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#magic band puck
hellfirenacht · 7 months
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Wing Man Part 3
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A/N: This fic is all vibes, no plot so it's hard to write lol. I have a few ideas now thanks to the wonderful @crocwork-clockodile and @hellfiredarling 💜
As usual, typos are fixed live and in post lol
Fic Summary: Steve ‘the Hair’ Harrington is your best friend, and is constantly striking out. Sick of this, you two make a deal; you’ll wing man for each other. Hooking Steve up with dates is easy, but he finds himself struggling to find you a date. At least, until Dustin starts talking about his new cool friend Eddie. 
Chapter Summary: You really should be trying to flirt, but somehow you and Eddie can only ever talk about Chris Morrison.
5k words
Part 1 Part 2
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Steve did not show back up for at least a half hour after he ‘went to the bathroom’. Had you not been in your current situation, you would have made fun of him for being ‘backed up’ or something along those lines.
But in all honesty, you hardly even noticed that he was gone. When Eddie dropped the puck the world had faded into a whirlwind of clacking, yelling, and pitting children against each other. With the sudden death match, Dustin had won. You had taken Mike's place, giving him a condescending pat on the head. He hadn’t been pleased about the situation, but at least it kept him from saying whatever rule-grudge that he held against Eddie.
To your surprise, Eddie had stuck around to watch the match between you and Dustin. You tried not to be too nervous as the match went on, but your freshman friend was your saving grace even as he kicked your ass.
“Eddie’s been the leader of Hellfire for years now.” Dustin said, dropping the puck down and hitting it. “He’s always been the DM.”
“Except for Chris Morrison.” you said.
“Yeah except that guy.” Dustin nodded.
“He started the club, but I made it the merry band of bandits and misfits that it is today.” Eddie said, his hands resting against the side of the table, leaning forward. You’d only been chatting with him and Dustin for a few minutes, but you had quickly learned that Eddie was not the type to stay still for very long.
“You’re gonna get your finger smashed if you keep your hand there.” you said, glancing at how close his fingers were to the smooth surface of the rink. “You’re putting a lot of trust in geometry that this puck isn’t going to crush your hand. It’s already tried to kill me once.” You doubted that the heavy silver rings on his fingers would help at all.
Eddie looked down at his hands and pulled back, just in time for the puck to nearly hit where his fingers had been. “Shit, I didn’t even notice.”
“I notice everything.” You said, not noticing as Dustin smacked the puck at an angle that went directly into your goal. “I notice some things.”
Dustin laughed, and Eddie even grinned at the joke. With that point it was game set and match, or something like that.
“Alright, I’m going to go win some tickets now.” Dustin said, putting the clacker? Paddle? Not-Hockey Stick? Down. You still didn’t know what it was called, but luckily air hockey probably wouldn’t come up again later.
You expected Eddie to leave again, but instead he leaned back against the table, now free to let his fingers dangle without fear of being crushed.
“So you really were interested in Hellfire when you were still in school?” he asked, tilting his head over at you. That same distant and unreadable expression on his face. You really wished that you knew what he was thinking right now.
“Yeah, I saw you guys always having fun so I thought I wanted to try.” you said. “But, you know. Chris Morrison.”
“Forget about Chris Morrison.” Eddie turned towards you, standing upright and looking down at you. How did he feel so tall all of the sudden? How did he keep doing that? What magic switch was he able to turn on and off in his brain to make him go from ‘just a guy’ to ‘hey, I’m in charge here.’? “What made you have an interest in Dungeons and Dragons?”
“The dragons first, and then the dungeons.” It was the first thing that popped into your head, and you immediately realized it was maybe a little stupid and sarcastic. To be fair, you also were a little stupid and sarcastic, but with the way he was looking at you, Eddie wanted a real answer. The look on his face was actually a little funny, the way his whole face fell in annoyance.
Right, he didn’t know you. You didn’t know him. He was still trying to decide if you were some sort of friend or foe. You suspected that if Dustin hadn’t chatted with you so easily through your match with him Eddie wouldn’t have bothered talking to you more.
Maybe you should fire Steve and make Dustin your wing man instead.
He didn’t immediately leave though, which made you assume that you were being given a second chance to give him a real answer.
“Alright, I played a lot of make-believe as a kid.” you said. “Then as I got older, people stopped playing, but I wasn’t ready to be done. Then when I heard about this club where you could play make-believe again, I thought it would let me have that feeling again. I thought it’d be cool to, I don’t know, have people to play with again.”
It was a childish answer, but it was a real one. Everything in your life after middle school had been a steady monotonous stream of ‘work, home, work, school, home, school function, work, home’.
“Hellfire Club isn’t Make-Believe Club.” Eddie said, still staring you down. “Yeah, it’s a fantasy game but we take it seriously. It’s not all princesses and fairy tales.”
Actually, this guy might be getting on your nerves now.
“You’re taking my answer awful personally.” you said, straightening up under his gaze. You didn’t care how intimidating he was trying to be right now, he had pissed you off. “You asked why I wanted to play, I gave you my answer. You don’t have to like it, but there it is.”
He seemed taken aback by your bluntness. He blinked, his round eyes shifting to something else. “You’re right.” he said finally with a subtle laugh. “That was a dick thing to say. I really sounded like Chris Morrison for a second.”
“Yeah, you did.” you agreed. “You always this cynical about people?”
“Well, when you’re the town freak it comes with the title.” he shrugged.
“Does it come with a sash too? Or perhaps a crown?”
“No, unfortunately Hawkins High didn’t have that in the budget this year.”
“You should take that up with the student council.”
“Or City Hall.”
He was smiling at you now, and you hated how that smile was brighter than any of the flashing lights of the arcade. The longer you looked at him, the more attractive he got. God, you were going to kill Steve for delivering something you couldn’t have.
Eddie’s demeanor changed as you two bantered, no longer on edge now. Now that he seemed sure that you weren’t here to cause problems or were just looking to laugh at the freaks, his stance was much more relaxed. You looked him over again, taking advantage of his gaze drifting to where two other members were hunched over an arcade cabinet.
He had long wavy brown hair, and you tried to place how you could have missed that in school. Surely you would have remembered someone like him, right? It felt so much like you were missing something, but you couldn’t place where you knew him. It was going to drive you insane.
“So it looks like I’m done here.” You jumped as Steve appeared behind you. You looked over at him, your face reading with panic at the idea of him ditching out on you now. Yeah, things were going a lot better without him here, and he had not been very helpful-
Okay, maybe he didn’t need to be here to help with your attempt to flirt but you still weren’t exactly eager to be left alone.
Eddie looked between the two of you and you turned to Eddie. “I’ll be right back, I’m gonna see him off.” You said.
“Right, yeah.” Eddie nodded. He was on his guard again and you felt bad that Steve’s presence caused that.
Eddie and Steve looked at each other, a tension between the two of them. For five full seconds they just stared at each other with you in the middle, wondering what the actual fuck was going on.
That’s when Eddie threw up his hands over his hand in an imitation of horns and sputtered at Steve who was immediately taken aback. It was so out of left field, and you let out a laugh before covering your mouth and grabbing Steve and dragging him away towards the entrance.
“What was that about?” you asked as you two stepped outside. “And where the hell were you for the past half hour?”
“I was giving you space because you weren’t going to get anywhere with me around.” Steve said, looking back over his shoulder. Eddie had disappeared into the arcade with his club. “He really does live up to his nickname.”
“Nickname? You’re trying to set me up with a high schooler with a nickname?” You sighed.
“Yeah, and you were basically drooling over him the whole time you were talking so, you know, you’re welcome about that.” Steve said. “Everyone called him a freak in school so, Eddie ‘the Freak’ Munson.”
“Yeah, he mentioned something about being the town freak.” you said. “Why’s he a freak exactly?”
Steve tilted his head, as if he couldn’t tell if you were joking or serious. “He runs a club called Hellfire, plays that weird game you and Dustin keep talking about, and just- look at him! With the long hair and the chains and metal patches.”
“According to you, I was looking at him.” you snorted. “So he plays games and dresses differently and has taste in music. Doesn’t make him a freak.”
“Right, I forgot you’re a total weirdo who’d be into that.”
“He was your idea!”
Steve couldn’t argue with that. All the things that he would have found off putting to him in high school now seemed to parallel and fit with someone who he now considered a close friend. He’d been wrong about a lot in the past year, maybe he’d been wrong about Eddie too.
“So are you gonna actually flirt with him when I leave or are you just gonna stand there and make small talk?” Steve asked, crossing his arms. “I introduced you two, at least tell me you’re going to put in the effort.”
You winced and glanced back to the arcade, you couldn’t see Eddie but you knew he was still in there.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Steve gawked at you. “This whole thing was your idea and you’re not even going to try?”
“Listen, Steve, I like him. I do. That’s the problem. You actually hit the nail on the head, and he is absolutely my type.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“I’m not his type.” you admitted. “See, I know guys like Eddie. I’ve fallen for guys like Eddie. Funny thing about a lot of male weirdos, freaks, and outcasts, is that they still loooove themselves some popular girls. Girls like that love them because they’re trying to either fix them or piss off their parents. Freak guys don’t like weirdo girls.”
“You’re being the biggest dingus in the world and I think you’re full of shit.” Steve said bluntly. “Nice try, but you’re gonna go in there and flirt with him. Did he actually say that he was into that type?”
“Well, no but-”
“But nothing!” Steve sighed. “Listen, you’re cute, okay? I’ve seen what you look like when you’re not at work.” He gestured to your outfit. “If I took you to a party or a bar I’d be able to help you get at least six numbers by the end of the night.”
You furrowed your eyebrows. “So why are you so bent out of shape about Eddie?”
“Because you’re picky, and you’re my friend.” It was a surprisingly nice sentiment. “I’m fine dating around while I figure out what I want, but you’re not the same. You need someone who is going to understand what you’re talking about, and he is the only person in Hawkins who would also bite a head off a bat.”
“You know, everyone wants to talk about how Ozzy bit the head off a bat but no one wants to talk about how that whole thing actually happened-” you started.
“Nope. Not me. Don’t tell me, tell him.” Steve cut you off. “I should be telling you that talking about biting animal heads is not the best way to flirt but he might be into it. Just promise me you’ll at least try okay?”
Steve gave you a pleading look, and you couldn’t say no. You didn’t have the heart to. He was right, you’d given up before you’d even tried. Steve went out of his way to hand pick a potential date for you, someone he never would have even bothered talking to before. You had to try.
You breathed in the cool night air deeply, holding it before exhaling slowly. “Alright, I’ll try.” you promised.
“I expect you to tell me everything tomorrow!” Steve said as he started walking towards the parking lot you found yourself following him, your body reacting to all the times you two had parked next to each other at work.
“Yeah, yeah, you get first dibs on any kiss and tell!” you shot back. “After the details you gave me from your dates, I promise I’ll be worse.”
Steve pulled you in and gave you a hug, and you squeezed him tightly in return. You never would have thought that Steve Harrington of all people would end up such a good friend, but you were glad he was there. You two said your goodbyes before he got into his car. You waited until he’d pulled safely out of the parking lot before turning back into the arcade.
Just go in there, crash the Hellfire Club meeting again, and shamelessly flirt with Eddie Munson. Three things, that’s all you needed to do.
You pushed the doors of the arcade open and walked back inside.
You wander around the arcade.
You’re alone.
Shit.
There was no sign of Eddie or any of the Hellfire Club. You were completely alone in the arcade now and there was a pang in your stomach. You had told Eddie you’d be right back, but he was gone. Maybe your comment about still wanting to play had totally fucked over your chance to talk to him more after all.
You made your way back outside, just in time to see a van peel out of the parking lot. Your eyes widened when you saw Dusting looking out the window with an apologetic look and mouthing what you assumed to be the word “Sorry”.
Eddie must have gathered up the club to go somewhere else. You wanted to be fine, you wanted to shrug it off as you had every other time you’d failed to impress a guy, but you felt disappointed. Really disappointed. Sure you’d only talked to the guy for a half hour, most of which was spent talking trash as you all played air hockey, but you’d had fun. More fun than you’d had in a while with a guy, Steve notwithstanding.
It felt like Chris Morrison all over again.
You sighed to yourself and made your way to the car. Of course the second you wanted to try you ended up alone again.
Well, that killed it for tonight. You pushed the rejection out of your mind and made your way back to your own car, thinking about how you were going to tell Steve that you’d blown your chance.
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Eddie Munson didn’t know what to make of the fact that Steve Harrington of all people was at the arcade. Popular? Played sports? Someone like him didn’t hang around at the arcade, not under any normal circumstances. The only thing that made sense about him being there was that he was with a girl, one that didn’t match up with the normal type that someone like Steve should be dating.
He had planned on avoiding Steve, choosing to focus on his club rather than antagonize the former king of Hawkins high. Really, he did. But then that shrimp Henderson had made his way over to Steve and his date. The kid already talked about Steve too much as it was, always going on about how cool he was while also dodging questions about how the two had met and become friends. Eddie had long since given up on asking about it, not that he cared. Not that he was jealous that the kid he was growing to see like a little brother already had another older male friend in his life.
That wasn’t Eddie’s style.
But this was Hellfire Club, and Eddie wasn’t about to lose another member to the dark side. Dustin had been looking forward to this rare gathering of the club outside of school, more than usual actually. He’d been wearing that same shit eating grin he always did when he was about to pull some bullshit at the table. Now Eddie knew why.
This little shit was trying to introduce him to Steve. Dustin talked Steve up so much, and now he just happened to be here on a date the same time as Sidequest Day? That was too convenient. Eddie shouldn’t have been surprised that Dustin was trying to bridge his friends together, but he was.
So, when Eddie saw Dustin watching Steve and his date chatting and playing Q*bert, he could have ignored the bait. He should have ignored the bait. But then Chris Morrison’s name was mentioned, and curiosity got the best of him.
Plus how could he ever resist talking shit about Chris Morrison.
So he walked up to the group, fully prepared to make agonzing small talk with Steve for thirty seconds before dragging Henderson away to focus on the real reason he was there. It wasn’t often that everyone had the time or money to come to the arcade like this, and Eddie had been lucky enough to make a special sale that day to some senior from the art department. He didn’t often have spending money for something like the arcade. He’d prefer to go to the movies or get his supply from Rick or buy anything to maintain his guitars, or upkeep of his van. Arcade time with Hellfire was something that happened once a semester at best, with the promise of him giving out advantages during the campaign he was running.
“Henderson is right. Morrison was the biggest asshole that Hellfire has ever seen. Worst DM too.” Eddie said, glancing between Dustin with a warning glare and Steve with a weary look.
He didn’t expect you, the girl playing the cabinet, to be the one to speak up. You knew Chris? This night kept getting weirder. When Eddie turned to Steve, to ask about what he was doing at the arcade, just to appease Dustin, Steve directed his attention back to you.
That made more sense, Steve Harrington wouldn’t be at an arcade on a Saturday night unless there was a girl involved.
When you turned around to face him, he noticed the way your eyes looked him down and up quickly. That was something he was used to with most people in Hawkins. They’d size him up just so that they could try and tear down the freak. There was a look in your eyes that he couldn’t quite catch before it turned into one of... disappointment? Discomfort? Shit, it was all the same to him.
Dustin made quick introductions of everyone, and Eddie was surprised when you offered your hand so easily despite the look in your eyes. Well, at least you were polite. It hadn’t even been two minutes and Eddie was already itching to get back to spending time with his club rather than crashing whatever meeting Dustin had clearly planned here.
But he’d be polite, humor the kid for just a second. If Dustin wanted him to meet Steve, then Eddie would be the contrarian and make small talk with his date instead.
You two would have graduated the same year, had Eddie not been held back. Yeah, it was starting to come back to him. He remembered you.
And that was enough of socializing with the upper class for the night. Eddie started directing Dustin back to club activities before Steve spoke up again.
“So, my friend here actually had an interest in Hellfire Club back in the day.”
It could have been left at that, but Eddie was getting more and more irritated over this situation. He looked at you, who looked like a deer in the headlights. Of course, Dustin might have seen something in Steve but he was no different now than he was back then.
“Really?” Eddie said. “And what about our little club was so interesting to you?”
He shot a glare to Steve, but looked down at you with a frown. You’d always seemed nice at school, but he’d made that mistake before. Eddie always liked the groups that kept to themselves and didn’t whisper behind his back or cause trouble for his friends. It was a shame he had been wrong about you.
But when you answered awkwardly about asking Chris to join, there was something in the way you spoke that was genuine. Either you were a really good actress, or you were being serious about it. Eddie might have been the biggest cynic in Hawkins, but he always did have a weakness to cute girls.
The conversation fizzled out quickly, and as much as Eddie didn’t mind talking to you he still wasn’t interested in crashing your date or getting to know Steve at this time. Not when his club started going wild across the room as Lucas was scoring big at a game.
So he turned around and left the two of you alone, running off to see what the jackpot prize was that Lucas had claimed.
For about ten minutes everything went back to normal. He was in the middle of an intense racing game against Jeff, when suddenly he heard Dustin screaming for him, causing his car to spin out and lose spectacularly.
Tonight was not going well at all for Eddie Munson.
Pushing down his irritation, he could hear it in Henderson’s voice that he was about to start trouble again. Of course as he made his way over to the hockey table, there you and Steve were again. Great. Eddie was so excited to be the third wheel during his club’s meet up.
But then Steve disappeared to take a shit. Well, he didn’t say that exactly but it made Eddie feel better to think of Steve having a miserable time in the bathroom. Jealous? No. Not at all.
Maybe a little.
You didn’t seem to like that Steve had left you, and Eddie figured you were uncomfortable without your date around. Dustin only ever talked Steve up, but had never mentioned you to his knowledge.
When the puck went flying towards your face a moment later, Eddie’s eyes widened with shock as you caught it with a laugh. The way you spoke to Wheeler and Henderson was familiar, as if you’d met them before. How did they know you? You were cuter when you were laughing with his friends.
As Eddie watched the chaos of you bantering with his freshmen, his mind wandered to what you would have looked like in the darkness of the prop department wearing the Hellfire shirt. With how easily you got along with Henderson and Wheeler he was sure you would have fit in.
Damn Chris Morrison and damn Steve Harrington.
He snapped out of his thoughts when you spoke up, a glint in your eyes as you handed over the puck.
“What say you, Eddie of Hellfire?” The way you spoke to him, a hint of a laugh in your voice but not in the normal mocking way he’d hear from others at school, made him break out into an unabashed grin as he took the puck.
“Sudden death it is.”
Making small talk with you was easy, and it wasn’t long until Eddie had forgotten about Steve completely as Dustin decided to bridge the gap between the two of you. You were the assistant manager at Family Video, had helped Dustin and Mike with homework on occasion, and were a regular at the Rocky Horror Picture Show that played at the seedy theater on the outskirts of town.
Eddie was starting to like you more the more the three of you chatted. When the topic od D&D came back up, your answer had struck a chord with him.
“I wasn’t done playing.”
Those words would tumble around in the back of his mind for the rest of the evening. They had been honest, raw words. There was a weight to them that he’d carried himself for a long time. Growing up with Al Munson didn’t exactly give him the idyllic childhood that one would see in movies or tv. Play time wasn’t exactly a priority when you were just trying to fucking survive.
He’d challenged your answer, when he knew in his cynical heart that he was the same. Between Hellfire and his band, there wasn’t much else he had going for personal enjoyment. Of course there was time to hang out with his friends and the occasional odd night where he crashed at Rick’s place when his home with Wayne felt too small or cramped.
Eddie wanted to ask you what you’d play, if you ever did have a chance to join a campaign. He wondered if you enjoyed fantasy the same way he did, if you were a fighter, a spell caster, or a healer.
Then Steve showed back up.
Right, you were here with Steve on a date. A date that had way too much fiber and had probably exploded the toilet while he left you hanging for going on forty minutes now. And now Harrington decided that the date was over? Jesus, this guy didn’t know what he was missing out on. Eddie felt for you, he’d been on his share of bad dates in the past too, and bad nights that he wished were dates.
He shook the image of Paige out of his head.
You gave him a smile as you said goodbye. Well, you said you’d be back in a moment but Eddie knew that the night was over. You walked out of the Arcade with Steve, and that would be that.
Sidequest day was always short, with limited spending money between members and the machines eating quarters like candy. Soon his little sheepies were gathered around him again, talking about their winnings and who deserved to get some sort of perk for the game. It was almost unanimously decided that it would go to Lucas, after he’d nearly broken the basketball machine from how fast he had been throwing balls.
Eddie still had a bill burning a hole in his pocket, having spent more time talking to you than playing games. He had to get this weird night out of his mind, and turned towards the group, knowing that he was going to regret this.
“Whoever has any money left, pool it in I’ll take us to get pizza.” He said. This was followed by cheers and a scrambling of pulling out loose quarters, dimes, and even a five that Gareth forgot he had in his wallet. Eddie lead them all towards the parking lot, his eyes scanning the parking lot for you.
You and Steve were chatting by his car and laughing the same way that you had laughed with him before Steve pulled you into a tight hug. Maybe your date wasn’t a bust after all. Eddie didn’t know why he cared, this was only the third time you’d met. You didn’t know him.
Dustin nudged Eddie, that same smug grin on his face.
“Pretty fun night, huh, Eddie?” he said.
“Your plan didn’t work, shrimp.” Eddie said. “I know you were trying to set something up and I’m not interested.”
Dustin looked surprised, and looked like he was going to argue but a sharp glare from Eddie shut him up. Eddie never had an interest in meeting Steve, and it was clear Steve felt the same way, going so far as to ditch his date to hide in the bathroom the whole time. Eddie didn’t know what the kid saw in Harrington but Eddie was less than impressed.
“Geeze, sorry.” Dustin sighed. “I thought you two would get along.”
“You know, a little humility wouldn’t hurt you.” Eddie said before grabbing his shoulder. “Next time you decide I have to meet someone, don’t make it during Hellfire, mk?”
Dustin looked disappointed but nodded as everyone piled illegally in the back of Eddie’s van. As long as Eddie didn’t drive like a madman (a difficult feat) it would be safe enough. He’d put the seats down to haul equipment years ago, and never could get them to come back up. He could fix it if he wanted, but there was never a real reason to.
As everyone got settled, Dustin looked over at Mike with a shrug. The two of them had thought that things were going well between the two of you, but the look in Eddie’s eyes had said otherwise now.
“Maybe she just wasn’t his type?” Mike said, as the rest of the club chatted. “Eddie doesn’t really talk about those things anyway. Maybe he doesn’t even want a girlfriend.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t see the way they were talking. Even if he wasn’t into her like that, they were still getting along.” Dustin sighed and shifted to look out the window as Eddie started up the van. Everyone in the back held on for dear life as Eddie started out of the parking lot.
As they passed your car, Dustin caught your eye just as you stepped out looking dejected.
“Sorry” Dustin mouthed to you.
It had been a bust tonight, but something felt off. Why would Eddie have such a clearly good time talking to you, just to turn around and say he wasn’t interested?
Dustin made a mental note to drop into Family Video tomorrow to talk to you and Steve.
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Part 4
Dividers by @strangergraphics
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ladykailitha · 1 year
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Oh For a Muse of Fire! Part 12
Thank you so much for the love this story has been getting. I love every comment and tag. You guys are the best!!
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6  Part 7  Part 8  Part 9 Part 10  Part 11
*
“They want us to record a demo?” Jeff asked for the hundredth time since the agent had talked to them.
They were in the garage they used for practice the next day. They still were on the high of suddenly having an agent. Something that they certainly wouldn’t have had without The Queen’s Crown.
“Holy shit!” Gareth said, his voice high from the excitement. “They want us to record a demo.”
“Hell yeah, they do!” Eddie said clapping a poor stunned Brian on the shoulder.
They sat in stunned silence for a couple of minutes.
“This doesn’t mean we’ve made it,” Brian said softly, barely above a whisper.
“No,” Eddie agreed. “But making a demo to shop around to all the labels is a hell of lot closer than we were two weeks ago.”
Gareth let out a shuddering breath. “I thought that song would do it for us, you know. That it would put us on the map.”
“Hey,” Jeff said. “It still might. We just have to knock the recording out of the ballpark too.”
“Think of it as a campaign,” Eddie suggested. “You found the magical item, now you just got to get to the final boss. There’ll be other adventures along the way, but we’ll get there.”
They all nodded.
*
Steve was set to start his painting. Eddie was strewn out on a bed of red satin, his hair a halo around his head, his body beautifully stretched. Steve yearned.
He yearned to press his lips on the indent of Eddie’s collar bone. To taste the line where hip met leg. To run his fingers through those dark locks. To bring a flush to those pale cheeks.
Steve bit down on his lip. He couldn’t fuck this up. Not like what he did last year. He had to paint the whole thing. His face, his thighs, his cock. Steve couldn’t cover anything up or place anything in the frame that cover any part of Eddie.
Everything else? Was completely up to interpretation. He could Lucifer fallen from heaven (if you wanted to torture yourself with painting wings). He could be fair Lysander asleep from Puck’s flower. He could be from any myth, legend or story.
Steve had chosen Eros asleep when Psyche comes to him the first time. Because if there was anyone who fit the god of desire and love, it was Eddie.
He got to work on sketching Eddie’s outline. Choosing the scene carefully. And then when he was home he would work on painting the bed, using an old catalogue as reference for the four poster bed he wanted.  
Every time Joyce walked by when he was painting Eddie, she would nod her approval and walk on.
*
“Fuck, Chrissy!” Eddie cried, burying his face into the throw pillows on her sofa. “The way he looks at me makes it very hard not to get aroused. And I cannot get aroused. I’ve tried thinking of horror movies, cataloguing my band t-shirts in order of when I got them, or even Jeff in a tutu!”
She patted his head gently. “Is this beer, ice cream, or Chinese food freak out?”
Eddie raised his head thoughtfully. “Chinese food.”
Chrissy nodded and went to go make their order. She squeezed onto the sofa between his head and the armrest. She began threading her fingers gently through his hair.
“Do you think he’s doing it on purpose? Like to fuck with you?” she asked softly. “Or you think he has the hots for you so bad it’s leaking out all over the place?”
Eddie slowly sat up next to her and put his head on her shoulder. “I want to believe it’s the latter. But we really haven’t done much except grab the occasional coffee. We text and call all the time, but I don’t know what means.”
“Have you told him you’ve had a crush on him for awhile?” Chrissy asked. Her and Pearl spent most of their shifts together complaining about how their best friends were morons that kept making googly eyes at each other.
“No...” Eddie said with a sigh, dragging his hands over face. “Because of the nude thing.”
“What’s up with the nude thing that prevents you from going after what you want?” She shifted on the sofa to prop her head up on her fist, her elbow on the back of the sofa.
“It’s already hard enough keeping everything down,” he gestured vaguely below his waist, “but add actually knowing what he tastes like, knowing what his skin feels like under my hands, my lips, my tongue? It would take all of two fucking seconds of him looking at me with those bedroom eyes and I’d be harder than that god damn concrete floor.”
Chrissy giggled. “Yeah, I could see how that would be a problem. That’s the best part about being a woman, when we get aroused, it’s a lot harder to tell.”
Eddie scoffed. “Which also makes it the worst part about being a woman because then it means the other person is fucking clueless.”
“Mostly guys,” she agreed.
“Are you glad you’re a lesbian?” he teased, going into tickle her sides.
She squealed with laughter and batted him aside. “Knock that off.”
Just then the doorbell rang. “That’s our food. Saved by the bell.”
Chrissy hopped up to get the food and paid. She set their food on the coffee table and began going through the boxes.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Eddie said. “I could have at least covered the tip.”
Chrissy laughed. “Babe, you’re working part time as model and getting paid by the gig. Save your money. I get paid $15 an hour plus tips. Believe me when I say, I’ve got this.”
He kissed her cheek. “I’m glad the Queen’s Crown is working out for you, sweetie. You seem so much happier since you’ve started working there.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “And Diamond is thinking of hiring a third bartender things are going so well. It used to be that they only needed the one on week days and two on Fridays and Saturdays, which is when Diamond would step in and help. But with how well Garnet and I get on, we have more people coming in on the week days and we’re getting better tips, too. So Diamond wants to bring in a third so that Garnet leaves we’ll still have two at the bar.”
“Wow,” Eddie said. “I’ve been stuck in the same place for so long...” he spread out his hands, “I forgot what freedom was. We’ve been in the studio recording the last couple of weeks working on our demo to be shopped around.” He sighed heavily. “I’ve writing every moment I can. Hell, most of my best lyrics come from me just lying there for three hours. Well...the ones that don’t have Steve in them, anyway.”
Chrissy laughed. “Oh, I’m sure the lyrics that come from those classes are way to risque for radio.”
Eddie blushed and shoved hair in front of his face. “Shit, Chris. I don’t know.”
She ate her food thoughtfully watching Eddie push his food around. She nudged his shoulder with hers. “So what’s the real problem?” He looked up at her confusion. “I know you. There is something else that’s bothering you, love. You’re wound up so tight.”
Eddie shrugged. “I don’t know.” He set his food down and clasped his hands together, looking down at his feet.
She bumped him again. “You just talked about the freedom to write music, to get the chance to really do something with your life. But I don’t see it in your features, babe.”
“What happens to Steve if I do get a record deal and have to start touring?” he muttered mournfully. “What happens if we’re more than friends when we leave? I just feel torn apart. Having to chose between the life I’ve always dreamed, and my man of my dreams. I don’t know if I would chose touring with the guys if it came down it.” He threw his arms around her. “I would chose Steve every time and that scares me.”
“Oh.” She set her own food on the floor and wrapped her arms him. “Oh, sweetie. That’s why you have to talk to him. Because it sounds to me like those questions have answers only he can give.”
Eddie let out a sob. “What if the answer is that he doesn’t want to try because he doesn’t want to be left behind?”
She kissed the top of his head. “How would you be leaving him behind? Just because he stays in one place while you tour, doesn’t mean you’ve left him behind. It just means you’ve given yourself a home to come back to.”
Eddie looked up at her in awe. “Oh.” He snuggled in close. “You’re the best friend an idiot could ask for.”
She poked his side until he squirmed. “You’re not an idiot, Eddie. Anymore than you were an asshole about Steve. You can only work with the knowledge you have. And yeah, maybe some of your choices were pretty fucked up, you were able to move past it and become friends.”
Eddie let out a shuddering breath. And then another. “I love you, Chrissy.”
“I know, sweetie,” Chrissy murmured, kissing the top of his head.
*
“You wanted to know who Garnet is,” Jonathan snapped. “So that’s why we’re here.”
Nancy sighed. “Doesn’t this go against the bar’s rules or whatever?”
Jonathan threw his arms in the air. “I don’t care at this point. They all know who I am and I know who they are. Because shit happens outside of work sometimes and it gets revealed.”
Nancy rolled her eyes. “I’ll just go to the bar tonight like Onyx suggested.”
Jonathan furrowed his brow. “No. Absolutely not. Because if you do, you’ll get upset and if you get upset, you’ll make a scene and if you make a scene Diamond will ban you.”
It was Nancy’s turn to throw her arms in the air. “Can’t you just tell me who it is?”
“Because you wouldn’t believe him,” a warm, gentle voice said behind her.
She whirled around and gasped. “Steve!”
Steve smiled sadly. “Hey, Nance.”
She looked back and forth between Jonathan and Steve in shock. “He’s Garnet?”
Both men nodded.
“Pure coincidence,” Jonathan said. “I had been working at the bar for a year when we needed a new bartender. Steve came in with Robin and they were both hired.”
Nancy’s eyebrows shot up. “Robin works there too?”
“Yup!” Steve said with a smile. The smile slowly slid from his face. “Look. I know me turning out to be gay was hard on you. Especially with how it all came out. But just remember, I didn’t come out because I wanted to, it was because I forced to.”
Nancy buried her head in her hands, she looked up at him, anger sparking in her eyes. “If you hadn’t tried to be a hero...”
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t just hear you say that it would have been better for a girl to be raped and not realize I’m gay over what I did,” Steve snarled.
She opened her mouth to refute him but no sound would come out.
“I’m sorry it ruined your life, Nancy,” Steve said. “But it wasn’t just your life that was ruined. Do you know long it took for me me to walk down the street without people whispering behind their fingers? How long it took to be able to look at myself in the mirror because of the scars around my neck? I’m sorry I’m the reason you can’t trust Jonathan, but fucking hell Nancy, you aren’t as big as the victim you are making yourself out to be.”
Jonathan touched her elbow. “I didn’t know you felt this way. You need to talk to someone, Nance. That was some pretty messed up shit I just heard.”
Her lip began to quiver. “I didn’t mean that. I swear I didn’t. Because you’re right, that was so mess up.” She let out a shuddering breath. “The newspaper has someone...I’ll give him a call.”
Steve reached out and held open his arms to her. Nancy wavered a moment, looking to Jonathan. He nodded and she ran for Steve’s arms. He wrapped her up in a fierce hug.
“I’m sorry, Steve,” she whispered. “I’ve just been so angry for so long.”
He kissed the top of her head. “You’ve got a good boyfriend there, Nance. Take advantage of that, okay?”
Nancy nodded. “Okay.”
He gave her a brief squeeze and let her go. “I’ve got to get to class. But you take care of yourself, you hear?”
She smiled and let Jonathan lead her away.
Part 13  Part 14  Part 15  Part 16  Part 17 Epilogue
Tag List: @artiststarme @allbymyselfexceptformycactus @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @itsall-taken @m-owo-n @zerokrox-blog @runyousillydetective @grimmfitzz @wonderland-girl143-blog @sapphirecobalt-1 @scheodingers-muppet @victor-thee-corvid @apricottree @bookbinderbitch @sleepyboosstuff @biatcgh @pixiefallingupthestairs @grtwdsmwhr @thepainisspicy @carlyv @eboyawstenn @bisexualdisastersworld @bidisastersworld @abstractnaturaldisaster @evix-syne666 @nerdsconquerall @lololol-1234 @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @a-little-unsteddie @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @elluminis @tailsfromthecrypt @danili666 @plyerice27 @alittlegreyfish  @n0-1-important @no-upper-limit-to-stupidity @maya-custodios-dionach @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @heaven428 @thedragonsaunt @ceaselessly-watching @imfinereallyy
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vileintcnt · 2 months
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💕✨
Send 💕 and I will tell you some muses of ours I think could work as a ship.
presley alden + blaire irvine - i just think they'd have so many antics...??? best friends until one day blaire takes a joke too far and then presley just has to make out with her
waylon 'lonny' buffet + chloe prescott - i love mikey and chloe sm but like...why do i think it would be so fun with lonny being like a blushing cowboy and her being the prettiest thing that's ever stepped foot into his small town and just being like, flabbergasted that someone that hot even exists?? also like...voyeur vibes of him catching her filming content
ravi sidhu + liv harrington - student professor vibes, him never intending on acting on his desire but they bump into each other outside of a lecture and they get to talking and hes just entirely smitten
sid carpenter/puck spence + allie sheridan - absolute reprobates both being obsessed with the super hot groupie thats started following their band both trying to impress her???????
natalie abbot + sylvia gilmore - i don't even have to explain this honestly like, maybe she goes to the same college as harrison/charlotte and they've pissed her off so shes like kay im gonna fuck your mom then
candace jackson + shane ledger - ditsy airhead blonde who doesn't get why shane is being mean to her <3
but yk me and i'd literally make a pairing for every single one of your muses because we make ✨magic✨sooooooo
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Meaning/references behind every Gilmore Girls episode title - Season 3, Part 2
Masterlist: Season 1 Season 2, Part 1 Season 2, Part 2 Season 3, Part 1 Season 3, Part 2
My notes: - As always, please correct anything I've gotten wrong and share your own insight! - Many of these notes are pulled from and/or learned via annotatedgilmoregirls.com - an absolute icon! - I just KNOW there must be some more specific reference with "Keg! Max!"... anyone have any ideas? Perhaps also with "Happy Birthday, Baby"...?
Season 3, Part 2
Lorelai Out of Water The title is a twist on the familiar idiom, “fish out of water”, which refers to someone who feels awkward or uncomfortable in an unfamiliar environment. The earliest known use of the phrase comes from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1483, and was about someone riding a horse, which they weren’t used to. In this episode, Alex asks Lorelai on a fishing date, which she knows nothing about and gets Luke’s help with.
Dear Emily and Richard Through a series of flashbacks, we see how things played out for teenage Lorelai when she learns she’s pregnant and eventually leaves her parents’ house suddenly with baby Rory, telling them in a letter that presumably begins with “Dear Emily and Richard…”
Swan Song
A common metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement, referring to an ancient belief that swans sing a beautiful song just before their death since they have been silent (or alternatively not so musical) for most of their lifetime. The belief, whose basis has been long debated, had become proverbial in ancient Greece by the 3rd century BC and was reiterated many times in later Western poetry and art. This is of course jokingly referring to Jess getting “beaked” by a swan.
Face-Off In ice hockey, a face-off occurs at the start of each period, or to restart play. An official drops the puck between the sticks of two opposing players, who are then said to “face off” from each other in order to gain control of the puck. This episode has a hockey game as its focal point as well as several characters having “face offs” with each other, or efforts to gain control of their situations - Rory running into Dean and learning he’s moved on with Lindsay, Rory confronting Jess about his disrespect of her time, and Emily outing Trix’s affair with the tracksuit man.
The Big One“The Big One” is an informal name for World War II. It’s also a commonly used name for an anticipated megathrust earthquake along Western North America or Japan. It’s an appropriate name for this episode where several big important life events happen for multiple characters - Rory and Paris compete for the honor of speaking at Chilton's Bicentennial, Sookie and Jackson learn they are pregnant, Lorelai runs into Max and reignites old feelings, Paris has sex for the first time with Jamie and melts down on national television when she fails to get into Harvard, and Rory's college acceptance letters finally arrive. Lorelai says “You got the big one,” referring to the fact that acceptance letters come in big envelopes, whereas rejections come in small ones.
A Tale of Poes and Fire A Song of Ice and Fire is a series of fantasy novels by American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. The stories depict a violent world, largely without magic and dominated by political realism. The title references the Society of Edgar Allan Poe fans staying at the Independence Inn when it suffers a fire.
Happy Birthday, Baby Happy, Happy Birthday Baby is a 1957 song written by Margo Sylvia & Gilbert Lopez originally performed by The Tune Weavers, who had their only hit with this song. This episode marks the one and only time Lorelai’s birthday is celebrated on the show.
Keg! Max! Lane’s band plays their first gig at a houseparty and she somehow drinks enough cheap beer from the keg to get drunk for the first time. Lorelai continues running into Max and pushing his boundaries. It’s common for young people to yell excitedly about kegs at parties.
Say Goodnight, Gracie This line is spoken by George Burns in the TV show The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950-1958). Actors George Burns and Gracie Allen met in 1922 while they were both touring on the Vaudeville circuit. After falling in love and getting married, the two developed an act together—George would play the straight man and Gracie his silly and illogical wife. By the time they brought their act to TV in 1950, the two were a huge hit. The end of every show became a catchphrase: George and Gracie would come out and do some jokes until it was time to close the show, when George would turn to his wife and tell her, "Say goodnight, Gracie," and she would simply reply, "Goodnight." Thanks to Gracie’s ditzy delivery and the hilarious chemistry she had with George, this line became iconic. Presumably this title is referencing the ending of Jess and Rory’s relationship and/or his time in Stars Hollow
Here Comes the Son This episode title is a play on the song title Here Comes the Sun by the English rock band The Beatles from their 1969 album Abbey Road. It was written by George Harrison and is one of his best-known compositions. The lyrics reflect his relief at the arrival of spring and the temporary respite he was experiencing from the band's business affairs. In this episode, Jess leaves Stars Hollow to try and form a relationship and a new home with his estranged father in Los Angeles.
Those are Strings, Pinocchio Rory strikes a new deal with her Grandparents for more Friday night dinners in exchange for her Yale tuition. Lorelai warns her of the implications or “strings attached.” “Rory, honey, do you understand, the Gilmores do nothing altruistically. Strings are attached to everything.” “There are no strings.” “No strings?” “No. I just have to pay them back starting five years after I graduate and I have to start going back for Friday night dinners.” “Um, hello, Pinocchio, those are strings.” The Adventures of Pinocchio is a famous children’s novel written by Carlo Collodi in 1883. Pinocchio is a wooden marionette puppet operated by literal strings.
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daxieoclock · 11 months
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OCs
Dia - full name: Seprigrininat-un-Diadelixaphage. Greymoral homunculus with an empathy disorder, raised as an assassin by her father, whom she killed for abusing her sister. She and her siblings are in hiding from the crime empire who owns their father’s debts, and Dia is trying to find both her purpose and her brother, who was captured by said crime empire. She was a pirate for a year, wears a skull bandana and uses a scythe and weather magic.
(art by my friend’s friend Park who does not have tumblr)
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Farris - a gaunt woman who sold her soul to an undead fae in order to escape abuse, and is now hunting that fae to kill her so she can die freely on her own terms. Dia’s rival and eventual lover. She lashes out as a defense mechanism. Manipulates her own body into a weapon with the magic of the undead.
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Max Enoch - a teenage Jewish trans girl with a golem made of folded paper, a crush on her best friend Jenny, and severely repressed trauma. Tries really hard to be an aloof cool girl at the cost of her vulnerability.
(art by @lilyhoshikawa​ )
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Primrose - goes by Prim. The poltergeist of the girl haunting this narrative. She’s insanely powerful and insanely vindictive, an apparent human living in a mirror world of twisted deities, whom she both culls and protects. Daughter of the Dreamer - the invisible “Idmon.”
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Puck - a little boy with antlers, a scar over one eye and whimsical theater kid energy. He is just a little guy. Prim’s baby brother, son of the Dreamer - the invisible “Titania.”
(art by @cattownartist​ )
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Lucy “Twitch” Blum - newly out trans girl still dealing with a whole lot of trauma. Almost killed the party when her self-loathing took monstrous form, but she got better. Accompanied by her Persona, Venus. In a very lovey-dovey relationship with resident butch Lena.
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Arcade Cassidy - bartender and butch eyecandy by night, nerdy terminal insomniac by day. Horribly cursed, and dealing with it the best they can - by being buried in medical debt, mostly. Probably going to eat a g-d some day.
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Mezzanine “Mezz” Penglihaten - mixed Indonesian and Japanese, she’s chronically ill chemistry major and part time magical girl, by the name “Transience.” The providor of her powers takes the specter form and name of “Izanami.” While Mezz is firm and softspoken, Transience is cocky and brash and loud. Full profile here.
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Keth Sayar - up and coming punk rock star, shredding her way through the undercity of Zaun...or so she likes to say. Despite her insistence on her stage name - Caustic Shock - she’s as of yet an inexperienced band geek running around with a haunted electric guitar, getting into trouble. And she’s 15. But it’s not a phase, mom!
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alexzalben · 1 year
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Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Announces New Cast Members for Season Two
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has announced seven new recurring cast members for the forthcoming second season, currently in production in the UK. “Since its premiere, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been bringing audiences together to experience the magic and wonder of J.R.R. Tolkien’s magnificent Middle-earth. To date, season one is the top Original series for Prime Video in every region and has been viewed by over 100 million people worldwide, a truly global hit that speaks to the universal nature of powerful storytelling. We welcome these wonderful actors to our ‘fellowship’ and look forward to telling more incredible Second Age stories in season two,” said Vernon Sanders, Head of Global Television, Amazon Studios. The new cast members are: Gabriel Akuwudike, Yasen ‘Zates’ Atour, Ben Daniels, Amelia Kenworthy, Nia Towle, and Nicholas Woodeson. The role of Orc leader “Adar” has been recast for Season Two, and will be played by Sam Hazeldine.
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GABRIEL AKUWUDIKE Gabriel Akuwudike is a British-Nigerian actor who has appeared in the acclaimed series Hanna (Prime Video). Other TV credits include Ridley Road (BBC) and War of the Worlds (FX/Disney+). He has appeared in films including Sam Mendes’ 1917, and HBO’s Brexit directed by Toby Haynes. 
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YASEN ‘ZATES’ ATOUR Yasen ‘Zates’ Atour is most known for his role as “Coen” in Season Two of The Witcher (Netflix). He was also a series regular in Young Wallander (Netflix), playing the role of “Reza Al-Rahman.” He directed the film Good Intentions and was an executive producer and star of the film When the Screaming Starts.
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BEN DANIELS Ben Daniels has had recurring roles in television including Jupiter’s Legacy (Netflix) as “Walter Sampson,” The Crown (Netflix) as “Lord Snowdon,” The Exorcist (Hulu) as “Father Marcus Keane,” House of Cards (Netflix) as “Adam Galloway,” and Law & Order: UK (ITV) as “James Steel.” Film credits include roles in Benediction, Captive State, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and The Exception. Ben is an award-winning stage actor who has appeared in numerous productions including The Normal Heart (National Theatre – Olivier Award Nomination - Best Actor, Critics' Circle Theatre Award – Best Actor), All My Sons (National Theatre - Olivier Award – Best Supporting Actor), and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Broadway - Tony and Drama Desk Nominations – Best Actor). Ben trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.
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SAM HAZELDINE Sam Hazeldine’s credits include Peaky Blinders (BBC), Slow Horses (Apple TV+), The Huntsman: Winter’s War, Mechanic: Resurrection, and Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel.  He currently appears in The Sandman (Netflix) and The Playlist (Netflix), and will next be seen in the upcoming Band of Brothers sequel Masters of The Air (AppleTV+) opposite Austin Butler and Callum Turner, and starring alongside Jonah Hauer-King and Dar Zuzovsky in the Casanova drama feature, A Beautiful Imperfection.
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AMELIA KENWORTHY Amelia Kenworthy is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.  While at RADA, she performed in numerous stage productions including Spring Awakening as “Anna,” A Midsummer Night’s Dream as “Puck,” Two Gentlemen of Verona as “Julia,” Pomona as “Ollie” and Against as “Shiela.”  She has also appeared in short films IRL and Messenger.  She will make her television debut in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
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NIA TOWLE Nia Towle was most recently seen in the Netflix film Persuasion. On stage, Nia debuted Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane at both the National Theatre and Duke of York Theatre. During her studies at Guildhall School of Drama, from which she graduated in 2021, Nia played leading roles in plays including Yerma, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Medea.
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NICHOLAS WOODESON Nicholas Woodeson is a veteran English performer of television, film, and theatre. In television, his credits include Silent Witness (BBC), Baptiste (BBC), The Honourable Woman (BBC), Poirot (ITV), and Rome (HBO / BBC). He can also be seen in films including The Hustle, Paddington 2, The Danish Girl, Skyfall, and Conspiracy. His most recent theatre performances include The Two Popes, “The Duke of Norfolk” in The Mirror and The Light, “The Mayor” in The Visit, “Pope Francis” in The Pope, “Mr. Kidd” in The Room, and “Willy” in Death of a Salesman. Nicholas is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
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cursedcatboy · 2 years
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“I am what I am. I would tell you what you want to know if I could, for you have been kind to me. But I am a cat, and no cat anywhere ever gave anyone a straight answer.” – Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn.
INTRODUCING :  EZRAEL BINX
inspired by: KITTY MINX from LOVE IN HATE NATION. RACETRACK HIGGINS from NEWSIES. APOLLYON from HELLO FROM THE HALLOWOODS. RICHIE TOZIER from IT (2017) && IT: CHAPTER TWO.  PUCK from A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. HOBAN “WASH” WASHBURNE from FIREFLY. // with hints of: john amoroso from the black suits. taako from the adventure zone: balance. aubrey little from the adventure zone: amnesty. jamie taylor from the haunting of bly manor. portia devorak from the arcana. ted “theodore” logan from bill and ted’s excellent adventure. wirt from over the garden wall. sally owens from practical magic. as well as: — the good, comfy vibes you get from a stevie nicks song. — the crisp earthy-sweet smell of damp fallen leaves. — the fog that results from a warm day turning into a cool night. — old black and white monster movies && arsenic and old lace. — this specific color palette. — the warm scent of sandalwood incense burning.
GENERAL
name. ezrael lysander binx. nicknames. ez, ezzie ( to a very rare few ), rae, little cat ( a thackery exclusive ) date of birth. august 13th. age. twenty three. gender. nonbinary. pronouns. they / them. powers. quick reflexes, very good balance. sexuality. pansexual. place of birth. hallow falls.           current residence. elias.          occupation. bartender, aspiring musician. song. we all float down here - four year strong. emojis. 😈 🧡 🎸
APPEARANCE  
height.  6′1″. build. athletic, lean. hair colour/style. shortish, just above shoulder-length & curly; naturally medium brown but they’ve been known to dye it black for funsies.       eye colour. green.         piercings. ears & septum.          tattoos. small black lineart of a crescent moon on the inside of their left wrist, small black lineart of a star on the inside of their right wrist, more to come.       notable markings. a few small scars on their fingers from their whittling phase, a scar just above the right side of their top lip, freckles.            glasses/contacts? neither.       faceclaim. fin argus. voiceclaim. n/a. but there is a lilt of an accent to their voice because of their growing up in thackery’s company.
HEALTH        
allergies. dogs && mangoes. sleeping habits. 6-7 hours a night; sometimes little naps during the day.     eating habits. pescatarian.            dominant hand. left.     drugs / smoke / alcohol? sometimes / yes / only in social situations.
PERSONALITY 
tropes.  lovable rogue, class clown, flirty bard. positive traits. patient, caring, loyal.        negative traits. stubborn, loud, rash.                  likes. bright colors, learning new things, cats, magic, 70s/80s rock, black converse.       dislikes. people who talk over them, being told what to do, tomatoes, most shades of brown.       bad habits. smoking, being reckless. 
RELATIONSHIPS
mother. unknown. father. thackery binx. siblings. n/a. children. none.    significant others. n/a. closest friends. tba.
TESTS
zodiac sign. leo. mbti. enfp.         temperament. sanguine.                  moral alignment. chaotic neutral.       primary vice. pride.       primary virtue. patience.
SKILLS & STATS
languages spoken. english, french, spanish, latin. drive? yes. jump start a car? yes.       change a flat tire? yes.        ride a bicycle? yes.          swim? no.      play an instrument? yes. guitar && piano.         play chess? yes but they hate it. they find it boring.           braid hair? yes.         tie a tie? yes.         pick a lock? yes.         sew? yes.    
here is a playlist for them !! :3
WANTED CONNECTIONS
;; all we are is dust in the wind, dude. | bandmates ! jam sesh buds !
ezrael can play a mean guitar but they can also play the keyboard & sing ! they just need someone ( or several someones! ) to jam with & talk music !! either this can be a Solid Band or just people jamming together & sometimes playing shows - ez is fine with either. music is their passion. 
;; if we shadows have offended. | magic friends !      
just people who have helped/can help ezrael earn more about magic! they've read books and done research but they've stayed more on the Book Knowledge side of things and they've been itching to try a spell or two - nothing major, just for funsies. their dad is thackery after all, they know not to mess with the Big Stuff.
;; the whiskey sure works && lordy i love it. | drinking buddies !  
ezrael is a social drinker and while they do tend to actively make friends while drinking, they much prefer to go out with friends than go out to find​​​​ friends.
;; people who build their houses in your heart. | close friends !  
ezrael is very social & they have friends of all sorts. but i have a feeling that they only have a few close friends - the ones they trade secrets with and always think to text first. midnight slumber party besties y'know? the sort of friends you go stargazing & contemplate life with.
;; the way that i feel, don't try to say it isn't real | exes / flings !  
ezrael is pansexual & can be right flirty when they want to. perhaps they parted ways happily & are still friends! perhaps they Didn't & are anything but friendly. ez doesn't like to burn bridges but they also aren't sure if they like being tied down for too long. their dad must've passed some of his feral cat energy on to them.
&& more, i’m sure!! if you have an idea for a connection feel free to reach out !! :3
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nubianamy · 1 year
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Top 10 of my fic
Thank you @beshrew-my-very-heart for tagging me in this. I love hearing you talk about your work, and our collab work is very dear to my heart.
Rules: List your "top 10" (or up to 10 if you haven't written that many) fics ranked by kudos on AO3. Are you surprised by what's most popular to your readers? Then, under a cut, provide your ranking of your personal top 10 fics (with explanations if you want!), and then tag a few fellow writers.
Top 10 AO3 fics according to kudos (out of 166 total works):
Only Held By Gravity (Teen Wolf Stanny soulmates, 939 kudos)
Fasten You to Me (Teen Wolf Sterek fantasy, 852 kudos)
Glasses, Coins, and Golden Rings (Teen Wolf Sterek historical fiction AU, 549 kudos)
We Might As Well Close Our Eyes (Glee Fuckurt teen BDSM, 447 kudos)
Until It Hits You In the Teeth (sequel to Only Held By Gravity, but with more polyamory, 380 kudos)
Those Magic Changes My Heart Arranges (Glee Puckurt teen theater series, part 1)
Searching For Words (Hawaii 5-0 McDanno one-shot, 275 kudos)
Emergence (Teen Wolf Allison/Stiles/Scott horror, 269 kudos)
Time in a Tapestry (Glee Puckurt what-if, 229 kudos)
Glitter on the Front Porch (Glee Puckurt-to-Fuckurt fluff part 1, 217 kudos)
I am not at all surprised that my Teen Wolf stories top the list, because that fandom is ridiculously loyal—but check it out, #1 is a RAREPAIR, Danny/Stiles!
I will say technically #2, a Sterek fantasy oneshot, has had more kudos because it was taken down in 2015 for including quotes of too many Beatles lyrics. The podfic also has its own following!
I am very proud of #3, set during the Civil War; that was a big stretch, but a fun one to write.
#4 is our first Glee story, and that's a collab with someone who's even more prolific than I am (and a much better writer).
#5 is the sequel to #1 but was only recently completed.
#6, another Glee story, is the first in a trilogy I'm very proud of, with lots of theater references and canon compliance for most of the story.
#7 is my first McDanno fic, but really hit a chord in the H50 fandom. I worked very hard to get Danny's character voice right, and it was satisfying to know I was able to achieve that.
#8 is another Teen Wolf rarepair, this time with a real horror backdrop, and that was also a good challenge for me, as I love horror fiction but had never written it.
#9 is a collab with one of my dearest friends and cowriters, @knittycat99. We always meant to continue writing the next part of the story, but life does intervene!
#10 is the first in a very adorable Puckurt fluff series.
Read under the cut for my recs!
10 of my fics I wish people would read:
The French Drop is based on the heist film Sneakers from 1992. It stars Robert Redford and Ben Kingsley. God, I love this movie, and I absolutely had to write this story, because they needed a happy ending, or as close to a happy ending as I could give them.
Auld Acquaintance is a collaborative D/s Puckurt written by myself and @beshrew-my-very-heart. It was a challenge to ourselves to see if we could write something short and complete, and we did! (Of course, we are now writing the much, much longer sequels.)
Dancing Through the Same Noise is a Glee Puckurt-to-Fuckurt patterned after an episode of How I Met Your Mother. It started light and funny and quickly got very serious. It has the advantage of having beautiful art (it was so beautiful that I purchased the original watercolored pen-and-ink sketch from the artist and had it shipped across the world to me).
So Tyrannous and Rough in Proof and A Trivial Comedy for Serious People are parts #2 and #3 of the These Magic Changes Puckurt series. I finished the series fairly recently, but I hope more Glee readers will go back and reread the whole thing, because I think it really hangs together very well.
Blue Rubber Band is a Puck-focused Puckurt AU one-shot based on a Regina Spektor song. It's about drug addiction and homelessnes, but is ultimately a hopeful story. There is also a podfic.
Gold Mine is a Glee Dave/Puck what-if story that is unbelievably sweet, sexy, and romantic—and monogamous and vanilla! I am really fond of it, mostly because canon totally supports this pairing and I think they would have been great together.
While We Got the Chance to Say is part of the enormous Glee Donutverse, but I think can be read as a stand-alone pretty well. It's a BDSM-flavored polyam love story focusing on Kurt and Adam Lambert (no, not Elliott Gilbert!). If you've ever wondered about the Donutverse and you would like to give it a try, this is a very glittery introduction.
Family First is a Glee Kurtofsky futurefic one-shot which I wrote during the two days of the 2020 election. It does deal with cancer and contains minor character death, but Dave's character arc centers around his friendship with Finn and the whole Hudson-Hummel family.
the soul slakes its thirst in fearless draught is a Finn/Dave/Kurt futurefic patterned after Cyrano DeBergerac. It is very romantic, with a smutty followup chapter.
Lucky Connection is a Dave/Finn story based on a Hallmark movie, so you can imagine just how sweet and romantic it is. There is zero smut, but a happy ending.
BONUS: the only fanvid I have ever made was completed a few weeks before Cory Monteith's untimely passing, so it is somewhat bittersweet, but I am still very proud of it.
I will tag @pterawaters, @knittycat99, and @flinchflower, but if you are a fanfic writer, consider yourself tagged too!
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theotakufiles · 8 months
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A Midsummer Night's Dream Manga
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Welcome to the enchanting world of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," where reality blends with fantasy and love plays tricks on the hearts of both mortals and fairies alike. Set in the magical woods just outside Athens, this captivating series follows four interconnected love stories as they intertwine under an ethereal moonlit night.
In this timeless tale of mischievous desires, we meet a group of young Athenian lovers who flee to the forest in search of freedom from societal constraints. Their path crosses with that of a band of playful fairies, led by their mischievous king, Oberon, and queen, Titania. Unknown to them all, powerful spells and mysterious potions are about to unleash chaos upon their lives.
As soon as dusk falls, these star-crossed lovers find themselves entangled in a web of thwarted affections and forbidden desires. Hermia is torn between her true love Lysander and her father's demands to marry Demetrius; while Helena relentlessly pursues Demetrius despite his indifference. Throughout it all, Puck – Oberon's loyal jester – adds fuel to the fire by meddling with everyone’s affectionate intentions.
Meanwhile, as Titania falls under Oberon's spell due to a dispute over a changeling child, Bottom - an overzealous amateur actor - becomes Titania's object of desire after encountering one too many magical mishaps. The enchanted forest becomes witness to hilarious misunderstandings and passionate confessions as various characters find themselves bewitched or befallen by Cupid's whimsical arrows.
But amidst the enchantment and confusion that permeates this fairy-filled night lies an underlying message about perception versus reality – challenging us to question whether we truly understand who we love or if it is merely an illusion brought on by unseen forces.
Join us for this mesmerizing series filled with mischief, romance, laughter, and bewildering encounters as "A Midsummer Night's Dream" takes you on an unforgettable journey through a realm where dreams come alive and love conquers all – even enchantment.
Please show your support for the talented manga author of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream Manga' by purchasing a copy of this captivating work at gekimanga.com. Immerse yourself in a world of enchantment, romance, and fantastical creatures as you delve into the pages of this mesmerizing adaptation. Don't miss out on the opportunity to own this remarkable manga and contribute towards the success and continued creation of incredible stories. Grab your copy today!
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pinertab · 2 years
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Magic icon
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Step 3: Click the toggle button of the hidden icon to turn it on. Step 2: In the Taskbar settings window, find and expand the Taskbar corner overflow section and open the app you want to show on the taskbar. Alternatively, you can press Win + I to open Settings and navigate to Personalization > Taskbar.
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Step 1: Right click anywhere on the taskbar and select Taskbar settings. Find & Download 110 Create Magic Icons in Line, Flat, Glyph, Colored Outline, and many more design styles for web, mobile, and graphic design projects.
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To show system icons that are hidden by default in the corner of the taskbar in Windows 11, follow the steps below: Windows 11 displays two types of icons on the taskbar. How to Show Icons on the Taskbar in Windows 11?
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Well, this article from MiniTool Partition Wizard shows you how to show icons on the taskbar in Windows 11. Champagne & Magic wand 2d animation bottle branding celebration design icon set icons illustration. However, some icons do provide important information about their appearance. Discover 1 Magic Icons design on Dribbble. Also damages the player for 50 Hitpoints.To save space, app icons other than system icons are usually hidden in Windows 11 tray area. The boost is reapplied every 15 seconds for 5 minutes. Similar to reading reversals in some Tarot and Runic methods, if the Icon is upside-down relative to the individual who cast the Icons (as determined by the.
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For the different sets of armour and detailed information on each piece, see the armour guide.Ī player can have a Magic Attack bonus of up to 172, and a Magic Defence bonus up to 253. Magic icons - 140 Free Magic icons Download PNG & SVG Popular Styles including Glyphs, Flat, Outline, Filled, and Hand Drawn. Check out our magic icons selection for the very best in unique or custom. Flaticon, the largest database of free icons. Most mages wear robes, although some light armour is available that is made from special material and does not hinder the wearer's ability to perform magical attacks. Vector icons in SVG, PSD, PNG, EPS and ICON FONT Download over 19,868 icons of magic in SVG, PSD, PNG, EPS format or as webfonts. PNG is a raster-graphics file compressed without quality losing. To access the activated spellbook, click on the spellbook icon in the game's interface.įree-to-play players only have access to the standard spellbook, while the other three spellbooks are only available for members after unlocking them through various content.Īs with other skills, some spells require higher skill levels to cast. PNG ICO ICNS 128px 96px 72px 64px 48px 32px. To cast a spell, a player must choose the desired spell from their spellbook. A player may only cast spells from their current spellbook, and if they wish to use spells from another spellbook, they must change to that spellbook through various means. There are four different spellbooks used to cast magic spells from. They can be used as melee weapons, however their primary function is for casting spells, taking place of elemental runes, auto cast, and access to specific spells like Magic Dart. Magic weapons attack from a distance and come in two primary types, staves and wands.
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hootsofanightal · 5 years
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Best Walt Disney World Accessory Under $15 - Magic Band 2 Puck Holder
Best Walt Disney World Accessory Under $15 – Magic Band 2 Puck Holder
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A quick google search will prove there are literally thousands of Disney accessories out there you can buy. From ears to bracelets to handbags to scrunchies…the list goes on and on! I wanted to share one of the most useful AND least expensive things I’ve purchased that made our Walt Disney World vacation so much smoother! A Magic Band 2 Puck holder!
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If you aren’t familiar with Magic Bands,…
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gatetoglimmer · 5 years
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me: asks a basic question about our vacation
my mother: snaps at me and accuses me of calling her stupid
me: .-.
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girlsbtrs · 3 years
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How Being a Woman in Hardcore Helped Me Learn to Love Myself
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Written by Jen Moglia. Graphic by Laura Cross. 
Since this is my first piece written for Girls Behind the Rock Show, I figured that I should introduce myself; hi, my name is Jennifer, but most people call me Jen. I live on Long Island in New York, and my favorite things include my cats, the color pink, giving gifts to my Animal Crossing villagers, and watching sports. Above all else, however, I love music.
I frequently refer to music as the love of my life. It somehow plays a role in everything that I do. I got my first iPod when I was five years old, stacked with everything from Miranda Cosgrove and Avril Lavigne to Tool and Deftones. Some of my favorite memories growing up are sitting in my pink and purple bedroom singing and dancing along to Paramore’s crushcrushcrush and Fall Out Boy’s Thnks Fr Th Mmrs on the local alternative radio station. I danced for 12 years, played cello for seven, and am currently a wannabe ukulele rockstar after buying one on impulse and starting to teach myself how to play four years ago. Even on the simplest, barely noticeable levels, music has been everywhere in my life for as long as I can remember; even now, I can’t complete a basic task without a song playing in my headphones.
Music became an even bigger part of my life when I started attending live shows. I went to my first concerts at age 10, seeing my two favorite artists - Nickelodeon boy band Big Time Rush and classic progressive rock band Rush - within one month of each other. By the time I was 15, I had been to my fair share of arena/seated shows with one or both of my parents, from Fifth Harmony to Fitz and the Tantrums to Alice in Chains. My first general admission show was seeing the Foo Fighters at Citi Field with both my mom and dad when I was 12, but my first pop-punk general admission show (yes, they’re different) came a few years later. I had the typical list of favorite bands that you would expect from a young teenager getting into alternative music: Neck Deep, Knuckle Puck, Real Friends, and State Champs. 
In late 2018, I was able to see all four of these bands for the first time, and I am a firm believer that it changed the course of my life. I met, cried-during, and eventually got the setlist for Neck Deep at Stereo Garden on Long Island in September. I sang all of “Untitled” at the barricade for Knuckle Puck at SI Hall at the Fairgrounds in Syracuse in October. I had my first minor concussion scare (yay!) before Real Friends’ set at Irving Plaza in New York City in November. Finally, I crowd surfed for the first time during State Champs’ anniversary show for The Finer Things at House of Independents in Asbury Park in December. After just a few shows, I had fallen in love with this new brand of live music that I had just been introduced too. There was something so magical to me about skin covered in sweat and Sharpie marks, feet hurting from dancing in the pit all night, and meeting strangers on line outside the venue who would become your best friends and know your deepest secrets by the end of the night.
After making some friends at all of the pop-punk shows I was going to, they started to tell me that I should get into hardcore music. I was hesitant at first - the heaviest thing I had listened to at that point was nowhere near the snippets of hardcore that my friends had played for me - but, eventually, I decided to give it a chance. I was bored and home alone with nothing to do one night over the summer of 2019 when I listened to my first hardcore album, Laugh Tracks by Knocked Loose. Immediately, I got that gut feeling that you have when you know you’ve heard one of your favorite bands for the first time. I knew that this was something special that I was meant to find at this point in my life. For the rest of the summer, I worked my way through the rest of my friends’ hardcore and hardcore-adjacent recommendations, with Cost of Living by Incendiary, Stage Four by Touche Amore, You’re Not You Anymore by Counterparts, Time & Space by Turnstile, Springtime and Blind by Fiddlehead, Smile! Aren’t You Happy by Absence of Mine, Bad to my World by Backtrack, and Reality Approaches by Harms Way being some of my favorites. By the time the next school year started, I was hooked, and I already had tickets to my first few hardcore shows in the fall.
My first hardcore show was in November 2019, seeing Knocked Loose at Webster Hall in New York City - fitting, right? They were on tour supporting their new record A Different Shade of Blue, which I had become obsessed with the minute I heard it for the first time. Although I was ridiculously scared of getting stepped on and breaking all my bones (yes, that was an actual fear of mine), I had the time of my life at that show. There was something about this newer kind of live music that prompted a cathartic release, one that I hadn’t found anywhere else before. As soon as the show was over, I was counting the days until my next one.
My love for live hardcore music (and live music and hardcore music in general) has only grown since then, and that story sort of ends there. However, I want to go back to that first hardcore band that I listened to, Knocked Loose, and the album they put out that first summer that stole my heart. I was taken by storm as soon as the first notes of A Different Shade of Blue rang through my headphones, but something was different about the third track, A Serpent’s Touch, particularly the ending; I heard a voice that sounded a little bit more like my own.
This song features Emma Boster, who does vocals for one of my favorite hardcore bands right now, Dying Wish. When I heard A Serpent’s Touch for the first time, though, I had no idea who she was. I was used to the aggressive vocal delivery of frontmen in hardcore, particularly that of Knocked Loose’s Bryan Garris, but hearing it come from her changed my perspective on a lot of things. It’s not like the song was super angry and changed its tune to be lighter once the token girl came along; in her verse, Boster sings, “I watched the venom / Overcome your spirit / Jealousy holds you now / Distorting your appearance / Bleed out.” These were lyrics that held the same intensity that the lines screamed by the men held, and they sounded just as cool coming out of her mouth. As cheesy as it sounds, it had never even occurred to me that women had a place in this new world that I had discovered. The audiences in the live videos I watched (and eventually at the shows I attended) were made up of mostly men who looked bigger and older than me. When I did start going to shows, most of the non-man population consisted of my friends and I. Emma Boster, along with so many others, began to open my eyes to the fact that a place for people like me existed in this community. It didn’t matter that I had bright red hair or liked butterflies or wore pink - I was just as much a part of this magic as the men multiple feet taller than me with tattoo-covered arms, and I belonged there just as much as they did.
As time went on and I got more involved in the genre’s music and community, I discovered more bands with women in them, and it only fueled this fire of empowerment inside of me. When I felt insecure, I’d watch live sets from Krimewatch, a hardcore band from New York City, just half an hour away from my hometown. They have multiple women as members, including their energetic badass of a vocalist, Rhylli Ogiura. Year of the Knife became one of my all-time favorites, and their bassist Madison Watkins became a serious inspiration to me; the way that she can balance killing it on stage and running the cutest, most pink apparel brand I’ve ever seen (aptly titled Candy Corpse) amazes me. Even some of the bands I’ve found more recently have had an impact on me. I started listening to Initiate last year when their EP Lavender came out, and their beautifully colorful cover art caught my eye before I had heard any of their songs. Their vocalist, Crystal Pak, is also a woman, and she’s insanely talented. Discovering this kind of representation in this new universe that I had come to feel so at home in introduced me to a world of confidence and determination that I had never known before.
When people ask me why I love hardcore so much, I often give the easy answer; “the music sounds good.” If the person allows me to ramble on for a little longer, the answer becomes much more emotional and cheesy. Hardcore taught me that speaking up for what I believe in is important, and if there’s something I’m passionate about, it’s worth shouting about. I became familiar with this when listening to one of my favorite bands ever, Incendiary (the second hardcore band I ever checked out), before quickly realizing that politics are a pretty common topic within the genre - it’s what this music was practically built on. The first time I heard their vocalist Brendan Garrone singing about police brutality and injustice on songs like Force of Neglect and Sell Your Cause, I realized that there is so much more to music than just sounding good.
However, at its core, the thing I love so much about hardcore is what it taught me about being a woman. Growing up, I was the loud girl with the personality bigger than the room who always had something to say and had a never ending supply of excitement about just about everything. As I got older, I was taught that this was not okay. People didn’t like how enthusiastic I was about everything, or that I constantly had new ideas and new discoveries I wanted to talk about. As cliche as it sounds, I felt like everyone around me was trying to dull my sparkle, especially some of the men that I was encountering on a day-to-day basis. Even when I started to come to terms with my big and bright personality, in turn also coming to terms with my own femininity, I was told that this wasn’t how girls acted. I had to pick one - I could watch Disney princess movies and wear Hello Kitty hair clips, or I could be outspoken about my beliefs; but never both. The women that I mentioned earlier, along with so, so many more, helped me unlearn these toxic mindsets. Seeing someone like Emma Boster take the stage and scream ferociously for a full set helped me see that I could be a girl and still be a powerhouse. Following Madi Watkins around on social media showed me that I could love bands like Year of the Knife and also love heart-shaped purses and wear pink from head to toe. My aggression and passion didn’t make me any less of a woman, and my femininity didn’t make me any less of a force to be reckoned with. 
So, at the end of this love letter to hardcore and the women who run it, I say this; thank you for teaching me that I don’t have to shrink myself anymore. It has made a world of a difference.
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heffrondriving · 3 years
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THE SOUND OF SCISSORS & SLEEP [BIG TIME RUSH ONE-SHOT]
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SUMMARY: Who’s been snip snip snipping around in Apartment 2J at four in the morning? (4,722 words // friendship, tooth-rotting Kendall + Carlos fluff)
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Apart from being extremely skilled with a hockey stick and puck on the ice, and with talking slash troublemaking his way out of every situation (no matter how sticky, surprising, or plain silly), and even having the unique ability to make his bushy eyebrows dance around like a pair of excited caterpillars at his whim, Kendall Knight was also blessed with the gift of being able to fall asleep really easily, which was quite the handy power to get to wield.
But unfortunately for him, this very same power just had to come bonus-packaged with the curse of being an extremely light sleeper.
Although he knew he shouldn’t really be surprised, it was still a bit mystifying to the teenager. Maybe when his mom was pregnant with him, she had slighted slash accidentally angered a Sandman-type of witch (Sandwoman?), and in turn, the wicked enchantress had cast an irreversible spell upon Mrs. Knight’s firstborn and made her innocent son fall unlucky victim to such a miserable fate.
And then maybe soon after Kendall was born—and pestered his mom with enough sleepless nights filled with snotty crying and poopy diapers, she finally managed to find a way to make amends and appease that very same sleep witch...Sandwoman...evil magic lady...whatever. And the witch felt so impressed with Jennifer Knight’s hard work that she decided to endow Kendall’s younger sister with incredibly sharp wits as a means of reparation; so that the lastborn Knight could have some means of looking after her eternally-accursed brother and her once-hoodwinked mother (who should reeeeaaally not have been meddling with supernatural powered creatures nor the mystical unknown in the first place).
Or at least, that’s what Kendall liked to believe. It was kind of mean-spirited and definitely way too dramatic, but it certainly made for a more riveting tale than the actual boring explanation of a nonchalant shrug alongside life’s ever-persisting mantra of ‘things just happen sometimes.’
But whether the Knight siblings were cautionary fairy tales straight from the Brothers Grimm’s magical anthologies, or just regular human beings who happened to catch a bit of a bad break like everyone else, Kendall was still thankful that he wasn’t double-cursed with chronic insomnia like his unfortunate roommate.
He had often woken up to Logan awake and alert as an over-caffeinated owl, the boy genius spending one too many evenings hunched over his glaring computer screen as he tried to bide the witching hours by filling up his already-huge noggin with all sorts of wacky brain-busting information (and sometimes adorable animal vlogs). Sometimes Kendall reckoned that’s why Logan couldn’t get any sleep—he had so much crazy stuff cluttering his head and it was covering up whatever parts of his system that was telling him to shut down and get some rest for once.
Heaven knows Kendall himself had also spent some crawling stretches of nights chewing his nails to the bone and festering in putrid anxiety, drenched in sweat and overthinking about everything and nothing, until the darkness got too dark and he got entirely swallowed up by all of his pervasive worries, whether rational or stupid. Especially now more than ever, with this whole ‘living in LA with my family and being the leader of a super famous boy band with my three best friends’ status quo.
His reality chased him all the way to ends of his nightmares. He didn’t have any cool action hero imaginary sequences, or ‘secret agent with Beatles songs for soundtracks’ fantasies, or even high-octane alien invasion dreams to tell over breakfast, like Carlos always did.
Kendall actually found himself quite jealous of the Latino, who, apart from enjoying the most colourful and imaginative dreams, also conked right out without fail as soon as his helmeted head hit (yes, hit, although ‘forcibly slammed into’ would also be a much more accurate description) the pillow. It usually took at least fifteen alarm clocks, a whole bucket of ice-cold water, and Kelly’s airhorns strapped closely onto each eardrum—and even Katie’s infamous painful ear pinches, in the most desperate of cases—just to wake him back up. For as boundless the amount of wound-up energy the small boy had in him when he was awake, he was the complete opposite when he was in slumber.
Carlos wasn’t just a log, no; he was an entire chopped-down forest of unmovable timber, and if you tried to pull a single log out from the towering pile, the rest would come avalanching down on you and bash in your foolish skull for attempting to defy nature.
But out of all of his friends’ wildly varying sleepytime quirks, Kendall was just mostly glad that he didn’t have to keep himself on a super-tight beauty sleep schedule like James did. This fascinatingly peculiar ritual included (but was not limited to): an hour-long bubble bath, slathering on a wide array of smelly and viscous facial serums along with other ‘Cuda skin and hair care products, and having to stay in rigorous thought-out sleeping positions to avoid messing up his meticulously smoothed and shiny locks—although Carlitos had a rather bad habit of using his best bud as a human teddy bear and doing that for him anyway.
And on top of all that, James also set a million timers on his phone (one of the more annoying reasons why their ‘unmovable timber’ friend was his roommate and not anyone else) and counted down to the very last minute and second how much sleep he was getting—for “zero eyebags, peak muscle revitalisation, and maximum skin rejuvenation”, apparently...
...whatever the heck that even meant.
But though sending himself off to dreamland was personally little to no problem for Kendall, it took no more than constant blanket tossing or an accidentally-dropped medical book to zip him right back into consciousness; and the moment his weary eyes opened up to ceiling blue and glow in the dark stars, it was instantly game over from there.
Even if he attempted to remedy it with some warm tea or with idle songwriting on his well-worn lyric notebook (Kendall found that he composed better when he was tired out of his brain, but he didn’t really want to encourage this unhealthy behaviour, either), the intrusive rays of sunrise still usually beat him to the punch; the golden state’s morning radiance obnoxiously bleeding into their drawn curtains as they blinded sunken stares and screamed for the tuckered-out boys to get up, get up, get get get up!
And then blatting alarms would start going off one after another in the crib, and he and Logan would fall in tandem and drag themselves out all drooly and gross and zombie-like, as their two other friends stepped out from the next room over looking like the most refreshed little angels who just took a merry cloud nine trip to heaven. During which Kendall’s mom and baby sis usually would have already been long awake, ready to serve up some delicious breakfast over some juice box banter and put some life back into their lethargic souls, to get the four of them ready for whatever boyband training hell Gustavo and Kelly had in store for their dogs that day.
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Tonight, it was no different for Kendall.
Maybe except for the fact that he didn’t really know what woke him up, exactly.
There weren’t any super-crinkly bedsheets or fumbled Merck Manuals, not that he could tell—otherwise, a puppy-eyed Logan would’ve been camped out at the foot of his bed and chomping at the bit to express his apologies to him. Anyway, whatever caused him to stir didn’t really feel like anything loud or jarring, so maybe it must have been some other unfamiliar sound.
Kendall’s ears perked up as he attempted to listen in beyond the expected discernable silence. He was long-used to the after-dark sounds of the Palm Woods. It was like his very own nocturnal lullaby, comforting and static and hushed, quite the stark contrast to the vivaciously louder-than-life atmosphere the apartment complex usually held when everyone—actors and models and musicians and all-around fame-chasing Jacks alike—was up and at ‘em and shaking the floors. Especially when his very own rambunctious band of friends inevitably sparked up some big time trouble...Mr. Bitters wasn’t constantly jabbing his cheesy fingers and shouting his cheese-fries breath right in their faces for nothing, after all. Matter of fact, he was probably just four dug graves short of putting his rowdy tenants to permanent sleep due to their nonstop 24/7 antics.
But their crabby apartment manager was thankfully nowhere to be heard now, most likely snoozing downstairs in his Scrooge-looking nightgown that came complete with a droopy silk cap and an old-fashioned candle holder (seriously, why does Bitters even use that when electricity literally exists?), so Kendall could easily cross that particular contingency off his list.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he continued listening in for a good minute or two, mentally ticking off the usual furtive noises echoing from inside the confines of their crib as he did so.
Their leaky kitchen faucet—we should really get around to asking Buddha Bob to fix that—steadily going drip drip drip. Check.
Their new next door neighbour’s earthquake-like snores roaring as it shook just about every apartment wall on the second floor. Check, two.
Cold milk splashing against crunchy Powdered Sugar-O’s whenever Katie hankered for a quick midnight snack—that one was noticeably not present tonight. No check.
The uh-oh-oh soundbite from their band’s eponymous song that seemingly always coincidentally played at the worst times—I really hope I don’t get to hear that one tonight! But it was also no check...for now.
The hypnotic clickety-clackety sound of Logan’s typing keyboard going miles a minute, right over to the left of him, of course that one earned another easy check...
Scissors going snip snip snip, however, was something entirely unheard of. Quite literally.
Setting aside the little sound list from his mind, Kendall decided to investigate the unfolding mystery further. He kicked the blankets off his legs and stood up with a quiet groan and a generous stretch. Absently running icy fingers through his messy dark blond hair, he then slipped on some pink fluffy bunny slippers and started walking towards the door.
“Heading out?” was Logan’s wry quip from behind him.
“I’m gonna check out what that weird sound is.” replied Kendall. “Don’t you hear it?”
“What was that?” His roommate’s preoccupied gaze didn’t leave the glowing screen as he motioned to his ears. “Sorry dude, earphones. I’m listening to a really interesting lecture about a research that uses immunovirotherapy for pediatric high-grade gliomas. See, these doctors are injecting an oncolytic, genetically engineered simplex virus called HSV-1 G201—”
“Alright, yeah, don’t got it. Don’t make me fall asleep while I’m standing up.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Your mouth stinks.”
“Aww, thanks, I love you too, dude!”
With an amused shake of his head, Kendall stalked out of their bedroom and made a beeline for the living room. As soon as he arrived by the end of the hallway, he blindly felt for the wall to look for the light switch, only to find himself flying off his fluffy bunny slippers and somersaulting forward as he accidentally tripped on something.
“Yowchies!”
Okay, make that someone.
Kendall hit the carpeted floor with a muffled thud, cutting off a pained grunt with his balled fist. He sat dazed for a moment, simply biting his knuckle and rubbing at his tingling elbow as that someone’s footsteps frantically plodded past him, and he heard a quiet click as a nearby lamp turned on. Briefly squeezing his eyes shut, Kendall forced them back open and squinted as he tried to find out who his unknown companion was.
Even though his fuzzy vision was still adjusting to the sudden brightness, from the looks of the all-too familiar megawatt grin making a significant dent against the darkened shadows—as well as the whole explosive mess of arts and crafts materials surrounding them, Kendall didn’t have to turn on any other overhead lights to figure out who the perpetrator was all along.
And it was exactly just as he suspected.
“Carlos...it’s four in the morning. What on earth are you doing?”
“Making a greeting card!”
“Okay, that was obviously the wrong question...let me try that again.” sighed Kendall, as he stood back up and leaned against the counter to steady himself. “Why on earth are you doing that?”
Carlos lazily shrugged. “‘Cause James told me to.”
“James...our James...told you...to make a card...a greeting card...at an ungodly hour of the night…?”
“Ohoookay,” Carlos’s cheeks began puffing up with air, as if gearing himself for a long tale, “so like, here’s the whole thing. I kinda got rudely woken up a couple hours ago, which wasn’t really very nice. And I was gonna just go back to sleep, but then I felt super cold all of a sudden, so I took Mr. Fuzzykins and my blankie and went to James’ bed ‘cause y’know, he’s like, the warmest bear ever and he also smells super nice! I mean, he usually doesn’t mind it…”
His ballooned-up face deflated into a sour pout. “...but then he got kinda mad at me for being way too wriggly and messing his hair up—and I guess also he said something about interrupting his Elite supermodel dream thingy, and I tried to say sorry, but then he got all snappy and told me to stop bugging him and go away and watch a stupid after-hours Hallmark movie and get lost or whatever...so, here we are!”
“Okay...I think I get it. Ish.” Kendall scratched his nape, still vaguely confused about the winding story but far too exhausted to do anything about it. “Just one question...so where did the card part come in?”
“Oh yeah, thaaaat.” Carlos snapped his fingers. “Well, I did seriously think about watching Hallmark movies at first, but I really don’t wanna ‘cause they’re all sappy and dumb and—and they don’t even have zombie pirates or like, super awesome action scenes with lots of explosions! Only lots of yucky-echy talking and smooching…”
He blew a disgusted raspberry, which Kendall assented to with an understanding nod.
“But then, it made me think of those super colourful greeting cards that they also make, so I figured I could make James one and give it to him when he wakes up, so that he wouldn’t be mad at me for bugging him tonight!”
“Aww, that’s a really cute idea. I’m sure James will appreciate that.” Kendall smiled fondly. “But why the sudden awakening, Carlitos? You don’t usually get woken up unless...was it those giant crab nightmares again?”
“No...it was giant crabs with lasers shooting out of their creepy wavy eyes, and we were all back in Minnesota and it was attacking our houses!”
Kendall had to amble a few steps back as Carlos passionately flailed his arms about and commenced pantomiming his action-packed dream, dramatic narration included.
“So, there the four of us were, right at the top of Broken Arm Hill. We were wearing our hockey uniforms and safety gear and we’re also armed with these like, super huge rocket guns, ‘cause we were trying to defend the neighbourhood and not holding back with destroying all the evil crabs. Houses were melted down, hiiiiissss! People were screaming, ahhhhh! The giant crabs were going snap snap snap! And we were going pew pew pew!!! But then I ran out of ammo...and then the giant crabs also shot your guns off with their green lasers...and then one of them caught me by the waist with its super sharp claws, and then it started lowering me down to its mouth full of crazy sharp teeth...and...and…!”
The smaller boy gulped as he turned pale, giving off a terrified shudder instead.
“That sounds awful…” muttered Kendall sympathetically.
“It really was...I’m just glad I woke up before I got turned into gross Garcia mush and became crab fertiliser…” Carlos sniffled. “But the worst part is...I’ll never even know if we got to save the city…”
“Awww, of course we did, and it’s all thanks to your hardest efforts! I mean, you didn’t really get to finish the dream, right?”
“I...I guess not…?”
“Exactly, so who knows? Maybe James used a grappling hook and swooped in at the last minute to shoot the evil jerkfaced crab right in its evil tonsils, and Logan and I managed to get you free of its pincers, and then we blew up that giant crab space-high and showed it who’s boss! Boom!” Kendall mimicked a huge explosion, complete with arm-flailing and mouth sound effects, making Carlos’s lips curl into a tiny smile. “So hey—c’mere!”
Traipsing around the littered construction papers, broken crayons, child-safe scissors, and other myriad arts and crafts materials (probably leftovers from his and Logan’s previous disastrous babysitting ventures) Kendall opened up his arms again, and Carlos willingly fell into the awaiting embrace, burying his face in the folds of his friend’s stripy pyjama shirt.
“That was one heck of a wild dream, for sure.” the taller boy soothed, rubbing gentle circles on Carlos’s back. “I mean, for one, I didn’t know crabs actually have teeth!”
“Me neither...I didn’t even know crabs could actually shoot deadly lasers out of their scary beady eyes, too!”
“Umm...well, maybe we’ll have to fact-check with Logie on that one. But it’s all okay now, I promise.” Kendall paused and thoughtfully gazed at the ceiling.
“Hmmm…”
“What is it, Ken-ken?”
“Just thinking...giant laser-shooting crabs rising out of the oceans and getting defeated by rocket launchers kinda sounds like an awesome apocalypse movie plot...hey, maybe we could call Stephanie and pitch it to her for a no-budget monster movie! And this time, we could totally help her out with all the effects and even star in it without getting unwittingly scared out of our pants.” he tilted his head as his ‘crazy lightbulb moment’ smile faded a bit. “We’re probably gonna have to change that cliffhanger ending into a happier one, though.”
“Yeah...and then when that movie turns into a blockbuster hit, then she’ll have tons of budget so she could make another one where the evil giant laser crabs have come back for revenge and are gonna have to fight against King-Kong and Godzilla—oooh, and also—! Also, giant transformer robot versions of Big Time Rush!” Carlos giggled.
Kendall was relieved to see the older boy being his usual cheery self again, glad to have made him successfully shake off his terrible nightmare.
“Big Time Fighter Bots? Now that’s another cool idea!” he replied. “But maybe we could deal with bagging that movie deal—and also deal with getting Griffin to pay for building our ultra-mega-giant mech versions—when we’re not totally zonked out of our brains, yeah?”
Carlos nodded frantically, his spiky hair tickling Kendall’s chest.
“Ugh, I just remembered we have eight hours of harmonies today, too.” the blond made a face. “Luckily, Mr. X is taking an x-tended vacation somewhere in Poconos so we don’t have to do any dancing, but still. Gustavo’s so not gonna be happy if three of his dogs are dead-faced and do more howling than singing.”
“Well, then we’ll just have to bite his ankles off if he turns into an evil grouch again.” Carlos drew his face back from Kendall’s shirt and loudly snapped his jaws a couple times, making him laugh.
“Yeah, but then we’re the ones gonna get blown up with evil giant Gustavo’s rocket gun if we do that!”
“Hey, if I could fight off giant evil laser-shooting crabs and help save Duluth from total doom,” Carlos grabbed his helmet from the dining table and put it on, giving it several resolute slaps, “then I could just as easily fight and take down a big meanie LA music producer!”
“Of course you can, ya ‘lil rascal.” Kendall smirked, knocking a playful fist on his helmet. “But really though, you wanna catch a couple more z’s in our room, Los? You’re gonna need some extra sleepytime-strength if we’re planning to do some big time Rocque wrangling later on. And anyway, James is probably still lying like a vampire and dream-modelling with stuffie puppies for Marcos, and Logan’s probably not gonna be too pleased with you hogging up his tidy bed, but I could definitely make some space in mine.”
“That’s really sweet of you Ken, but um...maybe just a couple more minutes. I still have to finish this apology card and stuff...”
“Are you sure? I’m no James Diamond, but I could give some pretty warm darn snuggles too!”
“Oooh, that’s super tempting,” mumbled Carlos, sucking his teeth in, “but I just...Jamesie’s card…I just, I really wanna give it to him for breakfast, otherwise he’s gonna hate me for the rest of the day, and I’m probably gonna do bad in band practice ‘cause I’ll be thinking too much about my bestest bud being mad at me, and then he’s just gonna hate me even more...and I would really hate that...”
His lower lip started wobbling at the disagreeable thought, and he stubbornly bit it back.
“Well, maybe I could help you with that.” Kendall said. He sat down on the carpet cross-legged and picked up the kiddie scissors, opening and closing them with a reassuring schwick! “Four hands are better than two, after all.”
Carlos’s sombre mood instantly lit back up. “Really?”
“Are you kidding me? A little late night arts and crafts is waaay better than having to listen to Logan’s nerdy science rambling! I love our smartie brother and all, I really do—but I swear, even two stacked pillows and a heavy comforter and mom’s thickest pair of noise-cancelling earmuffs aren’t enough to keep my head from hurting from all those brain-melting words…”
Rubbing the bridge of his nose to shake the mini-migraine away, Kendall glanced up to persuade his friend, that ever-familiar devilish lightbulb look on his face refusing to fade then.
“So, what do you say, Litos? It’ll be like our little project!”
With this invitation, Carlos broke out into an overjoyed grin and plopped down next to him, scooting closer and splaying his legs on his friend’s lap as he grabbed his half-finished card and a tube of glitter glue. He gave Kendall an eager salute and ended up smearing tiny stars all over his forehead.
“All ready for battle!”
“Copy that!”
Returning Carlos’s zippy salute and brilliant smile with his dimple-dotted ones, Kendall rummaged into the hurricane of butchered papers, fished out a large piece of yellow construction paper, and determinedly brandished his kiddie scissors as they both got to work.
Snip snip snip snip snip
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By the time the two boys had begun wrapping up their modest project, shy sunlight was beginning to stream from the open windows, illuminating the living room’s lemon swirly slide and limey walls as it slowly roused their resplendent home back to colourful life; also flushing the pair of tousled bedheads with paint-smirched faces under hazy washes of soft peach and cool slate grey alike.
The proud twinkle in Kendall’s bottle-green eyes was only outmatched by Carlos’s delighted beam, as the Latino signed his name with a robin’s egg blue crayon at the back of the card. With this final task accomplished, Carlos nervously held up their finished work and presented to his fellow artist.
“Do you think James will like it?”
The whole card was deep purple—a royal midnight indigo-kind of purple—which was not only perfect for their chosen theme, but was also James’ favourite colour. At the front cover was a greeting in bold print, surrounded by a fluffy cloud balloon and glittery yellow stars, cheerily proclaiming ‘I WISH YOU THE MOST STELLAR DREAMS!’—and underneath it, a crayon drawing of James and Carlos, spacesuited and stick hands locked together as they frolicked through the surface of the spotted crescent moon, while an army of defeated giant laser-shooting crabs floated away from them, all with x’s for eyes and dead as crustacean doornails. There was also a slime alien photographer standing on a nearby passing meteor, grinning with three yellow-green mouths as he flicked a magenta-tentacled appendage to diligently snap photos of their astronaut model extraordinaire friend.
Kendall and Carlos had even taken the time to studiously scribble in the rest of the solar system revolving right around these drawn cartoon figures, which also took a few minutes of interrupting Logan’s tedious doctory immunoblabbery-blah lecture for a quick fact-check. And of course, Carlos’s hockey helmet was still worn underneath his space helmet, but James’ lucky comb and ‘Cuda Blackberry Burst Man Spray were a little less fortuitous, as they had drifted away from his grasp and had apparently taken orbit by Saturn’s rainbowy rings.
Meanwhile, on the inside of the card was a smattering of other painted astral bodies, collaged shimmery stars of different shapes and sizes, and smack dab in the middle, encased in gemstone-speckled popsicle sticks, was Carlos’s short yet sincere note of apology:
‘I’m very really super sorry for waking up the brightest most twinkliest and beautifulest star ever, not just in Minnesota and LA, but literally in our whole universe, and I promise to all the planets and other huge floaty stuff in the galaxy to not mess up your hair and also never interrupt your out-of-this-world superstar dreams again…’
…while a smaller crayon stick-figure Kendall and Logan mischievously waved at the reader from inside a razzmatazz-red rocketship, launching off at the very bottom of the page.
And at the back of it, putting any and all sleek and sophisticated Hallmark cards ever mass-produced to shame, was the biggest, sparkliest, most extravagant diamond that could possibly be printed on any card ever. This ornately-decorated shape served as a frame for a smiling-pretty-pretty photo of James that they cut out from the glossy pages of Pop Tiger magazine, and it was surrounded by at least a hundred hand-drawn chromatic hearts and underlined with a dry note and squiggly initials:
‘Don’t be a jerkface or you will see stars! Love, K.K.’
As well as a smiley face-punctuated:
‘super sorry again times a hundred kajillion Jay-bear and I really hope you like our awesome apology card!!! love you forever, Carlitos :)’.
Smiling wistfully, Kendall took the handmade card from Carlos and hugged it close to his heart.
“Yeah...yeah, he’ll definitely love it.”
“Are you sure??? Did we put enough stars in??? I think we can put a couple more stars in, if I could just get these ones unstuck, hang on…” Carlos’s russet eyes crossed upwards in concentration as he tried picking at the tiny constellation above his furrowed eyebrows.
“No, I think it’s perfect. And you know what?” Kendall brushed his free hand through the older boy’s short-cropped hair and drew him in to give his glittery forehead a soft kiss. “I love it just as much as James will.”
“Ah—awe—awesoooooomeeee…” was Carlos’s garbled response. He let out an extravagant yawn right in the middle of it, accompanied by some arm-stretching and bleary eye-rubbing and a heavy head that was drooping dangerously closer and closer towards Kendall’s shoulder...
“And if I’m not wrong,” Kendall covered his mouth to stifle back a yawn of his own, “I think we still have a couple extra minutes left for a little power nap before mom wakes up and starts cooking up some of her super tasty breakfast burritos with Katie-cat…”
With this, he scooped up the sleepy boy with a slight heave and carried him over to their carrot-orange couch, where he carefully set him down, Carlos’s head noiselessly sinking into fleecy cushion as soon as it touched one of the throw pillows.
Kicking off his pink fluffy bunny slippers, Kendall contentedly curled up right next to Carlos, and he wrapped his arms around his already-dozing friend and hugged him even closer; shared warmth and slow heartbeats coalescing into darkness as his own tired eyes peacefully fluttered shut.
“Now let’s go have some stellar dreams of our own.”
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bthump · 3 years
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How have you come to read Berserk? Do you remember what your thoughts and impressions were while reading this story for the first time?
ty for your interest!
I actually watched the 97 anime first. I watched it with a friend like a decade ago and I don’t remember those first impressions very well because a lot of weed was involved lol. But I do know I thought I’d be bored by it and ended up surprisingly invested and engaged. I of course shipped griffguts and I was definitely shocked at how close to canon it was, with scenes like Casca’s cave monologue and Griff’s torture chamber monologue.
Then I found the Band of the Hawk scanlation and read that bc I wanted more, though I often found it confusing. I actually just checked and realized I still have a little wordpad doc I wrote notes in back then while I was reading it. So here’s some highlights:
- I adored both Guts and Griffith, and I called Guts “Gatts,” thanks to the scanlation.
- I found their trauma backstories really fascinating since I’d never rly seen that with male characters before.
- I hated Puck a lot lol :(
- From around the Lost Children arc: Hell, he's doing the same as Griffith did - building a mountain of bodies. I predict that he will eventually use the Behelit, and his sacrifice will be... Griffith! Because enemies can also be the most important person to you. But then he will turn it down. Also if he takes Jill, she'll be the Casca to his Griffith. Waaaiiit... if they explicitly state that it's a possibility Gatts'll use the Behelit and get all demon-y... well, obviously the temptation will be soon, and he'll say no. Not a climax as such. Just an event. Damn. Well, unless a central theme of the rest of this is Gatts' temptation to monsterize himself.
well hey I called Guts getting his own Casca parallel follower, I just didn’t know it would be Farnese.
- I was seeing Casca and Griffith parallels apparently, but I was being vague so I don’t know what parallels exactly. Maybe just the ‘shell of former self’ thing.
- very exasperated by how no man can interact with Casca without trying to rape her.
- went ham during hill of swords ofc but surprisingly not at Guts forgetting his urge to kill lol: OH MY FUCKING GOD THIS CHAPTER IS CALLED REUNION ON THE HILL OF SWORDS OMFG REUNION OMG OMG OMGOMGOMGOMGOMOMGOMGOMOGMOGMOGMOMGOD OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD
- bb me still knew what was up re: Griff: He's not sociopathic, he's just so singleminded that he'll do anything for his goal. I was going to say that he's so single minded that he doesn't care what he does for his goal, but that's not true - he DOES care, he just does it anyway.
- I was getting bored with the Millenium Falcon arc and didn’t care about any of the new characters aside from kind of liking Serpico and absolutely hating Isidro. I didn’t say anything about Farnese but I do have a vague memory of getting excited that there was another female soldier character followed immediately by disappointment that she can’t actually fight. So if I didn’t like her back then that’s probably why.
- I was a little disappointed when Guts got the berserk armour because fight scenes aren’t as cool when the protag has a magic power up. I was right tbh.
- I seem to have quit writing around the beach chapters. I think I did actually drop it around there probably, I’d already taken one break and I was forgetting stuff and generally losing the thread of the story iirc.
also I believed Griffith was very likely to get redeemed at the end? Here’s my “reasoning” lol:
Consise, laid-out reasoning why Griffith will be redeemed. He'll probably die right afterwards, but he will certainly sacrifice himself in an act of redemption. 1. The slug-dude did so for his daughter in an act of foreshadowy self-sacrifice. 2. Skull-knight dude tells Gatts that he perhaps has the power to stop fate or whatever. 3. Griffith's whole friendship speech that throws everything in motion. It's super important, but one aspect that is truly important is that for him to call someone a friend, he has to be an equal - following his own dream, etc. When he becomes Femto, this gives Gatts the motivation he needs to get real. If Femto/Griffith eventually sees Gatts as his equal, this metaphorically equals friendship. Of course this will manifest in a respectful arch-enemy thing, once Femto learns to truly fear Gatts, but the metaphor is still there and it will come out when he eventually DOES sacrifice himself because he can't bear to lose his one equal/bff/etc. It will be very Final Gameish. 4. The only man who made Griffith forget his dream is Gatts. Gatts has a huge amount of power over Griffith in regards to his desire to rule everything. 5. Portions of the story are still seen from Griffith's point of view - indeed, a humanized Femto - and this gives me great hope that during these bits we'll see more greyscale characterization. 6. Also in a weird way they kind of have a child together apparently. Idk. 7. Based on the whole sequence before The Golden Age, Gatts gets dark. And ruthless. Mirroring Griffith's transformation, just a bit. 8. Also the fact that Gatts has a freaking
I didn’t fail to copypaste it properly, I just never finished that sentence. But it was probably “behelit” if I gotta guess. Final Game def references the never-made 70s Doctor Who episode where the Master was going to sacrifice himself to save the Doctor, fyi, not the Sherlock Holmes story. Me lowkey comparing every hero/villain dynamic to Doctor/Master when I was 20 is presumably why I assumed they’d get to a respectful arch nemeses vibe lmao.
I guess tbf I wasn’t talking about a redemption arc so much as a humanizing death lol, I just wouldn’t call that a redemption now. I don’t completely disagree with my past self, though I def had some dumb ideas.
It sucks that I dropped it before all the good parts of the MF arc tbh, Griffith vs Ganishka and Guts and Zodd teaming up etc. I wonder what I would’ve thought of it.
Anyway yeah lol, ty for asking and prompting me to find this lol, it was fun to reminisce!
Oh also if you want to see my more recent and technically third impressions lol I did start this blog just to liveblog my more meta-y re-read of Berserk. Here’s the tag for that in chronological order.
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spookybias · 3 years
Text
ᝰ get to know me better tag ˎˊ˗
tagged by: @softbbyg0rl tysm dumpling!
rules: answer questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to get to know better.
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name: genny
gender: female
star sign: aquarius
height: 5'3 (160 cm)
time: 10:59pm
birthday: feb 3
favorite bands: pop punk? neck deep, the story so far, knuckle puck. kpop? skz, txt, en-
favorite solo artists: shinigami, kaiyko, koi, maj
song stuck in my head: all day - the way i hate you OST
last movie: jenny, juno
last show: sweet revenge 2
when i created this blog: dec 2019 (but wasn't active till may 2020)
last thing i googled: dhl tracking (waiting for my enhypen blouson teehee)
other blogs: none
do i get asks: yeah but they're almost always requests. when i get asks from anons who just wanna chat it makes me really joyful
why i chose my url: it was a random decision. i just needed an adjective to go with the word bias
following: 131
followers: 724
average hours of sleep: 7-8
instruments: i don't play any (haven't touched a guitar since i was like 12 and drums since i was like 16) but i love the violin and xylophone
what i'm wearing: a purple dinosaur hoodie, an orange math team shirt from middle school, and purple pajama pants
dream trip: guatemala, el salvador, canada, south korea (specifically daegu, ansan, and busan), japan, mongolia, sweden, australia, and new zealand
favorite foods: spaghetti noodles w/ steak & baked ziti
nationality: american i believe. i always get ethnicity and nationality confused.
favorite song: i can't choose just one, but at the moment it's nightmare by shinigami & lil lotus
top 3 fictional universes:
red queen series universe
frozen ideals universe (my own)
whatever universe tdc:m takes place cause i'm tryna get to magic island
tagging: @nico-nico-niiki @yixiangs @hueningk9i @jungw9n @jungwonhae @enhypenpal @enhypenhours @taegyuun @enhyphen @wowietxt @hooniecore @entypens @angeljungwon @engenuity @lqsience @choigore @heartthrobchoi @n8dlesoupguk @magicisland9-34 @hyeyoonwrites
(sorry for any unwanted tags, you don't have to do it if you don't want to but i would love to learn more about you guys :3)
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