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redd-byrd · 6 months

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AAAAAAAAAAA I LOVED IT SO MUCH

MY DAD WENT WITH ME AND HE ALSO LIKED IT

I’m so glad the theatre was almost empty, I was so excited that I was doing full-on hand-flapping, which I almost never do, and squeaking and giggling like a crazy person, I was stimming like crazy cuz I was so happy to be there

MASSIVE FNAF MOVIE SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

And friendly reminder that this is my ✨OPINION✨

This will be long and very ramble-y so bear with me

OK SO FIRST OFF THE ANIMATRONICS

- I loved how they acted like kids??? Like you tend to forget the ghosts are actual children when looking at the games since they’re constantly all “murder monster-y” so I love that they got to act so childlike

- Kids’ drawings being a massive plot point was so cute, I actually didn’t mind how sudden Afton’s defeat was since like,,, they were only on his side in the first place bc the drawing showed that he was their friend, so it suddenly switching around made a little more sense. Probably could’ve been executed better but for what it was I think it was fine

- And of course THE DESIGNS!!!! Holy shit I loved how they looked!!! The prop team did an AMAZING job with both the animatronics and the background props!!!

- The interactions with Abby were adorable, I loved the fort scene because of how goofy it was to watch giant machines dressed like animals put that together

- Also I know we were all skeptical when the red glowing eyes were shown, but honestly the scenes where they DID glow would probably have looked good even if they didn’t change it, though I will say that the final look is really nice by itself

NEXT IS THE MAIN CAST

- Matthew Lillard did an INCREDIBLE JOB as William Afton, when my dad and I came out of the theatre he said that he had a feeling that Lillard would be the antagonist (mind you my dad knew nothing about the games or the movie), which really shows how well he does at playing horror villains and playing up that gut instinct

- I loved how creepy he was in the final fight scene, just creeping out of the shadows with those two glowing pinpricks was SO cool

- Also Afton being retconned to not be British anymore is so funny to me askdjhsjjdhdj

- Abby didn’t annoy me at all, I actually thought she was super cute!! Which is surprising bc I usually find kids annoying but I’d die for Abby

- When I say that I got WHIPLASH from the animatronics being nice to her and later Mike after she introduced them, I MEAN IT (in a good way)

- Mike taking Abby seriously and believing her when she said her “imaginary friends” are actually ghosts was a nice change of pace

- The group that broke in honestly didn’t need that much characterization since the main thing the plot needed was Max, so that was fine

- I am confused about why people aren’t more concerned about the murders that took place throughout the movie??? Like a missing poster in the background would’ve been fine, or maybe Mike reacting to Max being missing?? They don’t give much context on their relationship, I have no idea if they’re friends or if she’s just someone he hired and doesn’t have much emotional investment in, so maybe that wouldn’t work

- VANESSA MY BELOVED

- Vanessa was great, I love her character so much, but idk if I love her by herself or it it’s cuz she didn’t get much characterization in the game,,,, doesn’t really matter ig

ABOUT THE STORY

- Story was really fun, I love the unexpectedness of some of the scenes (dance scene, fort building, Freddy blade mask, etc) I thought it was so funky

- Afton using a separate identity to lure people to Freddy’s was cool, though I have no idea why he’d do that to other people. I can understand Mike, he likely knew about his brother through the last name, but why other people???

- I am a bit sad about Henry n Charlie Emily being left out, considering how big of a part they both play in the game lore, but idk if it’s explicitly said whether they exist within the movie universe or not, so we’ll see in the next movie ig

- THE SPRINGLOCK SCENE!!!!!!!! I loved it <3 idk how they didn’t go off after Afton was bouncing around in it earlier but when they did go off it was SO COOL!!!

- “I always come back” YES HE DOES!!!! LETS GOOOOOOOOOOO

- End scene of him bleeding out in the storage room hinting towards the full Springtrap character??? Loved it

- Also HELLO FREDBEAR??? GOLDEN FREDDY?? YELLOW BEAR???? WHAT

Extra info:

- No Markiplier was not in it, he was too busy with his own movie

- WAITER MATPAT?????

- Corey was awesome, I thought he was so funny for his short time on screen, esp the post credits scene

- THE FNAF 1 SONG MADE IT IN OH MY GOOOOOOOOD CONGRATS TO THELIVINGTOMBSTONE

Random plot holes or inconsistencies I found:

- Foxy had a scene where they forgot to switch the red eyes to the new glowing ones

- Despite the animatronics killing the group that broke in, spilling plenty of blood, they’re perfectly clean afterwards

- My dad found it weird that they didn’t show any part of the kids’ bodies in the suits, since it’s apparently known that they were stuffed inside (or maybe only Vanessa knew??). He thought an arm or a leg poking out would’ve worked. I said I think it’s either cuz the bodies were removed, are kinda mangled and pretzel-twisted to only be in the torso, or it’s just bc they didn’t think to do that lmao

- He was also confused on how Afton was able to jump around and move so easily in the springlock suit when the suit in the back snapped off the broom handle after a single jab. I said I think it’s bc it’s meant to be used to move around in and not harshly screwed with, or maybe it’s another plot reason

All in all, 8.5/10 movie. There were a few times when I was confused on why something happened or why someone behaved a certain way, but none of it was outright bad or boring. There also could’ve been more to the gore, definitely could’ve pushed the boundaries of the PG-13 rating, but it was good for what it was. It was fun, cute, and knew when to be serious :P

#fnaf #five nights at freddy's #fnaf movie #five nights at freddy’s movie #five nights at freddys movie #five nights at freddys #fnaf movie spoilers #spoilers #fnaf spoilers #movie spoilers

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hawkinsschoolcounselor · 2 years

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Do you think Stranger Things does a good job of portraying queer youth in the 80s?

That's a hard one for me to answer. I was too young in the 80s to really experience it for myself.

I will say, though, that I had very little exposure to LGBT people or issues growing up. Aside from guest characters on more progressive sitcoms, gay characters in media were often treated as throwaway jokes or depraved villains. That was honestly always the biggest problem. It's hard to create a health gay identity when you had no good role models for it.

Robin's fear of telling Steve that she likes girl is very legit. It would be terrifying to reveal that to someone back then because you had no idea how they might react. It wasn't even something that was really talked about. It was a "problem" that "other people" had to deal with. Nobody ever really thought about it because they didn't even expect to have to deal with it. The fact that she's so reluctant to make a move on Vickie, despite Steve being so confident that she'd be interested, is very legit. The reaction could range from a gentle letdown to, as Robin said, becoming the town pariah.

I've also written before about how Will would have a difficult time reaching a realization of gay identity due to these sorts of issues. Without the internet to give him access to real people going through similar journeys, Will would struggle to not only realize that he is indeed gay, but also to even develop a healthy, positive concept of what being gay is. In this sense, I suppose I could accept the show taking a "don't say gay" approach, as Will might be reluctant to identify himself with terms that his dad and bullies have previously used.

Mike also shows yet another sort of journey that a gay teen could take back then. I wrote about that after thinking hard about Mike's story featuring Will and El coming in and out of his life at pivotal moments. Mike's problems stem from the fact that he never really had any reason to think he might be gay. He wasn't targeted with bullying for that. He has a journey similar to what Robin experienced in Rebel Robin. Mike has a deep affection for another boy, but mistakes it for friendship because he never had any understanding that it could mean anything else. Meanwhile, a girl comes into his life when he's intensely worried for this boy, then she shows up again when he's intensely worried for this boy. Then he has massive difficulties having both of them in his life at the same time. He ignores the boy and has a bad relationship with the girl.

To be fair, a lot of this requires a deeper read of the material than the average viewer is probably willing to do. It also requires, as Robin discovered in her novel, the ability to properly translate what you're seeing. For anyone who hasn't read it, Robin needed someone to point out to her that something she anonymously wrote regarding Tammy came across as very romantic. Like Robin (and probably Mike), the average viewer just assumes they, and other people, are straight until told otherwise. It's a heteronormative viewpoint that has only recently begun to change.

#stranger things #gay mike wheeler #gay will byers #robin buckley #byler

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writerrobinarnett · 9 months

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I'M BACK AGAIN 😈🙏

jokes aside i have shorter questions this time (yes, i elaborated chapter 20 LMAO).

ok i noticed this particular earlier but i just wanted to be sure when i asked you this. is it mullo (the kwami of multiplication– oh well, the mouse) who sends the diary pages to will and eleven? tbh i already figured it that was a kwami who was sending them the informations, and i suspected it was mullo (to clarify, i just googled her name because until today i had no idea what her name was lmao). chapter 20 only confirmed the thing. but why a kwami should be free when the miraculous should be in the miracle box?

we were just talking about love square and will is just starting to notice mike (destiny). i'm really curious how will will understand that mike mayfield is actually mike wheeler (sometimes i forget that he's supposing to be max's brother LMAO). and i'm also curious to know how el will react if will confesses to her his feelings for mike (⚰️ <- this is eleven)

henry creel is the felix of this story. i just elaborated that. that's cool. that's not really a question but that's cool.

can vecna and tikki unify (i didn't understand this tbh) ?i

i've run out of questions for now 😃👍

ohmygosh Hello again! 😄

I see you’re back at it with the super insightful and awesome questions!

This is such an astute observation! Tbh the references are pretty subtle, so I’m impressed that you connected the mouse that keeps appearing to the diary pages. Unfortunately, the answer to this question is a spoiler, since it will be revealed later in the story. You won’t get the answer for a long, looooooong time, but you will get an answer, I promise! (Lmk if you want a very vague hint though lol)

Also, I’m curious, why do you think it’s a kwami that’s leaving the diary pages? Not confirming or denying it lol, just wondering 😊

Ahh, you’ll just have to wait and see how Will discovers the truth about Mike’s name. (but you won’t have to wait long hehe) I don’t have a moment where Will confides in El about his crush on Mike… But if I did, I think it would totally go like this:

Will: I think… I might like Mike El: *stares silently ahead, dying inside* El: *inhales deeply* Will: Um… El? El: JUST ASK HIM OUT ALREADY JESUS #$@%*& (the rest is censored, but it would go on for like five min lol) Will: geez okay omg. Calm down! I guess… I guess I’ll ask him tomorr– El: *grabs Will’s phone and throws it at him* No. ASK HIM OUT. RIGHT. NOW!

That’s such a cool idea!! I honestly didn’t realize they were so similar (I kinda wrote that chapter before I saw s5, but now that you point it out, I totally see it!) I just wanted to make a villain that was a big threat but had good intentions. But yeah, he really is a very Felix/Argos like character! Such a cool parallel 😊

Great question! I’m sure you’re not the only one confused, so I’ll try my best to explain it well. Okay. So, when Tikki and Vecna “unify” in ch. 18, it’s meant to be very different from how unifying kwamis works in MLB, and that is because of Vecna. As opposed to being an entirely new kwami, Vecna is half of Tikki. “Unifying” the two, in my story, is more like recombining two halves of a broken kwami. When I say “broken,” I mean how Tikki was losing control of her creation power (as well as her miraculous literally being cracked). To put the unification process simply: “broken” Tikki + Vecna should make a Normal Tikki. However! Vecna was created by a dark/fundamental magic that is “of the Earth.” That magic is not compatible with normal kwamis (who come from space). Because Vecna and Tikki can’t fully recombine, they have a partial unity. They are both tied to Will’s soul and bonded to each other, which stabilizes Tikki (filling in her cracked miraculous), but they can never recombine fully.

If the explanation for unifying doesn’t make sense, then don’t worry too much. 😊 It’s not super important how it works. All that matters is Will has two kwamis. He can’t ever take off his earrings or renounce his two miraculous. And he can switch between his upside down powers and his ladybug powers

#ao3 story #byler fanfic #miraculous ladybug #thanks for the ask!#great questions as always!

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skylermadness · 7 months

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Full Interlink (Guernica Vandham TF/MC/AP)

(Original Date of Upload: February 4, 2023)

Guess I'm uploading my stuff to Tumblr now! I've been writing on DeviantArt and FurAffinity for a good two and a half years now, and felt like maybe testing the waters to see how things will do on Tumblr.

Original Description:

I have written two TFs of the Vandham variety and both of them are Mature. I wonder what this means for me. Anyway, this was an idea I've actually had swirling around my head for a few months now. I wanted to try something based on one of the early game cutscenes, and I kind of went with something that might be considered possession in the least? I don't know. Anyway, this was a really fun story to write! I was trying to go more of an angle of self-exploration and pleasuring during the transformation, something I didn't really explore with many TFs before (except maybe the Thor one from last year). I'm quite proud of how it turned out though, might be among my favorite works! ...I say that with everything I upload, damn. I also wrote this story as a soft sequel to my earlier Xenoblade 3 story "Gray Matter". It's not really vital you read that one first, I just thought it'd be a nice connection to end things on.

Smoke was quickly consuming the valley's battlefield with each passing second, the only sound heard being that of a grueling fight. Six people fighting against a gigantic, monstrous creature of an unknown Origin.

Farther away from the fight there's the sound of metal clanging, and energy pulsating shortly after. An egg-shaped object sits on the ground, splitting open evenly as a piston within it arises and blue motes of light escape its internals. The shell of the object glows a bright green. An eighth person is on this battlefield as well: a burly, bearded man who was currently mortally wounded. Still, he was attempting to do something despite his life-threatening injury.

As the object appears to power up, this man lets out a laugh of triumph. "That's what I'm talking about… looks like it wasn't all for nothing!"

And for a second, the TV screen flickers.

In truth, all of what had just occurred was merely a part of a cutscene. One that belonged to the game Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

Sitting on the living room couch, a young man named Mike eagerly watches the scene unfold. He had originally spent a while procrastinating on even beginning to play this game, but once he started he found himself hooked. The characters interested him, and what little plot he's been given at this point in the story had interested him.

And considering Mike's fixated gaze towards the TV screen. He was captivated.

The fight still continues in front of him. The mysterious giant manages to knock one of the fighters off her feet. But before he gets a chance to land a finishing blow, someone else comes and uses their sword to divert the giant's attack. The swordfighter isn't able to get both he and the girl beside him away from the giant fast enough, and things already are quickly beginning to look dire.

But then a voice yells out in the distance; deep, aged, accented. "It's not over yet!!"

Mike stares at the face of the man. Guernica Vandham. Admittedly he looked like an altered version of the Vandham from the second Xenoblade game, but that didn't make him any less interesting. Considering Mike's ardor towards the original, the copy was just about as good in his eyes.

The older face, the thick beard, the Australian accent. Heck, the jumpsuit looked perfect on the guy! It was enough to make him unconsciously think about just being the guy. Having his face, his hair, his muscles, his voice…

In almost an instant, Guernica pushes down the piston and a massive pulse of energy spills from the object. Spirits of the fighters appear to be ejected from their own bodies.

This includes the spirit of Guernica Vandham himself.

Time seems to slow, and…

Mike barely gets a chance to react as the burly man's spirit almost seems to get expelled from the screen of his TV and descend onto his own body. His physical form and Guernica's spectral form seem to overlap each other for just a millisecond, then the hulking apparition disappears as if it were never there to begin with.

At the same time his television seems to flicker, the power of it short circuiting as his Switch emits a worrying noise of electric crackling. Something builds up, then snaps as the TV forces itself off. The console beside it does the exact same thing as well.

The sensation that pushes everything out of the weird slow feeling state of time was the electrical crepitation of the very controller in his hand, the object seemingly mimicking the actions of all the other electronics in the room. A massive shock entered Mike's hands and arms, the young man hissing in pain as he flung the object onto the table in front of him.

"What the hell was that-" Mike said, his eyes wide as he took in the sudden change of state in his surroundings. His limbs tingle from the sudden shock of electricity, and his palms seemed a little red, likely due to the heat.

His gaze wandered around. Towards the controller, which now appeared fine. Then to the television, whose screen was black and pictureless with no sound coming from its stereos. He then took a glance at the Switch, seemingly inactive as well. But there seems to be something faint, and Mike squints to see what it was.

"Is that… smoke?"

He couldn't fully tell, but a barely noticeable stream of smoke seemed to be escaping the docked console's vent. "Aw crap, did it overheat??"

He stood up from the couch and took a step forward, but was suddenly stopped when he felt a sudden spasm course across his entire body. "Agh, what…?"

The tingling in his hands seemed to increase dramatically, feeling a new, strange sensation. It felt as if he submerged his hand in pure TV static. He looked downwards at his hands to check for any changes, and… he indeed found some.

"Wha…"

Mike's mind blanked, the young man dumbfounded at what he was witnessing. Both of his hands appeared to be growing. Both palms stretched, size increasing with each passing second. They swelled with a thick meatiness entering them. His fingers lengthened to fit the new proportions of his hands, and a significant thickness entered them as well while the tips of each finger blunted.

The discomforting tingling in his hands slowly subsided, the cause being another change that seemed to settle in his hands. As his palms enlarged, the skin upon them grew harder and dense with thick calluses etching upon them. The skin on the back of his hands began to weather, aging rapidly as it gained an almost leathery texture to it.

Mike flipped his hands over a few times in a panic, eyes wide at the sight of them. “What’s happening??”

This strange occurrence then started to move upwards. The rapid aging of his skin cascaded upwards like some kind of reverse waterfall. Alongside that came a substantial amount of bulk in the affected limbs. Bulk that was a result of an increase in muscle mass. It started in his lower arms, the areas heating up as an almost instantaneous workout was forced upon them, their musculature increasing greatly in mere seconds. All the while, the bones in his arms extended, stretching to a larger length than they once were.

Things rapidly reached his forearms next, his muscles growing in that area as well. Biceps began to bulge, triceps magnifying alongside them. The sleeves of his shirt strained against this growth, easily becoming sizes smaller in comparison to his thickening forearms. This was quickly exacerbated once his delts started to gain mass as well, practically ballooning in size. From there the changes jumped to his torso, etching into his shoulders and beginning to broaden them.

The sound of the fabric of his sleeves tearing pierced the air of the room, Mike groaning while sweat started to bead from his forehead. The odd tingling had remained as a searing heat that reverberated around his form, and now that it reached his torso it was steadily plunging both downwards and rising upwards.

He blinked a few times, placing a massive hand at the side of his head. “Hot…” was the first word he could muster, the burgeoning heat messing with his train of thought and leaving his mind hazy.

“Ugh, something’s wrong…”

Although, something about that very statement felt incorrect. His earlier panic was dying down rapidly, easily being replaced with a dazed disposition. Confusion was setting in; that of why this is happening, what is even happening. There was also a state of curiosity as well.

His eyes slowly edged to a side, staring at a muscular arm and thick hand. “So… old and…” his cheeks flushed, “big…”

At the sound of that very simple word, something else began to well up inside him. Heat surged within the man’s core, his bodily frame now starting to widen and slowly pull at the buttons of his shirt as his size grew in width. The strain on his shirt's split persisted, his chest swelling as his pectorals expanded. It wasn't long until their growth exceeded his shirt's limit; a button breaking an eyelet while another one just simply popped off. His pecs continued growing, thickening into two meaty slabs.

It was at this point that Mike's attention had drawn downwards, his mind in a hazy stupor. The site of his newly massive pecs felt satisfying to him. There was also something enjoyable about feeling his shirt continue to rip itself open, more and more buttons breaking against his wide form and thickening muscles. His stomach churned at the feeling of his abdominal muscles beginning to bubble from his skin. Buttons strained, a few simply breaking off, as a six-pack sequentially rippled from the top of his abdomen down.

Mike smiled goofily at the sight, lifting a hand and dipping a finger into the cleavage of his pectorals. "U-urgh… this feels… nice…"

His breathing shuddered. Did his voice crack? It sounded… deeper. And like an accent was beginning to creep in. But those thoughts quickly dashed out his mind as he moved a finger downwards, slowly trailing the midline of his new abdominal muscles.

"Y-yeah… warm 'nd… big…" he said, voice quiet but getting noticeably deeper with each word.

His back straightened, pressure wracking the vertebrae of his spinal cord. The floor was beginning to move further away, the hem of his shirt riding upwards. A sign that his height was increasing.

The sensuality of the experience seemed to increase substantially as he felt hairs prickling from his skin. His eyes widened slightly at the sudden sight of dark hairs emerging from his skin. At first it was just a mild dusting trailing across his chest and the middle of his abs, but it quickly grew beyond that. The fuzz lining his midline thickened into a nice treasure trail, that blossoming of thick hairs seeming to move upwards until it reached his pecs. From there it formed a forest of fur, a sight that greatly contrasted the hairlessness of his arms. Even more peculiar, all this hair had a dusty gray color to it.

He didn't have a lot of time to dwell on that thought though, his hand moving back to his pecs and rubbing them a little. Feeling the bush of fur beneath his calloused skin, watching the hairs break through from between his fingers. His cheeks flushed again, the man feeling so… warm…

He could feel this intense warmth running downwards in more ways than one. The button of his jeans struggled against his widening waist, that region being the next to expand.

It started off simply at first. His thighs started bulging, mimicking the changes in the rest of his body as the muscles within them expanded. Ridges formed within the denim of his jeans quickly as they outlined the increasing size of his hamstrings and his quads. But things quickly got out of his, Mike beginning to feel his rear swell in size. The seat of his pants filled, his glutes growing. His ass was getting round, firm, and thick. So much so that it was evident through the back of his pants.

Of course, the front wasn't left unscathed. He could practically feel the blood shooting downwards, the man blushing in a mix of embarrassment and euphoria. His groin stirred with activity, the zipper of his jeans breaking from his new girth. A bulge had formed, Mike letting out a deep, husky groan at the feeling. He couldn't help but move his hand down to the area and squeeze it for just a moment of pleasure.

Meanwhile, more of his changes transitioned past his knees. His bones pressurized as they bulked beneath his new weight. They lengthened as well, the legs of his jeans moving upwards as his height increased some more. The denim also began to split at the sides, muscles continuing to bulge in size. The crus of his legs practically felt like they set ablaze as his calves swelled. His legs were effectively twice the size of what they used to be, although the same could be said for the rest of his body.

The only piece of his clothing that wasn't torn up was his shoes, but judging by the increasing discomfort in that area it was easy to tell that wouldn't last long. With his footwear, his feet were steadily expanding. Stretching out to get larger, getting meatier as well. His toes grew as well, each one getting thicker. As the size increased, the toecap of his shoes started bulging, his toes pushing up against the leather. The seams holding his shoes together were quickly beginning to undo itself, the strings fraying and splitting apart over the bridge. His heel dug into the back, ankles into the sides. Then, in mere seconds, his shoes split open to reveal his massive feet, which continued to grow larger until they were in proportion with the rest of his body.

Mike was practically growling now, slowly trying to get over his sudden erotic euphoria. "Everythin's so sparkin'... hot, urgh…"

He swallowed, feeling the lump in his throat swelling as his neck got larger. Thicker, swelling out into a trunk. His voice continued to deepen, his vocal cords altering it as they changed within his neck.

"Somethin' ain't right…" he spoke. His vocal mannerisms were shifting. His very accent was changing, becoming more and more Australian sounding.

He felt so confused. So many emotions and feelings were firing in his brain at once, his senses being overridden with other feelings every second. Confusion, euphoria, warmth, haziness, erotic bliss, pleasurable desires, it was so much.

"Grrgh, ain't never felt like this before…"

His body swayed, the man unhanding his groin and pressing it onto a nearby flat surface (a table, he'd assume if he could think properly anymore).

He started looking around. "The heck am I… this ain't Alfetto…"

A-Alfetto? That's not… is it? He was in that valley, a fight was going on… or, or was that just… a game? N-no, it was real, right?

"What's goin' on…"

He placed his unoccupied hand on his head. His mind felt scrambled. Memories twisting and shifting, identity in turbulence. Where was he? Who was he? He should know this goddammit!

"Can't let your age get to ya' now, M… Mi-... Urgh-"

His head ached. Shit, what was his name again? How the hell could he forget that…

He groaned again, aches beginning to reverberate across his entire skull. The structure of it was increasing in size; lengthening, widening. His jawline resculpted itself, hardening and chiseling itself out into something more wide and blunted. His head's shape was looking more rectangular by the second. Structures on his face were next to change. His eyes were getting slightly smaller, his eyebrows getting more curved. His nose probably underwent the largest restructuring as it grew bigger, rounder, and slightly bulbous.

Shortly after, hairs started to prickle across his face. Dark at first, but quickly shifting to a gray coloration. Stubbly fuzz running down the sides of his head, across his chin, around and above his lips. It soon began to grow, however. It was slow at first, but the pace soon changed as it quickly bloomed into a short beard. Short, well-kept, gray…

His entire body had aged at this point, his face was about ready to catch up. His younger features faded rapidly; wrinkles etching themselves at the ends of his mouth, the edges of his eyes. His skin was getting a tough, weathered look to it. Older and older he got; early 20s, mid 30s, late 40s, mid 50s. More and more age was sleeping into his skin, alongside a massive X-shaped scar that slit itself across his face and scarred over in a millisecond.

As he aged, his once brown hair was graying as well. Starting where it met his beard, quickly extending to the rest of his scalp in the blink of an eye. His hairline was even beginning to recede a bit, granting the man a widow's peak in seconds. The curly, messiness it possessed was probably what changed the most though. Follicles were realigning as they pushed out his head, getting longer and longer. From the sides and from the back it became quite long, moving past the nape of his neck and reaching his upper back. As for the top of his head, it extended, but also styled itself, growing and aligning into a perfectly groomed pompadour-style.

A soft green glow illuminated his eyes for a moment before subsiding. "Sparks, is this what death feels like-"

He placed a hand on his chest. His… bare chest. A part of him reflexively squeezed a pec, the man shivering in response. "Wh-what am I doing…"

His mind was still in a confusing mess. Parts of him that didn't feel like him were being subsumed, his identity trying to supplant itself firmly in his mind. Turmoil and chaos was trying to settle itself, pieces falling into place as he was trying to determine what the hell he was doing here-

Alfetto Valley, Ouroboros Stone, Mœbius, those kids…

He squeezed his chest again. Why wasn't his hand wet? He could've sworn he was shot straight through there…

He tried to reorient himself, to look around, although he felt woozy and disoriented. He'd make a joke about being drunk right now if he was in his right mind.

The final changes occurred as he stumbled; that being the shifts of his ill-fitting clothing. From an outside perspective, these changes were almost instantaneous. His button-up shirt fused with his jeans, the material of both articles of clothing seeming to harden into leather. Whatever buttons remained got consumed by the leather, the combined split growing a metallic zipper to compensate before beginning to zip itself up. The sleeves of his shirt seemed to almost disconnect, leaving the newly forming jumpsuit sleeveless. The disconnected sleeves formed a second layer of grayish-teal cloth that went across his chest to form a t-shirt. His jumpsuit continued to change, the material finally changing color to a plain gray while the size of it enlarged to perfectly fit his body. The collar of it unfurled and lengthened, almost going so high that it would graze his face.

Additional bits were being added. Slits formed in the abdominal region of the material becoming welt-side pockets, meanwhile a pair of gusset pockets bulged from the thigh region. A belt materialized and snaked itself around his waist, adorned with pouches and a weapon holster. While his t-shirt formed, the part that touched his hand seemed to cause another sudden appearance of a new material, black leather encasing his hand and lower arm while a metallic goo emerged and solidified into an arm guard. A similar accessory seemed to appear on his other hand shortly after.

The last changes reached the remains of what could barely be called his shoes anymore. The simple fragmented cloth and rubber that composed of the footwear's entirety expanded, the once-solid consistency seeming almost liquid as it consumed his foot and moved upwards and around the crus of his legs. It then shaped itself, molding into what appeared to be boots, garnering a leathery black texture while this occurred. Metal plating then emerged from that leather, a pair of guards strapping themselves around his lower legs.

A boot practically stomped on the ground under his weight, the older man slowly regaining proper mobility absentmindedly. He didn't even notice an eye patch appearing out of thin air and strapping itself to his head, his mind registering it as having always been there.

"C'mon, Guernica, ya know you haven't had anything…"

Guernica! That's his name!

He squeezed a pec again, the mindless self-indulgence seeming to have faded. He could barely even recall what had happened in those last minutes, only recalling flashes of pleasure from one side of his mind while having flashes of war from the other. He let out a deep sigh. His chest didn't hurt anymore, and unhanding it he saw it was… fine. As if nothing was there.

Looking up, he peered around the room he was in. Living room of some kind, pretty well furnished too. Although it doesn't feel like anything he's seen in the City.

As he thinks that, his eye catched a glance of a nearby window. It's noticeably dark out, but he can definitely see the night sky, the outside.

"This definitely ain't the City…"

So where did that leave him?

Part of him wondered if this was one of those fabled upper realms like those he's heard the City researchers talk about in passing. Elysium? Or perhaps the divine upper plane beyond two giants?

Agh, whatever. He didn't listen to them long enough to know. He doubts this is some kind of post-death paradise anyway. Especially since the last thing he could recall was activating that Ouroboros Stone, and feeling like his very soul was pummeled from its body.

Did he even get a chance to die?

He growled to himself. "Don't go thinking those thoughts to yourself."

He feels alive. He has to be. He's just in some… unknown world.

"Hm. If this ain't Aionios…"

This could be a big risk, but…

He lifts up a hand and grasps a notch on his eyepatch's strap, squishing it around to undo it. It takes a few moments, but he manages to do so and remove the patch.

He blinks his eyes. "Sparks, that thing gets hot…"

He then feels something within his Iris. Crap, he hopes it ain't a Mœbius signal-

But after a few moments, he registers the signal. It's familiar. It's…

"Gray…?"

#character tf #transformation #human tf #age progression #tf

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berenwrites · 10 months

Text

Beyond the Battle - Chapter 25 - Stranger Things - Steddie

Beyond the Battle: Action & Consequence

Click here for All Posted Chapters

Summary: Steve hits things with a bat or gets hit depending on who you ask. He definitely does not have anything to do with the psychic stuff. That is El’s domain. However, as Vecna is defeated, the rules change.

Pairing: steddie (Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson)

Other Relationships: Steve & Robin, Steve & Dustin, Eddie & Dustin

Rating: Teen

A/N: Multi-chapter story, updated regularly. Honestly not sure how many chapters it will have yet because it's still a bit hand wavy in the middle, but definitely more than 12. Thank you to my beta for find my mistakes and to all those who read/like/reblog.💖 Follow #st:beyond-the-battle for updates.

Also on AO3

Chapter 25. Meetings

Will appeared in the doorway in front of them and immediately stopped. He gave them a small nod before turning away and walking back into the other room. Eddie gave Steve a long, vaguely terrified look, so he leaned in and pecked his boyfriend on the cheek, giving his hand a quick squeeze in support at the same time.

The way Eddie took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second was very familiar to Steve. He’d used the same technique himself more than a few times in his life.

“Okay,” Eddie said quietly and took a step towards the door.

Steve followed a little behind. He wanted to make sure Eddie felt supported, but he also didn’t want to intrude on Eddie’s moment.

Everyone was gathered in the middle of the living room when they stepped into view. Steve had never really interacted with Eddie’s friends, but he knew them by sight, and he had checked with Dustin to make sure he didn’t do something stupid like get any of their names wrong. Gareth and Jeff were talking to Dustin and Mike about something, so only Frank was looking in Eddie’s direction.

The way Frank’s eyes went big and round and the poor guy kind of flailed at Jeff to get his attention would have been funny under other circumstances. When Jeff turned and had an almost identical reaction, Steve held his breath. Only he didn’t need to, because a second later the tableau broke.

“Eddie,” Jeff said, face breaking out in a huge smile.

In moments, Eddie was swamped by Frank and Jeff, even though Jeff appeared to be limping.

“Hey guys,” Eddie said, apparently trying to get his arms around both his friends at the same time.

Steve couldn’t help noticing that Gareth hung back a little, even though he had followed the other two.

“I knew you were too stubborn to get yourself killed,” Frank said, all but squeezing the life out of Eddie.

“It was close,” Eddie replied.

“What happened?” Jeff asked, eyes clearly on the scar on Eddie’s face.

“Bad shit I am not allowed to talk about,” Eddie said, “sorry. What happened to you?”

“Oh, Mom’s mixer fell off the counter onto my foot during the quake,” Jeff said with a shrug. “I was dumb and tried to save it and missed.”

“You have a war wound from a stand mixer?” Eddie asked, a smile making his mouth twitch.

“My mom was impressed with my valour,” Jeff replied, and Steve could see why they were friends.

“A noble act of heroism indeed,” Eddie said with a laugh. “And Gar, what’s your story?”

Steve had also noticed the bandage on Gareth’s hand around two of his fingers. Both obvious injuries were making his instincts prickle. He’d seen people at the hospital when going to see Max who had been in need of help, but they hadn’t made him feel like this. Whether it was because he was more aware now, or he’d been focused only on Max, or if it was something to do with these being Eddie’s friends and hence now in his orbit to protect, he had no idea. All he knew was it was a little bit frustrating.

However, what pushed those thoughts into the background was the way Gareth reacted. The other boy shrugged and hung his head. If Steve didn’t know better, he would have read it as guilt. Frank leaned towards Eddie and whispered something that Steve couldn’t hear. The way Dustin was looking over told Steve the kid knew what was going on as well.

“It’s so good to see you guys,” Eddie said brightly, covering the awkwardness. “If you haven’t guessed, while Will the Wise would no doubt have done a great job, I am your DM for today. Thy battlefield awaits.”

He made a big gesture towards the dining room table, and everyone groaned as if this was the worst news in the world. Eddie looked gleeful rather than offended, so clearly that was the correct reaction.

“Gar, come help me grab the sodas our noble host, Sir Steven, hath stashed in the box of ice while our comrades fight for dominance,” Eddie went on.

Steve rolled his eyes at the dramatics because that was what he was supposed to do. The odd tension between Eddie and Gareth, who Steve knew was one of Eddie’s closest friends, had him worried, but he knew how to follow a lead.

“Do not drop anything in the cake,” he warned as Eddie all but bodily dragged Gareth towards the kitchen.

“Cake?” Dustin asked, eyes lighting up.

“Well, this is a celebration,” Steve said, “but don’t get any ideas Henderson, it’s for later.”

“Did you make it?” Dustin asked, looking hopeful.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but not this time,” he replied.

He’d picked it up on a whim when he had been grocery shopping.

“You bake?” Jeff said in such an incredulous tone, Steve found his hands on his hips in his default defensive pose.

“Why does everyone say that?” he complained.

“Steve, platonic love of my life,” Robin said with a laugh, “have you seen you? You do not look like the baking type.”

“His chocolate cake is to die for,” Erica said in a surprising show of solidarity. “He made it for my birthday.”

It was nice to know he rated above the Corroded Coffin guys.

“Steve, you baked for Erica but didn’t bake for Eddie?” Dustin said in a mock shocked tone.

“Do not think I am above throwing you in the pool, slime and all,” Steve threatened. “When was I supposed to get the good chocolate exactly?”

Dustin was grinning at his bitchy tone.

“Did you say slime?” that came from Frank.

“After the quake, something fell in the pool and became slime,” Steve replied. “Haven’t had time to get it properly cleaned yet. Don’t worry,” he added, looking at all the kids, “it will be ready by the time the weather is warm enough to use it.”

Dustin had already extracted that promise from him. He hadn’t had a pool party in a long time, but after all they had gone through as a full group this time, and with everything being over (hopefully) it seemed like something to look forward to.

Steve could see the way Jeff and Frank were swapping looks like they couldn’t quite believe what they were hearing. Not that he could blame them. It didn’t really match the image he had had in school.

“Come on,” Mike said, “let’s get set up.”

“Make yourselves at home,” Steve invited, and everyone headed towards the dining room table at the end of the large room. “If you could just keep the snacks out of the rugs, that would be great,” he added.

He’d loaded a side table with chips and candy that he hoped would satisfy all tastes. Frankly he might have gone a little over the top, but he had wanted everything to be perfect for Eddie’s comeback campaign. Eddie and the kids all deserved time to just have fun. He didn’t want them having to worry about anything.

Gareth and Eddie appeared a few minutes later, carrying many cans of soda, shoulders bumping together looking very much more relaxed. Steve exchanged a glance with Eddie, who gave him a nod and a small smile. Whatever had been bothering Gareth was clearly dealt with. Steve was dying of curiosity, but he could live with that if Eddie was happy. He’d just give his boyfriend the third degree later.

“Daring adventurers,” Eddie announced loudly as he reached the table, “art thou ready for thy dangerous quest?”

Everyone yelled a hearty response and Steve felt himself smiling, despite the chaos that was taking over his home.

~*~

Steve had just finished making sure everyone had snacks yet again while Eddie put them through hell in his campaign to end all campaigns when he heard a key in the door. Since Robin was chattering away to Wayne on the couch and everyone else who wasn’t already battling away around the table would have rung the doorbell, he was immediately on alert.

“Mom,” he said, shocked as he peered around the corner towards the front door.

Everything went ominously silent behind him from the end of the room.

“Steve,” his mom said, “thank heavens you’re safe. We’ve had terrible trouble trying to call you.”

“Sorry, Mom,” he said, heading over to her. “The phones have been up and down. I left messages, didn’t you get them?”

“Yes, Darling,” his mom replied as she enveloped him in a hug, “but there are only so many, ‘everything’s fine, don’t worry’ messages a mother can get before she does start to worry. And your definition of fine is not always accurate.”

He heard Robin snort a laugh.

“I know we’re in the middle of a big merger,” his mom said, giving him a motherly once over, “but I’ve left your father to deal with it. Now, are you going to introduce me since we have guests?”

“Oh, yes,” he said, turning to find all eyes on him. “Mom, this is Robin.”

“Ah, the Robin I have heard so much about,” his mom said. “Nice to finally meet you, Robin.”

“And you Mrs Harrington,” Robin replied.

“And this is Wayne,” Steve went on, “and Eddie, Wayne is Eddie’s uncle. Um, I offered them a place to stay because their home was destroyed by the earthquake and it’s going to take a while to fix. Eddie’s a friend from school.” It wasn’t that much of a stretch. “Then there’s Dustin, Will, Mike, Lucas, Erica, Gareth, Jeff and Frank.”

“Very nice to meet everyone,” his mom said with her polite smile. “Some names are very familiar, it is lovely to finally have faces to go with them.”

Everyone chimed in with various greetings and Eddie surreptitiously climbed off the chair he had been crouching on while playing what Steve thought might have been a dragon, but he wasn’t sure.

“Please, don’t let me interrupt,” his mom said. “I’ll just go and freshen up.”

“Can I get you anything, Mom?” Steve asked, picking up his mother’s suitcase and taking it towards her and his father’s room.

“I have been dying for a coffee for the last hour,” his mom told him, “I am just about ready to kill for one.”

“You’re in luck,” he replied. “Wayne just made a fresh pot. I don’t know what he does to it, but he has a magic touch or something. Do you want it before or after you change?”

“I think I’ll have a quick shower first,” his mom replied.

Steve followed her just into her and his dad’s downstairs bedroom and popped down the case as his mom disappeared into the ensuite bathroom. When he came out again it was to find everyone staring at him.

“Are we really okay to carry on?” Eddie asked.

“What?” he replied. “Oh yeah, Mom’s cool.”

“Even with DnD?” Lucas asked, and he couldn’t really blame them, after all the town had just gone crazy about it.

“Yeah,” he assured them, “we’ve talked about it loads of times when we talked about Dustin.”

“You talk to your mom about me?” Dustin said, mouth open in shock.

“Um, yes,” he said, not really understanding the surprise. “Why?”

“Dude, you’ve mentioned your mom, like once ever,” Dustin said.

“Oh,” he said. He hadn’t really thought about it. “Well Mom and Dad have been away a lot the last couple of years because they’ve been working on a merger, their company is taking over another one. We talk on the phone all the time though.”

“Phone time is scared time,” Robin said in a very serious tone before breaking into a fit of giggles.

“Robin!” he scolded, but that just made her laugh more. “You are so losing best friend points for that.”

“Oh no, you wound me,” was all she replied.

“My whole world view is shifting,” Gareth said with mock wonder.

“Pool, slime,” Steve said glaring at the whole table. “Don’t think I won’t.”

That just got him a fond smile from Eddie and some scoffing. It seemed gone were the days when he could inspire terror with a glance.

~*~

“Steve,” his mom said as he poured her a cup of coffee, “Eddie’s not just a friend from school, is he? I have seen the news.”

He took a deep breath. He’d accompanied his mom into the kitchen a few minutes previously and he’d been waiting for something like that.

“No,” he replied, “honestly, we barely spoke in school, that was just the first thing that came into my head, sorry. We became friends after he was accused of murder because Dustin’s been friends with him since school started this year. He’s completely innocent and we knew that from the beginning. So, when he needed a place to stay, I offered him one of our spare rooms. Then the press began to hound Wayne where he was staying at the motel, so I invited him as well. I hope it’s okay.”

He finally looked up from where he was concentrating hard on the coffee pot when he felt his mother’s hand on his shoulder.

“Of course, it’s okay,” she told him with a soft smile. “I trust your judgment.”

“It was crazy, Mom,” he said. “The whole town tried to hunt Eddie down because he runs a Dungeons and Dragons club. They actually believed he killed Chrissy and Fred and Patrick in some ritual because he worships demons. It was like everyone lost their minds.”

“And then the earthquake happened like an act of God,” his mom commented. “I see you managed to do yourself some damage again.”

His hand went to his throat and the now silvery scar. The lie about being caught up in something during the quake jumped into his mind, but he just couldn’t say it.

“Things happened,” he said quietly, “things I’m not allowed to talk about yet. Did you see Chief Powell’s full press conference?”

His mom nodded.

“Then you know there’s information that isn’t public knowledge yet,” he said. “It’s part of that. I really am fine, though.”

“I noticed Eddie has a similar colour scar on his face,” his mom said. “It looks unusual. Did his come from the same source?”

Steve nodded.

“Oh, Steve, my sweet boy,” his mom went on, gently placing her fingers on the side of his neck, “how do you keep finding yourself in the middle of the bad things in this town? Actually, I can guess; you are far too brave and far too worried about everyone but yourself.”

She leaned forward and placed a kiss on his forehead.

“I’m proud of you,” she said, “and I will drop the questions for now, but I will want an explanation in the end. Okay?”

“Okay,” he agreed. He didn’t like lying to his mother, but once the cover story was finalised that was what he would do, so his parents never ended up in danger from the Upside Down. It was all supposed to be over, but he would believe it when he saw it. It had been supposed to be over so many times before too.

End of Chapter 25

Chapter 26

#stranger things fanfiction #steddie #steve harrington/eddie munson #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #eddie lives #stranger things #st:beyond-the-battle #fanfic #post season 4 #vampire eddie #hurt/comfort #vampire eddie munson #steve harrington has powers #steddie fanfic #steddie fic

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septembersghost · 2 years

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Thinking about Green Light and how Gus bought up the lawyer when it came to the Salamancas, and him/Mike agreeing that he didn’t need to know, and even with all the context I still don’t know if it’s a pragmatic choice or one of compassion (or both)

i think it's very much both. i saw a really good post earlier (my brain is tired so i can't remember if it was on here or somewhere else) about how we've learned the events of bcs actually transformed gus and mike's approaches in certain respects - we thought it was hardening and darkening them (and it did, to an extent), but in other ways, it left them more vulnerable. bcs gus would never have worked with walt, we saw how he reacted to the tiniest slip from werner, he would not have entertained the idea of bringing in an unknown entity, an amateur, but he "wins" in bcs and it gives him a sense of control, and that blind spot of revenge and hatred for the salamancas is a chink in his armor he never foresees being exploited. for mike, though we see him continue down that bad choice road and sublimate more and more of his soul and conscience, the experience with nacho has a lasting impact that changes and shapes his relationship with jesse, and jesse and walt are inextricably linked. mike can't ultimately kill walt because of jesse. walt destroys gus and mike both, and what they've been through here and how it has changed them is a huge part of why he manages to do that. they still have their defenses up, but they alter the placement of them.

that in mind, gus and mike are all too aware of what happened with jimmy in the desert, what happened with howard, what happened with lalo, the panic that would ensue if saul were made aware of the cousins' presence and threat in abq. why tell him? there's no advantage to it, hence pragmatically it doesn't make sense, and there's risk of it making him spiral. mike may not have much compassion to spare for saul, but he DOES know jimmy is still deep down in there. there's no reason to put him through that, and it's need to know information.

i also do wonder what it was like for saul to meet walt in face off and report back about casa tranquila and gus antagonizing hector with the speech about his entire family being dead. did saul finally realize, in that moment, that lalo was never coming back? that it actually was over? did part of him want to reach for the phone to call kim and scream out repeatedly that it was done, that lalo could never come back? did it alleviate the fear that he'd held onto for so long, hearing the salamancas were ended? their existence is now a much bigger nightmare in jimmy's story than it was in walt's. maybe it doesn't matter because the ptsd lingers on and then saul immediately has other things to be paranoid about and to fear, but i feel like he must've taken at least one breath and thought again, "thank god he's dead."

#cauldronofmorning #letterbox #better call saul #bcs spoilers

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glitchinginhyperfixis · 2 years

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1. How do you think Will would react when he finds out that Mike is in love with him? 2. How do you think Mike would react when he finds out that Will is in love with him? (if Mike isn’t in love with him) 3. How do you think will felt after "it's not my fault you don't like girls"? 4. How and when do you think Will found out that he loves Mike and how did he react to his own feelings? 5. What future do you think Will likes to envision for himself and Mike? 6. What future do you think Will sees for himself in his adult life? 7. How do you think Will was feeling at the snowball? 8. What do you think Will imagines in the situation if someone finds out that he is gay? 9. How do you think Lonnie’s abuse affected Will? 10. What do you think Will was thinking of season 3 Mike and season 3 El?

1. honestly, i think he would be in disbelief and would maybe even doubt mike’s feelings, even if only for a short time. (i’ve always pictured something similar to the amy-laurie situation since the comparison was made). but he would definitely be happy and relieved once he realizes that mike’s feelings for him aren’t going to disappear.

2. i think he would be shocked but supportive. he would definitely be accepting of will, but i would think that in the moment, he would sort of freeze up.

3. devastated. exhibit a: castle byers

4. ooh. that’s a hard one. i think deep down he’s always known, but i think there were a few moments that almost tipped him off. one being the snowball. also, crazy together. i think his moment of realization was at some point in s3, but i’m not sure when. it was definitely brought on by mike and el’s relationship though. (or possibly ‘it’s not my fault you don’t like girls’).

5. probably that one brought up by a lot of bylers where he’s an artist and mike’s a writer and they create stories together. something like that. one where they live in a shitty apartment, but they’re happy, and their friends and family all support them.

6. i think he’d imagine himself as an artist. i don’t think that he’d picture himself with anybody if he was thinking “realistically” because to him, he probably wouldn’t think he’d get to have that. i do think he’d imagine himself still being super close with joyce and jonathan, and then el when they became siblings. he’d also hope that he would stay friends with the party into adulthood.

7. sad, but i don’t think he knew why yet. i think he knew he didn’t like girls by that point, or at least that he didn’t think of them the same way the others did, but like i said above, i don’t think he knew he liked mike yet. but he probably felt uncomfortable and sad, especially seeing mike and el together. (i think he’s always felt that way about them, but he hated feeling that way and had no idea why he was feeling it).

8. i think that deep down will knows his family and friends would accept him, but he’s still afraid. (he already knows jonathan accepts him, and i think he knows joyce would too). i’m sure he’s imagined both scenarios at one point. one where they accept him and one where they hate him.

9. i think it affected will (and jonathan) in a lot of ways. will’s feelings about his sexuality were definitely influenced, especially if you think about the fact that lonnie called him slurs (and lonnie probably either got physical with jonathan or both of them). i think it also makes him think about his mom’s wellbeing a lot more than he would if lonnie hadn’t been abusive (but so did the entirety of stranger things, because he knows she worries about him more than she should have to). generally, i think it made him scared and wary of how people would react to his sexuality, or how they would perceive him.

10. i think he thought their relationship was stupid and was annoyed at them for only ever spending time with each other, but at the end of the day, he always cared about mike. if i’m recalling correctly, he and el weren’t super close in s3, but i do think he cared about her. after “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls,” he felt hurt and betrayed by mike. but the ‘stupid girl’ comment had more to do with mike than el, so i didn’t think that implied any feelings of ill will toward el.

#i think i kind of repeated a bit and didn’t do a great job of phrasing but you get the gist #this was fun #byler #hope i did okay #ask #ask collection

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willel · 2 years

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i followed you because i love the concept of willel and i think you make excellent takes on the sibling duo, but sometimes it seems you take Will's side more than El's, even when it's not called for. Your last post, you tried to deflect by saying it wasn't Wills fault and ended it by saying it's actually El's "she put him in a slightly difficult and confusing situation.." El did not know she had to tell Will and it's okay to admit maybe Will could've understood social cues better and not the girl who was deprived socially the majority of her life. I also feel like this feeds into the overall problem within the ST fandom (and in general) of how the girls are easier to blame than boys, girls should be the more mature one, but we must protect and baby the boys. I can think of so many examples regarding the treatment of El but I'm sure you may know a few.

No, you misunderstand.

Imagine your bff or sibling has been like, lying to your parents about something and you had no idea. Your parent asks about it and your almost accidentally out your sibling cause you didn't know about the lie. A natural reaction would be "What the heck, why didn't you tell me beforehand? Now I might've accidentally outted you/got you in trouble."

In Will's case, he's obviously a little too harsh on El because she's lying to Mike (even though he does the exact same thing later, which is why I'm hoping EL discovers his lie and calls him out on it. Privately of course)

El might night have realized the ramification of her lies, that is true. She didn't realize she'd need to rope Will in on the story so that he wouldn't tell Mike the truth. But you can see her realization at the airport which she gives him the sibling elbow.

El knows Will enough that even though Will knows she's lying, Will would never out her on purpose or call her out in front of Mike. She also knows him well enough that if she told him about the lies any sooner, he would've reacted like he did in the rink-o-mania scene and tried to convince her to not lie.

I am not passing any blame here. Both of my children were put into difficult situations. Of course El wouldn't tell Mike the truth, she's been putting her heart and soul into fitting in and it's not working and she feels inadequate. Will is dealing with a lot of repressed feelings and now he's juggling with trying not to out his sister and having to lie to his crush too. It's a whole mess.

But in no way do I blame El for what she did or even her lies. If Angela hadn't shown up, I honestly would've been ok with her lying for most of Mike's trip and having fun and trying to be normal until there came a moment where SHE felt comfortable sitting down and telling him what was really going on.

But Angela did happen. So in that case, I don't blame Will for for spilling the beans and having to tell Mike what was really going on to help El... though to be honest, maybe he was a little late on doing so? Eh I dunno.

But anyway, El and Will have never done anything wrong in their entire lives. Also, I expect siblings to screw up and get on each other's nerves sometimes, in fact I want more Will and El bickering because I find it endearing. I'm not someone who views Will as an "uwu baby boy" though, he is sassy, witty, and clearly struggling with himself.

#ask

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plentyoffandoms · 2 years

Text

Everybody's Free (Part 13)

Wardlow x f/Reader

Just like all my other stories, this has not been proofread, but please enjoy.

Warnings: Some swearing. AU as Sammy is an ass

Gifs & photos do not belong to me.

Story idea & request by @lghockey

Main Masterlist ♡ AEW Masterlist ♡ Wardlow Masterlist ♡ Everybody's Free Masterlist

Summary: F/Reader is friends with Sammy & everyone in the Inner Circle. She is also a member of his vlog squad. They found out she has a secret boyfriend & they try to figure out who it is.

Daniel - Cash Wheeler ☆ David - Dax Harwood ☆ Ronnie - Shawn Spears ☆ Miguel- Ortiz

YN's POV:

I was in the front row, having a good time. I was sitting next to some of massive fans of Michael and they recognised me from his Instagram.

They started to ask me questions and I answered them as simply as possible. Michael likes to keep his private life as private as possible and I respect that.

I was in mid sentence when I heard his music. I tried to ignore him but I heard the crowd start to chant his name over and over again.

I could hear the fans muttering as he started to walk down the ramp. My eyes landed on him. His gaze was hooked on me as he sauntered towards me.

I stood and didn't show any emotions as the two of us finally got a good look at one another after not seeing each other since the holiday party.

I didn't react as he stuck up both of his middle fingers at me. I did react though when he mouthed "fuck you," at me.

"Is that right?" I asked him.

He smirked and nodded his head yes.

I held up my left hand proudly and pointed to my engagement ring. The smirk left his face and I knew he was pissed at me. I knew how angry he was.

"That's right Sammy. You thought that you could break me, but here I am, happy and newly engaged you little piece of shit."

I am done being scared to be around him. I am done with how he will react to seeing me. I deserve to be happy and spend the rest of my life with the man I love.

What I was not expecting was for Sammy to grab my hand and pull it close to his face. I fell against the barricade but I was able to catch myself.

"Shit, are you okay?" Steve, who I have been sitting next too for the past couple of hours asked me.

I nodded my head yes at him and tried to wretch my hand out of Sammy's grasp.

"Let go Sammy."

"I don't think I will." His grip tightened and now he is hurting me once more.

"Let go of her man." A few members of the crowd tried to get him to let go.

Security was running down the ramp but I was not expecting for one person to come running down.

Ronnie was faster than the security. He landed a punch to Sammys' cheek.

Sadly Sammy held on to me as he stumbled and I went over the barricade, hitting my head on the way down.

He finally let go but the damage was done. My head now had a throbbing pain and I may have a mark.

The medical professional looked over myself and Sammy. I was being checked over when I heard the one name I wanted to hear.

"Wardlow, Wardlow, Wardlow."

The crowd chanted, but he paid them no mind. His focus was on me and only me.

He knelt down next to me and held my hand.

"She is all good Mike. May have some bruising but doesn't seem to have any signs of a concussion but just keep an eye on her just in case."

The both of us said thank you and Michael helped me stand up. He was checking me over himself and once he found I was okay, he relaxed.

"You're coming back with me YN. You can stay with one of the guys." I didn't have the energy to disagree with him.

"Michael, the people that were around me tried to help. Can we do something for them?" I asked him.

"I will see what I can do love."

I was satisfied with that answer.

♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡

I spent the rest of the evening with members of The Pinnacle. Ronnie hardly left my side except to join Michael when it was turn to wrestle.

Tony Khan came to check on me and apologise as well. I told him it isn't his fault and I am okay.

He insisted on suspending Sammy but I couldn't do that to Michael. Their match wasn't that far off and it doesn't need to be postponed.

"What can I do YN?" Tony asked once more.

"Let me be at ringside with Michael. You can have whoever with Sammy."

Tony told me that he will think on it and I said that is all I ask.

Other members of AEW came to see me as well. Some just checking on me and some who I get a long with very well.

Michael came back a few minutes later. He is never gone for long and I smiled at him as he leaned down and gave me a kiss.

Jade was talking with me when he did that. "I just gotta shower and get changed and I will be right out."

I almost followed him to join him in the shower but held myself back.

"You know you are good for him?" Jade said.

"How?" Not only was I confused, but so was Ronnie, David and Daniel.

"When I met him his only thing in life was wrestling. He planned everything around it. He was wrestling at every show and came back each week, hurt or just didn't give his body enough time to heal."

"Okay?"

"With you around his main focus isn't just wrestling anymore or even the gym. YN, you made him realise that there is more to this life than just wrestling and working out."

I was stunned as I took what she said in. I thought back to before I met Michael. I always heard he was at the gym. Always going to the shows.

I mean he still does that but not as much. He still works out five days a week, but he now has a cheat day and one day where we are just together.

"And I never thought he would ever get married. He was always against it, until you."

I knew that part. He told me that early on in our relationship and I would of just been happy spending the rest of my life by his side as common-law.

"Yeah you're right Jade. Remember when he told us he was proposing to her, I thought he was kidding, until he showed us the ring." David said as he shook his head at the memory.

I looked down at the ring and just smiled. My own mind playing back special moments that have happened between Michael and I.

Sammy Guevara's POV:

The moment she showed me her ring, all I felt was pure anger at her and I have no idea why.

I grabbed her hand in mine and reefed on her arm and watched as she fell into the barricade.

The people around her making sure she was okay. Trying to get me to let go of her but I wouldn't. The only way I was going to let go of her was if I had that ring in my hand.

As I was thinking about the next course of action, I felt a fist connect with my face. I didn't let go of YN as I went flying and I heard the gasps as she went over the barricade.

The security guards got to me and her, as did the medical team. I was being checked over and then I heard the crowd go crazy for Wardlow as he was rushing to YN.

I was going to give him the finger when he looked my way, but he didn't. His focus was just on YN and her alone.

She was cleared before I was and I watched as the two of them left the area and go back stage.

I got up and just as I was about to leave, I was told that Tony wanted to speak to me.

I knew I was in deep shit and boy was I right.

I was barely in the office he was using and he was screaming at me. And I want to be clear, he does not scream at us.

I have pushed him to his limit.

"You are lucky that YN asked for you not to be suspended or even fired Sammy."

"Wait she did?"

"Yes she did. You need to get over this fued you have with her and Mike because they are not the ones who are instigating this."

I actually laughed out loud when he said that but with one glare my way, I shut my mouth.

And he pretty much dismissed me. I left the office angry and bitter at the fact that everyone was taking their side.

He was the one who stole my best friend. He was the one who took the one the person that has always been constant in my life. He is the one who has ruined my life.

The more I thought about it, the more and more I became bitter and angry. If it wasn't even for me becoming a wrestler, they would of never met.

I saw Miguel down the hall and I called his name. He looked up from his phone and shook his head when he saw me. He went back to staring at his phone.

"Did you not hear me calling you?" I asked him.

"I did."

"Then why the fuck would you ignore me?"

"Look, I don't know what the deal is between you, Mike and YN, but you are making the rest of The Inner Circle look bad."

"You are actually defending them?" I questioned him, stunned.

"I know The Pinnacle and us don't get along and that is fine but what you are doing to her is wrong Sammy. Thousands of us literally saw you hurt her. Stay away from her if you know what is good for you." He started to walk away from me.

"Is that a threat?"

He paused mid-step and he turned back around to face me.

"Yes, because YN became friends with us. She has been there for our families and us through hard times. If and when Wardlow comes for you, you do not have the support you think you do."

He continued what he was doing and left me standing there alone, trying to wrap my head around what he told me.

I am so pissed that only one thing will calm me down. I went in search of Tay, hoping she is down to help me let off some steam.

Wardlow's POV:

I didn't take long in the shower, but I was in there longer than what I wanted to be. I couldn't help but replay what I saw happened.

Sammy laying his hands on her once more. Her tumbling over the barricade, but she is okay. She got the all clear from the Doctor.

When I returned to her, she was in the same spot but she was laughing with David.

"Don't mean to interrupt but who is ready for some dinner?" I asked them as my stomach started to rumble.

YN stood and grabbed my hand as our small group left the building to go and find somewhere to eat.

♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡

The next morning I woke up alone, but her side of the bed was still warm. I called out her name and she said she was having a bath.

And that is where I found her. Soaking in the massive Jacuzzi tub.

"Want to join me? The water is nice and warm." She asked me. Before she could even blink, I was getting in the tub behind her.

YN settled against my chest and we just enjoyed being in each others arms.

"Mmm this is the type of tub I would like for the master bathroom." I said as I felt myself relaxing.

"Then we will get one. A nice big one just like this one, so we can spend time together when you come home."

"I will hate to leave you when that time comes." I told her.

"As will I, but if we have children, it will be good for them be at home and not on the road all of the time."

"I agree. Travelling this much is hard on an adult, I have no idea how a child can do it."

I hate to admit that the thought of her pregnant was turning me on and by the soft gasp that left YN's lips, she felt it.

The two of us spent the rest of the morning making love. First in the tub and then on the bed, over and over again.

My mind filled one thing and one thing alone. YN pregnant with our baby.

Part 14

Tag List: if you would like to be added, please let me know. @lghockey @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @ecarroll1978 @wardlow @anaeve @crowleysqueenofhell @thewrestlingbitch @thenerdybaker523 @hungmanhorsecarriage @brie-mode-activated @louisianalady

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favescandis · 3 years

Photo

NEW interview with Alexander Skarsgård about Godzilla vs. Kong and The Northman with Uproxx

Alexander Skarsgard Knows You Don’t Care About Him In ‘Godzilla Vs Kong’

MIKE RYAN, SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER MARCH 30, 2021

Yes, Alexander Skarsgard is under no false impressions that you are looking forward to Godzilla vs. Kong to see the adventures of his character, a geologist named Dr. Nathan Lind. You see, Godzilla has been causing some problems for humans for unknown reasons and, just maybe, Kong can take care of business and let Godzilla know that his antics aren’t appreciated by means of a knuckle sandwich. And Dr. Nathan Lind has been studying Kong for years and has a good idea of what Kong’s motivations might be and what Kong actually wants.

So, yes … there are times where there is not a lot to talk about when even one of the lead actors in a movie admits people aren’t coming to see him or his character. Though from past interviews, I know Skarsgard has a pretty good sense of humor, so the real questions soon devolved into kind of outlandish fake questions and, luckily, Skarsgard ran with them.

Also, Skarsgard’s next film is The Northman, which is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, he teams with Robert Eggers, which will be the director’s followup to the acclaimed The Lighthouse. Second, it will completely screw up Google searches for True Blood fans searching for Skarsgard’s character, Eric Northman. And, yes, he’s thought about that and wonders how many people will show up expecting to see vampires. (There will be no vampires.)

It’s funny, because just the title of this movie, that isn’t false advertising.

Oh yeah.

Multiple fights.

It’s almost a two-hour-long movie, and it’s like an hour and 55 minutes of fighting.

So what’s this like for you? When you sign onto something like this? Because it’s Godzilla and Kong and they’re going to wind up getting a lot of the attention.

It’s humbling for a narcissistic actor like myself, to be put in my place, to show up on set and know that no one will go to see this movie because I’m in it.

Well, that’s not true. I have noticed over the years you do have a fan base that goes nuts for you.

That’s flattering to hear. But I’m under no illusion that I’m the star of the show and that anyone will go see the movie because they want to see Nathan Lind, the geologist.

The geologist.

Yeah, well, in a way, to be a vessel and a way for the audience to get to know, in my character’s case, Kong, more so than Godzilla, because I’m with Kong throughout the movie. But in a way to not necessarily humanize Kong, but to show a different side of Kong, to show that he has empathy. He’s lived a very solitary, lonely life on Skull Island without social connections, without family. And the thought of him to be reconnected, or to find his family in Hollow Earth is, is kind of the driving force, to reconnect. So I felt like my job was kind of set that up in a way and to kind of show the audience that side of Kong.

Well, you said people aren’t coming to see Dr. Nathan Lind, the geologist. But once here, where you tell me, how you’ve spent the last five years, studying with geologists and following them around and becoming a trained geologist yourself, people will look at this in a different way.

Right? Well, that’s how seriously I take my job.

You threw yourself into it. The last, maybe, ten years, you’ve been studying with geologists, just to know exactly what you were doing in this movie.

It’s just the kind of actor I am, Mike. Even though I play a very peripheral character and no one cares, I still take my craft seriously. And that means a decade of studying geology and living, breathing the character. Just to give the audience that sublime performance that I give in the movie.

When you’re giving the technical jargon during the movie, viewers can rest assured that you know exactly what you’re talking about, because you studied for so long with trained geologists.

Exactly. And they can see that in my eyes, that I’m not lying. I’m not pretending. I’m not acting. I’m not playing a geologist. I am a geologist.

You are a geologist.

Yes.

So when you filmed at Hollow Earth, in the center of Earth, was that on location?

Obviously, it was.

Yeah, I could tell.

And being there was trippy. I felt like you can’t … the audience can tell whether you’re there or when you’re actually there, or if it’s the soundstage with green screen. So the only way to do it, when you make a character driven drama, like Godzilla vs. Kong, is to actually go there and actually spend time down there and be there with Kong. So it was six very intense months, deep down in the center of the earth with a gigantic ape.

That’s why we haven’t seen you in a while — because you’ve been down there.

I’ve been down there, with a gigantic ape.

Being serious, doing the “there they are” reaction seems especially difficult in this movie, with these being such central characters. And I know that’s part of the deal with a lot of movies, but this seems even more that.

Absolutely. Watching the movie, I could tell that I’m reacting to the wrong thing, like I’m reacting to something else. And they play my reaction to something that I think I’m reacting to, but many things have changed. Or they use that reaction to something else. So they kind of make it work. So it’s like, I look at something, and I think I’m reacting to something completely different, but I’m not. They completely changed that. So it’s quite a ride and exciting to watch the movie, because I’m as surprised as the audience. When I watch it, like, “Oh really? That happened.” And, “Oh, look at my reaction here.”

The scene that we all saw in the trailer, which surprisingly happens pretty early in the movie, where Kong just punches Godzilla in the face. So do you watch the movie and go, “If that really would have happened in front of me, I might’ve reacted quite differently than I did even in the movie”?

Well, that specific sequence, they actually had in the pre-visualization, so that actually looks quite very, very, very close to what the previs two years ago looked. So Adam [Wingard] played us that. So pretty much the whole fight scene was choreographed before we shot our reactions to it. So I knew that that punch was going to land, and that’s what I’m reacting to.

We’ve given Dr. Nathan Lind a lot of time, and we’ve given King Kong a lot of time. We haven’t really talked about Godzilla. He gets annoyed when people bother him. I relate to that.

Me too. Going into the movie, I was very much team Godzilla. I love the old Godzilla movies, like the ’60s and ’70s, that era, when it’s zero special effects.

Just a guy in a suit and it’s awesome.

It’s a middle-aged dude in a suit, kicking a miniature version of Tokyo on a set.

In your next movie, you’re working with Robert Eggers, The Northman. You’re done filming that, right?

We’re done. Yeah, we shot for six months during the pandemic. We started last summer and finished just before Christmas.

Did you look at his prior movies and just go, “I have to be part of this.”

Well, I courted him. I loved both The Witch and The Lighthouse. And was developing The Northman and was trying to find a director for it. It was a very different iteration of the script, and the story was very different from what we ended up shooting. But I had a version of a viking movie that I wanted to make and basically went after Rob. He was my dream director and I thought that he would be perfect for this. And that, when I mentioned it to him, it turned out that he was a huge viking fan and knew everything about the mythology.

That doesn’t surprise me for some reason.

Yeah, he knew so much about that world and that era and got really excited about the idea of potentially making this movie. And then he found Sjón, this Icelandic author and poet and screenwriter. And Sjón and Rob together wrote the screenplay to what ultimately became The Northman, the movie that we shot. So it’s something on that was slowly percolating and growing over the course of eight years. So, to finally be on set last year, with the greatest filmmaker of our time and some of the greatest actors of our time, was the highlight of my career, for sure.

Have you thought about how this will screw up Google searches for your True Blood fans?

[Laughs] Yes, I am very much aware of how problematic the title is.

Well, not problematic. True Blood fans are going to have to put in a few other keywords now.

Yeah, that’s true. That’s true. I do apologize for that. And I’m sure some people will be pretty disappointed if they go to see a stand-alone movie about Eric Northman, and then they sit down and it’s a goddamn Viking movie and not a vampire in sight.

I think they’re in for a treat, to tell you the truth.

Well, I hope so. I hope so. I’m very excited about the movie, but I have to admit that, unfortunately, there are no vampires in the movie.

‘Godzilla Vs. Kong’ hits theaters and HBO Max on March 31st.

Photo credited to Getty. [Paris Men’s Fashion Week Armani show, July 2, 2019]

https://uproxx.com/movies/alexander-skarsgard-interview-godzilla-vs-kong-the-northman/

#Alexander Skarsgård #Uproxx #Godzilla vs. Kong #The Northman #Alexander Skarsgard #long post

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asirensrage · 2 years

Note

Hiya! Is there an OC, new or old, you desperately want to talk about? Gush away, be as lengthy as you want! ^_^

Hi! Thanks so much for asking!

Hmm...I have so many that I could talk about hahaha. Let's go with Kate though since I'm trying to finish the next chapter of her story Tammy Thompson Takes on the Upside Down.

I love Kate. She's a bit of a disaster but not as much as a lot of my other OCs tbh. Her story is so much fun, partly because of how she deals with everything and partly because of how much of a slow burn this is going to be hahah.

I've had someone tell me that she was a mary sue because she got along with all of the characters (mainly meaning the adults) and I had to explain that a lot of that comes from her emotional maturity. Kate is a grown woman of 28 stuck in a teenager's body. She's not going to react the way a teen would, which is part of why she stands out in the high school (aside from the personality change Tammy goes through by not being Tammy anymore) and she's going to be able to own up to her mistakes. I think, now that I wrote it, that she's one of my most emotionally mature characters lol.

I have to put the rest under a cut because this got long lol

Kate is determined, scared, proactive and, in this world, progressive. She doesn't take any shit. It gets her into a lot of fights - mainly with other high schoolers like Carol, Billy and Nancy.

Her friendship with Robin is one of my faves. It's in the middle of a rough patch while they both work through some things on their own ends, but once they reconnect, it's going to be so great. The two of them are probably going to cause some trouble tbh. The Mayor already doesn't like Kate, but her and Robin are going to be a force to be reckoned with.

Her relationship with Steve is going to be so slow hahah but it has to be simply for her situation. Steve becomes aware of his feelings before she does. If Steve is is the "tired mom" of the group of kids, Kate is the "I've had it up to here dad". Their relationship is going to be the sweetest and I think both of them are going to be a source of comfort and strength for each other. There's a bit I wrote for a future scene that basically goes like this:

“Doubt Tammy Thompson could have withstood torture like you did. Tammy wouldn’t have risked her life to save some kids.” He looked at me, reached over and touched my hand. “Kate’s clearly better.” (honestly, I can't wait for the two of them to get together but I have so many plans that lead up to it).

Kate and her relationship with the kids is also a fave. She has no time to deal with their attitude (cough*mike*cough), but her perspectives on things really help the girls. Mainly take over the world but also just in living good lives.

Kate and her relationships with the adults in her life are a little more complicated. She's hiding who she actually is from Tammy's parents. She only has a few people she can trust with her identity and what happened and Kate is often thrown by the others. One of her faults is that she has trouble asking for help. It gets worked on and addressed. I try hard to make my characters realistic and I think I did okay with Kate.

When I first started this story I had no idea what it would span into but it's a ton of fun. I've gotten a lot of good feedback on Kate's character and the story itself. It's my second most popular fic which is cool. I didn't expect it hahaha.

#this went on long #I don't know what I really said hahahah #Does this count as gushing?#I need to finish the chapter...#wordspin shares #asks #oc: kate thompson

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queenofbaws · 2 years

Note

Hello queenie, hope u didn't forget me haha.

I'm in need some inspiration so I thought I'd give another prompt. Hope u don't get tired of writing for this AU I made haha.

(Mike and The Stranger AU)

Mike gets upset with himself because of his lack of fingers gets in the way of something. Jack takes pity on him.

P.s. take all the time u need to fill. I don't mind ❤

(not quite) six sentence weekend

It was about the fourth or fifth time that his fingers slid ineffectually off of the lid that he decided enough was enough. This was life now, huh? This was what he got for surviving the sort of fairytale bullshit nightmares were made of? Bested by a goddamn jelly jar?!

In a fit of frustration he launched the fucking thing across the room, hoping at least for the satisfaction of hearing it crack and shatter against the wall…only for it to bounce and clatter to the floor, Wolfie barely reacting save to twitch his ears, Dioge’s head still resting comfortably on his great black paws.

“Done havin’ your hissy fit?” Fiddler asked after a beat. “If not, I probably got some pickles somewhere to help you work out the rest of it.”

At least one of them thought this was fucking funny. As Fiddler snickered his low, wheezy laugh—a sound as infuriating as it was grating—the anger in Mike’s gut only seemed to spike. “Yeah, funny. Real goddamn funny. Can’t do shit worth shit anymore, but sure! Fine! Go on, old man, laugh it up. Laugh it riiight on up.”

To his credit, Jack appeared more than content to do just that; slowly, though, thoughtfully, his snickering trailed off to a silence Mike somehow liked even less, his fingers (scarred but all still there, he couldn’t help but think) drumming against the table. After a moment he stood from where he’d been flipping through the newspaper, crossing the room in a few easy, if ungainly, strides. He bent and picked up the jar, both wolf-dogs that time lifting their heads in interest.

Figured.

Mike watched warily as Jack set the jar down in front of him, gesturing curtly towards it.

“Try it again.”

He felt his entire face clench. “Man, fuck y—”

Jack used a single finger to push it closer to him. “Nuh-uh,” he hummed, “You’re gonna try it again. And again. And again, if that’s what it takes. If you think you’re gonna make it up here on this mountain, boy, you better figure out how to make your situation work. All’s it takes it one slip while you’re sitting there feeling sorry for yourself and story’s over. So.” He tapped the lid of the jelly. “Do it again.” Then he lifted the newspaper once more and went back to flipping through the headlines in search of anything that might suggest something rotten a’foot in Blackwood County.

To put it simply, Mike was not having it. Fiddler was exasperating on the best of days, but this was just too fucking much—it was a step too fucking far! Who did he think he was, sitting there with that shit-eating sneer on his face, acting like he had any idea how it felt to try and get by with a good chunk of your dominant hand just…just gone?! He acted like it was no big deal, like it was a scrape he was just supposed to brush off and recover from, and fuck that.

He pushed the jar away.

…and Jack nudged it right back.

So he pushed it away again.

…only for it to be slid in front of him once more.

“This isn’t funny,” he finally snapped, resisting the urge to haul off and slap the shitty thing off the table for a second time, instead fixing Fiddler with the sort of look that had withered many an underclassman back at school. “You can sit there and lecture me all you want, gramps, but you’ve got no idea what this is like, okay?! None! You have no idea what it’s like to try and figure out how to live your life suddenly missing—”

When Jack lowered the newspaper that time, it suddenly struck him how stupid he sounded.

There was a moment where he simply sat there looking at him, his chest rising and falling with a slow, exhausted breath. Then, moving with cool deliberation, Jack folded his paper, set it on the table, crossed his arms, set those on the table, and leaned in towards Mike to hold his gaze. “You wanna give that one another go?” He blinked once, slowly, and as he did, Mike felt his face and neck begin to prickle with an embarrassed sort of heat. Sometimes it was easy to forget, given how easily the old piece of shit made his way through the mountain and the mines, but at that distance, there was no ignoring his blind eye. “No, really,” Fiddler insisted, “I’m real interested in hearing what you got to say. Tell me what it’s like, losing body parts and having to figure out workarounds—you got me on tenterhooks.”

Mike found he didn’t actually have too much to say on the subject, after all.

When the better part of a minute passed in perfect, horrible, terrible silence, Jack nodded once and unfolded his paper. “Try it again,” he repeated for the umpteenth time. “You’ll make it work. Just takes time, is all.”

He sucked his lower lip into his mouth and angrily chewed on it for a second…and then he snatched the jar off the table to give it another go.

#iweirdo74the2nd #six sentence weekend #queenie writes supermassive #heheh well hello! i never forget a friendly face around here ;)#hope you enjoy!!#YES ive said it once and ill say it a million more times - the other wolf's name is 100% dioge in my head #pronounced dee-oh-gee #because jack! cant! name! animals! for! shit!!!!!!!#(yea i know canonically MIKE named wolfie wolfie but like. c'mon. wolfie and dioge. love it. i love it too much.)

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daresplaining · 3 years

Note

I love how Mike is presented as the wild, crazy brother and Matt as the calm, successful one considering the fact that Matt is WAAAAAY messier LMAO. I mean, c’mon, a blind Catholic lawyer who got secret training from some ninja and now spends his nights dishing out vigilantism while dressed as the devil?? Between the both of them, Mike comes across as WAAAAY more normal and reasonable LOL

Well, that’s the whole idea, isn’t it? Any “messiness” embodied by Mike comes directly from Matt, because Mike is Matt. Even now that Mike isn’t Matt anymore, he still... kind of is, because his core characteristics are still ultimately derived from the persona that Matt created way back when, which was a persona that allowed Matt be more like himself. And it is fascinating to look at that intersection, especially now, because you’re right, Matt is way weirder and wilder than Mike is, if only because Mike is a reflection of only one piece of Matt’s personality. Mike is cocky and risk-taking and his life is a mess (and he originally was a superhero, though that’s no longer true), but Matt is cocky and risk-taking and a superhero and has literal superhuman powers and got possessed by a demon one time and makes notoriously bad choices and has had a whole bunch of psychotic episodes and his life is varying degrees of soap opera-style falling apart at all times. Yes, Mike’s autonomy has given him some messiness that is uniquely his own (...congratulations?), but he is still mostly Matt, and he will never, ever be able to compete with Matt on that front. This is one of the reasons I’m dying for Mike to find out that Matt is Daredevil, because I can’t wait to see his reaction when he finds out about all of the bonkers stuff his successful goody-two-shoes brother has been hiding from him.

One difference-- and a key reason Mike feels like the comparatively wild and crazy one-- is that Matt makes an effort to put up a facade. He’s very good at it; he’s been doing it since he was a little kid, since before he even had superpowers, and a key aspect of maintaining his secret identity has hinged on his ability to appear not weird. He no longer pretends to be a boring, personality-less stick-in-the-mud the way he did in the sixties, but he still has a face that he shows to strangers and new acquaintances, and a different face that he shows to people close to him. He is very good at faking being collected, professional, normal. I’m telling you, this is how most of the Daredevil supporting cast gets sucked into his orbit: when they first meet him he seems like a charming, professional lawyer who has his life together, and then once they get into his inner circle they see what he’s really like, and by then it’s too late. This is why Matt continues to get dates. He’s a menace. Somebody stop him. But Mike doesn’t do facades, because that was the whole point of Mike from the beginning. He is who he is, as loudly as possible. Matt, on the other hand, doesn’t broadcast his messiness.

There’s also the fact that Matt has baggage, and this has shaped his personality, and that’s what this is really about: personality. Yes, Real Boy Mike now has baggage of his own, but Matt has an entire airliner’s worth of it by this point. On this blog I have actively fought against the common misconception that Matt is a humorless, angsty grump 24/7, because he’s not-- he is capable of having fun, he has a great sense of humor, he can enjoy goofing around with people-- but it’s true that he isn’t nearly as carefree as he used to be (there’s a whole story arc about that, actually) and he certainly isn’t as carefree as Mike is (though again, Real Boy Mike's recent experiences are shifting what we know and understand about his character and personality). Matt tends toward stoicism in ways that Mike does not, both because of the in-control facade mentioned above and also because of Matt’s actual uptight personality and the hardships in his life. Mike, in comparison, if he has retained his original personality, should actually bear some resemblance to 60s Matt, and that concept is incredibly cool to me. I think the impression of Mike being wilder than Matt comes down more to how Matt reacts to Mike than to how comparatively wild they actually are. When picturing the Matt/Mike sibling dynamic, it’s easy to imagine something along the lines of Mike being obnoxious and goofy while Matt folds his arms and rolls his eyes, and while I think that would be an oversimplification of their respective personalities, I wouldn’t say it’s incorrect.

So this is a very long way of saying yes, you’re completely right and it’s hilarious that people (both in-universe and out) see them that way.

#Daredevil #Matt Murdock #Mike Murdock #Mike Murdockalypse #Asks #Commentary #Just my standard geek-out over the intersections between Matt and Mike's personalities taking into account Mike's new existence which is #nevertheless inseparable from the fact that he originally was Matt despite the fact that he now has his own lived experiences which have #presumably shaped his personality into what it is. It's kind of a nature vs. nurture conversation in the weirdest possible way.#And the fact that Matt is really good at fooling people into not seeing what a mess he is until it's too late which is why I kind of hate #his perma-stubble in the current run because it's just not professional Matt. Even when he was in prison in Brubaker's run he still #apparently made the effort to shave and that was arguably one of the lowest periods of his entire life. Give me back my #emotionally significant stubble. It's useful.#Anyway.

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ghostspideys-moved · 4 years

Text

Jump Scare || J.B.

A/N: Honestly, I’m not totally sure if this takes place after canon events or not, so I’ll leave that to your imaginations.

Pairing: Jonathan x Reader

Word Count: 1.7k

Summary: Going camping sounds relaxing enough, as long as you don’t get scared of the dark - or what lurks in it.

It’s been awhile since you've had time to relax, and it seems like everyone else is on the same page. Camping in the woods wasn't exactly how you pictured relaxing, but now that you're here, you're warming up to it.

Sure, it did take a while to get everything set up, but now that it's out of the way, you're actually having a good time.

You sit in front of the campfire, happily roasting marshmallows. Sitting next to you is your boyfriend, Jonathan, who seems to be having a better time than you expected.

He'd been opposed to the thought of being out in the woods, but you managed to drag him along. And now, he looks like he's having a good time. He's actually laughing and talking with everyone, though you suppose it helps that he probably feels comfortable around everyone else.

As you put together a s'more for yourself, Lucas chimes in with an idea.

"We should tell scary stories," he suggests.

It's already dark out — the perfect time to tell a few scary stories. Besides, it could be fun. The kids might end up being the most scared of the group.

"You really sure you kids can handle that" Hopper asks.

The kids nod eagerly, so the rest of you give in.

Shockingly enough, the first person to offer up a story is Steve. And he seems rather excited, too.

You subconsciously scoot closer to Jonathan as the story starts. You're not sure which of you needs it more, but he wraps an arm around your waist almost protectively.

It's just a story, you remind yourself. There's nothing to be scared of.

And normally, maybe you wouldn't be so scared. But Steve is oddly good at storytelling, and he has everyone hooked. He's good enough that you get a weird feeling you're being watched. Rationally, you know that's not true and you're just scaring yourself. But that doesn't ease your mind at all.

Steve really has a way of making you paranoid with a simple story. "And those kids were never heard from again," he finishes.

Somehow, you end up much closer to Jonathan than you remember being. Not that you mind, but it was embarrassing being so freaked out over nothing.

The kids look just as freaked out and are clinging to each other, which looks a little awkward with all of them. They seem to make it work, though.

Thankfully, Joyce senses that maybe Steve was a little too good at storytelling.

"Alright, time for bed," she says, standing up.

"Wait, but that was only one story?" Dustin exclaimed. "Can't we hear another one."

"Not if you're going to sleep any time soon," Joyce insists. "It's late anyways."

They all groan and get up, heading off to their tent, whispering between themselves.

Jonathan turns to you. "We should probably get some sleep, too."

You're not sure how well you'll sleep after that, but you know he's right. You are a little tired, and you'll probably feel a lot better once you're sleeping next to him.

Both of you stand and say goodnight before heading to your shared tent. Just as you predict, you're already growing sleepy as you cuddle close to Jonathan for warmth.

You're not sure how long you've been asleep, but at some point in the night, you wake up to Lucas peeking his head into the tent.

"Y/N? Jonathan?"

He sounds scared, his voice shaking a little, which brings you out of your sleepy state much quicker. He must have had a nightmare or something.

"Lucas? What is it?" You sit up, rubbing your eyes, and give him a look of concern.

"I can't find Mike," he said. Immediately, an alarm goes off in your head, and you step out of your sleeping bag.

"What do you mean you can't find him?"

“I woke up and he wasn’t in the tent.”

You search for some rational explanation. Like, maybe he got up to go to the bathroom. Or maybe he got scared and didn’t want to wake any of them.

“Did you check to see if he was with Nancy?” you ask.

“Yeah, and he’s not there either.”

By now, your anxiety is through the roof. What if he wandered off on his own? Or worse, what if he’d been taken. You know that’s not the most rational thought you’ve had, but it was a possibility, so you don’t abandon the thought.

You turn back to see that Jonathan is still sleeping. And you know he can be a worrier, so you leave him be in the hopes you can figure this out without alarming as many people as possible.

You turn back to Lucas. “Do the other kids know?”

“Just Will and Max,” he says.

“Okay. We’ll get them and search together.”

He nods and runs back out of the tent to grab the other two. Sighing, you follow after him and gather them together. Of course, you grab a flashlight and set some ground rules. You don’t need to lose any more kids than you already have.

“Everyone is to stick together, and if you see or hear anything, you tell me.”

They all nod, and you take that as your cue to start searching. You’re sure Mike couldn’t have gotten far, if he even wandered this way. Every few steps, you call out for him, hoping for a response, but you never hear one. That worries you even more.

“Mike?” you call out, scanning everywhere with the flashlight. “Mike, where are you?” Again, no response.

Just as you're about to suggest looking in a different area, something jumps out at you, and you scream. It’s not terribly loud, but enough that it scared Will and Max. Lucas was the first to come to your aid, but he stops when he hears laughing.

You aim the flashlight in front of you, where Mike is on the floor rolling with laughter.

“Mike! That’s not funny, we really thought something happened to you!” Your heart is beating rapidly, and you almost want to throttle the kid for scaring you.

“I’m sorry, but —” He trails off momentarily as he bursts into fits of laughter again. “You should have seen your face!”

Your anger dissipates into slight annoyance. “That was the worst joke ever, dude.”

Mike finally gets up, wiping the tears from his eyes. “But it was totally worth it.”

Obviously, you beg to differ. He almost gave you a heart attack!

“Well, you’re lucky you didn’t actually get lost out here. What the hell were you thinking?”

You don’t have much time to go into exasperated adult mode. Will is tapping you frantically on the shoulder, and you have to bring your rant to a halt.

“Um, Y/N? I think we are lost,” he says.

Taking the flashlight out again, you shine it and find that you have no clue where you guys are. None of you were keeping track of which way you came from.

“Fuck.” You sigh and try to keep everyone calm. “Okay, it can’t be too hard to find our way back, right?” As far as you’re aware, you weren’t too deep into the woods.

“Maybe we left some footprints or something,” Lucas says.

It’s not the most reliable method, but you appreciate him trying to help and give it a go anyways. Even with the light, you can’t make out much, so that doesn’t work out. And all of the trees look the same.

“Didn’t we walk past the river at some point?” Max asks. You vaguely remember hearing the water on your search, so she must be right.

“I think so.” It’s the best you have right now, so you try to find the river again, hoping one of you can navigate from there.

With your luck, Max is able to lead the rest of you back from there. You’re not totally sure how she even did it, but you were thankful and unwilling to question it right now.

The moment you spot the campsite again, you sigh in relief. It’s short lived, though, when you see everyone is up. Steve points you out as you guys finally join them again.

“Where the hell were you guys?” he exclaims. “We thought something happened.”

“Mike went into the woods by himself to scare us,” Max explained.

“By yourselves?” Jonathan chimes in. He looks exasperated, maybe even a bit angry, and it’s especially aimed at you.

“Well, we thought we could find him,” you insist. And you did, so you don’t get why he’s so mad.

Hopper diffuses the situation the best he can, not wanting everyone to start yelling at each other. “Alright, everyone get back to bed. We’ll talk about this in the morning.” He seems even less happy, but you’re relieved he’s willing to let it go for the night.

Even as you head back to the tent, you can feel the tension between you and Jonathan. “What were you thinking?” he asks as soon as you’re alone again.

“I was thinking Mike was lost and someone had to find him.”

“So you didn’t get help?”

You plop down on top of your sleeping bag, crossing your arms. “Yeah, because I didn’t want everyone to freak out. Like you’re doing right now.”

The more you think about it, the more you realize his concern is understandable. You would have reacted the same way if the situation had been flipped.

“I’m sorry, okay? We made it back fine, though.”

Jonathan sighs and sits next to you, taking your hands. “I’m sorry, too. I just...I got so scared when I woke up and you were gone.”

He’s not crying, but you can tell he might be close. Your heart breaks as the reality of the situation settled in. He’d only been worried for your safety, and the kids, too.

“Hey, I’m okay, Jon.” You pull him close and try to reassure him. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

You hear a muffled sniffle and pull away long enough to give him a quick kiss.

He gives a faint smile and kisses your forehead. “Just don’t do that again, okay?”

You nod, and he pulls you back into his arms as you guys try to settle down again. Jonathan is a lot more calm now, but he holds you close and doesn’t go to sleep until you have. You feel safe in his arms. All you want now is to sleep and enjoy being close to him. At least until tomorrow, when you’re bound to get a lecture from Hopper.

Taglist: @charmedtenderness @jxnehxpper @musicalytrashpanda

#jonathan byers #jonathan byers x reader #jonathan byers x you #stranger things #stranger things 2 #stranger things 3

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natromanxoff · 4 years

Text

Queen live at Colston Hall in Bristol, UK - November 18, 1975

The photos could be from either night.

This article from the November 29 issue of Sounds chronicles the second night in Bristol.

Queen triumphant

QUEEN ARE the type of group that make a man want to abandon rock writing. They pose questions and never provide answers. They exist in their own space-time continuum, visible and audible but keeping their secrets to themselves.

On the surface they couldn't be a nicer bunch of people, but they carry English reticence to an epitome. It isn't, as Geoff Barton said two weeks ago, that they're boring, it's just that they're reserved. Or in writer parlance, they don't automatically provide colourful copy. All my instincts as a writer tell me that there is a great story in that band, but after two nights with them I'm hardly any the wiser.

Skin tight

That their insularity has a lot to do with them being one of the most amazing heavy-metal and/or rock bands in Britain - with all the signs that they'll end up monsters on the order of Zep - is fairly obvious, but just how much bearing it has on the matter is hard to say. The enigmas they might pose mightn't even have answers.

Is there any logical reason why they present an image and persona straight out of the Beatles school of interlocking chemistry?

John is reserved, almost nonchalant on stage, as if it's all in a small, personal joke. When asked how he saw himself within the framework of the band he replied, with a small smile, "I'm the bassist".

Roger is his opposite, the cheeky sidekick in a Clint Eastwood movie, and attracting a lot of cheesecake attention in America and Japan.

Freddie is an original - one of the most dynamic singers to tread the boards in quite a few years. His attraction is obvious.

Brian is perhaps the biggest enigma of all. What is this seemingly frail, gaunt astronomer doing on that stage, striding purposefully and blasting diamond-hard rock? They're all equally strong personalities - like the Beatles there's no one major focal point. Ask four fans who their dream Queen is and you'll get four different answers.

Queen have been busy lads these past few months. Having disassociated themselves from their former management and joined with John Reid, the fourth album was seen to. Reid decided that a tight schedule wouldn't cause them undue harm, and figured on two months to record before embarking on this current tour.

Only Queen are driven to better each previous album - which at this stage of the game is obviously producing some excellent results - and 'A Night At The Opera' turned into a saga - culminating in 36-hour mixing sessions in an effort to allow at least a few days for rehearsal. In the end they managed three and a half days at Elstree with four hours off to videotape the promotional film for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

Their first few dates had not been without errors and the quartet were still not feeling totally comfortable their second night in Bristol, fourth night of the tour. You'd never know it, though.

Like all other aspects of the group, the stage is sophisticated. A black scrim provides a backdrop bounded by a proscenium of lights both front and rear. At each side the p.a. rises like a mutant marriage of Mammon and Robby the Robot. Amp power is readily evident but the most extraordinary is Brian May's subtle set up: nine Vox boxes stepping back in rows of three. The only packing crate visible is holding a tray of drinks, and you may rest assured that no roadie will rush, crawl or lurk across the stage while the show is in progress unless it's to rescue Freddie's mike from the clawing crowd.

As the auditorium darkens the sound of an orchestra tuning up is heard over the p.a. The conductor taps his baton on the music stand and a slightly effete voice welcomes the audience to A Night At The Opera. The Gilbert & Sullivan portion of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' follows, a brief glimpse of Freddie is allowed, and then in a blast of flares and white smoke the blitzkrieg begins.

Roger is barely visible behind his kit, just his eyes and tousled locks. John is wearing a white suit and playing the-man-who-must-stand-still-or-it-will-all-blow-away. Brian is slightly medieval in his green and white Zandra Rhodes top, while Freddie is...

Around his ankles his satin white pants flare like wings - fleet footed Hermes. Everything north of the knee is skin tight - tighter than skin tight - with a zip-up front open to AA rating. But further south, definitely in X territory, lurks a bulge not unlike the Sunday Telegraph.

There have been sex objects and sex bombs, superstar potency and the arrogant presentation of this all-important area, but never has a man's weaponry been so flagrantly showcased. Fred could jump up on the drum stand and shake his cute arse, leap about and perform all manner of amazing acrobatics, but there it was, this rope in repose, barely leashed tumescence, the Queen's sceptre. Oh to be that hot costume, writhing across the mighty Fred!

Phallic

Freddie is not pretty in the conventional sense of the word; like Mick Jagger of '64, he is his own convention. Also like the Jagger of the time, his stage persona and action is unlike anything else. Although it borrows - like most of the group's plagiarisms - slightly from Zeppelin, in tandem with Freddie's supreme assurance and belief in himself - he always refers to himself as a star - it explodes into something that is a constant delight to watch.

He reacts to his audience almost like an over-emotional actress - Gloria Swanson, say, or perhaps Holly Woodlawn playing Bette Davis. At the climax of the second night in Bristol he paused at the top of the drum stand, looked back over the crowd and with complete, heartfelt emotion placed his delicate fingers to lips and blew a kiss. Any person who can consume themselves so completely in such a clichéd showbiz contrivance deserves to be called a star.

Freddie's real talent, though, is with his mike stand. No Rod Stewart mike stand callisthenics here, just a shortee stick that doubles as a cock, machine gun, ambiguous phallic symbol, and for a fleeting moment an imaginary guitar. He has a neat trick of standing quite still in particularly frantic moments and holding the stand vertically from his crotch up, draw a fragile finger along its length, ever closer to the taunting eyes that survey his audience.

Their show contains lots of bombs and smoke, lots of lights, lots of noise. They fulfil the function of supremely good heavy metal - i.e. you don't get a second to think about what's going on. When they do let up for a few minutes, it's only so you can focus in on the bright blue electric charge crackling between your ears.

Bulldozer

Dominating the sound is Roger's drumming, a bulldozer echo that bounces like an elastic membrane, meshing with your solar plexus so that your body pulses in synch with the thunder. Tuned into that, everything else is just supremely nice icing.

For three days rehearsal, after eight months off the road Bristol was extremely impressive. In speculative mood I quizzed people on how long they thought it would take to headline Madison Square Garden. I was thought a radical at a year and a half. John Reid smilingly assured me it would take a year.

That Queen should end up with John Reid is an entirely logical proceeding. Everything about Queen demands that the world eventually kowtows at their feet in complete acquiescence - so big that bodyguards have to accompany them at every step. Well, no - they found that an annoyance in Japan, but, you know, huge.

Such status demands a Reid or a Peter Grant, and whatever the causes for their leaving Jack Nelson and Trident, an elegant group like Queen is going to look for a man with class. Reid found the idea of managing a group interesting, and having to deal with four strong personalities a challenge. He only concerns himself with their business and ensuring that the year ahead is mapped out. In January they begin a jaunt through the Orient, Australia and America, by which time it's March and they begin preparations for the next album.

Reid's prediction of a year was proven highly credible the next evening in Cardiff. The band had still not paused from the rush up to the tour and spent most of the day relaxing and sleeping - no doubt a factor in their near recumbent profile. Also, unlike most groups, they were keeping their dissatisfaction with the show to themselves.

They stopped off at Harlech TV on the way to see a cassette of the video for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. The general consensus was quite good for four hours, with much laughter during the operetta. Brian finds film of the group educational - the first time he saw himself was a Mike Mansfield opus for 'Keep Yourself Alive' - "It was 'All right fellows, give it everything you've got but don't move off that spot.' It was terrible." You don't like Mansfield, eh? "Oh, I hate him - we all do... I was horrified when I saw it - I couldn't believe we looked that bad. I looked very static - seeing myself has taught me a lot about stage movement. Some of the things I do are planned for effect, but it's mostly just feeling the audience and communicating that back to them."

Arriving at the motel - several miles out of town - Freddie immediately fell asleep, John held court of a sort, joined later by Brian, while Roger went jogging, a daily event when touring. Tuning in to rock via Bill Haley and Tommy Steele, he became a drummer because he was better at it than guitar. All through school he was in bands; he only went to dental school out of "middle class conditioning, and it was a good way to stay in London without having to work". His mother thought it a bit strange when he opted for a career as a rock star, but she doesn't worry too much now.

The concert starts in much the same manner as the previous night, but there are signs that tonight is work, with posing an afterthought. The endings to most of their songs are magnificent and majestic, especially 'Flick Of The Wrist' and the rapid harmonies of 'Bad Boy Leroy Brown'.

Maniacal

The audience, seeing their faces in town for the first time, are vociferous in their appreciation. Guys know all the words to every song, yelling enthusiastically at every effect and solo. The band picks up, Freddie receiving the crowd beneficently, telling them they’re beautiful.

As the show builds it is obvious that things are gelling more. The previous night Brian had seemed totally out of place, not moving too much, taking solos with the weirdest half blank half possessed stare, talking to himself; cocking ear towards guitar. He was the proverbial stranger in a strange land, one step removed from the plane inhabited by you and me.

Tonight he moves fluidly, the gonzo lead guitarist of a gonzo band. His expressions are just as maniacal, but it only makes him look more demonic. His solo in 'Brighton Rock', an exposition in riffing and echo, is a treat because of his physical response to both music and audience, complete with ham acting. Freddie gets into the same game on 'The Prophet's Song', where he conducts an acapella madrigal with himself. It's a pretty commanding moment.

It’s soon after this that Madison Square seems reasonable. About a minute into 'Stone Cold Crazy' it becomes very obvious that Queen have suddenly Plugged In. Found the metal music machine and Connected. Freddie's movements explode in perfect unison with the music, the lights and surroundings go crazy, and the audience goes berserk.

Freddie asks for requests and receives a roar out of which one can vaguely make 'Liar'. Fred walks along the stage, nodding, agreeing he will do this one and that one while the kids roar on. "I'll tell you what - we'll do them all!"

'Doing Alright' opens slow and portentously. Queen's variation of light and shade is one of the major factors in their popularity, but even so the quiet sections frequently find the audience's mind wandering. One kid starts getting a joint together, totally forgetting it when everything blasts off again; guys talk among themselves, only to instantly leap to their feet, fists flying to the beat.

'Doing Alright' changes into a cha-cha beat, Freddie snapping his fingers, the coolest hipster in town, and then instantly drops into faster-than-light drive - the whole row next to me leaps to their feet as a man, rocking back and forth as Brian roars into a blinding solo.

Two songs later, in 'Seven Seas of Rye', the kids break - very fast - and in five seconds half the audience is a seething mass in front of the stage, climbing on each other in pyramids, sudden openings appearing as a splintering seat sends a few bodies to the floor.

The rest of the show is equally intense, especially for a couple of minutes during 'Liar; where Fred and Brian merge into a tight little triangle with Roger while John stands in front of the bass drum, staring out with his small smile.

Freddie has treated his encores - 'Big Spender' and 'Jailhouse Rock' - differently on successive nights, once appearing in a kimono and in Bristol with rather rude tight white shorts, giving the song title new emphasis. In Cardiff, though, he doesn't bother to change at all. Later it transpired that Brian had twisted his ankle during 'Liar'. While he’s attended to, kids out front pick up chair slivers to keep as mementos.

On the bus back to the hotel Brian sits quietly at the back, chatting with two girls. John sits at the front, as always. Freddie stares out of the window, lost in his own world. Roger bounces around, starts a pillow fight with Brian - which stops as soon as Brian scores a direct hit to the face - then discovers an eight track of 'Sheer Heart Attack', punching it through the channels as he conducts the group. The two hours towards which they have channelled the day's energies are spent.

Ambition

That Queen have become a top attraction through a fair degree of plagiarism is amusing. Stealing is nothing new in rock (or any art for that matter) and mostly Queen use the borrowed material better than the originals. That they would be big I don't think anybody really doubted. All four have immense desire to be successful, and that kind of ambition will keep them slogging until they achieve it.

But there are popular heavy metal bands and there are popular h-m bands. From watching Queen's audience it is apparent that Queen speak for them in a way that bands such as the Who and the Stones and the Beatles spoke (and continue to speak) to their audience. Uriah Heep may be great at what they do, but five years after their demise who'll remember them? Creedence Clearwater Revival demonstrate the same thing - who remembers them? And yet five years ago they were the largest band in the world.

Queen will probably always be remembered, because as their tour is beginning to demonstrate, they have the ability to actualise and encompass the outer limits of their sense of self-importance. Queen and their music, presentation, production - everything about them says that they are more important than any other band you've every heard, and who has there been, so far, who has objected? Certainly not the 150,000 people (plus 20,000 a day) who bought 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in the first 20 days of its release. Certainly not me.

See you at Madison Square Garden.

~ You can see the photos which was mentioned on the article, from the link on the title. ~

#queen #queen band #roger taylor #freddie mercury #brian may #john deacon #queen concerts

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