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joifee · 4 months

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Heres a lil oneshot I wrote for @stardustanddaffodils!! I really hope you like it, it was real fun to write :D

The off purple patch of mycelium on Jimmy’s finely trimmed lawn stuck out like a sore thumb. Despite usually looking bright in nature, compared to his colorful and fantastic wonderland, it looked dull and out of place.

So no wonder Jimmy had spent the morning looking at it out of the very open window of his kitchen. Silently, he sipped his coffee, wondering if the mycelium would spread further. Yesterday, it was just hidden behind his workshop but seemingly overnight it had wandered further, nearly reaching the door of the barn. The mycelium was spreading fast.

Jimmy knew the source of it. After all, Scott was parading around the island, planting spots of mycelium in every home and settlement he found. And if Jimmy believed the words of the other people living on this island, Scott’s mycelium was a pest to behold. It spread fast, it was hard to get rid off, and even if you somehow managed to remove it, it found its way back to the surface, stronger and faster than before.

He took another sip. Usually, he would mind the mycelium messing up his lawn. He kinda was known by his neighbors to be meticulous about the way it was trimmed and he used to go over it one or two times a week. But this time, it didn’t seem to bother him.

It might be the fact that he himself was part mushroom; a"Funguy", how he half jokingly, half genuinely called himself. Mycelium didn’t turn him away, it felt good under his feet and in his hands, a very natural feeling for him. And it wouldn’t be messing with the aesthetic of his home, he would just let it be. But, like said, he was very meticulous about his precious lawn.

Jimmy set down his empty mug, sighing as he stared at all the mushrooms growing on the mycelium. It was a huge accumulation of death caps and fly agarics, both known to be rather toxic. Despite not minding the toxin of the mushrooms himself, it wouldn’t be the best idea to have them inside the barn. He wouldn’t like one of his animals eating them.

He didn’t know why Scott’s mycelium only spawned toxic mushrooms – maybe it was a side effect to killing mobs. Scott had complained about an invisible force restricting his powers everytime he killed a zombie, skeleton or another hostile mob. Maybe spawning only toxic mushrooms was a punishment for this; at least that was what Scott assumed when he came by to visit a couple of days ago.

With a shovel in one hand and a bucket in the other, Jimmy left his house and walked towards the patch of mycelium. He had decided not to completely get rid of it, just to relocate it.

On one hand, he knew that even if he tried to remove it all, it would come back anyway. The mushroom part of himself could feel how deep the mushrooms and the mycelium had spread inside the earth. He was able to feel the tiny root system, the inner connections of the death caps and fly agarics. And with a sniff of his nose, he got a whiff of the high amount of the spores in the air. So no matter what he would do, the mushrooms would return anyways.

On the other hand, he couldn’t help but find the patch pretty. Sure, it ruined his lawn but then he found himself not minding a lot. He even wondered how far it would be able to spread if he took proper care of it.

He dug the shovel into the earth despite all. Scott would know what he was doing anyways.

’I am connected through the mycelium. If I spread it like this, I can see everything and everyone! You especially!’ He remembered Scott saying. It had been one of Scott’s many, impressive abilities. Jimmy was able to run faster, hit harder or make himself more durable; something which often came in handy when the others pulled pranks on him. Scott as a fungal mage however had so many cool abilities, he himself wasn’t even able to recount all of them.

Jimmy smiled when he remembered their meeting a couple of days ago. Scott came over to show him one of his newest magic tricks. Jimmy already knew that Scott was able to spawn spore clouds to hop for a short amount of time. When he first saw the trick, the fungal mage had mentioned that he wanted to practice this and maybe see how far up he was able to get with it.

And, behold, Scott had practiced a lot. One spore cloud after the other appeared and Scott, nearly effortless, jumped from cloud to cloud and was able to reach the top of Jimmy’s pink villa and join the Funguy himself on the roof without even breaking into sweat. It was very impressive. Jimmy hadn’t been able to take his eyes off his friend. The way the spore clouds had sparkled in the morning sun, the way dew had collected on the big mushroom Scott wore on his head, and the smile the mage had shot him just left Jimmy breathless.

He felt his cheeks heat up if he thought about it again. He dropped the shovel on the mycelium, then let himself drop beside the tool.

That morning, the only thing that had run through his mind was the thought that he wanted to kiss Scott. And the thought didn’t leave his mind every time he saw the patch of mycelium outside. Jimmy hadn’t been able to string a single sentence together back when Scott stood before him, the rising sun behind him, sparkling spores coming out of his mushroom hat. Scott had chuckled at Jimmy’s embarrassment, asking jokingly if he had accidently enchanted him considering he was part mushroom. Jimmy had flushed even more because of these words and he denied it all, while Scott just stood there, smiling knowingly.

Jimmy plucked a fly agaric from the mycelium – it being a good miniature copy of the one sitting above Scotts white hair. Jimmy hadn’t been able to place those feelings for the first days since that meeting on the rooftop. He hadn’t really encountered those before. Or at least not in this intensity.

He always had known that he was different when it came to love. He never felt attracted to anyone, he couldn’t fully understand what Joel meant when he talked about how Lizzie set his heart ablaze, and he couldn’t really follow Sausage’s ramblings about how hot he found certain people he had flirted with during social gatherings.

He had told Scott back then in 3rd Life after he basically got married with the former. Which, honestly, was kinda weird to talk and ask about your lack of attraction just after getting married to one of your best friends. Scott, however, had been so nice about it, taking his time to try and explain and understand Jimmy’s emotions and reassure him that what he felt was completely normal and valid. They ended up being platonic husbands that season and it had been a great time for Jimmy.

After that moment, their friendship became stronger and stronger. Making those sudden emotions even more confusing to Jimmy than ever before. Why would they only appear now? Scott and him had been friends for years. They had spent a lot of time on various different servers with each other. And he never felt something like that during those times! And was it really what he was thinking of? Had he… fallen in love with Scott?

A sudden burst of energy sunk into his body from the ground,startling him. "Ouch", he let out, holding his hand. It felt like a sting, kinda similar to a little electric shock you would get by brushing wool. It just felt a bit different, a bit more… familiar. And his head had formed some words in his mind, he hadn’t thought of before. Something about Scott coming over...

Did… did the mycelium try to communicate with him? Confused, he looked at the purple dirt and clawed his hands into the ground.

And suddenly he saw far away, further away than his human eyes would let him usually see. And he felt so much more than he would feel standing on his neat lawn or in his pink villa. Most importantly, he felt someone approaching in the distance, preparing to travel to someone by teleportation. Someone that made his heart beat faster.

"Oh", Jimmy said under his breath. Yeah, that might explain why he suddenly felt so connected to Scott. And maybe Scott’s silly flirt of enchanting him hadn’t been that far off.

Mycelium after all was known for connecting mushrooms and signaling and communicating through them. And doing that by electric impulses. He basically was connected to Scott though the mycelium the fungal mage had planted. And it was very likely that Scott knew that Jimmy had been sitting on and digging in the mycelium.

Just as he lost the faraway connection, he saw the faint purple shine of the waystone, signaling someone arrived in his wonderland. Jimmy lifted his now soiled with dirt fingers out of the mycelium. And there he was. Scott. Standing under the white-pink pergola, red spores floating around him. He was holding his hand up to his face, seemingly searching for Jimmy in the distance.

The Funguy hid behind a neatly trimmed bush, watching how Scott started wandering around searching for him. Jimmy let out a sigh.

Suddenly he wasn’t that sure about his feelings anymore. Was it really love or was it just a natural connection due to their current matching origins? Yes, he felt close to Scott but he always had felt close to Scott. But that was natural given that they were best friends and have met in nearly every world they have found themself in. Somehow like fate always brought them together. So why should this time around be different? Why should it have a deeper meaning?

It confused Jimmy so much.

Lost in his thoughts Jimmy barely noticed Scott coming nearer. A hand tapped him on the shoulder, startling him.

"WOAH!", he let out, looking at Scott in shock. The fungal mage chuckled at the reaction. "Found you!", he smiled, letting out a louder laugh when Jimmy held his chest in mock offense. "You scared the living daylight out of me Scott! What the hell!"

Scott sat down besides Jimmy still giggling to himself. Jimmy let out a huff, pulling his legs closer to himself. "I felt that you found my mycelium. And here I was thinking that I hid it so well." He looked at Jimmy, who didn’t dare to look back at the fungal mage."I thought you would spot it very soon and try to remove it. I am actually surprised that you just started to do it today."

"I… I wasn’t planning to remove it. I just wanted to relocate it because it got too close to the barn." Jimmy was tempted to hide his face, feeling an embarrassed flush growing on his face. He wasn’t sure if it was caused by shame or just by Scott being so close to him. Scott let out a hum. The look he shot Jimmy was unreadable and he looked away for a second, like he had a question on his tongue. "How long did it take you to find it?" he asked instead.

"I pretty much saw how you made it", Jimmy admitted, finally letting his head hit his knees, hiding the view of his face."You looked pleased with yourself, I decided to let it stand for a while. But then it spread a bit too far and… yeah."

"I guess my spores are very potent. Probably because they are so magical and pretty. Just like me." Scott laughed but Jimmy did not join in, instead turning himself slightly away from Scott. He felt the flush on his face getting worse and his heart picked up on speed. He felt embarrassed and shy. He didn’t want to look at Scott because he didn’t know if he would cry looking at him or just kiss him right away. His feelings were too messed up at the moment to risk it.

Scott went silent as well and pressed his fingers slightly into the lawn. Under his feet and hands, mycelium slowly began to grow, worming its way towards Jimmy’s body. When the purple patch found its way to Jimmy’s feet, Scott began to frown, feeling Jimmy’s discomfort seeping into his own body through the mushroom root system.

"Is everything alright Jimmy? You seem upset?", he asked carefully.

Jimmy didn’t know if he would answer but his body wincing at Scott’s words probably were answer enough to the fungal mage. Scott stayed silent, carefully throwing an arm around Jimmy in an attempt to comfort him. And Jimmy, naturally, just let himself fall against Scott. He let out a long sigh.

"I don’t know honestly… I am a bit confused I guess." Scott softly patted Jimmy’s arm, watching as the funguy raised his head and carefully rested it on Scott’s shoulder, "What confuses you?"

Jimmy thought for a second."I… I am not sure if I really want to tell you if I am honest. I… I don’t know." "Do you fear my reaction?" Scott asked carefully. Jimmy shook his head and looked at Scott slightly flustered. "No, I do not! It’s just… a bit embarrassing and personal. And I don’t know how to tell you."

Scott let out a hum, thinking about Jimmy’s words. He pulled the Funguy a bit closer to him, creating an even more private setting, even though there was no one in sight that could hear their words. "I promise I won’t react negatively to it. And I won’t pry. If you need more time, take it. I have the whole day."

Jimmy nodded. The closeness reminded him of the conversation they had back in 3rd Life. This conversation about Jimmy’s complicated romantic feelings back then had started the same way and the Funguy was sure that Scott was aware of it. Jimmy took a deep breath.

"I think that I am in love with you."

Scott’s eyes widened at those words and his hand briefly stopped stroking Jimmy’s arm. The funguy felt Scott tense up and decided to continue his confession before he was able to regret it.

"I just don’t know if it’s actually real. I feel so connected to you. And well if I am honest… I don’t know if it’s romantic, platonic or if its just the mycelium."

Jimmy felt the tenseness slowly leaving from Scott’s body. It somehow made him lose some nervousness as well. He however noticed through the mycelium at his feet, that Scott’s heart was still beating strongly and that the growth of the mushroom roots deep down in the earth haltered for a second.

After some time, Scott turned his head to Jimmy who was looking at his face. "Sorry, that surprised me a bit. I hadn’t expected that."

"Yeah, kinda sudden, isn’t it?" Jimmy tried to laugh out loud but it was clear that it was just to overplay his nervousness. Scott hummed again.

"That’s actually a good question. Because, I also feel more connected to you than I already do. It feels like the mycelium enhanced my feelings for you." A blush started to raise on Scott’s cheeks, making the white freckles he had even more obvious. His face started to resemble the very mushroom he was wearing on his head. Jimmy swallowed at the image, making his heart race faster. Under his feet, he was able to feel Scott’s heart beating, faster than normal as well. Small little shocks of electricity were traveling through his body from the ground and other than the first time he felt the shock, it felt nice this time around. Soothing even.

"I…" Scott started off again, nervousness creeping into his usually confident voice. "I always knew that I loved you but right now this feeling might set my heart on fire. I… feel like my breath stops every time I see you. I get warm inside and everything is tingling…"

Jimmy’s eyes widened. It was the same feelings that he had when he saw Scott recently. And Scott just said that they were caused by the very suspicion that he had as well. Love. Jimmy licks his lips. "Might be the poison in our blood. I heard… mushrooms can cause that." Scott’s head snaps into Jimmy’s direction, being startled. The Funguy was worried for a second before the fungal mage suddenly started laughing loud, all tenseness leaving his body. The root system under them felt like it started to sing and the mycelium visibly started to grow around them. Jimmy couldn’t help himself and joined in.

"You really are a Funguy aren’t you? Gosh, I just love you so much." Scott hugged Jimmy and the Funguy smiled and hugged him back.

And it felt right. It felt so, so right. Scott’s hand patted Jimmy’s back and it felt very reassuring to Jimmy. He hummed and he felt Scott’s breath in his ear. "It’s okay, if you don’t know how to call what you feel Jimmy. It’s hard to put a name to something. But you know, no matter what it turns out to be…" he whispered, letting go of Jimmy slightly so he was able to look into the other one’s face. "No matter what it is, I will support you. I love you. I value you and the most important thing: I promise that I will be your friend no matter what. No matter how we develop. No matter if what you feel right now is because of the mycelium and no matter how often those feelings will change for you. I will be there and I won’t go." Scott smirked and Jimmy felt dashes of electricity dance around his body, feeling Scott’s own happiness in his own body. Wondering if the fungal mage was able to feel his own.

"After all, we mushrooms will stay connected. And I wish we still will be, even if we might lose those abilities as well."

Jimmy smiled, lowering his head to rest it on Scott’s chest. Scott pressed a soft kiss to his head, holding him close. Jimmy nodded a last time.

"I also hope we do. I love you too."

Jimmy wasn’t fully aware if what he felt was romantic or platonic. But who cares. It was love. And that was all that mattered.

#new life smp #trafficshipping #solidaritygaming #scott smajor #flower husbands #joifeewriting #meantions of 3rd life #jimmy is arospec in this one #arospec #fanfiction #gifexchange

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hopepetal · 1 year

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This is for the double life enjoyers <3

Sitting astride her donkey, Pearl kept her eyes peeled as she traveled through the forest. The sun was setting, so she urged her donkey to go a little faster. Nothing good would come from being trapped in the forest at night, with mobs and red names on the prowl. Spying her base in the distance, Pearl breathed out a sigh of relief upon seeing that it was (mostly) intact, her shoulders relaxing as she approached the place that had kept her safe for so long.

Speaking of red names, however...

Pearl heard them before she saw them, the glint of armor and the shine of bloodred eyes that lusted for death. Keeping her voice light and nonthreatening, she called out, “Do I have some red names around my base again?”

Bdubs whipped around, his eyes shining. He gave her a toothy grin. “Helloooo, Pearl!”

Pearl gently pulled on the reins, bringing her donkey to a stop. “Hi... you're not here to burn it, are you? The server is burning!” Because everyone decided to make wooden bases as usual, having clearly learnt nothing from the previous games. And now that the majority of the server was red, the fire wars had begun.

Bdubs shook his head. “I can't burn a tower!” As he spoke, Impulse rode up beside him on a horse. Pearl felt herself tense again, now alone with not one but two reds. That was never a good predicament, even if she did have her dogs.

Opening her mouth to speak, Pearl was interrupted by the little ‘ding’ of a notification on her communicator. Checking it briefly, she had to do a double take. Judging by the exclamations from the soulbound pair in front of her, they were doing the same.

“Falling stalagtites?!" Bdubs shouted, saying stalactite completely wrong. “Wait, was that it?! Did they just-?”

Pearl gripped her communicator tightly, ghosting her thumb over the names on her screen. “They just- they just died! To a stally- to a stalitite!” What? It was a hard word to say! “When was that?” After a moment to process, Pearl urged her donkey forward. It had become night during the course of their conversation, and she was itching to get home. She felt an arrow whoosh past her, barely missing. Bdubs, clearly. “You get your butts out of here and go check on whatever's going on! Oh my gosh…” Briefly watching to make sure both Impulse and Bdubs were riding away, she turned back toward her base.

As she got closer to the tall tower, Pearl noticed a horse in the ground, golden armor glinting in the faint starlight. “Why is there a horse...?” Approaching the horse cautiously, she hopped off her donkey and tied it to a nearby tree before crouching by the edge of the hole the horse was stuck in. “Hey there, lil fella.” She reached out and gently scratched the horse under its chin. “What are you doing down there?” Glancing up at the dark sky, Pearl frowned. This would have to be dealt with in the morning, when there wasn't a danger of being blown to bits.

Worn down by exhaustion, she stumbled into her base, and that was the last thing she remembered before everything went black.

–

Scott and Cleo were traveling through the forest on their horses, laughing as they sped away from the red lives that shouted after them.

“Poor Bdubs,” Scott gasped out in between his laughter, “trying to get all the reds to do the same thing and be coordinated is harder than getting a bunch of teenagers to listen to their parents.”

Cleo barked out a laugh, shaking their head. “Right? That’s a good thing for us, at least.” They urged their horse forward with a soft command, Scott falling a little behind them as his horse kept at a more steady pace. “Means we can survive just a little more easily.”

“True, true,” Scott admitted, relaxing his grip on the reins. Despite his calm demeanor, he had to admit he was a little tense. Being around reds did that to you, it was a scary time in the life games whenever they were near. Scott knew firsthand the bloodlust and rage they all experienced, having been the victor of the previous game. “But our soulmates being who they are kinda cancels out that ‘ease of survival’ factor.”

Cleo groaned loudly. “Oh, don’t even. Your insane soulmate is nothing but trouble. At least mine isn’t as unhinged! He at least tried to make up with me!”

Scott laughed. “The server’s homophobic anyway. Doesn’t it know I’m a gay man?”

Cleo made a strangled sound that sounded somewhat like a laugh. “Scott!”

“What? It’s true-!”

The immediate, surging pain that didn’t belong to him ripped a strangled, pained scream that made him briefly black out. He woke up on the ground, unable to breathe, the impact against the ground having knocked all the air from his chest. Cleo, having jumped off her horse, stood over him, frantically shouting something that didn’t quite make it past the ringing in Scott’s ears.

“...what… Pearl… stupid-!” Cleo was saying, gesturing frantically before a strange expression settled on their face. They dropped to their knees, rifling through their inventory as fast as they could.

Scott coughed painfully, blood leaking from the side of his mouth and dripping down his chin. White-hot pain shot through his entire body, and the fact that the pain was lessened for the soulmate was impossible for him to comprehend. Surely it couldn’t get any worse than this. Surely there was no way Pearl was feeling even more pain than he was and still alive.

But the fact was that he still breathed, that his heart still beat meant that Pearl was alive, and so was he. And if she was alive, that meant she was dealing with about twice the pain he was. Alone. Scott didn’t really have the time or presence of mind to feel guilty though, not before something cold and tasting of magic was shoved into his mouth, and he bit down instinctively.

Immediately the pain cleared, the shock of artificial regeneration clearing Scott’s mind as he swallowed what he supposed was a piece of a golden apple. He spent a moment just laying on the ground staring at Cleo as he struggled to process what had just happened. She had a sort of guilty expression on her face, but one that said she didn’t regret anything at the same time.

Taking in a deep breath, Scott sat up, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. Cleo put a hand on his shoulder, and he sighed. “Thanks, Cleo. We need to go check on Pearl.”

She didn’t even question him, only nodding and helping him stand. Picking up the golden apple, Scott placed it in his inventory just in case Pearl needed it. What was the harm- he had already broken his connection to Pearl by eating it, it wasn’t as though she’d be breaking the rules more than he had. They got back on their horses and rode toward Pearl’s base, the tall tower of cobblestone and deepslate that held that tiny little wooden hut in the air.

The scene was an absolute nightmare. The smell of gunpowder clued Scott into what had happened right away, and he cursed. Of course Pearl would get herself caught in an explosion. She wouldn’t have thought to double check. Urging his horse forward, he cleared the trees and saw firsthand how bad it was.

Pearl was trapped under a huge chunk of stone, unconscious as blood trickled down her chin, pooling in a small puddle beneath her head. One of her dogs- Tilly, Scott assumed, given how much love she had expressed for the dog before- lay next to her, whining and sniffing her hair, even pawing at her in an attempt to get her to stand. Scott felt his throat constrict. Now that he was in his right mind, guilt shot through him. She looked so small and helpless- and he had been calling her insane just a few moments ago.

Hopping off of his horse, Scott was followed by Cleo as they began to carefully and silently dig Pearl out of the rubble. It was a good thing they had all become more muscular over the course of the game, because Scott would never have been able to help lift the rubble before. Once everything had been shifted off of Pearl, Cleo pulled out a health potion. “Should we use this on her, or just wait?”

Scott frowned. “I was thinking of using the golden apple, but…” He pulled it from his inventory, noticing how the skin was rapidly turning brown. “...it seems that whatever runs this game noticed what I was planning. That’s a shame.”

Cleo shrugged. “Potion it is, then. I knew I had a good reason for making it a splash one…” She took a step back before throwing the bottle, watching the glass shatter and the effects take hold.

Scott looked at them in confusion. “Why’d you make it splash if you didn’t know you were going to need it?” he asked, receiving an amused smile in response. “What? It’s a valid question!” he defended, earning a laugh.

“For you, of course! In case you started rapidly losing health for some reason-” And she glanced at Pearl when she said that- “and weren’t able to regen fast enough or something. It was just in case,” she repeated, “I was worried!”

Scott smiled back, letting out a small huff. “Well, I appreciate the thought. Thank you, Cleo.”

A soft groan drew the pair’s attention. Tilly whined again, nuzzling against Pearl’s cheek before giving her blood stained face a gentle lick. Pearl groaned again, her eyes opening slightly before she closed them again with a gentle sigh. The health potion, while it had worked, hadn’t been quite as strong as Scott had hoped. But still, they didn’t have any other supplies they could waste on Pearl. Despite their bond in the past game, Scott felt absolutely no loyalty to her now. None at all. Absolutely not. He was not still yearning for past friendships in the slightest.

Okay, yeah, he absolutely was.

Nevertheless. Despite his feelings, all Scott did was stand there and wait for Pearl to wake up.

–

Pearl woke to the sound of a dog’s soft panting and gentle kisses. Opening her eyes, she saw Tilly’s face immediately and mumbled out a soft, “good girl” before closing her eyes again. Everything hurt and she didn’t know why and all Pearl wanted to do was to go home, curl up, and sleep for a thousand years.

And then she remembered where she was.

“Scott-” Her eyes flew open as she remembered that she wasn’t just responsible for herself, but her soulmate as well. He must be furious, if not incapacitated from the pain. She had put them both in danger once again, without thinking. If he had-

“Hey, Pearl.” The familiar voice of her soulmate made Pearl gasp, and she looked over to see him standing there next to Cleo.

Unharmed.

Holding a rotting golden apple with a slice taken from it.

Pearl was quick to put the pieces together.

“You...” Pearl's voice was raspy, scratching against her throat in a way that made her cough painfully, “you ate the golden apple?” It may have been the pain, or maybe she had been hit in the head by some debris, but there was a delirious sort of denial in her voice. “Scott, that's against the rules...”

Scott's gaze was every bit of cold dismissal- though Pearl wanted to believe that she saw a flash of guilt in those eyes, even if just for a moment. “Given I was partnered with you, I had to break the rules for a chance to win. Besides, what's this stupid game going to do to me? Kill me?” He let out a sharp laugh. “News flash!! I'm going to die anyway! So why would I rather go out a loser than a winner?”

Pearl tried to push herself up, wincing when a sharp pain shot through her ribs and legs. She couldn't help but notice that her pain wasn't mirrored by Scott– her one and only, her tether, her soulmate.

Maybe it was never meant to be. Just like nations rose and fell, love was bound to do the same– even if there was nothing in Scott's heart for her to begin with. It still felt wrong, no matter how Pearl tried to deny the longing she felt seeing all the other soulmates getting on just fine while she was alone. The rules of the game had been clear– you have three lives, a soulmate, and an unspoken but clear need to be near your bond. She supposed the third unspoken rule wasn't official for a reason, and Scott had taken advantage of that.

Maybe it was something to do with Pearl. Everyone seemed to think so, anyway. “Crazy!” they shouted at her, “Wicked!” they cried from afar, “Witch!” they screamed while dying, dying in the arms of their soulmates. And maybe it was true. Maybe Pearl was all of these things. She probably deserved this, if she was being perfectly honest. The pain was welcome, but that didn't stop it from hurting.

Nothing stopped it from hurting. Nothing stopped her from hurting. She was destined to hurt. That's all she was good for, after all. If she wasn't good enough for her soulmate, then she wasn't good enough for anything. If the one person who was bound to her by the universe refused her, then what was stopping everyone else from doing the same thing?

Pearl laughed, even as tears burned down her face.

#my writing #angst #double life #dlsmp #double life fanfic #dlsmp fanfic #pearlescentmoon #smajor #scott smajor #pearl #zombiecleo #cleo #soulmates #life series #trafficblr

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marjoriestotch · 11 months

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My attempt at summarizing the Stolkien (and Shenny) Cowboy AU thus far (that I've been workshopping with @pcstan of course) under the cut 🐎

Takes place in a small rural town, still undecided if it should still be called South Park or not, set during a classic wild west era. The Marshes have a regular old farm and are neighbors to the Blacks that are city folk that have moved into town after inheriting a few acres of land from a distant relative. Stan and Tolkien becomes fast friends and they, Kyle and Kenny daydream about becoming runaway cowboys when they're older for their own seperate reasons. But when the opportunity to run finally arises at about age 15, only Stan and Kyle actually leave. Stan and Tolkien mutually resent each other - Stan for Tolkien not leaving with him and Tolkien for Stan abandoning his home. They were very much sweethearts without knowing it and so the fallout between them is a lot more bitter and unresolved than with anyone else.

Tolkien stays behind because his parents have passed and the land he inherits is all he has left of them and Kenny stays behind for the sake of his family and for the town (I'll elaborate in a bit). Stan has Kenny promise to look after Shelly in his absence, which Kenny is deeply dedicated to if also partly out of his long unrequited love for Shelly since childhood. Tolkien and Shelly also grow close platonically and regard each other as family.

Tolkien grows up to be the wealthy owner of the town's saloon wherein he employees and thus provides for his friends including Craig, Tweek, Kenny, Bebe and of course Shelly, who works as a saloon girl. Shelly struggles in her job as an enterainer with her abrasive personality, but is grateful to Tolkien for the job, housing and hospitality he gives her - people assume the two are romantically involved, but it is far from the truth. Tolkien is still pining for Stan, though he would never admit this, and Shelly (and anyone who pays attention, really,) knows this. Kenny grows up to become very much a nobody during the day, so poor he relies on the church's generosity and works odd jobs all around town - but at night he is the vigilante cowboy Mysterion, who just happens to have a chaste affair with Shelly. Eventually Kenny reveals his identity and confesses his love to Shelly and the two marry, but just when they settle down and are starting their own family, Stan and Kyle come back to town. Its been 15 years.

Stan and Kyle are now outlaws on the run and seek to hide out in town for a bit until the heat dies down. With them they've got their lil gang which includes David, Trent Boyett and Dog Pu (just randoms they've gathered throughout their lil adventures). Of course nobody's happy to see them, very much least of all Tolkien, who is cold and passive aggresive toward them both, but especially Stan. They have a lot of unresolved tension to work through until they eventually sloooowly achingly and hesitantly crawl toward being finally lovers, most of the effort to getting there being on Stan's part. From friends to sweethearts to exes to strangers to enemies to lovers, yknow yknow. Kenny and Shelly desperately try and hide their relationship from Stan for as long as they possibly can because he'd definitely lose his shit if he were to find out (and he will) but its quite difficult since Shelly is very, very pregnant at this point.

Other notable characters of course include Cartman and Butters who are trying desperately to swindle Tolkien into handing his land over by many means and failing miserably. One of these attempts is Cartman trying to set up Nichole and Tolkien, even though Tolkien is very much a, um, "bachelor", as it were. They have their own gang which includes Clyde, Kevin and even our local priest Scott. There is Wendy, who was arranged to marry Stan since they were little kids but naturally that fell through - now she works as the teacher in the small chapel school they have. Jimmy is our sheriff with Timmy as his deputy. Craig and Tweek work as bartenders (and of course Tweek also plays the piano at times) at the saloon while Bebe is also a saloon girl.

Aaaaand that's about it for now. Not sure if I'm forgetting anything. This AU is very much my brainworms atm - I've never listened to so much country music in my life. If y'all have any questions please ask me or @pcstan cuz it's all we can think about. Ciao!!!

#stolkien #shenny #sp stolkien #sp shenny #stolkien cowboys au

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1surfrocker · 6 months

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10/29/23

Carson's Halloween party was a good time. We stayed until roughly 2am, much longer than I'd have guessed. Amy and Lisa both got a kick requesting music videos in Carson's studio. I made conversation with "Lil Bruce Wayne" dressed in a comically buffed out Batman outfit with Lil Wayne face tattoos. He came with Harlequin, and we conceived of an idea for a hit reality TV show called "Singlescape" where they put a two single people inside an escape room as a blind date. Potential for Drama: 110%. We'll make millions.

Lisa was very upset that we didn't tell her it was a 1980's-themed party since she had dressed as Britney Spears from "Hit me Baby One More Time." But at least half the people at the party weren't dressed in anything remotely resembling the 80s. There was one woman dressed a character from Scrubs for crying out loud.

I'm forcing myself to listen to Tilt right now by Scott Walker as I wrap up "The Rhymes of Goodbye" book. While it's certainly not an album I'd listen to on the regular, it's not as difficult or as grating as I remember and there are genuine moments of beauty, particularly on "Farmer in the City" and "The Patriot."

The difficulty in it is not its dissonance, but in its subject matter. These songs are hopelessly bleak and sad. He's singing about nazi's killing jews, slaves being tortured, the casualties of the Gulf War...subject matter so heavy that you can almost feel the weight of this music pulling you down. On one hand, I admire the boldness of the subject matter, and the way he sets the lyrical content in such a bleak sonic atmosphere. You'll hear other bands or artists cover similar subject matter, but delivered inside a punk or rock arrangement it's a lot more palatable. Think "Zombie" by the Cranberries. Everybody loves that song, even though she's singing about war atrocities. But fuck, that rhythm guitar just DRIVES the music and makes you physically move. With Tilt, Scott takes you to the deepest, darkest depths of despair and just wallows there. It's unreal, and admirable, and very difficult to stay there with him.

I can't make music like this. Even in my darkest moments, I try to temper it with lightness or hope. I'm all for strangeness, I'm all for stripping away concepts of what makes music music, I'm all for experimentation and taking chances. But Scott goes to a dark place I don't think I'm interested in ever going to.

Could you imagine it? Trying to install all of the fucked up things we see on the news into the most serious, tense sounding music we can create? Without even a single moment where you can so much as tap your foot? Oh the humanity!

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crystalnet · 3 years

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Current X-book Mood-Ring Guide

There are an awful lot of X-books on the shelves right now. They are most of my monthly haul. No joke it is at least 12 books at this point. So, in order to cope with that, I’ve organized all the books into one of four different categories, aka “booster-pack” themes. Click through if you want to jump aboard the best X-men run since Morrison before the boat pushes off for the Hellfire Gala this summer! These are the 4 categories:

-Mainline Blue/Gold-style

-Jr. Mutants Academy

-2nd-Wave Krakoa Niche (aka “the good stuff”)

-Cetera

#1. Mainline Blue/Gold-style

Mood-color/vibe: Actually 90s-style Blue/Gold and like bright primary colors (but also muddy-ass colors from X-factor).

Books included: X-men, Excalibur, Marauders, X-force

Typical Pokemon: Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Betsy Braddock, Kate Pride, Beast, Black Tom, Storm, Bishop, Emma Frost, Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee, Kid Omega, Domino, a Pyro, Iceman, Avalanche. Rare drops: Apocalypse, X-23, Synch, Darwin, Kid Cable, Fantomex (in that Giant-Sized!)

These be the books for someone who wants those direct, mainline, core-members-style lineups. On the main book (adjective/word-play-less X-men) Hickman/Yu have worked wonders with their run, but it hasn’t been a stable team, instead focusing on Scott and his adventures dealing with some of the more prominent threats to Krakoa.

So it’s essentially been a revolving door of a book with Cyclops sometimes leading assaults against major problems and sometimes just being a dad to teenagers from the future, and it’s been generally great.

Meanwhile, the teams we find on the other 3 books could basically be a main X-men team if you just throw Jean/Scott/Logan onto them (except for X-force because Logan is usually on that one, actually, and Jean sort of is..)

X-force: Wolverine usually, Kid Omega, Beast, Jean (quitting?/back-up), Domino sorta, Sage, Black Tom Cassidy, Colossus once? Forge sorta. [Lot’s of backup or sometimes-members on this team but kinda centers on Beast, Omega, Wolverine and Jean or Domino]

Excalibur: Betsy Braddock, Rogue, Jubilee, Gambit, Avalanche, baby/dragon Shogo, Apocalypse (honorary, mia)

Marauders: Kate Pride, Storm, Emma Frost, a Pyro, Iceman, Bishop

On X-force, you get a little Morrison-homage energy going on what with Beast being sus, Quentin Quire having a character arc and dating a cuckoo and then all the body-horror. This one hasn’t been amazing and the art sometimes has issues for me but it’s been a solid expansion on Krakoa-Era lore.

On Marauders, you get a book centered on Kate Pride and the Hellfire Club. It’s been aight but I’m not the biggest Kate fan. Definitely has heart and the art has been beautiful.

Excalibur started a little weird for me... I lack the references or attachment to Otherworld or Davis/Moore-era Excalibur so I don’t think I’m even really the target demo, but I will say it recently, post-X of Swords-- which it set up single-handedly basically [along w/ one ish of X-men]-- has gotten more interesting in recent months. The Betsy + Kwannon stuff was great! And Howard did great with Apocalypse before he went off to another dimension. (points off for iffy color-palettes sometimes).

#2. Jr. Mutants Academy

Mood-color/vibe: Pastel

Books: New Mutants, X-factor, Children of the Atom, Cable

Common Pokemon: Magik, Cable, Rachel Summers, Doug, Warlock, Armor, Boom Boom, Scout, Dani, Warpath, Karma, Glob, Beak, Daken, Eye-boy, North Star, Rachael, Prodigy those Children of the Atom kids, Magma, Rahne, and a lot of lil kid mutants runnin’ around in Akademos/the Wild Hunt area of Krakoa whose names I don’t know yet.

This is the junior-crew club. New Mutants would be in the Blue/Gold books practically due to being part of the first wave of post-HoX/DoX books, but its basically been 3 different books/teams over its run and along w/ Children/Cable/X-Factor, it feels like there a whole handful of books offering up junior-crew shenanigans specifically.

So New Mutants has been all over the place, starting with a lineup of OG Claremont era New Muties, then focusing on a team consisting of Glob, Armor and Boom Boom (perpetual...”young adult” I guess?), now settling on a new team under Vita Ayala with Magik and Warpath heading up a squad of young ‘uns (beautiful art on the recent stretch). Hopefully it’s settling into its self now, because I can see longevity for this new squad... maybe.

I still have to read the 2nd issue of Children of the Atom, but am intrigued by it. X-factor meanwhile seems to be focusing on queer representation with people like Prodigy, Daken, North Star and Rachel on the same group together. Polaris started out the lead of that title only to be plucked out by Duggan (or the fanbase) for the main X-team coming up. This honestly makes sense, because even though she isn’t drawn this way, shouldn’t Polaris be considerably older than someone like Rachel? Eh.

Also, in issue #4 of X-factor we had a beautiful homage to the Academy X mutants, with several cameos, so it seems like Marvel is intentionally using these junior-crew books to acknowledge all the various junior-crews, whether it be OG Claremont kids, Generation X people, the kids intro’d under Morrison and Whedon, or even the dang ‘ol Academy X ones, they seem to all be getting at least some representation in some book.

Also Cable owns. Didn’t know I’d like the Kid-Cable guy until this book and his appearances in the main title, but now it’s confirmed. Him dating Esme, Kid Omega dating Phoebe? These crazy telepaths! Anyway, I hope Duggan’s main-team book is more like Cable than Marauders, in terms of pacing and characterization, but they both have beautiful art!

New mutants: Karma, Magik, Mirage, Scout, Warlock, Warpath and Wolfsbane

X-factor: Daken, Eye-boy, Polaris (quit?), North Star, Rachael, Prodigy

#3. 2nd-gen Krakoa Niche aka “the good stuff”

mood-color/vibe: purples, metaphysical/cosmic pallets, tertiary colors

books included: Hellions, S.W.O.R.D., Way of X

common Pokemon: I mean they’re basically all rare drops

This is the good stuff! Who would have thought. And when I think about it, Way of X and S.W.O.R.D., as part of the second wave of Krakoa-era books that started with Cable, both address some of the core issues and ideas that the whole HoX/DoX mini kicked off better than-- or at least more directly-- the other books. So I guess the non X-men, first-wave Krakoa books feel “mainline” in terms of their team lineups, but in terms of content, these newer ones almost feel more relevant by design. S.W.O.R.D. focuses on the cosmic context of the mutants post-Krakoa and Way is Kurt’s first spot-light moment in the era and is expressly concerned with Kurt’s addressing of the deeper moral quandaries that a people who have conquered death will be faced with. I mean, it's expressly about religion and like, spirituality-- a very tall order, but first issue pulled it off super deftly.

Also Hellions is better than it has any business being! Read this if you want savagely dark humor and some very obscure mutants + Havok/Psylocke/Sinister. But if I had to reccomend one, it’d be a tie b/w S.W.O.R.D and Way. First issue of Way was exceptional and got right into things and Kurt’s very well-written and will surely prove a meditative lead for a book like this, whereas S.W.O.R.D is epic in scale while still have sick character moments/dialogue. Manifold had a great issue or two and is now my favorite new mutant, even in the context of a somehow-actually-good King in Black tie-in. Damn! And everything going on b/w Magneto and Fabian Cortez (who was made to argue for why mutants should be allowed to murder “flatscans”/humans to the whole Krakoan council this week whilst naked. It’s fantastic. Hell, even the Snark-War sounds...interesting? What’s happening to me.

S.W.O.R.D.: Fabian Cortez, Magneto, Abigail Brand, Peeper, Manifold, Wiz-Kid, Mentallo, Fenzy

Children of the Atom: Cherub, Marvel Guy, Cyclops-Lass (?), Gimmick, Daycrawler

Hellions: Havok, Psylocke, Empath, Orphan-Maker, Nanny, Wild Child, Sinister, Greycrow

#4. Cetera

Mood-color/vibe: colorless, “normal” element

Books included: Fallen Angels (complete 6-ish mini), All the damn Wolverine books, the uh Sword of X “guidebook” and the new Peach Momoko Demon Days books and whatever X-men Legends is.

These are titles which are either complete or don’t fit in with other things or in Demon Days or the X-men Legends’ books’ case, I think don’t even occur in-universe. And per usual of course there are multiple Wolverine books... the main one seems fine.

Anyway all-in-all, these books are doing weirdly well. Mutants as a concept shouldn't be able to be spread this thin story-telling wise, but the books don’t really feel redundant and most are filling a specific niche or purpose. I may be dropping some of the first-wave Blue/Gold style books (Marauders and X-force I'll probably just check in on from time-to-time), but S.W.O.R.D., Way, the main book under Hickman or Duggan and Hellions all have me verrrrrry satisfied. Even standard stories in the Krakoa era feel special, and that speaks to the power of Hickman’s vision. Hellfire Gala, here we come.

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free-pool-trash · 4 years

Text

talking too fast - peter maximoff

this is my first peter maximoff fic, i actually really liked writing for him and i wouldn’t mind doing some more for him and maybe even warren if you guys would want that? idk this blog is kinda dead rn but i liked this request/idea a lot so show it some love if you like it <3

comments and reblogs are appreciated <3

Request: Can you do like fake dating that end up in real love or something idk big cliché for our speedy boy. 'cause why tf not ksjdjdn

Word count: 3.7K (Jesus ok)

warning(s): swearing(it’s me, are we shocked? no), kinda angsty tbh, everyones a lil insecure but don’t worry it’s happy to end :)

(gifs not mine! he’s so cute oh my)

Peter Maximoff always had a tendency to go fast. That much could be seen in literally everything about him. The way he moved, the way he thought and if he was excited enough or angry enough, the way he spoke. You, of course, figured all of this out the hard way.

It had started out innocently enough, some of the younger guys, mainly Scott, had made fun of Peter for not having a girlfriend, Peter, in response to the teasing told them that he did. He definitely didn't, but they didn't need to know that. And that's how you found yourself in your current predicament.

Peter was sprawled out on your bed, his legs hanging off the foot of the bed as he whined, “(Y/n) please! I need to prove I have a hot girlfriend!"

Not looking up from the work you were doing at your desk, you laughed at him, "But Pete, you don't have a hot girlfriend."

The silver haired boy sighed audibly, lifting himself to sit up on your bed, at the same moment you spun around in your seat to face him.

"Nooooo…" He drew out and you shook your head in agreement, "No." You confirmed.

"But!" Peter shouted, pointing an accusing finger at you, a cheeky grin on his lips and his dimples peaking through.

"I do have a hot best friend!" He stated, wiggling his eyebrows at you, his grin turning pleading.

Peter was your best friend, ever since he'd joined the school of mutants he immediately became your favourite person and soon enough he'd claimed your best friend position. And vice versa.

You knew him better than he knew himself. So you also knew exactly what he was suggesting and you wouldn't lie and say that you never entertained the idea of being in a relationship with your doe eyed best friend, because you have, you've thought about it, you've thought about it way too much.

For that reason you shook your head furiously at what he was insinuating, "Pete, no."

He huffed, jumping off the bed and speeding infront of you, his eyes boring into yours.

"Come on, sweetheart! It's not like we don't act like we're dating already, it's foolproof!" He reasoned and you couldn't dispute that you and Peter did act like a couple, and often got mistaken as already being a couple.

But still, you just couldn't put yourself through that sort of emotional stress, you wouldn't do it for a total stranger so you definitely wouldn't do it for your best friend who you've been harboring a huge crush on for the bones of a year.

The risks it posed for your heart and your friendship with the speedster were just too high.

You couldn't help the laugh that fell from your throat as you watched Peter Maximoff, king of pranks and master of meaningless flirtations literally graveling on his knees in front of the chair you were sitting on.

"Peter just because we cuddle in the common room and you call me 'sweetheart' sometimes does not mean we act like a couple." right?

You told him only to be met by a frustrated whine, "Come on! I'm begging you! Just for like a week! Just to prove that I can get a hot girl to date me!"

You stayed silent, looking at him expressionlessly. Don't give in.

"Please!" He pressed again. Don't.

"Pretty please! Hey, I'll even let you set the ground rules??? Huh???" He tried to persuade you, although he was speeding through every word he said, if you weren't used to him you probably wouldn't have caught half of what he was saying.

Don't. Fucking. Do. It.

His hands grabbed yours as he pulled you both up into standing position, he held your hands softly and gave you the puppy dog eyes that he knew always made you almost melt before releasing a final pleading, "Please?"

Furrowing your eyebrows you let out the most dramatic sigh you could muster, but you couldn't hide the small smile growing on your lips "Fine, but you owe me."

You're a fucking idiot. You scolded yourself silently. But how could you ever say no when he looks at you like you're the answer to everything? God you were more screwed than you thought.

"Yes! God I love my girlfriend!" He told you excitedly, pulling you in for a tight hug and kissing your cheek.

When Peter left your room that night your head was spinning and you couldn't be sure how things would go tomorrow.

Maybe you were overthinking it? You'd hold his hand for a few minutes and try and convince a bunch of sixteen years olds that your best friend could successfully obtain a girlfriend and then that would be it. But did you really want that to be it? No, you wanted more, but that you already knew.

You'd set some ground rules with Peter to "protect the sanctity of our friendship" to which he'd laughed, but in reality the rules were to protect you from your own feelings.

Rule 1) No Kissing on the lips unless absolutely necessary

Rule 2) The lie would only be told to the students and not any of your colleagues (because you knew Peter's first stop would be rubbing your fake relationship in Warren Worthington III's face, they had some kind of light-hearted competition going on, you don't really know what it's about but you made it very clear to your best friend that you wanted no part in it.)

Rule 3) Peter cannot make comments about your fake sex life

Rule 4) You had to wear an item of Peter's clothing to, in his words, "really sell the story."

And the final rule was, of course, no telling anybody it wasn't real.

The next day you and Peter walked hand and hand toward the common room where you could already hear Scott, Kurt, Jubilee and Jean chatting and having fun.

"You're so immature you know that, babe" You whisper quietly to your "boyfriend" while bumping his shoulders with your own which was clad in the material of his silver jacket.

Abiding by the rules was all you were doing, you definitely weren't enjoying the way the sleeves were slightly too long so they covered your hands as far as your knuckles, or the way his scent covered you, that cologne he always wore which you happened to love the smell of and you definitely weren't enjoying the fact that despite the jacket being about two sizes too big for you it seemed to just fit. No, definitely not, you were just following Peter's rule.

He only laughed, "What's immature about wanting to show off my beautiful, stunning, hot, loving, smart, talented-"

You had to cut him off before he could say the word "girlfriend" because you weren't his girlfriend, and hearing it would surely make you want to cry, right there in the hallway.

"Alright Romeo, I've already agreed to your babyish plan to psych out some teenagers, you don't have to butter me up."

As you entered the common room, Peter's face broke into a mischievous grin and you had a deep feeling in your stomach that this little show was going to go way too far. Hoping that this wouldn't be the end of your little show wasn't serving you very well at the moment.

You were absolutely screwed.

"Hey, nerds." Peter called out, pulling you into the room slightly behind him.

"Seriously, Maximoff? (Y/n)?" Scott asked as soon as he noticed your linked hands, his voice was disbelieving, you were a little offended honestly.

What's wrong with me? You wondered, if a pubescent sixteen year old boy could find faults in you maybe Peter was seeing the same things? Maybe that's why he doesn't really want you to be his girlfriend.

It seemed Peter noticed your panicked train of thought as he let go of your hand and wrapped an arm around your shoulder protectively, "What's that supposed to mean, Summers?"

One of the things you loved about Peter was that he always defended you, even if you don't need defending he always has your back. But now wasn't the time to think about that, you could obsess about the feelings you so desperately try to hide for him later.

Noticing the growing irritation between the older 'couple' Scott shook his head, "No, nothing! (Y/n)'s hot, it's just, you two definitely aren't a thing."

At least they don't think I'm ugly, I guess.

He stated, crossing his arms as the other teens nodded in agreement. All except Jean who was looking at you suspiciously.

"Why not?" Peter asked, raising an eyebrow.

As the two boys entered what was essentially a pissing contest about how Peter couldn't handle you which turned into how Scott couldn't handle Jean and as it went on and on, Jean entered your head.

'You're not really dating are you?' she asked you, something hiding in her voice, a question within a question, there was something more she wanted to say.

'Why's me and Peter being together so hard to believe?' You asked her in response, sure Jean was a telepath but you've mastered the art of manipulating what she could see when she peaked in your mind, which is probably why she was so confused.

Not that you really had anything to hide from her, what you felt for the man arguing with the teen in the middle of the common room was genuine and authentic, but better safe than sorry.

'It's just… Don't you think you could do a little better?" She pushed and then you understood that had been what she really wanted to ask in the first place.

The question made you angry, how quick they were to lessen Peter's worth. This wasn't just an issue with the younger X-Men, but with the older ones too. It seemed that nobody could appreciate Peter Maximoff for the amazing person and mutant that he is. You knew it made him insecure, he'd confided in you on so many different occasions about his self worth and because of this you'd developed a need to throw hands with anyone that treated him like a joke.

He saw himself as a loser, so he let people treat him like one.

Before you could respond to Jean's question you were interrupted by Peter whining in your ear, "Baaaaaabe, tell these guys we're together!"

Letting out a sigh to calm yourself, hiding your angry string of thoughts from Jean was exhausting, you let a small smile settle over your face and wrapped both your arms around Peter's middle, if they wanted a show you'd give them one.

"Okay kids, Peter and I are dating, we have been for the past while. We didn't say anything because we wanted to keep it on the down low but since it's out there now, yes, we are in fact, a couple." You confirmed, confidence clear in your voice, you were asserting the facts.

Peter nodded in agreement, a smug smile on his face, he looked so proud to call you his girlfriend and you felt a pang in your chest when you reminded yourself that it was only for show.

"How'd he manage to get a girl like you though? I don't get it." Scott piped up again and you couldn't hide the exhausted expression that crossed your face.

It got to Peter, the blatant disbelief towards him, you could tell his face fell ever so slightly before he regained his composure. So you squeezed him a little tighter.

"Well, he's sweet, he's caring, he's loyal, he knows me pretty much better than I know myself, he makes me smile and laugh, he knows exactly what to do when I'm sad and sure, sometimes he can be a little much and a huge pain in the ass but it's worth it." You told the group, squeezing Peter with every word you said, smiling at the little "hey" he let out when you called him a pain in the ass, the way he was looking down at you was so pure and loving that you completely forgot to remind yourself that it was just make believe.

Your description of your fake-but-wish-it-was-real-boyfriend received an "aww" from Jubilee and a smile from Kurt, Jean and Scott however, still looked apprehensive.

Keeping the red head out of your business was giving you a headache.

"Prove it." Scott challenged as you and Peter looked at each other in confusion, how were you supposed to prove it? These kids sure were ballsy.

"Kiss." Jean added and you couldn't physically stop your eyes from rolling and your lips from forming a smirk.

You were about to break your biggest rule, but you didn't care. The whole interaction with the teens had brought Peter's self-esteem way down and you could predict he'd be crying on your shoulder because of it later on tonight. You weren't going to deny him a kiss and you absolutely weren't going to embarrass him in front of Scott fucking Summers.

"Ok." You removed your arms from around Peter's middle and brought one hand to his cheek and let the other tangle in his Silver hair, he didn't miss a beat, immediately he pulled you flush against him and placed his hands on your hips, his movements were deliberate as if he'd been imagining kissing you for as long as you'd been imagining kissing him. You pushed that thought away, the truth that he didn't think about you that way hurt too much.

His lips met yours and you could've sworn you felt sparks flying from where your lips connected. The kiss was short but it was passionate and really, really, really good. His lips were chapped but soft and the way that they moved in sync with your own sent your head spinning and your heart flipping.

When you pulled away, Peter's lips chased yours and you giggled as he placed pecks on your lips multiple times before he finally allowed you to push him away.

If you weren't so caught up in the moment you would've cried, that was everything you've been wanting for so long, but it wasn't real. You didn't think about it though, it would get a chance to bring a tear to your eye later. When you're alone.

"Alright you're dating, Jesus, get a room." Scott scowled as he scrunched up his face in disgust at the display of affection he and his own girlfriend had demanded.

Laughing, you grabbed Peter's hand in yours and began walking back towards his room, you didn't feel like answering any more awkward questions and you needed a minute to recover from Jean's constant attempts to get into your subconscious.

Once you'd both entered Peter's room and shut the door behind you, you finally let your guard down with a loud sigh, flopping down on Peter's bed and throwing an arm across your eyes to block out the light.

"Jean's mind poking really is relentless huh?" Peter said, flopping down beside you.

"Tell me about it. She's persistent as fuck." You laughed, turning your head to look at Peter, who was already looking at you.

"That no kissing rule didn't last too long, couldn't resist?" Peter asked jokingly but you could tell that he wanted to know what caused you to abandon your number one rule.

Chewing on your cheek, you debated on whether or not you should spill all or just tell him what he needed to know at this moment in time. Going this the latter you sighed again.

"They were being assholes, I wasn't gonna embarrass you by saying no, was I?" Peter's smile was soft but it didn't reach his eyes, your voice was quiet when you added, "Besides, you looked like you needed a kiss."

His face was now turned to the ceiling with a thoughtful look adorning his features.

As you both laid side-by-side on the unmade double bed, close enough that your arms were touching but not close enough for your fingers to be intertwined, you, a hopeless romantic, hopelessly falling for your best friend as you wear his favorite jacket and lay on his bed. And Peter who looked like he was trying to figure out the universe's greatest mystery. As you laid with each other, a heavy silence settled over you both, until Peter turned his face back to you, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Can I ask you something, (Y/n)?" Nodding wordlessly, you turned your entire body to face him, so that you were laying on your side.

"Am I really that bad?" He asked, his brown eyes staring into yours.

"What do you mean?" You asked him, you knew where this conversation was about to go, but he had a lot to say and you wanted to let him let it all out.

"All those guys back there, they didn't think I could really be your boyfriend… and hey they're probably right, you could do better. But is it really that unbelievable that someone could love me?" His last question came out cracked and tears filled his chestnut eyes.

Your own eyebrows furrowed now, you put your hand on his face and brushed the tear that slipped from his eye away. "No, Pete. What's unbelievable to me is that people can't see how fucking incredible you are." You told him, your emotions coming through in your voice, anger and sadness taking over.

"No," Peter shook his head, again returning his face to look at the ceiling before he went on, "they're right, I couldn't get a girl, especially not one like you."

That hurt, you have to admit that it hurt you so bad to hear him talk so badly about himself but what hurt most was the fact that Peter didn't want a girl that was you, no, just one that was like you.

"You have a girl like me, Pete." You reminded him sadly, turning your own face to the ceiling.

Who knew one outing as a fake couple would be all it took to make you fall apart? You did, you knew from the beginning.

Peter was upset, it was obvious by the way he spoke next, too fast and before he thought.

"No, I don't, not really. You're this incredible, pretty girl. You're talented and your mutation is useful and everyone loves you! I'm just this loser who people don't take seriously and pretty soon you're going to realize that and just leave like everyone else."

The pit of your stomach has never felt so deep before, it was so clear to you now, in his voice, it was there, he didn't trust you to stay. And that fact hurt more than any heartbreak of rejection ever could.

Sitting up on the bed, you looked down at him, fighting the tears that were attempting to gather in your eyes.

"I know you're not a loser, Peter. I know you're incredible and talented and maybe the best friend I've ever had. But if you think I'm shallow enough to leave you behind, for some preppy asshole, you really don't trust me as much as I trust you." You finished, tears falling freely as you got off of the bed and made your way toward the door before he sped infront of you, standing between you and the door.

His eyes were wide, like a deer caught in headlights, "That's not what I meant to say!"

You didn't say anything, just stared at him, tears falling and waiting for him to say his piece.

"I trust you more than anyone, you know everything about me, I'm sorry my mouth was going too fast and it came out all wrong." He was still rushing through his words but he took a deep breath before going on again.

"What I was trying to say is," he swallowed thickly, he was nervous, scared even, "you're amazing, you're my best friend and I've had this scenario running in my head of maybe being more than just friends. But I was afraid if I told you and you didn't feel the same you'd leave because of how awkward it would be."

Your heart was pounding, if you had a few broken ribs after this conversation you wouldn't be surprised, "oh."

"And when I suggested you be my fake girlfriend you were so reluctant that I figured I never had a shot. But then we kissed and I just can't come to terms with a kiss like that meaning nothing." He told you, hands finding yours, carefully.

This time it was you who was speaking before thinking, "I'm in love with you."

Hearing the words fall out of your mouth, your eyes widened, months of trying to hide the fact and you managed to let it slip out into the open without it even crossing your mind first.

Taking a shaky breath you decided to speak again and hopefully ease Peter out of the shocked state your declaration put him in.

"I didn't wanna fake date you because I wanted to real date you and I was afraid it would hurt too much. That kiss, it was real for me, I had kinda been wanting to do it for a while." You confessed to him, squeezing his hands that were still holding onto yours.

A smile overtook his face, his dimples showing and his eyes brightening, his face was lit up with what seemed like pure happiness like a puppy who's owner just got home from work.

"I love you too."

Oh thank God.

"I knew you couldn't resist." He added shooting you a cheeky wink before he pulled you against his chest, his face was so close to yours, your noses touched and his lips met yours again.

This time was different, though. It was real and you both knew it and both wanted it.

His fingers intertwined with yours as he pulled his lips away from yours, his boyish smile coming back as he rested his forehead against yours.

"So, um, do you maybe wanna be my girlfriend, like really be my girlfriend?" He asked, still nervous about asking you despite the fact you'd both just made your feelings toward each other perfectly clear.

"I'd love to." You replied, connecting your lips to his again.

Safe to say, fake dating Peter turned into a total shit show but you're really glad it did.

let me know what you think <33

#peter maximoff #peter maximof x reader #x-men #x-men x reader #evan peters #evan peters x reader #x-men days of future past #peter maximoff imagine #x reader #marvel #mcu #mcu x reader

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misssquidtracy · 3 years

Text

Hot Stuff

A lil’ bit of Tracy fluff for @gumnut-logic, featuring da Virg and da Bros.

Possible language warning.

-x-

Scott liked to think he had reasonable expectations of his brothers.

They were to buy him expensive Christmas presents, keep their rooms clean and refuel their Thunderbirds after every mission (irrespective of distance travelled).

Sadly, everything beyond that was a bit of a haze, including the expectations he placed on Alan when it came to preparing food.

Hazy expectations or not, Scott was ninety nine percent confident that setting half the kitchen on fire was bad form.

The eldest was stumped. The kitchen barely contained any flammable material. Also, was that a knife lodged in the ceiling?

Never mind, he could find out later.

“Virgil!” Scott yelled, groping desperately for the fire extinguishers they kept stored in the larder, “Code Three! Kitchen! Now!”

A panicked Virgil skidded into the room two seconds later, his arms full of grocery bags.

“Oh my god!” the engineer cried, dropping his load in sheer shock, “What the hell happened?”

Scott snarled and began to tackle the portion of the fire that was engulfing half the sink, “No clue, but I’ll bet my spare jetpack that Alan’s cooking is to blame.”

Virgil let out an animalistic cry of grief as the fire promptly ate his favourite pair of oven mitts.

“Did I hear a Code Three call?” John asked, sprinting down from the den, “Sorry for not responding sooner. I made the mistake of going into the bathroom to wash my hands after Gordon had been in there. I’ve only just regained consciousness.”

Neither Virgil nor Scott made any effort to acknowledge the redhead’s presence, their attention occupied by the fire that was chomping its way through the kitchen counter.

“Hey, did I hear someone yell for a Code Three?” Alan asked as he tottered in from from the patio, Gordon close on his heels, “Because our next drill isn’t scheduled until – holy hell on a Thunderbird!”

Scott abruptly stuck a foot out to prevent both his youngest brothers from advancing too close to the flames, “John! Keep them away, would you?”

“F.A.B,” the redhead replied, using his long arms to herd the youngest duo towards the safety of the pool. Scott and Virgil had enough firefighting experience between them to douse the sun, but worked better when little brothers were absent.

A soft beep sounded as John’s comm device began to glow, “Hello, John. It’s EOS.”

“Hello, EOS,” John sighed, his predatory gaze not leaving the dumbfounded faces of his blond brothers for a second, “Is everything okay?”

“Oh yes, all systems onboard Thunderbird Five are fully operational,” EOS replied, her tone deceptively cheery, “I just wanted to remind you of the appointment you’ve got booked for tomorrow.”

“Appointment?” John’s eyebrows nearly climbed off his face in confusion, “What do you mean? I’m not due a physical for another two months.”

Against the backdrop of Scott screaming for Virgil to start extinguishing the barstools, EOS sighed, “Not that kind of appointment. I took the liberty of booking you in for a procedure that will terminate your ability to procreate. It’s called a vasectomy. I’ve scheduled you in for one at ten o’clock tomorrow morning at the Family Planning Clinic in Christchurch, New Zealand. Would you like me to talk you through how the surgery works?”

John was mortified. EOS had made medical bookings in the past that he’d ignored. So many in fact, that he’d been blacklisted by ten hospitals worldwide for missing appointments.

But she’d never made such an…intimate one. She’d booked him in for all kinds of other things; hair transplants (her predictions indicated that he’d end up bald long before Scott and Virgil), a brow lift (apparently, he always looked miffed), eye bag removal (apparently, he always looked tired) and liposuction (apparently, he’d overindulged last Christmas).

John’s own theory was that if EOS let him get eight uninterrupted hours each night, then he wouldn’t look so miffed and puffy-eyed, nor would he feel compelled to empty the cupboards every time he returned home for a break.

Still, at least all of her previous treatments had been above waist level…

While Gordon and Alan were preoccupied with laughing at Virgil, who’d gotten caught in a stray blast from Scott’s extinguisher and was standing in the middle of the kitchen like a horrified scarecrow, white foam dripping off his face and arms, John took the opportunity to make his frustration known to the AI who’d been illegally squatting inside Thunderbird Five for the past eighteen months.

“EOS, kindly cancel that booking. I’ve no interest in being slapped with yet another fine,” John instructed, his chest tightening in anticipation of the inevitable resistance.

“Why?” EOS asked, “I’ve been keeping an observation log of your behaviour since the day I first became acquainted with you, and all my data indicates that you would be bad at parenting. By taking the necessary action now, you could save so many young, tortured lives. Plus, I hear ginger humans make challenging spouses.”

“And where did you hear that?” John sighed, his mind already offering multiple answers.

“Gordon,” EOS chirped, “He and I have become quite close ever since he agreed to list me as a co-author on the aquaculture paper he’s writing.”

“Figures,” John muttered, “Look, just cancel it, okay?”

“I’m just trying to streamline your bodily functions and enhance your physical appearance,” EOS sniffed, “I don’t want an ugly creator.”

That made John snort. Another man might have taken EOS’s words to heart and had a meltdown, but not him. John Glenn Tracy knew he was nice looking. He just didn’t allow it to go to his head.

“I appreciate your concern, EOS, but I’m content with the way I look,” John replied, “Beauty is subjective and comes in many different shapes, colours and forms. Now, that booking, if you please?”

“Fine,” EOS grouched, disconnecting with an audible pout.

John allowed himself the indulgence of a rare victory smirk. He was slowly but surely learning how to beat the AI at her own game.

And he was loving it.

Unfortunately, the situation in the kitchen hadn’t turned out quite as positively.

The fire had been extinguished, which was a huge relief. It had jumped from the countertop over to the larder, however hadn’t been able to sink its claws into any food, thank goodness.

Interestingly, it had also jumped to one other, slightly less obvious surface.

Virgil’s pants.

Gordon howled with laughter as he watched his second brother hurtle down the patio with his jeans on fire, a frantic Scott pursuing him with what little remained of his fire extinguisher.

Even John had to admit the sight was hilarious. His brother’s only saving grace was that Grandma and Kayo weren’t present to witness what was going on…

Against the acoustic backdrop of Gordon’s laughter, Virgil’s screams and the intermittent spurting of Scott’s extinguisher as he directed it at Virgil’s backside, a familiar helium tone piped up.

“Hey, guys!” Alan cried, “My boiled eggs survived!”

FIN

Disclaimer: Chapter 55 from my ongoing fic, A Taste of the Tracy.

#thunderfam #thunderbirds #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds 2015 #thunderbirds fanfiction #fanfiction #Virgil Tracy #Gordon Tracy #Scott Tracy #John Tracy #alan tracy #EOS #international rescue #tracy brothers #tracy bros #tracy boys #tracybrothers #tracybros #Tracy Island

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sxveme-2 · 3 years

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blueberry pancakes // bucky barnes

MASTERLIST

Description: A single mother. Juggling being a mom, a full time pediatrician, and a difficult ex who believed now would be the best time to finally be a father. A soldier ripped out of time. Ex-assassin turned superhero. Learning how to balance a new domestic life with handling demons of his past, while facing the trials of the future. a love story began over something as simple as chocolate chip pancakes with hidden blueberries.

Disclaimer: I do not own any original Marvel characters! All canon plots and canon characters belong to Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios. This is an original work. You may not publish it anywhere else

Status: Edited

Note: Takes place after endgame. I have elected to ignore Tony's death and Steve's leaving. Did not happen. Quick Reminder! My works are only published here, AO3 and on Wattpad, thank you.

Chapter Ten: The One with the Phone Call

Warnings: Mention of alcohol

Word Count: 2700

If we're being honest, Lily Osborne's past was no different than most. She was raised in an upper-middle-class family. Her parents were renowned scientists who were credible in their field and brought home their findings. Other than her parent’s overly obsessive need to have everything recycled, there wasn't much about Lily that was interesting or stuck out. Nothing that she really believed to be interesting at least. Two loving parents, who were still married. Two younger siblings whom she loved dearly. A steady career and a lovely child. She was living the overused and overly generalized, 'American Dream'. the only slight oddity of Lily's life was how young she was when she had Hunter and the fact she was only mid-thirties and already divorced. But other than that...she was a basic, domestic, woman.

That's not how Bucky saw it though.

He found her astonishing. Admirable, even. The fact she was able to complete a Ph.D. level of education, graduating as valedictorian, at the top of her class, was enough to make his heart reach out to grab onto hers. But what really intrigued him, was her ability to be descriptive but vague all at the same time. She spoke about her divorce, but never the contents. Never diving deeper than the surface of it. How she gained primary custody, and that it was due to an affair. He learned everything, and nothing, all at once. He was only able to make a general picture of who Lily Osborne was, nothing more than the basics.

"Osborne, you said?" Bucky commented, shifting in his seat as he sipped on a beer that he held in his naturally warmed hand, "I feel like I've heard of the name Osborne in the environmental field before..."

The comment he made cause Lily's eyebrow to perk up. From the sound of it, Bucky had just admitted to being a bit of a science nerd. The fact he recognized the Osborne name just from Lily mentioning her parents. It was endearing, really. The fact he let that little tidbit of information slip out, not even realizing he had. Lily had made note of it, ensuring she remembered in case they were lucky enough to have a conversation like this again. Learning about one another, becoming more educated on their pasts.

But just like the supersoldier, Lily had secrets. Maybe not as extreme, but nonetheless, they were secrets. She wouldn't give him the full story of anything. Just the slightly important details. It was like a burger, sort of. She gave him the bun, but not the meat in the middle. If she was open and honest with him, that would open up a case of vulnerability. And though a talented doctor, Lily would not be able to cure it. It'd be the crack in her armour he could use to bring her down if he so wished.

"Probably from their discoveries about eco-friendly teddy bears. They still give me nightmares." Lily chuckled, sipping the ale that Bucky had given her. Though she had elected not to drink, the small voice in Lily's head convinced her that one beer wouldn't be too harmful. She wouldn't lose her morals just from a beer. She'd never been like that.

"Yes yes, I've seen Starks kid wandering around with one. They're terrifying," he replied, steel eyes reflecting the glow of the moon that provided them with the romantic ambiance that swirled around them. The whole scenery around them was more romantic than most of the dates Gen had set Lily up on in the past. It was genuine and natural, nothing forced or rushed to make it happen. But the demons inside of Lily's heart were screaming at her to run, get out of there while she still could. However, her feet stayed planted, and her butt sat in the lawn chair. She wasn't going anywhere.

Lily was still mortified of any sort of relationship. This wasn't one of those cheesy situations where the moment she met Bucky, her fears disappeared. That all of those years of emotional manipulation and toxicity had just vanished from her psyche. Lily hadn't changed because she met Bucky. The scars on her heart were still there, and just like her, had no intention of leaving. Sure, she was attracted to him. He was a fine specimen, had a voice that was as smooth as butter that created goosebumps on her arms. His presence brought a warm blanket of comfort that he would drape around her shoulders. But the pain still sat heavily on her shoulders. All of the damage Scott had caused to her mental state and self-image. They still stood, strong and sturdy. Lily was still Lily. The same girl who had been in a troublesome relationship and managed to emerge the other end. And that's all there was to it.

Change can happen. It's just not an immediate thing.

"You've mentioned that you've been through a divorce. How long ago was that?" Bucky inquired, his phrasing eluding the fact he wanted to know more. He had a hankering for the knowledge of Lily's past. To know what she's been through. What made her the shy and meek girl in front of him. What about her history created such a fragile state of mind, yet such a strong and independent visionary. A single mother, a full-time doctor, yet riddled with anxiety.

Bucky's trained eye could see the signs. The tapping of her fingers, the shortness of her breath. The way her collarbone heaved up and down at a faster pace whenever she spoke, or even when he asked her a personal question. How she never seemed to make eye contact with him. God, he wanted her to. He wanted to see those beautiful green eyes match with his. Memorize every detail of her face. The curve of her nose. the arch of her brow. Bucky wanted to render it into his mind, so he would never forget it. So he could always have the picture of those forest green eyes in his mind. The stories they held. The pain they kept locked away. But she never would long enough for him to capture their beauty. If Lily ever caught his eyes, she'd avert them within a millisecond. He'd watch as she'd turn her head, staring out into the sky.

"Four years ago. Seven years of marriage later." Lily answered after a few moments of pause. Her cheeks heated up in a red hue at the mention of her marriage. All of the pain she went through welling up in her throat as she attempted to wash it away with the beer in her hand. The words he would use were stitched into her skin, the things he would call her. She was a ragdoll in the eyes of Scott Harvey. He would take her lifeless body and sew in the worst of the English language onto her skin. It wore her down, the emotional trauma she suffered. But Lily came out on the other end, broken down and beaten sure, but still alive.

"And Hunters your only one?" Bucky inquired, studying the way that Lily fidgeted under his glance. It wasn't as if she was nervous around him, no. From the first time he met her, she seemed to relax around his presence. It was something about everyone that made her nervous. She was a survivor of something, on top of seemingly just always being a shy person. Introverted and hidden away. Add the emotional drainage she suffered all of those years, it made her a shell almost. Bucky was trained to catch small signals, the details others wouldn't care to look at. And all of Lily's body was littered with the little things, the way she breathed, to the way her cheeks always held a red hue.

Lily Osborne had piqued the interest of James Barnes. Not just in a romantic way, though that was a major factor. No, she had different layers to her. Different parts that all connected to create the woman that sat across from him. The way her eyes were slightly sunk in from years of work. Yet her hands seemed soft and velvety smooth, the hands of a mother. The way her arms always sat across her lower stomach, crossed in a way that hid that small part of her body. All signs leading towards insecurities, anxieties, a constant need to have a wall up. Not only did Lily create an opposing side of Bucky, but he saw himself in her. The part of himself that was locked away in a cell in the back of his mind. Constantly doubting, reminding him of the pain he caused. But she wore it on her sleeve, as though it had managed to free itself and take over her persona.

"Yes, he's my one and only. Something inside of me knew I wouldn't want another with my ex-husband, so I made sure measures were taken so there wouldn't be a chance of another until I was ready," Lily answered, crossing her legs and readjusting the dress in an attempt to cover the bit of thigh that she had revealed, "He's the only male I need...my son's everything to me."

Whenever Hunter is ever brought up in conversation, Lily's heart grew four sizes. He was truly the rock in her life that kept her tethered to reality. If he was gone, well Lily wouldn't know what to do. Having a child so early in her life was never something that the blonde had anticipated, nor wanted. She had a whole life plan ahead of her. Get her degree, get her Ph.D., find a husband, then start thinking about a family. Instead, she got pregnant, got a husband, then got a Ph.D. and her degree. The complete opposite of what she had originally planned for herself. Lily was far from ready to be a mother at the age of 22, but she knew she could never, ever, give up her child. So, miraculously, she made it work. Through hours of crying and yelling trips to Gen's and her parents, she did it. And managed to raise a happy, healthy, baby boy.

"There you two are!" a familiar voice rang after Lily had finished her inner monologue about the love she had for her son. Rose. And in tow, were a few of the Avengers and a quite inebriated Genevieve Fairchild, hanging loosely onto a seemingly amused Steve Rogers. As the group paraded around the two, Lily's younger sister spoke, "You lovebirds have been up here for an hour. Gen thought you died."

Lily let out a Gentle sigh before standing from the couch that you'd typically find on a porch, but it was on a roof and went to alleviate the Captain of her intoxicated best friend. Whom, Lily could only guess tried to drink Thor or somebody under a table. Another thing about the doctor’s best friend, she never backed away from a challenge. Even when it came to going head to head against a literal God when it came to drinking. It really sometimes surprised Lily that Gen had survived this long. But, if we're honest, it's because Lily had been babysitting her for close to twenty years. That's about the only reason.

"I take it back. I have two kids. This is Genevieve, she owns the cafe you guys go to," Lily smiled, wrapping her arm around her best friend’s waist and leaning Gen into her side, to keep her up. The last thing that Lily wanted was to have her best friend pass out in front of a cute guy, as well as the literal Avengers. That would just be embarrassing. Not to mention, Gen would have passed out and that would require a hospital visit, somewhere Gen hated for some reason that even Lily didn't know, "We should get her home. Thank you for hav-"

"Gotcha," Gen grinned while shoving her fingers into Lily's side, causing the blonde to jump. Untangling herself, Gen dropped herself down onto the couch while throwing herself into a giggle fit at Lily's surprised face. The others around chuckled softly at the practical joke, before Gen piped up, "Told you she'd fall for it, Rose. Every party we've ever been to it happens. And every time, Lily goes all mom mode on my ass."

A conversation erupted after Gen's comment, and Lily just shook her head and joined the brunette on the couch that sat parallel to the chair Bucky occupied. Both Lily and he seemed to stay silent as the group around them laughed and created a merry atmosphere. Instead, they snuck shy and reciprocated glances at one another, both erupting in a fit of blushes anytime they made eye contact. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed, but instead of causing an uproar, the group just smiled at the two. They were like two school kids who had a crush on one another but were too shy to say anything. Stealing glances from across the classroom and having nervous conversations filled with short answers. It was endearing, yet aggravating.

Rose and Gen knew the damage that had been caused to Lily's perception of love. They were the two closest people to Lily, and were there for every step of the divorce, each tear, each time she screamed into a pillow, each time she shot one too many drinks in an effort to forget the pain that reverberated from her heart. The endless nights of Lily calling one of them in tears because Scott went out and had yet to come home. Or when he did, smelled of another woman. But Lily always, always, ignored the bright red sign that said he was no good for her. Rose and Gen were the two people in the world that knew Lily more than she knew herself. They saw the flowers that bloomed inside of her and the beauty that could rise from the ashes if she just allowed it. If Lily allowed herself happiness, they would witness the rebirth of her. See her smile for no reason again, dance around her house, and sing without the help of alcohol. God...her voice was angelic. But it had been ages since anyone had heard it.

Scott had stolen her voice. stole the one thing that really separated Lily from the pack. he kept it hidden as a token of the pain he had caused. a memento of the heart he had shattered with one hand while twisting a knife into Lily's back. he managed to keep it locked away for years, and Lily had grown weary and tired of fighting, and gave up. she stopped searching for the light inside of her he put out. she didn't believe it was possible for her candle of light to be lit once again. all because some son of a bitch decided to crush her life like she was nothing but a bug.

-----

The clock struck midnight, and Lily laid draped in Gen's arms on the same outdoor couch. Her best friend’s arm draped along her shoulder, a blanket that bruce had grabbed laying on top of them to keep the crisp September air at bay. Everyone was having a lovely time ignoring the party that raged down below them, that had slowly begun to dwindle down and grow quiet. Now, instead of booming music with deep bass, Lily's ears were filled with the laughter of her new friends that surrounded her as jokes and stories were exchanged. It was peaceful, and at that moment, Lily felt calm. Her palms were soft, with no sweat in sight. Her breathing was steady, and her mind stayed on one thought. There was no spiralling, no intense paranoia. just...peace.

Then her phone rang.

Hunter's contact popped up, and that calm heart rate skyrocketed in an instant. Not only was it an odd time to get a call from her son, but he was at Scott’s. if there was an issue, Hunter would go to Scott. This in itself sent that peaceful feeling that Lily had flying out the window. Throwing off the blanket, she slid her phone across the screen and stood, pushing herself up from the couch. Excusing herself off to the side, Lily's hands grew warm and clammy.

"Hunt? Baby, what's wrong?"

"Mama please come pick me up.”

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bobbystompy · 3 years

Text

My Top 88 Songs Of 2020

Previously: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

Though we couldn’t get as trim as last year’s 75, still very happy to keep this under 100 for the second year in a row. This was a very difficult year in many ways, but music helped make it more bearable.

As always, criteria and info:

This is a list of what I personally like, not ones I’m saying are the “best” from the year; more subjective than objective

No artist is featured more than once

If it comes down to choosing between two songs, I try to give more weight to a single or featured track

Each song on the list is linked in the title if you wanna check them out for yourself; there is also a Spotify playlist at the bottom that includes the majority of the songs

Usually a pump up video goes here, but 2020 had a different energy, so Michael, take us in.

88) Katy Perry - “Smile”

Even Katy Perry’s good songs are a swirling spiral of maxed out auto-tune. This one is just fine. It’s... fine.

87) All Time Low - “Trouble Is...”

Is All Time Low the Katy Perry of pop punk?

86) Tee Grizzley f/ Payroll Giovanni - “Payroll”

I have never heard of Payroll Giovanni, but I have two questions:

1) Is this his song, and he got Tee to jump on it?

2) Or, did Tee write a song called “Payroll” and think to himself “You know who would be great on this? Payroll Giovanni!”

Favorite stretch:

Listen, we is not the same, you say "door", I say "dough" You say "floor", I say "flow", you say "for sure", I say "fa'sho"

85) Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande - “Rain On Me”

Coming out in 2020 probably hurt this song, because I have no, like, out of the house memories with it. You can only have so much fun with Big Singers Singing over a pulsing beat when it’s coming from the phone in your kitchen as you’re indifferently scrambling eggs.

84) Benjamin Gibbard - “Life In Quarantine”

Now this is a song you can do nothing to; almost feels like it’s reluctant to even exist. It got released in March of 2020, so the outro (“No one is going anywhere soon”) served as a too sad reminder/mantra for what the year was about to be. Second shout out to Gibbard for the many YouTube sets he put together during the early stages of the pandemic (when so many of his peers were trying to figure out the next move).

83) Cardi B f/ Megan Thee Stallion - “WAP”

This felt less like a song and more of a “whoa, did you see the music video?!” and/or a means to relitigate the eternal question “What is the sexual line in music?” And while it was fun to watch people freak the fuck out... the quality itself really needed to be better.

(Note: YouTube video is the edited chorus; explicit version here)

82) McKayla Maroney - “Wake Up Call”

Former Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney -- of medals and memes fame -- dips her toe into the music waters. It’s inside-the-box modern pop music. One thing that’s hard to escape: it doesn’t really sound like her.

81) Chelsea Cutler - “Sad Tonight”

He vocals really remind me of Alessia Cara.

80) blink-182 - “Quarantine”

Blink doing a Bad Religion impression. Docked a few points for the very weak chorus lyrics (“Quarantine, fuck this disease”). That said, as serious as the song comes off, there are some clever punchlines to be found.

79) Dave Hause & Brian Fallon - “Long Ride Home”

This is kind of a nothing song, but it’s easy listening. Also, if your guitar leads can’t clear the “Could Bobby have written or performed this?” bar, then said leads are probably pretty weak.

78) Travis Scott & Kid Cudi - “THE SCOTTS”

Two artists who pair so well together, it’s hard to tell who exudes more influence on the track (eh, that’s not true, it’s Travis Scott, but Kid Cudi is more of a roommate than guest). They want you to be high by the time the instrumental outro hits.

77) The Strokes - “Bad Decisions”

The beginning sound feels somewhat evolved, but by the time Julian Casablancas croons “Making bad decisions”, the song feels like it could be on their debut album “Is This It?”. And it goes in and out like that from there.

76) Thundercat - “Dragonball Durag”

Thundercat is one of those artists I wish I liked more, but when the occasional track does hit, it’s a momentary glimpse into what real fans seem to always see.

75) TI f/ Lil Baby - “Pardon”

Standard fare. Lil Baby’s cameo is very meh.

74) Porches - “Do U Wanna”

For a song that repeatedly asks “Do you want to dance?”, it sure makes you feel like you’re moving in slow motion.

73) NOFX - “Thatcher Fucked The Kids”

On the best-named album of the year (“West Coast vs. Wessex”), Frank Turner and NOFX cover each other’s material. To start us off, the legends take a song from 12 years ago about British politics from 40 years ago and, well, very easily apply it to right god damn now in America.

72) The Bombpops - “Dearly Departed”

Ahh, my year’s first cancelled concert. The listed names in V1 always make me want to skip this song -- but patience, grasshopper. Chorus is aight.

71) Ratboys - “Alien With A Sleep Mask On”

This band name will never match what the music sounds like.

70) Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - “She’s There”

The vocals in this song channel, like, four completely different singers for me, ranging from Bob Dylan to Cloud Nothings.

69) NOBRO - “Don’t Die”

An anthemic chorus meant to be belted in a room with sweaty strangers.

68) Oliver Tree f/ blink-182 - “Let Me Down”

The original solo version of this song is 1:52, and though the blink cameo pushes it over the dreaded two minute mark, it adds enough diversity to justify the choice (keep an eye out for the quick Green Day lyrical nod in the back half).

67) AJJ - “Normalization Blues”

This dropped in January, and if you thought the year was bad then. Punk News:

I'll admit I do want the album to age badly because I really don't want to have to listen to it years later and still say this is the world we're living in.

Said album being titled “Good Luck Everybody” is straight cryptic.

66) Selena Gomez - “Rare”

Very chill for big pop; triplet rhythm singing in the chorus gets me erry time.

65) Kid Cudi & Eminem - “The Adventures Of Moon Man & Slim Shady”

Cudi’s second split collab yields bigger results than his Travis Scott joint (admittedly with a worse beat here). It rarely ever hurts to let Eminem do the heavy lifting.

64) Alkaline Trio - “Smokestack”

A little cheerier than the average Alk3 song, but Dan Andriano seems like he’s been in a great place for a long time now; confident and in control. For me, the whole song builds up to the “You changed my life” chorus.

63) Frank Turner - “Scavenger Type”

Here, Frank takes on the acoustic closer to NOFX’s legendary 1994 album “Punk In Drublic”. Though the energy boost is most noticeable, my favorite part is how you can hear how much Turner loves this song as his melody bursts on the verses.

62) Mike Posner - “Alone In A Mansion”

Mike Posner, an artist I have a very soft spot for, released a storytelling concept album in 2020. From the intro track:

This album was written, recorded, and produced over a period of two weeks in Detroit, Michigan in my parents' basement. It's meant to be listened to all the way through. At least on the first listen. And it's about 36 minutes long. If you can't devote 36 minutes of undivided attention to this album, I again politely ask that you turn it off and return at a later time. I love you and I thank you for taking the time to listen in the first place. Also, it's important to note that the characters and the stories in this album are completely fictional. In addition, anyone struggling with a mental illness - depression, schizophrenia - should not listen to this album. Turn it off.

So those are the stakes. Pulling this song -- the record’s closer -- feels unfair void of context, but them’s the breaks.

61) Nada Surf - “Just Wait”

Heavy hitting chorus without having to be heavy; this could really work in a movie.

60) Matt Pond PA - “Wild Heart”

This having only 805 views on YouTube is criminal.

59) Liquid Death - “Unnecessary And Unimpressive”

Liquid Death -- in this iteration -- is a punk rock supergroup with members of Rise Against, Anti-Flag, The Lawrence Arms, and The Bombpops. If that didn’t interest you enough, all lyrics in the project (which, I believe, is for charity) come from hateful comments or negative reviews. Of the four artists involved, this sounds most like a Bombpops song, with Jen on lead vocals as others chime in.

58) PUP - “Rot”

Off my silver medalist for album name of the year (“This Place Sucks Ass”), PUP doesn’t do anything new here, but it was relieving to see them still going in 2020 when so many others got roadblocked, both physically and creatively.

57) Paul Harrold and the Nuclear Bandits - “Massanutten”

This reminds me of local Chicago artist Al Scorch. So much earnestness in the vocals, but a little more prairie for Harrold compared to speakeasy for Scorch. This would be a good road trip song. And I’m not talking about singalong... more for the stretch where you want to sit in silence and look out at the sun-kissed land blazing by. The song’s greatest victory is getting me to like something that cracks 6:00.

Note to future me: Massanutten is in Virginia (saved you a Google).

56) Kesha f/ Sturgill Simpson, Brian Wilson & Wrabel - “Resentment”

Kesha has been vulnerable in the past but never this stripped down sonically; the chorus would feel right at home on a country radio station. Love a good bridge, too.

55) Megan Thee Stallion f/ Beyoncé - “Savage (Remix)”

An up-and-comer pairing with a legend rarely lets down when both sides are this locked in. Bey wins. Fav line: “If you don't jump to put jeans on, baby, you don't feel my pain”.

She matches flows with Megan but also brings melody. Her blessing takes this song from pretty damn good to undeniably great.

That beat, too.

54) Red City Radio - “Baby Of The Year”

If all you want to do right now is grab a drink in a bar, here is a video built to troll.

(Also: a Liquid Death cameo?!)

53) Nathaniel Rateliff - “And It’s Still Alright”

The last time Mr. Rateliff had our attention, he just wanted a drink. That hit had a chorus with the very-sad-when-removed-from-the-song “If I can't get clean, I'm gonna drink my life away” lyric. Well, our man got sober since. And when the party is over, the introspection comes.

52) Direct Hit! - “HAVE YOU SEEN IT?”

Listening to slowed down Direct Hit! is like watching Usain Bolt lightly jog. It kinda makes sense because the core action is there, but it also feels sort of incorrect.

51) Hayley Williams - “Dead Horse”

Solo Hayley songs have this feel like they could do anything at any time... but then don’t. This one does the same until a very fun chorus breaks it up.

50) Kid Cudi f/ Phoebe Bridgers - “Lovin’ Me”

Probably the most improbable collab on this list (if 2020 hadn’t repeatedly taught us to not be surprised by anything).

49) The Homeless Gospel Choir - “Don’t Compare”

Listening to The Homeless Gospel Choir is kind of like getting a dedicated pep talk from a good friend... while fire rains down from the sky.

48) Carly Rae Jepsen - “Let’s Sort The Whole Thing Out”

Queen vocals with one prince of a tempo; this chorus is Sour Patch Kids riding Twix logs down a soda pop waterfall -- and it’s a b-side.

47) Green Day - “Meet Me On The Roof”

I like this song because it reminds me of summer and because it doesn’t really sound like Green Day (but still totally does).

46) Broadway Calls - “Meet Me On The Moon”

Promise -- swear -- I was gonna compare this Broadway Calls song to Green Day before realizing they both had titles about meeting in an escalated location. That said, I did put them next together on purpose to more coherently make this point.

45) David Rokos - “Building Bridges”

My buddy Dave wrote this song, and I think I’ve asked him three times what “burning sugar” meant (he says it’s a reference to absinthe). This song will make you want to travel to enjoy not only the places but the people around you.

44) Charli XCX - “claws”

Charli XCX keeps it futuristic in a video that could be described as sexy, cheesy, goofy, and playful-yet-serious.

43) Brian Fallon - “Lonely For You Only”

This is too easy and should not work (and maybe doesn’t). But that chorus... that circular phrasing... it still takes me all the way out. But I’m the same cat who proposed while a Gaslight Anthem cover was playing.

42) Waxahatchee - “Fire”

This song could be in a different language and hit just as hard.

41) Harry Styles - “Adore You”

Purifying pop.

40) Local H - “Hold That Thought”

Hardest rock song thus far. Local H was one of the first artists to play “live” once the lockdown hit (on a simultaneous YouTube/Facebook stream), and watching them attack music in their Chicago practice bunker felt a little bit like taking in the end of the world. New songs, old songs, covers -- it didn’t matter; their cool, unmatched apathy fits a pandemic or peacetime.

Ironically, was able to see them live in 2020, as they played a socially distanced, outdoor drive up concert in a minor league baseball parking lot. It wasn’t the same, but it was still something.

39) Crazy & The Brains - “I Don’t Deliver Pizza Anymore”

This song is just cool*. The verses feel tense and crucial, it starts to unspool in the pre-chorus, and the chorus itself feels like a light comedown more than anything else.

(* - though the lyric video is docked some points for spelling y’all as “ya’ll”)

38) Drake f/ Fivio Foreign & Sosa Geek - “Demons”

Menacing Drizzy can be very fun from time to time. Also more than happy to keep “Toosie Slide” very far away from this list.

37) Hey Dad!!! - “Life’s Alright”

Small band, big song; though summer feels light-years away.

36) insignificant other - “i’m so glad i feel this way about you”

This song lands a big haymaker in the first few seconds, so it was probably a good call to pull back some for the chorus and, eventually, outro.

35) BTS - “Dynamite”

Heard they made the lyrics bad on purpose for their English hit, which makes sense, because they’re bad. That said, if you listen knowing they’re supposed to be bad, it kinda makes them... good? Listen, 771 million views would have me singing nursery rhymes in Pig Latin.

34) DaBaby f/ RODDY RICCH - “ROCKSTAR”

Someone said this could be the song of the summer, but, because there wasn’t really a summer, I feel like I only heard it once all year. Also, are we really pretending Post Malone* didn’t just do a “like a rockstar” song three years ago?

(* - and N.E.R.D. before that and Cypress Hill before that... though N.E.R.D. only waiting a year after Cypress, so maybe DaBaby actually was patient)

33) The Front Bottoms - “the hard way”

Don’t take it easy on the animal / I am the animal

Not quite sure what this line means, but I fixate on the phrasing every single time. This song sounds resigned in a very self-aware way.

32) The 1975 - “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)”

For a band called The 1975, they sure sound like they’re on their ‘80s shit here. Also, a real thing that happened:

Me: Is he coercing her to get naked?! I thought this band was woke.

/scans lyrics

/notices “She said” before the “Maybe I would like you better if you took off your clothes” line

Me: Ahh.

Sax solo, take us out.

31) Charly Bliss & PUP - “It’s Christmas And I Fucking Miss You”

A song that is already a forever staple on all my future Xmas playlists.

30) 2 Chainz f/ Ty Dolla $ign & Lil Duval - “Can’t Go For That”

Shorty said she love me / I said “I love me back”

This is a real genre blur; rap at its core, but also soulful, funky, and very danceable. Damn creative.

29) Billie Eilish - “Therefore I Am”

Billie's 2020 gave a few singles -- but no new album -- and a body shaming scandal where the backlash to the backlash probably caused more headlines than the tweet that started it all. Still, she stays on cruise control above the clouds; can all eyes be on you if they can’t even make you out?

Video for this is fun, too. Not sure if her running amok in an empty mall is more of a COVID necessity or commentary on the dying retail industry. As always with her, fill in your own blanks for now.

28) Future f/ Drake - “Life Is Good”

This was my most listened to rap song in the first half of the year, and bumping again now, almost forgot how good it is. Drake just chasing one-liner Instagram captions in the first half:

- “Haven’t done my taxes, I’m too turnt up”

- “N****s caught me slipping once, OK, so what?”

- “B****, this is fame not clout, I don’t even know what that’s about”

And, of course, “Workin’ on the weekend like usual”. The man could make anything glamorous. Let’s hit that H&R Block, bro!

Future’s back half is a totally different song and feels mostly like noise, but the vibe is cool, so I don’t even totally mean that in a bad way. You can even make out a “Got Promethazine in my blood and Percocet” lyric to mark your Future bingo card and immediately move on.

27) I’m Glad It’s You - “The Silver Cord”

This song feels like cold air blowing on the back of your neck.

(Sidebar: thought this band was called The Silver Cord until literally right now)

26) The Spill Canvas - “Mercy”

A dreamy, distorted, at-home version of whatever you remember The Spill Canvas sounding like. This song is confessional and at peace, with the Grade A self-loathing we’ve come to love from this band.

25) 100 gecs f/ Charli XCX, Rico Nasty & Kero Kero Bonito - “ringtone (remix)”

100 gecs first hit my radar with the explosively obnoxious “money machine”, but that’s a 2019er, so this remix to “ringtone” will have to do. It’s catchy like a younger sibling persistently singing a song you’re sick of hearing*.

(* - /only child trying to work in sibling analogies)

24) iann dior f/ Machine Gun Kelly & Travis Barker - “Sick And Tired”

Iann Dior -- ...yeah -- channels Juice WRLD on the hook, and MGK/Travis Barker buoy a track that, honestly, doesn’t really even need the help.

23) Nick Lutsko - “Unleash Your Spirit”

Lutsko hit my radar on Twitter with some legendary political anthems (word to the RNC and Dan Bongino + his Dashboard Trump parody). “Unleash Your Spirit” is the song I most fear hearing (or even thinking of) within a few minutes of going to bed. Not because it’s Halloween theme is scary -- because it’s that god damn catchy. It permeates your brain. True story: a week ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with “Bobbing for apples with the boys” so ingrained in my head, it felt like someone was standing there yelling it through a megaphone.

22) Dogleg - “Kawasaki Backflip”

Bad 2020 robbed many concerts from us, and not getting to see this band live might take the cake. I end the year liking them but could have been *all in* with the right performance and the right venue. Also, Song Title of the Year until further notice.

21) Eminem f/ Juice WRLD - “Godzilla”

Eminem has all of the words and all of the lyrical dexterity, but sometimes it feels like there isn’t anything to ground him. Enter: one of the best beats he’s ever spit on and a Juice WRLD hook to give it pop angle. But let’s not put Slim in the corner -- when he starts accelerating at the end, it’s is a true “holy fuck” moment. It sounds faster than if you actually fast forwarded.

The video ends with a touching audio message from Juice WRLD.

20) Soccer Mommy - “circle the drain”

This song is so gloriously ‘90s; it leans in and does not care.

19) Sam Russo - “Always Lost”

The first time I met you, we were on the last bus You passed me a bottle, and I knew you were one of us

Took 25 words to hook me; I was txting friends before the first chorus even hit.

18) Sincere Engineer - “Trust Me”

Deanna Belos pushes her vocals in this one. I asked about the performance, and she said it was one of the first ones they recorded in the studio, but when they were done and listening back to everything, she re-did this track because her throat was much more used to what the song required.

“That’s why it sounds like I’m on roids lol,” she added.

17) Jay Electronica f/ JAY-Z - “Flux Capacitor”

Jay Electronica signed to Roc Nation in November of 2010. At of the start of 2020, he had still -- STILL HOW FUCKING STILL -- not released a debut album. When he announced it was finally dropping in February, it was met with skeptic eyes. He’d “announced” before. Shit, he’d even posted track lists of albums that never saw the light of day. He was a tease’s tease. It ended up getting a release date of March 12. As the pandemic got really bad in the March 11 zone, he finally had an actual reason to delay the proceedings (the plan: a studio live stream listening party*).

But no -- this is Jay Electronica. Why wouldn’t he drop as the world was ending? The same reason why his costar wouldn’t not have a watch like a Saudi prince. It had to end for it to happen. I wish I saved the memes, because they were fantastic. All I have is my own Twitter memory to prove it happened:

I love this song entirely: the “get the gat” hook (soooo New Orleans), Hov calling out the NFL/acquaintances clout chasing his potential death/rapping forever bars, Jay Elect’s ham-fisted and awkward ass Farrakhan line. Everything is exactly where it should be.

Final verdict on the full album: I don’t know, a B or B+? It had a lot more Jay-Z than expected (wooo), but -- and I rarely say this -- it could have actually been longer.

16) New Found Glory - “Greatest Of All Time”

NFG with a song referencing the Jordan-Rodman-Pippen Bulls only a few months before “The Last Dance” aired. Dare we call it marketing genius? The punk beat does not care; the punk beat is too busy taking souls.

15) Dave Hause f/ Amythyst Kiah & Kam Franklin - “Your Ghost”

“I can’t breathe”

On the heels of the George Floyd/BLM protests came Dave Hause’s somber attempt to capture the moment, desperation, and hurt. On a podcast, he said he was aware he might not ever lead the movement but still wanted to contribute something in an effort to use his platform as a white artist to change someone, anyone’s mind going forward.

14) Taylor Swift - “this me trying”

The chorus makes me feel like the crowd is parting like the Red Sea on a high school -- shit, no, middle school -- dance floor; smoke machine and all. Your crush is waiting for you on the other side. What are you going to say?

13) Phoebe Bridgers - “Kyoto”

Phoebe is one of the best lyricists out because of her specificity, but even though this song is about her dad, you can really fit it to your own narrative.

12) The Lawrence Arms - “Last, Last Words”

The Lawrence Arms wrote their new record (which singer Chris McCaughan described as “this end of the world outpost”) prior to the pandemic, but once you start to process album themes -- and research its namesake -- you do wonder. All of this, combined with some “Catcher In The Rye” references, and we’ve got ourselves a winning formula.

Dressed to kill for oblivion

11) New Lenox - “Fairytale Of Gary, Indiana”

Your boy plays drums and is on the cover art for this one. Dave Rokos wrote the tune, which references The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York”. Good news: no slurs in the Gary version. We’ll have you in and out in 90 seconds. Also: say hello to the recording debut of Alisa Caruso (some backup vox at the end).

10) Beach Slang - “Tommy In The 80s”

My most played song of 2020, but it really was more of a byproduct of how early in the year the album dropped. I’m still such a sucker for it, though. Other than forced nostalgia, not totally sure what the track is about. Did learn Beach Slang recruited former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson to play on their LP, which was named -- /deepest of breaths -- “The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City” (so maybe it has something to do with that).

9) Juice WRLD f/ Mashmello - “Come & Go”

The :55 mark. Wait until the :55 mark. When the guitar kicks in and tempo doubles, we have a real “oh, shit!” moment. I knew who Juice was when he passed but only “Liquid Dreams”. His 2020 album (“Legends Never Die”) showed us of what could have been; 55 minutes, loaded with cameos and creativity and experimentation. This song had me in its gravitational pull immediately. By the end of the year, they were using it on sports broadcasts, and it felt like a ubiquitous part of the culture.

One of my favorite days of 2020 was visiting the Juice mural in Chicago with my wife. We went impulsively during the day after someone posted a picture on Twitter.

I snapped one of my own and posted to IG with the Signals Midwest lyric “There is such quiet grace in private moments in public spaces”. The band responded with “RIP JUICE”; the perfect online exchange.

Shortly after, I was out with a different group of friends, and we went back at night. This time, it was protected by a fence you had to squeeze past. When we got through, there were kids in there smoking, taking pictures, just hanging out; empty liquor bottles lined the bottom of the mural. Even though it didn’t take all that long to make it there, it still felt like a journey and total ‘movie moment in real life’; a complete rarity in a year like 2020.

8) Mac Miller - “Good News”

Maybe I’ll lay down for a little...

Sadly continuing the theme of artists gone too soon, we have this reflective Mac Miller single, which feels more like self-eulogy than traditional rap. You feel it the entire time. The song crests with “There’s a whole lot more for me waitin’ on the other side”, and it conveys a readiness for whatever happens next.

7) The Dirty Nil - “Done With Drugs”

I don’t pray to Jesus or even own a suit

We lost the creators of our last two songs to substances, and, if we are to take this song at face value, The Dirty Nil don’t want to go down the same path. Drying out never sounded so cool and defiant... until the IKEA suggestion.

6) The Weeknd - “Blinding Lights”

Uptempo Abel is undefeated. My favorite pop song of 2020 has you feeling like you’re speeding through the empty streets of nighttime Las Vegas in a stolen car; indifferent to your environment, only tuned in to your personal desire.

And, on the lamer side of the spectrum, it spawned a catchy TikTok dance.

5) Spanish Love Songs - “Self-Destruction (As A Sensible Career Choice)”

It won’t be this bleak forever... yeah, right.

SLS has always been over-the-top with their lyrics spotlighting the hopelessness of the human condition -- so it was the *perfect* combo to being locked inside with nothing looking to forward to. Bonus: fun cake video.

Though the song’s core is uncut despair, a random moment I remember from 2020 was my wife telling me “I can hear you smiling as you’re singing” from another room as I belted the despondent chorus.

4) Worst Party Ever - “False Teeth”

This song sounds like The Front Bottoms; insecure yet so full.

3) Run The Jewels - “the ground below”

There were a lot of songs *about* 2020, but I’m not sure any artist soundtracked what being alive now is like more than RTJ. My favorite rap song and rap record of 2020.

Fav Killer Mike line: “Not a holy man, but I'm moral in my perversiveness / So I support the sex workers unionizing their services”

Fav El-P line: “I'll slap a dying child he don't pronounce my name correct”

2) The Menzingers - “America Pt. 2″

The Menzingers unexpectedly released an acoustic, re-done version of 2019′s “America (You’re Freaking Me Out)” single. It dropped on my birthday -- June 5th, 2020 -- as the rage in this country boiled over and protesters took to the streets. Though some of the lyrics remained the same, the new ones were changed with true purpose:

Well George Floyd was murdered by a cop The whole world saw the video and watched Now justice is long overdue Grab your pitchforks, we’re heading to Pennsylvania Avenue

I had nothing left when the first pre-chorus hit: “I hope the Devil and Donald and Mitch McConnell rot in hell for all tomorrows”. Tattoo this on my fucking soul.

All funds from the song were donated to Community Bail Funds (via Act Blue) & Campaign Zero. I purchased the track before hearing a note.

1) Machine Gun Kelly - “My Bloody Valentine”

Going into the year, I couldn’t tell you the difference between Machine Gun Kelly and Mac Miller -- now they’re both fixtures in this Top 10. All I really knew about MGK involved tattoos and a rap battle lost to Eminem (not that anyone ever beats Eminem).

In 2020, he took a punk/emo turn, with the services of GOAT drummer Travis Barker and new squeeze Megan Fox at his side. This song’s lyrics could potentially be cheesy but aren’t -- they all land. From the simulation going bad to not wanting “fake love” to all the damn second guessing and the earnestness that just won’t let you off the mat.

Every piece to the puzzle adds something: the messy hair, the Ken doll build, the forced iconic pink guitar that now feels actually iconic. It was almost like no one had any fun this year so he could have all of it on our behalf. There’s a half second shot of him sticking his tongue our during the pre-chorus, a joy 99.99% of us never got to feel.

The album itself was just as fantastic*; a 2000′s pop punk throwback with a Halsey duet, horrible skits (hi, Pete Davidson FaceTime), OpIvy lyrical nod (complete with a royalty check), a warp speed punk track that doesn’t even crack the minute mark, your token 6/8 ballad, acoustic closer (about his daughter), and some experimentation that leaves the new genre but still stays nearby; shades of Lil Peep, if he had Blink-182 as his backing band. Speaking of, please do not miss Travis’ fill at the 2:30 mark.

(* - named “Tickets To My Downfall”... woof)

MGK could get cancelled tomorrow, but we’ll always have this year in a bottle. The acoustic version of the song (sung in a lower resister), the 10 minute making of video (that I watched, uh, twice)... shit, he even turned it into a medley at the start of 2021.

It might be cliche to say “stay winning”, but when someone stacks this many W’s with no end in sight, what the fuck else do you call it? Real love.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading. Here is the Spotify playlist (includes 87 of the 88 songs).

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asterekmess · 4 years

Text

S3A - E2

Here we go, Episode 2 of the rewatch. Honestly, even if you guys really don’t care about these, I’m gonna write them anyway, cus I need to get my FEELINGS out.

Anyway. Read More as a symbol of my love.

Thoughts:

Your pen is dry, honey. Try a sharpie.

So Stiles has literally known Heather since he was born? Nursery school is from 0 months to 5 years old, apparently. And Scott doesn’t know who she is? How does that even happen? It’s not like Stiles hasn’t seen her in ages, she recognizes him Instantly from across the room and he recognizes her back. So, Scott just never met her or asked about her or anything? Stiles never told him?

If anyone was curious, apparently Heather’s friend is named Danielle (according to Amazon Prime’s “X-Ray” thingy). She’s the same girl from Lydia’s birthday party, I think. The one who woke Stiles up? OHmygod that would be so fucking interesting. If he invited her and Heather to Lydia’s party. Maybe Heather couldn’t go, but Danielle showed up.

Awww, was Heather Stiles’ first kiss? Did they play winery as kids? Hide and seek? did they break a stupidly expensive bottle of wine?

I have personal issues with Stiles supposed canon age. I refuse to believe he’s not 17 and a year older than the others, because of repeating a grade when he was really young. I just refuse to believe otherwise. XP

PLS STOP making fun of girls asking for guys’ consent. This show would be awesome for like ten whole seconds if they stopped RUINING the girl’s asking for consent by having the guys laugh at them or treat it like a joke.

Allison, Scott’s not gonna have a single fucking clue what you’re talking about when only you hold out your arm to show the bruise.

Also. I believe in Big Dick Stiles Stilinski, bc he’s too smart not to know that wearing too big a condom is like the worst possible idea and can render it basically useless, and he wouldn’t have grabbed one (which we see he did in the next episode or something) if it wouldn’t fit. Therefore. XXL for our boy. XP

Hold up. So no one heard Heather screaming? Was she hallucinating the wine bottles breaking? Maybe it was an illusion, cus there’s no mess when Stiles gets down there? But still, the screaming is real. Scott should’ve heard screams like that even from outside the building.

Also, I feel p fucking bad for Stiles. As far as he knows, she bailed on him. What if he thought it was a prank or a joke or something? Or, even worse actually, since he’s known her for so long and she left her shoes down there, I bet he’d be worried instantly.

*snort* I looked up Derek’s loft set for research. They had to do so much editing to make it look grudgy and out of the way. This building is in the middle of town and it’s Massive and Gleaming. It’s a place where you can rent office suites. XD

I love everything about Isaac’s little venting session over getting Peter’s help, except the part where where he mentions Scott. Fuck scott. (whoops, now I need the tag. Like you didn’t see that coming?)

I find it hilarious that Peter’s intro is Rock Music. Also. “Fair enough.” I do love this man. (took me a while though.) Like, he’s honestly pretty simple to understand most of the time. He just wants people to be honest to him, say what they wanna say to his face.

Look at Peter, giving us one of the very few hints at werewolf history. Presumably, the ability was meant to be used to share memories with pack, locations of dens or images or even scents of other packs. And though mostly Alphas do it, clearly not just Alphas do it. This is fucking Interesting, I want MORE.

Aannnd, we discover that Scott’s been lying to Allison this whole time and letting her think that Derek just randomly attacked her mother. Love it. Also, I’m still not over Allison’s behavior in the last season? Waiting on an apology, hun, and it better be good.

OH. OH NOW You can sense the werewolves, Scott? SERIOUSLY?

Why do they make every single scene with Finstock have something to do with Stiles’ sex life? Like....it’s awkward. Stop. Also, can you imagine Stiles getting a rep around school for having a big dick bc of this? Is that something that actually happens in high schools? I had no friends, I would not know.

“No play.” The first time Scott decides that neutrality is better than actually doing something useful. I’m salty. *nods* yup. I am. I know what this scene does later on, and I hate it.

Also, can I just say that I literally hate that EVERY SINGLE time Stiles is having a good time, they make it Horrible? Stiles makes a lil joke about Derek being a Sourwolf? Derek gets claws through his lungs and spits blood. Stiles gets to play on the team? Across town Erica and Boyd are being tortured. Stiles is about to have sex? The girl he’s supposed to have sex with is being traumatized downstairs. Stiles is about to play a stupid fucking game in class? He gets taken in for questioning because his friend since birth has been kidnapped. They literally refuse to ever let Stiles be happy without making him look like an idiot or an asshole for having a single good emotion. It makes me so MAD. You can literally measure the show! If Stiles is actually smiling, then someone’s about to die.

OH MY GOD. Really? Another moment we didn’t get to see? “Derek says it’s easier to turn teenagers” WHEN DID HE SAY THAT? I‘M SO CURIOUS. Also how does Stiles know what Peter and Derek tried to do to get Isaac’s memories back? Are they reporting to Stiles? Letting him know what’s up? STILES IS HALE PACK I WILL FIGHT YOU.

I’m getting really sick of Deaton somehow knowing more about werewolves than the two born werewolves. Like, it’s really fucking annoying? They know their own species, or at least they should? It was the same with Chris helping out on the hunt. He doesn’t know werewolves better than they know themselves and I’m fucking tired of it. Let Peter and Derek have their own fucking history and knowledge about their own fucking species.

*snort* i paused at just the right time and the water effect made Derek and scott’s foreheads Really big. XD

I enjoy Stiles getting distracted now that his job is done. I feel that in my soul. The only difference between us is that he has the confidence to just Grab the shit he wants to play with, and I never did so I just zone out staring at it.

I’m not stupid. I see them suddenly throwing in the work ‘risky’ everywhere. But I still appreciate Derek reminding Isaac that he doesn’t have to do the ice tub thing.

More reflections...what’s with the reflections in this season so far?

Also, is this how people sound when they’re hypnotized. I’m on Stiles’ side actually, giving this the side-eye with Isaac’s constant “They’re here” thing. It seems really weird and overdone.

God, this scene is such fucking bullshit. Derek would never put Isaac in danger like that. Isaac’s the only Beta he’s got at the moment. He wouldn’t do that and it’s fucking Stupid to make him be so vicious and scare the shit out of Isaac. I fucking hate it.

I think it’s sweet that Isaac looks to Stiles for answers when everyone’s acting weird.

Ten hours of research, and Stiles has a little pinboard on the floor, the prototype for his big one Awwwwww.

Papa Stilinski comes through ONce Again!

If they’re supposed to meet at 5 and get to work at dark. Why is it dark when they get to Dereks??? WORK WITH ME HERE.

WHY would they patch the wall (Which is stone, so wtf did they patch it with? Concrete?) if they closed the bank down right after the robbery???

IT”S THE SCENE *heavy breathing* “Big bad wolf, yeahhh, lookatdat” Peter looks SO DONE “I’ve been dealing with this for months, make it stop”

aaaand again. “Risk” Since when does Peter care about risk? I never understood this scene. We have evidence that Peter cares about family, and according to werewolves, pack is family. He flipped shit to find Derek when Derek was missing. This is exactly the kind of thing he would do. I just...I don’t get it. Don’t like it, either.

“Yeah, if you want me to come” “NOT you” I love this scene, because it shows not just that Stiles is fucking raring to go and help, but that he didn’t offer before only because he thought Derek wouldn’t let him. We know Derek doesn’t think Stiles is useless. He put Stiles in charge of researching this entire bank. Which means it’s not that he doesn’t think Stiles could help, it’s that he doesn’t want Stiles to get hurt. And apparently Stiles knows that Derek feels that way, and knows Derek is vehement enough about it that he didn’t even bother bringing it up in the first place. That’s some serious trust and understanding, and even respect right there that Stiles is showing. Understanding what Derek would feel before he did it, trusting that Derek knew better about what was too dangerous for Stiles to involve himself in, and respecting him enough not to bug him about it anyway.

personal preference, I hate how much time is wasted just showing people walk down halls with weird lighting effects, or showing Allison trip over debris and pull her coat closed. Like...it’s really not needed?

Sup, Morrell? 20 seconds to get hidden? Is that 20 sec before the alphas get in hearing range or 20 sec before they actually get there? And how did the Alphas know that Derek was coming tonight? As far as they knew they took Isaac’s memory away and killed Braeden.

KALI WEAR SOM EFUCKING SHOES YOU NASSTY.

Smart girl with the bleach. I mean, I don’t know why the sudden scent of bleach didn’t tick kali off, but sure, whatever works.

I’m not even kidding. When I saw this scene for the first time I fucking burst into tears. Just that little glimpse of Erica and I was a mess

I really love Stiles and Peter chatting though. Like, Stiles gives no fucks, and Peter sounds just so used to it. Also, Derek’s couch looks sooooo comfy. I wanna sit on it. And Peter halfway through calling Stiles annoying is just like “Shit. He’s right. Again.” and there’s no physical distance. Peter once dragged Stiles around by his neck all night and nearly killed Lydia. But Stiles has no qualms about walking right up into his space and helping him out. PLUS, when Peter realizes Stiles is right, there’s no insults. Not even frustrated ones. When STiles describes the walls of the loft, Peter doesn’t say, “No, you idiot, the bank vault.” or make a quip. He’s immediately looking to Stiles for the information and trusting that he has it and will know where it is.

Then we have Scott just...whatever the fuck he’s saying. I don’t wanna hear it.

Okay, that is way more space behind Derek and Scott than Stiles said. And how is the moonlight even getting in? They had to shimmy through a shaft in the walls, there’s no windows in the walls. AND HOW THE FUCK would the ALpHA PACK KNOW THEY EVen KNOW WHERE THE BANK IS???

Derek should be able to hear the phone call. Just. Yes. That’s how that works. Also, Peter, now is not the time for gladiator analogies.

And the tears are back. All it takes is one fucking word. “Cora?”

IT DOESN”T MAKE SENSE. HOW WOULD THE ALPHAS KNOW??? If Marin hired Braeden and told her to get a message to Derek about the bank they were being kept at, then that means that it was all this really dumb double-double cross. Her making it look like she double-crossed the Alphas by telling Braeden to give up their location, but actually doing for the Alphas to trap Derek and Scott. What the absolute fuck?

FINALLY Someone holds Scott accountable. THANK you Derek.

Also, hello Lydia, I’m so sorry honey but you’re about to enter a whole new nightmare.

Final thoughts: I’m very long winded, and very frustrated and very fucking sad. I am just so goddamn sad and the next episode’s gonna make me feel even worse so I’m taking a break.

#personal #TeenWolf-Rewatch #anti-scott mccall

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baka-monarch · 4 years

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How about just like,,, the FLUFFIEST g/t you can do, like I don't even care about the pairing or whatever but like,,, fluff is GOOD and your writing is GOOD soooo them combined would be *chefs kiss*

We're Simply Meant To Be

(Lol, I'm not good at writing pure fluff, I'm sorry if it's bad)

Virgil stared up at the giant house anxiously, as Patton pulled up outside of it. Last week his friend, Roman, had invited him over to spend the night, and he would've been happy to go except that Roman was a giant, not only that but... Virgil had a crush on said giant. Apart from the fact that Virgil was terrified of being around a giant all night and embarrassing himself in front of his crush, he was also the only one Roman had invited to come over, with the only other people going to be there being his family...of giants.

"Alrighty Kiddo, we're here!" His older brother chirped happily.

"Patton, you're also friends with Ro. You sure you don't wanna come?" Virgil prayed he'd say yes so he'd at least have some support there with him.

"Sorry Virgil, but you're the one he invited." Patton gave his lil bro a sympathetic look, knowing what Virgil really meant. "Remember, if you don't want to go you don't have to."

"No! I-I mean," Virgil corrected. "I want to go, it's just..."

"It's okay Virgil." Patton gently placed a supportive hand on his brother's shoulder. "Just remember, if you ever want to leave just call me. I'll be here on an instant." Virgil nodded slowly in response, then wrapped Patton in a tight hug.

"Thanks Pat, you're the best." He mumbled through Patton's shirt.

"I know." He smiled. "Now get going! You can't keep your prince charming waiting!"

"Patton!" He whined but it was all in good fun, making Patton chuckle. Virgil huffed. "I'll see you tomorrow." He finally got out of the car.

"See you then kiddo!" With that the car door was closed and Patton drove off.

No backing out now. Virgil swallowed his emotions and approached the ginormous door before him. Near the bottom, far enough down for a human to reach, there was a human sized doorbell. He took a deep breath, pushed the doorbell, then let it out. There was a loud ringing from inside the house followed by the sound of movement and booming footsteps that shook the ground as they got closer. He stared up at the door nervously waiting to see who would answer.

Suddenly the door opened, without warning causing Virgil to jump back in fear. When he looked at who it was, he only felt his fear intensify slightly, as the person who opened the door was Roman's brother. Remus. The infamous school jock who didn't think twice about the consequence of his actions. Virgil's body shook as he breathed, trying to stay calm.

"Hellooooo?" Remus called out as he looked around, making Virgil realize that he couldn't see him. Did Roman not tell them that he was coming?

"I-I'm down here!" Virgil called out through cupped hands. He took a step back as his eyes widened when Remus' eyes spotted his minuscule form.

"Oh, it's you." The giant shrugged as he turned back inside. "HEY RO! YOU'RE HUMAN'S HERE COME PICK THEM UP!!!" He shouted so loud that Virgil had to cover his ears. There was a muffled shout from inside and some shuffling. Remus gave a salute to Virgil, then left.

Virgil waited patiently as the pounding of footsteps got louder, making the ground under him shake. Soon there was Roman huffing for breath at the door.

"Hey"-huff-"Virgil." Roman greeted out of breath. "Sorry about that, I didn't know when you'd get here and I didn't want Remus to do anything." He scratched the back of his neck nervously as he apologized.

"It's fine Princey," Virgil shrugged. "so this is your place?" As Virgil spoke Roman lowered a hand for him to climb onto.

"Yeah, the ole Princeton residance!" Roman said as he watched his tiny friend accept the offer and climb on.

"Huh, house of the mayor's family..." Virgil spoke while being lifted by his friend's hand. "Thought it'd be bigger." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Hey!" Roman made a few noises of offense that Virgil knew as offended princey noises. "It's big enough Tom Thumb!" He huffed.

"Whatever you say Jolly Green Giant." Virgil smirked as Roman gawked in mock offense.

"Exscuse you! If anything I'm Scott Lang when he grows!" Roman spoke proudly as he carried Virgil inside.

"Whatever you tell yourself Jack The Beanstalk." Virgil barely held in his laughter at Roman's response.

"Well I never-" Roman shook his head as he did a southern bell impression finally getting a small chuckle from Virgil. Roman smiled at that, proud that he was able to keep his small friend calm. Truth is, little did Virgil know that Roman had a crush on him and had known that Virgil was going to be nervous, witch is why he was going to do anything to keep Virgil happy until midnight. For at midnight, he planned to finally do something...

"So what's the plan tonight, Prince Armpit-Stink?" Virgil snapped Roman out of his thoughts, just as they arrived at his room.

"Well, for starters, you stop calling me that." Roman smiled as Virgil laughed. "Then we'll do the usual sleepover stuff." He shrugged.

"What's "the usual sleepover stuff"?" Virgil used airquotes.

"Well... I don't really know." Roman chuckled to himself as the little emo shook his head. Roman sat Virgil down on his bed and closed his bedroom door as he thought. While Roman was doing that, Virgil noti6his TV and Disney collection.

"We could watch a movie?" Virgil shrugged.

"Excellent idea!" Roman exclaimed. "Any preferences?"

"Tim Burton's always good." Virgil sat down on Roman's pillow and got comfortable.

"Of course you would say that." Roman tutted lovingly. He pulled out his copy of The Nightmare Before Christmas Collectors Edition. He popped the disk into his DVD player and set up the TV. Once Roman finished he carefully got onto the bed with Virgil.

Then the movie began.

●●●

At some point during the movie Roman had laid down, his head on the pillow behind Virgil, and Virgil had snuggled up against Roman's nose. It was getting late and by the song Kidnap Mr. Sandycaws Roman's mom had come by to drop off some pizza for them, witch was now discarded on the floor. Neither of them really spoke throughout the movie, just enjoying each others company.

That is until Roman heard a small voice singing beautifully, yet quietly, along to Sally's Song. "I sense there's something in the wind. That feels like tragedy's at hand. And though I'd like to stand by him. Can't shake this feeling that I have." Their voice was beautiful as they harmonized with Sally.

"The worst is just around the bend. And does he notice. My feelings for him? And will he see How much he means to me? I think it's not to be." As Roman listened, he knew it was Virgil singing, and was amazed by it. Causing him to fall even deeper for the emo.

"What will become of my dear friend? Where will his actions lead us then? Although I'd like to join the crowd. In their enthusiastic cloud." Virgil avoided looking at Roman. What would he think? Why was he even friends with Virgil? He was popular and Virgil was... not. Why did Roman like him?

"Try as I may, it doesn't last. And will we ever. End up together? No, I think not. It's never to become. For I am not the one" Virgil let his head hand on the last note, sadly. He tried to subtly glance at Roman. Why did he stick around? This is all going to end someday and he's just going to get hurt when the day comes that Roman realizes that he doesn't need him anymore. He turned back to the TV and stared at it as he willed himself not to cry.

"My dearest freind, if you don't mind. I'd like to join you by your side." A louder, more confident voice sang the reprise out lovingly from behind Virgil.

"Where we could gaze into the stars. And sit together now and forever. For it is plain as anyone could see." Virgil turned around to see Roman staring at him with a deep longing, as he sang. Although Virgil had tried to be subtle when he had looked at Roman and when he had tried to hold his tears back, Roman had still noticed. It had hurt to notice that Virgil wasn't just sining to sing, but from a deeper feeling.

They smiled lovingly at each other as they both thought the same thing and sang the last line together in perfect harmony.

"We're simply meant to be."

They both leand forward, Roman less than Roman but still enough. Virgil pressed his lips against Roman's large ones as they both closed their eyes. When they both pulled away Virgil's eyes widened.

"Oh my God! Roman I'm so sorry!" Virgil rushed out embarrassed.

"No, no, hey, it's fine." Roman comforted his little emo. "I love you Virgil." Roman smiled warmly.

Virgil hesitated for a moment, and then leaned in and kissed Roman again.

#sander sides #virgil sanders #roman sanders #anxiety sanders #creativity sanders #giant/tiny #prinxeity #giant #tiny #giant roman #attempted fluff

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dickie-gayson · 4 years

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Fun Young Justice Fact!!

I straight up c r i e d during the S1 episode Coldhearted but not for the reason yall think. I've seen MANY discussions and reactions but not ONCE have I seen any love or recognition given to my boi in Coldhearted

THIS IMPORTANT DOCTOR MAN RIGHT HERE. U SEE HIM?? Y'ALL REMEMBER HIM? UR GONNA GET A LESSON ABOUT THIS LOVELY, BEAUTIFUL, INTELLIGENT DOCTOR RIGHT N O W

This doctor (he's the good one, not the goon) isn't named during the show iirc BUT his name is in the credits.

Pieter Cross.

P I E T E R C R O S S

Y'all, Pieter Cross is another dc superhero - one of my favs.

This lovely accented doctor, Pieter Anton Cross, is none other than Doctor Mid-Nite (the second). here's some pics (the first is w his bffl/platonic life partner Michael Holt aka Mister Terrific)

Pieter graduated from Harvard Medical at 19. He's essentially the Hero Community's go-to doctor for everything.

"Doctor Mid-Nite is the world's most prominent superhero doctor. He is often called upon when an autopsy is needed, or when a hero needs major surgery."

Ye, he's had to autopsy his dead friends :( he also does casual checkups. Powergirl goes to him for her check ups and to keep an eye on her powers. He's done a bunch of life-saving surgeries on not only the heroes but ALSO their loved ones! He performed surgery on Lois Lane after she got shot. When Hush removed Catwoman's heart from her body, Doctor Mid-nite and Mister Terrific were able to successfully put it back in and save her.

You not only want him in ur corner when ur hurt, u need him. There's none better! Imagine the sheer amount of crazy powerful allies he has bcus he saves all sorts of heroes and their loved ones! U don't attack the healer unless u wanna get fucked up by the rest of the squad, right? U also don't piss the healer off unless u wanna suffer, right? Same energy, fam. It helps that he can perform surgery flawlessly in the fuckin pitch dark.

He's disabled! In fact, Doctor Mid-Nite is credited as the first disabled superhero in comics! They're talking about Charles McNider, his predecessor, but Pieter Cross is also disabled. He's blind. I won't go into his whole origin but suffice to say he was unwillingly drugged and it caused him to go totally blind except for in the absolute dark.

He can only see in the dark and/or with his specialized lenses iirc. He carries smoke grenades that cause absolute blackness (think vanta black bombs) bcus he can see just fine in it and others can't. Any attack that involves having to see the attack (think Medusa's gaze) doesn't work on him cus he's conventionally blind. HOWEVER when he can see, it's fuckin crazy. Eagles got nothing on how sharp his eyes are in the right setting. Like we're talking super vision.

Those funky lenses on his cowl? They're to let him see in the light. It's kinda like infrared goggles and can let him see ultrasonic as well. Without his tools, he can't see. He got his sight back once and hated it bcus he could no longer work the way he used to.

OTHER FUN FACTS ABOUT THE GREAT DOCTOR

Doctor Mid-Nite has his own website where he provides free medical advice to registered users.

He's Norwegian-born. (That's his accent in that YJ ep)

Him and Mister Terrific are the bestest of friends (I felt the need to reiterate bcus they're Besties for Life. Read 1 comic with them in it and you'll see what I mean)

HE HAS A PET OWL NAMED CHARLIE!! He named him Charlie after the first Doctor Mid-Nite, Charles McNider!! He's trained to aid Pieter in combat! Attack owl!!! Batman has his Robins, Mid-Nite has owl sidekicks!

Highly Skilled Escapologist

He briefly dated Black Canary

His general medical license has been revoked, not that it stops him from practicing and helping ppl. He gives zero fucks. He's here to help, not politick around when ppl are dying.

He never stopped being a doctor, even after becoming a superhero. HE'S A LOVELY, KIND, COMPASSIONATE MAN WHO JUST WANTS TO HELP PPL

He's vegetarian AND he does yoga (imma cry yall, he's so fuckin great)

S1 of Young Justice appears to take place before he gets his powers and becomes Doctor Mid-nite cus he's not wearing any type of glasses. Wally interacted w (imo) one of the greatest heroes and doesn't know it!

Mid-nite is the one everyone says Tim Drake copied with his one Red Robin uniform (it's true too. I wouldn't be surprised if Tim was a Mid-nite fan, they seem like they'd get along)

T H I C C T H I G H S!!! I know everyone talks about Jason's thighs but Pieter's thighs are next level!! I ain't playing! Look at these hams!!

When his mom was pregnant with him, she got attacked. The OG Doctor Mid-nite saved her. Then, when she went into labor, he delivered lil bby Pieter. What are the odds lmaoo

BDE through the roof, fight me. Massive Meat Energy and I won't apologize for saying it

Survived 'seeing' Johnny Sorrow's face even tho it kills legit anyone who looks bcus he's blind. Used the recording his goggles took of JS' face and played it back to Johnny and beat him lmaoo

As someone summarized nicely: 'Prior to him getting blind, Dr. Pieter was a very caring man.. He would take a walk in the evening every day and helps out poor people who live in the streets, especially to those who are addicted to drugs.. He would help out missionaries in donation to help the poor and the hungry.. A Poor People Savior you might say."

"Doctor Cross uses his medical expertise as a hand-to-hand weapon. Once, when challenged to arm wrestle, he won by triggering the proper nerves in his opponent's arm." Savage Nerd Alert. Can, has, and will continue to use his Galaxy Brain (and BDE) to beat ppl, dirty technique or not.

Geoff Johns on Doctor Mid-Nite: "Doctor Mid-Nite is a visionary, figuratively and literally. Blinded by an accident, he’s able to see on all spectrums through the filters on his goggles."

Here's some of him being the Super Doctor:

Helped Alan Scott to determine if he was composed of the Green flame of Starheart

Helped Power Girl to check and test her powers

Saved Hourman's life by performing an emergency surgery

Saved Oracle by removing the Brainiac virus which possessed her body

Saved Lois Lane's Life by removing a sniper bullet after she was shot

Helped Raven to drive the demonic possession that attacked her by using Hologram Tech

I love him and would die for more content about him

Srsly I'll cry if even one(1) person acknowledges him in a YJ fic (or any fic tbh)

APPRECIATE DOCTOR PIETER ANTON 'MID-NITE' CROSS OR P E R I S H

Also if ur writing a YJ fic and have need for a doctor, pls add him. He didn't graduate med school to be ignored, yall. Or add him in just bcus he's rad af. At least do it for Charlie the owl!!

#young justice #Pieter cross #doctor mid-nite #I LOVE HIM YALL #A LOT #AND NOBODY GIVES HIM ANY ATTENTION #LOVE HIM WITH ME #am i gonna have to steer AND populate this 'Loving Doctor Mid-nite' boat myself??

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danwhobrowses · 4 years

Text

General Discussion: All Elite Wrestling (AEW) Part 2

This is a part 2 of a recent dump of stuff I’m talking about in regards to AEW, if you want to see my critiques and comments in hindsight about AEW Check it out on part 1 -> Here Part 2 is gonna revolve around the future, immediate and long-term, starting with the upcoming All Out PPV

All Out 2020

Criticisms about the Buy In aside, All Out still looks like a heavily stacked card, which is always a positive. I do worry a little that the Tooth and Nail match’s addition will cut into others’ time so hopefully everyone gets a good amount, but if people criticise some matches for being too short remember that fan demand insisted that the same Swole/Baker match be on the paid card rather than having a lot of time to show it for free. And as much as people criticise AEW’s women, the women’s matches are among the top 5 most anticipated matches on the card, probably only behind the tag title and world title match, isn’t that a great thing? Not to mention that the women’s title match encourages AEW/NWA relations, which really would make wrestling better if wrestlers could be more fluid in their appearances. But anyway, All Out is something I look forward to, so let’s break down some predictions? (if you’re wondering why I’m not just doing this on a podcast or something, my voice is not the dulcet flowing river of articulation my writing would imply to be, I like having time and proofing my words, plus if I talk to much my tongue swells and I stutter, stammer and suck at eye contact) So my thoughts for the full card

Predictions

The Buy In

Casino Battle Royale - Eddie Kingston. While I’d be down for Fénix, Pentagon, Archer or even a new or returning face like PAC to win, I think Kingston is the safe bet. The man talks like liquid and his match with Cody brought a lot of eyes to the product. This will continue and start new hostilities, but don’t expect anyone who has faced Moxley before to win, AEW don’t do title rematches so much.

Private Party vs Dark Order (Silver and Reynolds) - this quickly put-together match is going to Private Party, because Silver and Reynolds are enhancement tag teams still, they can win but they won’t win often. Plus the more Silver loses the more bits he’ll have with Brodie on BTE and those are gold.

Main Card

Tooth and Nail - Britt Baker, I expect the cinematic match to have shenanigans but also protect Baker in the midst of her injury recovery. While Swole has been doing the physical lifting of the feud I think having Britt lose on her return could be the wrong choice in the long run.

Dark Order vs The Nightmare Family - Dark Order, Brodie has elevated the tag team to the point where they are a big faction, and they need the big win for this. Cardona, Sky and the Natural Nightmares can take this loss too, but I’d expect QT or Dustin to take the fall for this. Bonus prediction that Tay Conti will indeed join the Dark Order with Anna Jay, leading to them beating down Brandi and Allie at ringside (setting up a women’s tag feud that’d explain why they were kept on other sides of the Deadly Draw bracket)

The Young Bucks vs Jurassic Express - This one I have Jurassic Express, it may be an upset because the Bucks are still reeling from Hangman’s betrayal, this can also lead to the Bucks being more heelish to accompany a Cleaner Kenny Omega. Keep your eye on Jungle Boy, AEW are still hot on him for good reason, this’ll be a huge scalping for Jurassic Express if they pull it off.

Broken Rules - A tough one, but I’m gonna stick with the Multifarious Matt Hardy. I don’t think he wants to end his career just yet and AEW would be foolish to let him go. Plus technically Sami is 2-0 in this feud, so it won’t hurt Sami too much to win in Hardy’s wheelhouse.

Mimosa Mayhem - Another tough one to put down the middle, I am gonna go with Orange Cassidy though. I think Jericho wants to amend the sloppy finish Cassidy’s win had and this’ll make for good comedy to see Jericho (and maybe Hager) flailing around in Mimosa

Women’s Title - I will be happy with either winning, but my heart says Shida. Mainly because I think Britt is the one who should take it from her, their last match was a banger after all. Rosa won’t look weak though, they may even have Shida challenge for the NWA women’s title down the line.

Tag Titles - FTR. That’s it, that’s all you need to know. Hangman’s head is out of the game and Kenny is becoming the Cleaner, it’s time for this schism to start properly, they’ve held it for about a year as well, it’s time.

World Title (Moxley cannot use Paradigm Shift) - It’s easy to say MJF, he is the home breed future and Moxley has had a long run defeating tougher opponents, but I am thinking that Moxley will retain. This is mainly because the odds are so stacked against him, he’ll eke out a win despite MJF’s trickery. The challenger will look fantastic to prove that he will be champion some day, but not today. Instead I think MJF will be thwarted by miscommunication, and as he hinted at during his tag match with Jurassic Express, will split from Wardlow for his ‘fatal error’. Then we’ll get Moxley vs Kingston which can be just as fantastic.

Looking to the Future So ‘looking to the future’ is not gonna all be direct consequences of All Out, some of it is just stuff I’d like to see happen, not all of it has to and my enjoyment isn’t killed from it, but certain things would make AEW better in my opinion. Business Relations So of course it’d be great to have more working relationships with other brands, AEW is already close to OWE and AAA, getting NWA on board would be a good step to establishing good relationships with ROH as well, maybe even NJPW. On the women’s side it’d be nice if they made more solid ties with Cyberfight - which has DDT Pro, TJPW and NOAH, maybe even Stardom, Sendai Girls, EVE and Ice Ribbon. More relationships would offer wrestlers not working Dynamite or Dark to perhaps represent elsewhere. In this representing it’d be great to see more outside titles being shown, it’s free advertising really. Thunder Rosa will for sure be carrying her NWA Women’s title but wouldn’t it be cool if other brand titles could be carried; Kenny carrying his AAA title with the tag titles, Cardona his Internet title, Lucha Bros their HOG and AAA Tag titles, Big Swole her Phoenix of Rise title, Moxley his NJPW US title (though I expect him to lose to KENTA soon), Rosa’s TJPW International Princess title as well and Yuka Sakazaki’s TJPW Princess of Princess Title. It may be me but seeing these titles does add an air of legitimacy to the competitors, showing how successful they are overseas while promoting other promotions. I’d also like to pitch a ‘Locked Down’ mini show or segment where AEW could show what their international talent is doing, Emi Sakura’s ChocoPro could be a light hearted segment, PAC could do some solid promos and like showing the titles, it’d expose the roster as talented. New Signings Someone just has to do good to have people ask for AEW to sign them, but in some cases it would be cool to sign them up. Of the frequent flyers right now AEW would be mad not to sign Ivelisse and Diamante, and I’ve already expressed my hopes that they sign Will Hobbs, Serpentico, Shawn Dean, Brian Pillman Jr, Kilynn King, Tay Conti, Veda Scott, Nicole Savoy/Lil’ Swole and Pineapple Pete, but it’d also be good business to at least call up Renee Paquette/Good/Young and Mauro Ranallo, even if it is for some guest appearances. Signing the likes of Danhausen, Warhorse, ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey, Millie McKenzie, Laura Di Matteo, Lana Austin, Jamie Hayter, Chris Brookes, Maki Itoh, Miyu Yamashita, Mirio (if he wants to come back into wrestling) and AR Fox. This being said, this should only ease into the Second Show, where we can expose more of the current roster as well. Speaking of Which. (A Few) New Accolades With a bigger division will require more competition. Not all of them need to be titles but something to be fought for. MJF’s Diamond Ring and Cage’s FTW title can help in that matter, but I think a Trios Accolade would be next in line for AEW. This would open the door for more teams to compete; The Elite, Jurassic Express, Best Friends, SCU, Dark Order, Nightmare Family, Death Triangle etc. would still keep it competitive and open the door for more stories of faction warfare. Since this is only my thoughts I would love to see the tag division be intergender too but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that. If we do move to this though PLEASE use whoever designed the world and tag belt, not the TNT belt. Faction Bolstering AEW are looking at the NJPW formula or big factions going into war or tensions with one another, which is good since it does make for lines to be written in the sand. But I think the factions can just be a little bit bigger in some places, and some are easy to add in already. Conti joins Dark Order for 2 women there, have Ivelisse and Diamante join the Inner Circle so we have full LAX (plus Ivelisse tagged with Sammy in LU), Statlander can pair with Best Friends and renew BTE’s skits of her and Orange Cassidy’s palpable sexual tension, I would also enjoy the thought of TH2 joining with Kip and Penelope just to be a faction of talented arseholes. May be the crass side of me, but I also seem to want Brian Pillman Jr to join the Gunn Club simply so we can have an entrance theme that starts ‘Someone call 911, Pillman’s got a Gunn’, Vickie Guerrero could grow her managing of Nyla to an all women ‘Las Guerreras’ faction maybe with Kilynn King, Shaul Guerrero, Abadon or someone else would be a decent move in my books but an exciting faction I can see clearly is a Moxley faction with Darby Allin and Lance Archer. Imagine having Jake the Snake taking care of all that, oh yes is that the good stuff. Future Feuds We’ll end with talking about some feuds I hope to see down the line too, even if they’re not set up already. I’ve already expressed my want for Kingston vs Moxley but another Kingston feud I see in the making is against PAC, Kingston is the man with the plan but PAC will want his Death Triangle buddies back. Speaking of, Moxley could use some bangers with Fenix and Pentagon, both are megastars. While the tag division is looking like it’ll lead to FTR vs Bucks, I think the bigger money is FTR vs Bucks vs Hangman and Kenny first, with Kenny having the Elite ties and Hangman with the FTR ties the storytelling would be ridiculously immense. This thought almost made me pick Hangman and Kenny to win at All Out...almost. I would expect a lot of title defenses from Mr. Brodie Lee, particularly from Cardona but I’d love it if Jungle Boy was the one to win it from him, and for JB to face Sammy Guevara, of the 4 Young Prospects of AEW I don’t think Sammy and JB have gone 1-on-1, could be wrong but Sammy usually went for Darby and JB to MJF, Fénix vs JB would be excellent also. Luchasaurus is also due his hoss match with the Butcher, as well as further conflict with Cage and Archer Also I’d like Shida vs Conti, both are very martial arts-like in their wrestling especially the latter so it would be a good physical match. But yeah, that’s out of my system for now, we’ve talked some good, some bad and some middle, don’t think it matters to anyone but I’ve said my piece Bring on All Out!

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gothamdetected-a · 4 years

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multiverse.

i know what you’re thinking. sim are you absolutely fucking insane, don’t even TRY to tackle this one. you’re right i am insane. and yes i am still going to try and tackle a meta about DC multiverses HOWEVER, to give myself on shred of sanity on this treacherous journey, i will say that this is mainly going to be about the multiverse from a bruce perspective. this ride is a batman focused train i’m afraid. also i want to state that this is by no means a perfect explanation – i’m a) trying to keep it simple and b) still am lost on parts of the timeline myself so. its what i can offer.

ok so, originally NCP, or the national comics publication (who will one day become DC), wrote their golden age heroes on an earth now designated as earth-2. in the 30s, just before the war, comic books absolutely exploded as a media format, and a bunch of companies all jumped the gun on creating superheroes. many of DCs most endearing and recognisable heroes were created all the way back then, however many of them also are not quite who you will recognise as the character today. hal jordan wasn’t green lantern, but was instead a man called alan scott, jay garrick was the flash instead of barry allen etc etc. don’t worry though! batman is still batman, and has been bruce wayne since 1939. earth-2 batman, as he will come to be known, is a bright kind of guy found on technicolour pages with a cute lil robin by his side – there is a reason for this. the war. literally NCP said we cant be sending out dark and gritty comics to people dying in trenches so time to make it colourful and faintly ridiculous, and bruce wayne is a surprisingly optimistic guy for a man who watched his parents be slaughtered in front of him.

of course, by the 60s, NCP (who are also sort of known as NPP and really known by your average joe as superman-dc, based on their most successful comic runs) had realised their timelines were getting a bit squiggly for their golden age heroes, and most of them had been replaced out by their silver age counterparts anyway. so between 1961 and 1963, NCP start creating another “earth”, officially designated earth-1, which would become their main planet for all kinds of superhero shenanigans. the justice society of america becomes the justice league of america, and when you think of batman, you’re probably thinking of earth-1 batman. at least pre crisis. and, once they get taste for building whole new earths, we also get earth-3 (1964), or “opposite world”, where the good guys are bad guys, and batman is owlman and instead of the jla we have the crime syndicate of america.

so sim, what other earths did dc come up with? well, i literally refuse to list them all because it was a multiverse and they did not slow down, but the ones that are most important to me are earth-5 where the only hero to live on this planet is bruce wayne/batman, and earth-89 where lois marries bruce instead of clark ahAHAHHAA. but i can tell you that pre-crisis there are 91 designated earths, and basically it could have gone on forever. there was an earth-c minus, earth-124.1, an earth where everyone was reptiles, honestly it was a MESS. and therein lies the problem.

now i’ve just used the term “pre-crisis”. what’s that, sim? maybe you’re not very familiar with comics, or with the recent dctv version of said comics, and so i will endeavour to explain one of the most brain numbing storylines that spans DC. also known as a retcon. see all these earths with their own histories and heroes and well everything really was becoming very inconvenient and meant a lot of world jumping and who can interact with who and everything was getting like spaghetti because they couldn’t calm down on the earth-building. so DC (who are officially DC at this point, 1977 babeyy), specifically a guy called marv wolfman (coolest name ever) who was sick of so many earths, comes up with the bright idea that will later form into a comic run called crisis on infinite earths (1985-1986). it was a serious crossover event, really considered by many to be the first of its kind. it sold extremely well, boosting dc’s flagging sales against it’s biggest rival, marvel. and as for the plot, it’s a bit convoluted but essentially some bloke turns up and starts to destroy all these worlds, and it becomes a race between the heroes and villains as to who can save/conquer the remaining earths that are left. although there are crises before and after this specific run, pre-crisis basically always refers to this particular crisis event, as it really shaped DC for the next 30 years.

for a while the retcon does an okay job of keeping the number of earths low. there’s still some earths that are considered non-continuous floating around, but mainly there’s just earth-1, which is now a merger of the most important “earths” that existed pre-crisis, and a way for all of DCs heroes to now be in one place and interact with each other. other earths at this point include;

earth-23 (1986) – a small pocket dimension

earth-17 (1990) – we don’t talk about this. honestly spare yourself and. don’t look. its horrific.

earth-27 (1990) – a historically divergent planet with a hero actually called vegetable man.

earth-85 (1987) – a hodgepodge of post-crisis characters live here, chillin

earth-988 (1990) – superboy is the only hero in this universe

the antimatter universe – all of pre-crisis’ earth-3 villains, including owlman, get shoved here for later use when dc need a couple of villains to come back.

and for a while all is well. then comes DC elseworlds (1989). which. you know. i love. it gave me victorian batman. pirate batman. caveman batman. vampire batman. frankenstein batman. terrorist batman fighting against russian!superman. they even gave me marvel crossovers, with captain america meeting batman. it was a glorious time. technically elseworlds is not considered canon, ran outside of canon as a way for writers to explore those wacky kind of worlds lost to the crisis, which is dumb because some of the plot lines are both hilarious and incredible. but the numbers started to get ridiculous again. most elseworlds are named after the year that the plot takes place in, so we get earth-1889, earth-1938 etc, but even more of them just seem to have random designations. i think by the time they reached earth-5050 they sort of knew that theyd fucked up again. we’ve had zero hour, we’ve got hypertime and kingdom come, and besides, its been a while since they had a good crossover, so by the time 2005 rolls around its time for crisis pt 2 (because dc love to use the word crisis for crossovers) or as it’s officially known infinite crisis. infinite crisis has an even more confusing plot involving a bunch of slightly nuts versions of characters escaping a pocket dimension, earths being created and then merged, and a rogue ai which batman made and then has to destroy because his own creation becomes too powerful etc etc. the only good thing to come out of it was earth-0, or bizarro world, because bizarro & batzarro are my babies. don’t worry though, this new set of earths won’t last long either, as in 2008 DC conclude their trilogy of crises with final crisis that featured one of the most important events in batman’s history – darkseid “killing” him. yes the quotations are important. i’ll leave you to infer what they mean.

so 3 crises later and everything is still just as messy as they’ve ever been and there’s 60 years worth of comic history being tangled about, and marvel had already established a very successful reboot in 2000, and anything marvel do, we can do better, so DC do their first, full and proper reboot. unlike retcons before it, which is where they retroactively try to fix what people already know and simplify timelines & earths, this is like someone shaking the etch-a-sketch and starting fresh. back in infinite crisis an arbitrary number was assigned to how many “earths” there could be – 52. and so in 2011, DC go hey that’s neat and create what becomes known as the new- or nu-52. heroes are given shiny new backstories, everything is streamlined and wonderful, sales rise, DC has a clean slate to build off again.

ha.

yeah that doesn’t happen.

this reboot, also known as flashpoint, due to it being spawned from another big ol’ crossover of the same name, shows barry allen trapped in an alternate universe where everything is not quite right – his mother is alive, superman is nowhere to be found and he doesn’t have his powers. worst of all thomas wayne is batman. yeah, batman’s dad is batman. thanks DC, i hate it. reverse-flash has tried to change history and stop the jla from ever being formed – le gasp. barry goes to fix it, merges three universes together – earth-0, which isn’t a bizarro world but now the “main" earth, also called new earth or prime earth (DC), earth-13 (vertigo) and earth-50 (wildstorm), but also causes 10 years to be “lost” to these characters. there are now 52 brand spanking new earths, each sitting in their own universe as part of the multiverse. no one remembers anything except barry. even for a reboot and convergence of DC’s franchises, it’s messy as fuck. and it goes to shit very very quickly. people don’t really like n-52. DC have cancelled everything, certain characters such as cassandra cain-wayne are fucking ERASED from existence, no one likes the new costume designs, its an absolute shit show and the plots get very confusing very quickly.

so what do DC do?

they reboot again. sigh.

only 5 years after the mess of nu-52, they produce DC rebirth, a new relaunch of all their famous runs. brainiac does some magic and collects a bunch of worlds together and magically we’re all going to forget the last 5 years of comic hell. it is a reboot to retcon flashpoint as though that never happened. yes, DC are actually retconning their own reboots. talk about sweeping it under the carpet. technically “rebirth” only ran for a year as a promotional thing for the reboot, before joining with the larger, now-singular DC universe, however everyone still calls it rebirth because if we don’t give these things names it will get even more fucking confusing than it already is. rebirth also still has 52 universes making up the DC multiverse, just to make things even more simple and easy to understand (DC what is it with 52. why 52.) although lots of the earths in this multiverse have been re-designated – eg. pre-crisis earth-31 was home to an aged batman who fakes his death to go train a bunch of new vigilantes (the dark knight returns), and now 31 is an apocalyptic wasteland or some shite. a lot of these earths were re-designated during the flashpoint/nu-52 era, and even though rebirth was supposed to erase that, DC have decided never mind we’ll keep it. there’s also 7 mysteriously undesignated earths – ooh spooky, they definitely won’t feature in the next major crossover. also for a multiverse with 52 universes, they sure do have more than 52 : there’s the microverse, a bunch of universes collectively called “the sphere of the gods” where apokalips and like, literal heaven & hell exist, an innerverse???, dreamworld, limbo, DC are taking the piss they only said there were 52 earths but that means they can make as many other shitty dimensions and pocket-universes as they please apparently. don’t even get me started on the source wall. for the most part the writers just. don’t acknowledge this and stick to the main prime earth. for the most part. thanks for throwing thomas wayne as batman back into the mix, rebirth.

so that’s the last of it, right sim? eh, almost. it should have been the last of it, really. and then geoff johns couldn't keep his mouth shut and produced possibly the worst comic in recent history, if not ever, doomsday clock. now doomsday clock is a nightmare for an impossibly long list of reasons that i won’t get into here because this isn’t a rant about why i think doomsday clock is the worst thing to ever happen to dc (although that’s a catchy title i should use that some day) - no, the reason i bring up doomsday clock is because. oh my god even saying this makes me sad. doomsday clock proves that the pre-crisis universes still exist and are still out there. somewhere. canonically. sim why is that sad i thought you liked everything pre-52. it’s sad because it means at any point now, DC could bring them back, ruin their own legacy, make everything even more confusing than it already is. i love pre-52 stuff but you gotta leave it alone. currently doomsday clock has only established that these universes exist as a way to honour every era of superman, because DC didn’t want to completly erase some of the incredible work and storylines put into him as a character. fine, fair enough. but it does leave the possibility that they will try and return to them too. comic book writers love doing funky story lines like that. they think they need to write something that’s never been done before and instead of coming up with something actually unique, they just poke around in the multiverse WHICH IS HOW WE ENDED UP WITH THIS AS A PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE.

ahem.

hopefully this helped clarify some stuff for people, especially those folks who aren’t big comic fans/expereience dc through the DCEU or DCTV, when encountering rpers who say they base their characterisation off of, for example pre-n52/flashpoint comics, like myself.

oh, and thank you for coming to my ted sim talk.

#i dont know if i can put this as a meta #its just me ranting again #hm #\system\directory\hidden.txt ›› META #long post /

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