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veliseraptor · 5 years ago

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2019 Fanfiction Round-Up

I’ve done one of these every year since 2016, so here we are again. At this point I’d feel weird if I didn’t do it, even if it takes a long ass time to do.

Total Year-Long Wordcount: Here as of 8:20 PM, 421,602 words - which includes some essays and original fiction but is, by and large, mostly fic.

If you’re curious, that’s 35,133.5 average words per month, and 1,155 words per day. The month I wrote most was 48,006 words (January) and the least was 21,550 (October). I may go into more stats later to compare to my 2017/2018 spreadsheet, because that’s the kind of loser I am.

This year I wrote and posted: This isn’t exact, because it includes chapters of things I wrote as separate fics, but probably something around 60 fics.

Overall Thoughts

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d predicted?

Less, by a substantial margin. There are a lot of potential reasons for this (a new job that takes a lot more energy and time, me making a concerted effort to socialize more, taking on more difficult projects that require more time/work/effort, a two month horrendous depressive episode) but I’m trying to tell myself that it doesn’t matter why, and it’s totally fine that my total amount written doesn’t match recent years’. Over 400,000 words is still a lot of writing.

What’s your own favorite story of the year?

This was a hard year, so I’m going to be self-indulgent and pick a few. I remain really, really proud of the fact that I wrote gather frankincense at all, and pretty proud of how it turned out also. good lord turned his back on me was one that I wrote basically all in one go, and I was really pleased with the Natasha POV and getting to write in her voice - I do that shockingly rarely, and haven’t in a while. I really liked both writing that fic and the arc of it - what it did as a story.

Finally, continuing with the trend of “small fandom fic” which...I wrote a substantial amount of small-fandom fic this year, which pleases me - how this grace thing works. It was in the works for a long, long time and finally was finished this year - it’s the (for lack of a better word) softest Doctrine of Labyrinths fic I’ve written, and quite possibly ever will write.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I wrote in two different fandoms that I hadn’t written in before or hadn’t written for years. Okay, in fairness I did some Doctrine of Labyrinths writing last year, but this year was really the bulk of the recent writing I’ve done for it. Writing for Lymond was a substantially bigger risk. Glad I did it, and I learned that I could do it, but...

I wrote a fic for someone else in second person, which was certainly a risk in a different way.

Overall...I learned that while I can write in first person still, I deeply prefer both third and second person overall. One of those isn’t surprising; the fact that I’ve come to actually really like second person sometimes is more so.

From my past year of writing, what was….

My most popular story of this year:

As usual, excluding my multichapter stuff because that skews results a lot - by hits it was how the dead walk; by kudos it was Seams and Scars, and by both comment threads and bookmarks it was Mirror, Mirror. All interesting! Seams and Scars is the most surprising to me, but also pleasing considering how goddamn long that fic took me to write (I’m so glad I finally finished it this year).

Most fun story to write:

Five Hundred Ways to Discorporate a Demon. Aka the most light-hearted “repetitive character death” fic I’ve ever written. It was just...writing Good Omens fic this year in general was a lot of fun. It’s a departure from my usual voice, and my usual wheelhouse, but probably because of that was really enjoyable to explore. Though in a weird way good lord turned his back on me was also a lot of fun, in the sense of...it was one of those fics that was easy for me to write. It came out smooth and in a way that I liked basically right off the bat, which is rare and a great feeling when it happens.

Story with the single sexiest moment:

This was kind of a challenging one, actually, because what I find sexy sort of fluctuates based on what I’m in the mood for at the time, but I might go with the sex scene in The Waxing Moon, partly because, as I discovered writing both that fic and An Ever Expanding Circle, I apparently find cocky Thor really sexy. I sort of resent this. (So does Loki.)

Most “Holy crap, that’s wrong, even for you” story:

Yeah, I’m going to go with no good doing what I’m told, aka the one where I had a bunch of existential angst about “is this too much? am I going too far?” which...yeah, is always a sign of something considering how high my bar for myself has gotten.

Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:

I have a hard time with this question every year. In some way, every story I write shifts my understanding of the characters, or at least deepens it. I guess maybe After the Fire - I dug into Curufin’s head more there than I have in a long time, and since I last did my understanding of him has changed generally. This fic developed more of that changing understanding.

Hardest story to write:

The Compassion of the Wicked. Even more than gather frankincense, that fic fought me, to the mat, and almost won a number of times. Writing the sex in it was an adventure - I think I noted when I finished it that this is possibly the least explicit fic with explicit sex that I’ve written. Also possibly required the most research, and by “required” I mean “I chose this.” And writing Joleta was...it took me some doing to figure out how to write her, which surprised me a little.

Anyway, the whole thing was just. A whole barrel of struggle. I’m pretty pleased with the end result, but yeesh.

Biggest Disappointment:

As usual, in myself, for not working more on my WIPs and not finishing we live until we die. I wanted that to happen this year, I really did, and while I suppose it’s not surprising it didn’t (there was a lot of planning that needed to happen, and continued to need to happen), I’m still disappointed.

Biggest Surprise:

Other than “the fact that I wrote Lymond fic at all” and “the fact that people actually read the Lymond fic I wrote”? Probably the continued and aggressive expansion of the Where the Devil Don’t Go verse. I thought it was over after I wrote drown my woes in a lake of fire but then it turned out that there were (checks) five more installments I was going to write, and two more in the works, and one other that is on Tumblr but not cross-posted.

I did not see that coming at all.

Most Unintentionally Telling Story:

I never really know how to answer this question. I guess sometimes there is an obvious one, usually meaning “Jesus, Lise, how fucked up can you get” and in that sense it would definitely be no good doing what I’m told, but...I actually think in some ways it might be how the dead walk. It isn’t...exactly the same as my issues, but there are some ways in which it aligns with them in ways that are different from the ones I usually work with when I’m writing Loki.

Favorite Opening Line(s):

1. The first thing that Felix noticed about Malkar was his hands. (The Anvil and the Chain)

2. The moment he was left alone, Maeglin stumbled to his feet, untethered the nearest horse, and set off back toward the smoke and flame still visible on the horizon. (how should I begin)

3. For the first month and a half after Rocket’s friends arrived on Midgard, along with the remains of Asgard’s population, Loki avoided Gamora with the skill and determination of a mouse evading a fox. (came through the jaws of Death)

4. In the summer of the Year of Our Lord 1000, there was a false alarm, brought about by millennial fever both Up and Downstairs, that the Apocalypse was imminent. (Mercy)

5. A long while ago Loki had read, in a book that was now ash, about the formation of storms. (we haven’t slept in years)

Favorite Line(s) from Anywhere:

1. I was lying on my stomach with shackles on my wrists and ankles and the water was rising. Someone, somewhere, was crying. It might have been a ghost. It might have been me. (As I breathe, he burns my lungs like fever)

2. Like my fear of water, fear of Malkar ran in my blood, and was as much a part of me. (The Road to Mourning)

3. “I am not in the mood for indulgence. Is there a purpose to this pageantry, o my Pasha?”

“Save that it is my pleasure?” Gabriel regarded him with a touch of amusement. “You would rather I tied you to a whipping post and had you flogged?”

“You would gain marks for consistency,” Lymond said. (gather frankincense)

4. “Because you are the flaw. You are the fault along which the stone splits. You are what is wrong.” (Mirror, Mirror)

5. “Would you rather I were?” Loki said, and there was something soft and vicious in his voice even with the lingering rasp that made the hair on the back of Clint’s neck all stand on end. “I think not. I am aware that you do not want me here. No doubt you would rather have Thor. That is fine; I would rather you had Thor, too. Don’t think I am not aware of the long and manifold list of my failures. That does not mean I want them enumerated to me by you.” (the enemy of my enemy)

6. “I am too beautiful to die,” Celegorm said with confidence.

But you are going to, Curufin thought. We all are. Condemned as surely as if we were Secondborn. Maybe not now, but... He held his tongue and simply said, “oh, naturally.” Celegorm wheezed a laugh and closed his eyes again. (After the Fire)

7. And yet he misses Thor. No, that is wrong: saying he misses Thor is as inadequate as it would be to say that he misses breathing. He is that central, that vital, that involuntary.

If anyone asked, Loki thinks he would tell them that was why he was running. To prove that he can. (These Vagabond Shoes)

8. The smile, when it came, was sharp. “O Castitas,” Lymond said, “Mater et Virgo, extingue carnales concupiscentias! But enough. For whom this mummer’s show? Do we not know each other better now? For certainly I have known flesh of your flesh, blood of your blood... and she drew mine.” (The Compassion of the Wicked)

9. There was a way Thor had of saying things that made them inarguable. Loki had no idea how he did it - it was as though he spoke the words and it just was, like the world bent itself to suit what he said, only it bent itself so it was as though it had always been true. Loki had always found it maddening. (Speak every man the truth)

10. Everyone got a bit twitchy in the 1300s. People started getting suspicious of the dark glasses. They seemed to think Crowley was hiding something, which he was, but that wasn’t any of their business. (Five Hundred Ways to Discorporate a Demon)

11. This was what the Grandmaster did. He showed you a door, or what looked like a door, and then yanked you back just when it seemed to be in reach. Or proved that it had never been there at all, and what had you been thinking to try to get away, anyway, after everything he’d done for you? (preacher man won’t cut no slack)

12. “You can’t help me,” Loki said, breathless. “There is nothing left to help.”

“That isn’t true,” Thor said weakly. “You are here, aren’t you?”

“Here,” Loki said. “Yes. But I am - I am not myself. I am a cobbled together patchwork of Odin’s making and the Grandmaster’s making and the making of the Void. And yours.” All the feeling had gone from his voice. “You want your brother back. But that person doesn’t exist. If he ever did.” (where I make my home)

Top 5 Scenes from Anywhere You Would Choose to Have Illustrated:

There are a lot of pieces from Mirror, Mirror that I would love to see, but maybe especially the one where Loki is looking at his reflection and notices how sick he appears, when the shadow appears behind him.

Gabriel making Lymond kneel in gather frankincense. Look, I am who I am.

Thor sitting next to ghost!Loki from it slips between my fingers now.

Curufin kneeling (SHUT UP) in front of Finrod with wounded Celegorm in his arms from After the Fire. It could be very Pieta. There’s a lot going on there. I just want it.

Steve and Loki at the top of the waterfall from into the light of a dark black night, just before Loki dives over.

Fic-writing goals for 2020:

Finish we live until we die. This is probably the biggest, most concrete one on my list.

Write! More! Lymond fic! I have three ideas and I really like all of them - I just need to stop having staring contests and psyching myself out and actually do the writing.

Whittle that WIP list down to at least under 70. Under 65 would be even better.

That’s really all. I’m keeping them modest. Also here is “try to chill out, a little, about your pathological productivity problem” but that’s an ongoing project that maybe doesn’t count for the spirit of this question.

#fanfiction round up #confessions of a frustrated writer

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loxxxlay · 5 years ago

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Official note about Dark Thor Grandthorki fic and Semi-Hiatus

The Situation My Dumb Ambitious Ass Has Landed Itself In

Unfortunately, my big bang date has arrived a lot quicker than I expected it to. >.> On Friday, I’m expected to post the fic I’ve been working on since June. Don’t get me wrong, I have very much been working on it this whole time; unfortunately, I have also been doing quite a lot of exhausting things, including treatment for mental health and college classes. I’m suffocating in the stress of my last semester, which isn’t great for fanfic writing. T_T woe is meeee~

Because of ^, my dark-Thor grandthorki fic (god it needs a title too, huh) is incomplete and, no matter what, will not be completed by Friday (especially considering that all but one of my classes has something due this Friday, too, ugh). Luckily I did sign up for a solo track for big bang so no artist has been ill-used! Unluckily I have robbed some actually prepared & hard-working individual of a very lenient&late posting date. T_T Thus, I want to at least post something on Friday because it would be super inconsiderate and irresponsible of me otherwise, no matter how unprepared I am D:

So, here is what I have decided for my Big Bang/Dark Thor Grandthorki fic:

I am going to post the beginning chunk (about 10-15k words) of the fic! It will be posted as a WIP but as the spirit of the big bang is only to post a completed fic, the part I post will not end on any rudely patience-challenging cliffhanger. (Those who are still waiting for OoT and Figment of Choice to be complete, I am so so sorry lmfao, and this will not be anything like those cliffhangers.) In fact, I’m trying to make this chunk end on a note that is as complete as possible, while still being a WIP.

As for the quality of this beginning chunk... sigh... It’s definitely not my best writing ever since the only times I could work on it were unfortunately times where my writing skill was rusty and atrophied. >.> However, it’s definitely not my worst writing either lmao, so hopefully it will still be enjoyable! @veliseraptor will be betaing the part most recent and most clunky (I didn’t ask her to beta all of it because that would be super unfair in such a short time frame lmao), and until Friday I will be doing my best to polish the rest!

However! As the entire fic isn’t quite written/outlined, I’m nervous about posting this beginning chunk because of how future writing might require changes to be made. Therefore, the part I post is potentially gonna be subject to extreme changes once I start working on it again months from now. In other words, after I graduate, I’m gonna edit it, possibly change things that happen in it, depending on future scenes, and hopefully do it better justice.

Why am I telling you all of this?

Well, because I don’t want y'all to read this Dark Thor Grandthorki fic with high expectations! T____T I know a lot of you have been super excited and eager to read it after all the excerpts I’ve shown you and all the meta I’ve posted about it. I remember receiving a ton of asks about it back in the pique of me working on it. And.. like.. I know I say this a lot, but I genuinely mean it this time: This is not going to be my usual expected brand of (allegedly) good fic. This is gonna be at least a little disappointing. This is not to criticize myself. It’s just a fact based on how I’ve been writing it and how little I can edit it right now.

And I’m honestly super sad because this project has been so so so important and fun for me that I don’t want you to go in without knowing that it won’t be as good as I want it to be.

In fact, my biggest reason for telling you all this is to give everyone an OPTION to actually NOT read it on Friday. If you want to see it in its final form and its final form only, you can instead wait until I’ve actually had a chance to complete the entire fic, edit what needs editing, get it beta-ed, and feel prepared enough to stick to a regular posting schedule. Obviously I don’t care one way or another when you choose to read it--have at it if you don’t care about it being sub-par! ^_^ I just want you all to know where I’m coming from and be able to decide one way or another. So yeah. Feel free to decide whether you want to read the shittier version on Friday or whether you wanna save yourself for the less shitty version later!

Semi-Hiatus Info:

Initial Note: I’m not really going on any kind of hiatus. I’m changing nothing about what I’m doing recently. I’m just... officially acknowledging that I’ve got one foot in fandom right now and one foot out. And that it will continue to be like this until I graduate in December.

And sighhh, I know I say “ohhhh I will be so much more free and able to work on fandom stuff when this date arrives” again and again and again and nothing ever changes lmfao. But when I say I’ll be more free to work on stuff after December, I actually mean it lmfao because that is when I’ll be graduated from college. I’ve never been graduated from college my entire time in fandom, so you can trust that I’m not kidding around this time.

So yeah, in light of my recent silences/etc, please don’t think I’m disappearing. T_T I’m just really stressed and ... even though I try to lie to myself about it ... realistically ... it’s just not possible for me to do all the fandom stuff that I want to be doing right now. :( Especially as this final semester starts ramping up and finals week starts approaching. :/

Obviously, I’ll still be busy after I graduate. I’ll be looking for full-time work and be starting the process of moving out (I’m super excited!) But the mental energy I’ll need for writing won’t be used up by essays and papers and original creative writing classes! (Assuming I get a seat-warming job, crosses fingers lol.) So basically I’m just letting you all know that, despite my behavior, I haven’t forgotten anything! I just really don’t have time (yet).

For sake of knowing when you can expect things, here’s a list of the things I want to work on (starting December) in order of importance:

(honestly this is as much for my reference as yours lmao)

Commenting and reblogging this year’s Grandthorki Day fics! Very top priority, and if I get a free two seconds in my life, I’ll try to do some of this before semester ends too

Putting Grandthorki Rimworld streams into shorter view-able highlights instead of the full-streaming chunks that they currently are in (especially that 3-hour unwatchable one)

Finishing OoT

Commenting on the rest of the grandthorki fics that have been neglected in recent months

Finishing Moment of Peace

Finishing Figment of Choice

Completing the Big Bang/Dark Thor Grandthorki Fic

Going through my drafts to answer all the asks and recommend all the fic I’ve put there

Finishing that Whumptober Collection and/or Re-Doing Whumptober (because lets be real by the time all of this is done, it will probably be October haha)

Updating Happily Ever After

If I’m forgetting anything that you guys really have been wanting me to do, please let me know!

#sorry i just felt like i needed to say S o m e t h i n g because this has been weighing on me quite a bit the last several months #long post #blog maintenance #grandthorki for ts #dark thor #lox talks personal

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overworkedunderwhelmed · 6 years ago

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Between the Lines

Chapter 5

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Also on AO3

You all can thank @enberlight for beta reading and for pushing me to not stop where I’d wanted to stop. :3

Throughout the test, Alya’s eyes kept narrowing, gaze drifting back to the wireframe trash bin.

Staring back down at the page with a purpose, her pencil scratched noisily across the page.

So help her, she was going to pass this test with flying colors, march the finished test up onto Madame Mendeleiev's desk, victoriously retrieve her comic and finish it before the noon dismissal.

And woe-betide anyone else who got in her way.

She smirked down at the page, nearly to the last essay question, when a loud clatter interrupted her laser focus.

Marinette was sprawled out across the floor, the trash can knocked over and spilling out unceremoniously among the crumpled up paper scattered across Madame Mendeleiev's otherwise pristine classroom floor.

Alya frowned. Marinette’s eyes popped open, looking a bit ill...and more than a little freaked out.

Well, more than usual for her...

Her clothes were a bit singed, her pigtails disheveled.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, snooping about in the trash again,” Chloe smirked superiorly. “I don’t even know why I am surprised…”

From the ground, Marinette’s eyes flashed an angry blue, pulling herself onto her knees.

“Chloe.” Madame Mendeleiev's hands smacked against the desk, a thread of steel sharpening her voice. “Unless you would like to finish this exam orally, I suggest you stifle your comments.”

Alya grinned madly, biting back an audible guffaw.

Almost missing Marinette’s bolt towards the door.

“And where do you think you are headed, Marinette?” Madame Mendeleiev wheeled towards the door. “We are in the middle of a test, in case it has escaped your notice…”

One hand on the open doorway, Marinette gave a pained, tight smile. “I need to go see the nurse, Ma’am. Urgently.”

Madame Mendeleiev sighed. “Alright. Come and see me after school, then.”

Alya shook her head, settling back in to wrap up the final complex chemical equation.

Marinette sprinted out the door, balled-up comic tucked safely beneath her jacket. She could only hope that Madame Mendeleiev didn’t head down to the nurse’s office to check her excuse. And it wasn’t entirely false...slipping from the page back into the regular world left her feeling woozy.

But she didn’t have time to get herself feeling better. She needed to get home -- and fast. Chat Noir would be counting on her.

There were too many places to get caught here at school, especially with the mid-day dismissal only a few minutes away. Her parents would be busy in the shop...or at least wouldn’t question her arriving home for lunch a little early.

She didn’t dare stop, except for the streetlights. Anxiously shifting from foot to foot, she tugged the rumpled pages out, quickly risking a look.

“Oh!” Gasping, Marinette’s eyes widened, watching the signs of exhaustion and panic wear on his face, as he tried -- and failed -- to exit another dark window. Not that he could stay still for long with the Akuma on his tail.

Slamming the pages shut and hugging them tightly to her chest, Marinette raced home with every spare ounce of strength she could muster.

If he wasn’t unveiled in there before, he may very well be now. And he and his Miraculous would be at Hawkmoth’s mercy.

“Hold on! I’m coming Chat Noir!”

Marinette sped up the stairs, taking them two at a time until she reached the relative privacy of her room.

She spread the pages out upon her desk, forcing her eyes to focus in on the details. To find any little thing that might help him get out of there.

The archer was still on his tail if the arrow that whirred past his ear was any sure sign of it.

Her fingernails bit into the soft wood of the desk. “C’mon, Kitty...get out of there…”

Her fingertips traced over the page as she watched Chat get hurt, getting knocked back only to barely dodge another arrow... in blurred motion…

Marinette saw his fist close on the frame, drawing her gaze.

Chat Noir only had one paw print left.

Tikki murmured sadly. “Marinette--”

“Go,” Marinette answered, clutching the crumpled pages tighter between her fingers. “Grab something to eat quickly. We’ll need to be ready once he comes through.”

Without a word, Tikki zipped downstairs, phasing between the floorboards.

Marinette bit her lip, exhaling deeply through her nose. Chat had to come through. He had to.

She wasn’t sure she could do all this without him.

Or that she would even want to...

She lifted up the next page, hoping that the answer would be there.

Instead, the panel went black...

“Chaton?” She gasped, blinking at the inky darkness in disbelief. “Oh...no. No!”

Tears were welling up into her eyes. Desperately, she flipped back, hoping she had missed something important. “No, no, no…”

Instead, all the pages were just as dark.

Unchecked, the tears fell as she slumped back in the chair in wide-eyed disbelief.

He couldn’t be gone.

He just couldn’t be…

“Marinette?” Tikki chirped, hovering at her should.

“He can’t be gone, Tikki…” She choked back a sob, slamming her eyes shut to staunch the tears. “Chat just can’t…”

Chat Noir leaped into the ebony darkness left by his Cataclysm. It had taken almost too long to circle back to it. But he couldn’t afford to lead these monsters back to Marinette.

There was no telling where she had re-emerged on the other side of the pages. And without the screams of civilians to hail an Akuma attack, breaking away to transform and gather up the rest of the team may not have been a ready option.

He was weary, even with every ounce of borrowed strength that Plagg had given him, but even that wouldn’t last him more than a few seconds.

He just had to trust that his Lady -- that Marinette, he mentally corrected -- would have gotten safely through to the other side. That she could get away quickly to someplace safe and quiet. In a crisis without her mask, she had a remarkably cool head.

His baton recoiled, bouncing against something hard.

Chat Noir grinned, feeling the magic of his suit slowly start to ebb as the glow of daylight cracked through the darkness...and the weight of exhaustion seep in.

As his awareness faded, he knew he couldn’t have been in better hands.

Tikki was barely breaking through to soothe her gnawing sense of grief, but some rational corner of her mind remained, reminding her that even without Chat Noir, she would need to pull herself together save the whole of Paris.

She’d worked without him before. She’d even worked against him before.

But Chat had never truly been gone. There was always an Akuma facing off with her...or another timeline that she’d slipped into, with another Chat Noir at the ready.

Marinette leaned back in her chair, her tear-blurred gaze drifting up at the skylight he’d come through more times than she could count. She knew on instinct when that bit of mischief was building and he was about to drop a pun; she knew when and where his baton would strike. She’s learned to sense when he was readying himself to jump in the way to block a blast the Akuma had intended for her, to cut it off at the pass.

But for all of that, she’d never really known about the boy behind the mask.

Marinette’s throat felt painfully tight, as she brushed away tears only to have a fresh wave welling in her eyes. She couldn’t even save him. And she couldn’t even apologize to his family or his friends...or anyone else he’d left behind.

There were few things that Marinette expected as Tikki desperately cooed in her ear, trying to calm her tears.

But she definitely hadn’t anticipated a lapful of exhausted catboy. Blinking, her blurry vision just distinguished his familiar lanky limbs spilling from the pages.

#ml fanfiction #miraculous ladybug #ladynoir #marinette dupain-cheng #chat noir #marichat #overworkedunderwhelmed fics #between the lines

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lilyvandersteen · 7 years ago

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Puppy Eyes Chapter 5

I procrastinated writing this chapter, so it's not completely betaed yet. Thank you @hkvoyage for your lightning-fast review of the first part! I'll try to have the next chapter ready faster...

This chapter is again from Kurt's point of view. Enjoy!

This story is also on AO3 and on Fanfiction.net.

The other parts can be found here: Prologue - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4

Chapter 5: Trying New Things

April to September 2012

On Monday, during class, Professor Anderson seemed as cheerful as ever, but Kurt noticed that his smile never reached his eyes, and that every now and then, he seemed to drift off into a daydream.

Kurt was determined to get to the bottom of it, so the next day, after his morning class, he went to see the professor during his consulting hours, and was please to elicit a real smile from the man when he noticed who had come in.

“Kurt! How can I help you?”

Kurt, who’d been struggling to make something of a series of tragically underexposed photographs for the jewellery section on the Vogue website, confided his woes to Professor Anderson, who looked at the photographs on Kurt’s laptop and grimaced.

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to work miracles. I can make them look slightly better, but they will still be too dark and too grainy.”

Kurt sighed. “I thought you’d say that. Well, it can’t be helped. I’ll ask Isabelle if they can be re-shot. Thank you anyway, Professor.”

Then, as he stood up, he looked the professor straight in the eye and asked, “By the way, is everything all right? I saw you on Saturday in the park, and you looked…”

Professor Anderson looked surprised for a second, and then touched. “I’m fine, Kurt, thanks for your concern. I was just sad because my roommate was moving out over the weekend.”

“Oh, right,” Kurt commiserated. “Finding a new roommate is always a hassle. And you never know what they’re like until you’ve lived with them for a good while. Rachel’s boyfriend lived with us for a few months, and he tended to walk around our loft naked. Now, I can appreciate a good-looking guy with the best of them, but there are some things I don’t need to see before I’ve had my coffee in the morning.”

Professor Anderson chuckled. “I can imagine. The thing is, I’ve never lived with anybody else but Trent. Well, except when I was in boarding school. And we’ve lived together for a long time, so I’m really going to miss him. But I get that Trent would rather live with his boyfriend than with me. That’s only normal.”

Kurt hummed in understanding. “True. At least he has the courtesy of moving out. Rachel just invited Brody to come live with us, without even consulting me! One morning, he was there, and he never left again. Well, until they broke up because she found out he worked as an escort, but that’s a story for another time.”

Professor Anderson raised his eyebrows, and Kurt sighed and rolled his eyes as dramatically as he could. “Don’t even ask.”

That earned him another chuckle, and a warm smile that crinkled the professor’s eyes. “I won’t. Thanks for cheering me up, Kurt.”

Kurt beamed. “Any time.”

He slipped out of the office, humming under his breath, happy in spite of the extra work it would take to arrange a new photoshoot for the jewellery.

A giggle startled him, and when he looked for the source of that sound, he saw Maizie lounging against the wall in front of Professor Anderson’s office.

“Look who’s on top of the world again,” Maizie singsonged, threading her arm through Kurt’s and falling into step with him. “Crush back in full force, is it?”

Kurt shrugged and grinned at her. “It never left. I tried, but, no such luck. Seems like you can’t help who you crush on, so I figured, what’s the harm, as long as I’m not being creepy about it?”

“Hmm, true,” Maizie agreed.

“What were you doing here anyway?” Kurt asked.

“I had something to ask Professor Scher about our final. When I saw you, I thought I’d wait for you so we could have lunch together.”

Kurt licked his lips. “At your sister’s diner?”

“Yep. Lemon cheesecake today for dessert.”

Kurt’s eyes lit up. “Oh, that sounds amazing! Only… I was going to eat with Elliott and Neil, in fact. Can they come too?”

“Sure, honey. Violet and Marissa are coming too, ‘cause we have a group project to wrap up.”

“Same,” Kurt sighed, whipping his phone out to text Elliott and Neil about the change of plans. “I hate the end-of-school-year crunch. Will your sister mind if we hog the table after dinner to work on our projects?”

Maizie laughed. “Nah, Suzie’s cool. She says she’d rather keep an eye on me to make sure I actually do my school work.”

At the diner, the teasing continued. All of Kurt’s friends, even the ones not taking any graphic design classes, knew about his humongous crush on Professor Anderson by now, and it had become a running gag.

Kurt just shrugged it off good-naturedly, enjoying the novelty that to none of them, his being gay was even a factor. No-one sneered at him or told him he was an abomination, or that he would go to hell, or that he had better stay away from other men, or else! No, they just poked fun at him and suggested silly ways for him to show the professor how much he loved him, or to ask him out, or to get him to kiss Kurt, cracking each other up until he rolled his eyes and reminded them they had a project to work on.

K&B

Kurt found himself stifling yawns all week long. He had so many essays and projects to finish and so much studying to do now that the school year was almost at its end, and coupled with his internship at Vogue and his dog-walking, it was a bit too much. If only he could get into bed and sleep for a week, but that wasn’t an option. Well, he was young, he was fit and healthy, and he was thriving both at school and at work, so a few weeks of constant exhaustion wasn’t going to kill him. He’d already decided to go to Ohio for a month in summer, though, to see his dad and to get some much needed rest.

Kurt had enrolled for the first summer class, in June, and he’d contacted the R/GA design agency about the paid internship they’d offered. He’d be starting there in August. He hadn’t had the time to visit the company premises yet, but he’d talked to the HR department on the phone and had a good feeling about this internship. He had loved working with Isabelle at Vogue, but it hadn’t paid the bills, nor had he learned as many marketable skills as R/GA had on offer.

Burt was fully on board with Kurt taking graphic design on as a minor. “You’ve shown that you can do it, winning that competition and all. And you say you like it. So why not? Now’s the time to learn as much as you can, in all sorts of fields, kiddo. Once you have a job, and maybe a family, you won’t have the time. So go ahead and take those classes. You’ll do great.”

So, as Kurt worked for his finals, he was already looking forward to new graphic design classes, and he decided not to torture himself and to just enjoy his friendship with Professor Anderson without feeling any qualms about it. The professor was right, they weren’t doing anything wrong. Kurt had a crush, yes, but he didn’t act on it, and he never would. He promised himself not to go out of his way to visit the professor during his consultation hours, but once in a while would do no harm.

Feeling so much lighter now that he’d absolved himself of guilt, he breezed through his finals, and before he knew it, June was upon him, and he was wheeling his suitcase into the apartment of a rich businesswoman. She was travelling to Hong Kong for a month, but needed someone to look after her two Dalmatians. They came with a whole set of instructions, and Kurt’s new client cross-examined him thoroughly, but Kurt fielded the woman’s questions to her satisfaction and promised to keep her updated by sending her pictures of the dogs. At long last, she click-clacked off to the elevator with a suitcase of her own.

The summer course he was taking dealt with Colour Theory, and was taught by Professor Anderson, who seemed genuinely glad to be teaching Kurt again, and came to chat with him after class of his own accord, discussing summer plans and Kurt’s internship at R/GA. “Paula knows someone at R/GA. You should talk to her and get his name. Maybe he could take you under his wing?”

Kurt promised he’d look into it, and then told the professor that he was dog-sitting now instead of dog-walking, and that he still didn’t know his new neighbourhood well enough to find all the good spots to buy coffee and food. Professor Anderson proved to live in the same area, and was happy to help. “And you have to try the Esterhazy cake at Coffee Clock, it’s SO good.”

The professor turned around when another student cleared her throat to catch his attention. “Yes, Anna, did you have a question for me?”

Kurt smiled at the professor and slunk away. Yes, starting to talk to him again had been the right decision. As long as he didn’t expect more to come of it, he could have this, and enjoy it.

July in Ohio passed more quickly than Kurt would have liked. Though he didn’t have much love to spare for Lima, Ohio, and its narrow-minded inhabitants, he loved seeing his father and Carole again, helping out his dad with car check-ups and repairs, going shopping in the mall, though NYC had far better shops, and going for coffee at the Lima Bean.

Mercedes happened to be visiting her family too at the end of July, and Kurt enjoyed catching up with her. Her first album was quite successful, and she’d be touring the rest of the summer. She told Kurt about the guy she was seeing and showed him pictures. His nickname was Tank, and it was obvious why: he was a solid wall of muscle. In every photograph, he was glaring, but Mercedes swore up and down that he was sweet and gentle and respected her boundaries, so Kurt squashed down his concerns and was happy for her.

He told her about his crush on his professor, and Mercedes sighed and rolled her eyes. “Even in New York City, you fall for the guys you can’t have, do you? All right, all right, tell me all about him. I bet he’s dreamy.”

Yes, his month at home offered him everything he needed: rest, good food and companionship. Elliott sent him picture after picture of sights he’d seen and things he’d done on vacation in Peru, but Kurt wasn’t jealous. Not even a little. He liked his summer holidays uneventful. A slice of home was all he needed to be happy.

Really, the only memorable thing that happened during his vacation was when he and Mercedes went to see a musical in Westerville one night, and right before the intermission, a woman stood up, blocking their view, and led a DOG out of the theatre. Who on earth would take their dog to a musical? Kurt and Mercedes had a good laugh about that.

It wasn’t until Kurt was in bed, later that night, that it occurred to him the dog had been quite similar to Devon. While it had been relaxing not to have to get up at the crack of dawn every morning, he’d be glad to be back in New York soon, and to have dogs to look after again.

He already had a new address where he’d be house-sitting and dog-sitting in August and September. This time, there was only one black Labrador to look after, who apparently loved to play with other dogs, so Kurt had told the agency that he could walk a few others too. The Dalmatians he’d taken care of in June had not enjoyed the company of other dogs. Like with Precious, it made them anxious, so Kurt had taken them to quiet places where only the occasional jogger came. Kurt had liked them, but looked forward to getting to play with several dogs again.

K&B

A week later, Kurt was jogging up the subway stairs like he’d never left New York. He had a meeting at R/GA to further discuss his internship and to sign the papers, and he couldn’t wait to start working there.

The HR rep – “Call me Ellie” – took him on a tour through the building and explained what all the people were doing. “And here’s the PR department, who make sure people hear about us and want to work with us – that’s André over there, Sandra, Bonnie and Sebastian.”

The guy called Sebastian turned around on his desk chair and gave Kurt a once-over. “So you’re Paula’s new protégé, are you?”

He pronounced protégé with a French accent, and Kurt almost swooned because that sounded so suave, barely managing to nod.

“Hmm, not very chatty, huh?” Sebastian continued. “I bet you’re a loud one in bed, though. All moans and screams.”

Kurt felt his cheeks heat up.

“Sebastian!” Ellie admonished him. “That’s very inappropriate!”

Sebastian waved that off. “Yeah, yeah, I need to remember I’m in America and you’re all terrible prudes, bla, bla, bla.”

Ellie stood her ground. “It’s not about being a prude, it’s about not making unwanted advances at work. You’ve had warnings before, Sebastian. If you want to pick up a new guy every night, go to a club. Don’t come on to people at work. They’re off limits to you. Especially interns. Do I need to remind you of Chandler?”

“Unwanted advances? Chandler wanted my attention,” Sebastian drawled. “He wanted it very much. And judging from this one’s blush, he wouldn’t say no either.”

Ellie glared at him. “Off. Limits. Understood?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sebastian said. “Hey, New Intern, is that yummy Anderson still teaching at Parsons? Curly hair, glasses and an ass that won’t quit.”

“Sebastian!” Elle warned him.

“What? That was just a question for information!”

Kurt cleared his throat, and Sebastian’s gaze swivelled towards him again. “Yes, Professor Anderson is still at Parsons.”

Sebastian smirked. “Maybe I should come and give a presentation about R/GA again. I’ll talk to Paula about it.”

The gleam in his eyes was predatory, and now that it was meant for Professor Anderson and not Kurt himself, it made Kurt angry instead of shy.

Who did that guy think he was, gobbling men up and then spitting them back out? Who would even fall for that spiel? But then Kurt remembered Sebastian’s French accent, and imagined him speaking whole sentences in those lilting, caressing tones. Okay, yes, that would help. He was still pretty sure that Professor Anderson wouldn’t fall for someone that sleazy. He wouldn’t, would he?

K&B

Kurt settled in his new routine faster than he’d thought possible. Now that he limited himself to three dog walks a day, and only dogs that lived in the neighbourhood where he was staying, that opened up his schedule for his internship and the extra classes he was taking.

He was learning a lot at R/GA. They had newer and better computer programmes and drawing pads, and Kurt loved trying out all the features. The designers whose team he’d joined were creative and driven, and enjoyed teaming up with Kurt for an assignment, praising his innovative ideas.

One of them, Joanne, had poor eyesight, to the point of being nearly blind. She showed him the magnifying software and hardware she used to be able to see everything properly.

They designed a website together, and she taught him all about making his designs inclusive, not just for users with low vision, but also for people who happened to be deaf, dyslexic, autistic or had physical disabilities. Basically, the trick was to make the lay-out logical and linear, to use a clear colour contrast throughout, to keep the content short, simple and to the point, and to provide audio and video and images for whoever needed that, as well as shortcuts for forms that needed to be filled in.

Kurt filed all that away for an essay he had to write for his Graphic Design History class on the topic of social change. Making websites more accessible for people with a disability was definitely a change he was in favour of.

Yes, all in all, he was very pleased with this new road he had taken. Though the graphic design classes added considerably to his workload, he thrived in them, and he found that they helped him improve his fashion designs as well. He took to designing his own fabrics and having them printed, and he pared down the structure of his garments to the bare essentials, but impeccably made, and always with his very own twist.

Professor Scher and Professor Anderson continued to encourage and stimulate him in class, and Professor Scher regularly wanted to discuss his work at R/GA and what he learnt there. “If we’re falling behind here, Kurt, you need to tell me. This programme is supposed to get students ready to work as a designer for one of the big companies. If there’s new software they have to master or new guidelines they have to follow, you must tell me, so that we can adapt the programme. Okay?”

So when Professor Scher stopped him in the hallway one day by putting a hand on his arm, Kurt thought it would be for another chat about his internship. But she whispered, low and urgent, “Come with me.”

Kurt, a bit puzzled now, followed her. She led him to Professor Anderson’s office, where instead of the professor himself, a dog sat on the desk chair.

And it was a dog Kurt recognised. “Devon! Devon, is that really you?”

Devon jumped off the chair in a fluid movement and raced towards Kurt, who squatted down to hug and pet him.

“You know this dog?” Professor Scher asked.

“Yes, yes, I do,” Kurt said. “I’ve looked after him several times. But I swear I didn’t bring him here as a prank or something. I wouldn’t, I swear.”

Professor Scher laughed. “Calm down, Kurt. You’re not in trouble. I know you. You’re far too busy to be playing pranks on anyone. I just brought you here because I know you’re a dog walker and you might be able to help. Could you take this dog back to his house?”

“His apartment,” Kurt corrected, checking his key-chain. Yes, the Devon key was still on there. “Yes, Professor, I’ll bring him home. No problem. My classes are done for the day anyway.”

Kurt rummaged in his backpack for a spare collar and a leash, and put them on Devon, whose tail was wagging so hard his whole backside moved to and fro.

“Ready, champ?” Kurt said, and Devon trotted off immediately.

Kurt turned his head towards Professor Scher. “Bye!”

She grinned at him and waved. “See you in class tomorrow!”

K&B

Devon tugged Kurt in the direction of the park, so Kurt, figuring that the dog needed to relieve himself, brought him there, and played with him for a while, too.

Then Kurt headed to the apartment where the dog lived, but as soon as they reached the building, Devon started to whimper, and when Kurt opened the door and ushered Devon in, the dog full-out whined and refused to go in.

“What’s the matter, sweetie?” Kurt asked. “Why won’t you go in? I guess nobody’s home, but there never was anyone home last time I looked after you either. Did you run out of food, or water, is that it?”

Kurt went inside, followed by a whimpering Devon. He checked all the rooms, but didn’t find any dog dishes or dog food anywhere, and the fridge was empty except for some left-over Chinese food that looked mouldy. The whole place looked deserted. The beds made, no dirty dishes or laundry anywhere, nothing to suggest anyone had been there recently.

Kurt sighed. “I guess your owner went on vacation and forgot all about you, huh? Or maybe something happened to him? Well, I can take you home with me, just for tonight, but I’m only dog-sitting that place for two more days, so I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with you after Carla’s owner comes back home. You’ll be nice to Carla, won’t you? She’s a black Lab, and she’s very friendly. I think you’ll like her.”

Kurt led Devon out of the apartment again, the dog cheering up as soon as he crossed the threshold.

“Did you jump out of a window onto the fire escape?” Kurt asked Devon, squatting down again to pet him. “You must have escaped somehow. And you came to my school to find me? You clever boy, you!”

Devon let his tongue hang out of his mouth, the very picture of contentment.

K&B

Later that evening, Kurt was at the park with Devon and Carla when his phone rang. It was the dog agency.

“So we have a new assignment for you,” Sheila said. “Devon needs a dog-sitter for a week, starting tonight. The black Portie, you’ve looked after him before. And I know you’re still with Carla ‘till the end of the month, but I was hoping you wouldn’t mind checking up on Devon and walking him three times a day until then? You’d be paid for it as though you were dog-sitting him.”

Kurt exhaled slowly. So Devon’s owner hadn’t forgotten about him, had he? Should he mention anything to Sheila?

“Kurt? Is three walks too demanding with your current school schedule?” Sheila asked.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Kurt answered. “I was just… Okay. Okay, I’ll do it.”

“You will? Fantastic, you’re a lifesaver!”

Sheila hung up, leaving Kurt staring at his phone, thinking hard. Well, tonight and tomorrow were no problem. Devon could stay with Kurt and Carla. But the last day of September, Carla’s owner was coming back, and he wouldn’t be pleased to find another dog in his home. So Kurt would either have to leave Devon at his apartment, or if that upset him too much, take him along to school and to R/GA.

Kurt pocketed his phone and looked up. Carla was running around chasing a squirrel, barking happily, but Devon was sitting on his haunches right in front of Kurt, looking way too serious for a dog. Was he worried Kurt would abandon him, too?

“Come,” said Kurt, and he sat down on the grass, pulling the Portie half on his lap. He petted Devon’s neck and caressed him behind his ears until the dog let out a deep sigh and all the tension left his body.

“You’re staying with me and Carla for the next two nights,” Kurt announced. “And then I’m coming to live at your place for the rest of the week. The dog agency called. Your owner paid for a week of dog-sitting. You will be alone during the day, though, ‘cause I have school and work, but that’s not me saying goodbye to you, okay? I would never do that. I promise you I will always come back and look after you, as long as you need me.”

Devon nuzzled Kurt’s hand to demand more petting, and sighed again, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

Kurt laughed. “I take it you’re okay with that? All right, then, let’s get home and to bed. Carla? Carla, come here, girl!”

#klaine fanfiction #puppy eyes #chapter five #my fic

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artificialqueens · 7 years ago

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Cupid’s Blind Arrow (Group Fic) Prologue - Ginger Nut

AN: Hi everyone so this is my first fic ever, it will be loosely based on the story of Romeo and Juliet, but this prologue is just introducing all of the main characters and how I want to portray them, there will be side characters I just haven’t included them in this. I’m still a bit unsure on what ship to centre the idea around so forgive me if i play about with a few for the next couple of chapters.Pronouns used are mainly she/her and sometimes they/them. I got this idea as I’m currently studying this play at school and I would want to read something like this, I’m really excited planning all of this out so please let me know what you think! I’m very open to feedback as I know I’m not the best writer, trust me my English teacher has told me, but I’ve tried really hard because not gonna lie I need an escape rn and this blog gives me life

“A glooming piece this morning with it brings;

The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:

Go hence to have more talk of these sad things:

Some shall be pardon’d and some punished:

For there never was a story of more woe

Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

“Well then class that is the end of the play, we have finally finished the first reading of Romeo and Juliet.” Miss Raja tone was monotonous despite her inner self feeling a sense of relief considering it had felt like a chore to even pick this play up as every time she did her students gave an audible groan in protest.

“What do you mean the first reading, you only need to read it once” Someone from the back corner interjected however the teacher didn’t even need to look up to know who it was,

“Willam I’m surprised you think that you’ve read it once considering most often times than not you’re leaning against the wall with your eyes and book closed.” Willam Belli surprised everyone when she showed up to the honours English class and hadn’t walked into the wrong room. She never took anything seriously and didn’t apply herself to any of her classes. Secretly however, that had changed towards the end of last term as exams were on the rise. Her mum had hired her a tutor and it just so happens that Willam became head over heels for her, only secretly though, no one could know that Willam Belli had a crush. It just wasn’t her brand; guys lusted after her and girls loved her, Willam preferred to be single at all times, no commitment no issues. But for some reason she just couldn’t forget the blonde Australian who taught her about imagery, persuasive techniques, and poetic tones. Oh, and by the way, the beautiful aussie, named Courtney, became more than just a tutor. Their time together was short due to Courtney’s exchange programming expiring but Willam came out on top, scoring almost perfect in many of her exams….and in other ways.

“Nuh uh,” Willam looked at Miss Raja wearing a face that was a mixture of offense and boredom. “They meet, fall in love, find out they’re from feuding families and kill themselves to be dead together. Ya know “happy dagger and all that shit””

Miss Raja didn’t bat an eye at Willam’s language, at this point in the game she’d heard it all and was more interested at her participation than anything else.

Just at that the bell for 3rd period rang, and the stampede of students started to flow into the river of people in the corridor. Miss Raja started to collect in copies of the play as she felt weight being lifted off her shoulders, this class had to be the most challenging; Aside from the infamous vain character that is Willam, her class was full of huge personalities and Raja had no clue how this year was going to pan out, she groaned at the thought of it. Violet Chachki she thought as she picked the copy of the play off her desk, a prestigious yet intimidating student who had extremely high standards and walked the halls as if everyone disgusted her, you did not want to disappoint Violet. Her signature feature being a small a waist as Willam attention span, she also had an amazing eye for fashion and almost always showed up at school with an outfit that was coordinated head to toe. Raja admired her determination; that girl could achieve anything she set her mind to which is why she consistently turns in exceptional work on independent tasks. Next to Violet sat Bianca Del Rio, brutal honesty being her forefront and her over it attitude certainly contradicted her eagerness to participate in discussion which she usually took over from Miss Raja. Before you know it, Bianca was educating the whole class instead and Raja would sit back and let her go for it. As miss raja scanned the class she picked up the 3 copies belonging to the more laid back, chilled students in the back row: Right in the back corner was Pearl Liason, Pearl had only moved to the school a couple of months before summer which gave her a disadvantage regarding a social life, most of the kids had been going to the same school as each other their whole life. Pearl didn’t seem to mind though any time Raja had been on school lunch monitor duty, her dreaded day of the week, she noticed Pearl sitting at the end of a table with headphones in and usually doing homework or something of that sorts, sometimes she had a sketch pad out. A thought emerged, Raja believed that her and Violet would be good friends considering their arty, creative interests, maybe they worked together in a fashion or media class, but Raja never dared to get any closer to find out what was on Pearls paper. She just felt weird doing so, even though it’d probably be more interesting than listening to Miss Sanchez’s stories of her son or Miss Imfurst’s rages over her classes. Pearl was a more reserved student, that’s just how she was, nevertheless she got on with her work occasionally getting into trouble for smelling of cigarettes or weed as she came into class with the other back row students. In the middle sat Adore Delano, a grunge rocker who had an abysmal at best attendance record, but a raw talent that Miss Raja longed to see all the time, but it was hard fucking work. Adore preferred to talk than listen, write than read. Raja understood that, her mind produced some really wonderful things but examiners won’t ask you about the origin of life and importance of spirituality. Surprisingly Adore got on well with Bianca who sat immediately in front of her; they were polar opposites but somehow had an undeniable connection. Raja couldn’t keep herself from laughing sometimes at the things they came up with and their dynamic. Completing the back row was none other than Sharon Needles, Sharon had smart moments but for the most part Raja wondered how she managed to get into this class. She had a no fucks given vibe and for that reason she rarely turned any work in. Sharon didn’t do much work in class in fact she didn’t really do anything. She spent most of her time listening to Adore ramble on, engraving shit like “Andy Warhol is dead” onto her desk or staring out of the window looking like she was in love with the rain. The leather biker looks raised some eyebrows but on the inside Sharon was really goofy and a big softy. Raja could’ve sworn she’d caught Sharon gazing at one of the girls in the front row, but could not place her finger on who. Across the room Willam sat at the other back row alongside a few other students who Willam found pleasure in angering. One of them however seemed to enjoy her witty and usually narcissistic comments, and that was a Russian born gymnast called Katya. Raja had given up with her real name after less than one class. Katya had a weird sense of humour, that’s for sure but found Willam out of all people hilariously funny even when the joke was aimed at her. Katya’s work consisted mainly of historical events that had modern day twists, she had a weird thing for futuristic Barbie’s and it never failed to bore Raja. Making her way back down to the front row she guided past Alaska Thunderfuck scooping up her copy of the play. Alaska was actually quite intellectual; however, her class work was always to a much higher standard than her home assignments, Raja wondered what the fuck is that girl doing outside of school, who are her friends? Alaska insisted that she had a busy life, which one may be lead to believe. The girl was a cheerleader and featured in many of the school events such as the musicals. And finally, next to Alaska sat Trixie Mattel. Trixie’s personality and hair lit up the room, like Alaska, Trixie was a cheerleader and often came to class in uniform. Trixie was an ideal student, she always showed up on time to class, did her work, completed all homework, and scored pretty high in all class tests. Raja had no worries with her, god forbid she got into a relationship.

Miss Raja just noticed a pounding headache coming on as she proceeded to read the rest of the requirements for the Romeo and Juliet section; “Class must have a discussion on whether the plot of the play was a cautionary tale regarding the stupidity of youth and lust or a beautiful tragedy where poisonous hatred can be conquered by love.” Fucking hell, thought Raja. Class discussions are a waste of time. She scrolled down, the next requirement was a nine-point essay on why Romeo was a character created to evoke sympathy in the reader. Class discussion it is.

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junker-town · 5 years ago

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The complete history of the Thunder slowly dismantling their golden generation

Eight years ago, the young Thunder were poised to rule the league. Here’s how they were instead slowly torn apart.

With Russell Westbrook now traded, the most important chapter in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s history is officially closed. Westbrook was the last piece standing from the young, upstart team that took the NBA by storm in the early part of the decade. Along with Kevin Durant and James Harden, Westbrook and Oklahoma City looked like they were set to become the NBA’s next dynasty.

Seven years later, they have only one NBA Finals appearance to show for drafting three league MVPs. Now that their three stars are on other teams, they must enter a rebuilding phase without achieving the league’s grandest prize even once.

Let’s take a look at how the Thunder slowly lost a core that was once the envy of the league.

June 20, 2012: A 4-1 defeat in the 2012 NBA Finals

Despite its youth, Oklahoma City had reasons to be confident heading into the 2012 NBA Finals against LeBron James and the Miami Heat. They were favored by Vegas and also had home-court advantage, a plus considering they hadn’t lost a single home game the previous three rounds.

After winning Game 1, the Thunder looked like they ready for the challenge. However, things quickly went south.

Bad coaching decisions were part of the story behind Oklahoma City’s four-game collapse. With Chris Bosh playing as center, Miami was able to space the floor and add an extra dimension to its dangerous offense. Meanwhile, Thunder head coach Scott Brooks stuck to his guns and continued to start traditional center Kendrick Perkins. This led to easy baskets for Miami, as they took advantage of the space Bosh created.

The Heat won Game 2 on the road thanks to 32 points by James and 24 by Wade. Despite brilliant performances from Westbrook in Game 4 (43 points) and Durant in Game 5 (32 points), Miami won the next three to take the title.

End of the 2012 NBA Finals. It was supposed to be a learning experience for the Thunder, en route to a decade of dominance. Didn't quite pan out that way. pic.twitter.com/WtKIn6WnX8

— Jake Marotz (@jakemarotz) July 12, 2019

Losing four straight games in the Finals stung the Thunder and they took the loss hard. However, with three young superstars and a good supporting cast, it felt like there were better times ahead.

Oct. 27, 2012: Trading James Harden

As it turns out, that Game 5 would be the last NBA game the trio would play together.

Oklahoma City faced some tough salary-cap decisions in the summer summer. Harden and Serge Ibaka were both extension-eligible, and not agreeing on new deals meant they’d be restricted free agents the next year. With Durant already locked up and Westbrook having signed a maximum contract back in January, the Thunder had to let either Harden or Ibaka walk, or pay a hefty luxury-tax price.

Making matters worse, this dilemma arrived the summer after the NBA installed newer and harsher penalties for exceeding the luxury tax, including an exponential scale for every dollar over and additional penalties for being in the luxury tax repeatedly. The new rules didn’t kick in until the following season, but new contracts for Harden and Ibaka would have pushed Oklahoma City well over the tax line.

Oklahoma City agreed to a four year $48M extension with Ibaka later that August, making Harden’s departure an even greater possibility. That eventually happened with stunning speed when Oklahoma City traded their star sixth man to the Houston Rockets four days before the season began. In return, the Thunder received Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, and Houston’s first- and second-round picks in 2013, along with a first rounder in 2014.

In an interview with ESPN’s Hannah Storm, Harden said the Thunder presented him a four year, $55 million offer, $5 million short of a max deal. That did not sit well with him.

“I felt like I already made a sacrifice coming off the bench and doing whatever it takes to help the team, and they weren’t willing to help me,” Harden told Storm.

April 26, 2013: Russell Westbrook tears his meniscus

Despite losing Harden, Oklahoma City rolled to 62 wins and the NBA’s best record, with Durant and Westbrook averaging 28 and 23 points per game, respectively.

Their first playoff series came against a familiar foe in the Rockets and Harden. In the second quarter of Game 2, Westbrook went to call a timeout and slowed down towards the bench, as is custom before a stoppage in play. Houston guard Patrick Beverley lunged for the ball at the same time, colliding with Westbrook’s knee. The incident would end up sparking years of beef between the duo.

Westbrook got up with a significant limp and slammed the scorers table with his right fist. OKC won the game to take a 2-0 lead, but an MRI later confirmed that Westbrook had sustained a torn meniscus that would require surgery and sideline him indefinitely.

Oklahoma City won the series against Houston in six games, but without Westbrook, the Thunder fell in the next round to the “Grit and Grind” Memphis Grizzlies in five games.

2014: Serge Ibaka’s untimely injury

With Westbrook missing 35 games recovering from knee surgery in the 2013-14 season, Durant was once again called upon to be main bucket getter. He had his best individual season, averaging 32 points per game while winning MVP and leading Oklahoma City to the second-best record in the league.

Oklahoma City survived a grueling seven-game first round series against Memphis, then got past the Los Angeles Clippers in six games in the second round. That grind came with a cost. In the series clincher against LA, Ibaka strained his calf, and Presti announced he was unlikely to return for the postseason.

The Thunder badly lost the first two games to the San Antonio Spurs in the conference finals, but received a boost when Ibaka came back in Game 3. OKC won both games in Chesapeake Arena, and his return left an impression on his teammates. “I gained so much more respect for Serge for sacrificing himself for the team. Regardless of what happened tonight, that’s something you want beside you,” Durant said after Game 3.

But Ibaka’s return proved to be too little, too late. Oklahoma City scored just 34 points in the second half of a blowout Game 5 defeat, then dropped Game 6 in overtime after Kawhi Leonard came up with one of the biggest plays of his career.

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2015: Kevin Durant’s turn to get hurt

Weeks before the start of the season, Oklahoma City announced Durant suffered a Jones fracture in his foot, which would sideline him for the first month. But that was only the beginning of KD’s injury woes. Durant sprained his ankle in December, his big toe a month later, and then had another procedure for a foot injury in February. On March 27, Presti announced Durant would miss the rest of the season to undergo a third surgery.

Injuries to Durant and Westbrook, who missed four weeks early in the season due to a broken hand, grounded Oklahoma City’s title hopes. They started off the season 3-12 and ultimately finished ninth in the West, losing a tiebreaker for the final playoff spot.

May 30, 2016: The original blown 3-1 lead

With Durant healthy again and Billy Donovan taking over as head coach from the fired Scott Brooks, the 2015-16 Thunder headed into the postseason as the the No. 3 seed. They quickly got past the Mavericks in five, then won three straight to beat the Spurs after falling behind, 2-1. That set up a matchup against a Warriors team that went 73-9 in the regular season.

With Durant, Ibaka, and Andre Roberson swarming the smaller Warriors, the Thunder went up 3-1 in the series. They won Game 1 by limiting the Warriors to just 14 points in the final quarter, then crushed Golden State by a combined 52 points when the series moved to Oklahoma City. Durant led the way in Game 3 with 33 points, and Westbrook took his turn in Game 4, notching 36 as the Thunder took a 3-1 series lead.

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But the Warriors stormed back. After narrowly winning Game 5, Golden State received a Klay Thompson performance for the ages in a Game 6 thriller. Thompson scored 41 points while shooting 11 of 18 from three, an NBA playoff record, and outscored the entire Thunder team in the fourth quarter in a 108-101 win.

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Oklahoma City was left shellshocked. They were up by seven points with five minutes left, but watched Durant and Westbrook shoot a combined 3-14 in the fourth quarter. In those final five minutes, the Thunder’s two stars went 0-5 from the field and committed six turnovers.

Oklahoma City hung around in Game 7, but eventually perished thanks to a 36-point Stephen Curry night. The Thunder were on the brink of a long-awaited NBA Finals return, but instead watched another season end in heartbreak.

June 23, 2016: Goodbye, Serge

The summer of 2016 was set to be a monumental one for the Thunder. Durant was a free agent, and with Westbrook due to become one the next summer, Oklahoma City again had difficult decisions to make.

On the day of the 2016 NBA Draft, the Thunder dealt Ibaka to the Orlando Magic for Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova, and the No. 11 pick, which turned out to be Domantas Sabonis. The plan was for Oladipo to slot in as a sixth man alongside Durant and Westbrook. Oklahoma City was also heavily interested in signing free agent big man Al Horford, who had played under Donovan in college at Florida.

The idea was to aggressively add pieces to help compliment Durant in the hopes he’d re-sign to a long term deal. Instead...

July 4, 2016: Kevin Durant leaves

Oklahoma City’s roster reconstruction wasn’t enough to keep its biggest star. Durant first met with the Thunder, and then went to the Hamptons in New York to hold meetings with the Clippers, Heat, Celtics, Spurs, and the Warriors.

On July 4, Durant broke OKC’s hearts, via a Player’s Tribune essay announcing his decision to leave the Thunder to sign with the same Warriors team that knocked them out in the previous year’s conference Finals.

“I will miss Oklahoma City, and the role I have had in building this remarkable team,” Durant wrote. “I will forever cherish the relationships within the organization — the friends and teammates that I went to war with on the court for nine years, and all the fans and people of the community. They have always had my back unconditionally, and I cannot be more grateful for what they have meant to my family and to me.”

That same day, Westbrook posted a picture of cupcakes on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

HAPPY 4th YALL....

A post shared by Russell Westbrook (@russwest44) on Jul 4, 2016 at 10:40am PDT

It looked like a simple photo from his Independence Day cookout, but we later learned there was a hidden meaning behind the post. Via Lee Jenkins’ Sports Illustrated feature:

When Kendrick Perkins played center for the Thunder, he called teammates “cupcake” if he thought they were acting a little soft. Westbrook and Durant adopted the term in jest. Westbrook posted a bittersweet pic on Instagram: three plates of cupcakes topped by red and blue stars and sprinkles.

Aug. 4, 2016: Westbrook’s revenge tour

With Durant now playing in the Bay, the Thunder couldn’t afford to lose Westbrook. The two sides re-committed to each other with a three-year, $85.7-million extension.

“There’s nowhere else I would rather be than Oklahoma City,” Westbrook said in a press conference that was opened to media and fans. “You guys have basically raised me. I’ve been here since I was 18, 19 years old. You guys did nothing but great things for me. Through the good and the bad, you guys supported me through it all, and I appreciate it.”

Then, Westbrook’s revenge tour began. He recorded 42 triple doubles, eclipsing Oscar Robertson’s record for most in a single year, and also became the first player since Oscar to average a triple double in a season. Westbrook broke both marks in stunning fashion, scoring 50 points and hitting the game-winner to lead the Thunder back from an 14-point deficit with six minutes left to beat the Nuggets.

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Thanks to his record-breaking year, Westbrook was named MVP of the 2016-17 season, beating out his two former teammates. He wasn’t as successful in the playoffs, however, as Oklahoma City was dispatched by Harden and the Rockets in five games.

July 1, 2017: The Paul George save

For the second summer in a row, the Thunder shook up their roster. In a massive, out-of-nowhere gamble, they traded Oladipo and Sabonis, the prizes of last summer’s Ibaka trade, to the Indiana Pacers for disgruntled superstar Paul George. George was set to be a free agent next season and reportedly had his sights on joining the Los Angeles Lakers. Oklahoma City had a year to change his mind.

Sep. 29, 2017: Westbrook becomes a Thunder for life, or so we thought

The two sides agreed to a five-year $205M deal under the league’s new supermax provision. It looked like Westbrook would never leave.

In addition to re-signing Westbrook and trading for George, Oklahoma City made a late offseason splash, acquiring all-star Carmelo Anthony from the Knicks in exchange for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott, and a second-round draft pick.

July 1, 2018: The one-year George experiment worked

With Westbrook, George, and Anthony fitting together awkwardly, OKC finished as the West’s fourth seed, rallying from an 8-12 start. The problems with that combination proved to be fatal in a six-game first-round series loss to the underdog Utah Jazz. In the Game 6 clincher, George scored a mere five points on 2-of-16 shooting. The chances of re-signing him didn’t look good.

But when the clock struck midnight, George shocked the NBA world by announcing he was staying with Oklahoma City, revealing the news at a party Westbrook threw. George ended up signing a four year, $137 million deal.

You heard it here first. pic.twitter.com/jN6gBn6j1Z

— Gabe Ikard (@GabeIkard) July 1, 2018

If y’all didn’t quite get it, let me say it again. I’m here to stay!”

It seemed like the Thunder had recovered from the loss of Durant.

Feb. 26, 2019: Another injury that changed everything

With Westbrook taking a bit of a backseat and Anthony off the team, George put together a stellar first half of the season. Through the end of February, he averaged nearly 29 points and more than nine rebounds per game, all while providing elite defense on the wing. OKC had a 38-21 record at the time and looked like the top challenger to the Warriors, again.

But things began to spiral out of control when George suffered a shoulder injury in a matchup against the Denver Nuggets. He kept playing, but looked like a shell of his former MVP-quality self. “Four days ago, I couldn’t even lift my shoulder,” he said after Game 1 of the playoffs.

Oklahoma City went 11-11 for the rest of the regular season, setting up a matchup against the No. 3 seed Portland Trail Blazers. Portland took the series in five games, with Damian Lillard hitting the series-ending buzzer beater in George’s face and then waiving the Thunder goodbye.

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Little did we know he really was waiving the Thunder goodbye.

July 3, 2019: George goes to LA after all

Free agent Kawhi Leonard wanted to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, but needed a co-star to join him. He recruited George, and then George requested the Thunder trade him. This put the Thunder in a bind.

Two nights later, they did as George asked, dealing him for a record haul of draft picks (five first-rounders and two pick swaps), along with Danilo Gallinari and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

George thanked Oklahoma City on Instagram, shouting out Westbrook specifically.

View this post on Instagram

Thank you Oklahoma for 2 great years, you took me in as one of your own from the day I touched down. Thank you to the fans who make representing those 3 letters mean something. Thank you to Sam and Clay for being the best management a franchise and player could ask for. Thank you to the friends within the organization that took care of my family and I whenever we needed help. The picture shown is a bond that can’t be broken I truly loved and enjoyed the race from start to finish. Thank you OKLAHOMA! You already know what it is @russwest44! Love brodie!

A post shared by Paul George (@ygtrece) on Jul 6, 2019 at 7:22pm PDT

But with George gone, any chance of the Thunder competing in the near term ended. That left just one more move to make.

July 12, 2019: Westbrook returns to an old friend

After the trade of George, the writing was on the wall for Westbrook’s departure. The Thunder moved Westbrook to his preferred destination of Houston, which meant a reunion with Harden, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Oklahoma City ended up receiving Chris Paul, along with two first-round picks (2024, 2026) and two pick swaps (2021, 2025).

The initial promise of the great Thunder dynasty had long faded, but Westbrook’s departure completed the franchise’s deconstruction. Making the Finals in 2012 was supposed to be a stepping stone to generational greatness for the young trio of Westbrook, Durant, and Harden. Instead, it ended up being their best achievement as teammates.

It took eight years, but the dismantling of Oklahoma City is now complete. Now, all we have left is what could have been.

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mobius2684 · 8 years ago

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Not so quick rundown of what I have been up to

Basically why I haven’t been doing much in the posting/content department, broken down by month. For the tl;dr crowd: skip the october 2016 entry unless you want to read about some drama, the rest of it has just been my adventures with unemployment and how it has affected me for the past 8 months.

July 2016: This month I had lost my job of 8 years due to the company completely closing nationwide. First time ever filing for unemployment as I wasn’t able to find another job in 3 months since said company announced their closures on April 1st of the same year. Was really upset with the store closing as I really was starting to feel like I had a job that I was decent at, had met some great people working there both employee and customer, and now I wouldn’t really have a chance to interact with them as much. Went to San Diego comic con as I had purchased tickets well in advance. Didn’t get to do most of what was on my list of things to do there, but did get to have a personalized sketch done by Yoji Shinkawa as well as sit in on a small q&a session with Hideo Kojima.

August 2016: With unemployment filed and completed, I was looking for all sorts of work. I collected a lot of possible work via etsy with requests for new destiny cloaks as well as preparing for the halloween season for my goddaughters’ costumes as they live in another state than me. End of the month I ended up with a job offer from the lady who works at the storage unit I rent from. The lady had injured herself at the end of the month by fracturing her right arm in 2 places, making it unbearable to do any of her bookkeeping tasks, and asked if I would like to help her with. I said yes as she’s 73 years old and nobody should have to deal with working through that kind of pain.

September 2016: I started to work for the storage unit place the day after labor day. It was an easy job, just somewhat boring as it was a fairly archaic setup. All bookkeeping was done by hand, including receipts, ledgers, etc. Only the key card system for the gate was done via a computer program. This job was to be temporary while she healed. When she was well enough to work, I would be let go as its a one person operation. Also to note, most storage unit places typically have a home/condo/apartment built into the office, as there is someone always on the premises. This was the case with this place, so I was able to take care of her in the beginning as well as do the tasks at hand. This was also a full time job.

I started to get a bunch of early etsy orders for the holiday season as well as for halloween, so on top of having a full time job, I had to also work my etsy part time on top of the halloween costumes for my goddaughters. I had an old acquaintance contact me out of the blue around this time as well, where she told me that she was planning on visiting close to me to see some friends she met while playing Destiny. At the time I was happy for her and excited as I hadn’t seen her physically in about 10 years and figured this might be a great trip for her to show her around my hometown and the surrounding area and just catch up. More on her in October. Finished this month with a very last minute run to see Carpenter Brut in concert. Literally found out about the concert 2 hours before they went on so drove as quickly as I could to DNA lounge. Definitely was worth it, excellent show all around.

October 2016: This one is a long one. Skip to November if you don’t want an essay about old acquaintance. I’m needed for another month to work at the storage unit place. I have had to help her with things that I was not prepared for, mainly of the medical type. She is diabetic and has survived both lung cancer and colon cancer. I am becoming more of her in-home care person on top of taking care of the expected duties of the job, which was starting to put a strain on things as I would simply work my 8 hours a day for 6 days a week, most of that was taking care of her, going home, taking care of my grandparents, and sewing and working on etsy until I needed to sleep, rinse, repeat. I get the goddaughters costumes made and out to them, they love them, as well as another friend of mine wanted me to make matching dad and son costumes for his son’s first halloween.

Made his son a pikachu costume and Dad an Ash jacket. Also near the end of this month I got to see Magic Sword in concert. It was a bit of a bummer as the venue was ill-equipped to handle a show like theirs so we didn’t get the whole experience with the lights and background, on top of the fact that the sound guy was doing a lousy job so they didn’t come out for an encore and simply stopped playing halfway through “In the face of Evil”. Hoping that they’ll come out to SF again or somewhere closeby so I can see a full show. *skip to november 2016 to avoid massive drama backstory essay

Middle of the month is when my old friend was due to come out to visit. A little background on said friend: I met her back in 2005 when I was just starting to get into cosplay. We would chat about similar interests as well as cosplay related things, despite there being an age difference of about 6-7 years. She’s had a few hardships in 2006 that was of her own doing which led her down a path of co-dependence on others as well as manipulation and always playing the victim. Our communication was spotty, her only surfacing when she felt like it, always to unload her stories of woe and hardship.

I had tried to help her on several occasions as best as I could despite being several states away. I’d send care packages when I could afford to, mainly of food as she would talk about not having money for it, work screwing her out of hours, etc. I would also send old clothes as she lived in a much colder part of the country now and she was ill prepared for the winter in her state. I had commissioned her for a costume just to help her pay bills despite said commission being extremely late for the event it was needed for, and practically unwearable due to poor construction. I had sent her money when she was in between relationships and had no job. Simply put, I was there for her as much as I could be, but she wasn’t really reciprocating that over the years and at the time I wasn’t really able to see it.

Fast forward to the week she is coming out here. She fails to tell me that her friend that she is visiting is more of a romantic interest. She’s in a 3 year relationship with a guy she’s living with. She has also been talking with another guy who she plays Destiny with in a romantic way, so basically she’s got 2 possible love interests and a boyfriend at home that she doesn’t want to work things out with, but also doesn’t want to break up with just yet as if she does then she won’t have a place to live. Trying not to judge but also not really liking said situation as its pretty scummy of her. The weekend before her trip, said friend she’s supposed to be visiting with for a week upsets her majorly and is now not a possible romantic connection in her mind, but is not known by him as she doesn’t tell him that she’s upset with him because she’s now too invested in this trip.

She comes out here and gets to stay with him at his parents place. She has a list of things she wants to do while out here, but wants to do them in a certain order so she has money for said things. Understandable, but makes it a bit difficult as she expects both myself and her host to take her places and keep her entertained. A lot of suggestions get shot down as she doesn’t like doing said things, but has to realize that there aren’t many free things to do during the weekdays. She gets increasingly frustrated by her host and his family for doing the most mundane things despite letting her stay there for free as well as feeding her, considering she is in the heart of wine country as well as the heart of dubious airbnb country where they could have easily charged her a premium for staying with them. She feels entitled to her friends money, as many times I would get a text from her complaining about him not paying for her part of their outing. She would also get upset with him when he would ask who she would be on the phone with, as she was in contact with said other guy who she liked from Destiny. This would irritate me as I felt as if she was ungrateful and somewhat disrespectful, on top of the fact that I was juggling a full time job, my etsy as a part time job, and taking care of both my grandparents and this lady at the storage unit.

I take her out to SF so we can catch up and just have some girl time, despite really not having the time to do so, on top of it being an extremely busy weekend in SF as fleet week was happening. She didn’t really talk much with me on the trip unless it was to complain about her friend and to tell me how excited she was to talk with the new guy she liked. I would try to talk about what’s been going on with my life, only to be met with segues into something else completely different or just changing the subject. Not a lot of catching up, she spent a good chunk of her money on items for herself as to be expected, with snide remarks on how nobody really gets her gifts. This kinda pissed me off as I had spent at least 2 weeks on a knitted scarf for her as well as a small messenger bag that I sewed for her for this trip. I take her back to her friends parents place and go home.

A few days after our outing, my grandpa had a stroke episode while I was home on my lunch break that scared both myself and my grandma. Had to rush him to the ER, had to contact work and let her know what’s going on and why I’m not back, work was supportive and just closed up early for the day for me as I wasn’t sure how long we would be in the ER. I’m getting texts from my friend of her complaining that this guy wasn’t paying for her outing once again. I simply texted her back stating “I am at the ER right now with my grandpa and grandma, grandpa had a stroke episode and we’re trying to see how severe it is”. I get no reply back from her for 2 hours. I simply chalk it up to her being busy, or one of us being in a dead zone or whatever. I didn’t have time to worry about that as I was worried about the condition my grandpa was in and just keeping my grandma calm. Thankfully it was a mild stroke, no major issues. We were at the hospital for 7 hours.

I get my grandparents back home, call work to let her know how my grandpa is doing and that I will be in tomorrow for work. Said friend texts me to complain about how crummy her trip to the aquarium went. At this point, tensions were high, but I simply sent her a message saying “I’m guessing you didn’t receive my last message that said that I was in the ER with my grandpa who had a mild stroke. I had been in the ER for about 7 hours now”. Her response was “no”. Now, if you’ve made it this far into reading this whole thing, first off thank you and congrats. Secondly, you’re probably wondering “why does this whole mini essay about this chick matter?” or something to that extent. Well I don’t know about you good people here, but normally if a friend or loved one or just someone you kinda sorta know states that they were in the ER, and they don’t work in the medical field, most people’s reactions would be “what happened?”, “is everything ok?”, “are you ok?”, “is X person ok?”, etc. ad nauseum. There was no concern shown from her. NONE. No call to see if everything is ok, no text to ask if everything is ok, NOT A GODDAMN THING.

Why is that such a big deal? Offering compassion does not cost you a damn dime. All I wanted from her was a simple act of compassion. I had not asked for much from her over the time we had been friends. Just the one time I really could use it, its just lost on her. She continues to text me to ask me if we’re still going to hang out before she leaves. I’m just left in just disbelief at the whole thing. I don’t really text her after that, stating I’m busy. She’s constantly bugging me about this, all while I’m telling her that I have family issues to tend to. I finally agree to see her again, despite wanting to rip her head off. I meet with her and the guy, and I simply tell them in person what’s going on and what happened at the ER. Her friend offered concern, all while she’s sitting there stuffing her face and changing the subject. I ask for the bag that she borrowed from me from our previous trip out, she gives it to me and I make an excuse to leave early. She still isn’t getting it, so I ask for her friends’ number. I say my goodbyes and she states that she wants to visit again sometime.

The day she’s leaving, after she’s on the plane, I text the guy she’s been staying with. I tell him during this whole trip that she essentially used him, complained about him and his family the whole time to me, that the person she was being all secretive about on the phone was some guy she likes better than you, and that she’s in a relationship with someone back home and has been with said guy for 3 years and lives with him. He was not happy about this and rightfully so as he liked her. This of course led to them both arguing, and her contacting me via text about this and why I did it. I completely ignored everything. I felt that I owed her nothing after all of this. Her last message to me was “cool beans. we don’t have to be normal about it. But thanks for betraying my confidence and trust in the first place. You’re a shit friend and I hope you’re happy with yourself. Thanks for throwing our decade long friendship out the window”. She then proceeded to remove me from facebook and any other social media that we shared.

Am I really a shit friend? Am I really a horrible person for doing these things? Did I have to do what I did? Was it worth it? I will let you draw your own conclusions as yes I know that I didn’t have to do what I did and I could have been the one who takes the high road on this, but when you’re under a lot of stress due to work and deadlines and family issues, you tend to do shitty things. I grappled with the whole thing and felt awful for doing what I did, but at the same time I felt that no amount of talking would really get through to her about how much damage had been done. In some senses I do feel like a major weight was lifted from my shoulders as I really didn’t want to have a friend who didn’t understand basic concern for others.

November 2016: Still working at the storage unit place. The lady I’m working for has not been healing well due to not listening to her doctors orders. The maintenance man that the owner hired for the place injures himself horrifically, with what I assume his shin bone is jutting out of his skin. He tells us that he slipped down a ladder and that was about it. He’s rushed to the ER by ambulance. The owner then gets his son-in-law to work for him as maintenance man to replace the injured one. Son-in-law decides to have me start on a project for him, that requires me to make an excel spreadsheet of all the tenants who rent at the storage unit with all their info.

He tells me that the owner needs this info in digital form for insurance purposes and I agree to it since it does make sense, but it detracts from my other duties with caring for the lady I’m working for as well as the other office duties. I do this anyways as it seems like they might actually change the setup there so that its not all hand-written and a bit easier to keep track of as well as back up. Etsy orders are flooding in for the early holiday rush and I’m trying to keep on top of it all.

This marks the first thanksgiving where we don’t celebrate together as a family. My grandma simply just didn’t want to put up with all the fuss, my Mom and my nephew ended up going to Las Vegas for a football championship game for my nephew as he’s been in little league football all through the fall and his team had done really well and made it to the championship game. I couldn’t go with them as I had to watch the farm, as my Mom is a caretaker of a small school district owned farm and the animals need to eat everyday. My Uncle and Aunt both work demanding jobs that they aren’t able to get many days off so they weren’t able to come down for the holidays. My brother went up to his girlfriends parents place, so it was a bit odd and slightly depressing.

Only weird highlight was that I had a short convo with Dennis Wedin on instagram and I mentioned that I hope to send him and Jonatan some little handmade gifts when I get the chance to make them.

December 2016: Still working at the storage unit place. I end up getting sick near the beginning of the month with a cold/flu. I work through it like normal, just making sure to prepare myself as best as I can at work with plenty of fluids, a blanket, a heater, meds, tissue, etc.

This time it gets interesting. Storage unit place also houses cars, trucks, and RV parking spaces. Plenty of people rent these spaces, including one guy who states that he has an old Porsche and its been back there for 10+ years. He’s hoping to restore it for his kids despite none of them being super interested in it. Well with said spreadsheet work, I’m finding a ton of discrepancies as to whom is actually in the units and spaces that they say they are. Lots of calls have to be made, lots of running through the lot to check what is where, etc. Porsche guy is one of those discrepancies, and we ask for him to come down and confirm which space he’s in.

Well apparently his Porsche is missing as it is nowhere to be found on the lot. He has his sister come down with him and she’s yelling at me and the lady I’m working for, accusing us of stealing his car. The sister then calls the cops to come down and question us. Now there’s no way in hell I or the old lady I’m working for has stolen his car. For one, I had no clue what he had until November when he came to pay his bill. For two, most of the cars that are stored at this particular storage unit place are not in running condition, his included. He had stated this back in November that it doesn’t run and needed a ton of work on it.

One cop accuses myself and the old lady as well, despite what they need to do is run the VIN, and look at the records at the DMV as to who it had been registered to. For three, the Porsche guy hadn’t even checked on his car ever since he had parked it here for 10 years. No “hey I’ve been paying for this for 10+ years and if its so important to me I should at least check on it”. The guy hadn’t non-opted his vehicle and simply stopped paying any sort of registration on the vehicle. So now I’m a week away from christmas, still sick with whatever super cold/flu that is going around, I’ve been stressed due to busting my ass on getting etsy orders out in time for christmas, working 6 days a week in the office, and now I’m being accused of grand theft auto.

After the cops finally decide to actually do some investigating, they found out that the car had been stolen in May 2012. Someone towed it off the lot that also rents at the storage unit, hence why they had access to the lot. Since he had rented the spot so long ago, the old lady didn’t remember or even know what he had back there. Since he hadn’t registered it in so long, the person who stole it got some sort of lein title for the car and fixed it to running condition as someone about 500 miles away is driving it around.

Christmas was rather uneventful as I was finally better from being sick and was trying to relax from everything. Got things for my mom and her bf as well as something for my nephew and a few friends of mine. For my birthday I went and watched Moana with my Mom. Ended up sick again as the next day I ended up throwing up. Whether it was the food or just round 2 of super cold/flu, I didn’t know but didn’t really care as I wanted it to be gone. Didn’t do much of anything for new years as I worked and so did a bunch of my friends, top it off with still being sick and not wanting to be around people and spread it around.

If you’ve made it to the end of this, I truly do thank you as it was a long bunch of bullshit that you honestly didn’t have to read and I could have summed up a lot shorter but didn’t. I hope you enjoyed this small peak into my life. I will eventually update this with January 2017 and February 2017 or just simply make a second post if anyone cares to see the rest of this out. Thanks again.

#personal #lifestory #longasfuck #thefuckwhy #tl;dr warning

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