#so like. obviously there are different graduation requirements here | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tfemteach · 1 month

Text

hey pirate show friends! in honor of my boat graduation and because I'm procrastinating my work I thought I'd make a post about some super basic sail mechanics/terminology for all your writing-about-ships needs. this just covers the very broad strokes that you'd need to convincingly talk about what's happening on a ship while there's other stuff going on, or to insert some ship-based drama. I'm not an expert and I'm only practically familiar with one tallship that's much later in period than the Revenge. but here are some things I did not know before sail training that I think could be helpful or provide some fun jumping off points for writing! this is super long but I am super procrastinating. hopefully it's helpful to someone. if not, I at least wasted a fun hour thinking about things that aren't my day job.

1. what are the basic types of sails?

for a square-rigged ship like the Revenge, you will have both "square sails" and "fore-and-aft sails." square sails are set perpendicular to the masts and, obviously, are roughly square. they are "bent onto" (meaning connected to) the "yards," which are the horizontal pieces of wood that cross the mast. fore-and-aft sails are set going, well, fore and aft, meaning they follow the line of the ship. these can include staysails (triangular sails bent onto the "stays," or wires that support the masts, and therefore run down the middle of the ship), jibs (also triangular and bent onto stays or wires, but going out along the jibboom and bowsprit, which are the spars that extend forward of the ship's bow), spankers (a large trapezoidal-ish fore-and-aft sail bent onto booms (basically like a fore-and-aft yard) off the mizzen mast, which is towards the stern of the boat, and acts as a wind rudder), and more. some older ships also had spritsails, which were small square sails bent onto yards that hang off the bowsprit. they look very silly in my opinion but to each their own. these aren't all the kinds of sails but they'll cover your basics.

ships can also have any number of sails. full size square-rigged ships can have as few as two or as many as five square sails on each mast. the lowest and largest sail can be called either the mainsail or the course, and are further specified by saying which mast it's on (i.e., the fore course, main course, or mizzen course). going upwards and assuming a five-sail mast, you've next got the lower topsail, upper topsail, topgallant (pronounced t'gallant), and royal. the staysails are named for the mast they connect to. so the most forward might be the "fore topmast staysail," indicating a sail that is connected to the upper part of the foremast.

2. how are sails controlled?

the vast majority of sail control actually comes from the deck and does not require having people aloft, or in the rigging (I'll address the reasons to have people aloft in the next section).

each sail has a number of "lines" (ropes) connected to it at different points that control whether the sail is "set" (fully extended) or "doused" (pulled up towards the yard). more lines are connected to the yards and control how the sail is oriented. the yards can be pulled back and forth, some of them can be pulled up and down, and their angle relative to the horizon can also be adjusted. the square sails on a mast all work together as they are stacked on top of each other and often have interconnected rigging. the lines all come down to the deck and are "belayed" (a figure-eight shaped way of wrapping the rope) around a "pin." the pins may be on a rail that wraps around the ship (the "pinrail"), on a rail that makes a square shape around a mast (a "fiferail"), or on a metal band wrapped around a mast (a "spider rail.") (there are other rails also, especially on the headdeck, which is the most forward, and the quarterdeck, which is the most aft. don't worry about it.)

some things you might do with sails from deck:

set sails (pulling the foot of the sail all the way to the next lowest yard so that it is fully extended and can fill with wind)

douse sails (pulling the foot of the sail up to its yard so that it is no longer catching as much wind. you can leave the sail doused if you might need to set it again, or you can send people aloft to furl it if you do not need it or are in conditions where it is dangerous to have a loose sail)

conduct manuevers, i.e. turn the ship

the three basic manuevers are tacking, wearing, and boxhauling, but all of them are just ways to turn the ship and change course. you can look up the particulars of these manuevers if you're interested, but I think the most important part from a writing perspective is knowing the initial commands. there are a whole series of commands for each of these manuevers but the opening ones you might most need are:

for a tack, the captain or conn (person in charge of issuing manuevering orders), first calls "ready about!" one of the other orders that might be dramatic to have in a writing situation is "helms a'lee," which occurs after ready about and prompts the person at the helm to turn it.

for a wear (the most common and least work-intensive way to turn most large tallships, though it loses you more ground), the order is "prepare to wear ship!"

for a boxhaul (essentially a three-point turn for when you do not have a lot of space to manuever), the order is "stand by to boxhaul!"

you can also stop the ship by "heaving to" (past tense: "hove to"), where you rotate the yards in opposition to each other so that the sails form a right angle with each other, which loses you all of your wind power.

these might change by period or tradition, but are the most common I'm aware of.

the commands for setting and dousing sails are pretty straightforward- you're just going to say "on the [fore/main/mizzen], set/douse your [sail]!" someone lower in the chain of command might also say "hands to the [sail] gear." whatever needs to get done is then accomplished by hauling on, easing (letting go slowly and under control) or casting off the relevant lines.

4. so what do people do aloft?

going up into the rigging is referred to as "laying aloft." you do this by climbing the "shrouds," which are those things you always see people in Boat Media climbing on-- they look like big nets or ladders that extend from the rails of the ship up to the masts. the shrouds may go to "cranelines" (small footropes that allow you to access the middle of a mast between yards, which is often where staysails are stowed), to platforms/crow's nests, or to "footropes," which are strung under each yard. there is also the "headrig," which is a system of footropes and stays that form what looks like a net under and around the jibboom and bowsprit and allow those areas to be accessed. all of these need to be tarred and otherwise repaired, and if a line parts (breaks) a new one needs to be rigged. masts may also need to be tarred or painted and other hardware might need to be repaired, checked, or replaced, such as "blocks" (pulleys that help lines move), shackles, and hooks. you might also need to bend on sails, or even replace entire masts if you're doing heavy repairs in port. people doing these jobs might carry tools or materials tied off in canvas buckets, or ride on a "bosun's chair," which is a wooden swing that can be tied to a gantline and used to lift a person up into the rigging or down over the side of the ship (like stede during the lighthouse fuckery or lucius when he's supposed to clean barnacles).

for non-maintenance related activities, the only things that really need to be done aloft are loosing and furling the sails.

square sails are kept, when idle, rolled and tied to their yards (furled). fore and aft sails are also furled, which depending on the sail may also mean tying it to a mast, or it may mean bundling it down against a stay or spar.

before a ship gets underway, the sails therefore need to be loosed (untied). a captain might not order all sails to be loosed at once when first starting out. if there's heavy winds, you might only need a few sails to get the speed you're going for. in light winds, you might need all of them. the order of loosing on a ship with five square sails per mast is typically: lower topsail, upper topsail, t'gallant, royal, course. but this is ultimately up to the captain's discretion. the courses have a lot of power and you might not need or want that much power when the winds are high.

to loose a sail, sailors are ordered to lay aloft, where they range out along the yard of the sail they're loosing. they stand on the footropes and hold onto a metal rail called the "jackstay." on each side of the yard, there are 3-5 "gaskets" holding the sail tied to the yard. these are loosed as sailors lay out along the yard (the knot is called a butterfly and can be pulled out in one easy motion). then each person stops at their gasket and "gasket coils" it, which coils the gasket up nicely so that it sits right at the yard and doesn't flap around the sail. gasket coils can also be undone easily by flipping one part of the coil over and then just letting the rest fall. the sail can then be set from deck.

you might need to "sea stow" a sail if you have to furl them very hastily, for example if a storm is coming. in this case you'd lay aloft, loose a couple of gasket coils, and spiral them widely inboard (towards the mast) and tie them off. the goal is not to look pretty, just to be fast. the sail will be doused from deck, and the hardest part of this is gathering up the sail the rest of the way so that it can be tied down. you lean your hips against the yard, reach over, and gather up chunks of the sail, tucking them under your belly until you have all of it, and then tie your gaskets. it's hard to do because you are not working together as closely or as carefully in a sea stow situation, and also potentially because the conditions are garbage.

sails ideally are stored in a "harbor furl," particularly, as the name implies, in harbor, where you are not likely to quickly need them loose again, and you have the time to put them away nicely. also, ship people judge each other if these don't look nice. this is a much more synchronized manuever. the sail is doused from deck, then sailors lay aloft in the same way as they did for loosing. here, the people with the hardest jobs are the ones up first, who go out to the farthest points of the yard (the "yardarm"). everyone begins to gather up the sail in the same manner as a sea stow, leaning over the yard and tucking folds of the sail under your stomach. the people at the yardarm are also dealing with the blocks and gear at the lower outside corners ("clews") of the sails. their job is more technically complicated and so they control the rhythm of everyone's gathering. once the sail has been folded and furled nicely with the "sun skin" facing out (protecting the rest of the sail from the elements), the person on the weather (side the wind is coming from) yardarm calls, in rhythm, "roll-ing home," or something similar, which prompts everyone to roll the sail up on top of the yard in unison. then each person wraps their gasket around the sail and yard, ties it off, and heads back down. again, that command might vary by period and tradition.

5. what are some things I could throw in my story for drama?

here are just a few:

a line could part! this is actually not uncommon on buntlines, which are one of the lines that help set and douse sails. when one of these parts and there's any amount of wind, the whole ship is going to know about it very fast because the sail, out of control, will start to "flog." this means it flops around in the wind and makes a very ominous sound (like a huge towel being snapped). to fix it, crew needs to lay aloft immediately and sea stow the sail so the bosun or other skilled crewmember can rig a new buntline.

a note about lines parting: manila lines do not have the "snapback" effect that modern synthetic lines do. this means they part more easily, but also more safely. they also get VERY swollen and spongy when it's wet, because they absorb water, and may even start to unlay (where the strands start to untwist themselves). so they can be also very annoying to handle when wet.

you might have to execute a manuever while people are still aloft! this is not uncommon, particularly for people aloft performing routine maintenance, but not ideal in bad conditions, particularly if people are out on the yards. because manuevers involve the yards being pulled back and forth and therefore rotating on the mast, it can be pretty harrowing to ride one through a manuever (or fun, depending on what kind of person you are). there are also pinch points between the yards and the mast that anyone on the mast or shrouds needs to steer clear of so they don't get crushed by a moving yard. "avast!" is a real command used when there needs to be an immediate all-stop due to a safety issue.

you might have to sea stow in really heavy conditions! if you've seen the episode of black sails where flint sails the Walrus directly into a storm, you know how difficult this is. when a sail is full of wind, it's very hard to pull it up by hand, even when doused. dousing only pulls the sail about 3/4s of the way up to the yard, and a doused sail can still catch wind. in truly heavy winds it can be almost impossible to stow.

in high seas, the ship could roll so badly that people on the yardarms get dunked in the ocean! this has also happened on black sails, I think in that same episode. this has never happened to me but I think if it ever did I would just rather fall off in the ocean than get swung back up again, thanks (<-guy who is afraid of heights). this is not a death sentence though, sailors can and have held on enough that they get swung back up and can safely get down. if conditions are bad enough that this happens and you do lose grip and end up in the ocean, it's probably going to be pretty difficult to impossible to get rescued, at least in the 1700s.

someone inexperienced might belay a line that needs to be cast off in order for a manuever to work, or vice versa. this could be an easy fix or it could cause a very dangerous situation. if you lose control of one of the halyards that lifts the yards, for example, that's potentially tons of uncontrolled load that could fall and break any number of things on its way. or if a line is made fast when it needs to be loosed, you could have yards raised crookedly and/or lines breaking as the strain becomes too much.

rope burn! the lines on a ship are often controlling a lot of load and power. if you allow the rope to slip through your hands instead of moving hand-over-hand, or if you just lose control of it, you can get rope burn that can be pretty severe. it's a wound that almost looks like a burn from fire would, especially while healing.

#our flag means death

76 notes · View notes

batrogers · 3 months

Text

So, which Links pay their taxes, for real?

This is a somewhat fast and loose approximation of my recall of historical taxes, who paid them (or didn’t) and how, how they were collected and from whom, and what kind of taxation was even possible under different governments. This is pulled from a couple decades of study into historical society and books I’ve read on feudalism, the social duties of knights, and government structure and instability in both medieval Europe and the Ottoman Empire, among others.

Notes on organization:

1. While this is a response to a Linked Universe post, I am going per game not per Link because a few games must be split. The implications about taxes are drastically different between LttP & LbW, and Minish Cap & FSA. I also wished to include Spirit Tracks bc it’s fun. I am not linking the inspiring post, because I don't believe in attacking people for a ten minute list just because it twigged my history brain.

2. I am excluding games in which Link is not implied to be a tax-paying resident of the country he’s in, so Majora’s Mask, Oracle of Ages & Seasons, and Phantom Hourglass are not included.

3. There are usually overlapping taxes in a society. Here I will mostly address taxes on residents, on vocations or landownership, whether they can pay in coin or in kind, and if they have a household that would pay tax for them.

4. I have placed Hyrule Warriors in Child Timeline here for a few reasons, mostly related to army structure implications, the martial norms of the game and the two preceding ones (large standing armies in FSA and HW; mentions of “prolonged wars” and very military flavoured royal regalia in Twilight Princess.) Obviously this doesn’t strictly mean anything or oblige agreement, but its my habit to do so and I wished to explain the choice.

I apologize so much for how long this is. If you wish to read it in a different format, it's also on AO3. This is 2000+ words. I suppose if you click, I hope you enjoy.

A note on Knighthood:

Knights were a specific, highly trained profession often (but not always) associated with landownership, either someone who was in the household of the landowner, or who was the landowner themself. The trappings of knighthood (weapons, armour, and horse) were quite expensive and belonging to a family of knights implies a specific degree of social status in and of itself.

While a sovereign can in theory bestow any title they want on anyone at any time, usually this requires that there be some service rendered for which this is a gift. (Fucking them, or just being hella attractive, counts.) Because of this, there is a wide variety of things “Knight” can mean, but here we will presume it means some degree of professionalism and attachment to a social status that is both someone who collects taxes from subjects and pays them to a sovereign in turn.

IIII

Skyward Sword =

There is no evidence of centralized government in Skyward Sword, therefore the taxes are going to whoever is in charge of the settlement. They were likely paid in kind (material goods), although Skyloft does have coin. Given we know who’s basically running Skyloft, we can guess they were paid to Gaepora, and at least one tax-funded organization: the Knight’s Academy.

Did students pay taxes? Graduates might be exempt from some taxes if still in service to the city. Afterwards, given he’s usually presumed to be married to Zelda, we can say Link is either paying taxes (or hearing about it personally at dinner), and/or helping collect and distribute taxes to others.

Or, even funnier, setting taxes on the new community because they need supplies to build it.

Minish Cap =

There is a central government in Minish Cap, because they have a monarch! This is probably a small territory: some “kings” have a few villages and fields and that’s it, but it is a castle which requires taxed goods to function because it’s not producing its own.

Link’s grandfather is a blacksmith, and also alive therefore if the census tax is paid per household, Link has nothing to do with it. If its paid per business, he’s an apprentice or employee so it’s still paid by his grandfather. Depending on which taxes were being paid when, they might pay coin or in kind (eg. Labour or goods produced.) While people absolutely did lie and cheat and not pay taxes, I expect the con artistry didn’t involve “refunds” in a modern sense, but that’s probably tax history specialization territory...

Four Swords =

This game doesn’t have enough of a framing story to comment on its social structures, but is superficially similar enough to Minish Cap we can assume the situation matches.

Ocarina of Time =

We literally see Talon paying his taxes in kind in the game. Like, you can’t pay milk as a lump sum so delivering it reliably to the castle could be counted towards his taxes, or he’s getting paid enough for it that will be paying for it later. Either way, supplies are delivered from Lon Lon Ranch by its owner who is still alive after the game and presumably will continue to be responsible for it until he is no longer owner of Lon Lon Ranch.

(Malon likely is a valid heir to Lon Lon Ranch. There is no reason to assume marriage affects her legal claim to Lon Lon Ranch. It is not common for a woman to lose her property in marriage – British law is the exception to historical norms – so even if Talon died she could still be sole and/or primary owner of Lon Lon Ranch, whether or not she is married.)

Link starts out the game not even on a Hyrulean census, with no property to his name, and no social connections. He is not paying taxes because he does not legally exist. Until he is counted on a poll as a resident of either Castletown or Lon Lon Ranch, and until he’s considered an adult (usually by means of acquiring personal property or skill of any value) he’s unlikely to be taxed.

Now, if we include into the assumed connections to the Hero’s Shade who died in elaborate plate mail we get a very different answer. Someone who owns elaborate plate mail of that sort has significant money. He may have received it as a gift for service to the crown, but if so it likely wasn’t the only gift. Plate mail is often associated with knights; a knight of some consequence is likely attached by some means or another to property. Knights under a King usually collected taxes for them... So, in a world where Link has platemail and is a valued knight of the Hylian Crown he may also, like Skyloft, be the person collecting taxes to pass them on. Whether or not that means he now technically owns Lon Lon Ranch by means of owning the land it’s on.... I leave that up to you.

Wind Waker =

Outset Island most likely operates like Skyloft: there is a headman or prominent family who collects surplus to give as aid, either in terms of money or food or services. Within that space, Link living with an invalid grandmother and also underage sister was probably one of those families receiving surplus as social support, possibly on top of whatever his grandmother was still capable of in her old age.

However, Link is implied post-game to leave with Tetra. What taxes did a ship and its crew owe? Harbour dues, customs, and other duties! This varied a lot and was usually addressed whenever someone docked at a controlled port. Often questions were asked about where the materials came from, more or less scrupulously. Sometimes people cared if you just happened to have something without a sound origin, that you had taken from someone else... like we see Tetra’s crew doing in-game...

It may indeed be possible Tetra (and her crew) are wanted for tax evasion and Link gets to be included in that, whatever his age.

Spirit Tracks =

This boy works for the centralized government’s transit system. If he doesn’t pay taxes, it’s because he doesn’t owe taxes because he’s working a tax-funded job and likely has been since he was an apprentice. He is possibly also union and knows the local tax law in extremely nuanced detail. He will judge you for not paying your taxes.

Twilight Princess =

The start of the story is also framed around the village blacksmith making some kind of tax-like offering to the royal family and setting Link up to take it. This is likely not a normal tax, but it does tell us that Ordon Village is considered a designated social unit within Hyrule and therefore we may assume that “Ordon Village” is a taxable entity in its own right. Link, as a resident of Ordon Village, would pay his portion of the village’s tax to the Mayor who arranged for its delivery. If Link marries Ilia, you can expect once again this is someone who either hears about taxes over dinner, or is helping collect them.

If Link leaves and moves to Castle Town, he’d have the joys of all the things large city residents pay for, up front or not, that village residents who are not transporting food and goods long distances but those will be sales and customs taxes, not per-person taxes based off the census or his vocation.

Four Swords Adventures [Game + Comic] =

Link’s family is explicitly positioned as either a knight family, or a legacy castle guard family with close personal ties to the royal family. He also has a living father, who is implied to survive the game/comic. As such, with Link a minor, he’s not paying taxes because he’s not liable for taxes. He also may be paying taxes by means of collecting taxed goods from the lands over which his family has ownership and paying a portion of that income to the Crown themselves.

Interesting, this could also tie into something I’ll mention in more detail below but one form of “evading taxes” can be “refusing to do labour.” If he is from a family whose young men are supposed to provide service to the Crown in the form of military labour, “leaving” is a crime.

Hyrule Warriors =

In this game, Link explicitly starts as a base soldier. It is possible for soldiers to be a form of population tax (and/or control) especially in larger kingdoms or empires. He likely did receive regular pay, but he might also have been considered legal property of the Kingdom, eg a slave. Either way, his upkeep was entirely from the taxes that went into the coffers, whether it was in food or kind. Post-game, he’s likely been involved in rebuilding which again would be in large part executed by taxed goods and labour. He might even be part of the apparatus collecting or setting taxes, especially if he becomes close with Zelda herself.

Link to the Past =

Link is explicitly stated to belong to a knight family, with an adult family member who is (arguably) alive at the end of the game. If he is paying taxes, he’s paying them from taxes paid to his family. Not paying your taxes as a knight family is infinitely more suspicious than not paying them as an individual, because then your monarch wonders what you’re using that money for. Is it rebellion? It better not be rebellion.

Link Between Worlds =

THIS Link is a Blacksmith apprentice. He does not have any known adult family. He may be assessed as part of the household he is apprenticed to; he might be assessed as independent depending on his age and where he is in his training and what the local tax law looks like. If there is a guild he may be assessed by means of his membership... but that may also be a separate tax from what he’s paying per the census. He could likely avoid it altogether, because he’s not exactly important at this age and social rank.

Ravio, on the other hand, is in some way involved with the Royal Family of Lorule (Hilda is personally betrayed he left.) However, Lorule is a failed state. There is no means by which they can collect taxes, nor distribute them... which is likelywhy Hilda has no control over her guards. (People aren’t very obedient when not getting paid.) Recovery to a state where taxation is reliable and people feel it’s worth doing will be a long road.

Zelda I & II =

Same as above: Hyrule is a failed state, at best in the process of recovery in Zelda II. People likely do not trust the tax collectors who do exist to pay their dues to the Crown vs keeping it for themselves. This is a matter of power rules. Link, a minor with no property, is likely of zero interest to anyone unless they sell children. In Zelda II, where he lives close enough to approach Impa with a question, he may be paying taxes if he has a vocation or he may be helping work in the castle, which brings us back to he’s collecting, distributing and/or paid by taxes.

BOTW & TOTK =

Hyrule here is NOT a failed state because they do not have a central government attempting to exert control. Here, things are more like Wind Waker or Skyward Sword: village mayors or prominent families control local taxation. There is limited intercommunity interactions, which are likely a matter of market tax. Link, if he settles in Hateno village, would be accountable to them.

In TOTK, we do see some kind of centralization: there’s the joint effort to construct Lookout Landing and the monster patrols, both of which would require outside support until local agriculture begins. Which communities contribute is hard to say, but most villages at this time are more than prosperous enough to spare the means. A new settlement would reduce overcrowding, increase the land available to farm, and so on: all good things for a prospering world.

(This does NOT imply they are re-establishing the monarchy. None of these groups call themselves “royal”. They’re monster patrols, not royal guards, and Lookout Landing, not a new Castletown. The location has access to already-quarried stone and trade routes going for it, after all.)

Given how Link behaves in both games, it seems likely he would contribute whatever surplus he acquires to these efforts. Out of every Link, I think he is the most likely to be cooperative with taxation... although there may be some arguments about what his taxable means is. Should this be paid in rupees or bokoblin guts? Let’s negotiate!

TL;DR =

Taxes vary wildly across time, space, regions, and forms of government. While some Links live in similar social circumstances, we have at least four really distinct categories: the Knights, the failed states, those with vocations, and the villagers. Similarly, many forms of taxes are for social support, things that Link tends to be characterized as valuing in the games. When people refuse to pay, they either do not see the request or authority as legitimate, or do not have the means to do so.

IDK it’s just infinitely funnier to me to say “Wind Waker Link is wanted for tax evasion because Tetra has never paid a harbour duty tax in her life” vs stating the evasion without cause. All the best!

57 notes · View notes

simulation-machine · 2 months

Text

SIMS RELATED PROJECTS/UPDATES

My spring break is coming up in a week and holy crap do I have plans on plans on plans, especially since my summer is gonna be full of school + internship + HOPEFULLY friggin' graduating with a BA in Psychology so that I can start applying to grad schools.

Read more iffin' you'd like! It's long! Here's a picture of my golden retriever napping on her brother's food bowl to entice/entertain you:

god she is so precious i would literally kill for her

GOAL 1: MASTER GSHADE/ReSHADE

I know that some people are sticklers for this but my thing is that I had no gee-dee clue what I was doing with ReShade, whereas Gshade just kinda clicked and worked for me? That said I have a bunch of resources for learning ReShade so I might end up moving back to it at some point.

My main issue is figuring out the order of all the different effects. It obviously matters, I'm sure people smarter than me have tried to use presets only to be like "why tf does this look absolutely nothing like the baller screenshots this one cool Simblr has?" Annnd it turns out it's order + remembering to turn off certain graphic settings. Also photoshop, but that's gonna take a lot longer for me to figure out lol.

Like I'd been struggling to figure out why @gunthermunch's gorgeous Lithium preset wasn't looking as sexy as it did before annnnd it's because I forgot to turn Edge Smoothing off when switching to it. Jesus wept at how dippy I am sometimes.

Eventually, what I would like to do is maybe make my own preset at some point? I would be kind enough to show the effect order too if I did so. But this requires so, so much more shader knowledge than I currently have.

FUN FACT: My first ever degree was in art, I even went to a very fancy and private art school (School of the Art Institute of Chicago if you're curious)- I dropped out after one semester because uhhh that shit is expensive. Ended up finishing my degree at a much cheaper location in MN. That said, my art was 100% analog and 2D, and it turns out it did not translate super well into trying my hand at graphic art.

It's funny because I've been gifted really neat stuff for graphic art (like a really nice Wacom tablet and Adobe subscriptions), like people just expected my mixed-media ass would know what to do with it. NOPE! But yeah, Sims is sort of my excuse to try my hand at this stuff again, especially since I have a bit more energy now that my soul is not regularly being drained out of my body by customer service and tech support jobs.

GOAL 2: GET CRACKIN' ON ANOTHER DOOR

This one is hard because I am only on Gen 2 of the Orsons and it's sort of hard to justify starting up another story while that one is less than 1/5 of the way done.

THAT SAID, I don't plan on posting Another Door until I have a decent chunk of it done. Since it's not a casual gameplay story nor a legacy challenge, I plan on editing the bajeez out of the screenshots for it, really honing in on the aesthetic. I want it to look and feel very different from my random legacy challenge.

Fortunately, this story has been fucking up my sleep schedule for *months* now and I have a lot of the writing for it done. The hard part is translating that into the Sims, making sure I get the right poses and stuff, maybe even learning how to make some super easy CC (like, posters and stuff), and stuff related to GOAL 1 above.

What I'm saying is that it's going to take a bit. But I'm super serious about sharing it because it's my obsession and honestly the first time a story of my own design has possessed me in literal years.

Also, I want to make sure I have a significant backlog of the Orsons before I start seriously simming for it, because I don't want to screw over my favorite little pixel babies. This legacy challenge is going to be the one, I have done so much to keep my save files to keep it safe from harm (ask me how many backups I have of the save files. JK don't, the number is frankly silly).

GOAL 3: START YET ANOTHER MASSIVE CC PURGE

Y'all, my CC folder for this game is honestly an embarrassment. I go so hard on CC shopping because this community is stupid-talented and I like giving my pixel babies nice things and cool looks. When I'm bored and not quite in the mood for gameplay, I just like making neat-looking sims that I do absolutely nothing with because I love fucking around in CAS.

I have built my own PCs since I was 17 years old, and when I first built COMPUTERMACHINE (current rig) back in the autumn of 2018, it was with the goal that it would run Sims 4 flawlessly no matter what I did to it. It's got ridiculous amounts of RAM, I religiously update parts for it. And to be fair, even with the current 6,907,907,890 TB of CC I have atm it runs better than Sims 3 ever had with a measly 50 GB of CC.

But for me, it comes down to finding all the stuff I wanna use. Making myself get rid of the stuff I don't wanna use. Straight up yeeting the CC that I thought was going to look incredible that uh, didn't deliver.

I do CAS CC purges about once a year but have literally never done it for Build & Buy stuff, because OMG some of this shit I've had since 2014. Like when Sims 4 first came out. YIKES. My CAS CC obsession is notable but it's honestly nothing compared to my Build & Buy. Even before For Rent made building lots slow af, my PC was starting to take a solid minute to switch to different buy categories.

It would take a long af time so I want to make sure I have a bunch of content in the queue before I do it. It's gonna be a whole ass thing and be so, so boring to do. So I'm putting it off for when I have a ton of time to do it. Like, oh, my entire Spring Break?

GOAL 4: MAKE A FRIGGIN' RESOURCES LIST ALREADY

This would obviously need to wait until after GOAL 3 is completed, but I wanna make sure the awesome creators whose stuff I use get credit, and that people know where they can grab neat stuff. It would include not only CC but mods, Gshade/ReShade presets, and maybe even lots and sims I've downloaded from the gallery?

(Since I am super anti-paywall and very unapologetic and rude about it, I will also share where one could perhaps get some of these CCs without paying some dip a Trenta Starbucks Unicorn Frappucino amount of $$$)

It's ambitious as hell because *gestures vaguely at GOAL 3* but it would make things like doing WCIF asks and lookbooks so much easier.

Somewhat relatedly, I wanna make a navigation post, especially once Another Door starts getting posted. That story is gonna be a bit huge with multiple arcs that take place over the course of like, 14 years. Plus once the Orsons get to the 4th+ generation, it would be easier to track things down.

IN CONCLUSION...

I have been having so much fun sharing my silly little Sim adventures on Tumblr, so much more than I ever thought I would! You all have been so great to me, and all of this stuff is sort of a way for me to repay that. Ever since I stopped being able to be artistically creative ever since a really nasty depressive spell in 2017, Sims has been my #1 artistic outlet. And having people who are even somewhat entertained by my pixels is incredibly motivating.

Basically, if you read all of this, DAMN would you have been a rad livejournal follower of mine circa 2007. On the seriousness, however, thank you all so much for being rad and encouraging and sweet. I promise to do you all, if not proud, then at the very least not disappointed.

Time to hit the bong and take some pictures of Lou and Tatertot before taking my IRL doggos on a walk~

#sort of an announcement #future plans #sims 4 gameplay #tales from the irl #i love the sims community so much #promises i plan to deliver on (eventually)#playing with photoshop again #talking 'bout doing another cc purge again #posts so long you'll unfollow me (i will not blame you)#tl;dr: folks i'm gonna be doing some stuff #anyways... *bong rips*

21 notes · View notes

minniesmelody · 2 years

Note

I saw that your requests were open and I was wondering if they still were because I have an idea for Eddie. So reader and eddie have been friends for a couple months since reader moved to Hawkins in the winter. so obviously wearing lots of layers and stuff. But come late spring/early summer it's shorts and tank top season. This leads Eddie to seeing all their tattoos and being super awestruck and just a little jealous. I think it would be kinda cute. Like two full sleeves, one whole leg, one massive rib piece, and working on a back piece. Kinda like what I got going 😊

April weather

Pairing: Eddie Munson x GN! Reader

Summary: The winters are cold in Hawkins, meaning lots of sweaters, hoodies, and sweat pants will be worn. But that also means lots of skin will not be shown, also meaning you're newly best friend has zero idea of what is inked into you're skin underneath the clothes.

Genre: Fluff

POV: First person- Y/N

Warnings: a few cuss words, tattoos? I know some people are against tattoos for their own personal reasons so i'm just gonna put it as a warning even though it's pretty much the whole plot.

A/n: i'm obsessed with this request! I've been thinking about tattoos a lot lately so this request came at the perfect moment! I have already decided that i want a handful or two of tattoos. I love that you kinda based it off yourself too, i bet you're tattoos look amazing! Thank you sm for requesting my love! Hugs and kisses - Minnie x

April, the start of spring. The perfect season for weather, not too hot, not too cold, just the weather, other than it raining most days of the week.

Ever since i moved to Hawkins in December, it's been nothing snowy and chilly. Weather that requires long sleeve shirts and heavy sweaters, clothes that cover most skin.

Speaking of Hawkins, It fucking sucks here.

Not everything sucks, but most of it does.

One of the very few things that didn't suck was i met one of my best friends here. The trailer park freak, Eddie Munson. He was one of the very few people to actually understand me in this town. Or any place i've ever lived if i'm being completely honest here. He was one year older than me, me starting school late and him failing and having to repeat his senior year twice now, him currently in his third attempt in graduating. But ever since my first day at Hawkins high, he has been there for me, and i have been there for him.

We would hang out every weekend together, sometimes we would go out and go to the drive in or something, and other times we would just stay at his beat up trailer that he shared with his uncle and watch a movie there or just do whatever in the moment we felt like doing, even if it was just sitting in each others presence, we always did something.

Which lead us here, me walking into his trailer, the first Saturday of some semi-what warmish weather.

I didn't even knock, Eddie knows when i come over so usually he keeps the door unlocked for me, easy access for me to just let myself in, the door is always open for me.

I didn't see Eddie sitting in the living room, looking over down the hallway of the trailer was the door to Eddies bedroom, slightly cracked open, like usual i started walking towards his bedroom.

"oh Eddie!" i said as I opened the door a bit more and walked inside.

His bedroom, a mess like usual, cassettes placed everywhere, and of course Eddie, sitting on his bed, dnd folder open, writing down different ideas for the next Hellfire campaign.

He went to look back me and like usually, give me a nice welcome, but this time, it's like he....froze?

He just stared at me, his face unreadable.

"Um- Eds? You alright there?" i asked

"I- uh-"

"Hello? Earth to Eddie" i said, snapping my fingers in front of his face, breaking him out of whatever planet his just went to.

"Uh yeah- sorry it's just...i never knew you had uh...tattoos"

Shit, it had totally slipped my mind that Eddie had never seen my tattoos, let alone just hear or have any knowledge that i have any in the first place.

Most of my tattoos, currently on display for eyes to see since the weather became suddenly warmer, meaning i was in a tank top and shorts, also meaning my arms and legs were free to the eye.

"oh yeah, um- surprise?" i said with a small smile.

"you got more than i do, can i have a closer look?" He asked, a look of plea and hope in his eyes.

"sure, i don't mind Eds" i said as i sat down on his bed with him, he quickly took my arm and started examining all the art work inked into my skin.

"Who did all these? they all look fucking amazing"

"lots of different tattoo artists, some i did myself, and there a few that some random people at this frat party did"

He looked back up at me and raised his left eyebrow "You did some of these yourself?"

i nodded my head "Yup, i have a tattoo gun back at my house, i usually do easy designs on myself, you know? Let the pro's do the hard ones" i said, giggling at my words, him laughing along with me.

"Maybe you can give me one some day? or get matching ones? i mean if you don't want to i totally-"

"Eddie"

"Like i don't wanna pressure you into-"

"Eds"

"Tattoos are like perm-"

"EDDIE!"

"yeah?"

"i'd love that"

I may not be a pro tattoo artist, but for Eddie, i will try my best.

267 notes · View notes

catboybiologist · 4 months

Note

Hey! Kinda a weird ask but I saw ur a PhD student and I was wondering if u had any tips for people who want to peruse that path. (I’m in CS so I imagine it’s a bit different, but I’m sure there’s at least some overlap: networking, applications, etc).

Also ur posts are really great and spark joy whenever I see them, so thank you for that :)

As far as computer science is concerned, I would also tell you to seriously ask yourself if you want a PhD in the subject. Is your goal to get a stable, high paying job in tech that lets you live your life otherwise? Or is your job to find satisfaction in the work itself, doing research on novel algorithms or applying CS to novel problems?

Technically, I have an MS in computer science (yay bioinformatics) but obviously my experience was far different, and my lab was a biology lab that I just did coding for. So my CS experience fell into applying simple CS stuff to novel biology applications. Others I knew were deep into AI development for specific functions. But the point is, you're not really rolling out a product- you're still doing research. If that's not your goal, then it might be wise to stop at a Master's degree. Most people I know in CS have been told that it's pretty pointless to get a PhD in it unless you're going for academia.

If you do want to go for a PhD, the absolute number one thing is to start undergraduate research as soon as possible. Less important for a CS PhD, but absolutely critical in the conventional wet lab sciences. As in, *this is more important than your gpa*, and most people can't comprehend that. I was incredible lucky (and yes, it was mostly luck) to get an undergraduate research position halfway through my freshman year. Every single career step I've made since then starts from that. This includes networking (collaborating research and getting to conferences) , applications (many applications require you to write a summary of your past research), letter of recommendation writers (LoRs from research advisors are very strong), and even just preparing you for what research is like.

If you've already done that, then graduate applications change so frequently and are so distinct at each university that I can't give any specific advice. Maybe try to seriously think about who your letter writers are in advance- who are the professors you've interacted with in ways beyond the classroom, or exceeded expectations within it?

To be fair, in pure CS, that'll be WAY less crucial. It'll still be useful bc it'll be the same kind of experience you would get in a CS PhD, so you would set your expectations better. I would still recommend it.

I hope this is at least a little helpful! Again, I'm coming from a mostly-bio with a dash of CS perspective here, so of course listen to your own professors and other mentors more.

#academia

18 notes · View notes

samuelturn · 8 months

Text

Aight so now that I have finished Brothersong I have THOUGHTS on further logistical breakdowns of how Green Creek could be adapted to a GLAAD Award-Winning HBO TV show. Spoilers so here is a cut for anyone who wants to be fresh to the series.

PRE-PRODUCTION

OKAY SO! The filming block for Season 1/Wolfsong would MOST LIKELY be the biggest, especially for scenes involving younger versions of the actors. As these are spread out across, like, all four books, some are just “scene we’ve seen but from a different perspective or with ‘Dream Seauence VFX’ so we just need more blocking/extra takes to make it all seem believeable using B-roll” to “yeah this requires Young Thomas and various child actors so we’re filming this beforehand so that everyone looks the same when these scenes come up later” to “ah hell we gotta shave their heads anyways might as well film the revenge road trip.” Thus, basically everyone but, like, Dominique would have to be cast by Season 1, and probably all of Season 1 and half of season 2 would need to be written and finalized and drafts/outlines of Season 3 and 4 would need to be made before casting would begin. Writer’s room would include TJ and a racially-diverse LGBT staff.

Caswell wouldn’t need to be fully built but enough of a location would be needed to film individual scenes with the younger actors and scenes set in the big house at Caswell (ie arguments between Mark and Thomas, Joe being taken, Thomas in the woods with the kids, Thomas writing the letters)

Title sequence would be based on the lovely new covers for the hardcover editions from Tor. They’d get longer with each season and by the end we see the whole pack in the papercraft style of the covers.

CASTING

Yeah we’d need a big ass cast. With multiple actors to play different characters at different ages.

Babies:

Carter, Kelly, Joe, maybe also Gavin depending on things

Children:

Gordo, Gavin, Mark, Rico, Chris, Tanner, Carter, Kelly, Joe, Robbie

Young Adult (ie Teen to Mid 20s) and Adult (ie by the Rough Present of when Ox first discoveres the secret of the Bennetts)

Basically everyone else

The tricky part will be that, yeah, there will probably need to be different actors for 20s Thomas, Elizabeth, Mark, and Gordo because while a 20-something can play 16 or so, its harder for 30-40 year olds to play 20-something. The upside being that an older actor CAN play Gordo for the scenes after Ox’s dad leaves (also Ox’s dad will need a name lol). You would need to switch to older actors for the Bennett kids and Ox basically once Ox graduates high school. But then you can keep all the same actors for the rest of the “present” set scenes. Osmond, and Robert Livingstone would also need younger actors. Richard Collins would only need one actor he’s barely in the flashbacks as it is.

STRUCTURE/PLOT RAMBLINGS

There are a few things that would need to be done in order to improve the pacing for TV, imo. Mainly, that the handing off of Alpha of All to the Fairbanks pack needs to feel more earned and less semi-random. Like, show them taking in Omegas at the end of Season 2, have them be allies at Caswell in Season 3 and the final battle in Season 4. Flesh them out a bit more. Also some continuity smoothing would be needed (ie clarifying that Gordo refused Mark’s MATE bite not Thomas’s BECOME WOLF bite).

Some more forshadowing of Robert’s failsafe in Season 2 would help. Obviously SHOW Gavin’s timber wolf in the attack on Jessie (and ideally have the actor be the body actor wearing the CGI ball suit moving all wolf-like in the scene) in Season 1.

I’d personally add in more of a wrap-up in Caswell at the end of Season 4. And also an extended aftermath scene or episode after Ox’s resurrection. Joe’s wolf is still bigger than almost everyone else, but not as big as it was when he was Alpha. One thing that I’d ask to be added is, maybe with the death of Robert and the ressurrection of Ox there’s a big ass magic pulse and we get a follow-up with the new Alpha of All from Alaska training Betas who have become Alphas thanks to Mystical Moon Magic as they rebuild packs across the continent. Idk the story needs more of a denumont. Alpha of All making more of an effort to try and bring Omegas back from the brink before just automatically deciding to kill them.

Dominique could have human bite marks on her to show thar Jessie tried to “Mate Bite” too even as a human. Bambi and Rico too.

He/They Gavin? Maybe? Gavin feels very he/they. Also Elizabeth showing affection to Maggie (hey if we’re gonna imply that Thomas and Richard had a kind of romantic love for each other in Brothersong before he went Omega Lizzie can make side-eye at Maggie).

Show more of the three year gap between Ravensong and Heartsong (not a lot but more than just one bit when Robbie is kidnapped). And the new story in the deluxe hardcover books too. The myth or whatever. That can be animated in a sketchy style (think Princess Kaguya or Wolfwalkers) with VO from Elizabeth.

Anyway rambling over I love these books so much. TJ I woudn’t say no to a LIGHT DRAMA/mostly fluff 5th book or short story. Maybe from Chris or Tanner’s perspective? Or Jessie’s?

32 notes · View notes

juneviews · 1 year

Text

GMMTV randomized shipping wheel

so I couldn't sleep bc I had a uni interview lol, so I thought "why not put the 100 current gmmtv actors on a randomized wheel to create random pairings that I can in turn rate & judge?" so,,, um... here we go 😅

here are the 10 first ships that were created, if you like this I'll make a part 2 bc it's too much fun:

LOUIS X ARM

honestly I don't think it would be a bad ship per say bc arm has proved with friend zone & never too late that he's a great actor who honestly should get more roles, and louis is also pretty solid & gets along with everyone, so... this is not a crazy idea in my eyes but also this would be a very unexpected ship so idk, 6/10

NAMTAN X MOOK

so here's the thing, I'm so desperate for gl I'd be down for ANY wlw pairing lmao 😆 also namtan & mook are both very good actresses so I'm sure they'd do amazing! my only issue is that they do look very similar & in general couples are more interesting visually if they kinda are opposites, but also queer people often date their lookalikes so it wouldn't be too crazy lol, 7/10

JUNIOR X CHIMON

hmm... I don't really see this lol. I think junior has tried doing bl many times before joining gmmtv & he's not that good in romantic settings imo (though I might be biased bc one of his bl roles was him faking a ship with yoon in the graduate where he looked like such an awkward hetero lol.) but the thing is, chimon also kinda has that vibe? I think he's definitely gotten better but the straight vibes are still poking through for chimon imo, so him & junior together would be too much. but honestly if they were given the chance I can also see them completely surprise me so I'll give them 4/10

THOR X GUNSMILE

bro 💀 this is the weirdest pairing ever lmao, first of all I've always struggled to see gunsmile doing bl, like I think it would require the exact right pairing for him to do great at it & not look awkward, so thor?? noooope! I liked thor in the warp effect but he gives too much hetero vibes for me once again, so him & gunsmile would literally make the straightest bl couple ever lmao 1/10

AJ X PRIGKHING

I love them both so much so I can see it! as an ajploy shipper, obviously they wouldn't be my ultimate pairing, but prikhing is adorable & I think they'd make the cutest little side pairing, 8/10

AOU X LUKE

........... actually? 👀 I don't mind this. like my first thought was "wtf" but then I imagined them next to each other & I think their height/size difference would be cute! I also think aou is a very good actor who has impressed me a lot in all the roles I've seen him in! as for luke, I'm gonna be honest I don't really see him doing bl & he needs to work on his acting, but I've seen stranger things happen in this fandom so never say never :') 6.5/10

WIN X TITLE

now, once again, my first thought was "wtf 💀", but then I removed win from his status as incredibly famous & placed him back right before 2gether aired, and? honestly that ship could work? I imagine them in an aepete from love by chance type of innocent relationship, and I think physically they'd be a good looking ship together. though I can't imagine their chemistry or acting together so I'll give them a 6/10

(also why did title fucking SNAP with this pic omg)

NICKY X MIX

💀💀💀😆😆😆 nah bro THIS is the worst pairing I've ever heard of lmaoooo 😭 mix could've chemistry with anyone but nicky??? doing bl??? I could maybe envision him as a side ship with his bff leo but HELL NO 😭 bless nicky he's a comedic icon but nope, 0/10

LEO X LUKE

listen idk why that wheel is obsessed with luke but NOPE. like I can't imagine these two even PRETENDING to like each other, like... it's just too random atp 💀 maybe as a comedic side side side side SIDE ship, but overall, 2/10

VICTOR X FLUKE GAWIN

LMAOOOOOOO 😭 like I can't see this ship at all but tell me why I would 10000% prefer this ship to gawinkrist 😭 5/10

53 notes · View notes

aphfanficwriters · 3 months

Text

Monthly Members' Fics — Jan 2024

In the year of a dragon by mossy_man (China/Russia, Russia/Spain) “I neglected your needs,” Yao sighs and scuttles closer and there is a slice of persimmon at Ivan’s lips. The gel slides over his lower lip and he catches it with his tongue. “Forgive me, Vanya. Blinded by my own bitterness, I was a poor host and a poor giver.”

Euphoria by Delgumo (Canada/Russia) Matthew enjoys a drunken quickie with a somewhat strange gentleman.

Before The Reyse (Part One) by proosh (Lithuania/Prussia) Day 1 - Soulmate tattoo/childhood promise. Tolys could smell the ocean from where he waited... It was just before the raiding season would begin in full and his brother was late.

Before The Reyse (Part Two) by proosh (Lithuania/Prussia) Day 7 - Not for you/mistaken identity It was their usual meeting spot before each of the raiding seasons, midsummer and midwinter. He could smell the ocean from here, bitter and churning from the autumn storms… Tolys was late.

The Hunt (Part One) by proosh (Lithuania/Prussia, implied Prussia/Russia) Day 2 - Omegaverse/hunting party All Russia had been summoned to the call to chase the French from their lands, and the winter in all its fury had come with them… Next to his brothers stood the interloper.

The Hunt (Part Two) by proosh (Lithuania/Prussia) Day 4 - Gifts/trophies They fell upon the stragglers at the frozen gully… Tolys didn’t get a chance to have a good look at them before the killing started.

Better than Gold by Jestemburakiem (Lithuania/Prussia, past Lithuania/Russia) Written for day four of Lietpru week The Story of Lithuania during the most pivotal moments of the modern history of his country: The 1992 Summer Olympic Men's Basketball Tournament. Prussia takes notice of this.

Макдоналдс by Delgumo (America/Russia) Russia and America host the grand opening of the first McDonald's in Russia.

So pour the champagne by mossy_man (Prussia/Russia) Some would love a house with white fence, a dozen or so of kids and a dog. Not Gilbert. Gilbert is perfectly fine as he is.

1001 Ways To Die — Chapter 7: Dying Days 2 by NashTea (Fishandnear) (Germay/Japan) Another impromptu session between Kiku and Ludwig partaking in their favourite activity, this time, it's a little different for Kiku.

Joy in Punishment by Delgumo (Canada/Russia) [no summary]

Little lamb by mossy_man (Mongolia/Russia) “Mongolia is like the sun,” he says. His big hands map Mongolia's face. “Lie down, for I am going to fuck you.”

we begin again by hopeless_nostalgia (England/Japan) After Kiku finds a bunch of old photos, he and Arthur go through them, causing old feelings to resurface.

because it's you, I'm fine by hopeless_nostalgia (England/Japan) Arthur is training to be an idol in Japan, which (obviously) requires him to learn Japanese. But it's a struggle… he keeps failing at the same points, over and over again. He feels so hopeless that he decides to skip class, go for a walk, and decide if it was even worth it—because at this rate, it will take years before he comes even close to debuting...

a scene without you by hopeless_nostalgia (England/Japan) Two years ago, Arthur graduated and went back to London. Kiku lost all contact with him a month before he boarded the plane, when in an odd little café, they decided that a long-distance relationship wouldn't work for them and that breaking up would be for the best. Now that these two years have passed, Kiku knows that that was not true. He sits in that same café, at that same table, and wishes there was a way to turn back time…

my heaven by hopeless_nostalgia (England/Japan) “You know… If you want to, we can still have a wedding,” Kiku suggested. “That might not be a bad idea,” Arthur chuckled weakly. “Maybe we should.”

#axis powers hetalia #hetalia world stars #hetalia #aph fanfiction #hws fanfiction #hetalia fanfiction #hetalia writers' association #post: monthly fic round-up #january 2024

7 notes · View notes

chemicalpink · 7 months

Text

ଘ(´•×•)⊃━☆ a (not so brief) life update

In case you've been wondering where I've been cause by now we all know I tend to just disappear.

A few days ago I felt like oversharing a bit for anyone interested, I feel like getting to this point of sharing is due and will allow me to stop this irrational fear of the internet that I have somehow developed as it tallies to my accountability on this blog.

So hang tight! Cause this is about to be a wild ride...

I'm not regressing to the very beginning cause this isn't about to be a therapy session but I will go back to the near beginnings of this account during the pandemic.

A little before lockdown as I was asked to collaborate as a customs specialist for a pop-up store (which then I found out to be BTS') so I got into them after my job was done. A bit after going down the rabbit hole I started this blog, without very much planning into it, just merely creating a safe space for the people with whom could potentially like the same things I did.

A few months into it, as a last year International Relations student on my way to law school, and with a bit of sleep deprived courage, I applied for an internship at BH online, not expecting much since I barely knew Korean and was most definitely stuck at home in a whole different continent. But things surprisingly worked out, I didn't get paid at all but it was a great learning experience. BH became HB and I got to experience that from the inside, my day went like this: school from 7am to 5 pm and work from 9pm to 3am (sometimes more)

I obviously never got to work directly with any idols, my work was merely global and very much law related. Customs, contracts, negotiations with international enterprises. When the lockdown was done with, I was asked to move and become a permanent worker of theirs, so I did. However, it involved a lot of moving around so I wasn't exactly based anywhere and living costs are quite a thing. During this time I was also profiling myself as a diplomat, so it was in all of our best interests that I became outsourced.

Which brings us to a timeline closer to the present, the person that was in charge of contacting me for the gigs that I used to do for them suddenly quit and while I'm sure they were doing whatever was best for them, left me fending for myself during may-june. I came back home with my parents during june-july and networked for a bit– at least enough to regroup my possibilities so during august-september I was allowed to staff and collaborate (on a lower level) on some big concerts/tours.

During this time however (july-september) I was mostly reliant on my parents and coincidentally, their work slowed down by a lot. The rather small amount of money I got from working here and there was spent on my medical treatment (during july my doctor let me know that I needed to get diagnosed properly for lupus and by august my treatment costs were up by a lot) I tried picking up freelance tutoring (a pain, truly) and other small hustles that didn't require me to tire myself out too much since most of my days I spent aching all over, while also caring for my mother who had to have an emergency glaucoma surgery.

Oh and I cried and felt miserable during my birthday so.

I believe that's where we are at. I can't exactly get a job since I need to apply to an unpaid internship in order to graduate law school but I can't apply for an internship because one of my teachers just suddenly decided to fail me in their class (which means I need to pass it first) so I try to get by with small, low commitment hustles and now I'm picking up more seriously my ko-fi content. Which is why, I haven't been on here.

Those damned retrogrades hit me good ngl.

I do want to say though, I am not in a state of emergency, however, I am not living comfortably, but I'm trying my best to pick myself up and be nice to myself with the decisions I make and actions I take by the minute. While also trying to save up to go visit my 17 year old sister that has just moved away to study medicine.

I am grateful for what I have and I cherish you all that have remained close to me (even in this infinite nothingness that is the internet) and I hope you've been treating yourselves kindly during this time. If you'll have me, let's navigate the rest of the year together.

If this gains a lot of traction, I'm privating it lmao. I have no issue now talking about it since I'm no longer working there but I made those NDAs myself so I know what I'm up to.

#wow look shes back #life update

8 notes · View notes

peace-coast-island · 22 days

Text

Diary of a Junebug

Exploring the shops of Skybelle Mall and taking a class in dyeing yarn

It’s happening - once I went down the rabbit hole of knitting garments I was exposed to the world of yarn. They really weren’t kidding when they say that getting into fiber arts can get dangerous! To be honest though, I don’t think it’s something I’ll be doing often because of how much work goes into it, not to mention how expensive the supplies are - still, it was a lot of fun and now I have a sweater quantity of lovely hand dyed yarn!

The Skybelle Mall is the center of Skybelle City, literally and figuratively. Even though it’s a mall, it feels more like a classy resort. There’s a lot of shops and restaurants obviously, but the general vibes of all these places feel homey. While visitors come here to shop, the locals come here to unwind and socialize. It’s almost like a little town within the city.

Along with checking out the shops and classes they have to offer, Arabella invited us over to check out the community college that’s right next to it. The location happens to be convenient as a lot of the students at Fortuna Community College also work at the shops around here either part-time or under an internship or apprenticeship. Most of the shop keepers and instructors are actually graduates from Fortuna, and for a lot of them, the lives they’re living right now was considered impossible or improbable had they not come here.

What makes Fortuna unique is that over half their students come here for a new start. Their circumstances vary from growing up in a place where education was inaccessible, refugees, former criminals, abuse victims - all sorts of situations that require a clean break. Since a lot of these people likely have little to no support, the purpose of Fortuna’s Special Circumstances Program is to help them out every step of the way.

The program’s been around for almost 30 years and has a high success rate. Of course, it’s not perfect, though most who fail or drop out are more likely those who don’t put the effort in and expect an easy way out, which is not how the program works. Along with providing a good education and giving out GEDs, they also offer various services like counseling, healthcare, help with employment, programs to support those with families, housing - it’s really comprehensive.

One of Arabella’s friends from college, Kara, is now part of the English department over there. She teaches a traditional undergrad course as well as a basic literacy course in the Fortuna program. Getting a position as a faculty member in the Fortuna program isn’t an easy process because while a job like that would be fulfilling for those who truly have a passion to teach, it is by far an easy one. Because a lot of the students come from special circumstances that often require a lot of one-on-one interactions, that kind of thing obviously isn’t for everyone, especially when dealing with students who are dealing with so much that in most places, they’d simply be written off as “problematic” or “uncooperative.”

In other words, if you aren’t equipped to deal with difficult people because you don’t have the patience or it takes too much out of you, then this kind of position wouldn’t be a good fit. There’s a reason why the staffing over there is so selective because it’s understandable why some people, despite having very good qualifications, won’t last long here. And as Kara said, that’s not entirely a bad thing, but it’s one of those places where you really have to consider, “Am I willing to put in the time and effort to work with people like them?” Part of the reason why Fortuna has been successful is because they really take the time to make sure the faculty is on top of things so that they can follow through on their promises. For those at a huge disadvantage, having a strong support system really makes a difference.

Kara first heard of the Fortuna during high school through a friend whose distant cousin got their GED through there and later went on to become a physician. The cousin was from a branch of the family that was estranged, and so her whereabouts went unknown for years until by chance, a relative found her and took her in. Basically, she was kidnapped by her father when she was young, a fact that she was unaware of until he abandoned her when she was around her mid-teens, forcing her to live out on the streets for a time before her aunt was able to confirm her identity.

While exploring Skybelle, we got to meet a couple students from the Fortuna program. Aina and Saku are in Kara’s basic literacy class, both studying to get their GEDs. They’re a young married couple who left their homeland when a civil war broke out. They kinda played an indirect role in that because of their connection to the main village and the former chief’s family. The way Saku put it, there was already a lot of political instability that had been brewing for decades, so it didn’t take long for rebels like them to topple it.

They pretty much lucked out because Saku is affiliated with a former general and her comrades, who are all under protection from an outside faction that serves to help refugees like themselves. What that basically means is that they’ve pretty much severed their ties to their homeland, which in turn prevents them from being targets of retaliation by enemies who intend to bring them back by force without severe consequences. In other words, they came from an isolated nation where it was designed to keep foreigners from entering, as well as prevent those born there from leaving.

Before the war, Saku and Aina attempted to leave and were nearly executed. In fact, it was that incident that led Saku to get a pardon that involved a mission that was supposed to be impossible to complete as the officials assumed that he wouldn’t survive. Well, they were wrong. The trial proved to be difficult, even for a trained assassin like Saku, and considering what little options he had, as well as the fact that it wasn’t just his life that was on the line, he did whatever he could to complete the objective. However, he never expected to kick off a civil war in the end, even if it was inevitable.

As for the connection they have with the main village, it turns out that Aina was the illegitimate daughter of the chief. She was labeled as a punishment who should be hidden away, and she credits that to how she became different from the rest of the family as their neglect left her to her own devices. The scar on her face that blinded her right eye is a mark she wears proudly as it was the chief’s failed attempt to shut her down after she spoke back to him one too many times.

The more he tried to shackle her, the sneakier she became - that’s how it usually works in these kinds of situations. Apparently, he thought by wedding her to Saku, his most loyal weapon at the time - yikes - he assumed that Saku would be able to tie her down. Instead, the opposite happened - Aina influenced Saku to break out of that mentality of seeing himself as a mere weapon whose sole purpose was to bring destruction to maintain order, which ended up saving his life.

The arrangement started out awkward at first since they were strangers despite being raised by the same family, but over time it evolved into genuine love and devotion that made them even more determined to leave their homeland. Aina managed to get glimpses of the outside world through things like social media, which was heavily censored over there. Since she struggled with reading due to a learning disability that went undiagnosed until recently, a lot of her knowledge of the outside came from vlogs and video essays. Knowledge really can be a weapon.

Eventually, her influence began to rub off on Saku, who came to realize that there is life outside of accepting orders and taking the lives of those who don’t follow the rules. The nation basically trained children to become assassins, objects that authority figures used for their own convenience and benefit. These figures thrive on ignorance and blind obedience, so these assassins are raised to think they are nothing but killing machines.

Not surprisingly, they’re desensitized to violence and death, which contributes to how the public sees them as inhuman. To think that Saku was well on his way to becoming just another disposable tool - it’s a good thing that Aina managed to get through to him. It’s hard to break out of a mindset that’s been ingrained into you since you were born, but that doesn’t mean that people can’t change.

Of course, in order to make any meaningful change, it’s up to the other person to decide. In Saku’s case, he made the conscious decision to question the way he was raised after getting a glimpse of the outside world through Aina. He said he was also intrigued by Aina’s insistence for normality with little things like expressing gratitude, living in the moment - things that have nothing to do with bloodshed and violence. It wasn’t long before he began questioning every aspect of his life, which naturally made him an enemy as he was no longer a convenient tool for them. Again, they’re the kind of people who prey on ignorance, so anyone who questions their word is automatically considered an enemy.

Along with Aina, Saku also credits Kaori, the former general who accompanied him on his mission, for saving his life by ensuring his survival. Like him, she had long grown disillusioned with the higher authority, and so when she realized that he could be a potential ally, she encouraged him to defy fate by accomplishing the mission. Neither one ever thought something like that would set off a domino effect kind of thing, which they admit they still don’t fully understand themselves. Sometimes things just work out like that.

Basically, because of Kaori’s rank and status, she was able to use her authority to protect as many civilians as she could from the impending storm. She wishes she could do a lot more, but what little she was able to manage made a huge difference, something Saku and Aina emphasized. It was her connections that allowed a lot of people such as themselves to leave the nation safely and seek refuge in other lands.

Saku and Aina spent a couple years in a refugee camp working odd jobs so they can settle down somewhere, ultimately choosing Skybelle City because of its location as well as the Fortuna program. Kaori spent about a year in the same camp before going off traveling with her partner, a former shinobi who also accompanied Saku on his mission. The two are on the road a lot, though since Saku and Aina have a place of their own now, they stop by the city often when they’re nearby.

While she plans to keep on traveling, Kaori’s looking for a place in the city so she can be closer to the couple now that she’s gonna be a godmother to their kids. It’s still a surprise to them that in the summer they’ll be having twins, so they’re excited and kinda nervous. Aina’s glad that they’ll be summer babies as it won’t disrupt her schooling too much since they’ll be on break by the time they come. Now that she’ll be a mother, she’s more determined than ever to get her GED to set a good example to her kids. Saku felt the same - he admitted to being a bit indifferent about getting a degree until he realized what it really meant for his future.

After hearing about what Aina, Saku, and Kaori have been through, I’m glad that their lives have taken a turn for the better. Even though it’s been a couple years since they moved here, Aina says it still feels like an impossible dream that she never wants to wake up from. To think that living a mundane and ordinary life seems like a luxury to some people…

Another one of Kara’s students in the Fortuna program, Barbara, also joined us. Her story isn’t as harrowing like most of her peers as she had a cushy upbringing, something she admits to having mixed feelings about. She came from a well-off family, so she considers herself as sort of spoiled and sheltered - not in a bad way, more like that’s kinda the norm where she’s from. The best way she can explain her hometown is that life is pretty relaxed over there, which is not a totally bad thing, but it can feel kinda shallow and stifling.

Like Aina, Saku, and Kaori, Barbara’s homeland is kinda isolated and cut off from most of the world, though in her case, it’s more because of the location than politics. Back home, she was a party girl - and she still kinda is, though obviously her studies come first. Her main priorities at the time was having fun and keeping up with fashion trends, so a very materialistic type of lifestyle. That’s just how the people are over there - not exactly superficial, just really sheltered and cushioned.

Then stuff happened and Barbara got a glimpse of the outside world. Seeing how complicated and confusing the world really was, she ended up going through multiple existential crises. I imagine that it would be such a shock to her, stepping into a world where everything’s so different. Even though it scared her, she became intrigued by the complexities of life, especially after meeting some people who were patient enough to deal with her naivety, which often got her into a lot of trouble at first.

She eventually went back home, but found it stifling and unfulfilling. Her friends tried to help her, except they didn’t know how because she herself didn’t understand why she felt so restless. Then that led to another existential crisis where she tries something, putting in a lot of time and investment in it, only to get bored and jump on to the next new thing that attracted her attention. That whole act got old soon and Barbara decided that she really needed to take action by do something drastic. So she contacted her friends from Sunnyville to explore the possibility of her moving there.

For now, Barbara’s living with Rita, who she calls her hero as she was the one who helped her out so much that she’s indecisive on how to repay her. Since Rita’s birthday is coming up, she signed up for the yarn dyeing class so she can crochet something for her. Right now she’s busy adjusting to life over here as well as keeping up with classes, but when the semester ends, Barbara hopes to get a part-time job or internship at Skybelle. Once she’s saved up enough money, she plans to move into her own place, already having a neighborhood in mind that’s not too far from Rita’s. And in a couple years when she graduates from Fortuna, she plans to continue to her bachelor’s, and maybe master’s too. Sounds like she’s got a good idea of what she wants for her future - good for her!

The yarn dyeing class was a lot of fun, though potentially dangerous if I decide to pick this up more. Barbara plans to use her pink pastel yarn to crochet a throw blanket for Rita. Aina wants to knit more baby stuff, so she managed to convince Saku and Kaori to join the class too since that means she’ll get more yarn to work with. Arabella and Kara dyed a bunch of mini skeins so they can make small accessories to give as gifts. Daisy Jane went for a sweater quantity like me for a future project.

I went for a warm orangey reddish brown because I want a sweater in that color after seeing someone’s else hand knitted sweater they nicknamed the pumpkin spice sweater. Also, I don’t really have that many reds and oranges in my wardrobe, especially with my me-made knitwear. I know for sure that this will be perfect for the fall and I already have a pattern in mind that’s perfect for this yarn.

Read on AO3

#animal crossing pocket camp #animal crossing #headcanon ramble #diary of a junebug

2 notes · View notes

brunette-barbie4562 · 3 months

Text

Uncharted (Duff McKagan X OC)

Trigger Warnings: Child abuse, drug use, homophobia

Chapter three is here :) There is a lot of dialogue in this one and a flashback. Let me know what you think!

May 2017

Conrad Dublin Hotel / Dublin, Ireland

CJ stood by the entryway of the hotel room, unsure of what to say or do as Axl beamed at her. His red hair was cut short, compared to the long straight hairstyle she had seen him with as a child. He looked casual in a pair of torn blue jeans and a graphic T-shirt, which helped her relax about her own laidback appearance. The room was a large suite and looked to have multiple rooms. She had walked into the living room area. She felt very put on the spot and smiled shyly back. He stood up and moved to hug her. As awkward as she was feeling, she readily accepted the hug, looking for some sense of familiarity in a foreign environment. He smelled lightly of cologne. When he pulled away, he said,

“It’s so good to see you CJ, it’s been so many years. Come sit, let’s talk.” He offered her the second armchair, opposite the one he had been sitting in. “Do you want anything? Water, tea, coffee? How was your flight? Any issues?” CJ opened her mouth and closed it again, unsure which question to answer first.

“I’m uh- I’ll just take some water, thanks.”

“Sparkling, or no?” She had to think for a moment to process what he had said. She didn’t think she had ever had sparkling water.

“Regular is fine.” He reached into a mini fridge and pulled out a water bottle and handed it to her. Beta had disappeared into another room, leaving them space and time to talk. She remembered the second part of his question and said “The flight was good, no issues. Just a quick layover in JFK.” He had taken a seat in the second armchair, sipping on a cup of coffee.

“And your pick up at the airport went well?” He looked at her with genuine concern. Other than her aunt and her aunt’s girlfriend, CJ had never had someone act so concerned over her.

“Ya, it went well.”

“Good, I’m excited you are here.” He took another sip of his coffee. “You may not know this, but your aunt was a great help to me back in the day.” CJ smirked at the thought of some of the stories her aunt had told her and said,

“I know a little bit.”

“Your aunt has kept me up to date on you and your studies. I know you’ve been thinking about going back to school.” CJ had not expected him to ask about her schooling.

“Ya, I’m just not sure about it. Graduate school is such a commitment and I’ve been trying to weigh the pros and cons. I’ve been out of school for a few years now and I feel like I need to decide. I’ve wanted to work in the mental health field for most of my life and most of those positions require a master’s degree.” He smiled at her with that familiar bright white smile that she remembered from so many years ago.

“Well, you can spend at least the summer working with us and think about it, make some money, I want this arrangement to be perfect.” He put his drink down and laced his fingers together, leaning back thoughtfully. “Ever since your aunt gained custody of you, and even before that time, we spoke frequently about you. Time and different circumstances have kept me from visiting in person, but I feel like I’ve watched you grow up from afar. Mindy is family to me, which means you are family.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “You and I are very alike in our history and the fact that you are wanting to help others means a lot to me.” She sat in silence and did not dare interrupt him. “I’m not sure what you know about me or the others.” It wasn’t until he gave her a questioning look that she realized he wanted her to respond.

“Oh, uh, not much to be honest. I mean I’ve heard your music growing up with my aunt obviously and I love it.” CJ was somewhat more aware than she was letting on, not wanting to seem eager. She was not comfortable enough to tell him that as a child, she had spent her nights lying in a cold van or a roach infested bed listening to Guns N’ Roses on a CD player on repeat at a high volume, either to drown out screaming or to try to feel some connection to the aunt she desperately wished she could go live with on the other side of the country.

“Well, you’ll have plenty of time to familiarize yourself,” he said with a soft smile. “You have a few days before our first show. It’s late now, you’ll meet the others tomorrow.”

“Will I be spending most of my time with you and Beta?”

“You’ll see us often, especially Beta. I don’t leave my room much when we are at hotels, it can get chaotic. So, she does most of my errands for me.” CJ felt a twinge of confusion. If she was supposed to be an assistant, it seemed that Beta had already filled that role for Axl. He saw her perplexity and said, “You’ll be working alongside our bassist, Duff. His assistant had to leave unexpectedly for a family emergency and won’t be back anytime soon.” CJ could not remember which one Duff was and tried to think back to the old pictures she had seen of the band in her aunt’s house. “You’ll like him, he’s a good guy, not an ass. He has some daughters you’d probably enjoy meeting. Younger than you, but whenever they’re here there aren’t many other girls or women around.”

“Don’t forget Melissa and Meegan.” Beta called out from the other room, making CJ slightly jump.

“Ya, them too, they’ll enjoy having you along.” He reached over to an end table and picked up a folder. He opened it and pulled a key card out of it, handing it to her. “This is your room key, we are all on this floor, your room is 803 just down the hall. Your bags should already be in there.” He handed her the folder and said, “This week’s schedule is in there, up until we leave for the next show in Spain. Duff may have other additional things going on that aren’t on there, but this is the overall schedule for everyone.”

CJ quickly scanned the paper, feeling the creeping sensation of being overwhelmed. Axl must have seen it in her face and said, “Don’t worry, you’ll be able to meet him tomorrow and go over everything, but for the rest of the night,” he waved his hand in the air, “go relax, order some room service, and get comfortable, sleep-in late tomorrow.” She shut the folder and slipped it into her backpack. “Just text me when you’re awake and I can arrange for you and Duff to meet.” She pulled out her phone and had him add his phone number. When he was done, she stood up and hoisted her backpack up. While she still wasn’t completely understanding everything and needed time to process, she could feel the gravity of the situation and the opportunity she was being given. She was almost a little disappointed that she would not be working as Axl’s assistant. She had been there for about 30 minutes, and she could already sense his eclecticism and the intensity of his character, as well as his genuine care and concern for her. She never had a father figure in her life, or at least a good one that had stuck around.

“Thank you for everything,” she said, with a smile. Beta had opened the door for her, and she turned to leave.

“And CJ,” she turned back to him as he called after her. “Don’t be afraid to come hang out when you have free time. Like I said, you and your aunt are family to me. I want to get to know you.” At that, she grinned, felt tears come to her eyes, and her heart swelled.

“Definitely.”

Back in her room, CJ sat on the bed, still in somewhat of a daze. She had wiped the tears from her eyes. Her emotions had snuck up on her, as they usually did when somebody other than her aunt showed her a high level of affection or kindness. Even with extensive trauma therapy as a child and teen, it was not something she had been able to shake.

CJ let her backpack slide off her as she looked around. It was a large hotel room, not a multi-room suite like Axl’s, but still larger than a typical hotel room, or at least the ones she had been in. She stood up and walked over to the bathroom entryway, switching the light on. There was a beautiful garden-style tub that she suddenly could not get into fast enough. She turned the faucet to the highest heat possible to let it fill up as she stripped, tripping over her own feet as she pulled her shoes and pants off.

As CJ was about to step into the semi-filled tub, her phone began to ring, and she could see Mindy’s name flash across the screen. She picked it up, realizing she had forgotten to text her that she had made it in one piece.

“Are you alive?”

“Yes, I’m alive,” she said, “I just got to my room.”

“I was getting ready to text Axl and see where you were. Michelle and I were worried you know?” CJ heard Michelle, her aunt’s girlfriend, call out to her in the background.

“Well, I’m fine, everything went fine.” Before her aunt could speak CJ said, “You never told me you were so close with Axl Rose.”

“I thought you knew that.”

“I knew you were friends but he’s acting like I’m his niece or something. Talking about how we are like family. I was just surprised is all, I was not expecting such a grand welcome. Felt like he was rolling out a red carpet and the last time I saw him in person was over 20 years ago.” Mindy was silent on the other end and CJ thought maybe the line had gone dead. “Hello?”

“He’s had a hard time with his mental health.” Her aunt’s tone had dropped an octave. “I was there for him in some of his worst moments, Carreen. For a long time, I was always worried he wouldn’t make it. When he began touring and I moved away from Sunset, we didn’t see each other in person, but he’d often call in distress, needing help.” Throughout her childhood and teen-hood, CJ had never inquired about her aunt’s evening phone calls with the vocalist. “At one point, in fall of ‘96, he offered me a job to come work for him and live in LA, but I couldn’t at that time. I was at consumed with trying to track you and your mom down after she had fled. I had spent years setting up a stable life and home here in Redding in hopes of gaining custody, saving money for a lawyer and a private investigator. You were my priority, he understood that. Fortunately, he had Beta to support him in person.” CJ let her aunt’s words process and could only say,

“Wow.”

“He was a great help to me too. When you came to live with me and I had won custody, I thought I was over the hump. I didn’t realize there would be so much more. I hadn’t thought about it, I was just so happy to finally have you safe.” CJ understood that her aunt meant her PTSD. “I thought my love, safety, and warmth would be enough. But I was wrong. I didn’t know how to handle some of it, even with the professionals I had to help. I didn’t know what it was like for you. But he knew. He gave me the insight I needed to help you in the way you needed. He knew what it was like to grow up that way.” Her aunt’s words were sombering. She had processed much of her trauma in therapy over the years, so much so, that her PTSD symptoms were mostly dormant. Residual sensory hypersensitivities, some self-esteem issues, and the occasional nightmare was all that she dealt with anymore. But she had been unaware of the fact that her aunt had struggled so much in the beginning. She should have figured, but she had never thought about it.

“Well, that makes sense. He seemed to know a lot more about me then I had expected.”

“I’m going to tell you something that you cannot tell him that you know.”

“Ok.”

“I told you that your financial aid had covered all your college expenses, that wasn’t true. When Axl found out you were going to college for psychology, he paid for the entire four years.” CJ stood in stunned silence. “He insisted. He has no children of his own and he already felt invested in your upbringing, after all the help he gave me in the beginning. But he didn’t want anyone to know, he doesn’t like recognition for things like that.”

“Damn, next you’re gonna tell me he’s my dad.”

“No,” Mindy said with a laugh. “Trust me, your mom was nowhere near Sunset in 1988.” CJ had stopped wondering about who her father was a long time ago, she doubted her mother had even known. Now that the seriousness of the conversation had been broken, Mindy asked, “So, did he set you up in a nice room?”

“It is really nice,” said CJ, “We talked for a bit, he told me to sleep in tomorrow and then I’ll meet everyone else.”

“He doesn’t already have a fuck ton of work for you to get through,” said Mindy jokingly.

“No actually I’m not working under him, I’ll be working as an assistant for a guy named Duff.” She heard Mindy scoff.

“Duff? He didn’t tell me it was Duff who needed an assistant.” She could practically hear Mindy rolling her eyes through the phone. CJ laughed in amusement at her aunt’s annoyance.

“Why what’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing, he’s nice, he’s just-, well, he WAS kind of annoying back in the day. He’s sober now with a family, so I’m sure he’s different.”

“I was afraid you were gonna tell me he was a prick.”

“No, not an ass, just was more of an annoying little brother, at least to me. I’m sure you’ll do fine with him.” Mindy paused before saying, “Or you call me, and I’ll take care of him for you.”

“Well, that was like 100 years ago,” said CJ with a joking tone.

“I’m not that old, don’t you age me up like that.” said Mindy playfully.

“I’m hoping to catch onto things quickly for him, I don’t want to be a drag.”

“You will, just don’t forget to enjoy yourself too.”

“I’ll try.”

“Ok, well I’m gonna head over to the office to get some work done. Michelle and I are taking off Thursday to go down the coast for a little vacation, so I have some things to finish up before then. Especially now since DUFF has hijacked my trusty office assistant.” She emphasized Duff’s name with a hint of annoyance that made CJ smile.

“Ok sounds good, I’m gonna settle in and maybe order some food. I’ll text you before I go to bed. Love you.”

“Love you too.” CJ set her phone down on the bathroom counter as the call ended. Her conversation with her aunt had resonated within her. She hadn’t known things had run so deep between Mindy and Axl, but it made everything make sense.

CJ was suddenly aware of the cold air on her naked body and the tub nearly running over. She jumped to shut off the faucet.

After her bath, it had taken CJ an agonizing 30 minutes to decide what she wanted to eat from the room service menu. There were so many good options, and she was painfully aware of the expense of everything. She knew it was covered, but she felt herself weighing the price of everything as she selected what she wanted. If they were in America, she’d be able to go across the street and grab some Subway or maybe Chipotle, but she wasn’t about to leave the hotel in an unknown country to try to order something cheaper elsewhere. Additionally, all she had eaten for the past 16 hours was airport food and she needed something substantial to balance her stomach out. CJ’s growing hunger overtook her moral hang-ups about the expense of everything, and she finally settled on an appetizer of salmon gravlax, butternut squash ravioli for her meal, and crème brulee for dessert.

While waiting for food, CJ lay on the bed and flipped through television channels, not finding anything that piqued her interest. Instead, she took out her phone and decided to do some Googling. She first googled “Guns N’ Roses” and several pictures popped up. She pressed on the first one, which looked like it was from the 80’s. She immediately identified Axl Rose, front and center of the group, with his long red hair. Which one was her boss. She scrolled over onto another picture, which was much more familiar to her. It was a photo of the band, all sitting on a rug together, with Axl standing up on the right. It was the picture that was on the back of the Appetite for Destruction CD case her aunt had gifted her so many years ago. The CD and a CD player were the last things she had been given by Mindy before her mother had decided to flee California to avoid Children Protective Services.

July 1995

Mindy’s House / Redding, California

A 6-year-old CJ trembled in excited anticipation in the backseat of her mother’s little four door sedan as it cruised down a familiar wooded backroad. It was a hot 90-degree day in the dead of summer. CJ had been waiting for several months to see her aunt Mindy and return to her house in beautiful rural northern California. Her mother had been telling her they would go visit her aunt “soon.” She always told her “soon.” CJ was never sure how soon “soon” would be.

It had been about 4 months since they had last visited her aunt. CJ missed the days where she and her mother had lived with her aunt. They had lived with Mindy for about six months back in 1994. CJ had loved it. She had gotten to go to school, had all the food she wanted, and slept in a quiet, safe, and warm house. She didn’t have to wonder when her next meal would come or where she would sleep, listen to fighting or screaming, or tip toe around her explosive mother. The arrangement had gone badly when her mother and aunt had begun to fight about her mother’s increasing drug use, her lack of attention to CJ, and tendency to steal money to buy more heroin. It wasn’t long after that her mother had decided to move in with her new boyfriend in Sacramento. He had kicked them out recently, and now they were back to couch surfing and staying in her mother’s car. CJ was hoping that maybe, just maybe, she would get to stay this time. She often wished that her aunt was her mom.

The car turned off the main paved road onto a dirt road and CJ sat up higher in her seat to get a better look out the window. There were a few other homes scattered alongside the roadway and it was a five-minute drive to the end of the road where her aunt’s house was. The trees thinned on the right and finally opened up to an expansive field. The road curved along the edge of the trees, all the way up to her aunt’s light blue ranch-style home at the end. The house faced the rolling field and backed up to the forest.

As the car pulled up to the house, her aunt Mindy stepped out the front door, grinning widely. The car had barely come to a stop when CJ opened the door and jumped out. She ran to her aunt, who picked her up and held her in a tight hug. CJ hugged her back as best she could.

“I missed you, auntie.”

“I missed you too sweetheart, very much.” Her aunt gently set CJ back down. CJ’s mother approached the two slowly, a pinched look of annoyance on her face. Mindy’s smile disappeared as she looked up at her sister and her tone changed.

“Heather, good to see you.” Unable to contain herself, CJ couldn’t help but blurt out,

“Can we stay with you this time? I don’t like sleeping in the car. I want to stay here.” There was a flash of distress on Mindy’s face before she smiled softly at CJ and said,

“We’ll talk about it later. For now, why don’t you run inside and grab some cookies. I just took them out of the oven for you.” Her focus now on cookies, CJ gasped and darted in the house, leaving her mother and aunt in a tense silence.

After she had her fill of cookies, CJ wandered around her aunt’s home, going from room to room. It was your average middle class American home, but to CJ it was like a beautiful, quiet, and clean safe haven full of soft furniture, an abundance of toys for her to play with, and the delicious smell of cookies. She looked out the window at the beautiful rural landscape. The rolling green fields went on for a mile before dissolving into a distant tree line. It was a sunny day, and beyond the trees, she could see distant mountains. Everything was so quiet and peaceful here compared to Sacramento. She was eager to get outside and play in the field. The tall grass was the same height as her and it gave her a sense of shelter and peace to lay in it and look up at the deep blue sky. Additionally, there were so many little critters and insects for her to observe and investigate. Her focus was broken as she heard her aunt call out to her from the kitchen. She turned away from the window and saw her aunt standing in the doorway, holding a wrapped gift.

“I just thought I’d give you your birthday gift. I know it’s a little late, but I didn’t get a chance to give it to you last time.”

“What is it!?” Her aunt sat down on the couch and held out the package to her.

“Go ahead and open it.” CJ quickly climbed up onto the couch with her aunt and made quick work of the wrapping paper. Based on the box, she quickly recognized that it was a CD player. She had never been gifted anything so expensive or special. “Here, this goes with it.” Her aunt pulled out a small CD box. “This is my friend’s music; I hope you’ll like it.” CJ could not read the words on the front, but the picture depicted a cross with five skulls on each end. It could be any type of music, it didn’t matter. CJ finally had something that was all hers. She watched intently as her aunt opened the box for her and plugged the headphones in. The moment was broken when she heard her mother clear her throat. CJ looked up to see her standing in the doorway, watching them with disdain. CJ felt cold fear. That look was usually followed up with a beating. She jumped when she felt her aunt run a hand softly down the back of her head and say,

“Why don’t you take it out into the yard and give it a listen. I’ll get dinner started.” Never one to question adults, CJ nodded and hopped off the couch and scurried out the back door, happy to be away from her mother’s glare.

Mindy waited for her niece to close the back door before she rounded on her sister. She wanted to leap from the couch and hit her, to show her the same treatment she had been giving to CJ. But instead, she took a deep breath, calmly standing up. If this was going to work, she needed to stay calm and collected. She could not lose her cool. Her niece’s life was at stake. She cleared her throat and said,

“Why don’t we go sit down and talk, catch up. It’s been awhile.” Heather didn’t respond and continued to glare at her. Mindy didn’t wait for her response and began to walk towards the kitchen, her head down.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing,” Heather hissed at her. Mindy paused at her sister’s words, thinking carefully about the best way to respond. “This stupid little act you’re putting on. Auntie of the year. We shouldn’t have come. I knew this would happen.” Her sister turned to leave the room and Mindy looked up at her.

“Where did the bruises around her neck come from Heather?” Her sister stopped in her tracks but did not look at Mindy.

“It’s none of your goddamn business. You’re not her parent.” There was a moment of silence and Heather finally looked up to meet her gaze. Mindy looked her in the eyes, unafraid of her sister’s erratic behavior. She was reminded of how alike they were in appearance. The same long wavy dirty blonde hair, brown eyes, heart shaped face structure. However, the healthy fullness in her sister’s face had been lost to drug addiction. Her eyes were sunken and cold, she was pale, and her face was covered in scars and acne from prolonged drug abuse. A stranger on the street would no longer peg them as siblings, even though it had been obvious when they were both healthy. Her sister continued to speak, “Don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing here. The cute little house, a stable job for the first time in your life, you’re not taking her.” Mindy’s entire plan to gently approach her sister about relinquishing custody was blown. Since her niece’s birth, Mindy had tip toed around her sister, realizing how poor of a parent she would be. She had initially tried to be optimistic, hoping Heather would pull it together for her child, but it quickly became abundantly clear that she wouldn’t. Mindy had not wanted to lose access to CJ, but she could no longer sit and watch Heather neglect and abuse her. Mindy took a deep breath and said,

“I’m not doing anything Heather; I want you two to come here and have a safe place to start over, without the drugs and the revolving door of men.” She looked at her sister imploringly, wanting to plead and beg. “CJ should be in school, spending time with other kids, you should be happy and healthy here with me. I want things to be how they were when we were kids. Do you remember how we were? We told each other everything.”

“Bullshit,” said Heather, “You were always mom’s favorite. I was always doing something wrong. Mom never let me forget it. And now you’re still trying to continue to be miss perfect. I am raising CJ how I see fit, it’s none of your business. I’ll do what I want with her, she belongs to me.” Mindy moved closer to her sister, and gently took her hands in her own.

“Please Heather, please stop this. Come stay here. Let me get you the help you need. I’ll pay for whatever you and CJ need. Just stop using, it’s made you a stranger. I love you two so much.” Heather roughly pulled away from Mindy and continued towards the door.

“We are leaving, this was a mistake, I knew it.” Mindy felt a flare of anger. She did genuinely care for her sister, but her primary concern was her niece. In a bitter voice, she called out after her.

“Where are the bruises from Heather? What’s your excuse this time? You can’t tell me that child “fell” on the playground, or she did it to herself. I know you have her in and out of drug houses. If you didn’t do it to her one of your boyfriends did.” Her sister turned and exploded in anger.

“You don’t know anything you stupid dyke!” Mindy was unbothered by the slur and against her better judgment, she quickly stalked over to her sister, getting up in her face, looking down on her. Mindy was 6 foot tall compared to her sister’s smaller 5’6”.

“You can give me custody, or I’m calling CPS. You are abusing her, exposing her to strangers who could hurt her. It’s a miracle she isn’t dead already. That child should be in school. At her age, it’s illegal that she’s not, and the state will investigate for that reason alone, never mind the bruises and malnourishment. I have documentation of your abuse and neglect from day one, don’t think you can win this battle Heather.” She expected her sister to physically attack her. But instead, Heather smirked and said,

“You call CPS and hire as many fancy lawyers as you want and see how that goes for you. You’ll never see us again.”

CJ was in her own world, sitting cross legged in the backyard, messing with her new CD player. She had just begun to listen to the first song on the CD when she felt a hand grab her by the upper arm and abruptly pull with enough force that she was lifted into the air. She screamed, clinging to her CD player and CD case so she did not lose it. She heard her mother’s angry voice.

“Let’s go, we are leaving!” It took a moment for CJ to realize what was happening. Her mother was roughly dragging her towards the car, and she would not be staying with her aunt. “Say goodbye, you’ll never see your aunt again.” CJ screamed and cried, fighting against her mother’s pull.

“NO, I DON’T WANT TO LEAVE! LET ME STAY!” She began to scream for her aunt to help her as her mother had pulled open the back door of the car and was trying to stuff her inside. CJ held all of her limbs out against the frame of the car door like a starfish, in an effort to prevent her body from being shoved in. A cold shot of panic and adrenaline had set in, and CJ was able to briefly shove her mother backwards. However, it was not quick enough. As she tried to dart away, she was rag dolled and disoriented by a hard punch to the face. Her vision was blurry, and she could no longer summon any physical strength in her small body to fight back. She could hear her aunt screaming in horror and protest from somewhere nearby. She was aware of being roughly laid down in the backseat of her mother’s sedan. By some miracle, she could still feel the gifts her aunt had given her clutched in one of her hands. The driver’s door opened and shut with a slam and the car was suddenly moving abruptly. CJ caught a glimpse of her aunt’s tear streaked and screaming face in the car window. She could hear her hands clawing and pulling at the locked door handle in an effort to save her. But it was too late, her mother accelerated, and her aunt’s face was gone from the window. She tried to sit up but could not. Her head was pounding in pain, and she felt faint. She could do nothing but lay there and slip into unconsciousness.

May 2017

Conrad Dublin Hotel / Dublin, Ireland

A sharp knock on the hotel door distracted CJ enough to break her out of her trip down memory lane. She quickly closed the safari app on her phone. She got up and opened the door to find her dinner waiting on a tray. She quickly brought it inside, not wasting any time opening the trays and chowing down. The food was good, perhaps some of the best she’d ever had. She got halfway through her meal before she realized she had not ordered a drink. Not wanting to mess with the mini bar, she decided to go search for a vending machine.

Duff had finished his FaceTime call with Grace and lay back on his bed for a moment in his silent hotel room, taking a breath. His divorce two years ago had put an initial strain on his relationship with his daughters. Things had slowly grown back to normal, and they spoke on FaceTime most nights, especially he and Grace. Grace had always seemed to identify more closely with him, and the divorce had affected her harder than it had Mae. The girls had yet to join him on tour and trying to coordinate a time they could both come out was difficult with all of their activities. As amicably as things had ended, he still felt a sense of guilt over his daughters that he could not shake. He loved being a father, and his girls were his pride and joy.

The room felt warm, and he sat up to get himself a cold glass of water, not knowing if the room was actually hot or his anxiety was setting in. He got a glass and filled it and then searched for ice. When he realized he didn’t have any he remembered an ice machine at the end of the hallway. Duff listened at the door and couldn’t hear anyone outside. As much as he appreciated fans, he wasn’t looking to run into anyone tonight. He cracked the door to see no one out in the hall and decided to walk out. A small room at the end of the hallway was where he located the ice machine. He was surprised to see a woman standing at the vending machine, her back to him. Her long, thick, curly, brown hair hid much of her from view. He stuck his glass under the dispenser and pressed. The machine roared to life and the young woman jumped in surprise. She turned to look at him with a flash of fear across her delicate features. He was struck at her beauty; heart-shaped face, dark brown vixen eyes, light pink full lips, taller, and a killer hourglass figure that couldn’t be hidden under her sweatpants and cropped T-shirt. She was large-chested, and he couldn’t help but notice she didn’t appear to be wearing a bra. Not wanting to look at her too long, he smiled and said,

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” She gave him a small smile and turned back to the vending machine. She leaned down and grabbed her soda out of the slot before walking back up the hallway. He couldn’t help but glance at her one more time, admiring her. Don’t be a fucking creep McKagan, she’s gotta be half your age. Maybe if it was twenty years ago. He had a rule about keeping partners at an age-appropriate level. He didn’t want to be seen as one of those “old creepy rockstars” who solely went after young women. Since his divorce, he had fooled around a bit, but hadn’t been serious with anyone. He hadn’t dated in so long; he wasn’t sure he knew how to anymore. He kept his high libido satisfied and that’s as far as it went. Duff finished getting his ice and headed back to his room, trying to put the young woman out of his head.

#80s music #80s rock #axl gnr #axl rose #duff gnr #duff mckagan #guns n roses #saul hudson #slash gnr

5 notes · View notes

atmilliways · 9 months

Note

trope game: there was only one bed

(WIP game)

They do share a bed in my bb fic, but not due to a lack of other options. So here's some new sentences I just wrote for the blackmail fic, instead.

“I concur, Margaret.” That’s Eddie, and he sounds annoyed. “That’s a rude fucking question, Gare-bear. Firstly because, have you personally witnessed him doing anything downright objectionable in the past year since he graduated? Granted, I only just escaped the hallowed halls of our mutually beloathed—” “Not a word,” several people object at once, obviously some sort of inside joke. “—Our mutually beloathed Hawkins High,” he says loudly, powering through, “but it comes with different power structures and adaptation requirements. It is, if you’ll excuse the phrase, a whole different ball game—” “Fuck, the exposure is already getting to him.” And yeah, Steve is pretty sure he’s said something like that in the past week or so. It was about getting the kids to listen during emergency Upside Down situations versus normal times, but still. Oops. “I said pardon the phrase, Frank.”

#my wip wednesday #my fanfic #steddie blackmail fic

6 notes · View notes

countyourcasualty · 1 year

Text

RP Search

Hello, 31/m, AST here. Looking to add one or two more ONE ON ONE RPs featuring Erik Lehnsherr and Charles Xavier! I have almost no content limits whatsoever. It honestly depends on the dynamics between our individual characters, but I can play Erik anywhere from very dominant to service-oriented submissive. So if your Charles is more one or the other, I can work with that. I play a few different versions of Erik: two are modern and one is from the 1950s. All are in their late 20s to early 30s. I enjoy having lots of plot and lots of smut, probably a 50/50 split if I'm being honest (writing it out every time will probably get boring but y'know what I mean - the option is nice! But slow burn is fantastic so we can go 100% plot for a while if that's your jam.)

Basically, take a look at some of the plot ideas and versions and pick whichever one you think you'll jive most with! I'm obviously a huge fan of military themes, war, the CIA, international/diplomatic shit, foreign language, college AU, la la la. We could also mix it up with some Sentinel/Guide bullshit, because I'm a fucking sap for soulmates AUs (kill me now). My Discord is Weemie#2844 ! More information under the cut.

Erik ONE played by Ishai Golan

Erik 1 is Israeli and a former medic in the IDF who tried to conscientiously object but ended up being threatened with jailtime - which he could not afford due to caring for his ailing mother and baby sister. He was in Beirut helping both his own side and the enemy and managed to endure his experiences (which he morally objected to at the time) without firing his service weapon once. (This is a modern, vaguely 80s-90s setting.) He then immigrated to America and studied social work, and is now a CPS worker. E1 is rude, brash, and gregarious. You ever see that episode of Conan where he asks the Israeli guy "how do you say excuse me?" and he's just like "you don't! ELBOWS OUT MOTHERFUCKER!" That's this guy. He listens to hardstyle on the walk-man and wears Hawaiian T-shirts. He can meet Charles through his work somehow (if Charles runs his school, perhaps he meets Erik on the job at one of his students' homes and enlists his help). Maybe he seeks Charles out because one of his clients has a mutation and he doesn't know what to do - Charles being a mutant psychologist could be the catalyst there.

Erik TWO played by Adam Brody

Erik 2 is American from Midwood, New York City and an OEF veteran ex-68W, and MIT graduate. He can either have Pietro and Wanda or not (poor Magda gets Fridged, RIP) this version of him features his family heavily (his mother was also a mutant and a time traveler) and is set in the late 2010s. E2 is friendly, charming and talkative. He's the diplomat and the leader, knows several languages, and is a genuine, certified genius. He's the domestic fluff guy, always ready with a joke and a can-do attitude. He's a Conservative Jew, keeps kosher and goes to his dad's house every Saturday for Shabbat. They keep asking him when he's going to Bring A Nice Young Man Home. It's a whole thing. This one requires a bit of finagling but my idea is that Charles is Erik's VA-appointed caseworker and/or therapist (he was "The Good Shepherd" in at least a few incarnations so it's not super out of place). We could also potentially switch it up and have him attend MIT after returning from the Army, and he meets Charles there (either as a fellow student or professor). The CIA are also going to be involved in this, as they have been tracking Erik since he was a child. AS OF the beginning of our RP, this version of Erik believes he is a BASELINE HUMAN. When really, he is actually an Omega-level mutant with the ability to manipulate subatomic particles.

Erik THREE played by Michael Aloni

Erik 3 is Polish and was a sonderkommando at Auschwitz as a teenager. He survived years in this role due to Klaus Schmidt taking a "special interest" in him and only manifested his mutation after liberation. This one is my "darkest" version of Erik, but he is not an asshole or a genocidal insane person. I play him extremely realistically, tactfully, with the knowledge and study of years of history and personal experiences. His faith is important to him. E3 is gentle, curious and compassionate. A more somber personality, this version of Erik is genuinely kind, values life in all of its forms, and speaks softly but with great wisdom. A nurturing soul, he is a lay leader at his synagogue, teaching Torah to some of the younger children. Whip-smart and dry-humored as hell, but it takes time to really see it, since his command of English isn't the greatest. He's either a construction worker in Haifa (Charles would be volunteering there as well), working in International Tracing Service with ICRC in Eilat (these are the people who try and reunite families and track down records torn apart by the war), or a recent immigrant to the United States where he is attending university at MIT (Charles can again either be a professor or a student, or someone adjacent to the university).

4 notes · View notes

pacinosgf · 2 years

Text

from paris, with love: learning to accept the wonders of life, facing your problems, coming to the realization that love requires a sacrifice that you are more than glad to make. starring marjorie & dorothea, written by isa & amanda.

How weird it is to write a letter. I know people used to do it all the time, but it's obviously different. now I could simply text you, but what would be the fun in that? Where is the romance? Where is that fuzzy, warm and at the same time aching feeling, like when you are watching a 40s melodrama and the protagonists are intense and passionate and you can't help but feel totally affected by them?

Exactly, these things don't exist in a text. So write a letter, we must! I see the whole thing as a movie montage of our own: I will write it peacefully, a sweet smile on my lips that will make the audience melt and root for us. I will spray my adored perfume on it. I will put it on your pocket, and in a especially hard moment at work, you will find the letter and feel totally mesmerized by it. When you finally arrive home, I will be at the couch, waiting to embrace you in the most loving hug to ever grace the screens. Not even Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman could top that hug. Our chemistry is so unbearing that producers will consider censoring an embrace! And that's how our movie ends. The kiss scene is for us and for us only.

Can you notice how much free time I have now? It's almost killing me. Not that I used to do much in Genovia too (at least when I was just the princess), but having an internal depressed monologue took up too much of my time to notice. It's the most free I've been since I graduated college. So, while you are out and I'm here alone, I try to master day-to-day activities to fill the schedule. Cooking, for instance. I know how to make an egg, before you start laughing! This princess does not have a problem with getting her hands dirty. But really cooking, like doing fancy dishes. Sewing too. I suppose tomorrow I will start talking to the rats in the sidewalk.

Two days before we met, I was in Venice, trying to build some courage and get to Paris to see you. I remember wandering around the streets, uncertain of what to do, considering simply giving up and going home. Then I met this musician and her girlfriend (or wife, I didn't want to ask it properly) and they started telling their history together. How it was against all odds, how the lovers themselves didn't think it could work. The girlfriend was only in Venice for vacations, a break from the busy and incessant big city life she loved so much. But when she met the musician, with her quiet life and sensible tones, so different from everything she'd ever met, she knew it was over. The musician would follow her everywhere, as a melody, as a memory, but never as she truly wanted: in person, out of love. So she stayed.

She stayed and I rushed out to Paris, following the string that unites us since we met for the first time. I put on my favourite clothes, as a kind of armor. I motivated myself by remembering the nights we spent exploring museums, kissing in every corner and leaving our mark in every bar. Holding hands and feeling the most powerful people in the world. Silently recreating famous movie scenes. The napkins with love notes I used to hide in your bags and pockets, those you probably only found right before washing, because that's simply how you are. A smudged Love you so much - Dotty out of the machine.

Thank you for always seeing the Dorothea behind the princess. Thank you for understanding that there's no Dorothea without the princess. And thank you for being so patient! I have no idea of what I would have done If I had gotten here and you had someone or just wasn't interested in me anymore. Maybe I'd have killed myself or become queen. Who knows? My first royal assent would be incriminating you of something and making sure that you would be locked up in Genovia for the rest of your life.

Just kidding! Love you. I think I should start looking for a job. I've read once that adults that don't really want to adult keep getting masters: maybe I should do the same? Former princess-Doctor Dorothea Grimaldi, expert in Social Science, sounds good? Should I put the almost forty years of experience being a princess in my curriculum?

That's the part where I feel too sensitive to say something and keep joking to distract you. It's over now. What matters is that I love you! I'm so glad that I missed the plane.

Sincerely and profusely,

Your Highness, Princess Dorothea.

p.s: I swear that the signature was out of habit.

@gllianowens

#dorothea & marjorie.#esse aqui eu quero mandar um alo especial pro meu namorado pois faz uma semana que to rascunhando esse #e ele teve o trabalho de pegar os rascunhos que tenho no zap e ir recitando pra mim enquanto eu ditava o que queria corrigir e como queria #continuar #e segurou o nebulizador pra mim enquanto eu escrevia NO PAPEL porque o computador me dava dor de cabeça #thanks for being my alma baby <3 #ENFIM eu amo o formato de cartas amiga sou muito romântica. deus abençoe!#e a dorothea é totalmente alguém que gosta de cartas também. she is an old school romantic.#e amo os paralelos entre daisy e natasha e elas nossas queridas europeias #bjosssssss #it's supposed to be fun turning 21.

11 notes · View notes

primis-marshmallow · 1 year

Text

Two German Scientists

Chapter 1

Dr Brandt had been pleasantly surprised at a job offer to work for the secret government organisation Omega. However, things take a turn when her boss decides she’s more of a nuisance than a valuable member of the group. How will Dr Brandt survive when thrust into a new world, one where the actions of four men will dictate the survival of the universe?

Firebase z

6th January 1984

I had thought it might be difficult to get a job after I finished my studies. My PhD doesn’t lend itself to versatility; intense studies of human catatonic states and re-animation of organ systems, it’s obviously very interesting but not very useful to…anyone. Or at least that’s what I thought. Turns out my research wasn’t far off, at least according to some secret government organisations. I suppose the Cold War has made the Americans and the Russians research some strange things, and they both have eyes everywhere. They even managed to pick up on my little project. The day I graduated with my PhD, just as I left the hall I was accosted by some strange men in black suits. They asked if they could talk to me about some promising new research I could be involved in.

Today I actually get to start. So it turns out the Russian government got to me first, I now work for an organisation called Omega though I’m not exactly sure what it’s about yet. Something about different dimensions. They did say that my research was very relevant so I’m excited. I arrive at outpost 25 in the A Shau Valley of Vietnam at exactly 6 a.m., not too early for me, thankfully. I’m escorted from the helicopter by a soldier, I didn’t quite catch his name but I don’t suppose that matters really. “Dr Peck should be here to meet you shortly.” He salutes me before leaving me alone in the room. My first impression of the facility is that I’m not going to be living the life of luxury…the place looks like it was built in a few weeks with little budget and no regard for safety regulations. All the buildings appear to be made of corrugated metal sheets with a little bit of plasterboard for insulation. My eyes scan the perimeter looking for any signs of the actual work that takes place here, but the facility seems new, I’m not quite sure yet.

My thoughts are interrupted as I see a man in a white lab coat walk into the room, he looks quite a lot older than me, fine lines etched into the skin around his eyes, maybe from stress. He has brown hair, receding slightly. “You must be Dr Peck?” I ask, standing, moving my suitcase behind me and extending my hand for him to shake.

“Yeah, and you’re Dr Brandt? Little young?” He replies in a strong American accent, looking down at my hand, not reaching out with his own. I let out an awkward laugh, putting my hand back down to my side.

“Yeah I’m uh…25. I-is that okay?” He scowls back at me.

“I mean there’s no age requirement, I just want to know you’re qualified for this research project. I don’t just wanna let any little girl that waltzes in have access to my research.” God, someone got out of the wrong side of bed this morning, still I try not to let it discourage me.

“Uh, well Dr Peck. I assume you have read my file and know of my research, if you feel I am under qualified to be a part of this project then that is your own decision. However I would appreciate being permitted to begin working here and prove myself to you. If after this time you still believe me to be of no value to you, then I will happily leave.” I cough, trying to keep my composure. He huffs before reaching out his hand to shake mine.

“Well I suppose you do have some balls kid, I’ll give you a chance.” I take his hand, he gives it a firm shake before gesturing to me to walk with him.

We exit the building, walking over to the next, labelled scientist quarters. “You’ll be working directly under me, along with Dr Kuhlklay. I’ll show you to your room and then I’ll have to leave you, busy job.”

He walks me over to a small room with glass windows facing the hallway. The sign outside says ‘Dr Alvarie Irina Brandt’, nice it's spelled correctly. He opens the door for me, giving me the key card. “Here you go, the next room over is Dr Kuhlklay. To close the window shutter it's this button here.” He presses a small red button next to the window, metal shutters crash down, blocking the view. I think I’ll just keep those down. “You should have everything you need, lab coat is over there or you can just wear one you already have, I don’t care. Name tag is on the desk. If you need anything, don’t ask me, I’m far too fucking busy for admin work.” He walks over to the door and leaves before poking his head back in. “Meet me in the conference room at 4pm, don’t be fucking late.” He finally leaves, closing the door after himself.

“Lovely.” I mutter to myself, throwing my suitcase down on the bed. I take a look into the wardrobe to see the labcoat, it's good quality but it definitely will not fit my figure…I’ll just wear my own, good job I brought it. I walk back over to the bed, opening up my suitcase to start putting some of my things away. They didn’t allow me to bring much, I’ve got some clothes: mainly turtle necks, shirts and suit trousers, there’s a few other items such as pyjamas as well as undergarments. I was permitted to bring through my own toiletries thankfully, I doubt the ones here are any good. They let me bring some documents of my old research but only paper, no digital files. I start to put away my clothes into the small wardrobe, still big enough to fit my small volume of garments. Next I put all my books in the cabinet underneath my desk, and place my toiletries in the little basket I brought to take to the bathroom when I need to. “Done, nice. Now what?” I mutter to myself, looking around.

Maybe I’ll have a walk around? I really need to find out where that conference room is. I pull out my lab coat from the wardrobe, slipping it on before attaching my new name tag. Next I go over to the door, opening it. As I walk out I immediately bump into someone. “Извините меня!” He squeaks out as my face collides with his torso.

“No-no, it’s okay. I didn’t look where I was going.” I reply quickly in Russian, shaking my head before looking up at his name tag. “Oh you’re Dr Kuhlklay!”

He leans back to have a look at my name tag. “And you’re Dr Brandt. I thought you were English?” I tilt my head in confusion. “You were just speaking Russian and you have a German name, you’re confusing.” I giggle awkwardly.

“Oh my family is German and uh..I learned Russian when I was given the job here. I wanted to be able to understand everyone better.” He nods, seemingly in approval.

“Well you’ve done more than Peck. I assume you’ve met him, our ‘boss’.” I nod.

“Yeah he just left, showed me to my room.”

“Sorry about him, he’s just a Мудак, but you’ll get used to it.” I give back a meek smile. “I can give you a quick tour if you like, the facility isn’t too big but it can be a bit of a maze.” Nodding excitedly I agree before quickly calming myself down.

“Yeah, sounds great! Sorry- I’m just a little excited. I’ve never worked anywhere like this before.” He gives a low chuckle, waving his hand as if to waft away my concerns.

We begin to walk. “I understand, is this your first time ever being evolved in something like this? A top secret project.”

“Oh yeah, I mean I only just graduated two years ago… I’m still not entirely sure why they let me on this project, I don’t even know what it is.” His eyes widen at this.

“You only graduated two years ago!? I thought you seemed young…” I look up at him.

“I know I am young but it doesn’t mean I won’t work hard.” He hums.

“Maybe it's what we need, a fresh set of eyes.” I smile back at him.

“Thanks for the encouragement Dr Kuhlklay.”

“Please-“ he interrupts. “Call me Dimitri, no need for the formalities.”

“Then you may call me Alvarie, but not around Peck. I don’t want him to think any less of me than he already does.”

“Sure Alvarie. Anyway, the meeting at 4pm is in the room right here. It’s actually right next to the kitchen so you can just come there to eat with me after the meeting if you would like.” I tilt my head, smiling.

“Sounds good Dimitri, thanks for being so welcoming.” We keep walking, he points out where the scientists' bathrooms are as well as some of the lab stations. After that we say goodbye. I head back to my room to do some reading before the meeting, trying to understand what’s actually going on here.

#edward richtofen #edward Richtofen x of #zombies #call of duty zombies #zombies imagine #cod imagine #tank dempsey #primis takeo #primis richtofen #primis dempsey #primis nikolai #Cold War zombies #William peck

2 notes · View notes