off the bus in Hopkinton, directing you to the large field area, where everyone’s waiting. It’s a typical race starting line with way more stuff than you’re used to, like people whose job it is to write your name on your shoulder, free gels and Gus to eternity, on demand sunscreen, bagels, and a very, very long line for coffee.

Some people brought boxes to lay on and blankets to cover themselves and laid down for a nap - nothing you bring to the starting line can be shipped to the end of the race. Others brought incredibly trashy magazines to read - there’s something to be said for the power of gossip and Justin Bieber to take your mind off the supreme effort you’re about to put forward - while others just sat, staring off into the eternal abyss. Everyone was wearing layers of throwaway clothes, cargo shorts and sweatpants that were far too big and strange fleeces, adding to the bizarro nature of the scene. There was a palpable nervous energy in the air no matter what people were doing. 

I got in the short bathroom line once I arrived, ate a banana, bathroom again, sat and stretched, contemplated getting my name written on my shoulder for cheering purposes, decided against it, borrowed someone’s phone. got in a longer bathroom line, got right back in the same bathroom line, ran into an old runner friend from Philly, and munched on the matzah/almond butter/honey I brought to the starting line with me. That last part was certainly a first. (More on that later.)

It was 9:10 at that point - time to walk the 0.7 miles to the starting line. “It’s time,” the Philly friend said. I had told him about my three hour goal. “Just go out and do it.”

It was exactly what I needed to hear.

The Walk

The walk to the starting line is like a funhouse of runner fantasy. Take my picture with my bib number 5,000 times? Don’t mind if I do. Provide countless places to drop off your trash and clothing? Yes. Cheering people, cheering bros, encouraging you to “hydrate” with a morning swing of brownish rum? Mmm-hmm. All along, I was walking with all the very fit and attractive people around me, trying to wrap my head around the fact that this was THE walk to the Boston Marathon starting line. 

At the expo, on the way to the start.

There’s an additional area with port-o-potties near the start, which I certainly visited. Some men try to pee against a school right there, and were promptly shooed away (and ticketed?) by a whistleblowing police officer. It was then off to walk to my corral. The national anthem was played, which was less emotional than I expected, followed by a very loud fighter jet flyover timed just right.

I made my way to the corral. Typical runner energy - people hopping, shaking out muscles, and doing things that were probably unnecessary. There’s nothing better to do. The minutes counted down quickly. They announced the elite males, and the Americans got a huge cheer. A TV camera panned over us. We all waved.

And then - the gun. We all heard it go off and a collective yelp emanated. I instinctively gave the stranger next to me a high five and we wished each other good luck. We shuffled toward the starting line, and two minutes later it came into our vision.

The loud crowd, the runners dwarfing me, everything else...if you guessed that I choked up as I crossed that starting line as I set my watch, you are correct.

The Race

Maybe this is the part you’ve been waiting to read. Congratulations on making it this far! You are a true marathon champion for doing so.

Everyone warns you about the first few miles of the race, and I can see why. The first mile is straight downhill. People were passing me, so I tried to maintain the pace that I wanted. I don’t have a GPS watch, so it’s a little tougher to know my exact speed, but I have a decent sense of it. 

I was trying to maintain a 6:52/mile pace throughout to get that elusive three hour marathon. I went out too fast at my last marathon in Philly, running the first half in 1:27 before finishing out the second half in 1:34. I was determined to run a more consistent race this time and try to negative split (run a faster time in the second half than in the first half). I’ve never negative split a marathon, and I wanted this to be my first. So I was gunning for a 1:30 first half, and something faster than than over the last 13.1 miles.

The first few miles are actually tough because the road is so crowded with people and it’s tough to run at your pace - there’s always someone in front of you, blocking your way. I ran the first mile at 7:02, which was great - I really didn’t want to go out too fast. People warn you about Boston’s hills throughout, and it’s true - the race is rarely flat, and there are rolling hills the whole way. The big hills - including the famous Heartbreak Hill - begin at Mile 16 in Newton and end with Heartbreak around 20.5. The Newton Hills. How quaint.

It was a hot day, but I usually run well in heat - and on hills. I wasn’t all that worried, but I did notice within the first two miles that it already felt especially hot. I hadn’t done any training in hot weather - I did a 17 miler in the hills of Northwest Connecticut in 7 degree weather - so my body wasn’t quite prepared for it.

I resolved to drink more than usual. I poured water over my head every couple miles and tried to get as much water down as I could at the water stops. The stops do slow you down as people stop in front of you, so that made me a little nervous, but I got to Mile 6 right at my target pace. At that point I felt like I was out for a casual run - I was very optimistic. 

Have I mentioned the crowd yet? They’re everywhere - and loud. It’s unreal. There’s a biker bar at Mile 2, and they are out in full force. Amazing signs along the way, too. Framingham at Mile 6 is filled several feet deep with screaming fans, as is Natick, Newton, Wellesley, Ashland and pretty much every other town you pass through.

It was around Mile 7 that I slowed down for the water stop and noticed that I was a bit tired - that I actually felt pretty hot. I was still on pace, but that wasn’t a great sign. Throughout Miles 7-10 I tried to maintain that 6:52, but I was a little behind pace, and I got to Mile 10 20 seconds slower than what I wanted. No matter - I resolved to run easier throughout Miles 10-13. No need to burn myself early - I needed to save myself for the end of the race. A few seconds now probably wouldn’t come back to bite me later. Once I adopted that mindset, I instantly felt better. I can do this, I thought. It was also a boon to see D at Mile 11 in Natick, just totally screaming my name.

The famous Wellesley scream tunnel is right before halfway, and it is as advertised. College students hold signs like “Why do all the cute ones run away?”, “Kiss Me: I’m Competitive,” “Call Me (followed by their actual phone number”, and so on. You can hear the screams from half a mile away. I choked up here, too - the scream tunnel is legendary, and here I was, right in the middle of it. Some people stopped for kisses, as is per tradition. I soldiered on. 

Halfway came up soon after that. I hit it in 1:30:16 - close enough to the pace I wanted that I was satisfied. I need a sub-1:30 second half, I told myself. You can do this. Still - I could tell the hills, which never stopped, took a little bite out of me, each and every time.

Mile 14 was more of the same. When I checked my watch after Mile 15, though, I realized I had lost a full 20 seconds off the pace I wanted in that mile alone. I did math frantically in my head, wondering how that could be the case. I didn’t feel like I had slowed down. How was it possible?

And yet it was. It’s not a good sign when you don’t notice that you’re slowing down but your watch tells you that you are. It means your body can’t keep up with the same pace you’ve set already - that it’s physically starting to break down. In other races, you can buckle up and push through that and use your will to maintain your speed, but with 15 miles behind me and another 11 to go (and 11 feels like an eternity at that point), there’s no real doing that for that amount of time.

Mile 16 was pretty much straight down hill into Newton Lower Falls before you start the Newton Hills. I resolved to try and make up time on the downhill before the hills. Downhills aren’t really my strength, but I let my legs go, knowing that it could have a bad effect on my quads later but also knowing that I had to do something to make up the time I had lost.

When I hit the Mile 16 sign I realized I had run it in 6:57 - not fast enough. I needed a 6:45 at the slowest to really give myself a chance. I was really starting to hurt at this point. 

The first Newton Hill starts right at that point. As I said - I like hills. Before the race, I created a mantra for myself: “Hills don’t scare me.” Now was the time to put it to the test.

But when I started up the hill, something happened that doesn’t usually happen to me - I just seized up. My left groin just seized and buckled and spasmed, and all of a sudden I felt like I was running in slow-motion, nearly a full minute per mile (or more) slower than I had been for the earlier part of the race. It felt like I could barely make it up the hill. People were passing me left and right, and I instantly felt like the slowest person on the course. (Since everyone in my wave had qualified for Boston, this was by far the fastest caliber marathon I had ever done. EVERYONE is fast. People don’t mess around. It’s humbling, and it’s part of the reason why everyone started passing me.)

I knew in the back of my head that this was the end of my chance to run a three hour race. The margin for doing so was already razor thin by Mile 15, and if I was going to hit the wall this early on it wasn’t possible. I considered the possibility of walking. It hurt really bad in that moment.

But I knew I’d probably see Sarah soon after that, which helped me keep going after the top of the hill. I also passed someone I had seen in the Barkleys Marathons doc, legendary ultra runner (at least in my eyes) John Fegyveresi. He was spectating. I was so shocked to see him that all I could do was unintelligibly point at him and yell “hey!” as I ran past. But he waved and returned the greeting, somehow. (Which led to this Twitter interaction.)

I did see Sarah right around 17, and I was able to get out a full “How’s it going?” If I still felt like I had a shot at three hours, I would have chugged on by, barely stopping, but I knew it was probably out the door at this point.

From then on, every step just hurt. The next hill came and I zombie-ran up it. It helped to unexpectedly see Marvin from RVRR, taking my picture. “Go Zach!” But it was all I could do to keep my legs moving at that point. The miles started to pass very, very slowly. My calves were spasming, and both sides of my groin were as well. My shoulders hurt. My forearm was spasming, as well, which makes no sense.

So I wonder what exactly had gone wrong with my body. What exactly had caused it to revolt against itself? I had trained for distance, but I didn’t do a ton of miles (for fear of injury), and I wasn’t at a tip-top fitness level, but I had thought my training leading into the race had been good. I had cut out alcohol and dessert for the two months leading up to race day as well. It was hot - that wasn’t helping, I was sure, even though I had stopped at water stops.

But I think the spasming was indicative of a lack of nutrition. I may be wrong, but I think I just hadn’t had enough electrolytes/salts to keep myself moving efficiently, especially in this heat. And when I thought back to the matzah breakfast (instead of the typical PB&J I eat with bread), the quinoa dinner (instead of pasta with cheese), and just the general Passover food throughout the week, I started to wonder...

So that I think was the biggest reason I was hurting in the very specific way I was - in combination with the other factors.

It was a little sad to realize that I wouldn’t achieve my goal. It kind of hurt too much to be sad, though. Also, I was here, running Boston. I couldn’t let it go to waste, and so I started noticing the crowd more, trying to actually absorb its energy and feed it to my arms and legs.

Mile 19. Mile 20. The famous Heartbreak Hill came, and I shuffled up it. I honestly don’t have a real sense of how hard it was since I wasn’t running like I normally do. I was just trying to drag my body to the top. And I did, and I knew the next five miles would be mostly downhill.

The top of Heartbreak, high-fiving what I’m sure was a screaming spectator.

They’re not entirely downhill, though. There are some upticks that you feel. I was really just trying to hang on at this point - I had started running a 10 minute mile. Running that pace isn’t typically aerobically difficult for me, but my legs could barely sustain it. 

I saw RVRR’s Lauren right after 21, which helped. Any cheer helps. And then I resolved, right around Boston College and Cleveland Circle, to give as many high-fives to the screaming fans as possible. (A solid, unbreakable wall of adoring, loud fans had begun in Newton and didn’t let up for the rest of the race.)

The crowd was unbelievable. Words can’t describe how important they were in getting me through the race. I’ve never experienced anything like it. Actually, bros are some of the best people to pass. They’re drunk and loud and give powerful high-fives. It’s the best. (Giving high-fives to children is the best too.)

So as most of my wave continued to pass me, and not run directly along the crowd, I broke the mold. I ran right alongside the crowd and had everyone pretty much to myself. And I gave high-fives to everyone who offered their hand. People were cheering for me personally. When the crowd was a little more subdued, I egged them on. “Come on!” I yelled, gesturing with my hands. They responded enthusiastically.

I stopped three times to stretch especially spasming muscles, but I never walked. Maybe that’s a little dumb and macho, but it feels like a point of pride.

Around Mile 24 I caught a big wave of cheer and sped up for about a 1/4 mile. After that, I realized my body just didn’t have it to do that. So I stopped again, stretched, and then shuffled along. The big famous Boston Citgo sign came into view, and I knew we were approaching Fenway Park.

Citgo - finally attained!

We finally got there and to Mile 25, and I saw the baseball game there was still going on. Finally, I thought. I could smell the finish line, and that was wonderful.

Still, a tinge of sadness accompanied that thought. Soon the Boston Marathon would be over, and that would be the end of the race that I had dreamed about for years. I tried to hang on to the moment as long as I could. 

I knew I’d probably see D and Danny at Mile 25.5 or so, near the Mass Ave crossing. And there they were, above me, screaming my name. It felt good. I had given my last few high fives before then - security kept us far away from the crowd at that point. That was fine. I was soaking in the love, and the love was certainly there.

I stopped under the Mass Ave bridge one more time to stretch an aching hamstring and then was back up one of the final hills. By that time my watch read something like 3:23. Earlier, I had thought to myself that it would be nice to crack 3:30. But I saw that I probably wouldn’t. And I didn’t care, because no one else did.

I made the famous right on Hereford Street, and I knew the equally famous left on Boylston was coming up. I did it, and there was a long straight away to the finish. The large finish line display was in the distance. 

I put my head down and tried to bask in the glory, trying to alternately get myself to the finish line but make the moment last as long as possible.

And then, all of a sudden, there it was. Right in front of me, as others passed. I raised my arms, more to have the race photographer capture the moment than for any feeling of triumph. I didn’t feel like I’d triumphed over those particular 26.2 miles. It was a painful slog with thousands of your best friends cheering for you. 

But it was the end of a chapter in my life, and so I raised them high.

The end.

Post-Race

There’s a very long walk through an endless supply of helpful angels. One of them wrapped a heat blanket around my shoulders; another placed a finisher’s medal around my neck. “Do you need chips? Apples? Gatorade? Vanilla Powerful Muscle Building Hero Energy Drink? Water?” The rock star feeling that you have throughout doesn’t end at the finish line.

More than a few people asked me if I needed a wheelchair. I was walking, but very, very gingerly. Somehow, my legs felt just moderately better than they had after the Philly Marathon, when my calves were stuck in a hellfire, but still - everything hurt. It certainly would have been nice to have one, but I refused because if I sat down, I wasn’t sure if my legs would allow me to get up at this point, and also because of pure, irrational machismo. It’s true.

But I kept walking, eventually making my way to the Family Meeting Area, where D would meet me. I called her twice from different people’s cell phones as she walked two miles and made her way through long security lines. She is the official champion of the day. 

And as the sky darkened and the wind picked up and it wasn’t hot anymore, how was this possible? and I drank my power drink and talked to a guy who casually mentioned that his wife had finished ninth in Boston 30 years ago, D showed up. I wrapped my heat blanket around me one last time as I prepared to put on warm clothes.

And we walked to Back Bay Station, where I got a free subway ride. “Congratulations,” every single person said. We got off the subway. “Congratulations. Congratulations.” I passed a flower shop. “Here’s a free rose - for all finishers,” they said. I felt happy and light and sore and champion-like.

My finishing time was 3:32:13. I slowed to 11 minute miles by the end. But as I type this one week later, I’m over that. I’ll just remember the long procession, and the cheering, and I’ll wrap my blue Boston Marathon jacket around me and finger my medal as a tangible reminder of all of that.

I don’t know if I’ll get back to Boston. If I do, I hope it’s with my mom. But what matters now is this is the first time in my life I truly achieved a long-term personal goal I had been working toward for a very, very long time. I’ve made lists, I’ve made incremental process toward others, but some have just died on the vine. I’m not sure what that means for the future, other than the fact that I want to build a house of my own one day, with my hands.

Let’s add that one to the list next - and happily check Boston off. 

Cherry blossoms and a finisher’s jacket I haven’t taken off since I got it.