•• Change Directions

[Hadley Bronwyn Hastings]

Hadley had been in New York long enough to know her way around but not long enough that she still got turned upside down when she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going. It was for this reason she usually left her car at home unless she had needed to take her work home from the theatre with her. And even then, she tried to get a cab over driving herself just about anywhere. She hated driving and even when she had to go down to the textile district to find some new fabrics, she got someone else to drive. She was twenty seven and hated getting behind the wheel in New York traffic. She wasn’t used to it and didn’t know if she ever would be. Of course with her complete lack of directional prowess, it made sense that she didn’t want to end up on the wrong side of town.

She wasn’t going to worry about getting behind the wheel unless she absolutely had to. In a city the size of New York, there were so many ways to get around that she really didn’t need to concern herself with driving herself around. Hadley had woken up that morning with a plan in place and after her second cup of coffee; she set about getting ready for her hunting trip. She had to go hunting for a specific material to make a new costume from and now that she had the pattern all worked out and she’d made a list of all the things she would need to make her vision a reality. So now all that was left was to hunt down the things she needed and slowly cross them from her list. She had places in mind as she got herself ready, checked her bag for her keys, phone and wallet and headed down to the street to hail a cab. Sliding into the backseat, she gave the driver a street corner and sat back as he deftly manoeuvered the crazy streets of New York midmorning.

She passed over the proper bills when the cabbie pulled over outside the cute little bistro café she’d found the last time she went looking for materials. She headed inside, getting another cup of coffee to go and the best éclair she’d found in the city since moving there. With both in her hands, she took a seat at one of the outside table to inhale the pastry while she looked through her list of places she needed to get to and what she needed to get from each. With her pastry finished and her plan set, she balled up the garbage from her pastry and threw it from her chair into the garbage for a three-pointer. Grinning at herself, she stood, shoving her phone back into her purse as she did so. She had plenty to get through and not a whole lot of time to get it done.

Tag || Open!
Words || 491
Clothes || Sweet Swed
Music || No Consequences --VersaEmerge
Notes || <3

[oberon wynter jones]

Oberon was kind of happy that soon he'd have the time to leave New York and return to his old home in Slatersville, Rhode Island. It wasn't that he didn't like the city, but he also liked the silence. In the house he had spent most of his childhood in, silence came in plenty. His neighbours were buried six feet under and the only noise to disturb the quiet little house was the sound of the church bells ringing. In the later years that only happened whenever someone was having a funeral, since congregations preferred the larger church across town and a cemetery was hardly a sought after place for weddings. His upbringing was unique to say the least, but Oberon wouldn't change it. If his father hadn't been the caretaker for the cemetery then Oberon may never have found himself with such a keen interest in Philosophy and other subjects, like demonology, which he enjoyed reading about. It all spanned from the ghost stories he heard as a child, urban legends and silly school boy pranks. Of course, such a strange upbringing left him the target for bullies, which was something else that changed his life drastically. However, those were dark memories he never liked to think about once he had started attending university and then began making a life for himself with his voice talents and his deep knowledge of a subject many thought now as dead as those who had started it.

Being a deep thinker was sometimes his downfall, as well as one of his best attributes. What caused the problem was that Oberon frequently lost himself in his thoughts and became oblivious to the world around him. It was why he often found himself tripping over things or walking into people. He never meant to do it, or come across as a total klutz, but his brooding gave that illusion to the rest of the world. After all, they didn't know that he was trying to work out his purpose in life, using ancient teachings, whenever he was in the supermarket or store. They just made a joke on occasion or told him to watch where he was going. He might not have been the greatest when it came to first impressions, since he always seemed like he would rather be anywhere else. It wasn't the case most of the time, it was just that he had a nasty habit of losing himself in his thoughts without even realising that he had done so.

That same thing was happening now. Only this time he was walking his bulmastiff, Ralphie. The dog had a wonderful personality and was a little overly keen to meet people, especially women. If Oberon let him off his lead in the park it was only a matter of time before he sniffed around the legs of a woman who was usually minding her own business. His dog was a flirt, there was no denying it, but Ralphie frequently left his owner in awkward situations; this time was no different. Oberon felt the lead stretching to the maximum it would extend to. It was what stopped him from thinking about his trip home during the winter break from his position at the university. He had voice work at the start of January, but Christmas would be him and his father. His blue eyes followed the taut lead to where Ralphie was sniffing at the knees of a young woman standing by a café table. Oberon wished he could say it was the food that had appealed to his pet, but he knew better. “Hey, Ralphie! Get here you mutt.” Oberon retracted the lead so Ralphie couldn't run off or try to climb on his new friend. Then he turned his attention to the woman. “I'm so sorry. Ralphie is a little on the friendly side most days. I hope he didn't bother you too much.” The bulmastiff was just standing, wagging his tail as though he was happy with who he had found.

• • •

TAGGED! Hadley Bronwyn Hastings!
WORDS! 675!
OUTFIT! Deep Thinking Dude!
LYRICS! A Comet Appears - - - The Shins
NOTES! <3

[Hadley Bronwyn Hastings]

Hadley had a lot on her plate; she always did. The girl rarely sat still, even when she was out with a cold, she was bundled in blankets at a drawing station in her apartment, working; designing. She couldn’t say for certain but she didn’t think she slept still either. At least, she didn’t wake up in the same spot or position as when she fell asleep. And she wouldn’t have it any other way. If she didn’t have anything to do, she would probably go a little crazy, and she was crazy enough without adding to it. When she’d moved Stateside Hadley had had no intentions of doing all that she was now. She had planned on keeping busy with the theatre and then becoming the head of the wardrobe department meant she had her plate full as it was; and then she’d gone to that school.

What a disgrace that had been. Hadley had learned more in a theatre back in Stockholm in an hour than those kids filling that class would in a week. And as she had no filter, she’d said as much. Hadley didn’t know how that woman had gotten hired at the university but she clearly didn’t have a clue what she had been talking about; not that it mattered now. Hadley felt bad, she really did but at the same time, that woman had brought it upon herself. But it was nothing that Hadley was going to concern herself with. She’d already proven that she knew what she was talking about, and had been told she had a position at the university for as long as she wanted; which was nice but not what Hadley wanted. She would continue to teach and lecture until it suited her to leave, if it suited her to leave. Keeping busy was a lifestyle for Hadley.

With her plans set and her wrappings tossed in the rubbish bin, Hadley was all set to get this show on the road and dig through aisles upon aisles of fabrics and materials until she found the exact one she wanted. If worse came to worst, she could have the design she had in mind sent to a shop and order something custom made. But it was far too much work for the amount of costumes she had to make with it. It was just easier and cheaper on the budget if she just picked up double what she needed. Custom orders had minimums and unless it was something Hadley knew she would always run to, she didn’t see the point in it. Her first stop would be the tiny little hole in the wall shop across the street that had more unique materials beyond its doors than some warehouses Hadley had searched. It had to be her favourite shop, full to the rafters of hidden gems.

Before she could take a step though, something brushed her leg, causing Hadley to pause and look at the culprit. A rather cute looking dog that would clearly be taller than her if it decided to jump up on those hind legs of his was happily sniffing away at her legs. Laughing, Hadley held out her hand for a sniff before the dog’s head tilted slightly. Hadley took this as a sign of acceptance or an invitation and scratched her new friend behind the ears. At the voice, this charmer’s owner she assumed, Hadley lifted her eyes, a friendly smile on her lips. “Not at all.” Hadley assured. “He’s quite the flirt, isn’t he?” She said with a laugh as her four legged friend turned his head into her hand more.

Tag || oberon wynter jones!
Words || 607
Clothes || Sweet Swed
Music || No Consequences --VersaEmerge
Notes || <3

[oberon wynter jones]

Oberon kept himself busy. His definition of busy just didn't mean that he was running about New York like a headless chicken or that his diary was full of appointments and meetings for the next six months. He took time for himself in which he would wake up early and spend the day crossing off the things he wanted to do, but hadn't done because of his career. Sometimes it was as simple as reading a book, other times the tasks were greater and required him heading out of town for a day. He had work to keep up with, both at the university at in the studios. Video games were always being produced and once people were familiar with him there always seemed to be a message a week on his phone about how there was a role that he would read perfect for. Oberon caught himself practising accents whenever he watched TV now and he accidentally slipped into them when he was around people native to whatever specific accents he could mimic perfectly. It earned him a few raised eyebrows, either because they though he was mocking them, or because they were hardcore gamers and recognised the voice. Luckily, being recognised in the street was not something that happened frequently. It was only when he was dragged to the gaming conventions and panels that happened. Even then he wasn't a fan of it. Oberon preferred to keep to himself, which is why it was only his voice he lent to the hits. He couldn't live in the limelight all the time, and he wasn't ashamed to admit it. He enjoyed his privacy too much.

Too much of the world today was exposed on the social networking sites that existed. Oberon did not see the appeal of them, and he even added in a fun debate and project in his classes at the end of the semester where he took some of the topics they had looked at from the views of some of the deepest thinkers throughout philosophy's history and transformed them into modern day abominations on social media. His students seemed to have fun with it and it usually got some of the quieter ones involved, too. Although it usually always boiled down to the argument of grammar, and the bitchiness of the websites. Oberon didn't mind though; the kids worked hard and since they usually had finals frightening the pants off them, it was a nice way to just break the routine and take a moment to forget about the pressures of college. Besides, he liked to see them apply his teachings to relative things. Philosophy was not a dead subject, just like Latin wasn't a dead language.

Ralphie also seemed to think that his owner's social life wasn't about to die either. It was the only reason Oberon could think of for why his pesky mutt was always pulling stunts like this one. He had to give him points for trying; nothing made him give up, not even when people shouted at him. To be fair, in those instances, Oberon scolded them right on back, so Ralphie probably thought his owner supported him bounding on up to people. “That's one way to put it.” Oberon said thoughtfully with a soft shrug. “Downright nuisance, is another.”

• • •

TAGGED! Hadley Bronwyn Hastings!
WORDS! 554!
OUTFIT! Deep Thinking Dude!
LYRICS! A Comet Appears - - - The Shins
NOTES! <3

[Hadley Bronwyn Hastings]

Even though Hadley had been in the city for some time now, she was still nervous about getting around. She almost always dragged someone along with her so she didn’t get turned around and lost. She was usually very good with directions but some of the streets in New York confused the hell out of the Nordic woman. She was getting better but Hadley had a feeling she would never turn into one of those transplant New Yorkers; she would always need to drag someone with her when she went exploring the city. And in truth, she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to be one of those people. She loved the city, of course, but right now, it was just her current home. New York might have been the absolute best place for her career but Hadley wasn’t quite as sure if the city was the best place for her. The jury was still out on that one.

Hadley could admit though that the little shops and the larger warehouses she’d come across since the move across the ocean proved to be better than some of the shops back in Stockholm. Her favourite part of her job was going on the hunt for new materials. She could go without nightclubs and dancing and not even realising she was missing out on a social life. It was almost as if her entire life revolved around her work. Clothing was her passion. The spare room in her home could easily be compared to her workspace at the theatre or even her office at the school which was full of materials and patterns she’d purchased for the students and created herself. She wasn’t fond of the store bought patterns; they were notorious for making measurement mistakes. But they helped with the newbies. One on one, Hadley would have taught them the way she had been taught. But that was too much for one person when her classes each had more students than she could name. Hadley habitually spent her days creating costumes for shows and performances, teaching a class about this and that, and then she went home and if something had caught her fancy in a magazine or an advertisement, she recreated it for herself.

For her there was no reason to go through all that money to buy a simple designer sheath dress when she could easily make it herself for a fraction of the cost. And she had done since she’d learned how to. She’d been bitten by the bug and Hadley was not turning back from it. But all of that meant that she didn’t recognise actors or musicians unless they graced her workstation for a fitting. She knew the likes of the actors on her stage but other than that, she was clueless unless they were a household name that everyone and their celebrity challenged uncle knew of. She didn’t own any video game systems, didn’t have a clue what an x=station or a play-box was and she didn’t care. She didn’t have a favourite movie; she barely had time in her day to read any of the books that lined her shelves. Pop culture was not exactly Hadley’s friend. She had a laptop to research and a TV that droned in the background, used more for white noise than actual pleasure.

“Some of the best people are nuisances.” Hadley teased, still scratching her new friend behind the ears. She didn’t have a dog of her own because she was hardly home and Hadley hadn’t felt it would be right to leave an animal that needed so much attention home alone for any length of time. She had her guinea pigs and they were good enough for her. She always let them roam around a bit while she was home and that was the highlight of their exercise. There was no need to dig out a lead and walk around the park, tossing a tennis ball about just to have it ignored after a dozen tosses. “So, this charmer is Ralphie and I’m Hadley. Who might you be?” She asked, turning her attention back to the dog’s owner.

Tag || oberon wynter jones!
Words || 692
Clothes || Sweet Swed
Music || No Consequences --VersaEmerge
Notes || <3

[oberon wynter jones]

Oberon wasn't sure if he really liked New York enough to call it home. He had lived there for several years now and although it was practical in terms of employment opportunities for him, Oberon wasn't really sure it felt like the place he wanted to grow old. Nowhere really felt like home other than the old cottage in the cemetery grounds, but too many people found that strange and it wasn't like there were many properties like that one available for anyone to just snatch on up with a nice deposit. His father had been the groundskeeper, which was the only reason why they had lived in such an old and spooky place, but Oberon had adored it. It had opened so many doors for him in terms of thinking, allowing him to ponder things not many people his age would have thought about. It had ultimately led to him becoming so fascinated in philosophy, religions and demonology, even if some people were a little creeped out by his passion for the darker area of those subjects.

New York was satisfactory for the time being. Oberon couldn't say he was unhappy there. Although, throughout his life he had been fighting against bullies and people who just wanted to put him down for the sake of it, so to be a grown man and free of all that was a relief for him now. However, it was also why he spoke very rarely about himself. Even those who had known him for the entire length of time he had been in the city did not know his life story; he kept much of it to himself. There were parts of his past he didn't want to share with others, things he didn't want everyone to know or to talk about over the copier on a Monday morning. He was a complex man, very much an introvert, but he liked to think that his reasons for keeping to himself were good reasons, even if he never spoke about them. At least most of the time the only questions Oberon found himself answers were those ones asked within the confines of a classroom or lecture hall. They were mostly related to the subject of philosophy, or occasionally about something new that the university was implementing or changing that had the students whipped into a mild frenzy. None of the kids in his classes really cared about who he was beyond their teacher. A few found out about his voice acting in their favourite video games and dubbed him the coolest professor, but that was about as far as their personal interest in him went. That was all perfectly fine with Oberon.

Ralphie was probably his closest buddy in New York City. For his longer trips to LA, Oberon even forked out the money to fly the bulmastiff out with him. He hated the thought of leaving Ralphie alone in kennels or even with a friend. He knew he could drive the pet to his dad's in Rhode Island and then fly out, but he'd rather keep his best bud with him and Ralphie didn't seem to mind the flying or the change of scenery for a week or two. All Ralphie ever wanted was the attention, which he certainly got when he ran up to people whenever he managed to catch his owner off guard and pull a fast one; like today. “Possibly up for debate.” Oberon smirked, running his fingers through his blonde hair, smoothing it over his forehead and into the style he frequently wore it in. Offering out the hand that wasn't wrapped around Ralphie's lead, Oberon smiled and let his gaze meet Hadley's. “I'm Oberon. Oberon Jones.” It was a habit to give out his full name. He had to sign it often enough, or state it at the start of lectures or panels. Eventually it just reached a point where the name rolled off his tongue easily enough without need for a second prompt.

• • •

TAGGED! Hadley Bronwyn Hastings!
WORDS! 671!
OUTFIT! Deep Thinking Dude!
LYRICS! A Comet Appears - - - The Shins
NOTES! <3

[Hadley Bronwyn Hastings]

Hadley loved her job. As silly as that sounded to some people, she really loved what she did. If she wasn't making costumes for the theatre, she would still be making dresses or doing alterations somewhere in the world. It might not have been New York, but it would have been somewhere, with a cute little shop where she could do up a window design to attract clientele. Creating clothing had been her dream since she'd discovered she could create beautiful things with fabrics and materials. Before that she'd simply sketched; which she still did as it helped quite a bit in creating costumes for the different shows the theatre put on. Even if she couldn't do what she wanted, she still would be making clothing, like almost everything she wore. She created reproductions of things she saw in magazines and in movies if she liked it that much. Her apartment was as filled with bolts of material as her storeroom at the theatre was!

It would take death or worse, the loss of her hands to make her stop making clothes. It was more than her job and that was what she had wanted from life. Hadley had wanted to do something that she really enjoyed. She'd been lucky enough to find herself doing just that. She knew how terrible it was making pizzas or dealing with angry customers when you wanted to be anywhere else in the world. She'd kept a part time job while she'd been attending university and slinging pizzas hadn't been her cup of tea, nor had dealing with bitchy customers at the department store she'd managed to land her next job. It wasn't until the third try that she'd found something around the university that she liked; dressmakers assistant for a small but well funded theatre. She didn't do much more than make coffee or go shopping for materials or appropriate accessories but it was close to what she loved. And every once in a while, her boss had allowed her to do some real work, proving she could do what she'd said she could time and again.

New York was a little different, the people roaming around were a hell of a lot more diverse than her home but it was still not unusual to her. So she was able to cope well enough with the transition; at least she spoke English excellently. "Well, I only have a pair of wonderfully fat guinea pigs so for me, no debate." She admitted with a laugh. She wanted a dog but she didn't spend enough time at home to take care of one and those small little lap dogs seemed to be too yappy for Hadley. She'd be driven mental within a week. So she would keep her wonderfully fat and lazy guinea pigs. "Pleasure to meet you Oberon. Intriguing moniker you have there. Someone a fan of Shakespeare?" She asked, intrigued by such an unusual name.

Tag || oberon wynter jones!
Words || 492
Clothes || Sweet Swed
Music || No Consequences --VersaEmerge
Notes || <3

[oberon wynter jones]

Oberon didn't really intend to end up in voice acting. He had always thought that after graduating university he might spend a few years as a researcher or working towards a post-graduate qualification. However, the work seemed to find him and he had found himself rather enjoying the chance to play different characters. Some of them were entirely new and original, whilst others were his own take on a well known favourite. Most recently he had been the video game counterpart of Gotham's favourite clown, but those who knew him as the deep thinker in the lecture hall would never think he was capable of that role. Oberon had always thought he would end up teaching, but he had never felt a desperate need for it. He enjoyed it, would happily continue with the career until he grew bored, but there were very few things in his life that really got him so excited that he felt like he might burst at the seams. He was just generally a very calm and together sort of man.

Before either of those jobs, Oberon had dug graves in the cemetery where he had once lived. It was another macabre and quirky fact about his past that usually had people raising their eyebrows if he ever found a reason to mention it. Though, like most aspects of his past, Oberon had only ever mentioned it maybe once or twice and then it had been usually whenever someone had seen a copy of his CV and asked a question about it. His past held too many dark memories. He liked to keep all of them shut inside a nicely locked box that he never opened. People out there in the world had it worse than he did, and he had dealt with his demons, coming through to adulthood relatively unscathed by some form of miracle. The only real thing that lingered from years ago was his fear of fire. Even thirteen years after the incident it only took one single flame to have him feeling irrationally uncomfortable and he hated it. Candles were a no-go and birthday cakes were just ridiculous. Thankfully, the only person who knew and celebrated Oberon's birthday with him was his father who understood the issue and never pressed it. Markus just always had chicken wings, a blueberry muffin, and a gift for his son when that day in the year rolled around again.

Oberon knew his life in New York was thanks to his mother; a woman he hadn't seen or heard from since he was two. It was Markus' hope of her return that kept the father and son in America instead of returning to Berlin. Oberon didn't claim to understand the madness induced by love since he had never been in love as far as he was aware. Chuckling, Oberon remained quiet. He was a man of few words, and a better listener than he was a talker; always had been. He shrugged softly. “I don't know. I was just told it was to counter the common nature of Jones.” His mother was to thank for his names, both first and middle. Markus had told him the story, pointing out that Sabrina had disliked Jones from the moment they had met, but there was very little she could do about it. Oberon didn't know if his name had come from The Bard or elsewhere entirely because Markus didn't know. He had just wanted to keep his difficult wife, no matter the cost.

• • •

TAGGED! Hadley Bronwyn Hastings!
WORDS! 587!
OUTFIT! Deep Thinking Dude!
LYRICS! A Comet Appears - - - The Shins
NOTES! <3

[Hadley Bronwyn Hastings]

Hadley had met some interesting characters since her move from Sweden. It took all kinds to fill the world and Hadley had to admit she loved the surprises that awaited her when she did run off to explore New York on her own. She almost always got lost, usually more than once but she saw so much. Some of it pretty scary, some of it just for show but it was all so different. And different thrived in a place like New York. Hadley had decided on New York because it was the fashion capital of the USA. She didn't want to become the next big thing or have her name connected to this designer or that one, she just wanted a simple living where she could create clothes and costumes and have people see them and be inspired. She wanted to have people believing when they saw her pieces that they really were part of the play being performed.

And surprisingly, she wanted to teach the next generations the proper way to get things done. She employed a pattern cutter at the theatre because there was just so much to be done that it took an entire team to get those costumes out and perfect but in the classroom, she showed her students how to do it all themselves. It would help them in the long run, no matter which part of the industry they took part in. Hadley still used her cutting skills now, when she went home at the end of the day and decided she wanted something new to wear the next day and still needed to cut it all out and sew it all together. She never took her work home with her because she had so much to do when she was alone in her apartment. Plus, she could usually get everything done at the school or the theatre.

"Well, I like it. It's different and refreshing." Hadley said, absently scratching the dog at her side behind the ears. She had a wonderfully plain name; in America. In Sweden Hadley was probably the strangest name around. But she hadn't minded. She had always been a unique character and she doubted that it would change just because her name was a teeny, tiny bit more used in America. "Well, Oberon, maybe you could help me out." She said as she pulled the slip of paper from her bag. "I know where a couple of these places are but I'm not sure of these ones with the stars next to them. Do you know your way around here?" She asked, nibbling on her bottom lip.

Tag || oberon wynter jones!
Words || 439
Clothes || Sweet Swed
Music || No Consequences --VersaEmerge
Notes || <3

[oberon wynter jones]

Oberon played interesting characters more than he met them, but he only truly had himself to blame for that. He was an introvert, and if he didn't need a way to pay the bills, he would probably be something closer to a recluse. Even most of the staff at NYU never spoke to him since he just kept to himself and frequently tucked himself away in his office rather than hanging out in the staff common room. He didn't volunteer for any of the events, which was usually because of his own schedule rather than anything else, but Oberon still didn't really fit in with everyone else. He met more people when he did voice work, but his time with them was short lived unless their paths crossed again on another project. He was a complex man and yet so simple. After everything life had thrown at him he just preferred, and found it easier, to be in his own company. It saved the awkward answers to awkward questions and Oberon didn't have to watch anyone else vanish from his life or try to make excuses to leave. He was content with what he had; not quite happy, but far from unhappy at the same time.

Teaching was a liberating experience for a man who was once ridiculed by classrooms of students. These days no one laughed at him unless it was a rare moment in which he had cracked a joke. The kids at NYU respected him, listened to him, and if one of them did think themselves big enough to answer back he could corner them with intelligence and threaten them simply by reminding them about the importance of passing the class. No one wanted to flunk out of school, not even those who thought they knew everything just because they could quote a few philosophers. Oberon took his classes much further than that and opened up doors to other areas many hadn't even considered. One or two currently worked under him on post-graduate studies, aiming towards higher levels of knowledge and understanding in areas more concentrated than the broad scope he offered to the freshman classes. It was definitely rewarding, but on a whole different level to when he saw one of the games he had been a part of scoring high marks in gaming magazines and websites. That was an entirely different kind of accomplishment for Oberon.

“Definitely different.” He mumbled. Too many times people had queried if that was his real name, or asked him if it was his stage name when he was recording. They always seemed stunned when he told them that it was the name he had been given at birth, and then there were the jokes about the King of the fairies that he had heard for almost as long as he could remember. They had grown old a long time ago and yet people still cracked them like they were original. He looked at the slip of paper Hadley produced, his eyes reading over the writing a few times while his mind thought out the street map in his mind. Oberon was much better at guiding people than he was at pointing and hoping for the best. “I know where most of these are. That bottom one though, that's back that way three blocks. It moved about a month back. The whole row of those shops had to relocate because of structure damage” He gestured over Hadley's shoulder, blue eyes following the path of his finger. Oberon remembered because there had been a bookshop next to it where he would order in some of his more harder to find books. He preferred ordering from the independent businesses and giving them the money rather than buying from chains like Barnes and Noble who would easily survive without his $20.

• • •

TAGGED! Hadley Bronwyn Hastings!
WORDS! 642!
OUTFIT! Deep Thinking Dude!
LYRICS! A Comet Appears - - - The Shins
NOTES! <3

[Hadley Bronwyn Hastings]

Hadley had never been that child who hid in the back of the room with their head down, hoping the teacher didn’t call on her. She wasn’t at the front of the class either but she was close enough that she wasn’t scared with the teacher called on her; she had her answers ready. Of course, Hadley wasn’t really book smart. She knew a little about a lot of things and a lot about a little. Fashion, designing clothes, those were things Hadley knew everything about. She knew so much, she often scared her friends with the knowledge. Give her a colour scheme a designer pulled in their career and Hadley could tell you which designer it was, which collection it was a part of and everything in between, including which stores picked up the line and which critics said what about it. Everyone had their thing and all things clothes was Hadley’s. She had never been a shy girl and would never be that girl. She might not have jumped on the table tops to grab attention but she could demand the same air when she needed it.

That was what had been so great about her and her brother. He hadn’t been quite so in your face like his big sister was. She protected him when he Hadn’t been comfortable standing out. And maybe that was why Hadley took a little easier to the people who seemed to be having a harder go of things. There were a few people at the theatre that stuck to the background as much as they could. Stay out of the way and they couldn’t be blamed if something went wrong. Hadley understood what they were doing, she just didn’t understand why they were doing it. She fessed up to more things she hadn’t done than the things she actually had because it had actually been easier to let the adults think she’d done it when it had really been her brother. But it all came down to Hadley liking those people that were around her that seemed to be in their own head than they were in on the conversation happening around them. It was usually those people who had something to say.

Meeting Oberon must have been Fate’s way of bringing Hadley either a new friend or a man who could play tour guide for twenty minutes. Either way, Hadley wasn’t about to turn down the help if he was going to provide it. She could have been in New York her entire adult life and she would still be lost. A sense of direction, she did not have; not really though she could get from point A to point B easily enough. “Perfect!” Hadley said, beaming. “Well, perfect for me for finding an excellent tour guide, not so perfect for those shops. I hope they found out before anyone was hurt.” She added, continuing because even to her own ears that had sounded pretty bad. “I’m ready when you are then, Oberon.”

Tag || oberon wynter jones!
Words || 503
Clothes || Sweet Swed
Music || No Consequences --VersaEmerge
Notes || <3

[oberon wynter jones]

Oberon was never a lover of school, despite being a professor now. For him, school was full of horrid memories. There were the bullies who picked on him mercilessly from the very first day. Even the teachers tried to mould him into something that he wasn’t. They could never seem to understand or accept that he was rather content with how his life was. He kept to himself not really because he was shy, but because there was no one else out there who enjoyed the same things that he did. He wasn’t going to fake cheer through a football game like some kids did when he would rather be reading over a heavy tome, using a Latin dictionary to help decipher some of the older phrases he wasn’t familiar with. His father had once told him that he had grown up too quickly, and held the mind of a man centuries older than what Oberon was, but the blonde man didn’t care. He liked the ancient texts, the dark philosophy, and the hint of spiritualism he could find there. It had fascinated him long before he had called a cemetery his home, though Oberon had learnt early on that people didn’t think that such a good thing. It only added to his freak status.

It hadn’t exactly been easy being a kid, but Oberon tried not to think about it now. He had long escaped those pages of his book of life, even if the scars and the bitterness still remained. He didn’t want it to be his defining story, but so far it was all that he had to explain his rather stoic, brooding personality. At least when he was in front of a classroom of students they didn’t care about why their professor was so cut and dry about things, and didn’t waste time joking around like some of the other professors hired at the university. Then came his characters. They were when Oberon could escape everything and immerse himself in someone else. He wasn’t all that social, so it was really the best he could do when it came to interacting easily with other people. He didn’t have the talent to be a real actor, or to perform for a crowd, but he was perfectly happy in a studio with a script in front of him.

Ralphie was getting impatient. Oberon knew the big dog didn’t enjoy sitting still for too long. Even at home he would pace and move from the sofa to the bed and then back again at least a dozen times in the evening before Oberon finally called time for lights out. Only then would the docile beast retire to his own giant cushion and spend the first portion of the night there before jumping up at the foot of Oberon’s bed until the sun came up again. “I think so. From what I heard it was just a routine inspection in one place and the city ended up condemning half the block before the week was out. Old buildings in this part, and it gets less attention than the likes of Fifth Ave.” Oberon said quietly, his blue eyes looking around the neighbourhood, slowly taking it all in again. “Okay. Well I’m ready.” He gave a tug on the leash and Ralphie sprung to all fours, waiting with wagging tail to see which direction they were heading off in. Oberon led the way to the left, away from the café and further into the warehouse district.

• • •

TAGGED! Hadley Bronwyn Hastings!
WORDS! 589!
OUTFIT! Deep Thinking Dude!
LYRICS! A Comet Appears - - - The Shins
NOTES! <3

[Hadley Bronwyn Hastings]

Hadley had learned more from inside the walls of the theatre her mom had performed in when she’d been a child than she learned in any classroom. But employers wanted degrees and diplomas, they wanted silly little pieces of paper that proved she could impress uptight couldn’t quite hack it so they chose to teach professors. It didn’t matter than Hadley had basically been working in a theatre since she was still a child, had helped out with more than one costume during more than one production since she’d been twelve years old. It didn’t matter that by the time she was sixteen, the head of the wardrobe department gave her the incredible opportunity to dress one of the actors all by herself. It was a huge job, a huge opportunity and Hadley hadn’t screwed it up. She’d gotten letters of recommendation from every person that mattered at that theatre when it had been time for her to figure out her next step. Though all of that helped, it didn’t actually mean a damn thing until she’d gotten that silly piece of paper.

Sure, if she’d decided she wasn’t going to take the path she had and go to school, the theatre would have hired her on without a fashion degree and she would have taken over as head of the department when Mattie decided to retire. But Hadley wanted more from life than the same job she’d been apprenticing at since she’d been twelve and properly working since she’d been old enough for them to hire her on part time. She wanted to see more and do more than that and that meant going away to school, getting that piece of paper and making a name for herself in another city, another country. She had been the first to leave home and as much as she wished she’d been able to do all this without leaving her baby brother behind, she also wouldn’t change a second of it all. She loved Casper but she couldn’t always be around to protect him.

The garment district of New York was the best place in New York in Hadley’s opinion. Everything she could ever possibly need for her passion could be found somewhere in one of those little shops, just waiting for the Swedish woman to get her hands on them. There were some, obviously, that she’d been to before and knew the employees quite well in fact but there were others that she had never laid eyes on and those were the ones that she was having trouble finding. Of course with Oberon’s explanation, it was no wonder she’d been so lost and confused. The shops weren’t even where they were supposed to be! “Well, I suppose that it’s better to figure that out early than have the building collapse in on itself.” She said, nibbling her bottom lip, wondering how long it would have been before that could have happened. “Great!” Hadley said brightly, excited to be finding these new shops.

Tag || oberon wynter jones!
Words || 551
Clothes || Sweet Swed
Music || No Consequences --VersaEmerge
Notes || <3

[oberon wynter jones]

Oberon had memorised chapters when he was just sixteen. He was a boy who found more comfort and peace in the pages of old books that he borrowed from the stacks of the local library, and down the back of the shelves in his dad’s study. His dad had never read them, probably didn’t understand the vast majority of them, but he would bring them home from garage sales and the market whenever one caught his eye and looked like it would fit in with the rest of the old and very heavy books he kept around purely for decoration. Oberon had only started reading them out of boredom, but that boredom had turned into a passion that eventually carried him through college and put him in a teaching position. The voice work had come randomly, a one off job to help out a friend, but it turned out he had a knack for it, and it offered Oberon as escape from the world he had grown up in, and all the horrors he had been forced to put up with regardless of how things were now.

He was still sort of stuck in the loop that he had always grown up in. It was difficult for Oberon to relax around anyone, even those he sort of considered friends. The scars from his past ran deep, and he found it nearly impossible to let anyone in out of the fear that they would turn on him, or treat him the same way that others had treated him in the past. Before adulthood, Oberon never knew the meaning of friendship. All he had known was the struggle, the bullies and the horrors. Even now he still expected to see someone pop up just to mock him, or for someone from his past to reappear purely to ruin everything that he had now. Not that what he had now was all that special. Anyone could find a job really, and that was all Oberon really had. He was happy enough with that though.

“Most definitely. Though some of the owners were none too pleased about losing their business while new premises were found.” It was a loss of profit, and a lot of hassle to move. Oberon wasn’t all that surprised that some of the smaller ones didn’t bother re-opening after all the messing around with builders, planners, and just about everyone else who had to get involved. Hearing the stories from a few friends who knew people had made the whole situation sound like a nightmare, and it made his job sound a hell of a lot easier. Oberon wasn’t the kind to call either of his careers easy work. They both called for long hours at times and tedious moments of repeating the same thing over and over again. He tugged on Ralphie’s lead and headed in the direction of the closest shop, keeping quiet, just because he didn’t make great small talk; it had never been one of his talents.

• • •

TAGGED! Hadley Bronwyn Hastings!
WORDS! 503!
OUTFIT! Deep Thinking Dude!
LYRICS! A Comet Appears - - - The Shins
NOTES! <3