#the structure of move-in week is. not to sound like a dweeb. but extremely not introvert friendly.

[arlathen]

i dunk on skyrim a lot but it was the first non-life sim game (animal crossing, the sims) i ever really got into, back in 2016. my freshman year of college was really. really bad for me, and basically all i did was play skyrim. like four hours a day after class, twelve hours a day on weekends. and it wasnt “im depressed because i play skyrim all day” but rather “im isolated ten hours away from all my friends and family, have not made any friends, and don’t have any future goals to work toward to distract myself, so i play skyrim all day”

like if i hadn’t had skyrim to play i do not know what i would’ve done. 

[ecotone99]

[SF] Sassy for Satan.

The final trails of dusk streak through Mariya’s blinds at just before eight thirty pm. There is a slight pink hue against the pale blue of the sky and only a few clouds, the wind blows and makes the blinds bump against the window sill. Mariya reaches out from underneath her cocoon of blankets and presses the on button on the coffee maker on her bedside table. It hisses as it comes to life and soon the smell of mid range French roast is making the idea of getting out of bed more palpable. In fifteen and a half minutes she has showered(though couldn't be bothered to wash her hair, it still looked fine) is on her second cup of coffee and has a record playing on the turntable on the other side of her cluttered room. Yukiko Okada is singing against a fast and upbeat tempo and for a brief moment Mariya thinks today will be a good day. In forty five seconds she is flat on her back and wondering "Why bother." Mariya did not think everlasting life as a vampire would be so tedious. Life's more boring chores tend to seem unending when you are immortal. It seemed so much more glamorous when her perception of it was endless parties of unbridled debauchery, blood orgies, tormenting handsome vampire hunters, or having to keep on the move so as not to alert the humans. "When was the last time I even had to fight or be on the run?" She could not remember. To make matters worse as if existential dread is not bad enough, it was Saturday and she would have to lead the Black Mass for the local coven of mortals who had pledged their everlasting souls in service to her and more importantly Lucifer. "This used to be fun, it was basically a party with violence and all manner of depravity." For a moment her mind travels back through time and she thinks about the haze of blood soaked and alcohol fueled insanity that being a High Priestess in the service of Satan used to bring. Her mind quickly fast forwards to the present day, to the service last week. Fucking goth dweebs that wear vegan leather and spend most of their time bitching and moaning about what is and isn't goth. Mariya rises only because the record needs to be flipped and decides that she might as well get dressed. With one startling revelation her night goes downhill from there. "Fuck." Mariya stands at her dresser and curses the names of God, Satan, Buddha, Mohammed and any other prophet or deity that she can remember the name of. She is out of underwear and will have to do laundry. The sun is still leaving slight streaks she notices with a very slight smile. "I could just go out running into it." She pictures it and in a darkly comical way how absurd it would be to any who saw it. A pale stark naked woman running out of a cheap studio apartment and promptly exploding in both flashes of light and chunks of gore splattering all within fifty feet. Instead Mariya decides to go commando and puts on the cleanest pair of jeans she has and a white shirt with very little coffee stains. Three weeks worth of clothes are thrown into her duffle bag and she is off to the Laundromat down the street. (after taking the record off the turntable and chugging one more cup of coffee) Thankfully true to form someone at the Laundromat has trustingly left their detergent in an empty clothes basket as theirs are being washed. It had been about thirty five years since Mariya last bought detergent, she didn't see the point when it was always laying around. Soon enough the clothes are in and the washer is doing its thing. Mariya scans the place and notices with something that feels a bit like excitement and old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade machine. Twenty five scents is put into the machine and three minutes later Raphael has bitten the dust at the hands of the Foot Clan. Mariya takes a seat next to a young woman reading a comic. For a moment Mariya thinks about making polite conversation or at least the coursory question of what is the comic about. The young woman is wearing earbuds so in the end she doesn’t bother. The crushing boredom of being in a Laundromat quickly sets in and Mariya has slumped down in her seat and she resumes scanning the room desperately searching for anything interesting. Like a beacon from heaven or a siren's song on a tumultuous sea Mariya spots the community corkboard and more importantly the vibrant flier on it. Dead center with a thumb tack in each corner. It is a flier advertising a nine dollar trial month at the local twenty four hour gym and they have just put in a bouldering wall. Visions of climbing sheer rock walls in the desert on cloudless nights flood Mariya's mind. What an intense thrill it would be, and obviously she had the time, limitless time, to train and enjoy it. The flier captivated her, drew her into it and she could see herself at the gym (after dark of course) making friends with people who had no idea who The Cure were or what electro or acid Goth were. Normal people who probably liked sushi and decent mid range cars and patagonia, this was her ticket out of the rut she was in. Mariya spent the next hour and a half sitting in the waiting area thinking about the possibilities that lay before her now that she held the flier in her hands. The walk back to her apartment was much more pleasant and each step was taken with a new found joy that gave her long strides. It had begun to rain only slightly, only enough to warp light into something fantastic and otherworldly. There were not many people on the road and no one else was on the sidewalk at this hour. Mariya could not wait until tomorrow night when she would walk into the gym, pay her nine dollars and learn to climb. For a moment she stops dead in her tracks and thinks that it is a bit odd that with all her years on this planet she had not as of yet learned how to rock climb or boulder. Of course she has not learned to make pasta from scratch as of yet either but what the hell maybe next century. The cinema was advertising this months midnight movies in bright neon bordered windows and Mariya stops and looks at the line-up. Two Fridays from now she decides she will go and see Critters. By the time she arrives back home it is in a frenzy to get ready for the Mass and she should have been out the door heading to the Black Church(it's not actually black, it was just christened that in the eighties.)five minutes ago. Wearing a slightly less bloodstained robe and clutching the ceremonial dagger of Ka'Ndarr in her left hand Mariya runs the entire mile and a half from her apartment to the Black Chruch.(once again, not actually black.) The rain has stopped and only the ound of Mariya's panting as she runs and the sounds of her boots through the mud announce her arrival. Thankfully she is somehow the first one at the Black Church. Though unfortunately in her haste she has forgotten a key element of the Black Mass. The live chicken for the sacrifice which usually is bought from the small market off of fifth was forgotten in her mad dash to make it on time, she also has no idea what she will talk about at tonight's mass, though honestly she could just recycle last weeks and punch it up a bit. The mouth breathers that attend would never know. As the few preparations are made before her flock arrives Mariya wipes last weeks dried blood off the altar, lights all the candles and makes sure the inverted cross is clean and looks presentable. The Black Church itself is an old turn of the century rural church about a mile on the outskirts of town and over the last forty years or so it has started falling in on itself, though that does kind of help to give off the whole "Black Mass/Church of Satan" vibe. Slowly they trickle in, the pale, pimply and in desperate need of any sort of guidance in their lives teens who make up the congregation. Hello's are given and they find their seats on the few structurally sound pews still available in the rotting church. The wind rips through the mostly absent ceiling and Mariya stands at the foot of the inverted cross playing up the theatrical element of organized religion. The sermon is soon delivered, it's a rather stirring piece about the importance of always putting yourself before others and remembering that authority is the true root of all evil. (Which is obviously bullshit, but the teenagers are dumb and impressionable and live on a steady diet of black metal, besides Lucifer is not exactly picky about how he gets his souls, just that he gets them.) The Hymns are sung and the communion wine (Bottom shelf red zin) is passed around in the ceremonial goblet(Halloween city, twelve ninety-nine.) and the evening is coming to it's merciful end and Mariya is chomping at the bit to ditch the nerds. "What about the sacrifice?" It's the chubby one in the back who always wears the iron maiden shirt, Mariya has always found him annoying, a real teachers pet kind of kid. "Unfortunately I was not able to procure the blood that our beloved Lucifer craves, and I alone will pay the penance. I hope you my beloved flock will never have to see our Dark Lord's profound and earth shattering anger." Mariya makes a slight bow as she takes back the goblet from the crowd and hopes they bought her theatrical bullshit. The crowd sits in hushed silence as Mariya starts packing things up. "I offer myself as tribute to the one true Lord of man!" Mariya turns around. It's the chubby one in the Iron Maiden t-shirt. She gives him a long hard stare and in doing so notices several different food stains of different ages and severities on his shirt. One of the dorks somewhere in the middle shouts "Hail Satan." "Hail Satan" Mariya responds with extremely forced enthusiasm. Mariya unpacks the dagger she had just put away. Before she can think of a way to shut down this idea the dork in the Iron Maiden shirt is laying on the sacrificial altar and giving her the thumbs up. The congregation all start speaking in "tongues" and Mariya thinks "Fuck it." The knife goes in, the goth kids go wild, and Mariya yanks out the warm just finished beating heart of the kid who up until just recently was wearing the Iron Maiden shirt. The heart is lit on fire on a small metal tray and the goths pray to Lucifer as black smoke billows and hangs low over the heads of all in attendance. Mariya rushes them out and makes a point to practically push them out the door. "Tonight was great, I can't wait until next week!" Says one of the flock as Mariya shoves her out the door of the Black Church. Finally they are all gone and she too can go home. The air is silent and the scent of blood gives the waning night a slight coppery smell. Mariya reaches into her pocket and pulls out the flier for the gym and looks at the climbing wall and smiles. Mariya throws the body of the deceased over her shoulder and figures he shall make a nice if not easy meal and walks out the door. Soon it will be dawn and she will sleep. Tomorrow night she will go to the gym and start her new hobby. Rock climbing, just thinking the words makes Mariya smile more than she has in years.

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