#if only my city had a real arcade

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

Headcanon: Just because they are dating it doesn't mean they are less awkward

I was answering a comment I got, when I started thinking about what would happen if Miles and Gwen started dating?

My first thought: "Oh the adaptation period is going to be fun."

Both in fiction and in real life, you can have a period of time when friends who had been crushing for too long may be trying to not come too strong to the other person in case their new partner hasn't fallen as deeply in love as themselves.

Do I think this would happen with Miles and Gwen? Oh for sure.

Gwen in general tries to hide her emotions and while I think being with Miles will loosen her up a bit, I think she may get shy about how much she likes him (specially considering some things she did while crushing.) Miles I think would do so as well, since it has been his normal to try to tone down his crush, and seeing how "collected" Gwen can be, would try to act "cool."

All of this rambling is now for a list of headcanons of the stupid things they did because of this and that they try to hide from each other before they realize how silly they are.

Let's go!

They both do a victory lap, or the spidey equivalent, swinging across their respective New York after Miles asked Gwen out.

Miles is the loudest, swinging across the streets while screaming in excitement a few times, including one time when he screams "SHE LIKES MEEEEEE."

This ends up with a bunch of people online not only reposting clips of the video where he screams that, but people speculating who could be the mystery girl who seems to like him. Miles panics thinking Gwen may think he is cheating on her and Ganke needs to be there to calm him down and devise a plan to get gossip people into something else.

Gwen isn't much better, she doesn't really scream anything, however she ends up doing a bunch of daredevil tricks and jumps because her excitement manifests in see-how-many-gymnastics-record-I-can-break.

She ends up scaring the living shit out of her dad, who was trying to react very normally when a coworker show him a clip of just a part of it (she literally did this by a good part of the city, so there are different videos.) The gymnastic Olympic team of the United States is once again trying to recruit Spider-Woman. There are now people making recompilations of videos to see if there is a way to catch the whole thing, and some people had noticed that in some clips it almost looks like she is squealing.

Gwen recruited Peni's help to take down the most incriminating videos, mostly because it was impossible to take all of them down. She also begged Peni to have a way for her dad to not find some videos on his phone. I imagine her dad may be a bit protective of her and while Gwen told him she is dating Miles, she doesn't want her dad to realize how madly she is in love with him.

(He knows, he remembers the Polaroid.)

Because of this, the first few days together they try end up planning dates in other universes, because both of them are waiting for those videos to not be trending. Gwen ends up dancing with Miles in Hobie's universe, while Miles shows Gwen a crazy arcade in Margo's universe.

Miles is ALWAYS smiling, depending on how much he has been in his mind he may look more lovesick or casual. Everyone has been teasing him, Ganke, his parents and Peter B the most.

I already headcanon that Gwen is actually a cuddle bug, she just has trouble leaning into others because of her vulnerability issues. So Gwen is constantly trying to measure how much she tries to hug him, to not look too eager to take his hand or lean on his shoulder. Is a tougher battle than she ever wants to admit.

Miles ends up drawing Gwen even more often, especially since he has pictures of her and stuff; so before he knows it, he ends up with this beautiful mural of her. He isn't sure when to reveal it to her because he has added so many little detail and drawings he is afraid to come out as creepy.

Like many people, I headcanon Gwen has tried writing songs about Miles. Well the new relationship status made her finish one of those songs, which her bandmates liking, and Hobie also insisted she should play it next time in his universe.

"Next Time" ends up having the spideygang (Miles, Pavitr, Margo and Peni,) at the concert. Hobie remarks that the next song is written by his drummer, and it doesn't take long for Miles to be smiling once more like a lovesick puppy once the lyrics appear.

Gwen is a bit embarrassed, but he says he loved the song, and he would love to hear more if she ever does. He shares some of his art, and she is, of course, melting.

He doesn't take too long before showing Gwen the mural, and Gwen loves it. Is hidden below a bridge, in a place you can only see while being upside down; and she adores how Miles shown her drumming, her dance, he captures her from her eyes to the little tooth gap she has, and yet Gwen cannot stop being amazed at how despite showing all those things she considers flaws, she looks beautiful in all of them.

Miles shrugs saying "I just draw you like I see you."

And THEN, they become a couple of dorks in love who everyone else is getting kind of sick of how corny they are. But they are kind of stupid for each other and had been holding it for a while, so why not scream it from the rooftops?

#ghostflower #gwiles #atsv #miles morales #gwen stacy #across the spiderverse #headcanon #ghostflower hcs

[bangaveragewhitewine]

Clean Slate

Steve Harrington X Reader 

It’s summer in Chicago, 1994. Being single in the city isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. You feel less strong single independent woman, and more like the lonely teenager who floated between friend groups. A blind date with a familiar face might just be the clean slate you didn’t know you needed.

Clean Slate playlist

Word count: 2.3k

Warnings/Content: Both you and Steve are in your late-twenties. Some mentions of anxiety and feeling lonely. Other than that, flirting. Steve being dreamy. No use of Y/N and the reader is referenced as a being woman.

Author’s Note: Being in your late twenties sucks, huh? I’m just getting back into writing again, inspired by the amazing authors who have made me fall in love with Steve Harrington & Eddie Munson again and again. I had such fun writing this and fucking around on Canva 💖

Please do not do any AI fuckery with my work or repost on other sites.

(divider by me, that’s why it sucks)

edit: Read Pinch Me a follow up to Clean Slate

This was a bad idea. With every step you took from the subway, your desire to be back on your sofa eating pasta in your pyjamas grew more and more. A blind date? You definitely hadn’t been in your right mind when you agreed to this. Thinking back on it, when had being wine-drunk with your best friend ever cultivated a good decision?

After a steady stream of bad first dates, disappointing situationships and one walking red-flag you had called your boyfriend for eight months, Annie had finally taken pity on you and took charge of setting you up with someone. Over almost room-temperature white wine and an empty pizza box, she had made you pinky-promise to trust her as Mermaids played in the background. She couldn’t stand any longer to see you cry over preppy yuppies and wannabe grungers who only wanted to meet you to hook-up or string you along (alongside several other women who also deserved better). She had seen how deep it cut when you were stood up, left waiting by the phone by some mediocre poser who had already moved on. Slurring her words, Annie had held your tear-stained face and told you that you were wasting the best years of your life on idiots who stamped on your big heart and dimmed your light. Bolstered by her words, and more wine, you ended up dancing and scream-singing in your little studio apartment to a mixtape of songs from your college days and fell asleep on your second-hand sofa with your pinky fingers linked.

A few days later, after the hangover had subsided and you had done your best to forget your tearful confession of just how lonely you felt in the city, Annie called you up to ask if you were free on Friday night. Thinking another girl’s night was on the cards, you said yes. 

“Great. I have someone I want you to meet, he works with my brother. Does Hardy’s at 8 work for you?” 

The pinky-promise with your best friend since college could categorically not be taken back and so you found yourself reluctantly agreeing. As long as he wasn’t a murderer, or as emotionally unavailable as your last three suitors, how bad could it be? 

“Well when you fall in love and have beautiful babies, just remember who set you up, m’kay?” Annie had said when you called her up, considering cancelling. “You’re going!”

After going away to college from your small town upbringing, a move to Chicago was supposed to be the ultimate dream, but inside you still felt like the awkward teenager from Hawkins, Indiana. The outsider at every party, every hang-out at the mall or the arcade. The add-on to every friend group who said ‘you can come with us if you want to’ instead of an actual invitation. When you called your mom on the phone, she insisted that you had it all, that you were a real modern woman. She had been married and was already a mother at your age, and she was proud that you had the opportunity to be the bright independent woman you always wanted to be. It just didn’t seem so shiny now that it was your reality. 

With the bar in your sights, you took a deep breath and swiped the tiny beads of sweat that gathered over the bridge of your nose. Summer in the city was heavy with humidity; you could feel the lining of your long slip dress clinging to your thighs, riding up under the delicate black floral. The claw-clip holding up your hair was truly doing the lord's work, keeping your freshly washed blow-dry blind date-ready. 

You knew very little about your date - his name was Steve, he was a teacher with great hair. He was going to be wearing a blue shirt and would be on the lookout for the girl with the pink rose embroidered on her bag. Your entire outfit had been put together around the one piece you loved that could be picked out in the Friday night crowd of the bar. Classic first date; Annie was committed to helping you live the rom-com fantasy you deserved.

Des’ree’s words of wisdom, and your best friend’s blunt insistence that you were a hot bitch, echoed in your head as you took a moment to compose yourself and let your hair down over your clammy neck. Inside the bar was barely any cooler as you made your way through the stragglers from after-work drinks mingling with those who were just starting their night out. The desire to go home had never been stronger as you propped yourself by the jukebox and waited, trying not to cringe as you thought about what you looked like to the couples and groups of friends drinking and laughing around you. It felt far too similar to the house parties of your youth. What if he didn’t turn up? Or worse, what if he did and turned on his heel after realising you were his date? What could be best described as an overwhelming feeling of dread crept over you as you fidgeted with the strap of your bag, trying not to look too eager for the mystery that was Steve. 

Hearing your name brought you back to reality and out of your doom-spiral. As if. Steve Harrington was making his way over, the crowd parting with ease for him. Surely you had hit your head and this was some sort of dream…

“Hey…” A smile crept onto his face as his eyes darted between you and the beacon that was the rose embroidered on your bag. A city of millions and your blind date was the boy who had defended your honour at the age of five years old after Daniel P. pushed you in the playground; Steve had called him a ‘butthead’ and told Mrs Holland on the other boy.

You hoped that the dim light of the bar hid your pink cheeks as Steve stopped in front of you, looking even more dreamy than he had at junior prom. The blue shirt made him glow golden, fitting just right over the breadth of his shoulders. His hair was coiffed perfectly, defying humidity and gravity and giving him a few more inches of height. 

“Steve..” You couldn’t help a shaky laugh as the realisation washed over you both. It was easier to tune out the rest of the bar as he pulled you in for a quick but tight hug. You could have sighed at the feeling of his arms around you; you might have done just that, melted into a puddle of a girl had he not peeled away to get a good look at you. An irritating little pocket of anxiety in your chest could hardly believe he remembered you. 

“Nice bag. I think you’re the girl I’ve been looking for.” 

You felt like you could swoon. Or moan. Steve Harrington was effortlessly charming, more so than when he reigned in Hawkins High. Losing his crown had humbled him, that and working retail in your dead-end hometown. He looked genuinely pleased to see you, someone familiar in a city of strangers. You feel your teeth sink into the dusty-rose of your lip as you smile. 

“Thanks.” You will your voice not to shake as your heart pounds hard. “Annie told me you had great hair. I should’ve known it was going to be you.”

His laugh is soft, but you can still hear it over the music and voices in the bar. With one huge gentle hand on your elbow, he steers you to the bar to order drinks, standing close enough to see the sprinkling of moles and freckles on his neck and cheek and the hair peeking from the unbuttoned top of his shirt. Steve Harrington was a man now, all grown up. 

“She did, huh? I think I’ve met her once, I work with her brother,” Steve edges closer so that you could hear him. “How long’ve you been in Chicago?” 

“She didn’t even know you were ‘The Hair’.” You smiled and felt the weight of his gaze; you couldn’t ignore the sparkling feeling in your tummy. “Um I left Hawkins in ‘86, went to college in Indy. Moved here in ‘93.” Steve leans in to hear you, nodding as you count up the years in your head. “You’re a teacher? So are you more Scott Clark or Coach Kelly?” 

Steve laughs again and shakes his head as he pays for your drinks. “Neither. Maybe a little Clarke, without the sweater vests. I teach third grade so they would definitely roast me if I did.” He runs a hand through his hair, smirking, “But I do coach basketball after school too, you got me.” He spots a seat and steers you to a little high-top table, pulls out the stool for you before sitting opposite, visibly relaxed. There’s something about how you have bypassed the awkward introductions part of the date that makes you feel a little more at ease. But this is Steve Harrington. Any minute now he’ll make a polite excuse to leave after remembering how bookish and weird you were in school. 

Except he doesn’t. 

“I still can’t believe it’s you. You look great,” he says, not trying to flirt too hard. Steve is looking at you like he’s happy you’re here. Happy you’re his date. 

“I can’t believe you remember me. I was.. so boring,” you laugh at your own expense before sipping your drink, looking at the ice clicking against the glass. 

“Quiet maybe. Not boring though,” he ducked his head, making you look into his golden brown eyes. “Hey. Clean slate? That’s why we left Hawkins. If you can forget how much of an ass I was in high school, I can forget…” Steve pauses and hums as he thinks back. 

Forgettable. Unremarkable. That’s how you felt, blending into the background everywhere you went. You hadn’t been a cheerleader, or even a band-geek. Yeah you went to parties, but usually left early. You didn’t monologue on the lunchroom tables or get detention, and in the one play you auditioned for, they asked you to paint the sets - you couldn’t fade any further into the background if you tried. 

And Steve had never been an ass to you; his kingly confidence had burned fast and bright in the school halls until his fall from grace. He had always been polite, kind even; he asked to borrow a pen a few times, scolded Carol Perkins when she pushed past you and made you drop your lunch one time. He did just enough on a group project on Macbeth to keep him on your good side…

“Huh.” Steve frowns, looking a little fond as you snap yourself back to reality. “I can’t remember anything embarrassing about you. All good.” 

Your cheeks flamed and you couldn’t stop the nervous giggle that bubbled up from your chest. “Smooth, Harrington. Wow, remind me how you’re single?” He was definitely just being nice. You could remind him about the time you drank way too much peach schnapps and lemonade at Tammy Thompson’s 18th birthday and had to be picked up by your mom, or when you said ‘orgasm’ instead of ‘organism’ in ninth grade - both of which still haunted you when you tried to fall asleep. But Steve just grins back at you. 

“I mean it! You had that pink scrunchie permanently attached to your body, and a little snort laugh. Totally cute, not embarrassing at all.” He stays smiling as he sips his beer, seeing how you’re stunned that he remembers. Not smug, totally hot and he’s not even trying. You’re aghast.

“You remember my fucking scrunchie…?”  “If you tell me you still have it…” “Steve, it’s literally on my bedside table.”

Steve’s laughter makes you join in, snorting involuntarily as your shoulders shake, which just makes him laugh more. It's been a long time since a date made you laugh like this, let alone feel like you’re floating. 

When you both settle, Steve reaches over and takes your hand. You remember how you had wondered how holding his hand might feel when you saw him walk Nancy Wheeler to class way back when. It felt better than you ever dreamed it might. 

“Hey. Lemme tell you something, when I saw you over there I wanted to come right up and say hi. And then I saw your bag…it made my week.” 

Butterflies soar in your belly and you feel your cheeks heat up again. “Steve..”

“But just know, I thought you were cute in school. I just.. had my own shit going on and I was pretty shitty for a few years. So if you can give a reformed asshole a chance, I’d love to hear about how you’ve been, and actually get to know you.”

Steve squeezes your hand as CeCe Peniston sings Finally to the bar. The song totally sinks in now as you squeeze Steve’s hand in return, making him beam a smile your way. 

“Okay, Clean slate. But Steve? I totally had a crush on you. Even when you were doing keg stands and goofing around in math.” You make him smile even brighter, even as he shakes his head. 

“So cute. Damn, you’re definitely trouble.”

“Guess you’ll have to find out.” You raise a brow and sip your drink again, feeling less anxious now. The drink helped, but knowing that you could make an impression on Hawkins High royalty was certainly bolstering. 

“One question. Very important.” You straighten up before leaning toward him, almost conspiratorially. You don’t miss how his eyes dip to your lips before meeting your gaze. 

“Go for it.” “Are you sure about the sweater vests? I think you could really make them work.”

Now it’s your turn to grin into your glass as Steve throws his head back. “Oh I’m so in trouble with you.” 

He lifts his glass, meeting you in the middle to clink it against yours with a signature Steve Harrington wink. Maybe something good could come from a wine-soaked pinky promise.

bonus Steve inspo for the girlies who made it to the end - ily💖

#steve harrington x reader #Steve Harrington x you #stranger things #steve harrington fanfic #Steve Harrington x fem!reader #Steve Harrington x y/n #steve harrington is a total dreamboat #my fic #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington fic #steve harrington oneshot #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fluff #stranger things fanfiction #steve harrington x f!reader #bangaveragefics

[octaviasdread]

I hereby conduct this tortured poets society album meeting in all of its mania and sorrowful blues as I move from unhinged impressions to unhinged first-listen analysis because I am incapable of saying less.

(and to all the Aimees i’m so sorry but that’s on Kim)

This Anthology is taking me so long to process, but nothing feels like the first jarring moments of I Can Do It With a Broken Heart - the cacophony and flashes of a birthday breakdown bopping to 80s arcade game synth. It's crumbled cake and mascara streaks when Bejewelled is actually a delusional Mirrorball,

and The Secret Garden reference in I Hate It Here, oh god, she’s so me:

I hate it here so I will go to / secret gardens in my mind / people need a key to get to / the only one is mine / i read about it in a book when I was a precocious child

I need to come back to that. But the whirlwind of Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? Plans cancelled. IM THE ONE barricaded in the bathroom with a bottle of wine, actually. It's me chained-up in that poor things victorian mourning dress shrieking elegies in my tortured nightingale screams.

She's Grammys Taylor looking at the crowd of her peers rolling their eyes, she's the litany of snide jokes diminishing her success, and the children, sisters, friends, and girlfriends of those who wronged her loudly singing her songs.

so i leap from the gallows and i levitate down your street / crash the party like a record scratch as I scream / who’s afraid of little old me

i was tame i was gentle til the circus made me mean / don’t you worry folks we took out all her teeth

ohhh, the throwback to Speak Now and the significance of MEAN. The song and its titular word show how childish language encapsulates that pointless spite and the bone deep hurt mean behaviour breeds - but now she’s a phoenix risen, and they hurl her youth and her downfall back in her face - word for word, surprised face - its the dark side the The Lucky One, of not escaping the cage of fame games.

you lured me and you hurt me and you taught me / you caged me and then you called me crazy

i wanna snarl and show you just how disturbed this has made me / you wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me / so all you kids can sneak into my house with all the cobwebs / i’m always drunk on my own tears isn’t that what they all said?

PUT NARCOTICS IN MY SONG took me out. This album is funny in the most sardonic and absurdly humorous ways,

like the classic cowboy western guitar strings in her crime songs (I Can Fix Him, No Really I Can - pistols drawn), but especially the ones leading into Fresh Out The Slammer. Fucking genius, and to follow on with static sounds at 2:26ish to the house where you still wait up, is exactly the kinda detail I adore.

Naively, I thought Florence was done with me after Florida!!! It's a lyrical meme for single 20 & 30 somethings who moved away from home,

my friends all smell of like weed or little babies / and the city reeks of driving myself crazy / little did you know your home’s really only / a town you’re just a guest in

and the haunting morphs from the ghost of your girlhood into the catalogue of decisions and delusions which get you through adulthood. Yet it feels almost like an interlude within the song when

me and my ghosts we’ve had a hell of a time / yes i’m haunted but i’m feeling fine / all my girls got their lace and their crimes / and your cheating husband disappeared/ well no one asks questions here

appears like an alternative pov for No Body, No Crime with the girls and their ghosts and their pacts made over wine. Every Action has an Equal Reaction. Run away to Florida, or Texas, and lose yourself to lose the heartbreak. Its self-destruction, it's trauma-healing, bonding, and its breaking.

(what a song for an angsty girl collab, problematic girl in hand with problematic girl, lyrically and thematically, maybe the real love story is the friends we make along the way.)

And that wasn't even the last of it. It's Florence 2.0 with B side Cassandra, but instead of Dance Fever, its Taylor’s glorious mythology with all the allusions, parallels, intertextual and lyrical ruining of my mind:

when the first stone’s thrown they’re screaming / when its burn the bitch they’re shrieking / when the truth comes out its quiet

so they killed cassandra first cus she feared the worst / and tried to tell the town / so they filled my cell with snakes i regret to say / do you believe me now?

No apologies anymore. A girl given the gift of prophecy by Apollo, the GOD OF POETRY, is cursed with her prophecy never being believed: Burning all the witches even if you aren't one, indeed. She saw the truth of the Trojan horse, and the Trojans insulted her. Rep snake branding and the current cultural view of KK and Ye. I don't need to say anything else.

i was in the tower weaving nightmares / twisting all my smiles into snarls

the family the pure greed the christian chrous line / bloods thick but nothing like a payroll / bet they never spared a prayer for my soul

I literally played that THREE times before I got over it enough to finish my first listen,

and i’m still thinking about Clara Bow and that Stevie Nicks tambourine we collectively freaked over from the Spotify installation, and all the silent movie speculation from the track title release.

you look like Clara Bow in this light - you look like Stevie Nicks in '75 - you look like Taylor Swift

Three women whose public profession became entangled with their pain. Silver Springs. Boyfriend songs. The jokes. Clara Bow.

Clara feared being left behind by 'talkies.' Miss Americana. The fear of 30 bringing death to a woman's Hollywood/Musical career,

beauty is a beast that roars down on all fours demanding more / only when your girlish glow flickers just so / do they let you know?

Three women who beat the odds - three women whose talent, craft, and popularity carried them through.

But there's something more to unpack here with cycles and patterns - of the past endlessly repeating. It's the transient nature of fame and our fleeting view of beauty mapped out in the untouchable, ever-changing, and culturally worshiped moon.

It's a body of physical craters, a natural body we call discovered, and fight to claim. We project emotions and create rituals of worship - you're the new god we're worshipping. Endless stories are told about her, but we can never fully see the moon with human eyes. Eclipses, shadows, - 'half moonshinе, a full eclipse' - half-truths and half-moons:

this town is fake but you're the real thing / breath of fresh air through smoke rings / take the glory, give everything / promise to be dazzling

There's a play on light and a play on words in the repetition of Dazzling, shining so bright so blindingly bright. Who is dazzled? Who is doing the dazzling? There's an instability between Director - Public - Star. It's Hollywood lights, No one in my small town thought I'd see the lights of Manhattan / No one in my small town thought I'd meet these suits in LA.

She beat the 'War Big Machine' - but for me, there's ambivalence and illusion on all sides of the final lyrics, you've got edge, she never did / the future's bright, dazzling.

(and ‘Edge’ is particularly ironic when you consider the songs on this album…)

Moving again into the B Side, it's Taylor's departure from Invisible string, red strings of fate, and golden threads à la the golden chain of fate in Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities that strikes me.

First, I thought her writing was a complete departure from the themes of destiny and fate, but then, The Prophecy:

cards on thе table / Mine play out like fools in a fablе

it isn't an absent symbol; it transformed. It's the evermore forest amped to the max. Witches, folklore, fairy-tale and fable - a homeric epic. Its the hero's journey distilled as she opens the song with a move from 'full throttle' adventure, to slowing down 'Hand on the Throttle' to appeal for Supernatural aid at the hero's transformative fall.

and it was written / I got cursed like eve got bitten / a greater woman wouldn't beg / but I looked at the sky and said / please I've been on my knees / change the prophecy

Lover asking Traffic Lights becomes spending my last coin so someone will tell me, and this might be the most slept-on heartbreaking line. Her search for reassurance can't be framed as an arbitrary musing anymore. It can't be dismissed as a mere thought on her drive home, or something triggered throughout the day - its intent. It's a quest for answers, a plea, a last-ditch hope difficult to deny.

and I sound like an infant / feeling like the very last drops of an ink pen/ a greater woman stays cool/ but I howl like a wolf at the moon / and I look unstable /

gathered with a coven 'round a sorceress' table / a greater woman has faith But even statues crumble if they're made to wait / i'm so afraid I sealed my fate / no sign of soulmates

She's asking for a gift from the Gods, and when the God's won't answer, she plunges straight down from heaven or Olympus into the self seizure of power in witchcraft. And when it fails, she descends further - Spending my last coin so someone will tell me it'll be okay - paying mortal fortune tellers, even if they lie.

The song leans on figures without redemption, on the Eve's, on the women cursed and punished, and those who scream like infants rather than enduring burdens and pain in silence. She's poisoned, infected like Aurora from the wound of the pricked hand with dreams of him. Is this a punishment?

She's infected, cursed like Eve got bitten, [lyric of all time!!!!] but does a monster always do monstrous things? Who is the monster? Who is the folkloric, the literary Mad Woman? Perhaps she's written from the desperate, the scarred, and the wronged.

and the transition into another tale with Peter? As in Peter losing Wendy? Is it an epilogue to the Betty trilogy? or a different use of the metaphor?

and I didn't wanna hang around / we said it was just goodbye for now /said you were gonna grow up / then you were gonna come find me / words from the mouths of babes / promises oceans deep / but never to keep

The triangle is echoed in love's never lost when perspective is earned, reflecting the different povs of Betty, August, and James, and placing Peter as the new conclusion - the shelf life of those fantasies has expired / lost to the lost boys chapter of your life/ the woman who sits by the window/ has turned out the (porch?) light.

Promises wear out. Wendy's window closes, and so does this chapter in her life.

my lost fearless leader / in closets like cedar / preserved from when we were just kids / is it something I did? / the goddess of timing / once found us beguiling

is also - intentionally or not - Narnia coded. Is the storybook collecting dust in her closet? Or is the closet still holding a portal to another fairytale land accessible only in youth, another home you can't return to (and another folklore parallel with mtr, anywhere I want just not home).

Side B is so harmonious with ttpd being the end of a chapter as the anthology moves through all the seven stages (or Taylor playlists) of grief.

The Manuscript, the signing of the autopsy, is the Death of the Author. It's the Roland Barthes realisation of All Too Well reborn in joy and fan culture, the story isn't mine anymore, of the Eras - 'I hope you hear these songs and think of this night' - Tour. She knew what the agony had been for - art. connection. - and its these things that create the hope lost in ttpd's journey through mania, disorientation, loss and despair. It all leads to healing, nothing left but a manuscript.

So many thoughts from listen no.1 and they’ll probably change, but i’m so exhausted from this 31 song rollercoaster that I'm just gonna let this sit. death of the author, I guess.

#still calling it the poets society and im not sorry #blurred muses #the fans her peers the lovers and HERSELF #and uncomfortable honestly #would love to hear other people’s thoughts #anthology is so much to take in and I am so invested #CO Posts #co speaks #taylor swift #the tortured poets department #ttpd #who’s afraid of little old me #waolom #cassandra #the prophecy #i can do it with a broken heart #icdiwabh #peter #clara bow #florida!!! #fresh out the slammer #the manuscript #ts ttpd #ttpd analysis #ttpd reaction #ttpd anthology

[doiesfav]

=͟͟͞♡Boost your Energy - NCT DREAM ||

''INTO THE NEOVERSE''

MASTERLIST

CHARACTER MENU

Plot: After buying a video game in a not-so-safe vending machine while walking down the streets, you find yourself inside the video game itself and you need to search the way back to the real life.

A/n: This series is only one story but you can choose the member you will end up with (I don't guarantee that all the members are getting a happy ending)

banners and dividers are self-made

''Alright I'm leaving I can't do this anymore'' Your boyfriend said, well now ex-boyfriend. ''Do whatever the fuck you want but don't dare to come back you fucking asshole'' You screamed before the door closed, and there was silence. Something you two never had, a moment of silence except this time it was only you.

You guys were always fighting and it took you very long to realize it was toxic. Your mind was at peace but your heart was a mix of happiness, sadness, and angryness. All the memories you two cherished are now gone, now you two will never see each other again, never cook together, never sing together, and never play video games together. It was all gone.

You wondered if he was feeling like this too, but you were too busy already thinking trying to relax yourself. ''I should probably go out for a walk'' You thought. Since you guys started fighting more frequently, you always went out for a walk and there's no exception right now.

You were walking down the streets at night, today the stars were visible which was weird since you lived in a big city. Some cats were passing by but all you could feel is loneliness around you, this unexplainable feeling that someone who is depressed wants to be free of. ''But some people have it worse, I don't deserve to feel like this because of a breakup'', and the inferiority complex hits. You should feel happy but you didn't.

You just needed a hug, ''how long has it been since someone gave me a sincere hug?'' You wondered, then you couldn't take it anymore and broke to cry sliding down a wall to sit on the ground, ''Buy me something and I'll give you a better life'' A robotic voice made you startled, it was scary because no one else was near you and didn't know where the AI voice came from.

But then you find a weird colorful vending machine just next to you. It didn't sell snacks, instead, it sold weird energy drinks with a videogame, next to it there was a poster saying ''Drink only ONE energy drink before playing the videogame!!'' You've never heard of a game called NEOVERSE before considering you loved playing videogames.

''Weird'' Everything was weird today, since when vending machines are that colorful and sold videogames. ''Is someone here?'' You asked but no one answered, it felt very scary but giving you a better life? You just wanted some comfort and would do anything for it at that moment. The vending machine was shining a lot and it kinda made a signal to hurry up and without noticing my hands went to my pocket to search for coins.

You were desperate for comfort and weren't in your right mind, breaking the rule of making harsh decisions when feeling desperate. You tried to buy the video game because of how cheap it was but it didn't let you, ''Please buy one energy drink before buying the videogame'' That robotic voice spoke again, ''Hello?'' No one answered as you expected. Hoping that you still had some coins, you did and wondered which one you could buy, every drink was different and said different things.

''Please choose your beverage''

-> Press Start - Mark (TBA)

-> Arcade Racer - Renjun (TBA)

-> Loco - Jeno (TBA)

-> Level Up! - Haechan (TBA)

-> The Pink One - Jaemin (TBA)

-> 2127 - Chenle (TBA)

-> Mess, chaos, and disorder - Jisung (TBA)

Thanks for all the support guys. (This series will take a lot of time so please be patient and understanding♡♡) side note: i didnt even start with any members😭

#nct #nct fics #nct imagines #nct x reader #nctzen #wayv #nct 127 #nct dojaejung #nct drabbles #nct dream #nct dream moodboard #renjun #chenle #haechan #jaemin #jeno #mark lee #mark #jisung #park jisung #nct jisung #nct u #lee donghyuck #nct haechan #nct mark #nct jeno #nct jaemin #nct renjun #nct chenle #kpop

[tigerlyla-of-metinna]

I'm doing a tag game!

What are your 3 historical gaming moment?

Anything related to videogames: be it achieving the highest score in the arcade, defeating that final boss after 100 tries, winning a PS5 in a raffle, getting a photo or autograph of a VA, cosplaying a videogame character... anything!

Then tag 5 people (minimum) and let's reminisce. Spread some positivity!

🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Here are my 3 personal best (in no particular order)

1.Tekken 3

The first time I truly enjoyed playing a fighting game (I still hate playing PvP in fighting games cuz an actual human is way better at it than me) was when I finally approached a real Tekken pro. A big arcade opened up in my city and I was the only girl who went there every weekend and buy 30 tokens (Php 90.00) to feed the various machines. I saw this tall college dude play King and I was mesmerized watching him pull all of Kings grapples. After several months, I watched him from behind, playing Tekken 3 until I muster up the courage to ask him how he pulled off all his moves. The college dud pulled a piece of paper and pen and began to write down all of Kings' combos and grabs, and gave it to me! Since then I have practiced on every Tekken 3 machine, pulled off all Kings' impressive grapples to a growing audience who couldn't believe their eyes that this little highschool girl is playing Tekken 3 and beating it! Oh and I became good at the games that I reduced my 30 tokens to 5.

2. Resident Evil 2 (PS1)

This game came with the console my mom gave me. First time I popped the disc in and chose Leon S Kennedy on normal mode, I was piled upon by zombies and died. That game over screen traumatized me and I did not pick up RE for months! When I did gave it a second chance, I notice there was a 3rd mode: ARRANGED. It made the game ridiculously easy by giving me all the weapons, and so I plowed through Raccoon City with my machine gun and rocket launcher. It was fun until it wasn't. I decided to play the game on Normal, got eaten and died, then powered through it. Finally beat the game on Normal and Hard. Also went for the S Rank and bonus content. Now I love all horror and survival horror games (Silent Hill, Outlast, Evil Within, etc). It became my favorite genre.

3. The Witcher 3

Had it not for this game, I wouldn't have made The Nilfgaardian Collection or started digital art. I think it was December 2019 (or 16 I dunno, it was Xmas), my brother gave me two choices: TW3 or FF15. I wanted FF15 cuz I have always been a fan of Final Fantasy and TW3 was hyped to the heavens. I wanted to know if the hype was justified and so I got TW3 GOTY edition. The hype... was well deserved! I was hooked, I plat the game, I decided to make fanarts of my fave character (Emhyr) and gave myself a goal: to have the biggest collection of Emhyr and Nilfgaard pics and be known as that crazy chick with an unhealthy obsession to Emhyr and his Nilfgaardian empire. Thus cemented the Nilfgaardian Collection in the fandom!

I taggeth @bittersweetbark, @alphagravy, @rotatingremains, @regis-favorite-raven, @oblakovka, @smehur, @laurikarauchscat, @jawanaka, @traumschwinge, @valandhirwriter

#videogames #tag game #the witcher 3 #tekken 3 #resident evil 2

[delusional-dinosaurr]

Nice Sleepover? Part 2 (Alessia Russo x Reader)

It's time, you've all been asking for it. So here it is!

I present to you, Nice Sleepover Part 2! Sorry I've been super busy! Whilst I take forever, be sure to check out my other one shots on my masterlist HERE

Oh and Part One to this fic is HERE

(Note: In this story the Euros isn't during this year)

It's been 3 months since you got loaned to City. You and Alessia have been messaging each-other ever since the night you both reconnected. You haven't had a lot of time to take her out for dates, you only managed to take her out for the one official date since you had your night together. You took her out to an arcade and made it your mission to win her something. You not only surprised her but you surprised yourself by winning her 4 toys from the claw machines! You still hung out on nights where you could but with your conflicting schedules it was still difficult.

You received a call from Jonatan to recall you back to Barca for the final match of the season as Alexia had gotten injured. It was very last minute but unfortunately your contract stated that you could be recalled at anytime with no notice. You were booked on a plane to leave 6 hours later so you panic messaged everyone letting them know your loan spell was up. Alessia was in an absolute state at the news, just when she thought you guys were close again, you'd already been snatched away from her. She spent that evening crying on Ella whilst you were flying out to Barcelona. Your new/former housemates were also absolutely gutted at the news of your departure. Your words to them as you left them at the airport were "I'll be back before you know it, I promise” and Lauren trusted you on this, you've never broke a promise.

━━━━━

You arrive at the airport in Barcelona with an injured Alexia on her crutches and a very hyper Mapi helping her.

“Y/N we missed you so much!” Mapi gives you a massive hug and squeezes you to the point you feel as if you can’t breathe. Alexia gives you a gentle hug but leans on you a little for support.

“ACL huh?” You sigh and give Alexia a sad smile, she doesn’t quite meet your eyes when she confirms it’s her ACL. You grab her hand and give it a gentle squeeze.

“You’ve got this, if anyone can bounce back from an ACL injury it’s Alexia fucking Putellas!” You say as you all slowly leave the airport and go to Mapi’s car.

━━━━━

Match day comes around, and you’ve had a week or so to get back into the Barcelona groove. Your contract is up with Barcelona in a month, and you’ve already had your contract agreement settled for the future, you’ve just gotta wait for the media team to officially announce it at the end of the season.

You didn’t wanna say to the team about how you missed your teammates in Manchester as you were worried they’d be offended. You always felt somewhat dismissed in Barcelona, a bench warmer and a super-sub. You were shocked to hear you were called back in the first place as they surely would’ve wanted to sign someone else on, but you also felt excited to be back at the same time, you’ve missed Barcelona with your team.

You’ve been constantly calling and messaging Alessia since the day you left and you already can feel that you miss her. You regret not asking her to be officially your girlfriend whilst you were there as you don’t want it to be a case of asking her over a video call or a meet up for a day whilst you have a trip there.

You’re sat in the locker room taking in your surroundings, making sure you can remember this day vividly, as who wouldn’t want to remember a match that they’re in the starting 11 against Real Madrid. You’re watching your teammates dancing around and singing whilst you have your headphones in, listening to a playlist that the England girls have been listening to pre and post match. Your music quietens as you receive a text.

Good luck today! I can’t wait to watch you win!

You grin as you receive the message from Alessia and quickly send her back a thank you. You normally did a pre-match call to help not be so anxious for a match but you can only assume that due to the distance it may not be easy to call.

“What, or should I say who, has got you all smiley?” Ingrid nudges your shoulder. Ingrid took you under her wing when you started at Barcelona and she was one of the main few that you missed the most in Manchester.

“Just uh, this girl I’m talking to” You blush thinking about Alessia.

“Oh shit! You have a girlfriend? You go to Manchester for like 3 months and have already found a girlfriend? Nice one Y/N!” Ingrid cheers.

“Oh we aren’t together, just an old friend, another player, who I’ve reconnected with, nothing official” You say back, packing your headphones away and start getting ready to head out the room.

“If she’s got you smiling like that, you need to ask the girl out!” Mapi interjects. Alexia hobbles into the room in a leather coat and jeans to help give the team a pre-match pep talk and give the captain armband out. She gives her speech and walks over to you.

“Today Y/NN is going to be the captain! Her contract with us is nearly up and hopefully this helps secure a longer future here with us in Barcelona! Just know you’re appreciated by us and we all love you” Alexia cheers whilst the team huddle around you. You already know the outcome of your contract agreement and grin at Alexia’s little compliment to you.

The match starts without a hitch, fairly dirty game from the Madrid side but the Barcelona girls somewhat keep their cool. Half-time comes around and its 1-1, with Claudia Pina scoring an absolute belter of a goal to equalise. You give the team a big talk at half-time which gives the team an enormous boost to morale. You’ve already won the league and the team have already had the cup and party but this would mean that they went the whole season unbeaten, which has never been done in the history of the team.

85 minutes in. The score is 2-1 to Madrid. The girls are making more poor decisions with tackles, Mapi and Ingrid both receiving a yellow. However, you manage to make a sprint towards goal before your legs get swooped out by another pair of legs from behind you. Instantly the ref blows her whistle whilst angrily pointing to the penalty spot, the crowd is roaring with excitement at this whilst the ref shows a yellow card to the Madrid player, followed by a red quickly after. She protests before stomping off the pitch. Mapi goes up to take the penalty and nails it into the top right corner whilst the goalkeeper dives the other way. You run up to her and lift her whilst both yelling as other teammates join the huddle.

“Lets show them why we’ve already won this fucking league!” You yell to your team.

90 minutes have passed. 2 minutes of extra time. Both teams have been fighting hard, one to go unbeaten and the other team pushing hard to beat their rivals unbeaten streak.

Mapi sends you over a perfectly timed cross whilst you’re closing in on the goalkeeper. You pass it to your right to Claudia who runs it out slightly to help free up some space in the box, a Madrid player knocks the ball out of play, resulting in a corner for Barcelona.

Mapi steps up to take the corner as you all get in position in the box, she sends it soaring over to you so you jump and header it as best as you can. You thump to the ground and hear the stadium erupt, you jump back onto your feet and kick the ball back into the net in celebration. The final whistle is blown and your team instantly run to you and lift you up, playing at Camp Nou is always special but today felt different. You’re taking it all in as your team are underneath you celebrating loudly.

━━━━━

After all the celebrating you eventually head back to your hotel and start packing your stuff ready for when you next need to travel.

You hear your phone chiming on the bed to see Alessia’s name, requesting a video call.

“You are absolutely insane scoring a header like that!” She says instantly, you can hear Tooney in the background chanting your name.

“I take it you watched the game then?” You giggle.

“Of course I did, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Sadly I didn’t have a Barcelona shirt to wear at home whilst supporting you but I’m sure I can always steal one from you next time we meet up!” She says smiling at you through the screen.

“I’ll get one from my next match for you, if you’re extra nice I can even sign it for you!” You giggle, earning an eye roll from her.

“I really miss you Y/N. Like a lot” She sighs.

“I know Lessi, I miss you loads. I’ll be visiting soon though, not quite sure when but I promise it’ll be soon!” You smile back at her.

You carry on talking for what feels like hours before heading off to sleep ready for the next few days.

━━━━━

You’re sat with Lauren Hemp at a Man United v Liverpool match at the front row of the Manchester supporters section. You’re wearing a lovely red ‘Russo’ shirt as you lost a bet with Lauren the previous night on how long it’d take you to mention Alessia. Lauren keeps mentioning how she feels like she’s sinning sitting in a United supporters area. Underneath her hoodie she is wearing her City shirt so she feels ever so slightly less disgusted. You laugh at your friend's antics but nevertheless, she sticks it out with you to watch your girlfriend but not girlfriend play.

As the match wraps up between the two sides ending in a 6-0 win to United the teams make their way around the stadium chatting with fans and taking photos. Eventually a few come your way, catching Tooney’s eye.

“Lessi, there’s someone wearing your shirt there, go chat with them” She says casually, nudging her best mate in your direction.

“I was hoping to get my Russo shirt signed if you wouldn’t mind? I’m a massive fan. I’m so glad to hear you’re staying in Manchester for another 2 years” You smirk. Alessia is yanking you over the barriers and onto the pitch with her.

“I’ve missed you so much, you have no idea” She says squeezing you tight.

“I missed you too gorgeous, carry on with your fans. I’ll meet you as you leave, I can give you guys a lift?” You say with her nodding back.

━━━━━

Alessia and Ella meet you and Lauren outside the stadium as you offer to give them a lift home rather than get on a team coach back to manchester that takes a lot longer than a car. You all chat amongst yourselves and sing along with the radio.

You drop Tooney and Alessia off first. Lauren smacks your shoulder.

“Mate invite her over, the spare room is still only for you until you go wherever you go! Just keep the noise down yeah?”Lauren chuckles. You quickly jump out the car and grab Alessia. “Can I help you?” She chuckles looking at you.

“Uh so I’m staying at Laurens for the next few nights whilst I’m here, and was wondering if you wanted to stay over?” You say nervously. “I’d love to, let me just go drop off my stuff and I’ll be back!” Alessia runs into the house to drop off her stuff and grab some clothes for tomorrow.

“Bye Ella! I’m going for a sleepover!” She yells as she leaves the front door, whilst she can hear Ella yell something about protection.

━━━━━

You, Alessia, Lauren and Leila are all sprawled out over the sofa’s in the living room after eating your bodyweight in fast food. You hear a few yawns from the group and Lauren stands up.

“We are all clearly knackered, bed time!” She says, clapping at you all. You all get out of your seats and Lauren begins pushing you all towards the stairs.

Once Alessia gets settled in your temporary room she leans into you and kisses you gently, but that gentle kiss keeps escalating until the both of you have to break apart in order to breathe.

“You have no idea how hot it was to see you in a United jersey with my name on it” She says leaning in for yet another passionate kiss.

“Well you have no idea how hot it was to see you tackling people and getting angry at the ref” You say back. “Well the ref was being stupid, I still can’t believe he-” You break her complaining with a kiss, she straddles your lap and starts taking your shirt off.

“God I’ve missed you” She says whilst attacking your neck

The rest of the night continues as you’d expect. By that, you didn’t really sleep a lot. After all you did have a lot of catching up to do with Alessia.

━━━━━

You wake up the following morning to your phone ringing, you quickly grab it and answer.

“Yes I’d love to! Thank you so much, I’ll be there as soon as possible” You say trying not to scream with excitement, Alessia has woken up and looks as confused as ever.

“What was that about?” She asks you, prodding your side.

“Oh nothing, you’ll find out soon!” You smirk at her “That reminds me, can I take you somewhere today? A surprise date if you will”.

“I’d love that, we do need to make up for all the video calls whilst you’re visiting!” She smiles at you “Where are we going?”

“About that, it’s going to be a surprise” You grin with Alessia looking at you confused.

After a short drive with Alessia complaining about being blindfolded and the odd "This is a bit kinky" comment you eventually arrive at the date destination.

“Ta da!” You say as you remove Alessia’s blindfold. She winces at the light and looks out the window.

“Very funny Y/N, you know I will always be a United fan and you cant convert me!” She says sighing at the view of the Etihad Stadium in front of you.

“Oh well I guess you wouldn’t wanna go in for a tour with me then!” You smirk, she sighs and gives in. You’re both greeted at the door by some staff who guide you back outside, where Gareth Taylor is waiting whilst admiring the stadium.

“Hey Gareth!” You say as you shake his hand, he shakes Alessia’s hand and greets her too.

“You ready to see it?” He asks you whilst patting your shoulder, and you nod excitedly in response. Alessia is looking between the two of you, confused at what is going on, whilst you’re looking at a big display that is blank, until it’s finally on display. He pats you on the back and walks back into the stadium whilst yelling a “See you at training!” in your direction.

“Welcome Y/N Y/LN!” is written on the display with a photo of you in your City kit on the display with “2025” written underneath too.

“Wait, is this what I think it is?” Alessia squeals whilst hugging you tightly “You’re coming back?”

“I am, and there’s no chance of Barcelona stealing me this time” You squeeze her back.

“I can’t believe it, this is the best day ever!” She starts tearing up on your shoulder, you kiss her face repeatedly and can’t wipe the smile from your face. Your phone starts buzzing with notifications, which means the whole world know that you’re officially signed at City.

“I love you Alessia” You blurt out whilst hugging her, she pulls back to look into your eyes.

“I love you too Y/N, more than you’ll ever know” she presses a gentle kiss to your lips whilst smiling into it.

“I guess this makes us girlfriends now?” You ask her.

“You haven’t even asked!” She jokes, pretending to be offended.

“Oh I’m sorry! Alessia Mia Teresa Russo, will you be my girlfriend?” You say bowing slightly to her and extending a hand out to her whilst laughing.

“You’re so dumb” She giggles and takes your hand “But yes, of course I’d love that” She kisses you again, this was by far the happiest day of your whole life so far, but you knew it would be overtaken in the future, as long as Alessia was part of it.

━━━━━

Hopefully this was a nice part 2 for you guys and that you enjoyed the ending! <3

#alessia russo imagine #alessia russo #alessia russo x reader #woso one shot #woso request

[silvermaplealder]

I had a dream last night where I lived with the lost boys and instead of living in a cave we lived in a very, very large mall. And this mall was like the heart of the city or whatnot. Always super busy. Our home was nestled between a Target store and Yankee Candle. The entrance was a supply closet door but the actual space itself wasn't so bad. There was a little living room and then it branched off into 4 bedrooms. There were five of us so no idea who shared. Also somehow Paul could teleport between our closet and a nearby trash can and he LOVED to scare the shit out of people by hopping out of the trash can.

I unfortunately woke up, but when I fell back asleep it resumed, only slightly to the left. This time we didn't live in a closet (lol, we came out of the closet everyone) we were living in a closed off arcade. Doors were all chained tight and apparently David was paranoid and tested every one of them each day. We all worked at a local little coffee shop to have pocket change and one day my human coworker noticed that their chips were missing. And I was like "this has Paul written all over it." So I brought my coworker to the arcade and we found Paul sitting on some old couch eating my coworkers chips. He legit thought they were his and apologized profusely. He gave them back to our coworker and promised to get them a new bag. We left the arcade and headed back to the shop but then! While we were on an escalator, some lady's dog sensed that I was a vampire and attacked me. It bit me right in the knee and I was like "oh damn, that sucks." But of course, all the bystanders were like "oh no!!! That must be painful!!!" I realized I didn't feel the pain but it looked pretty bad so I decided to be dramatic and pretend to be in a lot of pain. My coworker ran to get David (who I believe was the assistant manager of the shop we worked in). I was trying not to make a big scene. When David finally arrived he looked so tired. He helped me limp back to the arcade and told me to get some rest. I said okay and then woke up lol.

I do remember there was an orange tree in the middle of the mall and Dwayne and Marko would chill in the branches and knock oranges off when people walked underneath. Both dreams were actually pretty long and involved multiple days worth of stuff. My mom was there at some point too. It was real fun though

[mail-me-a-snail]

explain your silvervance playlist

let's get to it! this got very. very long. tumblr only allows 30 images per post so expect a part two :3

⭐1.) twin skeleton's (hotel in nyc) - fall out boy

the silvervance playlist kicks off with vance's post act 1 theme--the song that follows him out of the grave and into the next life with johnny in his head.

johnny's engram saved vance; kept his head together even if chunks of the merc's brain matter were slipping through his chrome fingers, in a manner of speaking.

when the relic saved vance's life, it marked him for death, too. jackie might've taken the bullet for him, but death is gonna find vance one way or another.

⭐2.) hysteria - muse

johnny resides within a new, uncooperative body, hates every second of it, and decides to make it vance's problem.

johnny himself has come back to life after 54 years of not-so-eternal death; didn't even know he was dead until he was walking upright again, until he was shocked back to consciousness. but it's not a real life--it's not even his to begin with.

⭐3.) come a little closer - cage the elephant

vance runs through johnny's memories; he gets to see night city's infamous rockerboy for who he really is, who he always has been: a liar, a faker, someone who claims to hate control but wants it, anyway. seeing his memories is as invasive as johnny seeing vance's--but johnny, surprisingly, says come take a look. see who've you've got in your head.

they're in this together, now. there's no going back.

⭐4.) infidel zombie - the dickies

with the theft of the relic and the revival of arasaka's public enemy #1, the megacorp is sending its best out to hunt them down.

after having escaped arasaka thus far, vance is on high alert. it doesn't help, either, that takemura--one of their best guard dogs--will only vow his service to vance as as long as they rescue hanako--the very face of arasaka itself.

⭐5-7.)

meanwhile, johnny and vance are still fighting over ownership of the latter's body. johnny wants one thing, vance wants another, and both of them hate this sense of dual autonomy. but little by little, they're becoming more alike.

my body is a cage - arcade fire / this body means nothing to me - shrimp / mark on you - the mountain goats

⭐8.) psychotic opera - small leaks sink ships

hellman gives them the low-down: vance isn't gonna make it with johnny still in his head. the best he can do is die comfortably.

but alt offers them a possible solution--find her where she resides in mikoshi, deep in the heart of the very tower vance had sworn he would never go back to, and she just might still be able to separate them.

this is the point of the playlist where vance realizes separation may be more painful than what would inevitably happen otherwise. he doesn't understand yet why he feels this way. only that johnny has been with him for some time now, enough time that being without him would feel...odd.

⭐9-10.)

they both have their own regrets about their respective lives, conjoined as they are now. they mourn for what could've, should've been. they mourn for what'll never happen--for the world, maybe, or maybe what'll never happen between them.

what was it johnny said? this is why you don't bring back fallen warriors: sooner or later, they're gonna see everything they fought for's turned to shit.

wish i knew you - the revivalists / all these things that i've done - the killers

⭐11.) granite - sleep token

but things aren't all that bad. vance falling in love with johnny was as inevitable as it was wholly consuming; he had never realized how lonely he had been until the ghost had come along. johnny is one of the only people in the city who understands what it's like to pass through it daily, to never feel your feet on the pavement, to just keep going.

even if the alt cunningham (or an engram of her), has offered them a solution herself, a very small part of vance is afraid it won't work. this is arasaka they're talking about; they'd need a miracle to undo the damage the megacorp has done.

he is afraid of dying.

but if that is how he can be with johnny--

--then he'll take it, even if it's in death.

✨12.) ordinary love (extraordinary remix) - U2

THIS. THIS IS IT. this is THE silvervance theme song. you'll recognize these lyrics as being the title of their fic series. ordinary love is just. it's the song that illustrates how much love johnny and vance have for each other.

vance doesn't want johnny out. he wants both of them to get their lives back--to live the life that was taken from them, together.

⭐13-15.)

in my head, these songs are intercut with various missions. they take place, chronologically, after my fic poltergeist (ie, vance and johnny have established the rocky foundations for their relationship). i think the lyrics speak for themselves.

rain - sleep token / slowly spilling out - saint motel / chokehold - sleep token

part 2 here

#asks #silvervance #WHOOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE #this got so fucking long help me #can you tell im normal though. be honest

[give-grian-rights]

Mika I’m on my knees begging any taurian headcanons….. in exchange I will say that “bitter water” by the oh hellos is a taurian song

did you see my last one that talked about them having tomagatchis and stuff . . ALSO i must tell you that i cannot help but to associate taurian with space and time . time because grian's timetravel stuff and space because taurtis had a fun lil machinima of him in a rocketship once and like . they're vibes ok??

a lot of these are gonna be for yhs because we got Minimal moments of them in evo :(

they probably have a collection of a bunch of weird stuff . taurtis collects vintage and weird fish stuff (plushies, ceramics, paintings, etc) because he had that . weird familial attachment to Pufferfish Pete and his family . Grian collects miscellaneous rocks and Shiny stuff . probably got into some wiccan stuff because of Ellen

Grian tries to keep Taurtis awake during the day so he can sleep at night. If that doesn't work, then he'll stay up at night until Taurtis falls asleep.

When they ARE asleep, their position ends up some unholy knot of limbs . they both want to be the little spoon . instead neither of them do . on top of eachother, half way off the bed, holding onto the other's leg, torso, neck, etc in their arms .

Taurtis is only Slightly taller than Grian . but they are the same shoe size. they bought a pair of blue shoes and a pair of red shoes and swapped one with the other <3

a bunch of tacky friendship bracelets and necklaces they probably got at a dollar store or an arcade

they were warrior cat kids . look at them and prove me wrong

they played in the same game savefile and drive each other CRAZY before turning it into a game of who can log off in the most baffling, confusing manner. weird shit in their inventory, AWFUL log-off locations, bad armor, etc.

Grian washes Taurtis' hair . they never have been able to find a comfortable arrangement for it and it always leads to someone's neck hurting .

post yhs/ts Taurtis and Grian got taken by the Watchers to be trained, and basically learn how to live in Survival, build, etc. and its in that time that Buildswap happened, and THEN Evo .

post yhs/ts their world ummm blew up :blush: because sam and grian started the apocalypses and it was . idk if you watched tokyo soul but it got REAL FUCKED but the principal of it is that everyone died except for Sam, Grian and Taurtis. also pillsbury doughboy but dont worry about that. so the way i figure it is that that like . FUCKED SHIT UP because of how unnatural it was and so everyone there did permadie .

except Ellen, Domrao and J, because the Watchers looked at Grian and Taurtis after they saved them and was like "look at them!! look at these perfectly good baby gods!! they're traumatized! lets give them emotional support friends" and was able to bring them back under the excuse of them having potential to be good Watchers . which to be fair is probably true about Ellen . but honestly i think the only requirement to be a watcher is teenage/childhood trauma, looking at all my/the fandom's headcanons of who else are watchers .

there are other servers like YHS, that have movies and cities and cars, but Grian avoids them like the plague. Taurtis still probably finds them endearing, as he wasn't able to embrace the cultural of the independence of SMPs and Survival, like Grian was able to eventually.

Grian and Taurtis still have this weird connection and can kinda Know when the other one wants them. Grian can make the Taurtis Shrine, and Taurtis can make a Grian Shrine, and they're eachother's person.

Being Watchers, mean they can bypass a Server's Whitelist . do not tell Xisuma (he knows)

#taurian #hermitship #< for filtering #yhs grian #yhs taurtis #yandere high school #samgladiator supporters dni #yhs #yhs mcrp #yandere high school mcrp #mika-posts #evo smp

[dyns33]

Snatch

I couldn't find any Mickey O Neil x reader story so I wrote one

And since I like Turkish, the story is from his pov

Most people don't know that I have a sister.

Probably because I don't, nor by blood, nor by adoption. Nothing legal or signed on a stupid piece of paper.

But when people ask me, I tell them that I'm her brother.

Yeah, I don't know her name or her adress. So what ? My sister is special.

We met years ago, during a difficult time for both of us. I helped her, she helped me, we knew after that we would always help each other, and she became my little sister.

It was a surprise when I learned about her and Mickey.

I didn't even know that she knew about him, but my sister always knows eveything. She has her weird ways to always know when I'm in deep shit.

She met Mickey a bit after the first combat, and before Brick Top decided to do a barbecue with his mother.

Never told me about that, or at least not when he was around. Maybe she was afraid I would be mad and try to act like a silly big brother, maybe she just thought it was none of my fucking business back then.

But after the gypsies left, she told me.

I could tell it was hard for her. I think she liked him, even if she didn't use the word. My sister never uses words when it comes to things like that.

"I can't believe he knows my adress." she said while staring at the wall, finishing her beer.

Mickey knows her adress. I don't. Nobody does.

It meant something.

After everything that happened in her life, my sis has problems trusting people, men or women. Tommy and I are exceptions, but even with us, she has some limits.

God knows why, the fucking pikey was special. More than me. I'm not jealous. But he broke her heart for sure, and so of course I'm not pleased.

I could see her tiny fragile heart when she told me about their night, and when she came at the arcades months later.

"They're back."

She didn't need to say who. I understood.

What I didn't understand right away was this thing in her eyes. In her voice.

My sister never cries. Not in front of me, not in front of anyone, and certainly not for an asshole. But she was about to, because of him.

"He won't come here." I promised.

She told me I was a stupid optimist, and that I didn't know him. He was inpredictable according to her. So she avoided the arcades, and my place, and the city, and I didn't like that.

Of course I was ever more pissed when she was right and Mickey showed his face, saying that he needed money, he wanted to fight, and he was ready to do it for us since we were good fellas.

He seemed surprised when I refused, and a bit upset. That was easy money, for him and for me.

He was not wrong about that, this fucker was one of the best boxers I ever met, and I could become rich by working with him. But first of all, I'm already rich, thanks to Tommy and his weird dog which offered us a big diamond.

And most important, he hurt my sister.

He seemed even more surprised when I tell him that.

Oh, he understood better why I refused his deal, he did.

He's surprised, because he didn't think that I knew about him and my sister.

I can tell that he's an only kid, like me. I guess the girls at the camp are not talking to their father or brothers, keeping their things to themselves, so nobody would bother them with rules and comments.

I had no idea how to react the first time my sister opened my door, went on my sofa and started to talk about things I didn't care about, people I never fucking heard of, problems that were not mine, but something in my chest told me that it was important. That it meant something.

So I listened, like a good brother.

I asked her once if I was a good brother. She said I was not so bad. Maybe she has siblings, real siblings, I really don't know, but she said I was not so bad, meaning I'm pretty good.

And a good brother doesn't work with the fucker who hurt his sister, even for easy money.

Mickey seemed to accept that and left.

I told my sister, hoping she would come back, but she told me again that I was an idiot.

As always, she was right.

The gipsie returned days after, completely drunk. Tommy was alone when he arrived and had no fucking idea what to do with him, so he let him sit in a corner, offering a coffee and he waited for me.

I had no fucking idea what to do with him either.

The big brother wanted to punch him, but the selfish coward wanted to stay in one piece. If I started a fight with him, I had no chance to win, even if he was wasted.

So I just asked him what he wanted.

"There." he said with his awful giberish that I can't understand half the time. "It's far ya sistah."

He gave me letters. A ton of letters, with a name and an adress on them.

My sister's.

She told me about the adress, not about giving her name. I felt bad for reading it, because if she wanted me to know, she would have told me.

All the letters were sent from a different part of the country, and they all came back to Mickey, because according to the postmen, the person had moved.

I had an adress, and it was already useless. She had moved, right after Mickey left.

He told me to read. I didn't want a drunk pikey to be mad at me, so I did.

Mickey was writing better than he was talking. Maybe he was talking better when he was with her. I never asked her if she could understand everything he was saying, but she seemed to.

In all the letters, he was saying more or less the same things, that he was sorry, that he missed her, that he wanted to come back one day.

They didn't just spent a night. They talked about his ma. He liked having someone outside of the camp to talk about her, and about everything else. She talked to him too, about things that I knew, and things I never heard of.

"Sh's mad at me. Got that. But I miss her, ya'know ? Don't care bout maney n baxes. Here far her. Sh's was nace. Her smile, man… Like the sun, n the sky n all that. Can ya tell her ?"

I didn't want to tell her. I wanted him to leave for good, and my sister to come back and be happy again.

But in his eyes I saw what I saw in her eyes when the fucker was back in town. And he was not back to find a job, he was back because he wanted to see her.

Tommy said that it was cute. I told him to fuck off, and I tried to think. Then I decided that I was not good at thinking, and I gave the letters to my sister.

We met in a pub, and she stared at the papers, at her name, for long minutes, before looking at me.

"You read them ?"

"He asked me to. We don't need to talk about that. You don't even have to read this shit, or see him again."

"You could work with him again if I decided to forgive him."

"I don't fucking care, it's not about him or me."

She stared at me again, before taking the letters, going to another table to read them alone. I have no idea how many time it took her, because she didn't move when she was done, and I approached her like an idiot, not knowing if I could sit with her.

The thing in her eyes was back. I didn't like that. But she seemed less sad.

"What should I do, Turkish ?"

"You will do what you want, as always."

"You really can't work with him anymore if I don't forgive him."

"I got that part. I won't be mad."

"And would you be mad… If I decided to forgive him ?"

I hesitated. Maybe a bit, yeah, because this fucker was an ass who almost got us killed, but he was not a bad lad at the end, and he truly seemed to care about her, so I told my sister that it was not important.

"You will do what you want, even if I'm mad."

"Quite true." she said with a huge smile, and I saw what Mickey meant with the sun and all that. She's a true beauty, my sister.

A real menace too.

She went to the camp behind my back, with Tommy. He had no idea what she wanted to do, but when she asked him to drive her, he did, because he may not be her brother, Tommy is acting a lot like one with her. He has two little sis, it's easier for him.

The gipsies all stared at them, mostly at her, as if they were shocked but glad to see her, then they stared at Mickey when he went out of his caravan.

He stared at her, she stared at him, they all stared at each other.

According to Tommy, it was impossible to tell if you should laugh or cry in this tense situation.

Then my sister made the first move, because she always makes the first move.

"You can work for my brother." she said, giving a card with a number to the pikey.

"Thanks lave, 'lready have his phane."

"It's not his."

Everything changed immediately, and Mickey looked at the number as if it was the holy graal, then at my sister as if she was fucking Jesus, his eyes full of light and a big stupid smile appearing on his face.

My sister tried to keep a very serious face, but someone who knew her well could tell that hiding the same stupid expression.

When they were in the car, Tommy told her that it was cute. She told him to fuck off.

He was about to start when her door opened, and then Mickey was in the car too, his hands on her face, and his lips on her lips, and he kissed her during torturous long minutes for poor Tommy who didn't move, until it was necessary to breath for the three of them.

The fucker had an even more stupid smile on his face after that, like he was in heaven.

"Call ya t'night !" he said.

"You better !"

While going back home, Tommy didn't say anything, looking at the road. My sister told him to fuck off.

After that, if people ask me, I tell them that I have a sister and a brother in law. No idea where they live, and what they're doing most of the time, but at least once per week they're coming to my place to sit on my sofa and talk.

I have no fucking idea what he's saying, and I have no fucking idea what she is talking about, but I'm listening, and I see that Mickey is listening with as much interest as me, because he too knows that it means something, and so I think that it's not so bad.

#snatch #mickey o neil #mickey o neil x reader #mickey o neil fanfiction #brad pitt character

[crypticjackal13]

Redson x Demon fem!s/o who's the opposite of him (E.g. Calm and soft spoken) That's just as smart as him and works with him as both a Lab partner and romantic partner, but unfortunately due to her temperament she is often see as a weaker demon when in reality she's secretly (even to Red) super strong, but doesn't show it unless it's a emergency, like turning into a terrifying, giant, multi armed kaiju to protect Red.

Yesssss I love this idea. Had to look up what exactly a kaiju is, and even then I found mostly Godzilla stuff? So forgive me if my descriptions are a little messy as I tried to be more vague

"Where's My Epic Background Music?"(761 w.c)

Redson x Demon!Fem!Reader romantic one shot

Pronouns: she her

CW: little bit of bl00d, some light viol3nce

“This stupid bolt won’t stay in place!” Redson growled, pretty close to just melting the metal back to its liquid state on his own. But y/n stepped in, coming up behind her lover and handing him the fresh set of pliers he’d asked for. 

“Red, I can hear you from down the hall. Take a second, alright?” She continued holding his hand that was reaching for the tool, making eye contact. He was stiff, with the ends of his hair starting to become inflamed. But at her gentle tone, he sighed, and she could literally see the steam coming off of him as he calmed down. Slowly but surely. 

“Thank you, beloved.” He mumbled, turning away from his newest project. A new motorbike, of sorts, though she knew there had to be a transformation in there somewhere. 

“What about we go get something to eat? You’ve been cooped up in here since you got out of bed this morning.” She suggested. The fire demon hummed, looking at the blueprints he’d worked so hard on, and the bike behind him that had taken him the better part of several hours to assemble. 

“I guess we can. Where would you like to go?”

“There’s a cafe not far from the arcade, I hear they’ve got some really nice pastries.”

“As you wish. Come, we’ll take my car.”

The pair got their jackets and hopped into the large vehicle, driving from what was essentially Hell to the city. At y/n’s request, Redson abided by traffic laws, though it was tempting for him to absolutely total the stupid little car in front of them that cut them off.  

“This is the place!” She pointed to a small building with an alleyway next to it, where there was a chalkboard sign advertising some chai tea drink. It wasn’t overly cutesy, which was probably for the best. Redson would’ve gotten all hissy about being there. 

Walking in, nothing was off-putting. The service was nice and much faster than other places y/n had taken Redson to eat at. 

The real problem showed up when it came time to go back to the car and head home.

The first red flag of the situation was the stranger standing against the side of the car, which was already reason enough for Redson to get angry at. The person was lanky, though both Red and y/n could see the threatening aura they put off. In these situations, not only did Red take the lead, the problem was usually dealt with in a fast manner to avoid unwanted attention. However something about this just wasn’t right.

“It’s a nice car you’ve got here. Nice girlfriend, too.” The person complimented. Redson had no problem waltzing up to the guy and trying to intimidate them right back.

“Thanks. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have places to be.”

In mere seconds, a knife was pressed to his throat, one with symbols written on it that y/n could tell were meant to hold Red in one spot or at least leave an impact if the weapon was to make contact. 

But at the same time, y/n was willing to ditch being passive for the sake of her lover. So as soon as she saw a thin line of blood, she jumped into action. She let go of her human form and grew several sizes larger, multiple arms on her torso and primed to tear limbs if needed. She was quite a sight for both figures below her.

Enough to make the stranger drop their grip on Redson along with the weapon.

“Hey, no harm no foul, right?” They tried to reason with her. 

“Run. Far, far away, and don’t come back.” She warned. They scrambled to get moving, heeding her words immediately as they took off. Once she was sure that they were gone, she transformed back into her regular form and went up to her partner.

“I love when you get all frightening. It’s fun.” He praised her. He dusted himself off, but then held still as she inspected the cut on his neck.

“Hang on, I have some napkins.” She mumbled, digging in her pockets for the napkins she took from the cafe. When she found them, she cupped his face and moved to clean the small wound that was just beginning to drip.

“Thank you, y/n. Now, shall we?” Redson unlocked the vehicle and opened the door for her. She climbed in gingerly, giving him a smile. 

Looks could be so deceiving, could they not?

#lego monkie kid #lmk headcanon #lmk x reader #lmk #lmk red son #red son #redson x reader #redson x fem reader #fem reader #red boy

[musicalchaos07]

Yes I will ask about the Jancy kids; favorite hobbies? Career goals? Jopper grandparents?

Bless U Nonny

Ok, so as we know I envision Jancy having two daughters named Jordan and Dylan (mentioned Here here and here and briefly here ) (Also possibly other posts but I can't find them atm)

ANYWAYS,

Jordan Joyce ( aka Jojo or Jordy) is the older daughter, I go back and forth if she's born in September or October either way she's born in 1997. I think she absolutely BEGGED for a younger sibling. Like she went to her first day of pre-k and immediately was like why does everyone have a baby sibling but me. Complained the whole time. Somehow finally got her way (her parents are pushovers and they wanted another baby) and thus she loves her baby sister more than anything.

When I said Nancy said copy/paste I meant it. Like not just looks, the ambitious weird girl thing too. She had a lowkey American Girl Doll obsession as a kid. (Karen did not help) She wants to be a cinematographer or documentarian. She does ballet, gymnastics and martial arts as a kid but only does ballet in her teens so she can have time for her "weird little movies" (and also mischief)

She also really loves reading like her goodreads/storygraph is STACKED. She support the NYC public library like it's no one's business. She also writes an extensive diary that she hides. I don't think she's necessarily the more responsible sibling but she gets away with more. Like no one suspects the quiet sibling (she's the quiet sibling btw) but she's the mastermind behind the cousin hijinks at the Wheeler's Florida timeshare. I think her favorite hobby is people watching in central park btw not in a rude way in an Anthropological study way. She thinks people are SO interesting.

Moving ON

Dylan Elizabeth (aka Dilly but only if you are a Hopper-Byers-Wheeler) , my beautiful beloved weird younger sibling. She's born in April of 2002. She's the loud sibling. She was OBSESSED with ratatouille as a kid. As a teen she stole a rat from the subway and brought it home as a pet. Also did ballet, gymnastics and martial arts as kid but plays soccer as teen.(Jonathan and Nancy are very confused on how they ended up with a soccer player but they never miss a game) She's got those Byers' music obsessed genes and makes Jonathan take her Vinyl digging every Thursday. Subsequently, she introduces him to phoebe bridgers (pharb dad Jonathan real 2 me)

Very into sculpture/performance art. Has been known to take home trash and try to put it in a sculpture or fix it. Plays the drums. She thinks her sister is the coolest person ever and will not be convinced otherwise. This is very much bc Jordan dyed El's dog hot pink once while Dylan was still very impressionable (She was 7, Jordan was 11). Absolute Pinball Wizard but is ONLY good at pinball all other video/arcade games escape her. I think she's not tiktok famous but def has a substantial following.

As far as Jopper as grandparents. Joyce is Nana and Hopper is PopPop OBVIOUSLY. Now, I usually headcanon that they move to upstate NY to be closer to Will & Jonathan in the city but either way. Jordan is the first grandbaby so she's doted on every single minute. Nancy frequently spends family gatherings being like where is my baby. Because Jordan is being passed around like a doll.

I think the girls def get along with Jopper Grandparents better than Wheeler grandparents. Because Karen is constantly putting them in matching outfits and other Karen things. (and Ted's just there in the recliner) Like they have a school break? They're going to Nana and PopPop's. But when they want something financially? They're going to Gigi Karen every time. Not super grandparent related, but family related they never let the Wheeler Boys win ANYTHING. Like the girls are so competitive with their cousins. (The Nancy jumps out) and they will cheat and scheme to get their way.

#Anyways this was A LOT #can you tell I think about them #my beloved girls #jancy #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #stranger things #my ocs #anon asks #Jordan Byers #Dylan Byers

[blazehedgehog]

What was the internet fandom's reaction to Sonic Adventure 2 back in the early 2000s?

I can only speak to my personal perspective, which is that most of the people I know really liked it, but a select few of us (yes, including me) were upset because something was lost in the transition from SA1 to SA2.

Sonic Adventure is a much clearer continuation of the Sonic 3 storyline. Sonic Adventure 2 is, too, but it hides that fact maybe a little too well. Sonic Adventure 2 is also a lot more streamlined than Sonic Adventure -- no adventure fields, and each character's traits are much more pronounced. They feel much more specialized. Sonic is only good at running (through levels that were basically just Speed Highway on repeat). Knuckles is only good at hunting. Tails is only good at shooting. Things like that.

There was also a pretty significant debate over the story and characters. There was a large argument where our side proposed that Sonic Adventure 2 felt "soulless." It leaned a lot more heavily on science fiction and anime tropes.

I specifically remember comparing Shadow the Hedgehog to a trope you often see in characters like Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII. The tortured science experiment reflecting on the nature of their own existence. Rouge, too, was a generically sexy jewel thief.

Compared to Sonic Adventure's grand finale of The Angel Island Saga, it lacked the depth and impact of something like Perfect Chaos and Tikal. Sonic Adventure felt more like a Sonic game should, whereas Sonic Adventure 2 was something new, different, and decidedly more flavorless. Less a story than a collection of stereotypes and gimmicks.

Two things I remember very clearly during the long, ongoing debates this game spawned were specific replies to something a friend of mine said in response to me being utterly unfair to Sonic Adventure 2:

"So now you don't like playing it? Weren't you the guy who spent over 4 solid hours playing just City Escape in The Trial on the first day you had it?"

Which was in response to me complaining about how much more narrow and linear the stages were for Sonic now, and how that was inferior to Sonic Adventure's more evenly-paced level design. To further the point, I'd even paid money for the Sonic Adventure 2 Trial, ordering it for like $5 off of Ebay so I wouldn't have to spend full price on Phantasy Star Online. May have actually been the first thing I ever bought on Ebay.

"And who said you get to decide what Sonic the Hedgehog is? At least they're not just copying Super Mario 64 like everyone else."

Proving that perhaps some things never change with me, I guess. I had used the "Sonic Adventure 2 is soulless" argument to suggest it did not feel like a Sonic game anymore.

In retrospect, these were some pretty knock-down, drag-out arguments. I'm still friends with some (maybe even most) of those people, and I remember the context of some of these things getting pretty heated in ways I'd never dream of nowadays.

For the safety of my well being, I would like to point out that I have obviously come around on Sonic Adventure 2 more since those days. I would still consider my feelings "complicated", but I can, and do, enjoy the game much more now than I used to.

I'd, uh, "finished" school (in a matter of speaking) by the time Sonic Adventure 2 came out, so I don't really have any nuanced view on how the game was received in the real world, outside of the two main friend groups I was hanging with at the time. I think by the time previews were coming out and the cast kept getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger, there was some sneering -- Sonic's spotlight being "too crowded" was a major concern back then, and Sonic Adventure 2 only made it worse.

I was just talking about this with a friend, but Penny-Arcade used to do this Game of the Year thing called the "We're Right Awards." And for 2001 that year, Gabe gave Sonic Adventure 2 an award:

"Best Sonic Game Where You Do Not Play As Sonic"

I suppose it's fallen out of favor now, but there used to be a memetic shorthand for this and it was called "Sonic's Shitty Friends." Everybody called them that. When pressed, they'd say Tails and Knuckles were fine, but beyond that, the wider world at large didn't want to have anything to do with Amy, or Big, or Shadow, or Rouge, or Gamma, or Omega, or Vector, or Charmy, or Espio, or Cream, or Silver, or Blaze, so on and so forth. You get the idea.

Though it was a problem in Sonic Adventure, it really started to catalyze in Sonic Adventure 2. Every game people would complain about it, and every game the cast would just get bigger. Three playable characters. Six. Twelve.

And specifically for Sonic Adventure 2, most tended to agree that only really Sonic and Shadow were fun. The mechs were slow and clumsy, and the hunting stages were deliberately made significantly more tedious.

Then there was us, also saying the game simply felt soulless. It lacked the heart of Sonic Adventure, trading it for edgelord science fiction. A game that was, at one point, maybe even supposed to have swearing in it. A Sonic game! With swearing! It boggles the mind.

#questions #Anonymous #sonic the hedgehog #sega #sonic team #sonic adventure #sonic adventure 2

[iloveamagician]

OH, DISMEMBERMENT PLAN...

what an insane band name, when I first started listening to them, I had no idea what "to dismember" meant, I only looked up the dictionary definition after seeing people's reactions such as "????????" and "the WHAT plan????!!!!", when they had been recommended the band. It happens. I feel it belongs to the experience of people who aren't native speakers of English, yet they've grown up surrounded by music in the language. Music comes first, lyrics second, meaning... third??

I still have a clear memory of ten-year-old me memorizing all the lyrics to my favorite Linkin Park songs. While I recognized some of the words I was singing along to, I wasn't able to decipher their meanings and wasn't even trying to. That band was my first real obsession. Hyperfixation, perhaps. They were the music I would play when I was given access to youtube on the family computer. Turns out I didn't get to grow up to be the person who gets the aux. In my teenage years I went through so many more music phases, a journey I'd love to discover in better detail across many more posts in the future. There was my metal phase with a milion subphases within it (since there is probably more subgenres than bands), then a prog and alt rock phase, then in the summer of 2019 a friend introduced me — 16 year old, coming to terms with their newly discovered queer identity — to car seat headrest, which swept me like an ocean wave and irreversibly changed my music taste and also me as a person.

The world of indie music opened itself to me, so many new artists, bands, but more importantly specific albums by those artists, dc snuff film/waste yrself, the glow pt. 2, itaots, souvlaki... all the classics, but none of them had a hold on me as strong as Twin Fantasy by CSH, Come In by Weatherday, Funeral by Arcade Fire, YWNKW by Sweet Trip, and – well, my Elliott Smith obsession was yet to come but we can count XO in there too. But in the midst of all these albums, you could find Emergency & I, a record that I enjoyed when I first listened to it, I didn't really think much of it, but I really felt the need to return to it. And then again and again, I best enjoyed the fun, most standard songs, What Do You Want Me To Say and Gyroscope, I loved hearing the small weird details in them, the time signatures, the mindblowing drumming... the album didn't mean a lot to me at first. I was still 17 when I first heard it, I needed to grow into it.

A year later I got into a long distance relationship, I started university, I moved from my small town to a big city. And it sucked, I wasn't really able to make any friends, I couldn't handle the pressure of schoolwork, my depression got much worse, my adhd meds weren't really doing anything, at some point I stopped leaving my dorm room and I ended up sinking into a deep metaphorical pit and eventually dropping out after four months. Fun stuff. The reason why I am mentioning all this is that there is a strong correlation between my music journey and my life journey. And Emergency & I is the college age young adult album. There is so much loneliness packed into it but it's not exactly sad or depressing. This album can be kind of laid back, or extremely anxious, it can be very nihilistic and dystopian, it can be very fun or it can completely rip your heart out, it can make you think "yeah I do know these people", it can be very silly and the next second it throws the most poetic and beautiful words at you that fill your heart and head with an abundance of images and feelings. And it gets better the more you grow into it and the more you relate to it, and even if you don't relate to everything, the songwriting and storytelling is so perfect and emotionally intense that it will rip its claws into you and never let you go.

In the last year and a half I've managed to get myself into a much better place in terms of mental health and academic success. I started studying again, this time a subject I love (languages), I found some amazing friends, the long distance relationship has turned into a less distance relationship and we see each other relatively often and things are going great and I finally realized that Emergency & I is the best album ever made. Because even when everything is going great, maintaining all those parts of my life is not easy at all and this album knows it too well. Okay, maybe it is not the best album ever made, but it is the best album for me. At this stage of my life.

But do I claim that after over three years, I understand the meaning of this album perfectly? Not really. Well, I bet not even Travis Morrison does, because how could he have predicted the intensity of the feelings I go through each time I listen to the album, or the impossible to fill void that appears inside of my chest after the final track ends, making me long for more of those feelings but also making me sad becuase there is nothing else quite like E&I...

And, you know, maybe I was wrong and the song meaning does not come third. Maybe the first time you listen to a song, it already means something to you. Maybe that is why I was drawn back to the album. Each time I listen to it I am a different person. And the songs mean different things. Of course I understand more of the song lyrics the more I read them and listen to them and analyze them but words can only go so far in terms of meaning. The band created the songs with certain ideas in their heads but those ideas have been transformed so many times, from their minds through their instruments, on paper, to the recordings, the masters, and then to the ears and minds of thousands of people, through different mediums, through different means of discovery. Songs mean different things to you when a friend recommends them to you or when you find them on your own, even before you listen to them. And I am not even mentioning live performances where your body vibrates with the music and the room and the songs are changed ever so slightly each time. Nobody experiences music the same way.

And I could talk for hours about what exactly the album means to me but I cannot and also do not want to fit all of it in one post. I want to dedicate a separate post to each of the songs on this album, which is one of the things my blog is going to be about, but I don't want to limit myself to being only a dismemberment plan fan, I want to document my music journey here, both by looking into the past and sharing my current favorites (for example get ready for a ton of weatherday posting this year). This post is just me speaking random sentences into the void, to prepare everyone for all of my future long posts, which are also going to be me ranting into the void, hoping things will end up making at least some sense to at least one of you (assuming somebody will read this, but I know this place is full of nerds just as obsessed with things as me (or even more, actually) so my chances aren't a complete zero).

tldr listen to dismemberment plan, it might change your life. I am not conscious enough to proofread. goodnight <3

#dismemberment plan #indie rock #music #csh #90s music #indie #weatherday #nonbinary #I plan to irreversibly damage the music taste of all the gays on here and I am not sorry

[astragreenwoode]

Coming Soon: The Spitfire Curse

A/N: Looking for a beta-reader/editor for my newest fanfiction. Honestly, it's been a couple years since I've posted any type of content, fan-made or otherwise. The last few years of my life have been all over the place and left me in a huge creative block. Thankfully, I'm currently the most emotionally healthy I've been in my life and finally feel in the right place to create again. So if this story is something you'd be interested in beta-reading, please message me!

Pairings: Eddie Munson x Fem!OC(Endgame), Billy Hargrove x Fem!OC, Steve Harrington x Fem!OC, Robin Buckley x Fem!OC, Chrissy Cunningham x Fem!OC,

Rating: Explicit (Minors, DO NOT INTERACT. 18+ ONLY)

Warnings: Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-Con, Canon-Typical Violence, Graphic Descriptions of Violence, Non-specified Mental Illness, Self-Harm, Drug Use, Hypersexuality, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms

Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Horror, Slow-Burn Romance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort. Smut, Fluff, Slight Canon-Divergence, Fix-it fic

Summary: After the traumatic events that taint their hometown of San Diego, California, the newly blended Hargrove-Mayfield family moves to Hawkins, Indiana for a fresh start. Margaret and Maxine Mayfield are stubborn, passionate and everything that wasn’t the soft and frilly daughters their mother and her new husband wishes they would be. Max would rather play games at the arcade and skate with her big sister than try to fit in with the perfect kids at Hawkins Middle. Margaret, now going by Maeven, spends her days occupying herself with her seemingly endless list of hobbies and extracurriculars to move on from her grim past waiting back in California. Their stepdad is a pain in the ass, their stepbrother is totally out of control, and starting at a new school in the middle of nowhere is hard.

But Maeven and Max are about to discover the well-kept secrets of Hawkins when the wind blows colder and the leaves fall quicker. The town is home to secret government projects, real-life magic-wielding mages, creatures from a hidden world beyond mankind’s imagination, and even stranger things. The sisters and their newfound friends will do anything to save their new home from the horrors of the Upside Down. . .as long as their dysfunctional family doesn’t bring them crashing down first.

Sneak Peak of Chapter One Below the Cut!

I was probably the only one who saw the move to Indiana as a good thing. Max had a life here, and so did Billy. Things were different for them, for obvious reasons. Of course, I would miss California, too. It was home to my friends, my dad, and my memories. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, it was for selfish reasons. There wasn’t a place for me in San Diego anymore. There wasn’t a place for me in California anymore. It was my home all my life, but it no longer felt like home. It felt just as tainted and ruined as I had become.

Our newly blended family spent the second to last week of September, and our first week in Indiana scoping out the town and moving furniture into the new house. It was a few miles from downtown Hawkins on Cherry Street; a nice neighborhood tucked amidst all the trees. I was excited to explore what lay in the woods across the street from us, draw a cicada, and maybe catch a glimpse of an owl or a fox if I was lucky.

Max and I skated on our new driveway and raced each other to explore downtown. We managed to find an arcade, connected to a video rental. My sister spent a few hours working her magic and adding her name to the top of the scoreboards on all the games she beat back home. I took a few hits of a joint behind the building before losing myself in the arcade. I shoved my face with strawberry soda and cool-ranch doritos and buzzed on sugar, carbs, and weed as I hyper-focused on topping the Galaga scoreboard with IRNMVN.

That first week exploring our new home in Indiana felt like heaven. It was the first time I felt at peace in over a year. Despite the change from city living in California to small-town America, I found Hawkins comforting and charming, even if I got a strange vibe from it.

The last nineteen months had been a blur; school scandals, bullying, drugs, fighting, police, pills, mental institutions, isolation, and trauma, just to name a few. I was once on the honor roll at school, and now I’d have to repeat my Junior Year. Indiana was a chance to start over; a place where no one knew of me or my past sins. 

I didn’t want to be looked at with pity and disgust anymore. I didn’t want to be the center of attention. I just wanted to be normal for a bit, at least as normal as I could be. All I had to do was not throw myself at people, act like the smart, athletic girl everyone wanted to be around and don’t be weird. The most important of these rules was ‘don’t let them find out what happened to you.’ Easier said than done, Billy would help me, though. He always helped me.

I knew Billy long before Neil started dating my mom. We went to the same school together. I had seen him around forever, but didn’t really talk to him until I went through my ‘rebellious phase.’ Despite being at the top of our school, I got into a lot of trouble after my parents split up. My friends and I ended up going to our first ‘popular kid’ party where we tried weed for the first time. I started fighting back against the assholes who I ignored up until now. I didn’t want to be silent anymore, and that caught Billy’s attention.

He approached me at a party, one of the last Saturday nights before sophomore year was over. I was outside, laying in a lounge chair by the pool and smoking a joint as I charted the constellations in my head. He said that he admired how I suddenly decided to kick ass and take no shit, and how hot I looked doing it. And apparently, my ass looked really good while I skated.

Until then, all I knew about him was that he was kind of an asshole, and a show-off. I thought I had all the jocks pegged, but the longer we chatted that night, the more I noticed a sadness in Billy’s baby blue eyes. As it turns out, he was carrying a pain in his heart similar to the one I just took on. 

Billy’s parents were divorced, too. His mom took off when he was eleven. She couldn’t deal with her husband’s abuse anymore. He told me I reminded him of her, despite the freckles and wild red hair. I was bright, warm, and full of unconditional love, according to his fond, yet fading memory of her.

The more we talked, the more we could feel tension and tenderness growing between us. We ended up talking until the sun came up on Sunday. He dropped me off at a friend’s house, but not before he brushed the weed off my lips so he could taste me.

Billy wasn’t someone I would’ve normally hung out with, but I felt like he got me, I felt like we got each other. He looked at me like I was the only other person in the world. His sun-yellow mullet reminded me of a lion’s mane, and I couldn’t stop myself from burying my fingers in it. Billy didn’t care about my quirks or cringed at the gap between my teeth as he kissed me. 

He made me feel safe; a safety I was missing ever since Dad moved to San Francisco. And the fact that he knew how to make me scream his name as he fucked me into the mattress didn’t hurt, either. He was fast and hard-edged like his Camaro. We ended up using each other for relief a lot.

I was his dirty little secret, and he was mine, and we liked it that way.

A/N: If you made it this far, thank you so much! If you'd like to be added to the tag list for this fanfic, leave me a comment! I'll be posting this to AO3, too. So, I'll drop a link here when it's ready. Hope to hear your feedback!

#stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fanfic #original character #st fanfic #stranger things fandom #st fandom #stranger things oc #eddie munson #steve harrington #billy hargrove #robin buckley #max mayfield #chrissy cunningham #stranger things smut #eddie munson x reader #steve harrington x reader #billy hargrove x reader #robin buckley x reader #beta reader #beta request #2023

[masivechaos]

arcade and abandoned railway!

── ☆ anderperry x best friend! gn! reader

── ☆ Request: yes / no

── ☆ Synopsis: you and Neil show Todd the town of your childhood

── ☆ Warning/content: nothing, my English

── ☆ a.n.: 0.7k words-

masterlist / dead poets society masterlist / navigation / taglist

Todd didn’t want to go at first. Neil had to convince him multiple times until he accepted. He was scared to be third-wheeling you and Neil even though he was the one in a relationship. You and Neil were best friends for a long time now, you were even the first one who knew about his blond lover. And ever since it’s been months since they started to date, you never had a real occasion to spend time with him. You were more outgoing than he was and he was worried about being erased while hanging out with you.

But Neil wasn’t going to let this slide and he almost forced him to come. So when you saw a blonde head walking next to Neil, your smile widened, glad he was able to convince Todd. “Hi,” you greeted as you shook his hand and he offered you a shy smile as an answer. Neil was looking at him with heart eyes the entire time as if he was the most precious thing on Earth.

“Where should we go?” Neil asked you, holding Todd’s hand firmly.

“The arcade? There’s this new game I want to try.”

Neil and Todd were spending the holiday in your town which Neil is used to visiting during summer and took advantage of it to see you. You decided to show Todd the city, making him discover the streets containing all your childhood memories.

You lead the boys to the arcade and immediately rushed to the said game. “Todd, wanna try?” you asked him. Politely, he shook his head.

“C’mon, Todd” Neil encouraged him. The shy boy accepted, slowly taking place in front of the arcade machine. He held the joysticks between his fingers and started to play, both you and Neil watching him carefully. Todd won the first game and Neil kissed him on the cheek as a reward. 

“Your turn,” Todd smiled. Neil took his boyfriend's place and started to play “You suck,” he said playfully.

“Hey!” Neil said, falsely offended. He heard you laugh and pushed you to the machine “Stop making fun of me! Play and we’ll see!” he chuckled. You continued Neil’s game and managed to save his score and won.

You offered him a scornful smile “You’re just bad at it!” you grinned and shared a proud look with Todd. Neil rolled his eyes before walking to another arcade machine and starting to play. He failed, Todd and you let out a chuckle. He tried and failed again. “Um… You know what? I’ll let both of you play.” You and Todd must have spent at least an hour playing before Neil asked you to find something else to do.

You decided you would grab something to eat and then you would show Todd one of your favourite spots with Neil. You headed to the local ice cream shop, they didn’t taste so good but the shopkeepers were so adorable you and Neil had to see them whenever you could.

Ice creams in hand, the three of you walked to an abandoned railway you and Neil liked to hang out to a lot. Only a few people knew about it and it was mostly empty and was the perfect place to create an imaginary world with your best friend when you were kids.

Sat on a moss-covered rock next to the road, you watched around you, remembering all the afternoons you spent there with Neil, imagining you were pirates one day and knights another.

“You remember when you fell into this bush and came back home crying because it was full of stinging nettles?” you asked with a laugh, thinking about his red face and loud cries. You were worried back then but now you could only find it funny.

Todd let out a laugh “Did he really?”

“Oh, yeah,” you chuckled.

“Hey!” Neil yelped “I was like ten years old!”

“It doesn’t make it any less funny, Neil!” You shared a look with Todd and both of you exploded into a fist of laughter as you observed Neil’s pout.

You spent the rest of the afternoon with Neil and Todd. The latter came out of his shell more and more throughout the time and you got to see the way Todd and Neil acted and you were never more sure they were made for each other.

⋆ ★ neil perry taglist: @cauliflowertree @moonlitmeeks @toindeedbeag0d @meredarling @juneberrie @mystic-writings @natashxromanovf @goodoldfashionedluvergirl @spookydarkwitch @duxpuella @innerloverpainter @vancitycharlie @venussflytraps @diorgirl444 @dori-and-gray @maddipoof @starlit-epiphany @etanordiesbullsh!t @mellozhi @lovings4turn

#solaris is writing #todd anderson x neil perry #todd x neil #neil perry x todd anderson #neil x todd #neil perry #todd and neil #todd anderson #dead poets #dead poets society