#the poster is super cool too since it's holographic

[nokchanim]

I just got @nanneichii ’s cute Riko poster and sticker :)))) The poster makes my dorm room even prettier 💕 You can buy her stuff @ her storenvy!

[dracothedeatheatingcupcake-ao3]

Random Knife Post (kinda Danganronpa related, ha)

Oh my god, guys. 

So! Backstory. My family and I decided to do a family outing today and went to this nice place with a bunch of cool shops and things. One of the shops there was a knife shop, and while I’m not super into blades, I do have an appreciation for well crafted knives and swords, as any woman does. So I decided to go browsing and see what selection they had. I’ve been to this store before a few times and they always have some nice looking blades, so it’s always worth a look at least.

Now, I had not been intending to buy anything, since I don’t really need any knives and I don’t really collect them, though I do own a sword. However, I stopped dead when I saw that the shop had these super cool looking switchblade knives that, when folded, looked like motorcycles. And my first thought when seeing these knives was....”Oh my God, this is SO MONDO” (and yes, that was legit my first thought. I am a nerd.) 

I still hadn’t intended on buying any of the knives, to be honest. I just thought I’d take a picture and share it with y’all later, being all “ha look at these cool Mondo Knives!!!” But one of the knives in particular really caught my eye. And after I left the store and wandered a bit, I was like...... “you know, Katie, if you don’t buy this knife now, you know you will regret it later...” so......

I went back and bought the knife. 

😂😂😂😂

I don’t regret it! It wasn’t super expensive and it looks so cool!!! Sometimes it’s nice to be an adult, ha. ^-^ I’ll share some pictures below a read more if anyone wants to see it, both alone and with me holding it. I also have some bonus pics of the sword I mentioned before, so if anyone likes blade you can see that too, ha. 

Also, y’all wanna know the best part of all of this?? I was actually wearing my Danganronpa ensemble shirt that I bought from Hot Topic a few weeks ago today. Ha.

(Click the read more if you want to see the pictures! :-D )

Alright, so here’s a picture of all the knives that I initially took. There were four designs in total, though the one I bought was the one that's second from the bottom, which is a dragon.

Personally, I think Mondo would like the one above the one I bought, since it looks like a regular motorcycle, but I like to think he’d also really like any of these knives, ha. And given his belt, I think he’d really like my knife too. Oh, and if anyone is curious, I think the top one is an eagle, though you can’t see it too well here. I didn’t like that one that much so I didn’t focus on it, ha. 

Here are some pics of me showing that I am Totally a woman who should be trusted with a knife. :-) 

A wider shot so you can see my shirt too, ha. Fun fact: when my brother took this picture, he suggested I hold the knife up to Sayaka on my shirt, to be “true to the game.” I decided against that idea 😂

Here are some close up shots!!! I had this cool holographic gold poster paper I use for a background to some pics, and I thought it looked nice with the knife, ha. Fun fact: I’ve never owned a switchblade knife and was concerned when I couldn’t get the knife to retract after fully extending it once I got home. It took me a couple minutes to realize it had a little switch that kept it open when it’s open, ha. Also! The knife has a little mini light on it and the “seat” of the motorcycle is the button. I didn’t look at the knife before buying it (I totally was gonna buy it no matter what, duh) so it was def a surprise to find! 

Another thing I didn’t know before buying it was that the blade has a cool design of two people racing on motorcycles etched on both sides!!! It’s so cool!!!

Finally, here is where I’m gonna keep my knife! Right next to the little Mondo doll I made a few weeks ago but never posted pictures of since he’s not very well made, ha. But I love him regardless. 

Oh, and the sword behind it, by the way, is actually Sting from The Hobbit and LOTR! I found it for cheap at a local Renaissance Faire several years ago and HAD to have it. They’re supposed to have the faire again this year and if they have Orcrist, I’m gonna get that too. They had it the last time but it was a lot more expensive than Sting, since it’s a full sized sword, but I Really want it. Again, I’m not super into blades, but like... come ON. 😂😂

Bonus:

Just for fun, here are some pics my brother took of me playing dead in a coffin display they had near the knife shop, as well as me frowning at my brother because he is Annoying, as all older brothers are. You can see my shirt pretty well here, ha. Which, by the way, I got at least 3 compliments on today! And I got a couple the last few times I’ve worn it, and even had one dude strike up a brief  conversation about Danganronpa with me when I wore it the first time. I didn’t know so many people liked this game/anime where I live! 

Bonus bonus:

Oh! I found the pictures I took of Sting when I bought it, so if anyone was curious, here’s what it looks like. I apparently bought it in November of 2018. Nice to know. 

~

Anyway!!! I hope y’all liked the knife and bonus pics, ha. One last thing: I now really, REALLY want to draw Mondo holding my knife, OMG. Like... this is a Thing I need. I may draw a rough sketch tomorrow if I find the time, since I don’t have anything for graduate school due. Let me know if anyone else would want to see this, or if I’m alone in my Need. 😂😂

Also, I know this post was long, but I’m super excited about my new knife! I doubt I’ll never use it, but it’s still neat. And if I do ever need a switch blade, at least I’ll have one...... aha. Thanks for reading! ^-^

[four-pages-zine-blog]

Issue 1: Tass

How long have you had your store: I started officially selling clothes after I finished college in 2013 and moved back home to the suburban midwest, so I guess 5 years now! I was working at the local newspaper at the time but was looking for an extra way to kill time, not necessarily even to make money. I started with Poshmark and loved connecting with other people who liked similar clothes, which was actually kind of rare for where I lived. I loved being able to see people showcase their own style in the form of their own closets and let people “shop their closet”. I also became really interested in clothes trading, which I like doing with my irl friends, so the fact a lot of people were willing to trade items was also really cool to me and something I hadn’t seen before.

How would you describe your shop? I think the clothes I sell are kind of more one-off like something that would be worn as a funny statement piece - I love a bright color and bold pattern, power clashing, and anything rainbow, glittery or that can incorporate faux fur in a tasteful way. It’s pretty reflective of my midwestern lifestyle and probably the clothes I consistently have the most of are windbreakers and winter coats, the main way we can express ourselves here for half of the year or more… There are a few sticker art projects I have in my store that I started doing around 2012 out of boredom when I was still in school, the most prominent one probably being the 6 foot tall Britney Spears poster that’s completely covered in (vintage) Lisa Frank stickers but never intended to actually finish or take seriously. Over the years I used sticker collaging as a way to keep my mind off things and have it be a means to add color and vibrancy to otherwise more plain posters/art.

When I first opened my shop in 2013, I made a holographic wall out of posterboards to hang my clothes on and that was my first store display on Poshmark and Etsy and always tried to have unique ways to show my clothes ever since, and to change the look of my store at least once a year. I’ve wavered between thinking having consistent “branding” is best and thinking it’s best to change as my ideas change, and have ended up going with the latter at whatever expense that has had, resulting in my store bio now being “Hi I’m Crazy Branding” lmao. The last time I re-did my store I got a mannequin from the city off Craigslist that I painted hot pink and move around my yard or put against different backdrops/bright colored walls to model the clothes. At one point I put velcro on the back of all my stuffed animals plushies and trolls and stuck them to a white wall in my apartment I was living to use as the background. I used to love to bring around solo holographic poster boards to my friends’ houses before we went out so that we could all take pictures behind them as the backdrop, portable aesthetic is essential.

What era or year is your favorite in fashion? My favorite looks are early 90s minimalistic grunge but not too minimal - Black jeans, velvet dresses, and plain tees, all of that, but then on the flip side I love the super excessive part of those eras of fashion too, like rainbow everything and floating glitter inside plastic holographic accessories. My favorite outfit of all time is something my aunt gave me from her 80s closet, it’s a long elastic teal leopard mermaid-style skirt with a matching teal leopard flowy button down shirt, all cotton and polyester. I love outfits that are completely matching like that and have been seeing that lately in brands that I follow, so I hope that sticks.

What item of clothing in the world are you lusting after or saving up for?

One of those new robot dresses that react to your moods or whatever lmao but if I’m being more realistic there is a designer who I really love that I found on Instagram who knits beaded sweaters using like thousands of different colored beads and completely covers them. They’re works of art and I would love to have one some day and be able to support an artist too! I’m definitely always lusting after new pairs of plain black pleather platform (but not too high anymore) shoes. I love the brand Hot Lava and I guess if I'm saving up for one thing it would be their "Barbed" rainbow matching bralette/pants combo.

Favorite clothing brand/brands and why? Since I usually only buy thrift for myself these days, my favorite brands are probably just based on design only but I love Discount Universe and other sequins-covered clothes or otherwise outlandish/tacky patterns, especially if they’re owned/designed/produced by women - Wacky Wacko, I have the Tabloid Dress they made a few years ago and it’s one of my favorite of all time even though I never wear it I also LOVE everything from Big Bud Press and YardSale666 in general.

What music do you like, does it play a role in your personal style? The music I listen to most now is probably "experimental pop" and growing up I loved pop punk. Both of those have affected my style and stayed with me to this day, I still wear skinny jeans and slip on Van-style shoes most often no matter what else I’ve layered on top of it. I used to like to purposely wear edgy clothes and do my hair to provoke a reaction out of people when I was younger - my brother would pass down band shirts to me that said things like “What the F*** are you looking at?” (lol) and I would cut them off into a crop top and wear it with a super long high-waisted thrifted pink and purple plaid skirt. That was definitely my go-to outfit for like an entire summer straight. I’ve always liked clothes that makes a statement even if it’s in a literal way with words, clothes with a lot of text on them, and I really like the new wave of DIY embroidery, especially on thrifted or up cycled clothes. Band tee shirts were also just like a huge part of growing up for me, buying them at shows and collecting them and wearing them all the time. Also in my shop I have a guitar that I completely stickered/bejeweled which was one of my longest running projects that I really want to make more of. It was one of my brother's old acoustic guitars that he let me completely deck out and it perfectly combines the femme pop elements I love with an actual instrument. Music and fashion are so intertwined all the time I think, and clothes/accessories are something that always stuck out to me about singers and bands too! I love how fashion plays a role in music today too and can make or break an entire aesthetic or era.

Does living in your city/state inspire you? Where are you most creative? Yes lmao living in rural suburban Illinois actually inspires me a lot and I’m probably the most happily creative here. When I lived in the city, things were a lot more stressful so it made me work on a lot of projects to distract myself, but I eventually burned out from that pretty bad. I get inspired by midwestern people but mostly in a way that most people find cringey, I mocked it more when I was younger but now try to tastefully incorporate it into my looks. State Fair Chic is inspiring to me. My mom has a lot of handpainted and iron-on sweatshirts for different holidays that are staples of my closet. Living in the midwest and being bored definitely made me thrift more and imo makes the thrifting better, it made me always be working on craft projects, and always changing my hair and style.

What things do you love to create? I think my favorite things to create are entire rooms and looks, I like to make different aesthetics through combining colors, furniture and fabrics that all feel familiar even if it’s a little chaotic. My long term project with my bedroom was turning my walls of thrifted art (with 20-30 framed pictures) into matching colored frames that fit the whole look of the room, so I guess just really getting at the details of design. I think I’m pretty tacky so I like to stick to things that embody that and will always love stickering huge projects, painting everything plain into bright colors and incorporating anything I find thrifting or in the garbage into larger art aesthetics. My favorite thing to do is thrift and upcycle clothes, furniture, wall art, lamps, etc. anything that I see “potential” in lol.

Who are some of your favorite artists?: There are a ton of artists I follow that inspire me every day, definitely just “regular” people or like more lowkey artists. People who thrift or collect and refurbish toys are amazing to me and I love the doll community on IG. Witches or people I’ve met through astrology who are creating more spiritual art inspire me every day with their words and presentations. I also love comedians and movies, I love John Early and Kate Berlant and recently saw they collaborated with Peggy Noland and Seth Bogart of Wacky Wacko so that was iconic to me.

I collaborate a lot with my brother who has done a lot of graphic design stuff for me over the years. He makes resin toys of his own and designs t-shirts. He’s great at painting and drawing, two skills I never was good at that I really appreciate in him that he is always willing to lend a hand to me. He is two years older than me and went to school for advertising so exchanging ideas and doing projects with him is something I like to do too. He also has more of a background in music production so we recently started trying to make music together. We both love combining fashion and music!

What album do you recommend to pick up ASAP? Hayley Kiyoko - Expectations, hands down the vibe for summer

Follow Tass on Depop!

Depop.com/trashbitch 

[citadelsushi]

Mind Over Matter Ch.7

A canon divergent fic. Human kind is left scared and angry after The Council bans them from further space travel after the First Contact War. Director Udina plans to use the Alliance to rid Earth of biotics, who are viewed as alien in their own right. Cerberus has other plans for their abilities and is more than happy to provide Shepard the resources she needs to build a team and fight back. Of course, help from The Illusive Man always comes with strings attached.

Chapters 1-6 found here. Also on FF.net and AO3

Shepard checked her omni-tool as she entered the elevator, taking her place beside Kaidan as the doors hissed shut. According to her 'tool, an hour had passed since they had arrived on the Normandy. If Jacob was correct in stating they had two hours tops before reaching their Cerberus destination, they didn't have much time left aboard the ship. There was still so much she wanted to accomplish in what little time remained.

She glanced over at Kaidan, who was busy with his own omni-tool and didn't notice her watching him. It was strange to see him, the Alliance's favorite biotic, in the black and white Cerberus fatigues. It was even stranger to see him looking relaxed for the first time since they met. Addyson had expected him to be more stressed after finding out what was happening on Jump Zero, not less; the odds certainly were stacked against them, neither of them knew what they were walking into with Cerberus, and his fear for the lives of the people they left behind on the station was well founded. Yet there he was, fiddling with his 'tool, looking as cool and collected as she had ever seen him.

If she were perfectly honest, Addyson was far from feeling at ease. When word came that the biotic round up was happening much sooner than anticipated, Anderson had barely enough time to give her a list of soldiers she was supposed to recruit, let alone properly brief her. There had been no mention of working with a private corporation. She was operating blind, her actions based fully on the trust she placed in Anderson; if he listed Miranda Lawson as a contact, he must have known about Cerberus. He must have believed teaming up with them was the right move.

Still, Shepard felt as if she were stumbling around in the dark, lost aboard a foreign ship full of operatives working for a ghost. Briefly, she found herself thanking no one in particular that Kaidan had followed her off Jump Zero. Having another Alliance biotic by her side was comforting, as was his newfound calmness. She just hoped she made the right call and wasn't leading them straight into a trap.

The elevator reached the second deck and the doors slid open. Kaidan looked up then, and a surprised look passed over his face when he found Shepard was already looking at him.

A soft heat burned at her cheeks when his eyes found hers, and Addyson winced internally at the feeling. She offered a small smile, hoping her face hadn't shown evidence of her embarrassment over having been caught watching him.

“Good luck, Kaidan.”

Shepard brushed a hand against his wrist, her smile growing as their biotics clashed and a small jolt of electricity jumped between them. He clearly hadn't been expecting the contact and she noticed him instinctively start to withdraw from the shock, but he stopped himself just as quickly.

Kaidan nodded, a gentle smile playing across his lips.  “You too, Shepard.”

She returned his smile and stepped out of the elevator, the doors hissing shut behind her. Addyson paused, taking in her surroundings with more care than she had her first time in the CIC.

In the center was a map of the galaxy that, even from a distance, she could see included systems far beyond the limits of human space travel. The inclusion both excited and disturbed her. The Normandy was an incredibly advanced frigate; Addyson wouldn't be surprised if the Illusive Man had more ambitious plans for the ship, but going beyond the limits set in place by the Council species was a death sentence not just for any ship that dared travel that far, but for all of humanity.

Addyson pushed the thought from her mind. Maybe it's just for completion's sake. If Cerberus had plans of leaving human-occupied space, she would just have to hope that her business with them was done before they acted. For now, she had to focus on the task at hand. For Kaidan, that meant going down to the lower decks and poking around; with any luck, he would find files on the ship, Cerberus, and the Illusive Man himself. For Shepard, it meant getting to know the crew.

There were plenty of bodies working about the main area of the CIC, but she wrote most of them off for the time being. She needed insider information about Cerberus. She needed higher ranking members to befriend. Basic support staff would have to wait. Regardless, she smiled and greeted each staff member warmly as she made her way to the bridge.

It occurred to her that Lawson and Taylor were likely the highest ranking operatives aboard the Normandy, but Addyson wasn't quite ready to go toe to toe with Miranda again. The woman had rubbed Shepard wrong from the start, and her wanting to leave Kaidan behind had almost convinced Shepard to take her chances on the station rather than follow Lawson's lead. Jacob had been friendly enough, but his siding with Miranda was enough to discourage her from seeking him out first; he would be around when they landed, anyhow.

Meeting the pilot seemed like the best course of action.

When she reached the bridge, the man in the pilot's chair had his back to her. Shepard opened her mouth to speak, then clamped it shut. How was she supposed to address the pilot for a non-military ship? Would he still be considered a flight lieutenant?

“Hey there, Shepard. Long time, no see.”

The chair swiveled as the familiar voice spoke, and Addyson struggled to keep her jaw from falling to the floor. No way! Happiness washed over her at the sight of him; his beard, as usual, was grown longer than Alliance regs deemed acceptable, and his eyes alight with merriment as he looked up at her from his chair.

“Joker!”

Addyson couldn't contain herself. She launched herself forward and wrapped her arms around the pilot, who groaned and huffed against her. It had been months since she had seen Joker; it wasn't easy staying in touch while he was incarcerated.

“Come on, Shepard.” He groaned, “Get off me before you break a rib or something.”

A grin stretched ear to ear as Shepard gave her friend one last squeeze before straightening. He looked the same as always, though he had a few more lines around his eyes and his usual blue Alliance cap had been replaced by a black and white one that read SR2.

“What are you doing here?”

Joker shrugged. “Some fancy lawyer showed up one day and got me out. Real shady, actually. Like he was straight out of The Godfather. The guy told me he had an offer I couldn't refuse.”

“And being the pilot of this ship was the offer?”

“Can you believe it?” Joker was ecstatic, “I'll admit, it was weird at first, working for some super secret organization that wants to take out the Alliance, but hey, it's nice to be recognized for my talent.”

Shepard didn't blame him one bit. Joker was arguably the best pilot she had ever met, yet his flying expertise had been all but overlooked his entire life due to his illness. Having brittle bones prevented him from normal physical activity (hell, he could barely walk without braces and crutches), but little else. His need to prove himself fueled many of his actions, and he had fought tooth and nail to enlist in the Alliance and flight school when he turned eighteen. It paid off when he surpassed all other students in his class, and even some instructors. Or so he had thought. Unfortunately, being an exceptional pilot wasn't enough to convince the Alliance's commanding officers to overlook his handicap.

“When did you get out?” Shepard was still grinning, unable to wipe the expression off her face.

“Okay, first of all, stop looking at me like that. You're really creeping me out. I got out a couple weeks ago. I've been on the Normandy since.”

Shepard obliged, the smile dropping from her face and a frown taking it's place. “You've been out for two weeks and didn't tell me?”

Joker held his hands up as if in surrender. “Boss's orders, Shepard. No coms allowed.”

“The boss being Anderson, or the Illusive Man?”

“I mean, technically neither is paying me so...” Joker chuckled at the pursed lip expression Shepard shot him before continuing, “Neither wanted me to talk to you. Too risky. Ya know, with the government wanting to kill all you biotics and us committing treason and everything.”

Shepard exhaled heavily and maneuvered herself into the co-pilot's chair, allowing herself to flop against the leather like a sack of potatoes. She was relieved that Anderson had a part in Joker's being there and that it wasn't just Cerberus hiring someone she knew to keep her complacent.

“How has it been? Working for Cerberus?”

Joker had swiveled back around in his chair and his fingers made themselves busy on the holographic interface before him. “Great, so far. Working for the Illusive Man is like working for a ghost. If it weren't for Miranda, I'd be king of this place.”

A small scoff burst forth from her throat at the mention of Miranda. “I take it you're not her biggest fan either?”

Joker chuckled. “I'd never say anything bad about Miranda and expect to survive the reprisal. But she's not all bad. I mean, have you seen that outfit she walks around in? I used to have a poster like that on my wall.”

Shepard shook her head in begrudged amusement, her hand raising to smooth the crown of her hair and hooking around the back of her neck. She didn't know what outfit he was referring to, she had only seen Miranda in the same plain outfit she and Kaidan had been wearing at Jump Zero, but Joker's comment produced the mental image of something either very tight or made of very little material. Maybe even both.

“What about Jacob?”

“Jacob? He's way too nice a guy for someone who spends all day doing sit-ups and training to kill people.”

A quiet snort blew from her nose. If all Joker had to say about Taylor was that he was nice, it had to be true.

“I heard you convinced Lieutenant Alenko to sign on with us. What'd you have to do to swing that, Shepard? Seduce him?”

Sarcasm dripped from his words and Shepard noticed the corner's of Joker's lips twitch upward as he tried to suppress a grin, clearly amused by his own joke. Joker hadn't met Alenko before, but like the rest of Earth, he had seen him plenty on the news. Addyson knew he wasn't a fan of the lieutenant; he had never been able to understand how a biotic could be so steadfast in defending and supporting an organization that caused so much pain to his own kind.

“Ha ha, Joker.” Shepard straightened slightly in her chair. “I didn't have to do much convincing. He got to see it first hand. I thought I was going to have to carry him out at first.”

“Ah shit, now I feel like an asshole.”

In truth, Shepard had never understood Kaidan's actions either. It wasn't until she watched him in the mess on Jump Zero, selflessly running to aid the woman who fell victim to the Alliance soldier's brutality, that she had gained any sort of mutual understanding. Addyson had chosen to stay in the Alliance after BAaT because she believed in the cause; she wanted to go to space, she wanted to serve Earth, and she wanted to make a difference. She supposed Kaidan's reasons were similar. She also supposed that if it weren't for Anderson's guidance, she would have developed the same blind devotion to the Alliance that Kaidan had.

If it weren't for Anderson, they would both still be on Jump Zero.

“Just try not to act like one when you meet him.”

Joker's focus didn't leave the panel in front of him, but she could still see the playful light gleaming in his eyes.

“Uh oh Shepard, you sound a little protective. Anything I should know?”

Addyson pursed her lips and inhaled deeply, her sigh coming out as an exasperated groan as she stood from the co-pilot's chair and moved behind Joker, who was now grinning shamelessly. She stealthily moved her hand behind his head and delivered a quick flick to his earlobe, laughing when he yelped and slapped his hand over his ear.

“Just focus on flying the ship, Joker.” she spoke through her grin.

She heard him mumble something under his breath about abusing the pilot and she simply shook her head. Joker could be an arrogant, sarcastic asshole sometimes, but it was good to see him. It was good to have a friend she could trust flying them into the unknown.

Shepard turned on her heel and began walking back down the bridge way. Catching up with Joker would have to wait, unfortunately; she still needed to find a legitimate Cerberus agent she could charm into divulging too much information. As she stepped away, Joker called after her.

“I'm taking that as a yes!”

[squid--inc]

Burning Cities. Chapter one: I'm Leaving

Imagine waking up to the view of miles of clear sky, cut by jagged, dark mountains. Every day, this is what I see, a full view from a huge window in my room. I suppose that it's normal though. almost everyone I know has a similar home, built into the mountains. the poorer a person is, though, may leave them with an apartment or something within the mountain. anyway, that would be normal living for a Sky Islander.

While this is an awesome view to wake up to, the fact that my siblings like to play pranks on me, and have set my alarm clock two hours earlier than it's supposed to be, tends to spoil the view.

I have a lot of my favorite bands and characters posted on my wall with holo-posters. some mornings I get freaked out, because they pop out and look almost real, but i mostly do that after a rough sleep. like this morning.

Mika Dimatsu is one of my favorite singers, and i have her album from thirty twenty eight, chasing escape, above my bed, which involves her sprinting out of the poster with a bunch of fictional animals chasing after her. yep.

I freak out quietly for five seconds, then gain my composure again, which isn't much, since I just woke up.

Anyways, my schedule usually has me get up about three hours before school, which starts at eleven am, and that includes the hour it takes to get to school. i`m currently up at six am, which sucks.

I suppose i could try to fall back asleep, but i know for a fact that that wouldn't work. Instead i go to my guitar, which, might I add, is actually a physical instrument, and pretty much the coolest thing i own. This particular one was made around twenty sixty seven, around when people stopped making real instruments for regular people, and is the most expensive thing I own. If you're in an orchestra, or something like that, you can apply to get one, but most people are not interested nowadays. I'm incredibly lucky that my grandfather gifted it to me when I was ten.

It`s a little sad, y`know. I mean, yeah, there are things like HI, or programs you can run that will let you make entire musical works on your own. Heck, I even have a holo-tar, and it's really awesome. But, honestly, nothing beats strumming a real guitar with physical strings. it`s a beautiful feeling.

while I probably could start playing it now, considering our house has sound proof walls, necessary from being next to a wind farm, I just get my holo-tar set up, put in some headphones, and play. I play a part of a Dmitri Harris song, which contains a lot of sound shifting. He did have a tendency to make really complex music, shifting through at least six different types of guitar, and sometimes other instruments entirely, in under a minute. Although, most of his work ranges from four to twenty minutes long. he actually contributed to the making of the holo-tar by playing guitar along with these holo-tech  people so they could ensure that the holo-tar measured up to the real thing back, way back in the twenty five thousands. It's pretty awesome. I really want to be a musician when I grow up. Granted, showing up in person to meet any fans or doing interviews would probably be horrible, because I have some... Issues... But still, there are ways around that. Like, holographic versions of me, and virtual reality concerts are super cool. There is, in all honesty, plenty of ways to be a star from your living room, if I'm being honest

But that's a long ways away, and i need to be by far more skilled by then. so for now, I stick to my bedroom, write some of my own songs, and that sort of junk.

I spend around an hour doing the whole pondering music and playing. I also continue to see I'm nowhere near as good as Dmitri. or Mika. I'm not that good. oh well. I stop when my stomach growls. I did skip dinner to catch a film when the least amount of people were there.

I grab a pair of sweats and a holo-tee, easily finding them with the organizer device my dad set up. It's useful, up until you get to food. there are quite a few bugs in that specific area. Suffice to say milk in the freezer, and eggs, somehow, in the oven make a problem.

I head out of my room, over to  the bathroom, to brush my curls, wash my face, and clean off, before getting into the bath. When I'm done I change back into my clothes, and putter out and down the two flights of stairs, we have a slightly larger than average house, and head to the kitchen. Perks of having an engineer for a dad, and a patrol officer for a mom.

When I get there, my mom is making her lunch and getting ready for work.

She has a really cool job in the Sky Patrol. This means  she gets to fly around the island in a glider suit, with a few extra parts than your average glider suit, and watch out for criminal activity, like thieves, or murders, and that sort of thing. It's awesome, but I don't think I could do it. A few months ago, one of my mom's friends got kidnapped and cut up, because she stopped this big slave trade from going down. It`s rather horrifying. My mom almost quit her job because of it. But she stayed, said it was pointless, if not worse for the Island, if she gave up.

Most people don't care that much about who my mom is, even though she's borderline a superhero, mostly because the force is made up of women, but if my dad joined, people would be much more curious. He’s quite a bit heavier, and Sky Patrol members usually have to be very light. He has too have a specialty suit in order for it to work properly. Granted, his job is pretty cool, too. He operates at an energy facility, hence why we get a sound proofed house. he, along with several others people, help maintain the wind turbines, which is incredibly dangerous. For one, we`re on a mountain, so he could fall off, and the wind is crazy strong. also the reason why most places like where I live have exits built to less windy areas that require you to navigate inside the mountain.

Back to what's happening.

I say,"Morning."

She looks over to me, surprised, but smiles, and says," Skyler? morning. why are you up so early?"

I grab a box of wheat puffs from the cupboard, and respond with," Alarm clock went off early."

She nods," So what've you been doing all morning?"

Really? I couldn’t have avoided this? 

I sigh," Using my holo-tar."

she frowns a little, but continues, sounding every bit like this is a normal conversation, not her disapproving of anything," hmm, fun hobby."

I groan. we've had this conversation many times before.

she says," You have two years left. You need to start thinking about this, and when you get back, you need a job that can support you. Music is not gonna do that, unless you get extremely lucky."

I push out a puff of breath," Mom, I know, and I'll figure it out. And, anyway, engineering, and sky patrol are a lot more difficult than music. For me, at least."

she snorts," yeah, but they pay better, and are a lot more practical."

"Mom, you don't get that I'm not good at either of those. I never will be. Plus, what’s practical about almost getting killed, maimed, or something on a regular basis?"

"You can get a job elsewhere." she says, turning to look at me.

I give her a look. she purses her lips.

To explain what's happening, I have seven siblings, four sisters , technically five, and three brothers.

The ,technically, eldest is Kaya, and she moved out to be a teacher. My oldest brother, Rin, is in training to become a surgeon (he's still living with us for now while studying). Jay is planning on going into anthropology, and Finch wants to go into marine biology, and they will be eighteen in a couple months, so they have to go In Land soon. My sisters Siana, Sierra, and Silvia are  planning to go into become soldiers for the Sky Island military, but they're all seventeen right now. Raina, the actual oldest, she left, and stayed In Land. we don't talk about her.

essentially, no one is going into the careers either of our parents picked, so they want me to, and disapprove of any other job. It kinda sucks being the youngest sometimes. Not that I can admit it out loud. Though, every part of the family has it’s downsides, I suppose.

she gives it up this morning, " Well, I have to head out to work. Love you."

I give a tight lipped smile back, " love you, too." which I do. But sometimes, well, she's a bit pushy.

I'm left alone in the kitchen, with my thoughts.

I suppose this is a topic coming up lately. I will be eighteen in TWO YEARS. not much time. I mean, yeah, I could leave and go In Land early. the whole rule is you can go inland, to Maine or Main Land, after the age of eleven, at the earliest, and, at the latest, eighteen. you spend a year there, try to survive, and decide whether you want to stay there or come home. I don't know who made it a law, but everyone from the Islands has to go In Land at some point; after that one year there is no travel between them, you have to stay where you pick, back too the Islands, or stay In Land. it's also impossible to get a stable connection between the places. You can't call, you can't text, you can't do anything. I don't know why. I've also heard about people sending actual mail, but everyone I know who's tried that never get anything back. to be fair, most people who leave permanently don't really care about their families or friends. Either that, or they have none, I guess.

My friends and I plan on going together on my 18th birthday, seeing as I'm the oldest. My friends are Raven and Fred. Raven is pretty cool, she was born on Sky Island, but her dad's a Sun  Islander, so she has really dark skin, and she’s really tall, so you can pick her out of a crowd easily. She also has this weird thing that's different from anything either of her parents have, which is naturally blonde hair. Raven was named after a white raven that her grandmother saw while her mother was pregnant with her. They're all certain it was fake, considering she always had hallucinations in her life. But, well, there is still some superstitious stuff about all that, which I like to keep an open mind about. I don’t fully believe it, but it’s still interesting.

Okay, so Fred is the product of an ex Sky Devil member (which was a really cool gang that actually messed with a lot of slavers and pirates), and an indie filmmaker. He looks like your average sky islander, dark hair, hazel eyes, and just really soft smooth skin. Hes a bit darker than most people i know, and a bit taller then me. When we were in middle school, i had a crush on him, but we were friends and i didnt want it to be weird. Hes really a cool guy, and he loves old Sci-Fi movies, plus he's really into video games. It's kinda weird how he constantly has a conspiracy theory for, like, everything, but he's generally iced.

Not gonna lie, iced was one dumb slang term that came up around the twenty nine forty's, but Fred got me using it ironically, and, well, it stuck.

I have known Fred since i was a baby. our families are relatively close. Raven and i met when we were in grade five. she moved from the east side of the island to go further into the mountain ranges. I suppose people were prejudiced to her and her father there. If it weren't for how well off they are, they probably would have been stuck there, or, possibly, she would never exist to begin with.

Anyway, I sit down to eat, when Rin walks in, face down to a textbook. I take a few bites, watching him go about his regular routine.

He looks a lot like our dad, which, I suppose, makes a lot of sense. We share the same dad, but he was, which is what the triplets like to call him, a test tube baby. My dad and his late husband did look kind off similar. they also adopted Kaya, Jay, and Raina. Then, his husband died, but after that, he felt obligated to give his kids a second parent, and married my mom. She was a single mother, raising Finch plus the triplets together, and was having a hard time. They actually got along quite well, which is why they got married so quickly. He planned on searching for a while, but, they fell in love. After that, they had me.

Rin put the textbook down, and heads over to the refrigerator.

I say,"Morning."

He turns his head a little, before going back to searching,"Morning."

Really, all there is for the next ten minutes is silence and searching. When he sits down to eat, he continues to read.

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