#I have no idea what it’s really like in Oregon or Idaho

[chaosintheavenue]

2023 Fallout OC Census- Results

At long last, it's here! This time, we had 593 usable responses.

(There are a few categories I haven't analysed just yet, which is mostly because I have Ideas for how to display that data. Please stand by…)

Getting right into the numbers...

Game

Fallout (original): 18 Fallout 2: 8 Fallout 3: 59 Fallout New Vegas: 214 Fallout 4: 160 Fallout 76: 28 Fallout Tactics: 2 Van Buren: 13 A spin-off, AU or mod: 14 A TTRPG campaign: 13 Multiple of the above: 41 None, just the Fallout universe: 22

Are they the in-game protagonist?

Yes: 328 No: 203 It's complicated: 61

Species

Unmutated human: 444 Ghoul: 51 Synth: 41 Ghoul-ish: 13 Other mutant: 9 Supernatural/spiritual being: 7 Robot (non-humanoid): 7 Super Mutant: 6 Cyborg/android: 5 Unknown/it's complicated: 2 Other: 7

Definitions of a few categories, just to clarify exactly what's in there:

Ghoul-ish: Refers to all characters who are partially ghoulified, ghoulify during their storylines, and unique characters with primarily ghoul-like traits

Other mutant: Refers to all characters who are specified to have unique mutations from any cause, unless they better fit into the ghoul-ish category. This is a very diverse umbrella category, and in past surveys has included everything from characters specified to have 76-style mutations that basically function as perks, to a character similar in form and nature to the Master

Gender

Cis woman/girl: 217 Cis man/boy: 154 Trans man/boy: 76 Nonbinary: 47 Trans woman/girl: 27 Agender: 16 Genderfluid: 7 Genderqueer: 6 Man/boy, unknown or varies if cis or trans: 5 Transfeminine: 3 Bigender: 3 Demigirl: 3 Woman/girl, unknown or varies if cis or trans: 4 Butch: 2 Demigender: 2 Questioning: 2 Intersex: 2 Lesbian: 2 Māhū: 1 Multigender: 1 Queer: 1 Transmasculine: 1 Unlabeled: 1

Bonus answers I enjoyed: [redacted], a man in a certain sense of the word, cat, doesn't care for this, eh, God knows, a link to the Wikipedia page for Stone Butch Blues, it's complicated, man of questionable gender, no gender left beef, lost their gender in the war, people assume she's a woman but she doesn't really care, whatever's funniest, yeah

Where are they from?

In previous OC survey location maps, I've only included a single data point for each character, regardless of how many places they may have connections to. However, this time I've decided to include each place that a character has lived as one data point.

The list of assumptions I use when creating these maps:

Arroyo = Oregon

Mojave Wasteland = Nevada if no more specific locations provided

Capital Wasteland = DC if no more specific locations provided

Vault 101 = DC (I feel like this one isn't geographically accurate, but it's to fit in with the above assumption)

Washington unqualified = Washington state, not DC (even for Fallout 3 characters, especially since I know of a Fallout 3 character who is intended to be from Washington state)

Appalachia = West Virginia unless otherwise specified

NCR = California

Legion territory with no other information given = Arizona (this feels like the biggest generalisation of all to me. Maybe take the Arizona count with a pinch of salt?)

'Near X place' = in the same state as X place

I go by the current fifty US states. No splitting of California or considering Canada to be part of the US

Locations that could not be easily defined or placed in a specific state/country (examples: the US as a general answer, multistate regions of the US, continents, or extraterrestrial locations) have been excluded for the purposes of this map

The map for the US:

Massachusetts: 104 California: 79 Nevada: 77 DC: 74 Arizona: 32 West Virginia: 25 Texas: 17 Utah: 15 Oregon: 14 Colorado: 13 New Mexico: 7 Virginia: 6 Maine: 6 Idaho: 6 Pennsylvania: 5 Illinois: 3 Washington: 3 Louisiana: 3 Florida: 3 Wyoming: 3 Tennessee: 3 New York: 3 Rhode Island: 2 North Carolina: 2 Minnesota: 2 Vermont: 2 Alaska: 2 Missouri: 2 Nebraska: 2 Michigan: 2 Indiana: 2 Kentucky: 2 Oklahoma: 2 Maryland: 2 Montana: 1 Connecticut: 1 Georgia: 1 New Jersey: 1 Wisconsin: 1

And the map for the rest of the world:

Canada: 7 Mexico: 7 UK: 7 Russia: 4 China: 2 Australia: 2 France: 2 Brazil: 1 Ireland: 1 Israel: 1 Finland: 1 Germany: 1 Japan: 1 Panama: 1

Further breakdown of characters from the UK: Wales: 4 (…these are all my guys, what can I say?) England: 2 Unspecified: 1

Has this character ever lived in a vault?

Yes: 223 No: 366

Faction

Minutemen: 99 Railroad: 86 Followers of the Apocalypse: 80 Brotherhood of Steel: 77 Yes Man/Independent Vegas: 63 NCR: 50 Caesar's Legion: 38 Original faction: 36 Institute: 26 Kings: 16 Great Khans: 14 Nuka-World raiders: 13 Mr House: 13 Raiders in general: 13 Goodneighbor: 11 Enclave: 11 Arroyo: 9 Think Tank/Big MT: 8 Reilly's Rangers: 7 Underworld: 7 Ciphers: 7 (would you believe me if I said the majority here are not mine? XD) Responders: 6 Acadia: 6 New Vegas Strip in general: 6 Lyons' Pride: 5 Children of Atom: 5 Megaton: 5 Gunners: 5 Boomers: 5 Powder Gangers: 5 Cult of the Mothman (all variations): 4 Crimson Caravan: 4 Chairmen: 4 Mojave Express: 4 Necropolis: 3 Shady Sands (pre-NCR): 3 Vault 13: 3 Twin Mothers: 3 Diamond City: 3 Freeside: 3 White Glove Society: 3 Vault-Tec: 3 Bishop family: 3 Regulators: 2 Tunnel Snakes: 2 New Canaan: 2 Gecko: 2 Settlers/Foundation: 2 Abolitionists/Temple of the Union: 2 Galaxy News Radio: 2 80s: 2 Desert Rangers: 2 Unity/Master's Army: 2 Vault 76: 2 US Government: 2 Broken Hills: 2 Sanctuary: 2 Blue Ridge Caravan Company: 2 Goodsprings: 2 Cutthroat raiders: 2 Feral ghouls: 2 Hub: 2 Ghouls in general: 2 Nuka-World in general: 2 Little Lamplight/Big Town: 2

And the list of factions with one response, allegedly for the sake of something called 'brevity': Boulder scientists, Vault City, Littlehorn & Associates, Jacobstown, New Reno, Brotherhood Outcasts, Marked Men, Mole Miners, Treeminders, Forged, Junktown, Triggermen, Free States, Vault 101, Vault 81, Slags, Hubris Comics, Bunker Hill, Rivet City, Van Graffs, Ug-Qualtoth, West Tek, Vault 95, Novac, Atom Cats, The Outer Worlds factions, Commonwealth Super Mutants, caravan companies in general

I was initially planning to include a separate 'ish' category for each faction, to account for characters that are aligned with factions unwillingly/temporarily/out of necessity, but looking at the dataset, that sort of situation was so much more prevalent than I realised and quickly made everything very clunky.

Main approach to problems

Diplomacy: 211 Combat: 147 Stealth: 101 Technical skills: 79 Avoidance: 53

And finally for now- preferred weapon type

Small guns: 191 Melee: 128 Energy weapons: 91 Big guns: 82 Avoids combat altogether: 49 Explosives: 27 Unarmed combat: 24

-

As always, thank you to everyone who participated and gave me a little information about your OCs! If you'd ever like to talk more about them, my inbox is always open :D. Getting to learn about everyone's brainchildren is definitely my favourite aspect of my tangential foray into the Fallout fandom sphere.

My future plan for this dataset includes… a lot of pie charts, to put it mildly. As I've done for past survey datasets, I'll be compiling pie charts for each question, separating responses by the game that the characters are from, and we'll see if any trends emerge!

#fallout #survey #long post

[emlovesstates]

Syracuse Hawaii Are you a lot older than me?

Hawaii: *leaning down next to her*: Well, let's put it this way when you're 20 I'll be 40, when you're 30 I'll be 40

Hawaii :And when you're 40, you'll understand why I'm still 40.

---

Gov:Can someone get this piece of trash out of the office?

New York :* to Texas* You heard him, move it.

----

Georgia: Idaho and I got married!!

Hawaii: Don't share your personal problems with everyone.

----

New York : It means that my instincts are back

Gov:What about this?

New York: Mr.Gov I'm a nanny.

New York:You hired me me to take care of kids.

New York:You're a grown man.

New York:You want your problems solved.

New York: Get a wife.

Gov:* flabbergasted*

-----

Alaska: Look, I know you think my judgement's clouded because I like

Oregon a little bit.

Georgia, holding Alaska's notepad:

You doodled your wedding invitation.

Alaska: No, that's our joint tombstone.

Georgia: My mistake.

-----

Hawaii:* handing a bag to Alaska* You can return this I was gonna wear on our honeymoon

Alaska:* looks into the bag* there's nothing in here, but lip gloss

Hawaii: Suffer

---

Cal : How do I make a date really romantic?

Texas: Be mysterious.

Cal : Okay!

*later, while on a date with Washington*

Washington: So where are we going?

Cal : None of your fucking business.

-----

Washington: Okay, I’m going to get the wedding cake.

Alaska: Perfect, while you do that I’ll check on the ring bear.

Washington: ...

Washington: You mean ring bearER, right?

Alaska: ...

Washington: Look me in the eyes and tell me you are not going to bring a dangerous wild animal to our wedding.

-------

Texas: Bro, I had a dream we fucked.

Hawaii: Bro, relax it was just a dream.

Texas: Huh, gay, I wouldn’t fuck you.

Hawaii: You wouldn’t?

Texas: I mean, unless you want to

----

Cal : Stop doing that.

Oregon: Stop doing what?

Cal : Saying things that make me wanna kiss the hell out of you.

Or

Alaska: Stop doing that.

Texas: Stop doing what?

Alaska: Saying things that make me wanna kiss the hell out of you.

-----

Idaho: How much you wanna bet

Alaska got a Lap dance from Hawaii?

Oregon: If that happened, Louisiana can drink free tonight.

Louisiana: As much as I love the thought of having free drinks I don't like the idea of Alaska receiving a Lap dance from someone other than me.

Idaho: Hey Hawaii, did you give

Alaska a lap dance?

Hawaii: So what if I did?

Idaho, to Oregon: I guess Louisiana is drinking free tonight.

Hawaii: Be right back, I'm gonna go cry-

Alaska, entering the room: What the f-

-----

Georgia: Hey, babe, remember how I had to go to the pharmacy to pick up my ADHD meds?

Louisiana: Yes?

Georgia: Well, it turns out they're all out for the next five days.

Louisiana: Fuck.

Georgia: It's gonna be a fun week!

Louisiana: I'm going to Florida's house.

Georgia: Nuh-uh. Through sickness and health, motherfucker.

#ben brainard #welcome to the statehouse #welcome to the table #wttsh #wttt #incorrect quotes

[country-corner]

New States or National Divorce

Over the last couple of days, it seems everywhere I turn I'm hearing talk about a national divorce. Again.

Over the last several months, on a different platform, I've been talking with several people from Oregon and Washington, that is where I hear the most talk about a national divorce, what brought them to this way of thinking.

Most of the complaints are about how the State Governments have become to totalitarian, violates Constitutional rights, institution of Marxist or Communist laws, rules, or regulations.

So I pose a simple line of questioning. In the late 1930's early 1940's the State of Jefferson was formed on the border of Oregon and California. It was revived again in 2016 with more counties added (with some chatter as early as the late 1990's early 2000's). Would you be willing to back that movement?

For several decades, almost 100 years, there has been one group or another trying to break Eastern Washington off of Western Washington to form it's own State. It even got votes in the Washington State Legislature a few times, one vote for the split fell short by just a couple votes. Would you be willing to back such a split?

There was one group had even drawn up a plan to split Eastern Oregon, North Idaho, Western Montana and Eastern Washington into a new State. Would you back that kind of movement?

Then there is the Greater Idaho movement where most of Oregon's counties have voted to leave Oregon and join Idaho. With some suggestions of bringing Eastern Washington in as well. Would you back that?

The majority response was NO. No, because Boise, Helena, Olympia, Salem or DC would never go for it. No, because there are too many living in the area who would vote against it. No, do you know how hard and how much work it would be forming a new State. Even when reminded that Democrats have talked about giving DC and Puerto Rico Statehood, with the (alleged) thought that it would give them 4 permanent Democrat Senate Seats, guaranteeing a permanent Democrat majority in the Senate. They still say no.

But many of those are openly calling for a National Divorce, fulfilling the Mid 20th century Communist dream of the balkanization of the US.

Some talk like it is the easiest thing to do (won't do Statehood because it's too hard but build new Nation would be easy?). Others talk like every State Capital would go along with the Divorce idea with no disagreements. Still others talk like everyone in the country would go for it with no disagreement. I have even seen a few say it is the "Final Solution" to the discourse within the US.

It brings in the question to me, are these people the useful idiots that the old Communists loved to see? Are they actually Communists pretending to be "Concerned Conservatives" trying to break up the US? Are they just too brainwashed by the media, education system and political pundits to accept any alternatives? Are they just too tired or too lazy to put in the work of forming a new State? Or have they just given up and don't really care anymore?

I've said it before, a National Divorce or a Big Split as some call it, would not work out like many think it would. It would greatly weaken both of the new nations. It's not the Conservative or Liberal dream that some political commentators try to make it sound like. Because there will be both Conservative and Liberal people who will refuse to move leaving people with strong political ideologies in the middle of (what I've heard some refer to as) the "enemies territory." And do you honestly think, if there is a split or divorce, that the US Constitution will come through to either of the new Nations as is?

And that doesn't even address those I hear talk about a new Civil War like they're playing Call of Duty.

I'm not saying I have all the answers, but I know that a National Divorce is not the answer. Nor is a Civil war. Forming new States might be. There may be other answers that have not been voiced out there. But look around. Get out of you echo chamber box and talk with your family, coworkers, neighbors fellow Church or Club members, but talk with them not at them. You might find that you and that person who has a different political view may have more in common than you thought and can come up with something better than anything being talked about now. But TALK.

#political #national divorce #big split #personal opinion

[aceasadhd]

Genuinely all I have thought about for the last half hour is Agent Cooper, when Workaholic Not So Anonymous is probably set, and the historical context thereof and how all of that prolly affected his views on his feelings towards Louie and Florida.

You have given me horrid brain rot/pos

congratulations you just earnt yourself a head canon info dump

before you go any furth make sure you go and read, kudos and comment on this fic -> Fed 2,367 by guessimdemoms because it's where I got the idea of human DC.

then I named him Danail Cooper to justify why he would get the nickname DC when they already had the District

from there I started my own set of head canons. like how humans can become personifications if needed. Like the CDC is Dr Joseph W. Mountin and the FBI is Charlse Joseph Bonaparte. (Lots of Josephses) is Daniel's middle name Joseph? who knows?

So I personally have no idea what it was like to be a gay man in the 1960's in the USA but that's where YOU DID WHAT ON THE TABLE and Workaholics Not So Anonymous are set. YDWOTT is about 3 months into Agent Cooper's 3 Year contract and WNSA is 2 years and 8 months after that.

I did try to play into him knowing and accepting he's gay and probably going to be single forever because he doesn't really do one-night stands and as a Federal Agent he'll be more scrutinized. He's happy for the States, that they can do what they want, but he himself still lives in 1960's USA and it's still frowned upon.

he knows Florida and Louie are dating and are happy they have the statehouse to be free of people who might judge them. he now knows that the states can take different forms.

Free head canon for you: New York is an Autistic Sex-Neutral Asexual who has a low sex drive and hate sudden touches while his boyfriends Massachusetts and Virginia are pan and bi (respectively) giant horn bags.

so, DC has seen Mass and Ginnie make out but didn't make the connection with New York, so he doesn't know or understand that polyamory is accepted in the statehouse.

It isn't until after WNSA that DC realizes that it's all okay, that California is dating Texas and boning Alaska (they don't start 'dating' until the 1990's) AND having one-night stands with human strangers. He finds out about New York during the AIDS crisis. He finds out about Washington/Oregon/Idaho at New Year's 2000 when they all pass out on each other.

it certainly takes some internalized undoing of human ideals and phobias but with the state's help he comes out to be the cute adorableness he is today.

#wttt #mawage universe #headcanon #fic #wttt fic #wttt DC #info dump

[a-mag-a-day]

MAG 58 - apple cutting

Oh, somewhen around the time I first listened to this statement I also watched Miracle Workers - Oregon Trail and it made me think, if this was a common trope for stories with the Oregon trail? To have misjudged snowy weather and being forced to cannibalism?

I have heard that people from Oregon pointed out that Jon (as Archivist) pronounced "Oregon" wrong (like a non-Oregonian) and during the statement (as Mrs. Carlisle) he pronounced it right. I've tried to compare it (1:10 and 2:56) and I don't hear any difference xD Then again, I'm not a native speaker. Anyone here able to shine a light on that?

Carlisle, same name as the man upstairs, Toby Carlisle, in MAG 18. Which was also a Flesh statement.

"The settlers of Oregon country, he said, had offered land to those who might follow. 320 acres of land for the unmarried, he said, but a married settler could claim 640 acres." - Marrying for the sole purpose of receiving benefits. A tale as old as time xD

"I realized how ill-prepared he for many of the hardships of the trail. I never asked him exactly where he was from, or why he wished to settle in Oregon. Those few times I broached the subject, he would talk all sorts of circles around it, and I had some inkling that he might have been fleeing trouble back east." - That is interesting. Does this make Benjamin sus? Was it somehow already his goal to end up mingling with the Flesh? Or was he really just a bit of an impulsive, but goodhearted guy?

"All told, I feel I more than earned my bacon." - And yet she didn't want that bacon in the end xD

"So I just had to sit there, watching Eustace Wick building a fire as Benjamin tried to suppress his shivers and make conversation with the man who he still did not realize had turned from our guide into our captor." - This behavior could well play into the question, whether Benjamin wanted all this to happen.

Oh again my favorite ambiance track! That one makes me so happy!

"I wept for my beautiful, stupid Benjamin" - RIP himbo

That climax in the cave, Eustace killing Benjamin, Mrs. Carlisle killing Eustace and the dead Benjamin pleading his wife to eat him is soooo good!

"What interests me most is how this unsigned letter, if it is to be believed, made its way from an icebound cave in Wyoming or Idaho all the way to the personal collection of Jonah Magnus." - Hmm… unused foreshadowing? Or does anyone know where this leads?

Oh no… This is when Tim starts to get angry…

"though does go some way to reassure me that Martin is unlikely to be the culprit" - How? Why? Because you want him to be innocent, right?^^

I mean, Jonny does pronounce Gerard two different ways in the same episode so I’m not sure the mispronunciation of Oregon is intentional. It might be though, I have no idea what goes on in his head.

#a mag a day #tma #the magnus archives #episode asks #tma spoilers #mag 58 #lycanlovingvampyre #mod elian

[crispys-corner]

Fuck it I’m ranking the state tourism logos

Alabama: looks like a button. Based Skynyrd reference. Serviceable, but boring. 5/10

Arkansas: looks like a brand of like pet food or some shit. 3/10

Florida: I live here and let me tell you you should not VisitFlorida. I like the little wave-y thing though. 4/10

Mississippi: all judgements on the state aside, the interlocking S-rings is a really cool design. 7.5/10

Tennessee: pretty good. Standard, but nothing wrong with it. 6/10

Virginia: what does this even mean. I’m so confused by it it makes me want to call the tourism office to ask some questions so it does its job pretty well I guess. 6/10

Arizona: the only thing that makes this not shit is the little thing above “Arizona”. Pick up your fucking game Arizona. 3.5/10

New Mexico: I knew I could count on the state with one of the coolest flags. This is fucking interesting. Discovery. Adventure. Pots. 8/10

Colorado: I love Colorado. If you ever have a chance to visit red rocks or Grand Junction you should. The natural landscape is breathtaking. So I’m confused on why they didn’t USE ANY OF IT. 2/10

Idaho: it’s pretty good. It’s cool when you look at it but you forget it the second you look away. Just like the state. 6/10

Montana: hell yeah get that red dead ass font over here. 7/10

Georgia: peach. good font choice. 6/10

Kentucky: pretty interesting. Cool slogan too. 6.5/10

Louisiana: fuck yeah. It’s just a cool font but that’s all it needs to be baby. 7.5/10

North Carolina: dogshit. what the fuck is this guys. 0/10

South Carolina: love the palm tree and moon design but its kinda gated community-ish. 5/10

West Virginia: mountain mama. 4/10

Oklahoma: looks kinda like a clothing brand that overcharges on t shirts. 4/10

Texas: this is like something sewn into the side of my jeans. 6/10

Utah: tractor supply ass font. 5/10

Wyoming: YEEEEEE-HAW! 10/10

Oregon: what is that even. A tree? Whatever. 2/10

Indiana: eh. 3/10

Ohio: what does that mean Ohio. People don’t think of perfect balance when they think of you. I like the first “O” though. 5/10

Nebraska: I kinda like this one. But I don’t know why. I know it’s not great. But I also don’t care. 6.5/10

Missouri: dude the s’s(esses?) are River banks! Nice! 7.5/10

Iowa: Iowa what’s with your W. 2/10

Illinois: creative way to say “our state feels like it lasts forever but that’s only because most of it is empty”. 5.5/10

Wisconsin: that’s just a bumper sticker. 3/10

New Hampshire: really charming actually. I like the little houses. I AM going to love it there! 8/10

Massachusetts: kinda laughing over the slogan. Nice font though. 6.5/10

Connecticut: if you pronounce it the way the logo is emphasizing “connect” you would be mispronouncing the state. For those unaware, Connecticut is pronounced “kin-NET-ih-cuht”. Crazy right. 4/10

Maine: must it, though? 2/10

Rhode Island: there’s not much to this, but I FUCKING LOVE NAUTICAL DESIGNS. 8/10

Nevada: honestly super into this one. Simple, elegant, interesting. 9/10

California: this looks like the logo for a water bottle. 1/10

Washington: bold move to not have the name of your state in your tourism logo. Stupid, but bold. It does sound funny to say “experience wa” though. 4/10

Kansas: I have no idea how big Kansas is so this is false. 5/10

Michigan: another water bottle. 2/10

Minnesota: I like the blue and green together, and the font is nice. 6/10

North Dakota: Fuck. Yes. 10/10

South Dakota: it’s Six Grandfathers, it’s the Black Hills. Fuck Mount Rushmore. Great design though. 8/10

New Jersey: “oh you want our tourism logo? Here you go asshole I made it in four minutes”. Peak Jersey. 6/10

New York: a classic design but one I’m not a fan of. 5/10

Pennsylvania: this looks like the logo for an elementary school. A bougie elementary school. 3/10

Vermont: I do love me some mountains. 6/10

Delaware: come on Delaware that’s Florida’s boring logo. 3/10

Maryland: fuck yeah fly that medieval ass flag proud. Looks like a logo for cans of cat food though. 7/10

Alaska: MORE MOUNTAINS?! Great design, very simplistic. 7.5/10

Hawaii: fuck yeah put that apostrophe back in there. Love the colors on this bitch. 8/10

#ranking #list #my opinion reigns supreme #if you disagree you’re wrong #tw swearing

[plumbobi]

50 States Build Challenge! (Sims 4)

I thought this might be a fun build challenge for builders in The Sims 4. Now, I have created this around the good ole USA because that’s where I’m from and what I’m familiar with, but you can certainly take this concept and apply it to any country or territory! I’m actually really excited to see other parts of the world with this! And the best part about this is...every time you do it, it’ll be something different :D

Rules to the build challenge: 

1) Have fun. If you aren’t having fun, change something to where you are having fun. There’s no point in taking on a challenge like this if you aren’t enjoying it.

2) Open your real estate listing page of choice. I like Zillow, but Realtor, Trulia, ForSaleByOwner, etc. are all great options too. 

3) Put in the first state into the search bar. Going in alphabetical order, Alabama will be first. I’ll leave an alphabetical list of all 50 states below to save you from having to google it. 

4) Pick a house to build in The Sims! I’ll leave this part sort of loose, that way you can choose the difficulty of the challenge :) 

5) Go to the next state on the list, and repeat! 

And that’s it! We’re going to build our way across America in The Sims 4! :) You can make this challenge as hard or as easy as you’d like. Some ideas to make it a little more challenging (if you decide to go that route) are...

*You must pick the first house in the que that pops up

*You must set your budget to the selling price, and use all the money

*You must make the floor plan as accurate as possible

I’d love to see other YouTubers get in on this and have fun, so let me know if you try this challenge and how it works for you :) 

List of USA states in alphabetical order:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

[govandalsncaa]

#3 Vandals finally put it all together, tame #14 Huskies 38-14

The Idaho Vandals, that made it to the National Championship Game, last season, finally showed up, and they did it in the biggest game of the season. In front of a standing-room only crowd of over 16,000 fans, the Idaho Vandals 9-0 (6-0) dominated in ever facet of the game, in their impressive 38-14 victory over the Washington Huskies 6-2 (4-1).

The Vandals would strike first in this one, scoring on a 7 yard TD pass to Alfonso Onunwor to take a 7-0 lead with 1:50 left in the opening stanza. Following a quick answer by the Huskies, Idaho went on a 17 point scoring run, that put them up 24-7 with 1:43 left in the 2nd quarter. Washington was able to cash-in a big play before halftime, scoring on a 61 yard touchdown to make the score 24-14 at intermission.

The Huskies got the ball first after halftime, and had a chance to tie the game, but the Idaho defense had other ideas. Using multiple personnel groups and looks all night, the Vandals were able to snatch an interception on the first drive of the 2nd Half. Idaho was able to capitalize with a Dylan Thigpen touchdown and restore their 17 point lead at 31-17.

Forced to put the ball in the air for the remainder of the game, the Vandals defense was able to feast on the now one dimensional Husky offense, as Idaho pitched a shutout in the second half.

Dylan Thigpen added a touchdown with under a minute remaining to provide the final total.

After being pulled in last week's narrow win over Oregon, Dustin Coleman had a great game against Washington, finishing 21 for 31 for 305 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Dylan Thigpen showed why he is likely going to be a Heisman Finalist again this season, as he went for 110 yards on 27 carries and 3 touchdowns.

Redshirt Senior, Alfonso Onunwor had a huge day catching the ball for the Vandals, as he hauled in 9 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Luckett chipped in 4 catches for 66 yards and touchdown of his own.

Calvary Pugh, a Redshirt Junior from West Palm Beach, Florida had a big day on defense with 5 tackles and an interception.

Coach Idaho Coach spoke with the media following Saturday's win.

"Well, that is the game we have been looking for all season, and what a great time to find it. I thought our guys were locked in from the coin toss on, and we really played a solid game.

I can't say enough about our defense, allowing only 14 points to the best offense in the country is a great effort. I know those guys fed off of our crowd today as well. Our student section was insane, and made it almost impossible for their offense to audible at the line of scrimmage. A big shout out to Vandal Nation today, my ears are still ringing.

Offensively, obviously Dylan was great again. Despite throwing two picks, I thought Dustin had a really strong game for us at quarterback, and he showed why he is our starter. Alfonso Onunwor is a Redshirt Senior. That guy has seen a lot of highs and lows with this program, and for him to come out here, and have that game he had today.....thats....thats the kinda stuff that you remember 20 years from now. I was so happy for him.

That was a hell of a win for our team and our university. We still have three games left in the regular season, including two rival games. We can't let this be the high point of our year. We can celebrate this one for 24 hours and then get right back to work."

Idaho travels 8 miles across the Palouse next week to face their rivals, the Washington State Cougars.

Final Score:

Vandals - 38

Huskies - 14

[kayliemusing]

50

What name do you go by most often? - Kaylie

Is that your real name or a nickname? - Real name

Has your birthday come yet this year? - Yes, it was back in March

Where is your mom right now? - Upstairs watching Under The Banner of Heaven

What were you doing at 4pm? - I was watching Leon Lush YouTube videos

Are you a good speller? - Yes

Who was the last person to give you a ‘high-five’? - I have no idea. It's been so long. I feel like it was probably someone at work.

Would you consider yourself a shy person? - Yes.

Can you play the guitar? - No, but I wish I could so badly.

Three things you ate today? - Apple pie, hot dog, and liquorice. Very healthy choices.

What did you do last Sunday? - I can't remember that much. I think I went out with my mom maybe to the mall??

How many orange shirts do you own? - I don't think any?? I think I have one that has orange in it but not a true orange shirt.

Are you currently taking any prescription medications? - Just cipralex

Do you like skim milk? - No. I used to drink Almond milk, but now I just kind of avoid milk. If I drink it, it's regular 2% (but I'm lactose-intolerant so I try to avoid it as much as I can lmao)

How did you bring in the New Year? - I don't remember. I think I just went to bed lol

Are you missing anyone right now? - Not overly. I was missing my dad yesterday, but it's not so bad today.

If you could relive one moment in the past week what would it be? - I was super inspired and motivated last night and would definitely love to relive that short lived moment.

If you could spend 30 minutes with someone who is gone, who would you pick? - My dad

Biggest mistake to date? - Letting my cat outside at night back in June a month ago because she got hit by a car so we had to put her down :( Literally will never forgive myself.

Where did you go to grade school at? - Mattie McCullough

Have you ever lived in Tennessee? - No

Idaho? - No

Nebraska? - No

Maryland? - No

Texas? - I'm not American.

Does anyone in your family smoke? - A couple people. Some of my cousins do and my aunt does. I think she quit for a time but I also think she took up the habit again.

How many of the people you live with are over 21? - All 3 of us.

Who do you wish you could talk to right this moment? - I guess my dad? I always wish I could talk to him one more time.

How many clocks are in the room you are in? - Zero, except for the one in my phone.

Do you use MSN messenger? - I used to in middle school.

What time will it be in 6 hours? - It'll be almost 5 am I think.

Have you kissed anyone in the last week? - No

Do you enjoy classic rock? - Depends on the song. Generally not my go-to.

Have you ever been told you looked like someone famous? - In passing, but not as a true comment or compliment. When I was in middle school, sometimes I got people that told me I looked like the lead singer from The Band Perry but that was only because I had blonde hair and my hair was slightly curly/wavy from a fading perm lol. (Truly I don't look anything like her)

Are you anemic? - I was in high school. I think I still am, but I'd have to get tested to see.

At Christmas, do you have a fake or a real tree? - Fake, because my mom always said that real trees are too messy and they get sap and needles everywhere lol. I also think fake trees are prettier because they have less gaps between the branches.

Do you usually go watch fireworks on the 4th of July? - Again, I'm not American. (I also don't usually go on Canada Day because I don't have anyone to go with and I kind of don't care)

Do you remember when the game Oregon Trail was really popular? - No

Does anyone have your heart? - A bunch of random fictional men

What did you do last Valentine’s Day? - I think I worked, but even if I didn't, I was probably at home not doing anything.

Can you count to 20 in any other language? - No. I could at one point but definitely not anymore

How old were you in 2001? - 3

In 1973, how many years was it until you were born - or were you born? - 25 I think?

Have you ever had a crush on someone, and found out they liked your friend? - No

Have you ever been liked by someone you didn’t expect would like you? - I'm not sure? There was a guy in high school that I think liked me but that was never confirmed so I only suspected, but I could've been totally wrong. If he did like me, then yes, and only because we were in separate crowds.

Who ended your last relationship? - I've never been in a relationship

How do you feel about that? - I'll answer according to MY last answer lol. It's low-key embarrassing never having dated or even kissed anyone because it makes me feel like there's something wrong with me OR it makes me feel like OTHERS think there's something wrong with me.

Do Mondays get you down? - Not really. I work in retail so Mondays just mean a slower day which means less crazy or rude people.

How long have you been at your current job? - Almost four years which is INSANE. I don't know how I've lasted this long. I've been saying I want to leave for two and half years but it's not the worst job so I've stuck it out until I have a sense of direction of where I actually want to go. Tbh, just as a vent moment, my job wouldn't be so bad if corporate wasn't so strict and then in turn, we didn't have such high-expecting and can't-be-impressed managers.

Have you ever been fired? - No

How many times have you been pulled over by the cops? - Never! I'm so scared of this so I always drive the speed limit even if my mom is riding shot gun and telling me to stop driving like a grandma.

What is your mood like right now? - I feel really upbeat and content for a change.

Where did you go today? - I went out for a quick grocery stop at Co-Op and then about an hour ago I went out for a small walk with my mom around our neighborhood.

Do you know anyone who is pregnant right now? - Not personally, but what a weird/great question

Do you cut the crusts off your sandwiches? - No

Do you prefer sweet or unsweetened tea? - I don't really drink tea but I love sweet things so probably sweet?

Who did you last embarrass yourself in front of? - Oh my god. I don't even want to relive this but I will for the sake of this survey. I had a zoom interview for an editing mentorship and she sent me the wrong email (which is kind of her fault) so I was worried that I had the time wrong so I joined and she was in the middle of another interview and I was so embarrassed and felt so bad. She was cool about it and took fault, but I'm also very blessed to have social anxiety so I, of course, replayed the moment over and over again in my mind and tortured myself with it for nine or ten hours. Maybe to anyone else it wasn't embarrassing, but I was humiliated and so flustered for my actual interview.

Would you rather meet the president or win $500 dollars from the lottery? - Money please.

What was the reason you last smiled? - Joking around with my mom and sister.

A Little About Your Friends List 8 Good Friends: - My guy, I can tell you right now that I don't have eight friends.

Mom

Jen (Sister)

Megan

Mikaela

--

--

--

--

1. Mom

Are you related to this person? - Yes

What did you do the last time you hung out? - We just talked, laughed, the usual.

Would you trust this person to keep a secret? - Yes and no. Yes because she's trustworthy, but I'd also expect her to most likely tell my grandma unless I explicitly asked her not to.

Who is this person dating? - Nobody.

Do you live in the same town? - Yes, and household.

2 Jen

Are you dating this person? - No but she's a catch

Would you consider this person attractive? - Yes

What is this person’s full name? - N/A

Is this person taller than you? - No

Do you go to the same school? - Yes until we graduated.

3 Megan

Is this person engaged? - No.

What color is this person’s hair? - It's like a light brown

Where does this person work? - She's a manager at a movie theatre

When did you last call this person? - We never call each other actually, but we text and for some reason we only text through snapchat???

Have you ever been drunk together? - No

4 Mikaela

What is this person likely doing right now? - Probably going to sleep. It's a tad late.

Does this person have any children? - No

How did you meet this person? - We met at work!

Have you ever had a crush on this person? - No

Where was the last place you went together? - We went out for coffee last week at Dose.

5

What is this person’s middle name?

Does this person like rap music? Has this person ever been arrested? Is this person older than you? When did you last see this person?

6

Have you ever met this person’s parents?. When is this person’s birthday? Is this person still in high school? What color are this person’s eyes? Do you work with this person?

7

Do you and this person share an ex?

Where was the last place you went to eat with this person?

What color is this person’s car? Can this person play the piano? Does this person like scary movies?

8

How long have you known this person?

Does this person have hair past their shoulders? Does this person have any tattoos? Have you ever kissed? Did you go to grade school with this person?

Finish the Sentence

My hair is: Blonde, but a bit greasy lol

I wish I was: already successful in my writing career, and content and happy.

The only thing I can’t stand: - Arrogant people. Literally would yeet them off the planet if I could. There is no way: - That Taylor Alison Swift released "evermore" her ninth studio album and then never spoke of it again. (Seriously never even sang one song live, not even on instagram or a clip on TikTok. Nothing.) Literally cannot believe the audacity.

Someday I am going to: - Sell many, many books that do really well and I go many, many unbelievable places in my career. (I'm manifesting)

I couldn’t live without: My mom (and Taylor Swift)

I hate when: - My job calls me on my day off

I love it when: - I have a day off.

Sometimes I can be: - Fatalistic oops.

I am not interested: - in politics.

#survey

[joshscorcher]

3 Misconceptions about Americans and non-Americans

After interacting with many different people around the globe, especially on social media, I notice that Americans have very big misconceptions about the world outside, and non-Americans have big misconceptions about the USA. Most of it is just simple ignorance and not malicious racism, so I thought I’d try to clear some of it up.

3 Big Misconceptions that Americans have about the world outside the US.

1. Most other countries, especially non-Western ones, are not developed.

Many Americans don’t realize other countries are developed that we might realize., especially in countries that are described as “third-world.” One of Kenya’s biggest pastimes is cyber cafes, and they’re really cheap. Malaysia has a big (some locals would say internationally untapped) market for electronic entertainment.

Yes, there are countries that still need help and there’s a reason America is the biggest monetary contributor of foreign aid in the world, but take a step outside the continent and you’ll realize that things are not so different depending on where you are.

2. Other developed countries, especially in Europe, are paradises with more rights and better quality of life.

I’m not trying to poo-poo on other countries out of spite; I’m simply calling attention to facts. You know how you can’t be evicted in the U.S. for no reason? Australia doesn’t have that protection and they have a housing crisis now! You know how you can’t be fired in the U.S. if you get sick? You can in the UK! What many Americans assume are standard protections and rights that developed nations have? Other countries may not actually have them, even European ones!

I’ve noticed that Americans (and to a lesser extent all countries) have a bit of “grass is greener” syndrome when it comes to other countries. It’s fair to believe that other countries have some benefits that we don’t and it’s fine to want to implement them, but don’t automatically assume that moving to them will be “everything I have now +1.”

3. Other countries hate your country or consider you the laughingstock of the world.

Sorta. Many of them do, but in my experience, if you get non-Americans in a neutral setting and ask them about their own country’s politics, economics, and/or social issues? Oh ho, brace yourself for a RANT. I’ve also noticed that many make fun of the U.S. as a form of “punching up” humor, and this is often fueled by a little resentment that U.S. culture and news constantly permeates modern news and entertainment discourse.

People like to make fun of the U.S., but there are just as many people who see the U.S. as a bastion, just ask protesters who are sick of their regimes like Hong Kong and Cuba. It’s easy to believe that America is hated everywhere, but much of that comes from a very American-centric perspective of the world and social media. It’s not as bad as you think.

3 Big Misconceptions that non-Americans have about the US.

1. All states have the same culture.

Because the U.S. is so large, it has so many different geographical areas and so many different cultures who have called this place home. Louisiana is very different from Oregon. California is different from Texas. New York is different from Florida. Kansas is different from Massachusetts. Heck, even adjacent states like Idaho and Washington are wildly different! Or even in States like California, you’ll find that the coast and southern areas of the state are have completely different cultures from the northern and eastern areas. The State of New York? The New York you see in the movies is just the tiny little island of Manhattan and the rest of the state is almost nothing like it! 

There are rivalries between states that you might see echo rivalries like Scotland and England, Sri Lanka and India, Sweden and Denmark, or Tanzania and Kenya.

Financially, there’s a lot of disparity as well. A poor person in America is statistically better off than a poor person in many other countries, but don’t let that fool you. There is a lot of income and lifestyle disparity in the U.S. between the rich and the poor. Heck, the minimum wage and standard of living varies depending on which state you’re in! A studio apartment in New York City is MUCH more expensive than a two-storey house in Nebraska!

Point is, there is no “average” American.

2. The President is the leader of our country and can make laws and declare war.

This idea that the president is our leader is a misconception that started with Teddy Roosevelt, arguably our first “celebrity president.” (Some argue it was Lincoln, but I digress.) The president is merely the leader of our executive branch of government. We have an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch. Each has checks and balances towards the other.

What powers does the president have? Check here. The office more limited than you might think. Many powers you think he has are actually delegated to the other branches of government or even the states themselves.

3. We are refused treatment or bankrupted by medical bills because we do not have socialized healthcare.

I’m not trying to defend our healthcare system as perfect (oh HELL no, it needs some big improvements), but the idea that we can get bankrupted by an accident is simply untrue. In fact, it is ILLEGAL for a hospital to charge a person more than they can afford or refuse them treatment for a medical emergency. It’s gotten to the point that even many Americans don’t realize they have this right!

Side note, this is an annoying thing about our culture and laws. Because we have been granted so many freedoms and protections, you see some people like landlords and hospitals try to get you to waive those freedoms and protections in contracts which is why it’s so important to read the fine print before you sign anything.

[impalas-r-important]

Branch Out - Chapter 1

Summary: Y/N left everything she's ever known, and Dean just wants to be left alone. With both of them trying to heal from heartache, they might just end up finding what they need in the last place they'd ever look.

Word count: 6219

Pairing: Dean x reader (eventually, maybe?)

Warnings: I don't think there are any for this chapter, but if you think i should add one, feel free to let me know!

A/N: I started this series a long time ago and just barely had the motivation to start it up again. I really love this series, and have been enjoying writing it. Let me know if you want a tag!

My Masterlist

Branch Out Masterlist

Thank heavens for GPS, there’s no way you would have found this place without step-by-step directions. A narrow gravel driveway branched off from the worn mountain road and wound to a homely cabin. You stepped out of your old pickup truck and pulled out the key the realtor had given to you. Buying a house sight unseen wasn’t the smartest idea and you second guessed your impulse decision as you took in the dense woods that were so foreign to you. The seasoned wooden boards of the porch creaked under your feet while you made your way to the door and let yourself into your new home. Dust rested gently on every ledge and the frigid January air was lined with a twinge of must from sitting unoccupied for so long, but something felt so promising about the sturdy structure.

A modest kitchen and living room made up most of the house with a bedroom and bathroom on either side of a small hallway. A small, metal woodburning fireplace sat just next to the backdoor and you had a feeling you would end up putting that to good use if you ever figured out how to use it.

Your hand was subconsciously touching the bruise that was prominent on your forearm and when you realized, you pulled your sleeve down to cover it. The decision to leave your family and friends behind was a heart-wrenching one, but you knew you had to make a change if you wanted to heal completely. You needed to do something for yourself, and you wanted a fresh start. A small cabin in the freezing cold woods of Idaho was about as far from what you knew to be normal as you could have gotten, but a seed of hope was planted firmly in your chest.

When a job posting for the assistant city accountant had fallen in your lap a few weeks back, you applied without thinking twice. A few online interviews later, you had secured the job and things fell into place effortlessly, as if some external force was paving your path to this small town. You bought this quaint home with the help of a local realtor, packed your things, and left the only home you had ever known in Arizona, despite the protests of your family. Not knowing what your future held was scary, but something about this place felt right from the moment you pulled in.

You had brought only what you needed to in hopes of making a quick escape, meaning you had only a mattress, some clothes and a few personal belongings. After working for a few years, you had a built up a good savings account and figured it would be easier to buy furniture once you got here instead of trying to move big pieces by yourself. It didn’t take long to move your things inside, and you felt grateful that you called ahead to have the power and water turned on so you could shower once you had unpacked what you needed for your first day on the job tomorrow. Anxiety sat like a rock in your stomach, so you skipped dinner and went straight to bed, burying yourself under a mountain of blankets to shield you from the winter chill that had settled in your bones.

Your nerves woke you up well before your alarm went off, so you dragged your feet across the frozen floor and pulled your clothes on quickly before digging through your boxes for some granola bars for breakfast. You leaned against the kitchen counter and began to make a list of things you would need to buy since you were essentially starting from scratch. Double checking the email that you had received with instructions for your first day, you took a deep breath and headed out.

City hall was a historic, two-story red brick building that was shared with the fire department. It looked like something out of a storybook, but then again, this whole town did. You pushed the door open and looked around at the empty lobby, checking your watch to make sure you weren’t crazy early. Rustic chairs lined the walls by the door, and a few empty desks were placed behind the tall front counter.

“Hello?” You asked, turning your head left and right to look for any signs of life.

“Oh!” A muffled voice responded, and distant footsteps quickly scuttled your way from the back room. “You’re here!” A pretty, dark haired girl gave a few excited claps as she made her way to you. “You must be Y/N. I’m Sarah. Sarah Blake.” She eagerly pulled you into a hug which caught you by surprise and she chuckled a bit to herself before taking a step back. “Sorry, my boyfriend says that my enthusiasm scares new people away. I’ve just been so excited since I heard they hired you. I’ve been praying for someone my age to come work around here for a long time.”

“Don’t apologize, you’re the first person I’ve met in town so it’s nice to see a friendly face.” Her warm welcome calmed some of your nerves.

“That’s right, you just moved in yesterday, huh?” You tiled your head in question, wondering how she knew that. “It’s a really small town, everyone knows everything, especially when it comes to new people. You’ve been the talk of the town the past little bit.” She shrugged. “Well, I’m the marketing/PR girl here, and we all just kind of pitch in with working the front desk. Come on back, let me give you the grand tour.”

Sarah led you around the corner and stopped at the first office on your left. “This is Ellen Singer’s office. You’ll be working under her, she’s the lead accountant.” She looked at the clock on the wall. “Hmm, she should be here by now. I bet her car is giving her trouble.”

A friendly voice called out to Sarah from down the hall and she motioned for you to follow her as she stepped just inside the end office which was significantly bigger than the rest.

“Y/N, this is Garth Fitzgerald, he’s the mayor. Garth, this is Y/N.” Sarah introduced you and he stood to shake your hand.

“It’s great to meet you, Mayor Fitzgerald.”

“Please, call me Garth.” You smiled and nodded. “We’ve been excited about you around here. I think you’ll make a great addition to our community.” His phone ringing broke the conversation. “Excuse me, ladies. Oh, and welcome to Wallace, Y/N!”

“Next up is Arthur Ketch, he’s the city planner. Sometimes he can be a little abrupt, but deep down he’s a big softie. Don’t let him scare you.”

He was on the phone, so he simply waved to you two as you passed. Sarah’s attention was drawn back down the hall when two police officers walked in. “Jody, Donna!” She hollered to them.

“Heya, kiddo! Who you got with you?” The blonde officer sent a warm smile your way.

“You must be Y/N!” The other responded.

“Oh, that’s right! I heard you were coming to town. I’m Donna and this is Sheriff Jody Mills. It’s so great to meet you.” She pulled you in for your second hug of the day.

“Everyone here is seriously so nice. I don’t know why I didn’t move here years ago!” You joked.

“Well listen, if you need anything, you can always come to me, okay?” Jody put her hand on your shoulder. “We’re all so excited to have a new face around.”

“Thank you. You’re all making this transition so much easier than I thought it would be.”

Sarah waved to the officers as they left and pulled gently on your arm. “Come on, let’s chat while we wait for Ellen.” She took a seat at one of the desks in the front and you sat across from her.

“Thanks for showing me around, it’s nice to know that I have a friend at work already.” Sarah’s eyes lit up when you called her your friend.

“Are you kidding me? I’ve been dying for you to get here. I knew we’d get along.” She folded her arms and sat back in her chair proudly. “So, where did you move from?”

“Phoenix, Arizona.”

“And you moved to Idaho in the middle of January? Are you crazy? I would give anything to go lay out in the sun for an afternoon.”

“Yeah, I might be!” You laughed. “I guess I just needed a change, you know? It was just time to move onto the next chapter of my life.”

“I get that. I grew up here and couldn’t wait to leave for college, but as soon as I was gone, I missed this place.”

“I can see what you’re talking about. It has a good feeling to it here.”

“So, now to the juicy stuff.” Sarah leaned forward. “Are you dating anyone? Because there’s a whole pool of eligible bachelors I could set you up with here.”

“No, actually I just got out of something kind of messy, so I don’t think I’m really looking for anything at the moment.”

A sympathetic look was sent you way. “I’m sorry to hear that. But if you ever feel ready, you let me know, okay?”

“You will be the first. What about you? I heard you mention you have a boyfriend. Tell me all about him.”

A smile spread across Sarah’s face and she pulled out her phone to show you a picture. “This is Sam, we’ve been together since high school.”

She handed you her phone and you looked at the tall, handsome guy whose arms were wrapped around her. “He’s cute, nice work!” She beamed as you handed her phone back. The expression on her face was clearly one of adoration as she looked at the picture.

“We actually broke up before we went to college. He went to Stanford and I went to the University of Oregon and we figured it would be easier to break it off on good terms rather than fade away in a long-distance relationship. That lasted about two weeks and we’ve been together ever since.”

“Do you think you’ll marry him? You guys are so stinking cute together.” You weren’t sure if you had ever seen a better fitting couple.

“I overheard Sam talking to his older brother about buying a ring. I don’t think he knew that I was just in the other room, but I’ll let him try to surprise me.” Sarah giggled. Your conversation was interrupted by someone walking in the back door.

“Hey, Ellen.” Sarah greeted. “Your reinforcement has arrived.”

Ellen looked at you with relief in her eyes. “Oh, honey, you have no idea how happy I am to see you. Come on back here and we’ll get started.”

“Have fun!” Sarah left you to meet your new boss as she went up to help someone at the front desk.

“Y/N, you’ll have to forgive me for being so late. My stupid car has been giving me hell the past few weeks. You’d think with my husband owning the only mechanic’s shop in town, I’d have a reliable vehicle, but here we are.”

“No worries. It gave me a chance to meet some people around the building. I’m excited to get started though.” You sat in the chair across from her desk and she plopped down with a sigh as well.

“I’ve been begging Garth for two years for some help, so you are a light at the end of my tunnel. I’m hoping to retire in a few years and hand you the reigns, so let’s get to it, shall we?”

The next few hours were spent introducing you to all of the systems and procedures. After receiving a call from her daughter, Ellen decided to call it a day just after three in the afternoon and the two of you agreed to hit it hard tomorrow. You gathered your things and returned to the front area where Sarah was scrolling through her phone. She looked up when you entered the room.

“Hey! How are things going?”

“Ellen has to take off, so we’re going to call it a day and just work a little longer tomorrow.” You sat at the desk adjoining Sarah’s and set your things down.

“Take any desk. It’s just you and me out here. Charlie is the county IT girl and works out here sometimes, but she hops from building to building.”

“Well, I suppose this one is as good as any.” You unpacked a picture frame and a few supplies at the desk across from Sarah’s. “Hey, are there any places to buy furniture around here? I only moved with the bare essentials so I’m in desperate need of a few things.”

“So, what you’re saying is you need to go on a shopping spree? I’m in! I’ll drive.” Sarah grabbed her purse and coat and led you out the door.

She took you on a short tour of the staples around town before arriving at the only big box store nearby. You browsed up and down the aisles, pulling all the necessities off the shelf and tossing them in the cart. You’d have to order some of the bigger furniture pieces online since it was a small place, and they didn’t have anything like here.

Sarah had a basket and was creating a good-sized stockpile of her own. “Sam has been trying to put me on a budget for a while now, so I’ll have to hide this stuff before he sees.” A guilty smile pulled on the corners of her mouth.

“Just tell him you were shopping with an accountant and I approved all your purchases.”

“Hah! We’re going to be good friends.” She picked up a candle, smelled it, and placed it in her basket.

“Where does Sam work?” You asked as you looked through the bathroom towels.

“He’s the lawyer for Winchester Lumber, the sawmill in town. A lot of people work there actually, it’s kind of the main business that brings people in. Sam’s great grandpa started it and it’s stayed in the family. Sam’s older brother, Dean, runs the place right now, but I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to hand the throne over to their Dad when he gets back. He got cancer a few years ago and they moved to Kansas to be closer to medical treatment.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. How is he doing?”

“He’s doing really well, actually. He’s in remission and they’re hoping to move back soon.”

The rest of the afternoon was spent checking things off of your to-do list and grabbing dinner with Sarah. She dropped you off back at your truck and you thanked her for showing you around before you went your separate ways.

Back at home, it took you a few trips to unload your haul, but you were just happy to have a few more things to fill your empty home. Your first day had gone better than you could have imagined, and you were filled with confidence in your decision to uproot your life.

Sarah opened her front door and did her best to sneak her shopping bags past Sam and Dean who were sitting in the living room, sharing a pizza and some beers. She successfully stowed her treasures away in the hall closet and joined the boys.

“Hey hon!” She placed a kiss on Sam’s forehead before grabbing a slice of pizza and plopping down on the couch next to him.

“You’re in a good mood.” Sam noticed his girlfriend’s chipper energy.

“I made a new friend today.” She took a big bite and gave a smile.

“Don’t you already know everyone in town?” Dean’s voice sounded as pessimistic as usual.

“No, actually. There’s a new accountant at city hall, Y/N. She just moved in yesterday.”

“That’s great! You’ll have to invite her over sometime.” Sam placed his hand lovingly on Sarah’s knee. “Where’s she living?”

“She bought a cabin up in the mountains sight unseen, so we went shopping for some essentials. I think she might be kind of close to you, Dean.”

Dean frowned, trying to think of which cabin the new girl would have bought. He moved up there to be alone, so the thought of a neighbor was disheartening. “You mean that old shack just off of Placer Creek Road?”

“Yeah, I think that’s the one.”

“She’s got a lot of repair work to do on that place.” Dean shook his head, glad that it wasn’t him that put any kind of investment into what he was sure was a money pit.

You awoke early the next morning to find that it had snowed overnight. Growing up in Arizona, you had never really experienced snow like this before. Every breath you took felt like your lungs were filling with ice and you couldn’t help but cough, willing the warm weather to find you soon. Winter was one thing you didn’t think about when moving to a mountain town, so you wanted to give yourself plenty of time for the commute. After packing a few things for lunch, you stepped outside to find your truck buried in a mountain of frozen powder.

“Ugh!” You groaned and threw your head back, looking around for a stick to help you dig out your vehicle. You made a mental note to buy a scraper after work. Ten minutes and one soaked pair of shoes later, you had finally freed your car. You twisted the key, forcing the engine to sluggishly turned over, then blasted the heat on high while you ran inside to change into dry shoes and socks before taking off down the road.

The feeling of your back wheels slipping around on the frozen dirt road was so foreign to you, and you weren’t a fan. About two miles away from the main road, your engine began to sputter as it struggled to trudge ahead through the wet snow.

“Please don’t do this to me…” You steered towards the side of the road as much as you could while the truck wound down to a full stop. An annoyed sigh escaped from your lips. “Great.” You turned the car off and then back on, willing it to start up again, but the clicks of defeat that sounded from under the hood dashed your hopes.

You hadn’t had the time to buy a heavy winter coat yet, so you zipped up the light jacket that you had on and began walking. You didn’t want to make a bad impression on your second day of work by calling in sick, so you picked up your head and kept going. One of the points of starting your new journey was to be more self-reliant, and this definitely fell under that category. Ten minutes had passed, and your toes were so cold that you were sure they would snap off and rattle around in your shoes at any point now. The sound of an engine coming down the hill made you look over your shoulder to see a snowmobile barreling around the corner and straight towards you. You quickly side-stepped out of the way, but not enough to avoid the kickback of snow that was thrown into your face as the machine drove past.

“Seriously?!” You yelled as you shook the snow from your clothes. The snowmobile stopped and slowly backed up to meet you.

“What are you doing up here?” The man abruptly asked as he pulled off his helmet. If you weren’t so annoyed and cold, you might have thought he was attractive.

“Being buried alive by some maniac speeding down the mountain.” You retorted and brushed the snow from your hair with your fingers.

“I’m going to assume that’s your truck back there?”

“Lucky guess.” The wind-chill blew through your jacket and you crossed your arms. “I don’t think it likes the cold, and I don’t exactly blame it.”

His eyes assessed you. “Crappy shoes, thin jacket, and no gloves. I’m going to assume that makes you the clueless new girl.”

“What an ass...” You thought to yourself.

“I guess it does, Kowalski.”

“Kowalski? Really?”

You were surprised he got your reference to Clint Eastwood’s infamously crotchety main character.

“If you’ll excuse me, I gotta get to work.” You didn’t find much point in continuing on this conversation with such a smug jerk, so you continued on your path down the road and heard the snowmobile make a sharp u turn to climb back up the trail.

Ten more minutes later, you could see the main road just ahead of you had been plowed, and you were thankful that you wouldn’t have to be hiking through any more ankle-deep build-up. You could hear a vehicle slowly coming up behind you and you made sure to move as far over as you could to avoid being blasted with snow again. The truck slowed to a stop next to you and you looked over to see the same man from earlier rolling the passenger side window down.

“Get in, I’ll give you a ride.” His voice still sported an undertone of condescension and he rolled his eyes when a doubtful frown from you was sent towards him. “Just get in.”

Hundreds of episodes of Dateline should have taught you to not get in a car with some stranger, but you figured that even if he didn’t murder you, you’d end up dying of frostbite and decided to you’d rather die inside a warm truck. You opened the door and took off your damp jacket before getting inside.

The man’s knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel tight. You placed your hand by the heater on the dashboard in hopes of defrosting your fingers enough to feel them again.

“You shouldn’t drive a pickup in the winter.” His gaze stayed firmly glued on the road ahead.

“Uhm…” You dramatically looked around, “aren’t we in a pickup right now?”

“Yeah, a pickup with chains on the tires and a weighed down bed.”

“Well, I’m still pretty new at this whole snow thing…”

The man glanced at you from the corner of his eyes. “I couldn’t tell. You’re Y/N, aren’t you?”

“Should I be concerned that you know my name?” You raised an eyebrow.

“No, no,” he must have realized how creepy that came off, “I know Sarah. She’s dating my younger brother and she was telling us about you last night.”

“Oh, it all makes sense now. You’re the grumpy older brother. Dean, right?”

Another eyeroll made an appearance, but you could tell he wasn’t going to make any further comments.

“Well, I appreciate the ride. I’m sorry if I screwed up your morning routine.”

“It’s no big deal.”

It wasn’t hard to tell that Dean wasn’t a man of many words, and you were okay with that. You weren’t really one for small talk either. Dean’s eyes moved to your arm that was extended towards the vent blowing heat.

“That’s a gnarly bruise. How’d you manage that?”

You pulled your arm back quickly, hoping that your sudden move didn’t come across as suspicious. “Oh, you know, just being a clutz. They never tell you that moving by yourself is a dangerous game.” You chuckled casually while watching his eyebrows knit together ever so slightly as he glanced at the bruise one more time. No further remarks were made so you assumed he bought your story.

Dean pulled up in front of City Hall and stopped as close to the door as he could get. Before you could reach for the door handle, Dean instructed, “give me your keys.”

“What?” Your face twisted in confusion.

Yet another fed-up sigh escaped from his chest. “Bobby Singer down at the auto shop owes me a favor. I’ll get him to tow your truck down and take a look at it.”

“Oh.” you weren’t expecting such a generous gesture from such a grumpy guy. “I don’t want to put you out any more than I already have.”

“Hand it over.” The tone in his voice remained gruff, but the bluntness was slightly faded at this point. You reached into your pocket and pulled out your key ring, sliding the truck key off and placing it into Dean’s outstretched hand.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” Dean’s eyes avoided yours and you took the hint that it was time to leave.

The wind blew flurries in the air, forcing you to quickly sprint to the door, meaning that you missed Dean watching you with curiosity. Sarah, who was observing from the front desk, didn’t miss his wondering stare. He quickly averted his eyes when he saw her spying and peeled away.

“Kowalski.” He muttered to himself with a half-entertained chuckle once he was a few blocks away. Dean would have never admitted it, but he quite enjoyed the witty nickname.

Sarah couldn’t stop the mischievous smirk that crept up on her face and leaned on the counter to greet you the second you stepped through the door.

“You look like you’ve had quite the morning.” She greeted.

“Yeah, something like that.” You hung your jacket up on the coat rack in the corner to dry and stomped the packed snow from the tread of your shoes.

“Am I going blind or did Dean Winchester give you a ride to work?” She quickly cornered you.

“Yeah. My truck broke down and then he tried to bury me in snow, so he gave me a ride.” Goosebumps covered your arms as you made your way to your desk. You had never been more grateful for heat.

Sarah crossed her arms and sat on your desk as you took your seat. “You know, people call him the Grinch because he moved way up the mountain to be all broody and alone.”

“I can’t say I don’t understand it. It’s kinda fitting.” You logged into your computer, but Sarah continued to press for details.

“Well did he say anything on the ride over or did he just glare at the road?”

“A little bit of both I guess. He told me I shouldn’t be driving a truck in the winter, but that’s about it.”

Ellen arrived and cut the chatter short. “Hey girls. You ready to get started, Y/N?”

“You bet.” You stood from your desk, but not before Sarah pointed an accusing finger at you.

“This conversation is not over!” She warned.

After lunch, Ellen had given you some expense reports to review and organize. It was tedious, but you didn’t mind the slow afternoon after a crazy morning. Sarah was helping you to punch holes in the stacks of papers and organize them into departments while the two of you chatted away. The snow had kept most people inside, so it was a slow day at the front desk. Just before it was time to call it a day, the bell of the front door dinged, and Sarah walked over to see who it was.

“Hey, Dean. You going over to Benny’s tonight?” She greeted.

“Not sure yet.”

Dean’s hands were shoved into his front pockets as he stared Sarah down, not wanting to give her any more room to speculate as to why he was here.

“Hi.” You smiled softly, trying your hardest ignore Sarah’s curious stare as you joined in the conversation.

He pulled a key from his pocket and set it down on the counter. “She’s all fixed up. Battery terminals were corroded so I cleaned them up a bit, but you’re going to need a new battery soon. That one doesn’t have much juice left in it.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize that you worked at the auto shop.” You remembered Sarah saying something about Dean working at the sawmill.

“No, I used to. But I figured it would be an easy fix, so I took a look myself. I stuck some old grates in the bed for some weight. Take it into Bobby’s tomorrow after work and he’ll take care of the rest. He knows you’re coming.”

“Wow, I really owe you one. Thank you.” You slid the key from off the counter and fiddled with the metal ring.

“Don’t read into it.” Dean tapped his fist on the counter twice before swiftly leaving.

Sarah was biting her lip, and you slowly turned your head towards her. “Spit it out.” You gave permission for her onslaught of questions.

“You didn’t tell me he was going to fix your car for you!”

“He said he would have Bobby tow it back to the shop and take a look at it. I didn’t know he was going to fix it himself.”

“I’ve known Dean for a long time, he’s pretty much my older brother at this point, so I can see past all the grumpiness. He’s a really good guy, he’s just been dealt a hard hand the past few years that made him swear off people.”

That was a feeling you could easily relate to. “He really went out of his way to bail me out today, so he can’t be all that bad.”

“He’s all bark and no bite. Granted, it’s a big bark.” Sarah checked her watch. “Closing time! Hey, would you want to come back to my place after we clock out? Sam’s playing poker at a buddy’s house tonight so I figured maybe we could grab some take out and find some furniture for you online?”

“Yeah, that’d be great actually! It definitely beats the PB and J I would be making otherwise.”

After work, you ran home to change and Sarah stopped for some Chinese food, then the two of you met at her apartment.

Some crappy TV movie played in the background while mostly empty take-out containers littered the kitchen counter. You were sitting on the floor with your laptop on the coffee table, browsing through loveseats while Sarah lay on the couch behind you giving her input.

The door gently swung open and the man you assumed to be Sam walked through. Sarah stood up and stretched before giving her boyfriend a hug.

“How was the poker game?”

Sam tossed his keys on the counter and pulled off his jacket. “About the same as always. Benny won most of the games, Cas still has no clue what he’s doing, and I lost a little too much pride.”

“You’ll get them one of these days. Come on,” she tugged on his shirt sleeve, “I want you to meet Y/N.”

You stood when Sam and Sarah walked into the room. “Y/N, this is Sam.”

“Ah, the infamous Y/N, I’ve heard lots about you the past day or so. It’s nice to put a face with the name.” He shook your hand. “How are you settling in?”

“Honestly, the move has been a lot easier than I thought it would be. Everyone here has been super welcoming and helpful.”

“Including Dean.” Sarah gave a knowing look to her boyfriend, who was clearly confused.

“My brother, Dean?”

“The one and only. He gave Y/N a ride to work and fixed her truck up for her.”

Sam’s face read skeptical. “My brother, Dean?” He repeated.

“I found myself knee deep in snow and car problems this morning. I’m sure he helped me out of pity more than anything.” You tried to explain, not wanting to make a big deal of the situation.

Sam rubbed the back of his neck. “Wow. I guess that’s why he was late to work today. Well, I hope he didn’t scare you off too much.”

You shook your head with a smile. “Not at all, he really helped me out. But I have to admit, I feel bad. He would barely acknowledge my thank yous. I don’t want to come across as ungrateful.”

“Yeah, that sounds like him. Don’t worry about it. I’m sure he heard you loud and clear, he’s just hasn’t been properly socialized yet.”

Sam finished off the rest of the Chinese and got to know you a little better while Sarah sat next to you on the floor, scrolling through furniture.

“Where’d you go to school, Y/N?” Sam stacked the empty red food containers together and set them aside as he pulled his feet up on the couch.

“University of Arizona. I didn’t originally plan on staying so close to home, but a full ride soccer scholarship is hard to turn down.”

“No way! That’s awesome.” Sam’s face lit up with an idea. “Oh! Every summer we do this obstacle course race thing here in town as part of the summer festival. Maybe you can be on our team this year?”

“That sounds super fun! Count me in.”

“Yes!”’ Sam made a fist in the air. “We’ve used to win every year, but we’ve come in second the past three times, so maybe you’ll be our secret weapon.”

Sarah joined the conversation once she’d had her fill of online shopping. “I was thinking, Y/N, I don’t know if you’re much of a baker, but if you wanted to say thank you to Dean, he’s a sucker for a good pie. I know he wouldn’t just brush that off.”

“It’s true. He’s a pie whore.” Sam nodded.

“Sam!” Sarah scolded.

“Noted,” you said through your laughs.

The clock in the corner of your laptop screen caught your eye and you realized how late it was getting. “I should probably start heading home before I hate myself tomorrow at work.”

“At least it’s not supposed to snow tonight.” Sarah teased.

“Wow, it’s going to be like that, huh?! It’s a learning curve, okay?” You stuck your tongue out as you gathered your things.

Sam stopped you after Sarah had said goodbye. “Hey, Y/N, I know Dean doesn’t make the greatest first impression, but do me a favor and don’t write him off just yet. He’s had a rough go the past little while and could always use another friend in his corner.”

“I won’t. I’m sure there’s a great guy buried under all that angst.” You gave a reassuring smile and Sam gave you a hug before you left.

The next day was Friday and between training and helping out with the front desk, the workday flew by. You needed to take your truck in to get the battery switched and Sarah had agreed to give you rides while you were without transportation. After work, you dropped off your truck at Bobby’s, and Sarah took you home. You were glad for a little time to yourself so you could clean up the house before the first delivery of furniture tomorrow morning.

On your lunch break earlier that day, you had gotten all the ingredients to make blueberry pie bars as a thank you for Dean. Time was in short supply, so you hoped these would be a suitable place holder in lieu of a regular pie. You quickly threw them together and loaded up a plate once they were cool enough. Baking had always been a stress reliever for you, and the way it filled your small cabin with warmth and sweet smells felt so cozy and charming.

Dean’s place was only a ten-minute walk from yours, so you bundled up and began your hike. You had finally gotten yourself a suitable coat and boots and couldn’t believe the difference they made as you crunched through the snow that was matted on the gravel road. His cabin was much newer than yours, and considerably nicer. A long staircase on the right side of the house led up to a wide porch. Smoke spilling from the chimney and lights beaming through the windows told you he was probably home, so you knocked on the door.

Clattering of locks being undone broke through the silence a few moments later and an expressionless Dean opened the door.

“Hi,” you began, “I just wanted to say thank you for helping me out so much the other day.” Dean stood silent and stone-faced, so you awkwardly continued. “I, uh, heard you were a big fan of pie, but I didn’t have enough time to make one from scratch, so I hope these will do.” You extended the plate of goodies and he looked at them doubtfully.

“Look,” a gravelly voice ended his vow of silence, “I don’t know what you’ve heard about me, but I’m not looking for any new friends or whatever this is.” He began to shut his door when you interjected.

“Listen, this is nothing more than a simple thank you for bailing me out when I really needed it. I’m not going to force you to eat them, but I’m also not going to take them home with me. Maybe just wait until I’m gone before you throw them away though.” You set the plate on a neatly stacked pile of firewood off to the side of the door. “Don’t read into it.” You echoed his parting words from yesterday and took your leave. A sneaky glance over your shoulder as you walked away revealed that Dean had picked up the plate and was looking at it with a half-impressed nod. You assumed that was as much of a reaction as you’d get from him and marked the trip to be successful.

Chapter 2

#dean winchester #dean x reader #dean winchester x reader #dean x y/n #dean x you #dean winchester fic #dean fic #dean fanfiction #dean winchester fanfiction #supernatural #spn fanfiction #spn fic #supernatural fanfic series

[gamer-logic]

Since my state, Georgia, is having the annual Peaches to Beaches event which is two days of statewide yard sales, I thought it would be interesting to show how America, the states, and any other countries wanting to participate both 1p and 2p would be during this event. So here you go!

Georgia is happily selling fresh produce like boiled peanuts and Vidalia onions and peach-based deserts. Her homemade peach cobbler and ice cream are to die for!

Antonio (Spain) also sells many fresh tomatoes, olives, and other vegetables. He doesn't understand why no one wants his Olive Juice though.

Hawaii and Alaska make a killing selling lemonade at their stand with a free complimentary handmade flower crown with every purchase. While using their sheer cuteness to attract everyone including one of those sweet biker gangs. It's really surreal to see a huge gang of buff, tattooed, tough-looking guys in leather wearing flower crowns and drinking lemonade. Allen's also there to supervise and ward of creep. Also, to provide people more 'incentive' to buy their lemonade.

Texas breaks out the Texas BBQ and is in a Barbecuing turf war with Jett (Australia). They draw huge crowds for the five-alarm chili as well and hold a competition who can eat the most without burning out their tongues and/or passing out.

Florida sells some of the weirdest stuff you'll ever see. "Want a full-scale model of a gator made entirely out of bottle caps? Only ten bucks! Want a portrait of Florida Man painted with orange juice? 15 bucks!"

Nevada also tries to sell weird and sketchy stuff to scam everyone. "This piece is the genuine article folks! One napkin gently used by Elvis Presley himself! Just 500 bucks! Also, gets into a haggling war with Lars (Netherlands). Somewhere Alfred's dad instincts go off and he reminds himself to ground Nevada.

California, Oregon, and Washington collaborate and California sells anything vegan or made with avocadoes and the autographs of Hollywood stars, Oregon sells his old tye-dyed shirts and records, they also made him sell his old groovy hippy bus from the sixties he'd never got rid of no one knew they had. Oregon can be a bit of a hoarder, so they had to tie him to a chair and gag him because he wouldn't surrender the bus without a fight. Washington also tries to sell and drink cups of coffee, but in the hot Southern heat, this doesn't end well.

Louisiana sells anything Cajun-style from frog legs to fresh gumbo, to beignets. Also has a full collection of Mardi Gras masks and shrunken voodoo heads on sale for two bucks a pop.

Gilbert (Prussia) gets tricked by Nevada and gets a ton of stupid things he doesn't need. Ludwig (Germany) tries unsuccessfully to keep him on a metaphorical leash.

Ludwig always checks the quality of things he sees and buys dog toys and supplies for Blackie, Berlitz, and Astor. Later, he actually buys a kiddie leash for Gilbert.

All the while Lutz (2p! Germany) is asleep in a lawn chair with his hat on his face after drinking like six cold beers from this really good booth. All the while, Klaus (2p! Prussia) finds an antique Teutonic Knights flag from a vendor whose family was from Germany.

Vash (Switzerland) buys antique guns from Alabama and Roderich (Austria) also checks out some of Tennessee's guitars. He's horrified upon seeing Alabama's banjo and washboard.

Mathew (Canada) and Emma (Belgium) combine their powers and tag team to sell the best pancakes and waffles on earth with genuine Canadian maple syrup.

New York sells tons of baseball memorabilia and collectibles. Allen, trying to save his bad-boy image, tries to be discreet when buying some while taking Hawaii and Alaska around to get something with their lemonade money. James also gets some hockey memorabilia with Michigan and Minnesota who also got snow cones.

Alaska and Hawaii see a giant deluxe dollhouse but are almost in tears when they don't have enough money. But they end up getting it for free because no one can resist their weaponized puppy dog eyes. Also, no one can resist a growling Allen. Using the leftover money, they buy cute little rainbow umbrella hats for everyone and have Allen wear one who begrudgingly accepts it.

James, walking by with an armful hockey gear and flannel shirts, bursts out laughing when he sees this. In revenge, Allen forces him to wear one too and help him carry the dollhouse, much to Hawaii and Alaska's delight! "I said go my way puck head!" "No, it's my way, you vegan loving hoser!" A passing Francis (France)' is in stylish horror when they also make him and a nonchalant Luis (2p! France), holding a case of vintage wines, wear them too. Hawaii and Alaska go around giving umbrella hats to everyone including a sleeping Lutz they pass by.

Loving (Romano) practically has to supervise Feliciano (Italy) and keep him from buying anything too stupid on impulse or get scammed. They still end up with stacks upon stacks of cookbooks, kitchen wear, and a Mona Lisa made entirely out of Macaroni. They also get umbrella hats.

Flavio (2p! Romano) browses through clothing racks to get ideas for his vintage line. Also checks out the handmade fabrics like quilts. "Such craftsmanship! This pattern is so unique and chic! I simply must have it! What's your price Bella?" The nice old woman selling the quilt just smiles, "Oh just about five dollars young man." "Perfect!" Flavio hands the quilts off to Andreas (2p! Spain) who's practically buried underneath the fabric. Luciano (2p! Italy) facepalms while holding a new knife set in its case. "Oooh! Look at those adorable hats I just have to have one." Cue three more umbrella hats and a humiliated Luciano. "Just kill me now..."

Katyusha (Ukraine), Elizaveta (Hungary), Lillie (Liechtenstein), Natalya, (Belarus), Katya( 2p! Ukraine) and Anastasia (2p! Belarus), and Michelle (Seychelles) explore with armfuls of clothes, new ribbons, and a gun case for Switzerland (Lillie), cast iron frying pans (Elizaveta, watch out Prussia!), farm tools (Katyusha), Jewelry and unmentionables (Katya), dresses (Anastasia), an assortment of switchblades (Natalya), and one of those singing fish on a plague (Michelle). It's definitely an interesting group.

Kiku (Japan) and Kuro (2p! Japan) find a nerd booth selling comics, manga, and Japanese weapons like katanas. Kuro test swings a blade and tries to slice the table so hard it breaks the blade, "Hmmm, not sharp enough for me, got anything else?" He throws it on the pile of broken blades he's already tested. Kiku stockpiles on limited-edition manga and he and the vendor end up getting into a huge, heated by Kiku standards, debate on who's waifu is best. Further down, Alfred reads every Marvel/DC comic while keeping an ear out on every state's location. He checks on Texas via his glasses and notices he's beating Australia in the chili contest. "That's my boy!"

Wisconsin wearing a cheese head sells anything cheese-based. He's got cheddar, goat cheese, string cheese, cheese spray, gorgonzola, grilled cheese, cheese curds, Mac n' Cheese, cheese sculptures of all world monuments, you name it he's got it! He also starts a war with Iowa's corn dishes and Idaho's potato dishes. They eventually end up flinging cheese, potatoes, and corn after they start dissing each other's foods. "Take this cheese brain!" "Nice aim, I-da-ho!" "I told you not to call me that!" "I'm gonna go children of the corn on y'all's behinds!" Poor Nebraska is stuck in the middle.

Alfred (America) hears the commotion and using his parent radar, immediately knows who it is and reminds himself to ground Iowa, Wisconsin, and Idaho later along with Nevada who, though still grounded for sure, makes him feel a little proud of since he managed to out haggle Netherlands.

New Mexico and Arizona also sell Native American handicrafts along with things like dreamcatchers and giant inflatable aliens. While Delaware, being the boring stick in the mud that he is, walks by with a framed and complete U.S. quarter collection from a vendor.

Kansas sells out of every sunflower she had courtesy of Ivan (Russia). Ivan and her the team up to buy out every sunflower seed from here to kingdom come. Viktor (2p! Russia) buys all the vodka he can find and a new shovel while Xiao (2p! China) tries giving people tattoos for 10 bucks a pop.

He tries to convince Yao (China) to get a hello kitty one to match the giant plushie he's holding, with the encouragement of Leon (Hong Kong) and Yong Soo (South Korea) who all collectively agree he needs to quit being such a grandpa. They also like calling him an antique-like the items on sale. " Aiyah! I'm not that old, aru!" "Yeah, you are Sensei." "Don't deny it! Da Ze!" Respect your elders!" "Tattoos originated in Korea da ze!" He totally is that old.

Oliver (2p! England) holds a bake sale and has people lined up for blocks to get some. Arthur (England), after having his scones shut down after it poisoned some unlucky squirrels, fries selling authentic magical items like unicorn hair or pixie dust. Everyone thinks he's a little crazy but he did sell a good bit of old magic books he needed to get out of his house, after making sure no one could actually use them of course.

The Nordics also went perusing for antique and handmade furniture when Mathias (Denmark) spots two full sets of Viking costumes and tries to get Lukas (Norway) to try them on with him. Lukas wasn't amused.

Berwald (Sweden) and Tino (Finland) also find a great handmade table to get after inspecting the workmanship and a full Lego set for Peter (Sealand), now if only Mathias would stop squealing like a little kid at the full piece lego death star. Emil (Iceland) keeps thinking he's the mature one until he spots a mini top hat and cane for Mr. Puffin.

In the end, everyone ends up wearing umbrella hats courtesy of Hawaii and Alaska, loving all the strange things they bought or counting the profits they made. Alfred (America) is proud of his kids and visits everyone one of their stands. He ends up looking pretty funny with an umbrella hat (HW, AK), a washboard, (AL),a picture of Florida Man, (FL), a balloon alien (NM, AZ), a tye dye shirt (CA, WA, OR), hockey stick shaped glasses (MN, MI), a giant stack of comics with a replica Thor hammer and Captain America shield on his back, all in a shopping cart (NV), and a giant turkey leg in his hand (Tx). Unsurprisingly, it was a tie between Oliver, Texas, and Australia for who earned the most with their food. Georgia just smiled as this was another great year for her state and people!

#Hetalia #2p hetalia #hetalia headcannons #hetalia states #hws states #aph america #aph england #aph france #aph italy #aph russia #aph nordics #aph prussia #aph switzerland #aph romano #aph germany #aph liechtenstein #aph austria #aph nethlands #aph canada #aph china #aph japan #aph south korea #aph ukraine #aph belarus #aph hungary #aph australia #aph belgium #aph hong kong #aph spain #aph georgia

[zaptap]

i should really be making a post about this so here we go

my problem right now is i really need to move out but have absolutely no idea how to go about doing it, i have no self-confidence and i haven’t talked to most of my irl friends in a really really long time so i don’t have anyone i could be roommates with.

also i’m terrible at getting myself out of bed since i always feel the most depressed when i first wake up so my mom pretty much has to make sure i get up every day (we’ve had the moving out conversation before and she doesn’t think i’m ready because of stuff like this). how the hell do i hold a job without having to depend on someone for that. why do i have to depend on her for that why can’t i just do it myself. though having roommates you can depend on for certain things (probably not that) is unavoidable, since for one thing if i get a Bad Migraine i potentially can’t even call in to work because i often can’t speak coherently (my brain knows what to say but can’t get my mouth to form the right sounds, it’s freaky). my mom had to call in for me last october and i’d imagine if i had a roommate i’d need someone i can rely on to do that for me

so i’ve been ignoring this moving out thing for a while (since it’s very stressful so my instinct is to just ignore it! hey!), and i’ve also known for a while that my mom and stepdad really want to move to idaho (because it’s “too liberal” in oregon or whatever) but lately they’ve gotten more serious about it and they’re talking to real estate people and it seems like it’s going to actually happen sometime mid/late this year maybe???

and so i’m trans and i probably want to transition? but since i want to move out of this conservative mormon household anyway i’ve always viewed that as the first step since my mom has too much power over my life for me to be comfortable coming out to her first (not that i’d have to come out right away, but since i want to move out anyway, i might as well focus on that first. if i got on hrt it would just create a ticking clock situation anyway). and if i end up getting dragged off to idaho that’s just going to make things harder because it’s more conservative over there (they want to go there for the exact reason i don’t)

currently only in contact with one irl friend, she’s also trans (she came out and started transitioning a few years ago, i came out to her a while back but we’ve only texted a little since then). she got married like a year ago and lives with her spouse, idk if she’d be able to help, and if i’d kept up the conversation when i asked for moving out advice almost a year ago (as i implied earlier i am really good at distracting myself from things that stress me out) but i did text her recently and she wants to hang out sometime so if we can manage that (we work on each other’s days off lmao) maybe she’ll be able to help me idk. i also have another friend i haven’t talked to since 2015 who might be still around so i could give him a try

honestly when i write it out it doesn’t sound as hopeless i guess. but it still really stresses me out. the other thing is i’d really like to find a different job than this cashier one i’ve had for almost 5 years, for one thing i think i’d like something a bit less public facing if i were to start transitioning (just having to be around coworkers would probably be easier to handle than having to be around coworkers plus interacting with hundreds of strangers, idk), for another thing retail sucks ass and i want out. between my dad’s and stepdad’s deaths alone i have enough in savings to last a bit without a job probably, but then there’s insurance? my job gives me pretty good insurance (afaik?) currently and i only work 3 days a week to get it. thanks union

i think i have a certificate in multimedia right now, seems like that’s something they retroactively gave me since they emailed me that i’d earned it long after i took the classes necessary for it. i put college on hold when covid started since i’ve had trouble keeping up with online classes, i only need like 7 more for the full degree but they’re just about all ones i’ve had trouble with and dropped in the past so uhhhhh. also i failed the past few classes i took (one because i thought i withdrew from it but it apparently didn’t go through, one because the teacher literally didn’t grade any of my work and didn’t answer my email about it, and one because i overthought the first assignment that all the other assignments build upon and didn’t finish that one in time to catch up with everything) so now i have to meet with an advisor before i can sign up for more classes lol

but with multimedia jobs apparently your portfolio is more important so i could get by without the degree potentially. except i don’t have too much in my portfolio since i’ve spent a lot of years too depressed to make anything and now it’s all way out of habit. there’s a variety of stuff i’ve had experience doing though. photoshop, pixel art, vector art, some video editing, a little bit of animation, some 3d modeling, probably more things i can’t think of now (also i bought ableton since their online music creation tutorial thing was super fun and i wanted to try that out more, but i haven’t gotten around to it). i should just start messing around in those programs and build a portfolio that way i guess. that’s probably the most important thing for me to be doing right now. though that’s also something i’ve known for a while and don’t do anything about. lmao

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

August 13, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

Yesterday, the Census Bureau released information about the 2020 census, designed to enable states to start the process of drawing new lines for their congressional districts, a process known as redistricting.

Because of that very limited intent for this particular information dump, the picture the material gives is a very specific one. The specificity of that information echoes the political history that in the 1920s began to skew our Congress to give rural white voters disproportionate power. It also reinforces a vision of America divided by race: precisely the vision that former president Trump and his supporters want Americans to believe.

The U.S. Constitution requires that the government count the number of people in the country every ten years so that lawmakers can divide up the representation in Congress, which is apportioned according to population in the House of Representatives. (The Senate is by state: each state gets two senators.)

This matters not just for the relative weight of voices in lawmaking in the House, but also because of our Electoral College. The Electoral College is how we elect the U.S. president. Each state gets the number of electors that is equal to the number of senators and representatives combined. So, if your state has 10 representatives and 2 senators, it would have 12 presidential electors.

Censuses are never 100% accurate. It’s hard to count people, especially if they don’t want to be counted. Censuses also are inherently political, since a corrupt president will not want an accurate count: they will want areas that support their party to be overcounted, while areas that support the opposite party to be undercounted.

The 1890 census is a famous example of both of these problems. Indigenous Americans who were eager to avoid the observance of the federal government out of concern for their lives moved around to avoid being counted. The process itself was notoriously corrupt because in 1889 and 1890, the Republican Party had forced the admission of six new western states—North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming—that supported the Republicans, and had insisted that the new census would show enough people there to warrant statehood. So they were eager to find lots and lots of people in those new states but very few in the populous territories of Arizona and New Mexico, which they knew would vote Democratic. (I would love to write a whole post about the 1890 census, but I will spare you.)

Today, because of the pandemic, the results of the 2020 census have been delayed, and states are already behind in their schedules to redistrict for the upcoming 2022 election. (I know, I know, but it really is right over the horizon. Some states are already thinking about moving their primary elections because there’s not enough time to redistrict before them.) So yesterday, the Census Bureau released the information states need to begin that process. It released its record of the number of people living in each state and U.S. territory.

But in addition to needing to know the actual numbers of the count, state lawmakers need to know the racial makeup of their states, since there are federal rules about making sure minority votes aren’t silenced in redistricting by, for example, splitting a minority vote into small enough groups among districts that minorities essentially don’t have a voice (this is called “cracking”), or concentrating members of one group into a single district, so they are underrepresented at the state level (this is called “packing”).

So the material that came out yesterday was not the entire information from the census; it was just the material states need for redistricting.

It shows how many people there are living in America today. Population shifts mean that Montana, Oregon, Colorado, North Carolina, and Florida all picked up a seat, while Texas picked up two. Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, California, and West Virginia all lost one. Within those states, cities have grown and rural counties have lost people. For the first time in our history, all ten of the country’s largest cities now have more than a million people in them.

The material released yesterday also shows the nation’s racial makeup. That information is confusing, as all self-identification on a form can be. It says that America’s white population has dropped significantly since 2010. According to the census, people who identify as white now make up 58% of the population while just ten years ago they made up 64%. But the census also shows that people who self-identify as a mixture of races has skyrocketed, climbing from 9 million in 2010 to 33.8 million in 2020. It seems likely that some of the drop in self-identification as white is due to people identifying themselves differently than they have in the past.

Urbanization and multiculturalism are not new to our history, and their appearance in the census led lawmakers to create an imbalance in our government in the 1920s. The Constitution says that a state can’t have a representative for fewer than 30,000 people, but it doesn’t say anything about an upper limit of constituents represented by a single representative. In 1912, when the country had 92 million people, the House had grown to 435 members.

But the 1920 census showed that more Americans lived in cities than in the country, at the same time that white Americans were all tied up in knots that those new urban dwellers were Black Americans and immigrants from southern and central Europe and Asia. Aware that continuing to allow more representatives for these growing numbers of Americans meant that the weight of representation would move away from rural white Americans and toward immigrants in cities, lawmakers refused to continue increasing the number of seats in the House. (They also passed the 1924 Immigration Act, which set quotas on how many people from each country could come to America.)

In 1929, lawmakers froze the number of representatives at 435 voting members of the House. While this number would bounce around as new states came in, for example, it has once again settled as the number of voting representatives today, when our population is 331 million.

That cap means that the size of the average congressional district is now 711,000 people, a number that is far higher than the framers intended and that favors smaller, more rural, whiter states in the House of Representatives. It also favors those states in the Electoral College, where they have more weight proportionately than they would if the House had continued to grow.

By identifying everyone by race—as it needed to, for redistricting purposes—yesterday’s census material also engages what sociologist Karen E. Fields and historian Barbara J. Fields have called “racecraft,” which, by artificially dividing people along racial lines, reinforces the idea of race as the most important thing in society. Yesterday’s material does not mention, for example, income or wealth, which are not explicitly factored in when redistricting but which the last census material released on that topic suggested are at least as divisive as race.

The idea that race is paramount is, of course, the theory that the right wing would like Americans to believe, and the idea that white Americans are being “replaced” by people of color and Black Americans falls right into the right-wing argument that minorities are “replacing” white Americans.

For a century now, the machinery of redistricting has favored rural whites. With the 2020 census information reinforcing the idea that white, rural Americans are under siege, it seems unlikely that lawmakers in Republican states will want to rebalance the system.

But it seems equally unlikely that an increasingly urbanizing, multicultural nation will continue to accept being governed by an ever-smaller white, rural minority.

—-

Notes:

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/12/redistricting-census-data-503994

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/08/10/census-race-population-changes-redistricting/

https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/diversity-inclusion/567360-white-population-declines-for-first-time-in-us

https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/55/why-435/

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/12/politics/us-census-2020-data/index.html

​​https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/coloring-outside-the-lines/

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#census #redistricting #Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richardson #political #electoral college

[panlight]

is it wrong of me to prefer the outcome of alice’s bison in BD2 rather than what we got? we would of lost characters we loved but i feel like it would leave an impact. also! what would happen from the volturi’s deaths? all core members were killed. would there even be a volturi anymore? would there be a war against vampires who are in favor of the volturi versus vampires who are against the idea? if there’s no volturi to punish you for exposing vampires would they make their existence known? so many thoughts lol.

I agree--for the first time there were REAL consequences for the heroes. Throughout the books nothing bad really happens to anyone Bella cares about, at least nothing permanent. Jacob is hurt in Eclipse but he heals quickly and is better. Bella’s devastated by Edward’s departure but they come back. The pregnancy is terrible and the birth even worse, but Bella and Renesmee survive. She doesn’t have to give up Charlie or Jacob in the end, etc. Sure, people die, but they’re people like Bree and Riley and tourists in Volterra and strangers in Oregon and Idaho that the witnesses eat, and Irina, no one that Bella, and thus the reader, really knows or cares about. 

But hoo boy, that Breaking Dawn vision totally upends ALL of that. These are permanent, devastating losses that can’t be undone (I mean maybe some of the vampires can be put back together if they weren’t burned, but Carlisle is definitely gone, and so are Leah and Seth). Bella and Edward were intended to be killed right after the killed Aro. And maybe we’d have gotten some resolution to the souls issue somehow--did Alice have a ‘vision’ of where her loved ones did or did not “go” after they died? Did Edward see something in Carlisle’s mind as he died that gave some insight (before he himself died so I guess he couldn’t have told anyone)?

If the vision actually happened we’d be in a WHOLE different, much grittier series. Sue Clearwater lost her husband and BOTH OF HER CHILDREN in the space of a year!!!! The Cullens lost their leader and Esme lost her husband and half her family but since Leah sacrificed her life for Esme’s she has to carry on and try to keep what remains of the family together--Alice, Rosalie, Emmett and Renesmee. Nessie lost both her parents and if she’s anything like either of them will blame herself for everything that happened. 

And the Volturi! The only main one from the movieverse left is Felix, right? He doesn’t strike me as someone who really wants to rule. I guess Chelsea might still be around, Renata (with her shield she’s probably most likely to survive unless Bella took her out). The wives, maybe? Do they try to regroup? Amun and the Romanians are still alive so we’ve got them vying for power and trying to replace the fractured Volturi. There could be this epic vampire power struggle going on, and the Romanians at least don’t care about keeping vampires hidden so the whole world might know vampires exist if they win. And Maria’s still out there somewhere. . . 

It would be a much much different story but certainly an interesting one. 

#asks #tw character death

[chaos-writes]

The Lost Boys: Road Trip

Based on one of the most vivid dreams I've ever had. Word count: 2,255. Implied romance with the boys and Star. Tw: none.

“I’ve always wanted to travel and go sight-seeing without any real objective, like moving,” said Lucy, in a dream-like tone. I chimed in, “I’ve had a cross-country road trip planned out for quite a while, but I’ve never had anyone to do it with.” “Oh really?” Lucy asked, “Where to?” “Well, it’ll be a round trip with touring both going and coming back. I'm hoping to go through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, then we’ll go north, through Ohio, and Michigan, then come back home through Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, then through the top of California all the way back home.” “Oh my goodness! That sounds like a dream, but also a lot of gas money,” Lucy exclaimed. We laughed.

 

“It really would be, but I have the money saved up in a debit account, so hopefully it'll cover it. There’s also hotels, toll bridges, food, water, all that fun stuff,” I giggled. “But it would be worth it, I have tons of film for my instax camera, and a couple journals to write down my experiences.”

I gestured to her, “I have a couple extras for people that want to tag along,” Lucy smiled but quickly frowned, “Oh, I would love to go, I really would, but I have to work and look after the boys and their grandfather,” she mused. I chimed in, “It doesn't just have to be you, you know, I’ve got quite a few people in mind who could benefit from traveling.” “Well, I'll have to check with my boys and my boss. I’ll let you know if I can or can’t as soon as possible,” lucy said, with a look of disappointment in her eyes. I nodded in understanding and smiled, “Well, whenever you do let me know, I wouldn’t be upset if it was a no. I would be sure to share every detail with you, though.” “Oh, thank you for understanding, it means a lot to me!” “No problem. Well, I guess I'll be on my way then,” I said as I opened the front door.

We said our goodbyes and I headed out on my motorcycle to go and see the boys. It’s getting dark enough out where they should be slowly getting up by now. I wonder if Laddie and Star are there, too. They usually are, but sometimes they’re out and about, since they can handle sunlight a bit better than the rest. I park my bike and I can hear distant yawning and mumbling from where I'm standing at the cave entrance. They all start to float out and stretch one by one, Dwayne being first, Marko being second, David being third, and Paul being last. Of course Paul is last, he’s the heaviest sleeper. This road trip would be nothing to him, if they all agreed, that is. I just have to do some convincing.

Marko slipped his jacket and boots on, and the rest followed suit. They’re all quiet when they first wake, that’s why I don't ‘show up’ until I start hearing conversation and laughing. However, I’ve got to wait for the perfect time to come in, when they’ve been talking for a while and can actually think. “I wonder what Michael’s been doin’” I hear Paul say. “I don’t know Paul,” David sighed. “Maybe he’s been avoiding us…” He paused for a minute, then said, “Anyone hungry yet?” a wave of “not me’s” and “mm-mm’s” spread across the cave. I hear Dwayne grab a torch, light it, and begin lighting the cans all around the cave. The -now illuminated- boys begin bantering about who they should target next and what they plan to do for the day- well, night.

As a result, I put on my big-kid pants and stepped into the cave. They all turned to me, Marko exclaimed, “Hey! There you are!” “Hey guys,” I said, waving. Laddie ran up to me and hugged me from the side. I patted his back and ruffled his hair. Star smiled at me as she greeted me with a wave. I smiled back. Marko and Paul ran to me and squished me in their arms.

“I have something to share with you guys. An idea, really,” I said. All the boys looked at me in curiosity until David spoke up, “Well, what is this… idea of yours?” I beamed at all of them and said, “You all know how much I like going on adventures…” they looked even more puzzled now. “So, how about I take everyone on a really big adventure? A road trip!” They looked contemplative, as if they were considering going or not. “I could go alone…” Paul's and Marko's eyes widened, “But I much prefer having company with me, especially on trips like these.” Dwayne piped up, “So... where would we be going?” I smiled and pulled out a map, “How about I show you guys?”

The boys, Laddie, and Star crowd around behind me as I point around a U.S. map and explain where we’re going and what I'm planning on doing. I point all over the map and across the northern states. "We can add on a couple more destinations if you'd like… this is just more of the baseline plan." "Are we going to any big cities?" Marko asked. "Hell yea! And we're gonna go touring at night and see all the pretty lights and stuff. It'll be so fun!" "I'm down!" Paul says. "Me too!" Dwayne chimed in. "I wanna go!" Laddie exclaimed. Star smiled, and turned to David. The rest of us followed suit. This… is it.

I smiled at David and asked, "So, leader of the pack, are you in?" He paused. We cautiously awaited his answer. Laddie's eyes met David’s as he silently pleaded to go. David finally broke, smiled, and said, "alright. When are we leaving?" The cave uproared in a fit of whooping and hollering, mainly thanks to Marko and Paul, and Star picked Laddie up and twirled him around. "You won't regret this!" I said to David over the noise. "Well, I'm actually looking forward to it." He said. 

We left to go grab a bite to eat, the boys did their thing and I took Laddie and Star to a little Italian place on the boardwalk to eat. I told the boys to meet us there when they were done. “You sure about all this?” Star asked. “Absolutely! I like having an adventure crew. I'll admit though, it's gonna be a little different with a youngin' on board,” I laughed.

After a while, Lucy finally agreed to go with our party and told her boys to look after one another. We all packed our clothes and bought some more for the boys. They needed clothes that were fit for the amount of walking. I also couldn’t let anyone see my boys in blood-stained clothes in public, we’ll look like we got in some freak accident. I rode my motorcycle and directed the boys to my place, where we have a big Volkswagen bus parked out front, fit for a party of eight. Lucy is already there after a phone call telling us she would meet us at my place. We packed our bags into the trunk, all 4 boys could fit their bags into one suitcase with vacuum seal bags, Star and Laddie share a backpack, Lucy has her own suitcase and I have my own backpack. There's a box of toiletries for us all, except for Lucy, who decided on keeping everything of hers separate from the others, which is fair enough. 

It was 9pm, and we made sure everyone went to the bathroom and was all taken care of before we took off. The first drive is twelve-and-a-half hours, from Santa Carla to Salt Lake City, Utah. We toured the entire city on foot for a few hours, and decided on the next driver to take us to our next destination. Before we left Salt Lake, I put all the pictures I took into a scrapbook and wrote down the notes of what happened that day. “Hey, guys? If you want a journal to write anything down about the trip, I have a few extras here! And we can go over everyone’s journals and keep them in a safe space after the trip!” I said, as we all piled into the bus. David, sitting in the same row as me, turned to me and said, “I’d like to document what i’m experiencing. It’s a good idea, considering we’ve got a lot of…time left” he paused. I gave an understanding nod and handed him a journal. Star, from the third row, said, “i’ll take one!” 

We continued across the country and journaled, and took as many pictures as possible. I will never forget how genuinely happy all the boys were, they were so used to the boardwalk and now they get to go places. Laddie would bounce around happily when we toured around on foot. Star and Lucy spent their time quietly admiring land and cityscapes. The boys would get rowdy and restless at night, desperate to get in a fight or two. I've had to intervene more than I want to admit. But overall, they were well-behaved and did great throughout the trip.

The most precious memory to me, though, is when Dwayne, Paul, and Laddie grabbed me to go for a walk. At this point we were in Cincinnati, we checked in a hotel for a couple days, just on the water. A few of us wanted to go walk on the Purple People Bridge before we left. It was getting dark out, so we held close together. We walked across the bridge, Dwayne carried Laddie piggyback style and Paul and I were walking close by. We got down far enough on the bridge that we were close to the water. The sound of the river was calming, less rapid than the water outside the cave. I pointed out all the boats on the water to Laddie and we watched the water and the city in front of us.

What the boys didn't know was there was an event going on in the city. Some sort of charity event, I was never really sure about that part, but what I did know was the boys were really gonna like it.

"Hey, let's stay here for a bit. We're not in a hurry!" I said. "Umm… alright then," Dwayne said. Paul looked at me in confusion, but didn't say anything. Laddie was falling asleep on Dwayne's back, but Dwayne didn't seem to mind.

Soon, lights flicker on, one by one, lighting the whole city in blue. "Look Laddie!" I said while tapping his arm. He hopped off of Dwayne's back and stared at the illuminated city. All of Cincinnati was now an icy blue, and I will never forget the look of wonder in Laddie's eyes. Paul and Dwayne shared the same look as well. We were all starstruck as the night sky before us lit up in a beautiful blue. Paul's smile slowly grew and he giggled. I looked at him with a questioning look.

He turned to me, and said,"Thank you. This is… was, amazing. I don't think you know how much I appreciate you. This…" I smiled and wrapped my arms around his waist. We held each other close as the city behind us twinkled and glowed. Footsteps came alongside us, the rest of the party decided to try and find us. "Looks like you and Paul are having fun," David said. I wasn't even mad at the joke this time. "We really are, why don't you join us?" I asked. David smiled and ran his fingers through my hair. He wrapped his arms around me from behind as I was hugging Paul, so I was sandwiched between them. Marko stood beside us all. David saw and invited him into the middle with me. I turned around and squeezed Marko as the others adjusted.

Laddie was excitedly pointing out every detail to Star, Dwayne and Lucy and bouncing in pure joy. "Laddie seems to be enjoying this the most. I'm so happy I get to show him these beautiful places." I said. "I will never forget the look on his face for as long as I live."

The rest of the trip went smoothly. We stopped in big cities, small towns, natural parks, and got to see part of Canada from the upper peninsula of Michigan. I wrote down two journals' worth of notes and had to buy another scrapbook to fit all the pictures I took. 

Surprisingly, the whole party responded well to the really long drives we did. When we made it home and said our goodbyes to Lucy as she drove to her own home, it was like this weight was lifted off of us as we stepped into the cave. No more stress of travel, a place to stretch your legs, a place to just be... in peace. Laddie hugged me as Dwayne went around and lit the cave up. "Thank you so much," he said. "You're welcome, little dude!" I said. "Yeah, thank you!" Marko and Paul chimed in. Star walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. "Thank you for doing all of that for us," she said. "You really didn't have to." "I know, but I love you guys. The least I can do for you is take you on one of my adventures." 

#slash-writes #the lost boys #tlb #fic #tlb marko #tlb dwayne #tlb david #tlb paul #tlb star #tlb laddie #lucy emerson #tlb x reader