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ashton-ryder · 2 years ago

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TIMELINE REPORT - FROM DAY 0 OF OUTBREAK. // REPORTEE: RYDER LAST DATE OF UPDATE: APR 1 MORE ABOUT | BIOGRAPHY | THREAD TRACKER

immunity status: delayed immunity.

useful skills Military Combat, Gun Marksmanship, Reconnaissance, Extreme Conditions, Good Swimmer, Jet Piloting, Military Medical Aid and Combat Trauma Care, Theoretical and Practical Physics, Can debate for hours on the theories of Dark Matter .

supply list library of astrophysics books, university staff and student pass, laptop, mid-range telescope, physicists tools, laser pointer, circuit board scraps, mini solar power generator, tactical flashlight, compass, M18 handgun & 9mm bullets & handgun silencer, M27 rifle & 5.56×45mm NATO & rifle silencer and scope, military combat knives, old dog tag, water bottle.

— status update. april 22nd. ashton ryder - FOUND, ALIVE.

malnourishment & dehydration, starved for 14 days.

broken left ankle. 2 weeks into recovery. limping, but not like he’s going anywhere.

healing dislocated shoulder. 1 month into recovery.

withdrawals from forced heroin intake for 9 days.

concussion from blow to the head.

bruised ribs and neck and lighter bruises all around his body.

cuts, burns and open wounds.

fever from recovering wound infections.

chaffing from metal cuffs and chains on neck and all limbs.

forced rabies viral infection via ingestion. I N F E C T E D. Remedied by singular dose of NLVAX vaccine.

broken mind.

broken soul.

broken heart.

1st Nov - Ashton had finish teaching his physics lecture for the undergrad students that morning, with nothing else to do on campus after that, he brought his thesis work from the labs back home (alongside a birthday gift or two from his graduate mates), rather avoiding the evening rush hour if he stayed. He buried his head in his research until he hears the screams, the crashes, the gunshots, and he looked up and out towards the direction docks and the colour drained from his face. He called his mother who was in Minnesota alone, letting her know he was alright, that everything will be alright. And that's the last he heard from her. he didn't sleep that first night.

2nd Nov - He pulled out the handgun he had locked up all these years, stepping in to join the group that was looking to help the caretaker secure the building, more than happy being at the front lines pushing back the zombies.

3rd Nov - ashton's birthday :c

4th-15th Nov - ashton goes in and out between helping organise their new normal, helped Rosie sort out the garden, continued his thesis work, tried contacting his mom again to no avail. Tried reaching his university, silence. Tried reaching his own military contacts, silence. He started volunteering to go outside and do recons, find survivors, and just do something to figure out what the fuck was going on. it wasn't always approved but when he did, he tried to bring back valuable information on the zombies and any survivors.

16th Nov - after the crash, Tobias shared the radio they found in the ambulance with Ashton to take a look and see what can be done. He devotes more of his time in fixing the radio, as well as trying to make contact with the military. He starts monitoring horde movements from the rooftop daily, helping map out safe routes for scout and recon missions. They were left to fend of themselves, losing hope for help to come anytime soon, so scavenging, raiding and looting had begun. He does his best to bring back what some of the residents request on scouting and scavenging missions. still in denial and working on his thesis when he has nothing else to do.

17th Nov - Sweet potatoes that had been growing over the fall originally meant for scientific research, had been harvested before winter came. The residence now have a large amount of sweet potatoes curing away some to be used early on and others to be kept for the long term months away.

18th Nov - Ashton turned on his phone again, hoping for something different, hoping to contact his mother, or just even send a text to make sure she's okay. Still no service. No signal. No hope. Ria joins him at the diner for their meal before the chaos struck. He last saw Courtney a day or two ago on the roof, she performed a beautiful piece in front of him, and now she's chomping on someone else. They were too far from the action to be useful but Ash went to go track down those bitten and escaped, with Nat and Ria taking down the poor old lady that once shared tea with him when he first moved in.. and then he went off to get his gun to clear out the higher floors, making sure no infected was left, checking in on the residents, putting the poor guy that hid in his apartment and died and turned all alone out of his misery. When everything went quiet, no more groans and screams, he did a sweep before meeting Zach by the staircase helping lift the last of the bodies into the second floor Atrium where they did a head count and mourned for the dead. He couldn't sit around and not do anything and be useless and so he brought out the radio once more. He was missing something he was sure, and he knew it'll click sooner or later. With Zach and Nat's help, they finally figured out the radio and Ash fixes it with a sharp crackle into the first joys of audio they've heard from the device.

21st Nov - Ashton spent the past few days preparing for their trip to the ship after the decision was made to find answers at the start of the outbreak. The radio had hinted towards something on the ship that had made it on but shouldn't have, that it wasn't just a cargo ship. He and Zach departed at daybreak the moment the hordes thinned out, taking the 2 hour trek to the ship and found out that Korea had created immunity test kits in order to find suitable immune antibodies to create the vaccine. The immunity test kits on the ship were meant for global distributions to reach and warn the world while they still could and find a wider pool of immuned antibodies. Zach and Ash grabbed as many as they could in case the ship ever goes under one day. He aggravates an old injury from his left shoulder in the process of escaping the ship but ultimately comes back safe and sound, if you don't count dying a little bit inside coming back with Sada in tow as well.

22nd Nov - After the 24 hour quarantine, Ashton went to Tobias to get his shoulder checked, considering that he was the one to operate on it in the first place, no better time for a check up. His shoulder was wrapped up as a bandage brace and given a few days to recover by itself with the aid of ice, heat, and anti-inflammation pills. The men also then reported in their findings before the decision on what to do with the test kits was made.

23rd Nov - Thanksgiving dinner was nice. Ashton thinks about his mom and tries to reach her again.

2nd Dec - Ashton spots a familiar face of his old marine comrade Kang coming towards the building letting him and his fellow scientist partner in.

12th Dec - After decisions were made, preparations were done to set the whole building up for the test kits and today was the morning Mr Wexley decided to make the announcement. Ashton awkwardly stood beside him with Zach during the announcement. (not important but he just wanted to note down he felt awkward :/) Ash volunteers to be the first resident to demonstrate the test, proving everything was alright and alleviate any fears or doubts people had. He and Zach then went out for a quick run that morning, keeping his promise to Charlie and picked up cigarettes for Jeremiah.

13th Dec - Ashton receives his results of delayed immunity (bummer). He still immediately puts him name in for the supply run, as if it was as easy as taking a walk. Mr Wexley seeks him out to ask a favor from him to take charge of leading the residents, strategizing and assigning the supply runs and giving them safety briefings before heading out for the first time. Ash also offers to teach self defense to anyone heading out.

16th Dec - Ashton had been at the diner that morning later than usual, otherwise he could've been dead. All seemed normal until Charlie came rushing down with an unconscious Skyler in tow. The Carbon Monoxide gas leak hit them all in the morning and Ashton volunteers to start going through and evacuating the residents from their apartments alongside the rest of the others braving through the gas. Ash and Mr Wexley found the source of the leak and worked to clear it out together. With the crisis averted, most came out unscathed except for one, and of course it's Sada's fault, who else. Ashton felt the affects of the gas for the next few days but nothing time and some actual oxygen can't fix.

23rd Dec - Ashton and Zach spent the days leading up to this prepping the teams for the big supply run, everyone pitching in to be divided into teams and focus on various supplies they needed to get before the snow hits them in the face and they need to tide over the winter. All hope was practically lost to be saved and their focus was only on survival at this point in stead of rescue. Ashton has tried to plan out for all worst case scenarios, exit plans, and yet, the worst just couldn't even be thought out well enough, or maybe Ash had just lost his edge from his time away from the marines. His own team should've been a small quick team, in and out. And everything had gone wrong, he should've seen it coming. Losing Skyler there and then had been heartbreaking and coming back to a shit storm everywhere else.. just fuck.

24th Dec - 2nd Mar - The events from their supply run pulled Ash back into a familiar place, a dark place, of leading and letting people down, people dying because of him and his decisions. He focused his efforts on surviving, keeping everyone alive, nothing else. He continued to trudge through the snow to search for the missing residents that never made it back, they were strong hardy people, they can survive, Ash just needs to find them. Till then, he found it very hard to look at people in the eye, especially Charlie. Losing Skyler, sending both her brothers out there for them to not come back, they have to come back. Charlie couldn't lose JP and Jer, and honestly neither could Ash. He never told anyone of his solo runs outside, finding more supplies that they never managed to get and hoping to find their people. He got caught once or twice, but perhaps no words were needed to justify why he was doing it, why he was trying to make it right. Winter came and finally went, at least they've survived the worst. And Ash hopes to continue to look for the rest of the Wexley residents again. ..It can't get any worse. ..Right?

4th Mar - Spring was coming and that meant the snow was starting to melt away, giving Ashton more chances to head out, by now getting full approval from Mr Wexley to do his runs, with his own self condition to at least make it back with supplies and make his trips to search for their people useful. Today his managed to find rice, one of those staples that just never expires, perfect find for them to have carbohydrates and make it last long. He came back first with the spoils straight to Charlie to offload supplies before quarantine. Charlie gave him the news that JP made it back, Ashton instinctively hoped to head back out immediately to avoid the 48 quarantine, taking it as he never came back instead. And that was the first time Charlie yelled at him like at. He would've fought with her if he wasn't so exhausted, hurt by her words enough for him to cave in, promising her that he'd stay in the Wexley for a few days and just be there for her.

4th - 9th Mar - In the last few days, Ash stayed in the building, resting, sleeping just reconnecting with their people again. He checked in with Val, finally spoke with Beau again hoping he'd feel better, made sure Mal was okay, looked for JP once their quarantines were done, it was actually really nice. A soft reminder for what they still had despite what they've all lost.

9th Mar - …Five days constitutes a few days, right??? Ashton was always one to keep his promises, rarely a man to ever break them. But the lack of work to do had him itching again, needing something to do in the building. He started off with the retcon work he hasn't done from the rooftop since the snow hit, observing the activities of the city from the roof and tracking them down, human and non human. He didn't expect to have spotted a Ziggy shaped human on the streets from above. Ash broke his promise to Charlie in that instant to save his friend and bring them back home.

12th Mar - Ash thought that would be a one and done promise break, Charlie wasn't too mad at him considering a life was at stake and it wasn't far. But the next one perhaps was what hurt the most. Ash never had any intentions of heading out that day, he already spoke with JP hoping to dig some information that could help them find Jeremiah. But with the lack of information, that was a thread Ash swiftly dropped, not wanting to force JP into a dark headspace remember the time of their run. So he did not expect to see JP anxiously knocking on his door, wanting- needing to go out and find his older brother. Ash didn't have the highest hopes but he did trust JP and he was definitely not about to let him wander out there alone just as he finally made it back. Ash, JP and Oscar went out for the day, looking in the area JP thought would be the best bet. They came across a raider, at first almost ready to fight when they mentioned they're just looking for someone that fucked them over, a description matching the oldest Rose, the group led the raider astray into a wayward direction, at least inklings of the fact that Jer or someone that looks like Jer is alive somewhere. Ash forced them to end their search by dusk, not about to let them stay outside overnight and upon coming back, it was almost unbelievable to hear Jer had made it back home. Ash couldn't find himself to believe it and he broke protocol just to make sure it was true before he accepted his 48 hours.

15th Mar - coming out free from quarantine once again, Ash caught up with the recent changes and news from everyone, Val's new quarantine protocols to be put in place starting today. Ash preferred quarantining in the comfort of his home but he understands the need for this.

9th - 20th Mar - Charlie hasn't spoken to Ash ever since :(

20th Mar - Birdie makes her way back to the Wexley with survivors and Roman's kid, June, in tow and intel to the brim of the outside world and most pressingly, a call for help. Ashton joined in as one of the volunteers to join the journey in saving the survivors on the boat stranded in the waters, raiders prowling around waiting to jump on them. Charlie hasn't spoken to Ash since the day he came back with JP, he wanted to give her the space she needed from him, letting her be as mad as she wanted to be with him. Jeremiah had chosen to head out too and he might as well go outside and look out for the other brother like he did with the middle Rose. But more importantly, Roman was still out there trying to save these people, Charlie can be mad at him all she wants, but this felt like the right thing to do, if it meant helping get Roman back to his family and Charlie. The volunteers of Jeremiah, Eric, Zach, Oscar and himself gathered that very same day, got further information from Birdie and began working out a plan for the next day. In between prep work, Birdie and June had requested additional supplies, and to borrow some of his space books, it was nice.

21st Mar - The team of five sets off the morning to make their way south to the Upper Bay, plan in action but they couldn't really solidified everything until they see the situation with their own eyes themselves - a lot of things can change in 24 hours. Unaware of the other havoc wreaking in the Wexley, their problems were just as huge, knowing nothing ever goes according to plan but the raiders had been more insidious than they hoped. The raiders already offloaded all the survivors from the boat, when they initially were told that they were still stranded on the boat, and the raiders instead rigged the boat as bait for the team, explosives and Roman on board waiting for those oh so righteous Wexley residents who just had to save people. Everything happened so fast like dominos knocking over their plans. Zach made it back with grave intel that the survivors were actually on shore with the raiders. Just as Zach made it back to them, Ash could only watch from the shore as a part of the boat exploded and the team on the beach desperately tries to make contact with the two that headed towards the vessel. They made a split second decision to continue with the plan, seeing that the raiders had an upper hand on them from the boat, the fireworks was the best hand they still had hidden. Once Zach located where the raiders were actually situated holding the survivors with their supplies hostage, plans shifted to light the fireworks and use the distractions to take on the raiders and overpower them to release the ship survivors. But more enemies appeared than they had initially thought. It got even hairier when a face Ash had been hoping to find for all these months found her way towards their group. It was a rough fight, Oscar getting hurt and Ashton getting his shoulder dislocated again - what is it about boats and his shoulder injury acting up? - but they managed to kill the raiders, with the additional incoming help from Hannah and the survivors, alongside Ruth and Aggie. With the gunfire, some of the chompers had instead of being diverted by the fireworks were instead drawn to the beach, giving the team little time and space to calm down. A saving grace of the rev of an engine came in the form of a driver willing to pick them out of the growing horde, Nikhil piling everyone into the car and managed to make it back home. Ashton was so out of it at that point, he hadn't even noticed Ruth popped his shoulder back in and that the ship team made it back until he looked up in the car to find Jeremiah with him, Roman and Eric also alive. Everyone including the survivors and then some made it home. That was enough of a success.

21st Mar night - The night they got back, Ash and the outside group came to learn of the insane shit that happened inside the building itself, honestly it's hard to pick which is worst but Ash would've preferred dealing with humans than bats. All the rescue team that weren't immune were quarantined into the newly appointed quarantine suites, fitting four in each. While he disagreed with Val that this was a good idea, he was more than glad to be stuck with Ruth and Jeremiah. He firstly spent some time early in the night with his closest friend he thought he lost forever, and when she fell asleep, Ash still couldn't get past the blinding pain and sat outside in the living room till Jeremiah in a similar predicament joined him. They shared a rare moment alone later in the night finding solace and finally some form of sleep in each other's arms only for an hour or two before being interrupted by Aggie panicking and realizing her comfort person in Jer wasn't by her side. Ash couldn't sleep again for the rest of the night.

22nd Mar - Ashton properly met Aggie that morning, the poor girl scared to death and her first impressions of him can't be stellar having seen him with the blood of others on his hands. But the girl trusted both Ruth and Jer, and that was enough of an opening for Ash to have while he tried to talk to her over breakfast, and ended up giving her his share of food seeing how hungry she was and how little appetite he had due to the pain. They perhaps made some progress as she gave him a roll of bread back to share. Later that morning, they each met Val for their blood sample to be drawn and a general check up through their 48 hour quarantine. The juice he had was the first real form of sustenance he had in 24 hours, and Val could tell as she expressed her worry. Ash confessed to the lack of sleep and food due to the pain, and while Val chided that it was more than just that, the bone aching tiredness seeming to have been evident days before the rescue even happened. But after some painful words, she gave him half a dose of Valium - a drug Ash had a history with and had been reluctant to go back to, but Val was right, this was the best time for it, while in quarantine, under the watchful gaze of people he trusted, only did Ash agreed to it, and only in emergencies from then on. Ash managed a few more hours of sleep with it that day.

22nd - 24th Mar - The rest of quarantine went by uneventful, a moment of rest, reunion, solace, peace. Albeit not a lot of sleep, but it was all with good company. Aggie slowly warmed up to Ash over the days of meals, Ruth caught up with the him on the past few missed months, and Jer.. it was just nice to share quiet moments in the late nights with Jer when neither of them could find sleep and so instead found each other.

24th Mar - emotionally exhausting day, I need sleep - Despite the rest, exhaustion was still heavy in Ash as they left quarantine that morning, the building was holding a celebratory breakfast at Rosie's once everyone was free and Ash didn't have the appetite for it and was planning on skipping out to sort out his own shoulder. Charlie didn't give him the option however with breakfast forced upon him, and her wrath of finally breaking her silent treatment to him. She chewed him out, and perhaps he deserved it, but her words hurt all the same, he got all the blame for breaking his promise when he was simply looking out for JP. Ash should've walked away at that point and he regretted not doing so when the alternative was an outburst at Charlie. He managed to pull himself back - Charlie had more important things to worry about, and he shouldn't be one of them. It was an emotionally exhausting moment with her - getting yelled at, taking the blame, accused of not caring enough (he understood Charlie's perspective but he still wasn't sure if she understood his), learning of her pregnancy (by mistake), hoping to help her feel a lil less alone about it. And when she went on her way to a more important talk with Roman and he was finally alone, he let those words she used really hurt him, no more energy to keep the wall up. Only Aggie unknowingly still around saw him really cry that morning. Once the tears ran out completely and he was done with his self pity party of feeling hurt, Ash picked himself back up and went straight for the debrief of their 21st mission. Mr Wexley had unsurprisingly held Ashton back to speak with him alone, forbidding him to leave the building to scout until his injuries were healed. The only fight Ash could put up was laying out all the ugly worries he had for the coming future, things they had to do and had to figure out. Despite their bouts of disagreements, Mr Wexley handed him the keys to the scouts HQ, effectively wanting to put him in charge, it was an uncomfortable conversation when Ashton would've rather turn away from whatever responsibilities the older man thought Ashton could do when he's only proven him otherwise - people have died on his watch, like they always had. But if this was the only way he was going to be able to help if not out there, he took it, the two of them discussed potential best plans moving forward regarding supplies, water, medical, garden, fortifying defenses. After the long meeting, Ash had been craving to just go back to his own apartment he hasn't seen in 3 days. But he was also thankful to Beau inviting him up to see the improvements made to the garden. A welcome distraction from falling too far down a hole he shouldn't, and fresh air was everything after 3 days without it. It was good to catch up with Beau, see him doing so much better, help with the garden, dream up the fruits they could grow for the summer. Watermelons some day. Ash spent the rest of the afternoon up there with Beau and he had initially only went back up to grab some things he forgotten about in the evening, bumping into Ziggy up there, the other half of the pair he was just with a few hours ago, but they weren't there to admire the garden. Drinks and Smokes, Ziggy told him about Aggie being their sister and falling down a spiral Ash was familiar with and might've been in that same day but instead he was here, and he was here for them this time. He got them away from the rooftop's edge to nudged them back down to their apartment, letting Beau take care of them. Ash finally ended the day emotionally completely tapped out, alone, appetite-less, and still without much sleep, shoulder aggravating to moment he dare move in his bed the wrong way.

25th Mar - Without much sleep, Ash took advantage of the early morning as usual to head to the diner, a first after weeks of avoiding it since Charlie had avoided him. The sore, hurt feelings left were of his own and weren't important, he could get over them in the interest of making things okay with Charlie again. Finding her asleep, much needed surely, he helped her set things up for breakfast until she awoke, if he couldn't sleep then at least she should. She told him the positive pregnancy test and the people that knew, he promised not to tell another soul and that he'd be there when she told her brothers (he was careful about his promises this time, cautious of promising things she'd be mad about if he can't keep), it was the least he could do, being who he was in this situation. Once breakfast (though barely his breakfast) was over, Ash settled on keeping up with the work, at some point he had to be exhausted enough to fall asleep through the pain. He looked over the renewed list of supplies they needed, introducing himself to Hannah to ask about any additional things for June and Maisie from a mother's perspective because crayons didn't seem like an essential. He felt like he was being observed, just a weird gut feel, but she was nice, kind. And made a point - vitamin gummies on their next run. Whenever that is, seeing the horde surround their area. They'll make do prioritizing the kids' vitamin intake through what they have, a conversation with Charlie, Rosie and Ruth. He also had a quick check in on Sher having not had a moment since her return. Ash then spent the afternoon regrouping with Zach in the scouts HQ to start preemptively planning supply runs and defensive plans and the night like old times - relaxing after work over a games night and dog therapy as Zach would call it. That night, he finally found a decent few hours of sleep, Ruth managed to find stronger painkillers that she knew worked for him from her old stash.

26th Mar - Ashton woke up feeling not entirely shit (thank you Ruth), though the pain still throbbed, it had lessened in the morning and throughout the day. Meeting Oscar's sister Emily for the first time over breakfast was a nice little thing, and probably for the better when he felt more human again today. He even managed to keep his breakfast down, though still giving a portion to Aggie as usual when she seemed hungry. Mal showed him a working 3D printer they found in their office, one they used to use fairly frequently together. They invited him to join on their quest to making it work and be useful for them again and Ashton could certainly see some possibilities, printing broken parts in the building, gardening tools, chicken coops, barricades, maybe even ammunition. Still, it wasn't Ashton's specialty in physics, but he wouldn't say no to a challenge, something safe, helpful, indoors for the month he's stuck here, he appreciated it because Mal knows exactly how he was feeling having been in the same position all winter. Just a little fun side project for both of them to focus on and potentially become a life saving tool. He finally managed to eat and sleep again that night.

27th Mar - Though Ash had been busying himself the past few days, on the sidelines he had been thinking about this specific day during then. A small little promise he intended to keep for a Rose's birthday. Though it started with running into Sada doing a few errands for his telescope and books for the kids, he let it roll of his back easily, not letting her have a whiff of the day or night planned. He wasn't part of the siblings' celebration with Jeremiah that day, a small sting but reminder of the invisible barrier he can't cross. They deserved their family time alone after all, and he wasn't that kind of family to them. Making him doubt if he'd even get a small chance to celebrate with him, if he'd be busy with someone else, if he'd even remember. But Aggie was up on the roof when he brought up the telescope, a chance to really bond with her and that was nice enough. He wasn't sure what it was but she opened up ever so slightly, as if something clicked that evening. He had been preparing for the worst to be up there alone so it was heartwarming for Jer to have been waiting. Even more surprising when the usual private softness between them seem to pull further down into an uncharted vulnerability. Ash wasn't sure what came over him to have said what he said, not able to stop the words he felt for years from falling out, or doing what he did, not able to stop the urge to kiss him. He definitely wasn't sure if it was the right or just the selfish thing to do. He was too close to losing Jeremiah twice now, he wasn't even his to lose, but it felt that way between them. He didn't need Jer to feel the same or reply there and then, and even more so didn't want to ruin their friendship. Perhaps just some time to think about it, nothing had to change if they didn't want it to. Ashton hadn't told a soul about that night.

29th Mar - Tad offered to do some reiki attunement and guess it did release some tension and pain, Ash wasn't sure whether it was placebo or something actually worked but he'd take anything at this point. A real bro, it was nice having him back, as long as Sada wasn't involved in their interactions. Though speaking of irritants.. Ashton spoke with Judah, one of the newcomers after their rescue mission, and it did not alleviate his suspicions of their intentions of being here. Coming from across the waters, happen to see the fireworks and came towards them just after they fucked over a bunch of raiders. Timing of it all was just suspicious, which was why Ashton had asked to sit in on their entrance chat with Mr Wexley, knowing how quick the older man was to trust strangers he let into this building. While his brother had been quieter, Judah wasn't doing himself any favors with Ashton's suspicions of them.

30th Mar - Once Ruth had a chance to calm down and rest after being immediately thrown into the deep end of doctor duties the moment she returned, her and Ash had a catch up on physiotherapy again for his shoulder, just like the good old days! It was always torturous. At least Ash knew what to expect this time and could probably do it on his own. But he wouldn't say no to the company of his best friend and someone that knew his shoulder better than he did. And on the roof to visit the chicken and garden was a great excuse of some outside exercise again since they're literally trapped in the building. He's thought about it so many times, but he's so thankful for her being back home, more than most would know of the friendship that runs deep between them.

1st Apr - During the birthday party, Ash had volunteered to help Charlie run the bar and give her a break, though with only one good hand there were more stirred not shaken drinks he could pour. Ash would rather hide behind the safety of a bar anyways in a party if he had to be here, looking after the entire bar together with Alice was relaxing in its own way. Though there was a sore sense of loneliness that night, he had no shortage of people that still came by to say hi and get a drink, Mr Wexley the birthday man himself being the first before others like Charlie, Maddie, Ember, Roman, Ria and Linds greeted him before they went on their way with the party, Lindsay eating a barbie shoe had to take the cake of the night of entertainment. Ash took some time between to check in on Aggie and Ziggy as well and he appreciated the others like Hannah, Eric, Zach, Ruth and JP making sure he had a break and something to eat that night, or had some form of fun in a few games or dog therapy. He hadn't gotten much of a chance to see Jeremiah, bar a few shared glances, not wanting to get in the way of Sada with him for the night - the less chances she had to sniff out a shift between them, the better. The night had been going easier than expected, Ashton surviving a party longer than he ever used to do and he actually did have some fun hanging with Zach and playing games with Ruth and JP, they all made him feel much less alone that night. It would've been a wonderful night if he could've just avoided Sada completely, but she wouldn't let that happen. Swinging by much later in the night to push his buttons. He had been used to being insulted himself by her but when she said the awful things about the people he loved, he snapped at her, something as if she had specifically wanted to happen, because soon he saw her plan of causing trouble, finding out about secrets she shouldn't know and letting the rest of the world know of it without Charlie's choice, and of course putting the blame on Ashton. JP had been there protecting Sada and it became a shit show from there, a public scene made in the Atrium as Ashton left the bar to be there for Charlie even if it was a family affair and he didn't belong in it, he promised Charlie he'd be there. Mal was the one who managed to simmer things down between the siblings as they let them take it somewhere private as Mal and Ash looked for Jeremiah but it was perhaps too late when Tony of all people told Jer the news, something he should've heard straight from his family. It was draining to put a stop to it all and let the three siblings talk things through before the party resumed to end the night. Ash stayed on as the last ones to start clean up after everyone else had left the party, expecting to be alone until Jeremiah looked for him for the first time that night.

---- to be updated

#just wanted to figure out what the hell he was doing #but didn't wanna put it in the dc in case it didn't belong so i just made a whole post instead #will keep this updated and have it linked via his navi page <3 #;timeline report #;more about

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ursulawrites · 5 years ago

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Continued from x (@ficklehcart)

[ sms ⇄ FUTURE HUSBAND ] All I really want to do tonight is get drunk with you and dance on tables. is that too much to ask?

[ sms ⇄ WIFEY TO BE ] Not at all, that sounds perfect. [ sms ⇄ WIFEY TO BE ] I get off work at 6pm and then I’m all yours. We can do whatever you want to do tonight baby, table dancing included.

#about: married!kyder #ficklehcart #roxy #text threads #text threads: ryder

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roseategales · 5 years ago

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main ryder’s name is officially guinevere bc i wanted to make some kinda “ghost rider” pun/allusion and guinevere can be translated as "the white fay/ghost"

#speaking.#text post.#mass effect.#ryder : guinevere.#i think i'm hilarious c:#also the contrast of an old literary name in a sci-fi setting appeals to me #like a thread of history being woven throughout the stars

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l0stxpieces · 3 years ago

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tag drop for cole ryder

#about;cole ryder #visage;cole ryder #threads;cole ryder #music;cole ryder #musing;cole ryder #a text;cole ryder #starters;cole ryder #answered;cole ryder #socials;cole ryder #ryder family #cole & lizzie #cole & imogen #cole & brooklyn #cole & henry #tag drop

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thisxpoison · 4 years ago

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tag drop for ezra ryder

#about;ezra ryder #visage;ezra ryder #threads;ezra ryder #chats;ezra ryder #a text;ezra ryder #texts;ezra ryder #phone calls;ezra ryder #music;ezra ryder #musing;ezra ryder #social media;ezra ryder #cd;ezra ryder #answered;ezra ryder #the ryder family #ezraxmitch #this is the que

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bordeleaubeau · 5 years ago

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when worlds collide - ryder donovan

chapter four wc: 1985

ryder

the house is almost completely dark besides a light in the living room and the dim illumination from the tv. ryder automatically assumes that it’s bill or katie are waiting for him to get home - it wasn’t necessarily a rare occurrence of hi coming home later after a game, and katie usually stayed up just to make sure her middle child came home safe.

however, when ryder pushes open the door he’s surprised to see his little sister and youngest sibling sitting on the couch. “clara?” he asks, closing the door behind him quietly to make as little noise as possible. “it’s like, midnight. why are you still awake?”

the brunette turns around, both of her eyebrows raised at her brother, and slowly ryder puts his hands up in defense. “you didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend.” ryder can’t help but let out a laugh when the realization hits, which only worsens the look his little sister is giving him.

“y/n? she’s just a friend, clar. don’t worry okay? you’re still the most important girl in my life. as long as you don’t tell mom and vanessa that.” ryder smiles at her, his hand reaching out and ruffling the top of her already messy hair. clara knew and sure the rest of the donovan siblings did without ryder ever telling them, but clara was his favorite sibling by a long mile. clara absolutely adored his little sister and vice versa.

“are you sure, rydes?” clara’s voice is small as she talks, tucking her legs under her small frame, suddenly feeling shy about asking her brother about his love life. “you never give people your hoodies. i never even get those! i’m lucky if i get your old ones that you don’t even fit into anymore.”

clara had backed ryder into a corner. he hated lying to clara and not once did he ever lie to her. shay was one story, but never c.

“i’m sure.” ryder says after hesitating, sitting down on top of the coffee table in front of clara. “we’re just partners for a school project, okay c? nothing will come out of it. she may come over one day after school or after practice, but that’ll pretty much be it.”

for a second, ryder swears he sees clara’s face falter just for a moment, but her head tilts to the side. “why not? she was really nice. she bought me an icee too.”

“she bought you an icee?” he can’t help the stupid smile that’s on his face. of course she would do that. ryder was convinced she would do that even if she didn’t know clara was his little sister. “i’m trusting that you thanked her, right?”

clara is nodding right away. “of course i did. but i really like her, rydey. she’s different from the other girls. she isn’t… all over you. she’s not kiera.” clara fakes a shudder and a gagging noise, making a rather unexpected laugh to fall from ryder’s mouth. she certainly was not like the other girls that were willing to drop to their knees for him, and he liked that. it was different.

ryder finds himself smiling down at his fumbling hands, “i know, i know. she is different, huh? but you don’t think you’d be upset if she spent a little bit of time around here?” ryder carefully glances up, half expecting a bad response from clara.

but she’s shaking her head and ryder can’t help but smile. even thinking about the idea of her and clara forming a relationship even somewhat similar to the one clara and he had was enough to make his stomach do flips. she had that with willy, and he knew that, everyone knew that. there was just something about thinking of clara and her together.

“i think i’m gonna go to bed, clar. long night. and i think you should too.” clara is nodding, exhaustion visible on her face and the yawn that she lets out doesn’t help her case. “did you stay up just to ask me about y/n?”

clara’s face flushes a deep pink as she stands up from the couch, “i was just curious! i wanted to get the scoop before anyone else, and can you blame me? she’s really pretty, rydey.”

ryder places his hand on the middle of clara’s back, ushering her to keep moving up the stairs because he knew if he didn’t they would end up talking in the living room all night. “i know she is, c. trust me, i know.”

“you say you don’t like her ry, then why are you smiling like you’ve just won a championship?” clara is smiling up at him, and he knows that he’s caught. clara knew her older brother like the back of her hand, being only twelve. they had created such a bond that she just knew when ryder was having a bad day and how to cheer him up. only logan knew how he felt, not even ricky. and he was planning on keeping it that way.

“it’s, it’s complicated, c,” ryder stumbles over his words, not really knowing the right ones to say. it was his senior year. he would be going off to wisconsin in the upcoming fall and starting a brand new life for himself. it wasn’t the time for a relationship. “you’ll understand when you’re older. goodnight, clar. i love you.”

clara lets out a sigh, but nonetheless she’s got a plan calculating in her head. “goodnight ryder, i love you too.”

“the one thing i asked you was to not get close to my teammates and that’s exactly what you did!” you wince at your little brother suddenly raising his voice at you, and you glance over your shoulder just to make sure your parents aren’t coming down the stairs. the last thing you needed was your dad finding out what had happened.

“i know, will, i know,” you sigh, hand running down your face. “i promise, it was only just going out to dinner. we’re not even that close, just partners for a school project. plus how do you think i felt when i heard you went out on a date and you didn’t tell me?”

will’s eyes narrow, and it looks like he’s ready to blow any second. “this is different, y/n! i’m being a regular teenager and going out on dates. but being with my teammate, my captain, one of my best friends? that’s a different story. ryder is just going to use you and you’re going to be exactly what you never wanted to be. but if that’s okay with you, fine. just don’t come crying to me when he breaks your heart.”

“he wouldn’t break my heart, william.” your voice is small and you can barely look at him. of course you don’t know if he would or not. the only proper conversation you had with ryder before high school was in the seventh grade. and senior year ryder was a lot different than seventh grade ryder.

will scoffs immediately, “i’m the one that sits with him in the locker room. i’m the one that sits with him at lunch. he tells me so many things, y/n. i hear things. if there was anyone on that team that would break your heart it would be ryder donovan.”

“well then it’s a good thing that we’re just friends, isn’t it william?”

by his side, william clenches his fists and he lets out a shaky breath. “you don’t get it, do you? just friends don’t get that close to each other. he was going to kiss you! why can’t you just let me live my life completely separate from yours? why do you always have to ruin things?”

“he’s the one that likes me, will!” the words leave your mouth before you an even comprehend what you’re saying, arms flailing in exasperation as you watch the color drain from your little brother’s face.

“goodnight.”

and without another word, the brunette boy turns to go up his stairs, defeat making his shoulders sag. you watch silently as he trudges up the stairs leaving you in the darkness of the corridor. it takes a few seconds, but once you regain your composure you’re following in the ghostly footsteps of your brother.

once you get up to your bedroom you change into sweats and a t-shirt to get ready for bed, cozying yourself in your blankets laying on your side typing out a text.

y/n: guess who’s brother just freaked out at her for hanging out with you:)

rydes:) : what? no way, willy wouldnt do that

y/n: yeah well he did.

rydes:) : what the hell? why?

y/n: i already told you, rydes. i broke the one promise i made to him, we got close

the bubbles pop up on your screen but just as quickly as they appear they disappear, and the words “rydes dono would like to facetime…” pop up instead. you hesitate, but you swipe the little bar on your screen and ryder’s face pops up right as he’s getting into his bedroom.

“talk to me, baby mama.” he says, tongue darting out to wet his lip as he sets his phone on his dresser.

your mouth opens and closes, not really knowing what to say. ryder’s hands reach for the collar of his shirt, pulling it over his head with ease. “will’s just, moody. he’s pissy that we’re friends because you’re one of his best friends and you’re his captain. there’s something about it that sets him off.” of course you aren’t actually going to tell him what william said - that ryder would break your heart. because part of you didn’t want to believe that.

“he’ll get over it, okay? i’ll talk to him at practice on monday and-”

“ryder no!” you cut him off, sitting up in your bed. “you cannot talk to him. you can’t play hero, will isn’t gonna like that. he’s just as pissed at you as he is at me. i don’t want him to lash out at you like he just did to me. i can’t let him do that.”

the pleading in your voice is enough to pull on ryder’s heart strings, and there’s a soft smile tugging on the corners of his lips. “you really care about me, huh y/n/n?”

“of course i do,” you mumble, eyes not meeting the screen as your fingers pick at the threads of your blanket. “i don’t want, you don’t deserve it okay? if anyone deserves it, it’s me. i knew what i was doing, and i knew i was going to upset will one way or another. he knew you were going to kiss me.”

“and i would have.”

his words make your eyes go right up to the screen. there’s an annoying smirk on ryder’s face, one that nearly sends shivers down your spine and one that intensifies the blush on your cheeks.

“‘m just playing,” he finally adds on with an eye roll. you’d be lying if you said you weren’t just a little bit disappointed, but like hell you were going to show it.

“yeah, yeah of course.” you mumble. “i should probably go to bed, rydes. and so should you, i can’t imagine how tired you must be after tonight.”

ryder nods his head, “yeah you’re right. goodnight y/n. i’ll text you in the morning okay? maybe you can come over and we can work on the project.”

“i’d like that a lot.” you smile, a smile of ryder’s own forming on his face. “goodnight, rydes. i’ll talk to you in the morning.”

“goodnight baby mama.”

and with that, the end call noise sounds. you let yourself fall back against your pillows, a blissful smile gracing your lips. god you were falling hard and you were sure everyone around you could tell.

#wwc #ryder donovan #nhl #hockey #nhl imagine #hockey imagine #wisco hockey #ryder donovan imagine #cole caufield #alex turcotte #shay donovan

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choicesficwriterscreations · 1 year ago

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CFWC F/AotW: May 12 - 18, 2024

✒️ = Fanfic | 📱 = Text Fics/Edits | 🎨 = Fanart Ⓜ️ = Mature Content 18+ | 🔥 = Explicit/NSFW 18+ 🏳️‍🌈 = LGBTQIA

BIG SKY COUNTRY

A Miracle Baby ✒️ | Sawyer Oakley x F!MC - @eadanga

THE BILLIONAIRE'S BABY

Mother's Day ✒️ | Cole Stone x F!MC - @eadanga

BLADES OF LIGHT AND SHADOW

Forest Fun 🎨 | Mal Volari x F!MC - @/artbyainna (IG) C: @storyofmychoices

CRIMES OF PASSION

A Rose & A Thorne ✒️ | M!Trystan Thorne x F!MC - @jerzwriter Part 1: The Discovery Part 2: The Resolution

Red Threads of Fate (That Binds Us Together) (Series) ✒️🏳‍🌈 | F!Trystan x F!MC - @rosesnink Chapter 1: The World is a Napkin

IMMORTAL DESIRES

A Pinch of Sugar ✒️ | Seth Olsen-Cooper, Terri O'Rinn - @aria-ashryver

Starlight Smut Supercut - In Bloom; A Respite ✒️Ⓜ️🔥🏳️‍🌈 | M!Cas Harlow x NB!MC - @aria-ashryver

Starlight Smut Supercut - These Bright and Beautiful Things ✒️Ⓜ️🔥🏳️‍🌈 | M!Gabe Adalhard x NB!MC - @aria-ashryver

MOTHER OF THE YEAR

Happy Mother's Day to Laura 🎨 | Levi Schuler x F!MC - @bayleedraws-sometimesx C: @storyofmychoices

NIGHTBOUND

Sleepless ✒️ | Nik Ryder x F!MC - @ladylamrian

OPEN HEART

Complete Open Heart F/AtoW List - Week Ending May 18

THE ROYAL ROMANCE

All That She Wants (Series) ✒️Ⓜ️ | Multiple Pairings - @angelasscribbles Chapter 6: Unvarnished Truths Liam Rys x F!MC, Drake Walker x F!MC

Capitulo (Series) ✒️ | Liam x MC - @belencha77 Chapter 18: Fiesta En La Playa Chapter 19: Cascada Del Olvido Chapter 20: La Manzana De Su Ojo Chapter 21: Una Noche Para Recordar Chapter 22: Tan Dulce Como un Pie

#choices fanfic #choices fanfiction #playchoices #playchoices fanfic #playchoices fanart #choices fanart #big sky country #blades of light and shadow #crimes of passion #immortal desires #nightbound #the royal romance #the billionaire's baby #cfwc fics of the week #cfwc art of the week

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blazehedgehog · 4 years ago

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So rather than attach it to the last (rather large) post thread, I’ll start a new one. If you didn’t catch it on Twitter, friends managed to raise some money through nothing but sheer good will and I ended up booking a stay at the same hotel we should have gotten for free.

I’m starting a new thread because I want to ask a question, but first I want to clarify and provide a better timeline of everything that’s happened. This isn’t exact, but it’s as close as my memory can remember right now:

Late 2019/Early 2020: Whoever owns my apartment complex sells it to a new company in California. The complex is in Nevada. It’s a big apartment complex; it used to be two separate ones that were right next to each other and they merged to create a “project” that houses something like 150-200 units. If you consider families, somewhere in the realm of 300-700 people live here.

April/May 2020: We get a notice on our door announcing that our new owners want to renovate the complex. Every single unit. It’s such a big ordeal that they have to put in to get funding from the State of Nevada to do it. The initial claim is that they will move us out of our apartment unit in to a new unit for up to a month or two (at no cost to us) while they renovate. More information will come in summer 2020 during a town hall meeting we will attend in person. I expect that with the pandemic starting and “shelter in place” orders going out that there’s no way they’d be dumb enough to go through with any of this. The notice ends with them pleading with people not to take this as a cue to move out. In the months to follow, we spied at least four people who were smart enough to get out before the renovation hit. We considered it, but the housing authority we have to rent through went dead silent the moment the pandemic ramped up and have yet to say even a single word to us (even now).

Late October/Early November 2020: The town hall meeting finally happens, online, in a Zoom meeting. Three people in California dictate to the 40 or 50 tenants (maybe more) that attend the meeting how this is going to go. Plans have changed: the renovation will take place across ten days. Very tight schedule. In and out as fast as possible. In batches of 4-5 units at a time, going alphabetically across the complex, units will be renovated. New paint, new carpet, new cabinets, new sinks, new toilet, new shower, new appliances, redone balcony. Renovation teams will come in at 8am and work until 5pm. After 5pm, we will be allowed to return to our unit and sleep there. We will be allowed to keep one bed (per person) and one TV, which the renovation team will move out of the way during the day and return to our unit when they leave. We are also told we will be getting a sealable plastic tub to store personal items (toiletries and such) that the renovation team will also handle. We are assured they will be adhering to rigorous sanitization standards, with multiple temperature checks daily, masks, and gloves. During the day, we are free to go wherever, but the complex will be setting up what they call a “hospitality trailer” -- a communal space for everyone currently effected by the renovation to hang out inside, together. There will be port-a-potties and wifi. We’re told meals will also be provided, possibly in the trailer, but details are unspecific. We’re also told some landscaping will be done. All told, between renovating units and landscaping, they say the whole process from beginning to end will take 18 months or more. Tenants in the Zoom call ask questions -- if we don’t want to stay at the hospitality trailer, we’re told we should consider staying with family during the day. They ignore multiple questions from people asking if this will cause the rent to go up.

December 2020: Renovation begins, starting with apartments in the A block. We’re somewhere near the middle of the alphabet, and going by the ten-days-per-unit estimate, we’re expecting the renovation to hit us around March-ish, maybe even as late as April. I develop an ugly toothache; my face swells up. I do a phone visit with a dentist and he prescribes me antibiotics and schedules me for an appointment on January 18th to pull the tooth.

Early January 2021: Going to check the mail one day, I notice it feels like they’re spending a long time on the first few sets of units. Then, all of a sudden, renovations surge ahead, and units worryingly close to our letter start putting tarps up over their balconies, signalling they’re either mid-reno, or at least packing.

January 18th, 2021: Tooth is “fine” (big cavity, no pain) but we discuss options for pulling multiple bad teeth with this problem tooth, since a lot of my upper teeth aren’t in great shape. Will require multiple rounds of surgery to remove them all and set up replacements. First round of surgery is on February 24th. I immediately wonder if we’re going to get called early for renovation and it’ll land simultaneously with the surgery. I try not to think about it.

January 30th, 2021: We receive a notice that our apartment’s number is due. It’s post-dated, which means the notice is late. We’re supposed to have 45 days notice, and the move-out date listed in the notice is February 23rd. By the 45 day rule, this notice should’ve arrived January 9th. There’s also a degree of confusion: the notice was delivered to our apartment, but the notice is addressed to the apartment below us. Parts of the notice still mention our apartment number. We call the front office for clarification, and they tell us that the notice was indeed meant for the people below us. According to them, we’re in the clear for now. “You’re close...” tells us the person on the phone, “But it’s not your time yet.” We consider preparing early, but it sounds like we have to use the provided packing materials for organizational reasons when the movers come.

February 5th: I record my Patreon Podcast. I mention the renovation. If you consider 10 days per renovation, based on when the notice was actually delivered, I’m expecting we’re going to get our notice in the next few days.

February 8th: We get a knock on the door. A man from the front office is checking in with us to see how packing is going. Packing because the notice was actually for us. It was for all four units in this block. We tell him: we called. They said it wasn’t our time yet. He just kind of shrugs and asks if we need boxes. Of course we do. Our 45 day notice has been cut down to less than 14 days. On top of that, we’ve got doctors appointments and things coming up that’s going to eat in to this time. He says everything has to be in the office-provided UHaul boxes. Even if we have items already in cardboard boxes, they have to be specifically repacked in UHaul boxes.

February 13th: After days of trying to contact my dentist office via email, I finally get a hold of them via text. I try to reschedule my appointment, but the receptionist tells me it’s just another consultation, not surgery. I hope she’s right. The stress of all of this is making it hard to get packing as fast as we need to.

February 15th: My Mom tells me she’s managed to book an appointment for her first round of covid-19 vaccinations. Unfortunately, it’s on February 23rd, the day we’re being moved out.

February 16th: We talk to the people below us, an elderly couple. They’re panicking about packing because they have so much stuff. They mention that the front office booked them a hotel for the duration of their renovation. All they needed was a doctor’s note proving they needed it. Given that my 75 year old mother has a doc appointment literally the next day, this seems like extremely good timing. After doing curbside pickup for a grocery order that day, we pass the movers on our way back in as they are loading a unit in to their Ryder truck. None of them that I see are wearing masks or gloves.

February 17th: Doc visit happens, she implies that he kind of blew her off. She’s had chronic pain in her hands and knees for years, and in particular, the pain in her hands has been getting bad, fast. She wraps her thumb in sports tape because bending it hurts. She used to be a waitress, she used to be a cake decorator, she did data entry for a couple years, and now she’s dabbling with painting. Her carpal tunnel is severe and its accentuated with arthritis. Doctor just kind of shrugs it off, tells her if it gets worse to come back in a few months, even though arthritis can kill people if not treated properly. Still, he writes her a cursory note for the apartment front office. She talks to them and they’re very glad she contacted them about this; it sounds like the kind of thing that’s only available to people who ask, since presumably the owners don’t want to shell out $900,000+ rooming the entire complex in a hotel. Either way, we’re excited; maybe this renovation won’t be so bad. They tell us the name of the hotel and where its located.

February 18th: While doing laundry in anticipation of packing things up for the hotel/renovation, we happen to catch someone in the laundry room who just got back in to her apartment after her reno finished. She tells us a horror story: everything they told us in the Zoom meeting was a lie. They are renovating way more than 4 units at a time, they aren’t going alphabetically anymore, and she theorizes they’re going with a cheaper renovation team because half of her apartment straight up wasn’t done. The new tile was cheap plastic, which was already gouged by the time she got there. No new fridge, no new shower or tub, no new toilet. “Those will be happening this summer,” she tells us. Sinks got replaced, but the new sinks are apparently bigger than the old ones, leaving less counter space (a particular problem in the bathroom). Carpets were new, but already a dirty mess because of the movers. She had to go around and pick up nails stuck in the carpet that were left behind by the renovators. Since they didn’t take the fridge, she got to keep her food in there, which was important for her because she had special dietary food that needed to be refrigerated. The bad news? Some of that food was stolen. She had a broom and a dust pan stolen, too. She mentions how poor communication has been. We mention the hotel, and she lights up. She didn’t stay in her apartment either, they put her up in the hotel, too. So at least there’s that silver lining. Though she regrets it, because they damaged her TV while she was away. She finally helps clarify the food situation for us, too: we’ll be receiving a “food voucher” to pay for our meals, whatever that means.

February 19th: My Mom was supposed to call the front office to confirm we got the hotel, but in all the confusion, she didn’t get around to it. We’ll have to wait the entire weekend to get confirmation. But if the elderly couple below us got a room, and the lady we spoke to at laundry got a room, it sounds like we’re a lock.

February 22nd: The front office checks in on us again, shrugs their shoulders at how behind we are on packing, and offers us more boxes. They only give us large boxes; we need small, medium and especially rolls of packing tape. They mention they’ll have more later once they open the storage unit, but we never get any. Across this entire ordeal, we’ve only gotten a single roll of packing tape. We bought several rolls of our own after being tired of waiting. Front office guy says our fridge is being replaced, but we can still keep food in our old one and we’ll just “come in and change it out.” Whatever that means. Later, after getting off the phone, we learn we were rejected for the hotel. The doctor’s note wasn’t good enough and the head office in California denied our request. My Mom tries to contact her doctor again to get a more detailed note, but he doesn’t return her call. We’re going to be living out of the car for the next ten days. We talk about protesting this; by stopping packing right now and refusing to leave, but eventually decide that would be a bad idea. We don’t want to risk the movers breaking any of our things. A couple friends start spreading around my paypal.me link in the hopes of raising money for us to stay at a hotel. They raise a little over $200, but it’s hard to justify spending that on a hotel.

February 23rd, Morning: By this point, we’re running on empty. No sleep, physically exhausted, stressed out of our minds. Both of us on the verge of tears several times. With everything going on, we’re a little over halfway done packing and there’s no time left. We quickly move from “pack everything” to “pack what’s important so the movers don’t have to touch it.” Whatever we can’t finish, the movers will pack for us. At 7:30am the movers arrive, and they knock on the door at 8am. They are very polite. They are all wearing masks and gloves. We tell them they are nowhere near ready, and they offer to do our unit last. We do the best we can and leave the rest to them. On our way out, we talk to the elderly couple that lives below us, who claim the moving truck won’t be enough to hold everything in their apartment. It’s a big truck and a small apartment. I find that hard to believe. We go park somewhere and doze in the car until my Mom’s vaccination appointment at 10am. More friends, some of them with very large followings, start spreading the paypal.me link around. Momentum begins to build.

February 23rd, Midday: We get to the vaccination place only to realize we forgot some things at the apartment. We quickly jog back across town and plan to ask them if it’s okay if we can go in to the apartment and retrieve it. When we get there, they’re still unloading the couple below us, and I notice they aren’t just taking UHaul boxes, but regular cardboard boxes, too. Given it’s been almost two hours, this might be second truckful, maybe even the third. I grab the stuff we’re missing and we head back to the vaccination park. Afterwards, we hang out at my brother’s just in case my mom has an allergic reaction to the vaccine and she needs help. She’s fine, and by the time we’re through there, it’s getting to be time to head back to our apartment for the night at 5pm. Before we leave my brother’s, I use their wifi to check my Paypal account. I joke, “I’m worried that I’ll open my account and it’ll say $2000.” Combined with the little bit of money I already had in my Paypal, the donations have pushed my account close to $2200. I burst out laughing. “YOU WANNA GO GET A HOTEL?!” I shout. We agree we’ll spend the night in the unit tonight and decide what we’ll take with us to the hotel in the morning.

February 23rd, Evening: It’s close to 6pm and the movers are still there. They were supposed to clock out almost an hour ago. I browse Tripadvisor and Expedia in the parking lot and decide to just book the same hotel they dangled in front of our faces, since reviews specifically point out it’s clean and has extremely good quarantine practices. Expedia lets me pay with Paypal directly, but there’s a problem where it won’t connect to my Paypal account. As I go to transfer the money out of my Paypal and finish booking the hotel, the wifi dies. The movers just unplugged our modem and packed it up. They probably weren’t supposed to do that, and they picked the worst time, too. We spend the next 45 minutes driving around town trying to find free wifi so I can book this hotel. We end up parking at my brother’s place and leeching his wifi from the driveway. Hotel booked, check-in is at 3pm on the 24th. For now, it’s back to the apartment to decide what to take with us.

February 23rd, Night: Upon getting back to the apartment around 7pm, we find it’s... a disaster area. They spent so long unloading all the other units, they did not have time to finish packing and unloading what was left in our unit. There’s garbage everywhere, it’s mixed in with the stuff we want to keep, some of it’s broken, it’s horrible. It looks like they just swept everything off the tables on to the floor. TV remotes and mail are spread out all over the place. They didn’t leave us any lamps, so the only lights in the apartment are the front door light, the kitchen light, and the bathroom light. They might have left us our mattresses, but they didn’t leave us any pillows or blankets. Still, we spent the better part of the night sorting through the “trash” and separating it out in to the stuff we wanted to keep. We pack up most of the apartment with whatever materials the movers left behind, but we eventually run out of boxes and tape. We still managed to pack 99.9% of what was left. From 7pm to 2:30am.

February 24th, Morning: At 7:30am I'm woken up by the movers pulling up. I can hear them joking in the parking lot about who gets the honor of being called "papi" and cracking rude jokes about "assuming gender." They probably think nobody's around to hear them. We ask them for more time so we can wake up and get dressed. As we're loading up the car with stuff to take to the hotel, we overhear the movers complaining about how they are being made to wait because we were supposed to be out of here by 8, and it's close to 9. My Mom gives them an earful about how little time we had to pack compared to how long we should've had. "That's been happening to a lot of people here." one of them tells her. My whole body hurts after days of little sleep and packing extremely heavy boxes. I’ve had a throbbing headache for almost 48 hours. With the dentist appointment at 3pm that afternoon, we go to a park and I doze in the car for another five hours.

February 24th, Afternoon: Dentist appointment goes smoothly; they offer to start surgery, but I explain to them what happened with the renovation and they are perfectly fine postponing until a later date. By now, my feet hurt where the soles of my shoes have been rubbing. My ankles and knees are hurting from being crunched up inside a car for two days. My back hurts from all the lifting. I’m beyond miserable and realize there’s no way I could bare to spend 10 days living in this car. Thankfully, with the dentist appointment out of the way, it’s check in time. The hotel room is nice, but given I’ve never stayed in a hotel before, I don’t have much of a comparison. But when I fall asleep that night, I sleep harder and longer than I have in years.

February 25th: The elderly couple that lived below us at the apartment are here at the same hotel we are, and we talk to them. Turns out, the lady has the same doctor as my Mom, and they were rejected from his note, too. The approval they got for the hotel came from her husband’s doctor, who wrote an extremely detailed note about his oxygen needs. They mention that people living in our complex with disabilities weren’t housed here and they don’t know where they are or what happened to them. They also claim that the food provision stuff from the apartment front office is apparently some kind of a $45/day meal credit we get at the end of the renovation. But again, it’s still not clear, and the apartment itself has never clarified. That night, we return to the apartment again to raid our fridge for stuff to bring to the hotel. Now, if you remember, we were supposed to be able to sleep at the apartment every night. The apartment we returned to was in such a state that it would have been impossible to sleep in. No sinks, no toilets, no stove, no running water of any kind, and all of the outlets stripped down. Literally the only thing we could have done was sleep there; nothing else was possible. And even then, remember: no bedding. No pillows, no blankets, and it’s still winter out there.

Update on things I forgot: Also on the 25th, elderly couple in the unit below us also told of how the movers had thrown their $950 couch outside and left it in the dirt for multiple days, asking if it was “trash” because one of the washable seat covers had a single pet stain on it. (When we visited the apartment that night to raid the fridge, we even saw it) Not only that, but last year, our bathroom tub had been leaking in to one of their closets. They had to shut our water off for several days and fix the pipes. Apparently this caused black mold in their apartment that wasn’t discovered until they started hauling boxes out. Upon bringing it up with the renovation team, they got told “there’s black mold everywhere! it’s in the grass! it’s fine!” The husband went in to take pictures of the black mold, but by the time he got over there with the camera, the renovation team had already painted over it. Apparently another tenant on the other side of the complex had mold problems so bad that she’s been paid to stay at this hotel for more than a month already while they deal with it.

Which brings us, roughly, to today.

Now, the question I mentioned way back at the top: what are my options here, legally? A lot of friends have told me up and down that this is either illegal, or should be illegal, but I have no idea where to start with any of this stuff and frankly I’m a little gun shy. I don’t know what Nevada housing law is like, what renters rights are, and I don’t want to risk being evicted. But I also know that the threat of being evicted is also what keeps people complacent.

All I really know is that basically everything they originally told us was a lie, and they never informed us of most of these changes. As for the rest, well... just read for yourself.

Whatever you know, I’d like to know.

#renovation #timeline

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canadianabroadvery · 4 years ago

Link

“ ....Twenty-five years ago, they might have lined up in the sweltering heat or skipped work to camp out for days in front of a venue’s box office. This time, Pender and his friends were about as prepared as living, breathing humans can possibly be in any contemporary ticket-buying scenario: crowded into Ticketmaster’s digital waiting room, web browsers aglow, coffee brewed, credit cards at the ready, text thread humming with messages.

“You ready? You ready?”

It was no use. Almost instantaneously, all the Ryder Cup’s official inventory was gone. Sold out. A twist of shock, then frustration, washed over the prospective buyers.

“We’re all sitting there, ‘Did anyone get tickets?’ ” Pender recalled. “No, none of us got tickets. I had other friends that were doing it with a group. My brothers were trying to do it. Nobody I knew got tickets.”

They still had options, of course. Minutes after the event sold out, plenty of inventory suddenly became available, priced well above face value, on a variety of secondary market sites. “

#sports #tickets #stubhub #ticket network #ticket resale #ticketmaster #vivid seats

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glittering-snowfall · 5 years ago

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Since I always seem to be “in the middle” about Frozen 2 (I have mixed feelings about it and sometimes I defend it and other times I critique it a whole lot), I’ve been thinking about Elsa’s characterization in F2 and what does and doesn’t work for me.

I know I’m an EA shipper and that colors my perspective. A part of me is always going to dislike the ending of F2 - although it’s not entirely shipping-based. I’m of the opinion that F2 made missteps in the Frohana dynamic and that the focus on characters’ individual personal journeys at the expense of working together did a disservice to the final film.

At the same time, I’m not against the ending of F2 on principle the way some of my friends are. This is going to be controversial, but I do see some potential in F2′s ending. And I think there are some ways it fits with Elsa’s character. (In the same breath, let me say that there are some ways I feel it doesn’t fit with Elsa’s character, but let me make my first point first.)

One of the good things I can see in the ending (and in Elsa’s personal journey across the film and her characterization therein) is that the journey ultimately allows Elsa to broaden her horizons. This seems like a good thing, especially for someone who was cooped up in a castle for years of her life in childhood without the ability to truly live. Another good thing might be (keep a pin in that “might be,” I’ll come back to it later) that it expands Elsa’s support network because now Elsa can have the Northuldra and the spirits around her - and so she can meet new people and expand her horizons that way. Again, I can see a lot of good in that, especially for someone like Elsa who was isolated for years of her life.

Here’s the thing though (and this is part the where I start getting critical of F2). F2 doesn’t really focus on Elsa expanding her support network. It never capitalizes on the idea that, hey, this young woman was isolated throughout her childhood and she deserves to have the ability to make connections with people. Frustratingly, F2 doesn’t focus that much on Elsa’s connections with the people who live in the area she eventually decides to call home. Outside of her brief conversations with Yelena and Honeymaren, the film barely shows Elsa interacting with the Northuldra. In fact, the film basically drops the Northuldra characters from the second half of the film. Yes, they are integral on a conceptual level for the plot because the plot hinges on the wrong that Arendelle did to the Northuldra, the developing Northuldra characters from the film’s first part vanish for a large chunk of the runtime - which, in my opinion, has negative consequences for the Northuldra as characters and for Elsa’s choice at the end of the film.

Since the film isn’t as focused on Elsa’s interactions with her new and old friends - on tangible people living in the world around her that she can bond and interact with - it puts its focus on Elsa’s magic, her connection with the spirits, and Fifth Spirit stuff - which was a mistake, in my opinion.

I’ve talked about this before on my other blog, but I fundamentally disagree with the idea we needed to know “the origin of Elsa’s powers.” In my opinion, that puts more focus on what Elsa is rather than who she is. Moreover, making Elsa’s powers a gift for Iduna externalizes something that worked beautifully as a metaphor for something unique that was internal to Elsa. The “gift” plot thread also introduces aspects of predestination to the narrative that the film really could have done without. And before someone jumps in and says, “But Elsa still has the free will to accept her place as one side of the bridge or not and it’s still her choice,” it’s a choice that is fundamentally muddied by the fact her life has been influenced before she was even born by sentient forces outside of her control. I know the world generally influences people, but we tend not to think of the world as having a Will. And even if we look at things from a religious perspective, God never interacts with us as directly as the spirits interact with Elsa, making the comparison between Elsa’s life and the lives of ordinary people influenced by worldly forces outside their control particularly murky.

Now, some friends of mine talk about Elsa making her home in Ahtohallan at the end of F2, while other friends of mine talk about Elsa making her home among the Northuldra. People have very strong opinions about this, but I’m going to toss something out there: both interpretations of the text are valid and that ambiguity is a problem.

People who argue that Elsa’s home at the end of F2 is Ahtohallan... aren’t wrong, exactly. The film puts way more focus on Elsa connecting with Ahtohallan and the memories of the Northuldra than actually having her connect with the Northuldra. Like I said previously, the actual human Northuldra characters vanish, abruptly cutting off beautiful potential for character development. Moreover, Elsa’s profoundest declaration that she’s “home” comes at Ahtohallan - and there’s some evidence that the writers tossed around the idea of tying Ahtohallan in firmly with the concept of home.

Now, people who disagree with that reading will probably point out that, just because the writers tossed around that idea, doesn’t make it so in the finished film. Just because there are lines in deleted scenes (like Elsa’s declaration that she doesn’t know what the spirits want from her now, but she wants to be there when they do) that suggest the writers didn’t quite know what to do with Elsa and leaned too heavily on the magical destiny aspect, doesn’t mean the finished film totally reflects that.

I’d still argue there are vestiges of it in the finished film, though. We don’t see Elsa living among the Northuldra at the end. We see her standing outside the village instead of within it. We don’t see her riding with the Northuldra at the end, she just waves at them from a distance. But still, she does wave at them! That suggests a happy closeness towards them! She joins hands with Yelena and Honeymaren as she decides to stay, after all. She could indeed live in the village with them.

We just don’t know. It never comes up. I certainly want her to live in the village. I want her to connect more with her mother’s people and explore her culture. It’s a headcanon I find infinitely preferable to the headcanon that her home is the glacier.

But that’s the vexing thing. They are both headcanons - and there are enough details in the finished film that you could plausibly argue either way.

And while I do love the idea of Elsa bonding with the Northuldra in the film’s conclusion, that interpretation also unfortunately highlights the fact that we didn’t get to see that much of Elsa interacting with the Northuldra characters across the movie.

And that just makes me wish we got to see more of the Northuldra - for the Northuldra’s sake, and for Elsa’s.

And all that kind of comes together to establish why the ending of F2 (at least as it pertains to Elsa) doesn’t exactly work for me.

The way I see it, you could fix this either by having Elsa not stay in the Forest at the end (because that conclusion doesn’t quite feel earned) or you could expand the Northuldra characters’ roles - maybe have Honeymaren and Ryder tag along on the adventure. Then we could see Elsa engage with them, learn more about them, maybe better set up her decision to stay at the end.

Both of those fixes work. And I know the EA shipper in me prefers the first option (and, even divorced from shipping, I enjoy the idea of the found family from the first film staying physically together; it’s a personal bias of mine.) But I also really, really would have loved to have seen more of the Northuldra and the expansion of their role because the Northuldra are pretty awesome.

Sorry, this was really long and rambly. I also know I usually write my rambly analysis posts from my other blog, but I wanted to talk more openly about how my being an EA shipper shapes my perspective.

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jacobbenisrael · 5 years ago

Text

Helping Hand _ Jacob&Ryder

Thread Tag: @theoneryderlynn Date: March 14th 2020 Location: NY ____________________

Since moving to New York, about a decade ago, Jacob had focused so much first on his studies, then on work, that somehow without realizing it, he’d spent a big part of his life, on his own, without many friends or family he was close to, other than his father who he tried to visit often, back home in Lima.There was only a handful of people that he would call friends, some of them being recent additions in his life since he decided to be more active on social media and catch up with a few people from the past, that he’d tried hard to forget and ignore ever happened. One of the people he got in touch with, was Ryder. One of the few that had been kind enough to give him a chance and chat without bringing up his “good old self” that he’d been trying to hide away. To his surprise it was his job that got them talking, a subject not everyone wanted to hear about, considering it wasn’t exactly a cheerful topic. Hearing that he’d decided to move to New York, he was more than happy to offer his help and so it wasn’t long after that they’d arranged to meet up and move some boxes and maybe soon Jacob would have the chance to show him around a bit, give him a bit of a New York tour. As much as he didn’t like admitting it, he was hoping for a new friend. Following the directions to his address, he made it there a few minutes earlier, used to driving a bit faster than most and knowing what time was best to avoid traffic, considering a big part of his job was driving around New York. Once he was there, he sent Ryder a text to let him know and made his way to the apartment.

#c: ryder #jj thread

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ofstxrdust-archive · 8 years ago

Conversation

text; alex 😇

ryder: i think i had a weird dream

ryder: or just a weird trip last night

#skylinc #threads; ryder #texts; ryder

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hunnybadgerv · 5 years ago

Note

Writer Ask Meme 3. What is your favorite/least favorite part about writing? 10. Pick an author (or writing friend) to co-write a book with 12. Which story (or: stories) of yours do you like best? why? 17. What things (scenes/topics/character types) are you most comfortable writing? 29. Is writing more of a hobby or do you write with the intention of getting published? 36. Post a snippet 49. Favorite fictional world?

Behind the Scenes of Fic Writing: 30 Questions for Authors

3. What is your favorite/least favorite part about writing? Getting started. Once I’m writing, I can usually find the zone. But it’s getting started that is always the hardest for me. Like this morning, I didn’t know where to even start. So, I opted to edit, since it is something I wanted to accomplish this week. And I know that in the revision process I also tend to refine my prose, i.e., write, so my editing and writing work today coincided.

I have, however, written every day this month and I’m hoping to continue that trend. But regardless of the time of day, getting started tends to be my biggest obstacle overall.

10. Pick an author (or writing friend) to co-write a book with. Must it only be one? Gosh.

There are so many great writers I know, more than I could ever even try to consider for this.

I’ve always admired @theoriginalladya for the uniqueness of her ideas and character development are second to none; I equally love and hate when she and I talk about her characters because I get super excited about them because of how amazing they are. Then I quickly become obsessed, which may or may not be the only “bad” thing. @painterofhorizons has angst super powers; even in a snippet of text she can rip your soul clean from your body. Her writing is so evocative and emotionally striking. Then there is @chyrstis, whose ability to seamlessly weave humor into her fics sparks more than envy. She manages to put characters into such believable, yet laughable situations that it only serves to endear them to readers.

I’m not sure I could ever co-write a piece, but I would count myself lucky to write with any of the writers I regularly associate with, especially one of these three. Apologies to all the amazing writers I know who I did not mention by name, but I already didn’t follow the question in the first place by mentioning three rather than a single one.

12. Which story (or: stories) of yours do you like best? why? Oh gosh. This is so cruel. One story! Really? That’s all. Honestly, First Watch of the Night (Guardians in the Darkness Series) is one of my favorite. I think that might be in part because of nostalgia--it is Nyx Shepard’s WIP. I actually have it planned all the way through ME3, though I’ve currently stalled in the revision process in the ME1 timeline. I’m not sure why either.

I find myself wondering if the reason I have not finished it is because once I know what happens, maybe I won’t have the drive to finish writing it. Maybe I can’t get past the block because I’m worried that finishing their story will vacate those muses from my mind, which I kind of don’t want. I really have grown quite attached to Nyx, Kaidan, and her crew.

Honestly, I think that might be the struggle I end up in with all my longer fics. Short fics in collection are so much easier because the story never has to end. A long fic follows a certain line and has a definite conclusion, which I think worries me.

17. What things (scenes/topics/character types) are you most comfortable writing? Umm, If you were to look at characters like Tayen Quick, Nyx and Feign Shepard, Furia, Remy McGinnis, Mari Ryder, Cyna Mahariel, and Laerke, you’d see a common thread connecting them. I tend enjoy writing strong female characters, especially those that are flawed or broken in some way. Honestly, Nyx and Furia, also to some extent Leah Rook, all share imposter syndrome to one degree or another--so does Mari. I always tend to have one or two characters that share a flaw. I have Mari, Laerke, and Furia who have all lost their entire families. Characters that come from big families. But I tend to write female protagonists more so than males.

29. Is writing more of a hobby or do you write with the intention of getting published? I published a short story in college. And I really would like to be published some day. Right now, I am mostly writing for me. I’ve got original fiction ideas, but I don’t work on them currently. I focus on my fandom work in order to practice and hone the skills and plans I have for future pieces.

I want to write something in the mix of fantasy/sci-fi. But I also have a strong sense of realism. I still hold tight to Mark Twain’s statement that the difference between real life and fiction is that fiction has to make sense. Things have to stem logically from one another in a story, and I always try to ground my writing in experience--sights, smells, sounds, textures that my readers can be familiar with--in order to add some sense of connection. I try to make my characters flawed in ways that feel accurate to them.

A part of me screams in the back of my head that I am a writer. I can be an author, but a part of me worries that perhaps it may not happen. I keep writing. And I keep trying new things. I’ll always be a storyteller. I will keep writing and falling in love with fictional beings and places that I cannot resist exploring.

36. Post a snippet This is from First Watch of the Night. I really love the characters and depth I managed to capture in this piece. Honestly, it’s one of the pieces of my own writing that intimidates me ... a lot. I don’t write the same way anymore. I feel like my writing lacks the same emotional depth right now. And I’m not sure why. It might have to do with how disconnected from other humans I have been in the last decade.

The scene here is Nyx Shepard and her father from Chapter 18:

The two Shepards watched one another for a long moment, before Taranis returned his attention to one of the soft cherries. The commander sighed, sipping her tea quietly while the captain waited. It was his usual tactic. He knew there was more and he could always wait her out. Nyx would talk to him in her own time, even if it had to be in carefully crafted abstractions. His daughter knew the drill. Taranis' methods were nothing new to her. He would take long pauses, allowing her to consider all the things she was not telling him. Then he would ask careful questions in case it was actually related to her current or a classified assignment--since need to know could interfere with her desire to disclose and his fatherly curiosity.

Whatever it was, Nyx held onto it much longer than usual, which told him she really did not want to bring it up. Despite this, Taranis knew she would relent because she kept glancing over at him with a look that suggested she was merely trying to find the way to bring it up. Nyx always came first for him; he redirected his career to give her the life she had, a life where there was always one parent there to hold her tight when things weren't just so. He knew it was not perfect, but he did everything he could to be there for her.

Nyx sighed as she set the tea cup on the table between them. "Fine," she breathed heavily.

It took another few moments for her to look up at him. Then she scooted a little closer, lowering her voice in discretion. Watching her carefully Taranis could not quite be sure what she was going to say, but she bit her lip and winced a little when she finally asked a question he never expected to hear.

"What did you do when you met Mom?"

Everything froze for a second or two as he stared at her. The little blush on her cheeks threw her father for a loop, but made him smile. "Well, damn."

The commander shook her head at him, trying to discourage him from thinking too hard about what she had just asked.

"Answer the question, please."

Captain Taranis Shepard rubbed his hand through the short stubble on the back of his head as he stared at his daughter in stunned silence. "I avoided her. Tried to just keep my distance. I even put in for a transfer," he admitted with a wry smile. "It got denied because I did not put in what command thought was a valid reason. Then, on leave, I talked to your Grandpa Shepard about it."

Nyx smiled and laughed. "And what did the old devil dog have to say about that?"

Her voice held a note of disbelief that her father was not surprised to hear. Taranis' father was a stickler for rules, regulations, expectations. He was strict and set high expectations. The captain could tell by the way his daughter eyed the dregs in her tea cup that she was as completely unprepared for what her father was about to say as Taranis had been when he heard it.

"He told me it was not a weakness to want someone to be part of your life."

Nyx's eyes darted to his. She was easily as shocked as he had been. Moving the tea cup, Taranis laid her hand out in his and covered it with the other.

"I told him all the things, I'm pretty sure you're telling yourself right now. All the excuses about regs, concerns, and bad experiences and stories you've heard," Taranis said quietly as he stroked the back of her hand lightly.

She leaned toward him. Her voice was tight with emotion. "And?"

Holding her hand tightly, her father smiled at her softly. "He told me that there are some things that outweigh the regs."

They were both quiet for a moment as Nyx let herself fall back in the chair. Her mind was clearly racing. Kirk Shepard had always stern, at best; he still was totally by the book in everything except when he met his wife. That was the only rule Taranis could think of his father ever even bending, let alone breaking out right. Nyx had been very close with both her grandfathers; she respected them as men and as marines. For her they were role models, people she that influenced her greatly.

"I'm going to tell you something you probably don't know. My parents met in the service, too. We Shepards seem to fall for our brethren," he said playfully. Nyx did not look relieved in the slightest. "He almost lost her on a mission. Even in love, your grandfather was still the same man. He couldn't justify risking the primary objective. The mission at all costs, you know?"

Taranis knew she understood it. Hell, he knew she lived that decree just as solidly as his father.

"She made it out alive, barely. Your grandfather, sentimental bastard, proposed to her when she woke up from surgery. Grandma Amelie was just as stoic as he was. Told him she would consider it, but only if he promised to do always put the mission first, even if she was in his command. She believed him when he said he would. Even lived up to it. Had to put her at risk once more in the field before they got married."

"And he told you this when you asked him about Mom?"

"Yep," Taranis said, nodding as he studied his daughter's reaction. "I was rather hoping I wouldn't have to tell it to you, but I guess it was too much to hope you'd break the trend of falling for servicemen."

She shrugged and looked at their hands for a long moment. "Seemed to be going well for a while," Nyx said quietly.

"Just tell me it's not the Zingel kid."

Her laugh made him smile, and brightened her eyes. "No, it's not Caz."

Taranis leaned back in his chair, fidgeting with his uniform for a moment. "So, tell me something about this fella."

The way she tilted her head at him suggested that the question might have been her maximum.

"At least tell me his name so I can start checking up and get a little peace."

"Da."

"Fine." Taranis let his hands fall on the arms of his chair. "Don't relieve your old father of the undue stress he is now placed under worrying about what kind of man his plucking his daughter's heart strings."

"Seriously?" she replied with a doubtful look.

They both knew she did not see herself as the type of woman who was plucked, but Taranis had a long and vivid memory and he could still recall the girl with the romantic sensibilities.

"What? I remember the shelves of Austen, Gaskell, and the Brontes. Then there were the sonnets your grandmother always sent you. And if I recall you were planning on marrying Captain Wentworth." He tilted his head at her slightly. "Perhaps I should have seen this coming after all."

They both laughed. Then Nyx sprang forward and hugged her father around the neck. "I've missed you, Da."

"I love you, Nyxy-girl."

Her lips were warm on his cheek. "Love you, too," she repeated before she stood. "I should probably go."

"We should do this again," her father offered, as he stood and proffered his arm. "Soon."

His daughter smiled and looked away for a moment. "Sure. As soon as I can."

Once they exited the little shop, they stopped and he touched her cheek before he bent and kissed her forehead again. He did not like her chosen phrase. Taranis knew she meant it, but he also knew the schedule she had kept for the past several years and there was little hope of relief given the most recent change.

"I'd prefer sooner," he noted.

It always killed him to say what he said next, the phrase was tradition, but always made his heart ache because he knew there was always a chance that he could lose his girl in the line of duty. He had been in her boots and hung them up for her. She had taken them up with fervor and so much more skill and determination than Taranis ever possessed.

"Good hunting, Commander," he said, a waver in his voice, as he saluted her sharply.

Nyx returned it as smartly as she would to an admiral. "Thank you Captain."

Taranis watched the girl with her mother's hair and his eyes weave through the crowds in the wards. He remembered meeting a boy once, at her basic graduation. Keith or Kyle or something that started with a K. He managed to stick around until a few months after her graduation from Exeter. Somehow the kid had stuck it out through three mission deployments before the relationship ended without so much as a whimper. The captain could not remember his name or much else about him. Even after a few years together, his daughter never hinted at the question she just asked. It elated and scared the hell out of him.

49. Favorite fictional world? I really enjoy writing ME and in SWTOR. They are amazing worlds full of science, magic, adventure, and drama. Though I’m also drawn to fantasy for the same reasons. But I think futuristic worlds and space are some of my favorites.

#Behind the Scenes of Fic Writing #30 Questions for Authors #Writer Questions #long post #painterofhorizons

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