So, Sunday has rolled around again in the halfway home.  The kids are awakened again for more boring Sunday service, though following their experiences in the last week, they are eager to see who’s going to give the lesson.  Much to their surprise, they hear a familiar guitar being tuned up downstairs.  Elder Dane is, in fact, back.

After the very unusual service, George hits Elder Dane with a bunch of questions, and Elder Dane offers to answer them at the Terje Haakonsen Skate Park later in the day.  If only the kids weren’t still grounded. . .

Continue Reading

Emma's Shadow

It’s late July at the halfway house, which is about the same as any time in the summer, except for the forgotten fact that Emma Vaerbond will soon be thirteen.  Mrs. Frieda’s not really one for ceremony, and Emma’s never been exactly vocal about the special day, especially since her “special friend” always likes to celebrate the occasion in his own way.  This year is no different.

Odyn, owed a promise of “playtime” with Emma, has made it happen. He’s whispering in a few ears, setting up a few birthday surprises, and doing his best to make sure Emma never forgets this day.

Emma’s friends?  Well, they just happen to be excellent pawns.

Continue Reading

familyhomevening

So, the kids screwed up yesterday.  They went to go see a movie that Mrs. Frieda specifically forbid and were spotted by. . . someone.  When they had to hoof it, though, George decided the best way to escape was to call his giant firebird and fly back to the house.  In any case, Frieda knew that they went to that movie, and found a suitable punishment:  Helping out at the local LDS Church.

During the previous night, the kids were serenaded by their local pastor and missionary Elder Dane.  The kids see the opportunity to go clean the church as a way to find out more about this very strange man.  Meanwhile, everyone else proceeds to clean or set up the church in their own ways (sometimes ways that they’ve invented).

Continue Reading

Tinseltown

It’s Sunday at the Halfway House, and that means two things:

  1. Some boring missionaries from the LDS Church are going to come and give a short service
  2. The rest of the day is fairly open to whatever you want to do  (LAZY SUNDAY!)

The missionaries at the Troy Ward have just switched out recently, and the new guy appears to be vastly different from the previous ones.  That doesn’t mean that the kids are going to treat him any differently, though.

Following a very unusual service, the kids decide what to do with their day.  It turns out that Emma just heard about a new movie coming out, and she’s gotta see it now.

Continue Reading

We’ve talked about Monsters and Other Childish Things time and time again on The Drunk and The Ugly because it is my favorite RPG and because we play it very often. In spite of all that, we have yet to post a session of it.  Until now.

A few weeks ago, our friend Nate (the guy who’s hosting this server) finally got his first set of dice ever, despite how he’s been gaming for over 10 years. Understandably, he wanted a medium to use them in. The Road Trip crew was unavailable and none of us really had anything prepared, so Nate wrote up a one-shot setting in about an hour. This setting was Mrs. Frieda’s Home for Terrible Freakish Children, and ended up becoming sort of a side campaign that is more flexible player-wise, as it’s a fixed position with lots of children, so kids can jump in and out as they need to.

In a nutshell, Mrs. Frieda’s Halfway Home for Children (its official name) is a halfway home for children taken from abusive homes. Why has it gotten the reputation that it has? Because most of the children here responded to the abuse in their homes with abuse of their own. Everyone has their own reasons for being here, and most of them are never going to leave this place with a new family. While everyone has secrets to hide, some kids have worse secrets than others: Some kids have “special friends” that would freak out everyone in the city, and others are slowly transforming into eagles. Not everyone has these kinds of problems, mind you, but a few kids within this establishment do. Mrs. Frieda’s is about the life and times of these children.

Continue Reading