Rae background tat

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

( A touching tale of Rae's mother, just before Rae was born, and how she came to realize what was really important in life. Or 'Reason #12 Why Rae Is A Little Bit Unstable )

Contact avoidance

[akonken.livejournal.com]

( May trigger. )

Artivistic Instincts

[rebel-wulf.livejournal.com]

“Now, correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure that when I was a kid, this was all fields and trees” Steampunk said to no-one in particular as he sat on the tiled wall that surrounded the Centre Point fountain, his back propped up against the shot ledge while he balanced himself. A car whizzed past him along the road and he pulled a face. “Allright, maybe not. I distinctly remember a lot more greenery though” He put his arms behind his head and leant back as he watched the dark, electric lit streets of night-time oxford street.
            He leant his head up and looked at the sky “Less stars as well. Bastards stole my god damned stars! That’s just taking the piss” He muttered to himself in annoyance. He had remembered this place as a lot cleaner and healthy then it was now, the walls not quite so dull and drab and the shops being more colourful and less… well, identical. Half of it was tourist bait, not that the shopkeepers could be blamed for wanting to make money. The other half seemed to consist of clothes shops of varying levels of trendiness and price. That still didn’t bother him as half as much as the lack of plantlife.
            The place was grimey to the nose. It smelt of modern city with a little of the nearest take-away restaurant thrown in. If you were lucky you might spot a weed or a small patch of moss, but more often then not that was just wishful thinking. “No. That wont do” He pointed out to a passing car. It wasn’t just this one street of London, it was all over. Slowly but surely London was losing its plantlife as trees suddenly became a health risk or even unsightly. Unsightly! He had felt disgusted that someone had honestly been offended enough by only being able to see tree out of their window and couldn’t see the shitty little grey pavement and black tarmac outside of their window. Times had changed. Luckily for London’s plantlife though, times can change again.
            Hopping down from his perch on the wall, Steam adjusted the backpack slung over one shoulder for comfort and started to walk. He crossed roads where fancy took him and slid down dark side alleys most intelligent people wouldn’t have risked without a care in the world. He was a man with a mission again, something he had been missing for over a year now. Direction didn’t matter on this personal quest as he was purposefully doing his very best to get good and lost.
            Eventually, he found himself standing looking up at a drab grey building. Barely clear memories passed through his mind of being here before as a child, about sitting in a park here with his perants one sunny afternoon and playing football. But that park was long gone now, this building was its tombstone. He paused at that thought for a bit and grinned widely. “Yeah. That’s perfect. I’ll have to remember that one for later.” After a cautious look around for observing mundanes or CCTV cameras, Steam reached into the backpack over his shoulder to fish out a can of green spraypaint. “One way or another, this city is going to be green.”

 Steam stood back from his work, stashing the empty can of paint into his backpack before jamming his hands into his pockets. From the ground up to shoulder height had long and painstakingly painted plants and flowers curling their way around the grey stone like creeping ivy and weeds. It was not a childish act of destruction of property, but a beautiful act of Artivism. Above the plants a gravestone had been painted with the words ‘RIP – This building marks where a park once stood.’ Inside the lines like an Inscription. With a final glance, Steampunk hoisted his backpack back up onto his shoulder and started walking again.
            He wondered why he had chosen urban reclamation as his latest cause, hands stuffed into his pockets to hide the paint he couldn’t get off just yet. He had been spending a lot of time in the hedge of course, its deadly beauty had been growing on him. That was probably the reason, he thought to himself. The real world was seeming a little more boring then the wonders the hedge could provide… and that was a problem. He needed grounding, something to remind him that the mundane world wasn’t quite as mundane as it seemed sometimes. He had to re-find the beauty in it that he’d lost with Reeva.
            “Its not such a bad idea, mind” Steam told London as he walked. “A little greenery would do London the world of good. Give the government a bit of a kick in the arse as well I should warrant. And it would be good to see people getting involved with changing their world to be a nicer place to live.” He smiled. “And if theres one thing I’m bloody well good at, its Fighting to make things better.” He looked around to get his bearings a little before starting to walk his way back to somewhere he recognised. Time to go home and get some sleep. After all, tomorrow was going to be full of LOTS of potential…