dev

~

[devwright]

sarah catherine hook, homosexual, cisfemale + she/her ― hey look, it’s devin wright! they’re twenty-four years old, they’ve lived in shrike heights for twenty-four years, and they’re currently working at shrike heights radio. i heard they’re pretty unreliable, but i think they’re so enthusiastic at the same time. can they make it out alive?

Dev has lived in Shrike Heights her entire life, she’s the youngest of four kids. All her siblings are super cool and successful at whatever they do in life and she’s always kind of just gotten away with being the lil kid of the family.

Was not great at school, she didn’t have the motivation to do it. Super smart kid, but 0 ambition or drive. She graduated two years late because of being held back a few times.

The only thing she’s ever put effort into is her love of games. D&D is her personality, honestly. Most of the time you’ll find her running games or hanging out around the arcade. 

She’s worked a ton of odd jobs since she graduated school, college was never gonna happen for her. She’s also been fired from all of those odd jobs because she just does not have the focus. 

Her family had some connections and got her hired on at the radio station to basically just be their intern and do whatever the rest of the team needs. She has no skills, but she has tons of enthusiasm and will try! her! best! if she remembers to show up. 

Definitely still lives in her parents basement and probably will for the rest of her life because she has not found a way to make money by playing games and having fun. She’s working on that, though. 

Dev is an excellent friend and fun to be around because she’s a huge ball of energy at all times. Just don’t rely on her to show up on time or remember anything.

Potential Connections;

Anyone that will hang out with her at the arcade. 

D&D buddies that she can play with regularly 

Any childhood friends since she grew up in the area.

Her three older siblings, they’re all still around in the area. Ages and genders are totally open.

Someone that she thinks is her best friend in the whole world, but actually probably they’re just annoyed by her at all times and begrudgingly accept that she’s not going to leave them alone.

Someone that flirts with her left right and center but she’s completely oblivious to it and has no idea. 

Exes of some capacity, she probably had a cute high school relationship that flamed out quick after school. Probably because Devin was going nowhere and they were looking to do more with life.

People that have fired her, as there are probably many.

[devwright]

location; fall festival tagged; @enshrikes​ // micah

Though Devin was decidedly not an outdoorsy type of person, there was something about a fall festival that brought a surge of energy to her already energetic self. Whether it was the weather, the atmosphere, or something in between, Devin was racing around at a mile a minute the entire time the festival was going on. With a day off from her job, Devin had made it a point to get out and just enjoy herself for the festival. She’d hung out with animals, tried some of the food and drink, raced around through the corn maze, and was still feeling like there was plenty more to do with the day. 

With a bag full of some sort of candy, Devin was starting to feel the rush of sugar coming on, only amplifying the buzz she was feeling just from having a good time. Dev didn’t have a specific destination in mind at that point, she was simply wandering about to see what would grab her attention next. What finally caught her attention was one of her absolute favorite things in the world - Micah. He was on the other side of a pile of hay bales and without a second thought Devin was sprinting in his direction to vault over them. They were, however, much too high up and instead she found herself crashing into them, tumbling through with a puff of hay as some of the bales toppled over with him. 

Rolling to a stop in front of it all, Dev found herself sprawled out and looking right up at Micah with a wide grin. “Hey!” she greeted from her spot on the ground, stopping for just a moment to gather herself before she was popping right back up to her feet. “What’cha doing? Want to hang out? They have games and stuff. Not the best games, but we could bob for apples or do the ring toss or they have that balloon one where you toss the darts and I think a few others.” Her words tumbled out rapidly, the young woman barely taking a moment to breathe. 

[devwright]

cindyharper​:

Open starter! @shrikestart

Location: The Fall Festival at Shrike Heights Commune in the late afternoon

Her fiancé couldn’t come to the festival and her pet goat wanted to go on a walk. So, Cindy decided to take Kevin with her to the fall festival at the nearby commune to keep her company, he was an escort of sorts.

She showed up with her pet goat on a leash as she took in the sights of the festival. She hadn’t been to the commune before though she didn’t live too far from it.

Cindy had a friend of hers bob for apples and gave one to her pet goat to munch on.

She saw someone near her watching her feed her goat and she smiled.

“Hi! This is Kevin, wanna help me feed him?”

.

There had always been cool things to see at the fall festival every year and this one was no different. Devin had been bouncing around between booths and roaming around excited to see everything that it had to offer. Despite all of the terrible things happening in town, Devin hadn’t let it dampen her spirit for fun. Yes, the town had a lot of shit going wrong, but no she was absolutely not going to let it ruin her good time.

Today, that good time was fully and completely consumed by the presence of an adorable goat on a leash. Devin couldn’t help but stare a bit as the goat was being fed, a very audible aww noise coming out as it bit into the apple. 

“Uh, absolutely yes. I want nothing more than to help feed him. I just met Kevin, but I already love Kevin,” she answered back, practically bouncing on her toes. “What do I do? What does he like? I have some candy corn in my pocket.”

[devwright]

retrocuts​:

for: open ( @shrikestart​ ) location: shrike heights commune

Despite the dark cloud that hung over a lot of the annual events in Shrike Heights, Fiona still ended up at the Fall Festival to support the various small stalls that were set up there. Of course the other seasonal festivities didn’t go ignored either, which is how she found herself wandering around in the corn maze for what was beginning to feel like an eternity. After walking into a few more dead ends, she finally came across another person. “Is it just me or did they make the maze more difficult this year?” She signed with a smile, managing to remain in high spirits even after getting all turned around multiple times. “I don’t suppose you know where the exit is? I think if I’m in here any longer they might send in a search party.”

.

The maze had felt like a good idea when she’d wandered her way on into it, but Devin had quickly realized that she was not in any way equipped to be good at a maze. By the time she rounded around a corner and hit a dead end she’d lost track of which way she’d come from, sending her in circles, squares, triangles, and in every direction except the exit. Hitting another dead end, Devin sighed loudly, pressing her head against the corn for a moment in defeat. She was about ready to just sit and wait to be rescued when she heard footsteps behind her, renewing her optimism that perhaps there was still an exit out there somewhere. “It’s really bad, right? Like, really bad. I know I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but damn,” she answered back, a sheepish grin pulling at her lips. “I think they removed the exit and I just live here now. I’m about ready to just go bulldoze through the corn, which you are totally welcome to join me in.”

[devwright]

frgdstars​:

 for: open ( @shrikestart​ ) location: outside one of shrike mall’s side entrances

change was a feeling that herself and those that resided in shrike heights, colorado were all too familiar with. things in shrike heights were frequently changing, hell, half the time she swore things magically either disappeared or appear in the middle of the night. but the one thing that hasn’t changed for her since she arrived to the town was her job at the sunset theatre & drive in and the routines she has gotten herself into while on the job. depending on what station she was working that day, lexi had different things she did throughout the day to help the time go by more quickly. one of them was stragically planning out a smoke break, but it’s not like her boss hasn’t caught her doing it a couple of times on the job anyway. how she hasn’t gotten fired yet was beyond her, but she was also thankful for the chances given to her. still, it didn’t stop her from taking said smoke breaks. today was no different, except this time she had decided to go the side of the mall rather than smoke up alone in the projector room of the theatre (although that was kind of a blast as she got to see various bits of movies while she toked). 

‘you’re not smoking out here, are you?’

the voice of lexi’s boss at the sunset theatre & drive in rang out behind the building, where lexi was taking an indulgently long break. the back door opened and the manager poked their head out, looking between their employee and the person standing with them. “no one’s smoking out here, boss dude. we’re like, zero percent interested in that stuff. swear on my life,” she assured her manager, who gave them the ol’ stink eye after hearing lexi’s strained voice, but still went back inside. the cloud of smoke that exploded out of lexi was thick and potent, leaving her coughing, laughing, and extending the joint she’d been hiding behind her back to their partner in crime, “i swear some people need to stop being so uptight about this. the world is going to shit, you’d think they’d want us to be as relaxed as possible. not to mention my shift ends in like thirty anyway,” she scoffed, shaking her head, “anyway, thanks for not blowin’ up my spot. you want a hit? and don’t think i’ve forgotten..i’m still going to sneak up to the projector room before i clock off today. yeah, yeah, the boss would be pissed if they found out. but, what’s the point of working at a theatre if i can’t show off the cooler bits of the job once in a while, hm?”

.

While technically Devin was meant to be at her job, she figured a bit of a long break wouldn’t hurt anyone. Things were slow enough at the radio station and it wasn’t like she had a critical job to the function of the place. She’d run a few errands for people earlier in the day, giving her the freedom in her own mind to coast through to the end of the day. For now, that meant hanging out with Lexi for awhile while the other woman was on her own break. Devin had pulled over a trash can to hop up and sit on top of, feet kicking against the can as they heard the side door burst open. 

Head shifting immediately up, Devin glanced over wide-eyed at the manager, frozen like a deer in headlights. The last thing she wanted was to get in trouble, it wasn’t something she was exactly great at, so she was glad that Lexi took the lead in waving the manager off. “Yep! Yes.  No smoking here, I would never. My mom wouldn’t let me,” she promised, realizing a beat later how lame that sounded as a fully fledged adult. “Not that my mom...she’s not...I make my own choices.” Her words were mumbled out as the door swung back shut, the manager rolling their eyes as they went back inside grumbling under their breath. 

“Oh, no thanks. Like my mom actually would probably kill me, so it’s...yeah. Totally cool, though, if you do it. I would never blow you up like that,” she shrugged, running a hand back through her hair. Even at the age of twenty-four Devin still felt kind of like a child. Living at home had kept her very firmly under the thumb of her parents, her life still feeling very much like she was a teenager at times. You live under my roof, you live with my rules was a very common phrase in her household and Devin had just grown to accept that it was her lot in life to still be following her parents rules at the age of forty. “Projector room sounds really cool, though. I’ve never seen one before!”

[devwright]

urdamage​:

               hedwig often felt quite different from other people , so it came as no surprise that he felt quite different to devin . for starters , hedwig was hardly ever late to work ; his anxiety wouldn’t allow himself to stumble in after his call time , subject to judgement from his co-workers ( though with that being said , he didn’t judge devin or any others for general lateness , to be honest ) . another difference was that he worked at the radio station because of his extensive musical knowledge , amongst other things . music was the one thing that hedwig cared for the most , the reason why he got up each morning , the reason he felt joy , and the reason why he was able to get through even his toughest trials and tribulations . if he wasn’t at the station , he was likely either working at his second job over at tracks , or rehearsing , recording or performing with one of shrike heights’ favourite bands , chokehold on love , which he was lucky enough to be in . music was hedwig’s life . 

hedwig’s duties at the radio station reflected his passions . he wasn’t often on a speaking role on any show , though he was occasionally called upon by whomever was the main host for the time of day ; mostly , hedwig was the one who ran the tech in the station , and the one who put the best music forward for those hosts who weren’t as opinionated or knowledgeable as hedwig . having experience in the field long before he found himself in shrike , and being good at the job , too , meant that he was fortunate enough to not have to be in a position life devin ; he didn’t have to fetch the coffee from double shot , and he certainly didn’t have people asking him to hunt down def leppard as if they were just one person who resided in their minuscule town of shrike heights . despite the privilege , however , hedwig also wasn’t one of those people who gave those such as devin those degrading jobs . 

as devin came in and began their interaction by gassing him up , hedwig instinctively didn’t trust her . he felt a pang of anxiety in his chest , worrying what her true intent was , but he quickly began to calm down as he reminded himself that she was no threat , and as she began to prove that by getting into the details of her predicament . hedwig immediately felt so terrible for her , and guilty , despite having played no part in the practical joke of giving her the impossible task . part of him wanted to save her the embarrassment of not knowing def leppard , wanting to tell her that ‘ mr. leppard called ahead and had to cancel , don’t you worry , ’ but the thought of devin going off to tell that to one of their co-workers caused hedwig to cringe . heaven knows someone like pj would have a field day with something like that . 

he folded the note in half before he stood up from his seat , throwing it down on the desk gently . “ i have good news and i have bad news for you . the good news is that you don’t have to worry about this task , you don’t have to bike anywhere or worry about finding anyone , but the bad news is that that’s because def leppard are uhh , well , let’s just say that they’re a bit above shrike heights’ status . ” as he spoke he was rustling through drawers , eventually stepping closer to her to hand her a cassette tape and a magazine that def leppard had featured in . “ they’re not even american , from yorkshire , or thereabout . i don’t think the station could ever afford to get an interview with them . ” he explained , an apologetic look on his face . “ sorry . ” he added . “ i’m not sure who put you up to that , but i’m glad you came to me for help rather than someone who’d just keep it going . ”

.

There was an eternal optimism around Devin that made it almost impossible for someone to actually have bad news for her. Even as Hedwig suggested that there would be some type of bad news about the job she’d been given, Devin was bouncing eagerly on her toes ready to see how she could tackle it and turn it into a positive. “I like good news. Bad news...bad news is totally subjective, but hit me with it,” she nodded happily, leaning over against his desk to settle in for whatever the news would be. 

Not having to bike anywhere was definitely a good start and her head began bobbing eagerly as the good news continued to roll in. Her brows lifted when Hedwig explained a bit more, the realization starting to sink in that this was most likely a task that was far outside of what she could reasonably be expected to do. Reaching over to accept the magazine, Devin snorted with amusement, her head shaking softly. “They’re like...a big deal then?” she ventured a guess, a sheepish smile starting to curl across her lips. An easy mistake. One that anyone could make, really, she told herself. 

Waving off the apology from Hedwig, Devin let her face scrunch together in thought. “So what I’m hearing is that it’s basically an impossible task, but that if I was able to make it happen I’d be the coolest person in this building,” Devin hummed, a thought starting to form in her brain. Technically she’d been assigned the task already, so anything she did working on it was time she could put on her time sheet. That more than anything felt like a good enough reason to spend the next few days caught up pursuing this. No one could ask her to do something else if she was already busy at work. 

“I’m going to find them. D’ya think the station would pay for me to go to Yorkshire and find them? Maybe not. I’ll find them another way. How hard could it be, really?” Devin shot the questions off one after another, talking rapidly as the plan of action started to lay itself out in front of her. “I can write a letter, which should take a day or two and then I’ll have to go get a stamp, that could take awhile. The post office is always busy. But, a letter is a good start. And then I’ll find a phone number, I can ring them and eventually talk to...it’s a band then? I’ll have to learn their names. This could take weeks. Big job, big task. Very important.”

[devwright]

devilthcghts​:

.

Well, this woman sure liked to talk. Skylar stood in place, still as a statue except for her foot tapping against the floor, listening to Devin rattle off words. So many words. People could reveal a lot about themselves just to fill the silence - it unnerved them most of the time. She hardly had to say a word to get information out of people. Her eyes gazed over the mess, facial features locked in place. “You seem like the type to buy for your hobby of one week only to push it away in some storage closet somewhere to maybe get back to it in a year or two,” she said simply, tone monotonous. 

Skylar had been told by her mother many times that she was as stubborn as a mule, as if she didn’t get that quality from her. Eyes glazed over the mess, the idea of cleaning this up not particularly riveting. “Well, Sarah. You look like a Sarah,” Skylar began, knowing that she would likely be corrected, “I will be the one checking you out over there,” she said, pointing to a nearby empty cash register. “It is going to be awfully hard to check you out and have you roll out of here if I have to clean up your mess. And I like to take my sweet time.”

.

If there was anything positive that could be said about Devin it was that she’d never developed a strong sense of insecurity in herself. Living in her own world most of the time, it didn’t matter what other people thought of her. Most of the time she didn’t even bother to correct people when they assumed things about her. It was easier to let them believe whatever they wanted and Devin shrugged simply in response to the woman’s words. “Everyone has old hobbies in their closets somewhere,” she chirped. Devin had a few that she’d ditched pretty early on in life, but once she’d discovered tabletop gaming and video games it had been an obsession from there with no chance of her ditching her hobbies in a storage closet.

“Sarah, sure, Sarah is fine,” Devin allowed again, not really one to argue at all. On one hand she just didn’t care for conflict and on the other hand being nice to people that were trying to provoke something tended to just piss them off even more. “But, cool, yeah. I can go hang at the register, I’ll even start the process for you if you want. I’ve used one of those little scan things at the register before, I worked at a grocery store for a week,” Devin nodded back happily, figuring this was a step in the right direction. If she could get the process started she’d probably have plenty of time to get herself out of there and where she needed to be. 

[devwright]

howards-alicee​:

Alice could already tell that the girl was the type to find everything exciting and cool. Perhaps the opposite of herself, someone who was always looking for the next thrill, anything to get out of her own head or to escape the endless loop of boredom she found herself trapped. Even with a maniac running around, she almost wanted the thrill of having to escape that type of situation though she would never utter that aloud, not with everyone on edge. 

Leaning forward, a smirk on her lips as she pulled the book away slowly. “I thought it was a book about how to bag a rich husband,” she uttered before laughing softly and shaking her head. “I mean what other prospects does a woman have other than marrying rich?” Quirking an eyebrow and trying to maintain a straight face before dissolving into laughter once more, clearly entertaining herself as opposed to helping a customer.

“We just got Cocktail, WaxWork and Poltergeist 3 which was an insult to the first one.” Shrugging her shoulders, having no idea what type of film the girl was looking for. “What kind of games do you play? Scrabble, Naked Twister?” 

.

For a moment Devin didn’t realize that the woman was joking and she was fully prepared to launch into an in-depth talk about the excellence that was to be found within the pages of the book that she held. “Y’know, there’s so much wisdom in the book I bet you could get some life lessons out of it that could help you...bag a rich husband,” Devin considered with a half shrug. She’d never been one to feel saddled with the pressure of thinking she needed a rich husband to succeed in life, thankfully, but she knew it wasn’t an uncommon thought. 

Her lips drew together in thought at the suggestions, hand waving in front of her a bit. “Oh, I don’t need any movies. I’m not great at movies, they’re too long and I fidget. I’ve been told I fidget anyway. I’m here to rent a game,” Devin explained, realizing that she hadn’t exactly clarified that. Most people at the shop were there for movies, but never Devin. 

“I play all sorts, though. Sometimes board games, mostly arcade games. I have game systems at home that I play...and a lot of Dungeons and Dragons. That’s my favorite, really,” she answered back, pausing for just enough time to let her brows lift in question. “Naked Twister. Haven’t heard of that one, is that one any good? If you have to rent, I could rent that one maybe.”

[devwright]

retrocuts​:

While high energy and large amounts of enthusiasm were the exact opposite of Diego and something he wasn’t overly fond of, he had at least grown used to putting up with it after working at High Scores — which is why he didn’t immediately grab his coffee off the counter and walk away from Devin without a word like he may have a year ago. Instead, he stood there, rather patiently, mostly listening to the other’s small sales pitch for whatever new game she was excited for. 

“I’m not the person you need to talk to about that.” He replied in his usual flat, tired tone once she finished talking. In a lot of ways he was grateful he didn’t make any of the larger decisions around here or own the place. He couldn’t imagine the headache it must’ve been to run any of the businesses that moved to the mall these days. None of the businesses seemed to be hurting financially, judging by the large crowds that still flocked here, but everything else that came with the uptick in crime had to be a nightmare. Not that it was any more pleasant to be a regular employee at the mall, especially when they seemed to be the ones constantly in danger.

Not wanting to focus on that draining mess, Diego shifted his full attention to the binder, “Since you went through all this effort,” he began as he skimmed through it, not bothering to actually check the math, “I guess I could pass it along to the owners of this place.” Life in Shrike Heights right now was rough enough, so he wasn’t going to shoot the idea down immediately. Besides, it wasn’t like he would really have to go out of his way to speak to the owners in a town the size of Shrikes. “Can’t promise the game will actually make its way in here though.”

.

The fact that Diego wasn’t the right person to talk to didn’t deter Devin for even a second. Whether or not he was the one that could make the decision, he worked there and that felt like a good enough reason to make her pitch. If nothing else she’d be in a better position if he was on her side in the matter. If she was lucky he knew exactly who the right person was and would pass the message along for her. Much to her delight, those were the words that fell out of Diego’s lips next. 

Eyes lighting up with excitement that she was, in theory, a step closer to her goal of getting the game to the arcade, Devin had to contain any squeals of excitement. “Okay! Okay, yeah, no that’s great, that’s perfect,” Devin nodded eagerly, her heels coming off the ground as she started to bounce just slightly. “Even if they at least just look at this, that’d be really cool of you to help out.” It wasn’t a firm yes like she’d hoped for when coming in that day, but Devin didn’t consider it a failure at all. Someone with the ability to help push the request along had it now and that was a win enough for her. 

“Have you seen it? It’s not out in the U.S. just yet, but it’s going to be soon, so they can probably preorder a machine I think,” Devin prattled on, unable to keep the excitement about it out of her voice. Even if Diego probably wasn’t all that interested, she couldn’t help herself from showing off the work she’d put into her proposal. “It’s called Splatter - oh. Splatterhouse. It’s a little gory and maybe a little insensitive with everything goin’ on around here, but...it looks really good. And you’re not killing people just monsters, so probably it’s fine.”

[devwright]

location; high scores tagged; @retrocuts​ / diego muñoz

After what was undeniably the longest day of her life at work (every day spent at work was), Devin was practically buzzing with excitement as she made her way over to the arcade. To say that Devin spent a lot of time there would be a gross understatement. The arcade was a second home for her, somewhere that she felt the most comfortable in a world that she often felt she didn’t quite fit in. Any day that she got to hang out at the arcade after work was a great day, but this one in particular she was marching over there with a mission. 

In her hands was a small binder and as she stormed her way into the arcade, eyes searching far and wide for one man in particular. It took a moment before she spotted Diego over at one of the counters and her eyes filled with delight as she took off almost running in his direction. Her body collided with the counter from her momentum, thudding into it as the air escaped her lips for a moment. “Diego! Diego, Diego, I have something very important for you. Sir. Mr. Muñoz,” she exhaled, catching her breath back after a moment as she splayed her binder out in front of her on the counter.

“So, there’s this new arcade game releasing next month and I know there’s not like a ton of space for new stuff right now and it’s a little expensive, but I really think you should consider buying it for here. Or whoever is in charge,” Devin explained, opening up the binder to start pointing out details of the new game that was just over the horizon. “I did all the math and like with how much you can charge, you’d totally make your money back and then some in the first few weeks.” Her math was based on nonsense and was all done completely wrong, but there were numbers scribbled all across one of the pages presenting her argument to the best of her ability. “So....what do you think?” Pushing the binder closer his way with a bright smile, Devin was bouncing on her toes eagerly as she finished off her request with what she felt was appropriate flourish.

[devwright]

devilthcghts​:

.

Closing shifts meant time in the morning for Skylar to do her errands, enjoy the sights during her run, and give herself time to breathe before she dove head-first into work. Restocking the whole store was part of the closing checklist, ensuring every shelf was up to par and nothing was ever low. She relished in keeping herself busy, doing the most minuscule tasks that even the upper management wouldn’t think of.

In the midst of restocking a nearby shelf when she heard a small thud that turned into multiple thuds, kickballs rolling past her feet, Skylar turned her attention to the other woman standing in the midst of the mess. As ridiculous as this seemed, it wasn’t even the most ridiculous part of the day, and if anything, she found it slightly humorous. The deer in highlights look was the highlight. 

“Oh sweetheart,” Skylar greeted with the faintest hint of a smirk, hurrying to the edge of the kickball mountain. The brunette seemed impressionable, like she was eager to please, and so Skylar would use that to her advantage. “Having a good day, aren’t we?” She inquired, studious eyes burning a hole through the other woman with the goal of making her feel uncomfortable. “You are going to stay here and put all of the balls back where they belong. Leave no stone unturned.”

.

There were a lot of things Devin was expecting out of the worker that had come upon her mess, but a question asking after how her day was going wasn’t it. “Oh! Well, yeah, I mean...it’s been kind of a great day,” she shrugged, smile lifting back up at her lips as the cheeriness returned immediately. The woman wasn’t yelling at her, so that seemed like a win in her book. “I had some extra money, so I got to buy some really cool stuff! They had this really cool dragon figure at the store, so I got that. Kinda was a little out of the budget, but whatever I had extra money to buy a gift, which - well. Anyway.” Waving a hand in the air as her train of thought scattered off somewhere else, Devin returned her attention back towards Skylar. 

A bit of a laugh bubbled up in her at the thought that she would be putting all of the balls back where they went. She could put a few back, sure, but time was already running low and she wasn’t about to stick around for this one. Her brows narrowed for a moment, trying to figure out what joke she was missing. “Mm, none of them are stones, so like...can’t really unturn them if they aren’t there, but yeah. Totally, yeah. I can move a few of these back. But then I gotta buy this and roll out of here, there’s a birthday kid waiting for this.”

[devwright]

howards-alicee​:

howards-alicee​:

Open: Everyone Location: Showtime @shrikestart

Alice had always pictured her first job as glamorous, maybe interning at a magazine in New York. Where she was surrounded by elegance and far away from Shrike. She hadn’t expected to find herself wearing a polyester polo and surrounded by the sickening smell of candy and worn furniture, a scent she wasn’t even too sure how it got there in the first place. Yet it had been the only job she had been able to secure since getting fired from her last one for too many sick days.

The frayed copy of Fellowship of the Ring was laid out on the counter of Showtime as Alice flipped over the page. Working a day shift on a weekday was always the most boring, full of either old people with no lives or perverts trying to discreetly rent some porn, not even bothering to glance up when she heard the ring of someone entering the store. “Welcome to Showtime,” she muttered under her breath, her eyes scanning over the words, her chin resting securely in her right hand. “Just to let you know we are all out of copies of Critters and Dumbo, so sorry to disappoint if you’re looking for those two today.” She muttered, flipping the page once more and letting out a bored sigh.

Finally, glancing up from her book, her brow furrowing together and sighed again. “Do I know you from somewhere?” She asked curiously.

.

Technically Devin was supposed to be at work. She’d been there already for a few hours and had gotten through a decent chunk of the tasks she had at hand, leaving her with plenty of time to go do something else for a bit. After slipping out of the radio station, Devin had ambled her way on over to Showtime to see about getting herself something for after work that she could play on her NES. Barreling into the door with a bright grin, Devin was amped up for both a break from her job and a peek at what might be on the shelves. 

Brows lifting a bit at the greeting, Devin gave a small chuckle, hand lifting in a salute. “You got it, boss. No Dumbo, no Critters. I think I can live with that,” she assured the other woman, bouncing over towards her direction. Eyes catching a glimpse at the book on the counter, Devin’s smile grew a bit wider, her excitement leading her to tumble over against the counter. “You read that before? It’s pretty great, huh? I’ve read it like...a few times. I don’t even read much, but this one I did.” It was a small thing to connect with someone over, but the book lent itself entirely well to Devin’s interests and she’d used a lot of Tolkein’s lore as inspiration for her own Dungeons and Dragons games. 

“But um - maybe from here probably. I come in like...sometimes. A lot. I  guess a lot. I was lookin’ for something to rent for games tonight, if you have anything new maybe?” she questioned as a hopeful smile lifted her lips. 

[devwright]

location; shrike heights radio tagged; @urdamage​ / hedwig blackwood

Devin was already almost late for work by the time she realized she had been up the whole night working on drawing a new map out for a D&D game she was running later in the week. Zoning out a bit as she stared at the clock, it finally sunk in that she needed to get the hell out of the house and haul herself to the radio station. Throwing on the first clean shirt she could find, or at least mostly clean anyway, she sprinted out the door, leaving behind all of her things. A short bike ride later it sunk in that she’d left everything back at the house and pedaling like she stole it she whipped the bike into a u-turn and went back for her things. 

By the time she finally arrived at the station she was quite late and looked like a rumpled mess. Bursting through the doors, Devin wound her way back through the station, nodding her head towards some of her coworkers as she slipped back to her small desk in a back corner. It wasn’t much, but it was big enough for everyone to toss their random tasks for her to complete. Often times it was just menial filing tasks and things they knew she couldn’t cause too much damage by messing up. Other times it was just a list of coffee orders for her to go get and bring back for the crew. Never was it anything of any real importance. 

Today, the first note on her desk was a reminder not to be late, a note that she’d fully meant to bring home and paste on her mirror so she didn’t forget. The second was a task requesting that she get in touch with Def Leppard to get them on for an interview. Despite working at the radio station, Devin had no knowledge of music whatsoever, and therefore didn’t realize that this was likely an impossible task that someone had written up on there just to mess with her. Pulling out a phone book, Devin started to scroll through looking for whoever this Def guy was, only to strike out completely. 

With a frustrated groan, Devin slunk her way over to one of the other rooms, poking her head in with a wide, guilty smile towards Hedwig. She hated bothering other people to get help on the already very limited scope of work that she did, but this felt like one of those times that she needed it and Hedwig was always one of the nicer people about it. “I must say, you look like totally dashing today. Best you’ve ever looked, maybe. The coolest person and the greatest friend and the nicest human and I really totally need your help,” she yammered on at a mile a minute as she slipped into the room with her scribbled note to find Def Leppard to hand over to Hedwig. “Someone asked me to help find some guy for an interview and I looked through the whole phone book and I swear, Hed they’re not in there anywhere. Does Def Leppard work here or like somewhere nearby? I can totally go bike over and find them, I will absolutely drag them in here, I just gotta find ‘em first.”

[devwright]

location; dick’s sporting goods tagged; @devilthcghts​

Go to the sporting goods store and pick up a gift for your cousin’s birthday party. It should have been such a simple task to complete, but by the time Devin had a wad of cash in hand and had made her way over to the mall, all bets were off. Instead of going right in and getting what they needed, Devin had quickly gotten sidetracked. Four stores later, Devin had spent most of the money her parents had given her for a gift, leaving her with a paltry sum to try and get a decent gift for her cousin’s kid. 

It was getting pretty close to closing at that point, her side adventures eating through the day as she got lost in the aisles of the entertainment superstore. Time, though, held little meaning for Devin and she didn’t notice at all that she was cutting it close. After a bit of browsing and still with no idea what to get the kid, Devin found her way over to an aisle filled with a bunch of cute looking kickballs. They were the cheapest thing she’d found so far, though still a little outside of what budget she had leftover. 

Luckily for Devin, right at the bottom of the pile of kickballs was a box marked down on sale that squeaked in just under the amount of money she had left. Without thinking about it for a second, she grabbed the box and pulled it out, her eyes widening with horror when the realization struck that every other box sitting on top of it was now tumbling down on top of her. The tower of boxes fell with a loud clatter, Devin herself now standing in the middle of the mountain of kickballs. “Well, that didn’t work as planned,” she mumbled to herself, shifting to try and extract herself from the mess.