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shadowsong26fic · 5 months

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Coming Attractions!

First Monday of the month (and year!) so here we go!

I'll tag an Open Question Night onto this, too--anything I've posted about here or on AO3 is fair game! I do take prompts but am not necessarily quick to fill them lol.

A little different than the others, since it's January and that means Resolutions of a sort, lol. But first, a quick regular post:

BSG Fic:

Didn't write or post any, but I did podfic for a few Galactica Big Bang/Mini Bang fics, and that was a lot of fun! I had a great time running the event, and am looking forward to doing it again next year (and maybe writing for it as well lol).

If I do write, the two ideas that are foremost in my brain right now (that would work for the event; as opposed to crossovers and/or projects that are Way beyond the scope of an event like this) are:

The Blood of Angry Men Zarek character study in the form of him looking back on his life as he faces his execution after the mutiny. Partly about the question of where does he land on the spectrum of actually believing his rhetoric vs. using it/the way people believe in him to achieve power; partly about this really great quote of his from Kobol along the lines of "it's a lot harder to get blood on your hands than to wash it off later"; partly about his relationships with his inner circle/followers (there would be some stuff about before he went to prison; about Gaeta; about the friend of his who died on Kobol whose name escapes me).

Percussive Maintenance Joke title that would Not remain lol. But yeah this is basically...so, that bit in Downloaded, where Sam is trapped in the exploded parking garage with Boomer, Caprica, and Three insert tangent about 'are there one, two, or three significant Threes it is Unclear' and he gets knocked out like three times? What if. What if all those concussions. What if they unlocked his memories. Probably building up to where he is before he has to be hybridized if not there initially but. What If. (The problem with this one is it miiiiiight also be out of scope, also there's the moment he wakes up and then going back to the school and having a Chat with Philosopher!Cavil and then...not sure where to go from there.)

I also really genuinely do want to get TOB off the ground this year (I know I keep saying that but). And maybe one of the crossover ideas I have floating around in my head, but We'll See. Hopefully I'll have Something out this month (but I'm also waffling a little on How I want to start it--I think it probably makes the most sense to just go in show order and bounce back and forth between the Pegasus and Galactica plotlines once I get all the miniseries setup out of the way there is so much setup omg but every so often I ask myself 'but do I really want to do that? XD)

Also, since I Obviously fell way behind and didn't finish the Year of the OTP project, I'll pick that up and do the rest this year XD

Star Wars fic:

Going back and forth about participating in SWBB this year. I need to actually get on that because deadline for signups is on the 10th, lol. If I do participate it would be the one I planned to do last year (Anakin never joined the Order and meets Ahsoka halfway through the Clone Wars) but never got off the ground.

Note about OTP fills applies here as well, lol.

Also hoping to finally dive back into Precipice this year, so fingers crossed lol.

Other Fandoms (mostly Les Mis, LBR):

I do plan on doing Pod_Together again later in the year because I generally have fun doing it! Will probably adjust my fandoms list though because I keep getting matched on secondary/tertiary fandoms and while stretching myself to write for them is fun, I'd like to do something a little less Stretchy this year if possible, haha.

And I will be updating P&J, I promise XD I know where it's going, and I know what Ari is going to learn, though the specific order/circumstances in which the information comes out I'm still sorting out exactly when and how. (I think there are going to be some Previously Unpublished Letters when Ari gets to the Marseille exhibit about Thierry that give a Name to J, but I'm not sure if Ari's going to go there first or go to Dover or Paris first. And then Calais which is Relevant and Important). Goal is to get At Least one more chapter out this month.

Provenance will come when I finish that--it fills in the gaps Ari can't because Certain People decided to Burn All Their Correspondence, lol.

And then I'm also working on Acheron which is a Groundhog Day AU that I'm excited for. May or may not be other things coming in this fandom, we'll see XD

I do also want to get back to Incinctus and/or other Castlevania ideas I had. May be rewatching that series and/or finally watching Nocturne to jumpstart my brain? So maybe that'll happen this month but it's definitely a lower priority than the other things.

Original Fic:

I think I had a fairly good year where this is concerned? Year of the OTP plus a series of anniversary challenges on Rainbowfic got me to put out a fair amount! Hopefully next year will also be good (I do still have to finish the Year of the OTP for the three ships I was doing here as well, lol.)

...yep, that pretty much sums it up!

So, on to Resolutions! So to speak.

2023 goals:

Post at least arc 8 (and ideally also part 9) in Precipice!Verse as well as at least half of the Preludes stories. ....nope. XD

Write at least 10k of origfic content. Nearly doubled my goal with about 18.7k words!

Complete SWBB and participate in at least one other challenge/exchange Half-completed--I ended up dropping out as a writer from SWBB, but I did Pod_Together and also Ran GBB so XD

Continue posting Incinctus and start posting The Other Battlestar and at least one other non-challenge fic project. Well, I didn't do Incinctus or TOB, but I did do other non-challenge fic projects? Lol XD

Write at least one holiday fic (Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween, New Year’s, Etc.) and post on the appropriate day I actually did do this!

Bonus Goal: Update the origfic archives already. Bonus Goal #2: I have at least one half-finished AU outline I should actually finish and post that. And maybe update the Ventress and Luke time-travel one Yeaaaah neither of these got done, either XD

2024 Goals:

[basically repeating myself, NGL XD]

Get back into Precipice; post at least three chapters of Protectors and at least one Preludes one-shot.

Write at least 10k of origfic content.

Participate in at least two challenges/exchanges.

Start posting The Other Battlestar; complete P&J; and start or post at least one other non-challenge fic project.

Complete the Year of the OTP fills.

Bonus Goal: Write at least one holiday fic (Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Halloween, New Year's, etc.) and post on the appropriate day Bonus Goal #2: Update origfic archives Bonus Goal #3: Post at least one AU Outline.

#coming attractions #open question night

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asfdhgsdkjhgb · 3 years

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sleepy tired vs not wanting to fast travel to tomorrow: fight

#like on one hand i am so incredibly tired and have been for the past few days but on the other hand i dont want to have to deal #with responsibilities and also even if i do sleep well ill probably still be tired tomorrow anyways (also i still have a little bit of #homework i havent done yet thats due tomorrow)#actually wait stress paused la jolla just came on spotify while im writing this and the guitar of that song makes my brain calm #ok stress unpaused we can get back to my strange mild stress bc the song ended and i got an ad lol #urg do i stay up to buy more time until tomorrow (and probably maybe do my improv homework?) or do i just go to bed and #give my tired brain a rest before having to do things #urghgdhjdgfjkg most likely i will end up staying up as late as i can bear and will somehow manage to NOT do my homework #bc im busy distracting myself from responsibilities n whatnot bc i got homework and i got plans to work out dear god so many #plans to work out i have no idea what im doing this weekend but there have been at least 3 separate plans proposed with/from #different people that all sort of clash but sort of dont so its up to me to figure out specifics for all of them to see if i can make #them all work bc i do want them to all work even if it means fucking crashing for the entirety of sunday bc of too much #social interaction all crammed together haha nice #its fineeeeee everything is fineeeeee #just me rambling again #vent post #tw vent #<- (just in case)#(kinda went on a tangent in the tags here)#actually stress cancelled for tonight one of my friends and i did the thing where you take a picrew and make both yourself #and the other person and then you compare them and !!! i care him so much. brain being mean to me is strong but the #power of friendship is stronger #im normal now

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seveneyesoup · 3 years

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microdosing on being an avatar of the spiral by forcing people to listen to the mouth albums

#this one is hella niche i don’t expect it to get notes #it’s for me and a friend and that’s it #actually maybe a mutual as well they like lemon demon but idk if they’re into the mouth albums #anyway i usually have a funny little tangent to go off on in these tags but nothing much about the spiral #except i’ve had an insane fanart idea for mr micheal d stortion so #i may do that but i’m not making any promises #i will say it’s something i have not seen before #so instead i will say that i caught two of my snails mating tonight #i was planning to see where they laid eggs and so i was like how long does the actual process take #and i went on the internet and found. Wildly conflicting information #which tracks there’s a lot of diversity in snails but apparently they may not even lay eggs straightaway and didn’t seem in a hurry to leave #once they were finished #there was also like. it was weird idk what i was looking at exactly?#i will not go into any detail bc i don’t know if people wanna read that #and bc this is a spiral post so no one is here for bugs anyway #though i will also mention i’ve noticed some little roundworms?#they’re probably just free living ones who eat detritus and stuff #okay i will make one spiral comment which is everyone draws micheal distortion in ugly patterns but never spiral tie dye #bright colors perhaps surprisingly complex and also spiral haha #plus i like the idea of it dressing like a camp counselor #crocs n stuff #anyway #tma #the magnus pod #the magnus archives #the spiral #it is not what it is #mouth albums #neil cicierega

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angel-archivist · 4 years

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No One: *breathes* Your Tags: *just don’t show up for me* but ooo I love Orion, just trying to vibe, definitely feel that one. does Orion have any particular backstory or anything that just makes Orion stand out to you?

When he was little he used to be scared of this old radio his grandfather had. It would sit in the corner of his grandfathers garage untouched and covered with dust. His grandfather used to be work on a radio show back in the *waves my hand* olden days and despite his fond memories of working there he couldn't bare to have the radio in the house, but couldn't bare to get rid of it either. His grandfathers house was near a forest since they had lived in connecticut for awhile and before the time of his grandads death he lived in the same house. His granddad had put it in its head that it was powerful. Orion was always just super into the supernatural but at a point when he got to college realized that, it probably wasn't real. He got an english degree and was all set to start teaching at a local high school when his granddad died, he went to his funeral (he loved his grandfather so he put up with seeing his mom) and then helped to clean out his house thats when he found out he’d been left the radio. He brought it back to his place and that when the strangeness started, that's when he first heard the station.

#retro.answer #DEUFGFUI i need to think more about his past!#but hes really like: i liked the supernatural buts its not real haha i was just a lil child who didnt know any better #*hears one bizarre radio station*#well shit time to drop everything and start investigating this furthur #as I an english teacher am very prepared to do this #death tw #ask to tag #also he swore that the radio would spark to life everything orion saw a creature lurking in the forest #like a warning #thats why i brought the forest up DUHEDGU sorry i went nowhere on that tangent

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everything-laito · 4 years

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Might be my longest Laito analysis yet... and it’s about Hilde. Buckle up fellas, this is a ride.

I’m gonna get straight to the point:

who is Hilde?

For those of you who don’t know, Hilde is a maid that shows up in Laito’s past in his More Blood route. I’m not sure if she pops up in any future games (I’m saving dark fate later this year), so correct me if I’m wrong. (And if she does show up, I will add to this when I have experienced the other scenarios. I know I can read translations but that’s just half of the fun and the game haha)

Full essay analysis under the cut!

Hilde is not just Laito’s maid. She’s one of his various yet early (I would say she’s his first) “victims,” after his experiences with his mother. This was also during the whole Cordelia situation when she was “giving him her ‘Love’” anyways.

Let’s start off with an excerpt of Laito’s beautiful yet tragic monologue from MB Dark Prologue; which is from a flashback of his. Thanks to @/akuichansera for the translations! (I want to do an entire analysis on this monologue alone but that is for another time!)

However, it’s cliché Why am I forcing love? This certain feeling calls out to me, Does that mean I’m satisfied? If that’s the case, then that’s very degrading. Only to fall silent when given a kiss. Ahh, because the words were forced out My chest burns. I wonder what this bad feeling could be. Perhaps, should I be Expecting this sort of thing? There’s no medicine that can cure this, I can’t help saying that it’s foolish.

Where this falls in the timeline is mere speculation, but I believe it is a bit after when Laito and Cordelia’s “”“relationship””” was in full swing, once he was out of the dungeon (from HDB). Throughout this whole prologue, Laito feels immensely confused. It’s definitely apparent in his monologue and the tone of his inner thoughts. They’re soft, pretty much apprehensive too; nothing like his excited, flirtatious lilts.

Initially, I was gonna go off a lot more. I deleted a huge chunk here because I believe it was more than enough to have a separate tangent. So I’m gonna get right to the point: Laito has so maaaaany issues because of Cordelia and his upbringing. I almost went into depth with them and got ahead of myself, but that’s digressing a ton. Anyways. Hilde.

Basically what I was going to explain in depth (and will another time) can be summed up by:

Cordelia has power over Laito (which is something all abusive relationships have in common)

Laito feels powerless (implied by his tones and his general thinking and monologue)

Laito needs to fill in that power gap (this is why some people who have been victims of abuse end up being the abuser in another relationship)

Then Hilde just falls into Laito’s lap (more like trap) at just the time he’s feeling that powerlessness. Laito wants to “regain” power, or feel in a powerful position, so he starts to take it out on Hilde. He uses the same techniques that Cordelia uses, but on Hilde; saying that he “loves her.” It’s kinda implied that Hilde was Laito’s first ‘victim’ through this quote when he first meets Hilde:

Laito: (It’s convenient to say the words I love you. It has a lot of power) Hey, what about you? Do you love me… …?

Hilde: T-this is… …awkward… …

Laito: I see… …Well… …being in the same bed as me… …must feel good to you.

This shows Laito’s hesitance towards this, and the whole scene in his Dark Prologue feels like him experimenting with this whole power complex giving his inner monologue. He’s rationalizing his feelings in his head in these monologues too:

――Since it feels pleasant, does that mean it’s good? The expression of love in this form, Is extremely trivial. These words are full of lies.

He knows he’s lying, he knows the power words hold; Laito’s still very perceptive, he’s just a bit messed up in his noggin. On top of that, there’s even more juicy details about the inner workings of this man in the Dark Epilogue. This is also why I believe that Hilde was Laito’s first ‘victim.’ Mainly because of this line:

Laito: (… … I don’t like this for some reason) (I can’t get used to “loving” another person’s body)

Laito initially hates what he’s doing. I honestly never expected to read a line confirming that, but they really did. It also further supports my claim of Laito using Hilde as more of an “experiment.” He saw and experienced how happy his mom gets by doing this, he’s seen her do this with Richter and multiple other men too. He wants to feel that too, not because he enjoys it but because he wants to heal himself, whether it’s conscious or subconscious.

I believe I’ve discussed how much Laito projects onto Yui like Cordelia did to him, and this happens with Hilde too. Here’s another excerpt:

Laito: (Ahh ahh, how boring… … It’s less fun when she doesn’t resist) Sigh… …

Hilde: Laito-sama?

Laito: That’s enough.

Hilde: Laito-sama!!

Laito: I’m going to bed soon. Will you leave?

Hilde: Gah… …!? We always sleep together though… …why?

Laito: Be quiet… …

Hilde: Eh… …?

Laito: Fufu… …quickly now. If you don’t… … I’ll kick you out.

Hilde: Laito-sama… …Aah!?

*Laito Takes Hilde Out/ Hilde Pounds on Door*

Hilde: Agha… …Laito-sama! Laito-sama!!

This concludes the Dark epilogue. We don’t see any more of Hilde afterwards to my knowledge. Despite her showing up in two scenes, we get so much out of Laito than Yui’s scenarios combined. That’s why she’s so immensely important to Laito’s character. In addition, this also starts Laito’s obsession with ‘liking it when his victims resist’. Since there’s already so much evidence of Laito mimicking Cordelia’s tactics, it can be heavily deducted that Cordelia also liked it when Laito resisted. Which god, that’s so freakin tragic. Adding onto that, Laito gets bored with Hilde once, and then Laito just brushes her aside. This would most likely parallel what Cordelia did to Laito with Richter and other men. It’s sick. It’s twisted. And it’s just like how you would expect Dialovers to be. And that’s why you shouldn’t overlook Hilde’s character.

I think this might be my longest rant yet, so thanks for sticking out this long if you did. I have more analysis on the #analysis tag on this blog, whether it be from me or other people I reblogged. But thanks for reading! If you have any thoughts you’d like to add, feel free to go in the DMs, ask box, or simply reblog!

Ciao! -Corn

#analysis #diabolik lovers #dialover #dialovers #dl #Laito sakamaki #sakamaki laito #raito sakamaki #sakamaki raito #逆巻ライト #dear god im a month late #I've been so busy with school and all and I have a test tonight oops its fine lol #I wanted to do this so badly #diabolik lovers analysis

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theotherwesley · 3 years

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tagged by @skyeventide! BRO THANK YOU <3

Rules: Choose your favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

1) Right at the beginning of 2020 (*can we even count the January-February Era as part of 2020? It feels like a separate timeline lol) I designed a homebrew D&D campaign around an extended-universe Watership Down world, where all player characters are rabbits. :3 I designed it over the winter and DM’d my first test game with my family! It was so, so fun, and I had high hopes of continuing to playtest it and refine the rules this year.... ah, the best laid schemes o’ Buns and Men gang aft agley. U_U

Some samples:

2) I got a truly awesome commission from a client on FR to do some stained glass window designs for their D&D campaign’s pantheon of gods. I got 4/6 done with them before my computer staged a revolution amongst our household electronics and went into a coma, taking BF’s laptop, a backup disk, and for some reason the toaster, with it. Then after that, the 2020 vibe got really uhhhhhh, shall we say, intense, and even after I found solution for my computer trouble I basically had zero creative fluid in the tank, so this was the last serious art I did for most of the year. :(

But! I do really like these pieces, and I will eventually get to the remaining two...... sometime. I don’t want to jinx it. >>;

3) Got into a SUPER JUICY and EXTREMELY DENSE long-form RP with @salmaganto over on the Tolkien Blog. It involves so much research into historical and logistical minutiae about running a Big Evil Fortress, surviving sieges, uh... managing thrall labor, transitioning between war and peace... It is absolutely my favorite shit lol, just,,, 100% gratuitous worldbuilding nonsense, with my favorite micro-rarepair ship (or rather, its platonic counterpart). Again, this level of creative output, especially dealing with some controversial topics and in-depth analysis of like, authoritarian regimes, lost a looooooooooootttttttt of its um, escapist appeal. I desperately want to pick it back up, but man, this year was a lot, and I’m still recovering. _( :’| 」∠)＿ We’re all still recovering.

4) Did some nerdy fanart for two of my favorite actual-play shows:

5) Attended a Zoom life-drawing session hosted in Perth, and it was a blast!

6) Okay so this is a weird one, but, I edited a font??? I’m disproportionately pleased with this niche accomplishment. I had ZERO working knowledge of font design programs, and I went with a free, super nuts-and-bolts shareware application, taught myself how to use the basic functions, and then muddled my way through editing one of my favorite fonts, HamletOrNot:

“Well, this font isn't really Blackletter, but it has a certain historical touch, so it is welcome on these pages. The typeface Hamlet was designed by Edward Johnston for a Shakespeare edition, Cranach Press, 1929. The award winning book Hamlet was considered “the most beautiful book of the year 1930”. HamletOrNot – digitized by Manfred Klein & CybaPee.“

If you hunt down the mysterious user “CybaPee”, you find typographer Petra Heidorn and her many, many preserved, historical fonts, which have been painstakingly digitized and made available for free on... well, pretty much every free font website ever, which made it a real pain to source.

I love this font with my whole heart, and I very much wanted to use it for parts of my comic (you know, the one) but HamletOrNot has a couple of readability failings that made it a bad match for small dialogue, and worse for ME, SPECIFICALLY: it does not include most diacritic marks. *cries in Tôlkíën*

So I embarked on this fool’s quest to do some touchups and add the diacritics and special characters I’d need to spell all the crazy bullshit for the comic, because HOW HARD COULD IT BE, HAHA, TO ADD A FEW MARKS AND CLEAN UP A FEW TANGENTS? HAHAHA. HAHA. .....Anyway, I think I actually started this process sometime in like, 2019, but I FINISHED IT IN 2020, and I’m proud of myself.

I’m calling the modified font ArdaOrNot, and it looks something like this:

7) Oh yeah, about that comic (you know, the one):

‘Ey, would you look at that! Progress! :D Slow, agonizing, unoptimized progress! I was hoping I’d have the first six full color pages ready with lettering and everything by the end of 2020, but.... well, here we are. Wow, I am SO TIRED OF BEING SICK, I HAVE THINGS I WANT TO DO SO BAD HAHAHAA FUCK

8) Another minor accomplishment that I’m disproportionately proud of, I made some new baller playlists and polished up a few old ones to a fine gleam.

Anyway-- I don’t know who has and hasn’t been tagged, but consider this an invitation to anyone who has the energy to post your highlights from the last year. It was actually pretty therapeutic to see some things I DID manage to accomplish, because so much of this damn year felt empty and lonely and barren. But there they stand: the weird little triumphs that were sprinkled throughout the months, somehow improbably blooming in the wasteland. :’)

#WesleyArt #art by me #Lapinland #Forging Arda #long post #Wesley's 2020 Art Recap #Despite Everything

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thekillerssluts · 4 years

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DIY Magazine, October 2020.

Interview TALKING ‘BOUT MY GENERATION: WILL BUTLER

Talking to Will Butler is a bit like trying to have a conversation with a human magpie. Hugely enthusiastic and with a constant giggle on the go (“I have a nervous laugh, so I laugh at more things than I should…”), the 37-year-old has a tendency to veer off down strange tangents, taking your original point but then getting distracted or excited by some other new, shiny train of thought in a different direction.

You can tell he’s smart - not just booksmart, but the kind of smart where you can practically see the cogs turning at 100mph. “I love knowledge for its own sake,” he professes at one point. “I believe in it to a fault. I think it’s worth knowing all this shit, for no other reason than just knowing that it’s true.” And it’s this attitude that’s filled the three years since ‘Everything Now’ - he and his Arcade Fire bandmates’ society-skewering fifth LP.

In that time, amid world tours and festival headlines, Will has had two more children - twins - and went to Harvard to study a masters in public policy. He also found time to record ‘Generations’ - a second solo effort that takes the brilliantly all-over-the-place nature of 2015’s ‘Policy’ and hones it into something that’s more pointed, though still clearly fuelled by the same curious mind. Or as he puts it: “The first [album] it’s like, ‘I’m at the market! There’s some eggplants! Oh there’s a nice sausage guy! And OK cool I’ll get some of those and these!’ But then ‘Generations’ was much more like, ‘I’ve been storing these bones in my freezer for two years and now we’re gonna boil this down to make the pure essence of the beast’.”

Like most debuts from artists splintering off from their main projects, ‘Policy’ had been born from accumulating a collection of material that didn’t fit with his band. Unlike most, Will had just been nominated for an Oscar (for his soundtrack to Joaquin Phoenix film Her) before its release, “so that was a confidence boost,” he notes amiably. Conversely, the essence of ‘Generations’’ particular beast seems a far more targeted one - one intrinsically linked with the intense political conversations the musician had found himself wrangling with during his recent studies.

“I always want whatever I’m making to emerge out of what I’m living and for it to help me understand how I’m living better, so going to policy school was certainly part of that artistic project as well as the ‘what do we fucking do?’ project,” he explains. “I jokingly say that I was radicalised at Harvard, which is basically true. I was in a mid-career programme, so there were 25-year-old geniuses but also people in their middle age who’d worked in the UN in Pakistan or the government in Mexico. They had this whole perspective of how fucked everything is across the whole globe so it was… educational.

As such, his second brims with a sense of palpable unease for a society that’s not only crumbling before our eyes right now, but has been doing so intermittently for decades and centuries. The twinkling, finger-clicking patter of ‘Close My Eyes’ belies the all-too-timely despair beneath it (“The photograph is new / But I seen that same headline, and I got to dance to keep from crying”), Randy Newman-esque closer ‘Fine’ digs right back to “George Washington and all his slaves,” while ‘Not Gonna Die’, he explains, was written in direct response to the November 2015 Bataclan shootings.“All these things hit different people in different ways, but that was so close to home,” he says. “It was Christmas after that and I was shopping in Manhattan; I walked into Sephora and it was super crowded and I thought, there’s a lot of people in here, where would I go [if something like that happened]? And I got so mad. It fucking worked. You made me scared. I’m not gonna die in Sephora on 5th Avenue but you made me think about it, you fucking pieces of shit.“Mike Pence was writing about it before he was running for Vice President, like, ‘We need to make sure we don’t have any immigrants come in because the immigrants can do this to us here’. And it’s like, I’m not gonna be killed by a woman fleeing violence in Guatemala!! The terrorists and the people saying ‘Be afraid!’: what you’re doing is working, and I AM afraid, and fuck you.”

Perhaps most interestingly, however, ‘Generations’ doesn’t just point the finger outwards, it also poses questions of the singer’s own inherent part in it all. “A big chunk of this record is asking: What’s my place in American history? What’s my place in America’s present?” he explained in a previous statement about the album. “Both in general, but also extremely particularly: me as Will Butler, rich person, white person, Mormon, Yankee, parent, musician. What do I do? What can I do?”

“It’s basically like, ‘My God, how did we get here?’ - that Talking Heads line,” he continues now. “The record is at times literally a conversation with people arguing back and forth, and there’s a lot of questions raised and the answers aren’t answers - you just end the conversation in a different spot. There’s something to that process of discussing and coming to some sort of revelation only to find out what’s lacking there, and then you move onto the next conversation and find out what’s lacking there. I was pleased that the material felt cyclical and of a piece, and you feel like you’re in a different spot than you were at the beginning.”

Because yes, his latest might not provide all the answers - “This is a musical work and I don’t know what the end notes are,” he admits - but ‘Generations’ does emphasise the importance of asking the questions and having the conversations, both with the world and with yourself. And if you can have them over an album of musically explorative, rich and often perversely funny new offerings? All the better.

Next, he’ll return to the fold to begin work on Arcade Fire’s sixth opus. Writing for that had originally started in New Orleans before the pandemic hit, but the band “don’t have the file management down to really do it at a distance,” he chuckles. “Win and Régine are always demoing and working, and I’ve done a little. We always work on a record for about a year and a half and we’re not off that pace yet, we’re still weirdly on track…”

You can bet by the time that record lands, he’ll have chalked up a handful of other accomplishments to his name, too; lord only knows the political battleground of the coming weeks will give him enough food for thought. And in the inquisitive mind of Will Butler, thought and curiosity are clearly the most nourishing tools of all. “You can write a love song that’s super true, but can you write a history song that also is? And if it comes out right and there’s some value in it, then what does that mean?” he muses. “It’s about just trying different angles to express something true.”

‘Generations’ is out now via Merge.

Butler’s Bits

‘Generations’ is undoubtedly an album rooted in politics and society - this much we know. But it’s also a record that digs into the musician’s relationship with other parts of the human experience…

HUMOUR “It’s a coping mechanism and it’s also a worldview. There’s not exactly a cabaret scene in New York but the comedy here is quite musical and there’s a lot of comedians that interact with people in interesting ways. They’re a bit younger than me - I’m the oldest millennial - but there’s something in that spirit that feels relevant.”

RELIGION “I grew up Mormon and I’m still ethnically Mormon. It’s like The Smiths song, ‘Meet Me At The Cemetery Gates’ - ‘Keats and Yeats are on your side, and Wilde is on mine’, you lose, haha. I’m sure Yeats is such a fucking asshole but that’s my heritage. The classic lineage of the Western canon is how I grew up.”

ADULTHOOD “I have three kids now, and it doesn’t make me worry about the future so much as it’s made me learn so much about humanity watching them - watching how it all goes into the ‘this is what humans are’ mill. On ‘Policy’, the protagonists are a motley crew of rag-tag whatevers, whereas this is much more a coming of age novel - not like a teenager becoming an adult, but an adult becoming a worse adult…”

As featured in the October 2020 issue of DIY, out now.

#Arcade Fire #will butler #generations #interview #the HOT Butler

40 notes · View notes

snarkwrites · 3 years

Text

03 | upside down ; steve harrington

NOTES:

So, uh.. did I mention this is not even remotely close to a slow burn? Because surprise it's not. I wanted it to be one so so so bad too. But it'll be okay, I'll live. Maybe next time, lmaooo. Anyway, as I said in the notes on chapter 2, parts one, two, this one and maaaybe four, I haven't written it just yet so Idk how it'll go tbh, are potentially set BEFORE the series starts.

Summary:

She moves back to Hawkins and manages to turn his life completely upside down. In the best of ways.

But how will everything play out between them? Also, can they handle all the weirdness ahead? We shall see.

Warnings:

LOOSE CANON COMPLIANCE AT BEST, TOTAL DEVIATION AT WORST - this is just an up front catch all because sometimes, things happen that I don’t particularly care for (the senseless death of Barb, anybody?) and if you’re one of those canon only people, this is here to warn you that this is not the fic for you. LANGUAGE, OCCASIONAL GORE, MONSTERS / FANTASY ELEMENTS, TEENAGE DRAMA AND SHENANIGANS - Obviously, teenagers are going to do stuff. They’re at that point in their life where not every decision they make is the best one. So if you’d rather skip over this kind of thing (teen drinking, fighting, etc) then yeah.. you’ve been warned. THIS IS NOT A SLOW BURN, I REPEAT NOT SLOW AT ALL / EVENTUAL FILTHY GOOD NESS - because lets be real.. we’re all wondering when we’re gonna drop the plot and get to the good stuff. When this chapter occurs, I will flair it with an M. In the meantime, if you’re not into slow burn or mutual pining, then you’re probably not going to care about this.

Other Parts

[ SOUNDTRACK | PART ONE | PART TWO]

Other Stuff

[ FAQ - TAG LIST DOC ]

Tagging:

There’s nobody on my list yet but… If you wanna be tagged for this, tell me pls. It will make me overjoyed.

Throwing out a no pressure tag to @RAMPAGEWRITING and @TWISTNET as well as @CHASINGEVERYBREAKINGWAVE just because. No pressure though bbies!

THREE.

“You can’t be serious. Her mother was the town tramp. And from what I’ve seen of her and the way she dresses, she’s on the fast track to follow in those footsteps.” Carol’s statement and her voice annoyed Steve.

He rolled his eyes. Shrugging.

“I’m serious. Did you think I was asking your permission?” Steve raised a brow at Carol and laughed. “Because if you did, you were wrong. I do what I want.”

Carol grimaced and grumbled that she was absolutely not going to be nice to Jennifer Brown just because Steve wanted to put his dick inside her.

Tommy smirked, leaning in while Carol was on her little tangent to mutter into his ear, “Lucky bastard.”

Steve chuckled, nodding in agreement with Tommy.

Brown eyes scanned the crowd, searching for any sign of Jennie. He spotted her wandering the midway, one of those giant cotton candy sticks in her hand, sandwiched between Barb and Nancy, the three of them laughing. All he could do was stare at her. Smile to himself at the way she threw her head back to laugh. Follow the sway of her hips like his eyes had magnets attached.

Carol spotted her too and pretended to gag. “Does she not have a grasp of the concept of clothing, Steve?”

“Carol, do you ever stop and think that maybe everyone doesn’t want your crappy opinion?” Steve quipped, rolling his eyes at her. Tommy mouthed an apology.

Steve shrugged it off, telling them he’d meet up with them later if he felt like it and didn’t forget. Then he wandered over, falling into line behind Jennie. Wrapping his arms around her waist and snickering when she whirled around, eyes full of fire and ready to explode because she thought it was some random playing grab ass.

Steve raised his hands, chuckling. Biting his lip as he gazed down at her and the way she lazily swatted at his chest. “Easy, Jennie. It’s just me.”

“You can’t just do that! I thought you were that asshole who wouldn’t leave us alone over by the spinning tea cups.” Jennie took a sip of her drink, blowing bubbles into the straw. She held it up to Steve and he took it, taking a sip or two. “Are we still on for tonight?”

She nodded, smiling up at him. “Nancy, Barb and I just wanted to come together early. A girl thing.” she explained.

Steve wanted to swear to himself when he heard Tommy clear his throat from nearby. With Carol in tow, of course. Tommy nodded to Jennie and smirked at Steve as he gave Jennie a playful wink. “Aren’t you gonna introduce your girl to your best friend, man? He has no manners. My name is Tommy.”

Carol rolled her eyes and grumbled about Tommy being a flirt right in front of her and as per usual, her complaints went in one ear and right out the other.

Jennie eyed Tommy with a raised brow, shaking her head. Glancing at Steve who chuckled. “She knows who you are, dumbass. She lived here for a while, remember?”

Carol was giving Jennie a frosty glare. From beside Jennie, Nancy and Barb nudged each other, whispering, watching the two.

“I know I haven’t forgotten her.” Carol spoke up.

“Oh, I haven’t forgotten you either.” Jennie responded, tensing up. Folding her arms over her chest as she glanced at Carol with thinly veiled disinterest.

“Okay, no fights. Carol, come on.” Tommy spoke up, letting his gaze linger on Jennie just long enough that Steve tensed a little, gave him an annoyed look and shoved tightly clenched fists into the pockets of his jeans.

Tommy and Carol wandered off and Steve chuckled. Pulling his hand out of his pocket, dragging it through his hair. “I’ll come pick you up at 8.”

He stepped closer, curious as to whether she’d be open to him kissing her in front of her friends. Because things were kind of shaky. They really hadn’t gotten to talk about last night quite yet.

Jennie surprised him because she stepped closer too. Hooking her fingers in the belt loops of his jeans. Closing the distance between them when she did so. He chuckled. Leaning down a little, his arms slipping around her as his crashed his mouth against her mouth. Grinning into the kiss as the taste of her watermelon shaved ice filled his mouth. He deepened the kiss and as it pulled away so they could both catch their breath, he joked with Nancy and Barb, “Don’t let her get into too much trouble, yeah?”

“Oh haha sir. If memory serves, you got involved in just as much as me when we were kids.” Jennie teased, raising up on her feet to fluff his hair and turn up the collar of his polo shirt. She pouted as she stepped away and as she walked off with Nancy and Barbara, Steve leaned against the wooden post nearby and watched her walking. Fanning himself and smiling like an idiot.

Once he knew no one was watching, he jumped up and down, pumping his fist in the air in victory.

XXX

“Shit, shit.” I stomped my foot, blowing at a curl that refused to go where I wanted it to go. Frowning at the offending strands of hair, I swatted them out of my eyes. From my closet, Nancy called out, “Hey? Think I can borrow this white sundress?”

“Yeah! Go for it.” I called out to her as I tried to get into a steady position to apply my mascara. Nancy stepped out of my closet, holding the dress up to her in the mirror. I smiled and spoke up, “Carol’s still the uptight killjoy, I see.”

“Carol Perkins is a bitch.”

I pretended to be shocked when Nancy said it and Nancy shrugged, blushing a little as she laughed. “It’s the truth though!”

“I think her entire reason for walking over earlier today was just to be rude.”

“Or to be weird and creepy about Steve. She had this huge crush on him last year, I think? Anyway, Steve turned her down from what I heard and that’s why she went for Tommy instead.” Nancy picked up a lipstick from her makeup bag, lightly bumping against me and laughing when I did it back.

“Barb’s meeting us after the movie, right?”

“Mhm. She said Logan was taking her to one of those fancy restaurants over in Rollins before though. Their anniversary.” Nancy smiled and laughed softly. “They’re so cute, I swear.”

“I know. It’s so sweet it kinda makes my teeth hurt.”

“Excuse me? Who was practically draped all over Steve earlier today when we ran into him?”

“I was not draped all over him.” I corrected, blushing a little as I said it because I knew for a fact that yes, I was lying through my teeth. I shrugged.

“Was he kissing you like that last night? Because if so… Wow.” Nancy teased, fanning herself with the issue of Seventeen that sat next to my hairbrush on my vanity.

I blushed even more, biting my lip as I nodded.

“I’ve never seen him get that handsy before.” Nancy mused, stirring the pot a little. I took a deep breath and sat down my lipstick, turning to look at her. Raising my pinkie. “What I’m about to confess to you does NOT leave this room.”

“What?” Nancy’s brow raised as she linked pinkies with me and laughed softly.

“I’m a virgin.” I admitted, shrugging. It wasn’t a big deal either way, I just hadn’t met anyone that particularly sparked my interest in that way for more than a day or two at a time. And I was nothing if not picky. ,, Just admit you never got over your stupid crush and go, sheesh.” the thought came, making me smile. Because it was true. I really hadn’t gotten over my crush.

I think that’s what kind of freaked me out so much about me and Steve if I’m being honest. Knowing that I hadn’t ever gotten over a crush I had on him when we were way too young to really know or understand anything.

“That’s really not a big deal. I mean I am too. So is Barb. Or she was, the last time either of us mentioned anything.” Nancy smiled at me. “It just means we’re selective. Stronger. I don’t know, but I do know it’s not a bad thing at all.”

“Now if a certain short order cook at my nana’s diner were to take you out for a long moonlit drive…” I teased gently, just to watch Nancy blush. She shrugged, but she nodded at the same time. Shushing me as she giggled. “Yeah. But I mean, I am not about to act on that right now…”

“But you’ve thought about it.” I asked.

“And you haven’t?”

“Maaybe?” I answered, laughing a little. “I came close to just getting it over with last year but I came to my senses. I mean, I knew the guy wasn’t the guy if you get my drift. Besides, if he kissed like a Hoover vacuum, I really wasn’t keen on finding out about… Other things. Especially not when I bought myself a buddy.”

Nancy’s brow quirked. I held my fingers to my lips and tiptoed over to my top drawer, pulling it open. Showing her the vibrator I’d gotten myself last year. I mean, she's my friend, I know she's not going to go tell everybody. I'm also not the least bit ashamed of literally anything about myself. Private matters included.

“So you’re not really a virgin?” she asked. I shrugged. “I am as far as doing it with a guy. As far as other things? Nah. So yes and no.”

“I bet your mom flipped out.” Nancy raised her hand, covering her mouth.

“Actually, she took me to buy it. Something about she was too damn young to have me coming home knocked up with not one clue what guy was the lucky donor.”

“Ugh, my mom cringes if I even hint at anything involving a guy. And don’t even get me started about the ongoing battle with my dad about my makeup.”

“Oh, Hank is an actual child when I’m putting on makeup and getting ready to go out. He’ll insist that I wait in the living room and make the guy walk up to the front door. So he can see them.” I smiled to myself. “At least he cares. If it weren’t for him or my Nana, not sure how my life would be and I mean that.”

“Yeah, your mom was something else.”

“Remember that time she came to pick me up in that stupid jumper and the gogo boots? With a flask? On the back of some guy’s motorcycle? Just to walk me home? Then she told our teacher “It’s vodka.”” I cringed at the memory, sighing quietly.

“I hate that it took us so long to even get a little close like we were before the accident.” I muttered after a few seconds and Nancy nodded solemnly.

She happened to see the time on my alarm clock on the nightstand and she swore, hurrying into my bathroom to change clothes. “Crap! Jonathan said he’d be here at 7.”

“Nancy, it’s only 6:30.” I laughed at her rushing around trying to find her shoe as she stepped out of my bathroom and into my room. I spotted her shoe and tossed it to her.

“ Deep breaths. It’s just two people going to a carnival together, woman. Pull yourself together.” I teased gently, placing my hands on her upper arms. She nodded, taking several long and deep breaths. I don’t think they really helped, but.. I tried.

Feel Like Makin Love came on the radio and the both of us devolved into a fit of loud laughter that ended in us collapsed on my daybed.

My nana called up the stairs. “Girls, I think one of your fellas is outside.”

Nancy shot up in the bed, flinging herself off of it, and racing to my window. Jonathan was parked behind my grandma’s Chevelle, pacing beside his Mustang. Almost as if he was psyching himself up too.

I laughed softly, catching Nancy’s gaze. “Aww, he’s as nervous as you are right now.” I peeked out the window again just as he reached into his car, pulling out flowers that he had to have picked himself. When I caught him looking up at the window I stood in, I closed the curtain quickly and giggled.

“Guess who picked you flowers?” I said in a playful tone as I looked at her.

“Oh my god. No shit? He… That means this is a date and I am.. Severely under dressed.” Nancy was starting to worry. Pacing a hole through my carpet.

I shook my head, placing my hands on her upper arms again. Making her look at me. “It’s going to be okay. Relax. You look hot. Now go down there. Don’t make that poor guy suffer the Inquisition, because you know that’s what Hank’s going to put him through.” I held my bedroom door open, giving her a gentle but firm nudge when she froze in the doorway. Throwing the door shut behind her so she couldn’t chicken out and come back into my room.

After a few seconds of jamming out to Madonna, I peeked out of my door to make sure she wasn’t upstairs still, pacing the landing. She wasn’t, so I smiled to myself and shut the door again.

Flopping across my bed and grabbing for the issue of Seventeen that Nancy brought over for all of us to look through when we got back after the carnival tonight.

And almost ten minutes later, my nana was calling up the stairs for me to come down. I sprang off my daybed, pulling on my new red boots. Giving myself one last look in the mirror. Smoothing my hands over the red sundress I’d chosen to wear with the denim jacket my mom wore all the time.

“I’ll be right down.” I called out. Taking a few seconds to calm myself down, because surprisingly enough, I found myself almost as jittery as Nancy had been when Jonathan came to collect her earlier.

I made my way down the stairs just in time. Able to avert a potential crisis in the making as Hank eyed Steve. “What are you doing here, hair?”

“I’m here to pick up Jennie, sir.”

Hank eyed him and then he eyed me. “You hit your head or somethin, Jaybird?”

I bit my lip. Trying not to burst out laughing as I shook my head, I answered, “No, I didn’t. He’s taking me to the carnival tonight if that’s okay? Nana already said I could go…”

Hank eyed Steve warily. Tattooed forearms folded over his chest. Trying to look as threatening as possible. “Remember, hair… You hurt her, there’s nowhere safe for you.”

“Hank, let those two get goin! Get in here and help me eat these brownies.”

Thank God for my nana.

Steve and I hurried outside and he opened the passenger door to his BMW, letting me get in. I sank down into the seat, cringing a little, groaning because I was a little embarrassed. I knew Hank was only doing it with good intent, but still, it was just a little embarrassing sometimes.

Steve burst out laughing when he got into the car. “So that was intense, huh?”

“Just a little. I’m sorry. You know how he is.”

Steve leaned across the console, pulling me in for a kiss. Muttering softly as it broke, “I don’t blame him. I mean earlier today, Tommy just looked at you the wrong way and I wanted to punch him.”

“Yeah, no. Tommy Hagan is not my type. And he never will be.” I shook my head, pretending to be offended that Steve even put both of us in the same sentence. Steve chuckled, winking at me as he started the car and started to back out of the driveway.

“Just out of curiosity, who is your type, Jennie?”

“Ask me again at the end of the night.” I teased, glancing at him as I shrugged.

He laughed and reached out, turning the dial on the radio. We found a station to listen to and Steve reached out for my hand, lacing his fingers with mine. Raising my hand to brush his lips against my knuckles.

I squirmed in my seat a little, muttering quietly to myself as he did it. Making him chuckle again as we pulled into a parking space near Tommy’s car. I scowled as soon as I set sights on Carol and she pretended to gag when she saw me sitting in Steve’s passenger seat.

Steve grumbled and shook his head, complaining about Tommy and Carol being pains in the ass as he got out of the car. Pointedly pretending he didn’t see Tommy standing nearby or hear him call his name. Making his way around the car to open my door.

“Just ignore them. Maybe if we ignore them, princess, they’ll disappear.”

“One could only hope.” I answered, giving his hand a squeeze as I gazed up at him and smiled.

We walked right past them, but naturally, Tommy caught up to us. Staring a little too long and too hard at me. I rolled my eyes. And I found myself scrunching into Steve’s side.

“Tommy, hey man. We were just gonna go to the midway.”

“Didn’t you hear me trying to call you, Harrington?” Tommy finally tore his gaze off me to glance at Steve.

Carol was glaring daggers at me, I could feel it. I didn’t have to look over at her.

“Tommy, can we like.. Go now? I don’t want to stick around the tramp too long.”

I leaned in, hissing at her a little. Laughing when she shrank away and cringed before making a hasty retreat, practically having to drag Tommy with her when she went.

I called out casually, “It was nice to see you again too, Carol!” and turned to face Steve, finding him nearly doubled over, clutching his sides as he laughed.

“I was about to handle them for you...” he muttered as his laughter died away and he stepped closer to me, a hand lingering at my hip. I scoffed. “Them? Oh trust me. I can handle those two half-wits.”

“And I see that, Jennie. But as your date..” Steve spoke up, chuckling as he smiled at me. I swallowed hard because I wasn’t stupid. I heard him hesitate. I heard him almost refer to himself as my boyfriend. And god help me, despite my best efforts, I couldn’t stop the warm feeling that took over. Or the way my heart lazily skipped a beat or two.

I gave a soft giggle, reaching for his hand. Lacing my fingers between his as I bounced around on my feet, nodding towards the Zipper and giving him a pleading look. He eyed the ride warily but finally shrugged. “Okay, alright. But I’m telling you, it’s gonna scare you.”

“That’s why you’re here though, right?” I cozied up to him when we stopped walking for a minute.

If I sounded any flirtier… The thought came and I tried to just enjoy the moment and not get too wrapped up in my own worries and fears about letting him too close.

I needed to relax. Stop overthinking everything and just live. My mom was always telling me that before I lost her.

Steve slipped an arm around me, pulling me into his side. “You hungry or anything?”

“I’m fine right now.” I answered, gazing up at him. Raising up to brush my lips against his cheek. Making him laugh quietly. Smile at me and pull me closer as he whispered against my ear, “What was that for, hm?”

“Because I’m glad I said yes and came out with you tonight.” I shrugged as I responded. We wound up in line for the Zipper behind Nancy and Jonathan and giggling, I held a finger to my lips as I glanced over at Steve before reaching out to cover Nancy’s eyes.

She squeaked and Jonathan covered his mouth to keep from laughing about it, shaking his head at me. Mouthing a thank you when Nancy wasn’t looking. I shrugged at him and turned my attention to Nancy.

“You realize that ride is up in the air.”

“I’ll be fine.” Nancy swallowed hard.

I nodded. “Yeah, I think you’re in good hands.”

“Hey, you guys get on with us.”

“I think I’m gonna hurl. Are you sure you wanna get on that thing, Jennie?” Steve spoke up, pressing against me from behind. I glanced up over my shoulder at him and raised a brow. “Are you scared? It’s just a ride. It’ll be fine.”

Nancy eyed Steve and I, giggling as she shook her head. The line moved forward and almost as soon as Nancy and I spotted Barb, we started to yell for her. She came jogging over with a giant of a blond guy in tow.

“Logan, you know Nancy. This is my best friend Jennie. She just moved back from Louisiana. Jennie, this is Logan.” Barb was grinning from ear to ear, all doe eyed and soft giggly voice. I smiled because seeing her so happy made me happy for her. I looked up at Logan, sizing him up. “Hurt my friend, I break your knees. That’s all I’m saying.”

He chuckled, slipping his arms around Barb, leaning down to rest his chin on her shoulder. “I don’t think you have to worry about that, Jennie.”

“Hey, if you get in between Jennie and I, we can get on the ride at the same time.” Nancy spoke up.

Jonathan and Steve nodded. Steve spoke up, addressing Logan. “Didn’t you play basketball for Varsity last year? You were the senior starter, right?”

I locked eyes with Barb, wiggling my brow as I leaned in and whispered, “Ooh la la.. An older guy, huh?”

Barb blushed, teasing right back, “Mhm. Wanna explain why your lipstick is smeared and there’s just the slightest hint of red on Steve Harrington’s mouth while we’re on this topic?”

I stuck my tongue out at her, snuggling against Steve, laughing. It was our turn to get on the ride and we got into a bucket, strapping ourselves in after we’d emptied out our pockets. Steve took a deep breath. “This might not be so bad.” but then the ride took off, flipping over and he screeched “I was wrong, holy fuck I was wrong.” I grabbed hold of his hand and muttered against his ear, “Deep breaths, Steve. It’s okay. It’s just a ride. You have a harness.”

“Woman, this thing is flipping and rolling!” Steve teased, managing to plant a kiss on my forehead as he met my gaze, laughing. Leaning in to whisper against my ear, “You’re the one death gripping my hand though? Are you maybe a little afraid now that you looked down and saw how high up in the air we are?”

“Oh hush.” I pouted, burying my face in his shoulder, screaming and stomping my feet against the cage while squeezing his hand even more. “I thought it’d be okay. Mistakes were made.”

He laughed and let out several shaky breaths as the ride began to descend, finally coming to a full stop at the bottom.

We stumbled off, finding Barb and Logan and Jonathan, holding Nancy’s hair out of the way as she threw up in a garbage bin while rubbing her back.

Steve spoke up, nodding in the direction of the fun house. Grabbing hold of my hand and starting to pull me towards it, laughing. “C’mon guys!”

Barb and Logan shared a look, shrugging. Jogging to catch up. And Nancy and Jonathan finally caught up, falling in line behind us. Cozied up to each other.

I cozied up to Steve and he leaned his chin on my shoulder. “Having fun, Jennie?”

“I am.” I answered quietly, glancing back at him and flashing a soft smile.

XXX

Steve rubbed his hands together and stepped up, taking the sledgehammer. Swinging it as if it weighed nothing, even though the damn thing was so heavy he honestly thought he pulled his shoulder out of place as the sledgehammer made contact with the base of the Strongman attraction and the needle went soaring upward. The lights lit up and Steve leaned the sledgehammer against the side of the machine, pretending to curl his biceps as he turned to Jennie, laughing. Stealing the cotton candy flavored shaved ice she was sipping and taking a sip for himself as he nodded to the wall of prizes. “So, what’ll it be, huh?” he gazed at the wall of prizes too. His eyes settling on the gigantic pink unicorn and fixing on her.

“The pink unicorn.” they said it at the exact same time, bursting into laughter. The barker turned and grabbed the stuffed animal and Steve took it, holding it out to Jennie. “For you, princess.” he teased as she took it, hugging it against her. Then hugging herself against him and asking in a soft laugh, “That didn’t hurt you, did it?”

“Not even a little, babe.”

And he wasn’t stupid, either. He saw the way her pupils blacked out the rest of her eye for just the ghost of a few seconds after he called her babe. Slipping an arm around her, he pressed his mouth against her forehead and muttered quietly, “Where to next?”

Her eyes settled on a bright yellow tent. The sign outside of it proclaimed “Free readings.” and she gave him those big pleading eyes. Eyes that may or may not have gotten him in right over his head on more than one occasion when they were both kids. Eyes he couldn’t turn down.

“It’s going to be fake as hell, but okay. Alright. If you wanna go over there, we will. At least the lines not as long as the one for the Ferris Wheel is.”

“And it’s close to the field, so when the fireworks and the music start, we can go over... “ Jennie smiled, slipping her hand into his. He gave her hand a squeeze after lacing their fingers together.

“Maybe they’ll tell me I’m going to be a billionaire.” Steve teased, making her shrug. “I just wanna see if there’s any truth to whatever they tell me at all…” she trailed off and Steve eyed her, asking quietly, “And? What else?”

“I don’t know… Maybe I was hoping they’d have a message for me from my mom..” Jennie bit her lip, going quiet. Laughing at herself softly. “It’s dumb. I know it won’t be real.”

“Hey. C’mere.” Steve pulled her into a hug, squeezing her a little. As the hug broke, he nodded towards the tent, smirking. “C’mon. Let’s go see what they have to say about our future, huh?”

“Yeah. Let’s.” Jennie smiled up at him, practically dragging him towards the tent. Given that there wasn’t an actual line, they stepped into the tent. Without even looking up, the woman on the other side of the round table announced calmly, “I’ve been waiting on you two.”

Steve and Jennie shared a look, both of them raising their brows.

Jennie dug around in the pocket of her denim jacket, prepared to pay the fortune teller for the reading, but the woman shook her head, nodding towards the chairs in front of them. They sat down.

For a minute or two, it was quiet. For Steve, it was a little too quiet and he chuckled. This seemed to get the fortune teller looking up at them both from the cards spread out in front of her.

She put the cards away quickly after shaking her head and mumbling about something she’d interpreted to be worrying. “Sorry about that, I was doing a reading for a young woman who came by earlier. One of your friends, I do believe.” the fortune teller addressed Jennie.

“One of my friends?” Jennie questioned. The fortune teller nodded. And then she got down to business.

“You two always wind up together, don’t you? In every new life. You always manage to find one another.”

Steve’s brow quirked.

Jennie spoke up, laughing softly. “He’s not a believer. What’s it mean… If we’re always in each other’s lives?”

The fortune teller gave a soft laugh. Glancing at Steve for a few seconds, nodding. “I picked up on that when you two were walking over. That’s not all I picked up on…” she teased, letting her words die away.

Jennie took a deep breath. Giving Steve’s hand a squeeze beneath the table. Steve squeezed her hand back and repeated the question that Jennie had just asked. What the woman meant when she told them that they always wound up together, in every life.

“It’s not a bad thing. Well, not in the case of both of you.” the fortune teller explained, smiling at them both. “You’ve had a few not so good ones, but usually, your story has a happy ending.”

Steve let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. And then he immediately reminded himself that this was all just baloney to begin with. A way for the woman to make money.

“Over the next few years… Things around you are going to get downright peculiar.” and after saying this, she gazed at Jennie. “A woman is coming through for you, dear. She has the same hair as you. Wilder and curlier. I think she’s..” but before she could finish, Jennie spoke up, “My mom? Is her name Bonnie?”

The woman closed her eyes, focusing.

Then she nodded. “Tell Jen to stop fighting the natural order of things so hard.”

Steve eyed the woman warily. Giving Jennie’s hand a squeeze. Jennie squeezed his hand back and she seemed to relax even more.

The woman continued, glancing at Steve this time, “A lot of growth and change ahead for you. You are on the right path. Stay on it. No matter what strange things it might bring your way. Always go with your first gut instinct. On everything.”

Steve nodded, chuckling to himself. It was a pretty standard reading. Anyone could’ve given it.

But what the fortune teller told them both about always winding up together in every single version of life they’d lived thus far, that was sticking with him.

No matter how much he tried to tell himself this was pointless and she was doing this as a gimmick to make some cash on the side.

“As far as the immediate future. Stick together. Stick close to your friends, because there are some things up ahead and you’re going to need each other.”

The fortune teller dismissed them and as soon as they were out of the tent, Steve cleared his throat. “That was, uh.. Something.”

“It was.” Jennie was gazing up at him thoughtfully. Almost like she had something on her mind. Just as she was about to say whatever it was, Tommy spoke up from the funnel cake stand across the way.

“Hey man! C’mon. Sit with us.” Tommy called out.

Carol was quick to add, “ Kind of feels like we’re being ditched, Harrington.”

Steve grumbled in frustration and glanced down at Jennie. “It’s up to you.”

“If you want to go over, we can. But I make no promises that Carol won’t be wearing my shaved ice before it’s all said and done.”

“And that goes double for Tommy.” Steve muttered, chuckling quietly. Mulling it over.

“Ah, let’s just ignore ‘em. I don’t feel like dealing with his crap.” he spoke up a second or two later.

“Thank God.” Jennie laughed softly. Steve laughed too, shrugging. Practically dragging her as fast as humanly possible right past the table Carol and Tommy were saving for them to sit at and grab a quick bite.

“I know he’s not ditching us.” Carol mused out loud, annoyed. Tommy chuckled, teasing when he called out, “It’s okay man.. I know you’re whipped right now. I’d be whipped too.”

“Seriously? I’m sitting right here. Right beside you, Tommy.”

“I know, babe. I was just sayin, it’s nice Harrington found someone willing to put up with him.”

Carol’s eyes followed the two and she rolled her eyes, grimacing as she mumbled mostly to herself, “He could’ve done so much better than… her.”

Tommy turned to look at her. “Do you have to be such a bitch?”

“Do you have to be such a manwhore?” Carol asked in response, pouting when he mimicked her instead of apologizing.

XXX

The fireworks were starting. Steve and I hurried over. Tommy and Carol were calling his name, but we spotted Nancy, Barb, Jonathan and Logan around the same time. Steve nodded towards my friends and squeezed my hands. “I really don’t feel like hearing Carol’s mouth tonight.”

“And I really don’t feel like catching Tommy attempting to fuck me with his eyes every few seconds, ew.” I responded, asking a second later, “You’re sure you’re okay with sitting with Barb and Nancy, right?”

“Yeah! It’s actually been a lot more fun tonight?” Steve dragged his fingers through his hair as he gazed down at me. I smiled, nodding because I agreed.

Tommy and Carol were still yelling his name. Steve picked me up over his shoulder, making me laugh and a few seconds later, we were settled in between Barb and Nancy, right as the first big burst of color lit the night sky. Steve moved to sit behind me, letting me sit between his legs and lean back on him as he wrapped his arms around me.

All in all, I have to say… Maybe that fortune teller was making everything up. But maybe there was some logic to her words too. Because if I hadn’t just gotten tired of fighting off the pull I felt to Steve all summer long, I never would have agreed to come out on a date with him tonight.

And that would’ve been a serious bummer.

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