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#winter holiday week 2020
toffyrats · 3 months
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it’s finally starting to settle in that christmas is in 3 fucking days
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bright-and-burning · 3 months
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something deeply humiliating abt having to ask my parents for permission to do things as a 22 year old
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bridenore · 3 days
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Recs masterlist part three : past fests
I’ve been doing drarry recs posts every week for a while and it’s getting harder and harder to navigate through all theses posts. So here is a masterlist of all the posts I made so far.
Note : the masterlist is now split into three parts. I have apparently reached the maximum number of links you can include in a single post. Part one is here Favorites, authors, themes and length and part two is here Ongoing fests.
Last updated : March 25th 2024 (Added since last update)
Previous update : September 25th 2023
Past Fests (the last edition was held before 2022)
Big Bangs : Harry Big Bang 2015, HD Big Bang 2011, Draco Big Bang 2010, Big Bang Baby 2008, Big Bang Baby 2007, Big Bang Baby 2005
Consent fest : 2019, 2018
Daily Deviant : Banging Birthday 2020
Harry submits : 2012
HD Canon fest : 2011
HD Collab : 2019
HD Eight Year : 2015
HD Glompfest : 2019, 2017, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
HD Holidays : 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 winter, 2007 summer, 2006
HD Hurtfest : 2020 , 2016, 2015, 2014
HD Inspired : Animagus, Back to school, Mpreg
HP Creature fest : 2016
HD Remix : 2021, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 , 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2007, 2006
HD Smoochfest : 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009
HD Tropes : 2019, 2016, 2014, 2013
HD World Cup : 2009, 2008
HP Animagus Fest : 2021
HP Creature Fest : 2016
HP Kinkfest : 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
Special events :  Lock Down fest 2020
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atinystraynstay · 4 months
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Life Goes On - Park Jimin
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Synopsis: It was finally happening. Jimin would be leaving for the military in a few weeks. The boys have worked hard to make the enlistment process seamless for themselves and the fans, but that doesn't mean you are ready.
Pairing: idol! Park Jimin x reader Genre: Flufffffff Word Count: 2.1k Note: BTS was the first k-pop group I got into, all thanks to a college friend who was obsessed at the time. I still remember her sending me Spring Day as a recommend and listening to it on repeat all winter break. They were a huge source of happiness, especially during the pandemic. Watching each member go has been tough, but I am excited for the day that OT7 is back in 2025. 💜
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It was a calm Friday night. Probably the last Friday night we would get like this. The world outside had a particular stillness to it, almost as if nobody else existed besides us.
The only source of light in the living room came from the fairy lights strung around the apartment. I had suggested to Jimin that we decorate our shared space early seeing as he would soon be joining his six friends, his six brothers in military service. We weren't sure how much more time we would have together, so we wanted to create joyful holiday memories before the rush of preparing for enlistment fully began. I wanted to give Jimin a chance to enjoy the holiday season with friends and family before the goodbyes start.
We were laying on our couch. Our bodies were positioned so Jimin's back rested against the arm of the couch, my body resting against his back and sitting in between his legs. His right hand rested gently on my hip, running up and down lazily. His touch left me feeling hypnotized like I was putty in his hands. A dark green blanket was draped over our bodies, keeping us warm. Some holiday movie was playing in the background, but I was not even paying attention. Hence the popcorn bowl was only half empty. I was trying my best to savor the feeling of being this close to Jimin, what it was like to feel his body warmth against mine, to feel his presence next to me.
A soft ding brought me back to reality. I glanced over to my right, away from the TV, when I saw Jimin raise his cellphone with his left hand. I instantly recognized the app responsible for the notification. Weverse.
"It's posted," Jimin whispered. I could sense his body trying to sit up a bit straighter. I followed suit, allowing him to adjust his posture before gently leaning against him again. He had moved his phone so it was in front of the both of us. His phone was already unlocked due to his camera recognizing his face. The notification push is already open for the two of us to read.
I could feel my heart sink a bit. I knew this was coming. We already talked about it. Why was I so nervous?
Hello. This is BIGHIT MUSIC.
We would like to inform our fans that RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook have initiated the military enlistment process.
All of us have been aware of the plan for a while. There have been numerous, lengthy conversations since 2020 about what would happen, what life would be like, what the boys wanted for themselves before and after enlistment, and everything in between. The protocol all the boys would follow made sense. Jin was going to go first, seeing as he was the oldest and had the shortest amount of time. J-Hope decided that he would go second, just wanting to get it over with to get back on stage sooner. Yoongi would go third, seeing as his military service would be the longest period as a civil servant. He wanted to stay on track with rejoining the group in 2025. The other four wanted to go in together, to be able to support each other and say goodbye rather than leaving one person left behind. Three years ago, the plan seemed like it was so far away. But the plan was now in action and the rest of the world knew it.
The boys have been able to pursue projects they had only dreamed of. They had gotten the chance of a lifetime to take control and make decisions for each of themselves. And I was beyond proud of them all, especially Jimin. It was just now happening too quickly for my liking. I felt like I was losing time now.
What was my plan? What was I going to do? 18 months without Jimin, without my source of happiness and laughter in this sometimes dark world. Everyone seemed to know what they were meant to do, but what about me? "Babe? Y/n?"
I blinked a couple of times after registering that Jimin was calling out to me. I looked down to see the phone had been removed from in front of me, now sitting next to the popcorn bowl on the coffee table. I felt a hand cradle my cheek, turning it gently to the side until I met those deep brown eyes. I tried offering a light smile but knew that it was all an act. My glossy eyes a dead giveaway.
"Angel, what's going on in your mind? Talk to me." "I don't want you to go. Like I know you have to. We've talked about it basically over the last three years, but that doesn't mean I want you to go."
Jimin frowned. I felt him gently push on my body, indicating he wanted me to shift. My frown deepened as I turned to sit forward, my legs hitting the wooden floor. Shivers shot up my spine from the contact with the cold floor. Jimin remained sitting in the same position, his body against the corner and arm of the couch. However, this time, his hands were extended towards me. I shifted my body slightly, to face him, but also slipped my hands into his. His warm touch. That brought a smile at my gesture. He slipped his fingers in between mine before giving my hand three tiny squeezes, our little way of saying 'I love you' without having to verbally say it. It worked in situations where we were out in public, unable to hear each other, or for times like this when speaking might be too difficult.
"I don't want to go either, baby. I really don't. The thought of leaving you for a short while pains me, but it's something that has to be done."
I nodded my head, listening to his words. I didn't even realize at this point that a few tears had slipped down my cheeks.
"18 months just seems like such a long time. So much can happen in a year and a half." "And I look forward to hearing about every single moment, every second when I see you again. Or if it is something you absolutely cannot wait to tell me, you know you can write me a letter. I always loved your handwriting."
His thumb gently caressed the back of my hand. My eyes were trained down at our interlocked hands. I watched the way his thumb gently moved across my knuckles. Three tiny squeezes.
"And you won't be completely alone, you know."
I picked my head up, turning it slightly. What was he talking about? His eyes widened in return to my expression. "You didn't think I came up with a plan for us?"
"We never talked about it, Jimin. We always talked about what you and the boys needed and wanted before and after enlistment. That was the sole focus."
"But you're my focus," he whispered. He leaned forward to press a gentle kiss to my cheek, a lingering kiss. My head naturally tilted towards his lips, one more tear falling as I just soaked in the moment. Who knows how many more kisses I would be able to receive from Jimin. Now that the world knew of his intention to enlist, we were waiting anxiously for the report-for-duty date. "Stay right there."
Jimin slowly leaned away from me. He then slowly detached himself before he got up and started walking in the direction of the Christmas tree. In a few weeks, we had planned to throw a Christmas party not just for us, but for RM, V, and Jungkook to celebrate one last holiday season before leaving us for a little bit. The tree would soon be lined up with gifts for each of the boys and from them. Jimin glanced back towards me, winking which caused me to giggle a bit. He soon tucked himself between the wall and the tree to retrieve something from the back. What was he up to?
I wiped my tears, not wanting to bring any more somber energy into our evening. While yes I was sad about having to depart from my beloved for a bit, tonight and the days to come were about making Jimin feel comfortable. It was tearing him apart inside at the possibility of missing important family time.
Soon, Jimin reemerged with a white bag that had red ribbons holding it together. He held the gift bag in one hand before coming back to sit right beside me. His free hand wrapped around my shoulders, placing the gift bag right in my lap. "No such thing as an early present. Merry Christmas, my love," he whispered. His lips pressed into the side of my head.
My eyes widened in surprised as I took the gift bag into both of my hands. Using my left hand to stabilize it, my right hand began to take out the tissue paper. It was white, matching the exterior of the bag, but had gold mixed into it. The tissue paper was discarded onto the floor by our feet. Inside was a brown book with black pages. Black pages? How was I supposed to read that?
Very carefully, I took the book out of the bag. I set the bag beside me to place the book in my lap. On the front was a brown cover with a star cutout. I assume you can place a photo that you like in the front. The book was closed due to black straps of leather that were tied into a bow. I slowly undid the bow, freeing the pages of the book to be flipped. The book wasn't a traditional book. The pages opened like an accordion.
I placed the cover by the one end of the coffee table, seeing it stretch all the way to the other end. "Jimin, what is this?" I asked softly. The pages were currently blank.
I heard that heavenly laughter behind me. Soon, arms were wrapped around my stomach and pulled me back in. My hands gently rested on top of his arms, his chin resting on my shoulder. "It's a photo album. It's not just for you, it's for us. You can fill it with whatever you want as a way to keep me in the loop on all the adventures you'll have while I'm away. I want to be present in your life as much as possible. I know I won't get much time to be here physically, but I figured this would be the next best thing. You can take photos of yourself, what you see, put in flowers that you want pressed - whatever you want to show me when I get back. And then, when I come home, we'll sit right here on the couch and look through it all." His lips pressed against my shoulder as I stared at the photo album.
"And then, of course, my parents will always welcome you in with open arms. I'm convinced they get more excited about having you visit than they do with me," he laughed. "So if you feel the urge to be around family, my family is ready to step up to the plate. Or even if you want them to come visit you, they are more than happy to do so."
"It's just going to be so weird without any of you guys around here," I sighed. "Well, don't worry. Jin is going to be back soon, so you won't be too lonely for long. I know he'll make sure you are fed, you are happy, and you won't have a moment of silence again until I arrive home."
Staying in Jimin's arms, I smiled brightly. "You really have thought of everything, huh?"
Jimin nodded proudly. His arms gave me a gentle squeeze before reconnecting his lips to my cheek. "I tried to! I know life is going to go on while I'm away. And I want you to be able to live it all. You can do that for me, right?"
This time, I nodded my head before turning my head to press my forehead gently against his. "Of course. I'll take all the photos in the world and be waiting for you to come home," I whispered to him. He seemed satisfied with my response as he soon pressed his lips gently against mine. I melted into his warm embrace.
I have a plan now.
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sattlersquarry · 4 months
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superfreaky (steve harrington x fem!reader)
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Summary: [AU inspired by Freaky (2020); modern body-swap-with-a-slasher AU] The Hawkins Hacker has been terrorizing your town for years now. What happens when he digs his hooks into you is surprising. It's shocking. It's downright superfreaky.
Word Count: ~7.3k
Warnings: 18+ PLEASE!!!! for language, violence, grief, mentions of alcoholism, mentions of death and serial killers/slashers. all the characters are at least 18 in this (and Steve is the same age as the others). There's no descriptors of the reader except when she and Henry Creel swap bodies (then, you're Jamie Campbell Bower). Also Officer Callahan is your stepbrother in this.
a/n: this is a halloween fic. I'm aware that it's mid-November and everyone on this website has moved onto winter/holiday fics. I'm late! I'm sorry! Blame depression/personal life weirdness/my horoscope.
🔪🔪🔪
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12th, 2023
Your life kind of sucks.
Just a little.
Currently, you’re dressed in a godawful tiger suit on a Thursday night, shaking your clip-on tiger tail like there’s no tomorrow. You don’t want to be here, but extracurriculars look great on college applications. If you want to get far, far away from Hawkins, Indiana after graduation, this is the kind of shit you have to do to be impressive on paper.
Plus, someone must be the brave soul that dons the Hawkins High school mascot costume on the sidelines of basketball games. The brave soul that gets soda cans chucked at your head by Billy Hargrove.
You turn and scowl when you feel the liquid splash across your back—not that Billy can see through your stitched-on tiger expression.
He and his buddies laugh and laugh, until team captain Steve Harrington chews them out for being assholes. You can’t help it—you inwardly swoon at the sight of him defending your honor. With that floppy hair and those gorgeous eyes and…
You snap yourself out of your wild, romantically charged fantasies about said basketball player when he jogs his way toward you.
“Hey, Y/N, you okay?” he asks quietly. You lift your mascot head and give him a small smile.
“I’m good,” you say. You shrug. “I’m used to it.”
Steve sighs and shakes his head.
“I’m really sorry. I told Hargrove to cut it out when you threw the nachos last week, but he just doesn’t know when to quit.”
The Tiger cheerleaders begin the school fight song.
“I’ve gotta get back into it,” you say. “But, um, thanks.”
“Anytime,” Steve says. He shoots you a smile before jogging back to his teammates. The timeout is over, and he steps back onto the court.
As you flail around next to the cheerleaders, the Tigers sink a three-pointer thanks to Steve and win the game.
Post-game, you shuffle into the parking lot with your best friends Robin Buckley and Jonathan Byers by your side. Jonathan works for the school paper and photographs the games while his girlfriend, Nancy Wheeler, interviews players and attendees on the sidelines. Robin is in band and plays the trumpet. (Sometimes, you wish you’d followed their extracurricular pathways instead of going the mascot route.)
“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Robin points out, sensing your disdain as you glare at the tiger head in your hands and the oversize, fuzzy orange slippers adorning your feet.
“I do!” you say. “It’s senior year, fall semester. I can’t flake now. It’ll look bad on my applications.”
“You and those applications,” Jonathan says with a shake of his head. “You’ve been worrying about them since we were freshmen.”
“Obviously! They’re my ticket out of this town. It’s not safe here anymore.”
Robin and Jonathan share a look. They know what you’re referring to: the Hawkins Hacker.
The Hacker is the town's own slasher. He claimed victims every year around homecoming for years and years, until 2016, when he suddenly stopped. However, just last night he killed again. The whole town—including your stepbrother Phil, who’s a cop—are on edge.
“Do you need a ride home?” Jonathan asks, spinning his car keys in his hand.
“No, it’s okay,” you say. “My stepmom’s on her way. And there are plenty of people around. I’m totally safe!”
Famous last words.
Literally. (Almost.)
“You sure?” Robin questions. “Because he’s taking me and Nancy home too, but he’s got an extra seat!”
“I’m good,” you say. You hold up your cell phone. “She texted me an hour ago to say she’d get me on time. I’ll see you guys tomorrow, okay?”
Your friends look a little worried, but you wave them off. Game attendees meander out of the school and head to their cars. It’s a sea of people. You’re fine.
However, the minutes tick by, and the crowd thins out. You watch the away team hop a school bus and zip back to their hometown. You feel the temperature of your tiger suit inch up a few degrees when you see Steve wander to his BMW with a couple teammates in tow.
It’s considerably quieter than it was when you first left the game. You text your stepmom LeAnn once, twice. Then you call her once, twice, three times. A third text, a fourth call. Nothing. Radio silence.
By now, it’s dead quiet. Everyone is gone. You feel an icy chill zip down your spine, like you’re being watched…
You miss your father. He died about a year ago, and he was always on time.
You startle when the phone in your hand buzzes. It’s your stepbrother Phil.
“Hey!” you say. “Where’s LeAnn?”
“Passed out again,” Phil says with a beleaguered sigh. “Where are you? Did Jonathan give you a ride home?”
“No, I told him your mom was coming to get me,” you say. “Can you—”
Beep! Beep! Beep!
You pull the phone away from your ear and groan. It’s dead. Just great.
A streetlight across the parking lot flickers. When your eyes adjust, your heart drops through your stupid mascot feet and to the center of the earth: there’s a man watching you.
You can’t tell, but it looks like he’s wearing a mask. You gulp, panic stretching itself through every fiber of your being.
“Please don’t be the Hawkins Hacker,” you mumble to yourself. “Please don’t be the Hacker. Please don’t be the Hacker.”
The Man continues to stare. Something glints in his hand. It frightens you.
“My stepbrother is on his way!” you yell, hoping to scare him off. “He’s a cop. With a gun.”
That doesn’t seem to bother the man at all. In fact, you see him walk toward you—a slow, Michael-Meyers-esque stride that has you shrieking in fear and stumbling to the school doors.
You yank at them to no avail. You don’t bother looking back and instead run around the school building to the football field. Panting from exertion and sheer fear, you duck under the bleachers and hide behind a big banner.
You slap a hand over your mouth to quiet your panicked whimpers. Why oh why did you trust LeAnn to get you on time, when every night for the past month she’s drank a whole bottle of chardonnay at 6 p.m. and passed out? Why didn’t you go with Jonathan when he offered? Hell, why didn’t you ask Steve for a ride? He’s a nice guy! He would’ve done it!
Now, you’re hiding from a slasher in a stupid rubber gray mask. And if you die and come back as a ghost, you’ll be wearing the Hawkins High mascot suit for all eternity.
You watch the Hackers’ feet as he stands in front of the bleachers and listen as he steps on them. He seems to think you’ve left, and you hear him wander off.
Or, so you think. Actually, he sneaks up behind you and grabs your leg, yanking you out from your hiding place.
You scream and kick at him, hitting him right in the nose and giving you the chance to run.
You don’t get far, though. He tackles you somewhere around the fifty-yard line.
“No! No!” you scream as he raises the knife above you. The knife has a spider carved in the handle with red ruby eyes. “Please! No!”
You push at him, knocking his mask off. His face is gaunt: all sallow cheekbones and purple under-eye bags. His eyes are a dull, washed-out blue, and his blonde hair is scraggly and unwashed.
You hate that his face is the last face you’ll ever see.
He plunges the dagger into your shoulder just a few inches shy of your heart and you scream in pain, the bloodcurdling sound echoing across the football field. The Hacker hisses in pain and drops the knife. He touches his shoulder and looks angry at the sight of blood on his fingertips.
His blood. From the wound that appeared on his shoulder after he stabbed you in the same spot.
Bang! Bang!
“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Phil roars from across the football stadium, gun raised in the air.
The Hacker stumbles to his feet and ambles off. Still prone on the ground, you turn on your stomach and watch him go, shocked at what you witnessed. How did he get stabbed?
You’re in so much shock, you don’t even realize that Phil is by your side until he gently helps you sit up.
“You’re okay!” he says, voice tinged with an urgency you’ve never heard from him before. “I’ve got you, okay? I’ve got you.”
“It hurt him too,” you mutter, a bit delirious. “It hurt him too!”
“Try to stay calm, okay?” Phil says. “You’re in shock. I got you, Y/N.”
You hear him bark into his radio: “This is Officer Callahan! Send an RA unit to the Hawkins High football field! My stepsisters’ been stabbed!”
The rest of your evening is a blur. You get patched up by paramedics and then taken to the police station to give a statement.
LeAnn arrives as you’re sitting with the sketch artist, crying and screaming and apologizing a million times. You forgive her (even though you aren’t sure you want to), and later that night, you hear Phil chewing her out for drinking and forgetting you again.
“She could’ve died, Mom!” you hear him yell as you lie in bed and try to sleep. “If I had been just a minute too late, we would’ve lost her and Allen in the span of 11 months!”
“I’m sorry!” LeAnn sobs. “I just had one glass—”
“One glass, Mom?! Try the whole bottle!”
Despite your anger at her, your heart breaks for LeAnn. You know your dad’s death has been hard on her. She hasn’t been doing too well since he passed, but sometimes you wish she’d realize you weren’t doing that great either. Phil tries to comfort you both, but he’s so busy with work, his pep talks are usually thirty seconds long between bites of a bagel before he’s rushing off to save Hawkins again.
Your phone blows up with texts and DMs. Somehow, the kids at school found out what happened and won’t stop messaging you for details on your encounter with the Hacker. You can’t deal with it. Except, there are some messages that you do respond to:
---
Text Thread with BOBBIN and JONNY B GOOD
BOBBIN: Oh my God!!! Y/N are you okay??? Please text back!!!
JONNY B GOOD: We saw what happened on the news. Please text us when you have a chance. We’re worried about you and thinking of you rn.
BOBBIN: WE’RE FREAKING OUT!!! ARE YOU OKAY???
JONNY B GOOD: Robin, just chill. She’s probably resting.
BOBBIN: Please don’t die and leave me alone to third wheel Nancy and Jonathan!!
JONNY B GOOD: Wooooow.
YOU: Wow is right. I got stabbed and those are your priorities?
BOBBIN: SHE LIVES!!!! YEAHHHHHHH!!!
YOU: Yep, I’m alive. I’m really sorry but I feel like shit. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?
JONNY B GOOD: Of course. We’re here when you need us.
BOBBIN: WE LOVE YOU <3
YOU: <3
---
DMs from steve.anthony.h83
STEVE (steve.anthony.h83): Hey Y/N I saw the news I rly hope ur OK
YOU (y/n.y/l/n86): Hi Steve, thank you for reaching out. It means a lot to me. I’m not feeling too good right now.
STEVE (steve.anthony.h83): Im sry to here that that sux 😞😢💔
---
God, even his text message typos and cheesy emoji usage are endearing. You’re in too deep with this crush.
---
YOU (y/n.y/l/n86): Yeah. But I think I’ll be okay.
STEVE (steve.anthony.h83): Anything I can do 2 help? Maybe I can get u smtg, wats ur fav candy?
YOU (y/n.y/l/n86): Oh, that’s sweet, but you don’t have to do that!
STEVE (steve.anthony.h83): I want too 😃 do u like nougat
YOU (y/n.y/l/n86): I love nougat!
STEVE (steve.anthony.h83): Perfect 😃 Ill bring u sum tmrw after school 🍫
YOU (y/n.y/l/n86): Thank you, Steve ❤️
STEVE (steve.anthony.h83): Feel better Y/N 😃😃
You go to sleep, shaken up but in slightly higher spirits thanks to your conversation with Steve.
🔪🔪🔪
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13th, 2023
You blink awake hours later, startled at the sight around you.
You aren’t in your room. You’re lying on a mattress on a concrete floor. The room around you is full of weird stuff: grandfather clocks, paintings upon paintings of black widow spiders, and mannequins with nails in their faces like Pinhead.
“What the hell!” you say. You gasp and clutch your neck. “Why is my voice so deep?!”
You stagger to your feet and look around the creepy space. Why are you further from the floor than usual? In the corner, you see a mirror half-covered with a sheet. You yank it off and gasp.
“AHHHH! IT’S THE HAWKINS HACKER!” you scream.
The Hacker screams as well. You reach your hand toward the glass—and the Hacker reaches his hand toward it as well. You pull it away and so does he.
The you in the reflection is the Hacker. Holy shit.
You realize where you are: the old mill. Phil told you to stay away from this place because it’s where drug deals go down, and where Eleanor Gillespie got attacked by birds that one time.
You rush away before you can freak out too much. You head downtown, mind swirling.
This must just be a nightmare. Right? A really, really realistic, terrifying lucid dream.
But when you hit your head on a tree branch (because you’re way, way taller than you used to be) and it actually hurts, you realize it’s not a dream. You’re really the Hawkins Hacker. Somehow, you’ve swapped bodies with a homicidal maniac.
You need to find Phil. He’s been your stepbrother for a decade now and you trust him more than anyone else. He might be able to know what to do—or just be a shoulder to cry on.
You pass an electronics store, and your heart sinks when you see your face—the Hackers’ face—on TV.
“The Hawkins Hacker has been identified as Henry Creel,” the news anchor says, showing a photo of the face that you are unfortunately saddled with now. “He’s most known for killing his mother, father, and sister as a teenager—and also for driving a Jeep Wrangler through a Dairy Queen drive-through window without a license.”
“Hey!” someone shouts nearby, having connected the dots. “You’re the killer guy from TV!”
You don’t even stop to see who’s yelling at you before you run as fast as you can, ducking through alleyways to lose whoever’s chasing you.
You can’t go to the police station now that your face is plastered all over the news and social media. But you need an ally, or allies.
Besides Phil, the people you trust the most are Robin and Jonathan. You sneak into Hawkins High through the gymnasium doors, wishing you had your mascot head to hide under. Then, you take a quick shower in the locker rooms and hide until class change is done.
You slink through the empty hallways and make it to the school’s auditorium. That’s where you, Robin, and Jonathan spend study hall every day.
You open the door to the theater as quiet as a mouse, hiding in the wings for a moment when you overhear them talking about you.
“I hope Y/N’s doing okay,” Robin says with a sigh. She takes a bite of an apple and says through chews, “Why did she blow us off earlier?”
“Give her a break, Rob,” Jonathan says. “She’s probably really shaken up. But it is weird that she even came to school anyway. I wonder—”
“Guys!” you say, stepping onto the stage. “It’s me! Don’t freak out.”
They immediately freak out.
“AHHHHH!!! THE HACKER!!!” Robin screams. She chucks an apple core at your head and it bounces between your eyes. You stumble back and groan.
“COME ON!” Jonathan says, grabbing her hand and dragging her away from your, fear flashing in both of their eyes.
“Wait!” you shout. “Come back!”
You follow them as they run through the hallways and end up in the school cafeteria’s kitchen. A lunch lady shrieks and runs out when she sees you.
“Stop!” you call, following Robin and Jonathan to the back room. “Wait! Please just hear me out.”
Jonathan snatches up a soup ladle and hits you in the spine with it.
“ARGH! Dude, stop!”
Robin grabs a tray of mozzarella sticks and lifts it above her head. The sticks go flying when she whacks you in the head. Repeatedly.
Angry that they won’t stop hitting you, you yank the tray out of Robin’s hand and toss it away. Your newfound strength the body you’ve found yourself in possesses surprises you. The old you would’ve grappled with Robin a lot longer before getting the tray from her, if you even got it at all.
Robin tries to jump on your back piggyback-style to tackle you to the ground, and you elbow her in the stomach.
“Cut that out!” you bark as she wheezes.
Jonathan hits you again with the ladle and you shove his shoulder, a bit too hard. He falls on his butt and winces.
“Enough!” you say. “We’ve hit each other over and over. Can we agree we’re all tired and end this?!”
“No!” Jonathan says, pulling himself back to his feet by gripping a countertop. “You attacked our friend and now you’re attacking us!”
“I’m not attacking you!” you say. “I’m trying to get you to listen. I am not Henry Creel. I am not the Hawkins Hacker. I’M Y/N! YOUR FRIEND Y/N Y/L/N!”
“As if!” Robin scoffs. “I’m calling 911.”
You snatch the phone from her hands and hold it high above your head. She’s tall, but not tall enough to reach it thanks to your longer arms.
“I promise!” you beg, holding your other arm up in surrender. “It’s me. It’s Y/N!”
“Yeah, right!” Jonathan says darkly. He picks up the ladle again, wielding it like a lethal weapon. “Tell us something only Y/N would know or we’re going to the cops.”
“What’s Y/N’s favorite movie?” Robin asks, eyes narrowed.
“I tell everyone it’s Casablanca but it’s The Muppets Take Manhattan!”
“Favorite candy?” Jonathan demands.
“Three Musketeers because I feel guilty that everyone shits on nougat when it’s really not that bad!”
“Who’s Y/N’s biggest crush?” Robin asks.
The face that’s not yours blushes deeply.
“Duh,” you say. “It’s Steve the Hair Harrington.”
Jonathan and Robin share a look. A sense of realization flashes on their faces.
“Handshake?” you offer. You hand Robin her phone back and hold out your hands—or, Henry Creel’s hands—and wait.
Robin and Jonathan slap you five, before the three of you complete the intricate handshake you made up in seventh grade.
“Holy shit!” Robin shrieks, eyes shining. “You’re really Y/N!”
She pulls you and Jonathan in for a group hug and you laugh.
“Oh, thank god,” you say. “If you didn’t believe me, I don’t know what I’d—"
“Hold on,” Jonathan says, pulling out of the hug. “If you’re actually Y/N, that means the Hawkins Hacker is going around school wearing your face!”
“Oh damn,” Robin says. “Is that why you look hot today?”
“What do you mean I look hot?” you say, trying not to take offense to the implication that you don’t look hot every day.
Robin opens Instagram and shows you a photo posted to the student-run Hawkins High Gossip Instagram page. It’s a blurry photo of you (or Henry Creel in your body) walking in the hall past Billy and his asshole friends, who are checking you out. Instead of your usual mousy wardrobe of flowy skirts and cardigans, you’re wearing a tight black tank top, a red leather jacket, and bright red lipstick.
“Hot damn!” you blurt out. “I do look hot! Shit, have I hurt anyone? Or, has he hurt anyone?”
Jonathan grimaces.
“Tommy H. was found unconscious in the chem lab,” he says. “He was mostly fine, except his eyebrows were burned clean off…”
“But if fake-you did that,” Robin says quickly, “you aren’t liable because you weren’t in control of your body!”
“I don’t even know how we body-swapped in the first place!” you lament. “How do I get control of my body back?!”
“Let’s think about this,” Jonathan says. “Maybe it was some kind…spell? Or enchantment?”
“Enchantment?!” you snap. “Dude, be for real!”
“Wait,” Robin says, eyes shining. “I heard about this!”
She opened the internet app on her phone and went to www,theweeklywatcher,com/body-swap.
“No fucking way,” you say. “The Weekly Watcher is not a refutable source!”
“Why not?!” she says, scrolling ferociously until— “Ah! Found it.”
She shows you an article about the mythology of body swapping. At first, you roll your eyes, but then—
“That knife!” you gasp. “That’s the knife he had!”
You point to the photo, featuring the ruby-eyed spider in the knife handle.
“According to this,” Jonathan says, “that knife is an artifact that was used in ancient rituals."
“If you’re struck with the blade when the clock strikes midnight,” Robin reads, “you and your attacker switch places. And you have 24 hours to stab him and switch back.” 
“No, no, no!” you groan. “That means we only have 12 hours left!”
“That’s plenty of time,” Jonathan says. “Where’s the knife? You have it, right?”
“No!” you say. “Phil took it as evidence.”
“So we’ll just steal it from the police station,” Robin says, as if it’s easy and obvious.
“Oh, sure,” you lament. “We’ll just waltz into the police station while I have the face and body of a mass murderer and steal evidence. Easy-peasy!”
“We’ll figure something out,” Jonathan says. “Come on.”
The three of you head toward the exit and end up walking past the woodshop classroom. You do a double-take and watch yourself enter the hallway. Or, you watch the Hawkins Hacker parade around as you.
“Hey, stop!” you shout at Henry Creel. He pauses and turns. A shiver runs down your spine at the dark, evil look gracing your features. Features you’ve seen your whole life, features you’ve struggled to like after years of taunting and bullying. Now, they’re marred with the evil spirit of the Hawkins Hacker.
Yet, goddamn. You look hot with red lipstick. Who knew slashers had good fashion sense?
“Don’t try to run,” Jonathan says, the waver in his voice indicating that his bravery is false. “We’ve got you cornered.”
The Hacker suddenly changes expressions. Instead of a nasty glare, he opens his eyes wide, covers his cheeks with his hands, and shrieks: “AHHHH! IT’S THE HAWKINS HACKER! GET HIM!”
A couple cops run around the corner of the hall and you curse, rushing toward a side door with Robin and Jonathan in tow.
“GET YOUR KEYS!” you yell. “We have to get out of here or I’m headed to jail forever!”
Jonathan struggles to start his car, but he peels away just before the cops can stop you all. After your first-ever police chase, you three lose your tail in the parking lot of the big-box store LeAnn works at.
You hide out in a changing room while Jonathan and Robin find you a disguise—a plastic Halloween mask of Bill Clinton’s face.
“I can’t see or breathe in this thing,” you grumble as your friends lead you back to the car.
“If you get arrested,” Robin points out, “you won’t be able to switch back.”
You bite your tongue from any further complaints, too worried about just that.
“So, what’s the plan?” Jonathan asks, once you all are back in his car. “How can we get the knife?”
“About that,” Robin says. “I think we need to bring in your stepbrother.”
“If Phil doesn't believe us, we're in big trouble!” you protest.
“He’s an ally!” Robin shoots back. “And we need one if we’re going to…oh shit.”
She holds up her phone screen for you and Jonathan to see. You squint through the eye holes of your uncomfortable mask and gasp when you realize what’s going on.
“Fuck!” you groan. “What the hell is he doing?!”
It’s another post from the school gossip Insta. The Hawkins Hacker is schmoozing with Billy and his clique of jerks at the local indoor mini-golf place. You watch in the video as he leans into Billy’s ear and whispers something before sauntering off.
The caption of the post says, “OMG is Y/N Y/L/N like, hot now?!”
“I resent this!” you snap. “Why is everyone under the impression that I’m not hot all the time?!”
“No, no, no!” Jonathan gasps. “Look!”
At the tail end of the video, you see Nancy and Steve follow Henry Creel into the glow-in-the-dark golf course.
“They’re going to get killed!” he says, turning the ignition in his car with shaking hands and reversing haphazardly, almost taking out a mulberry bush as he speeds toward the golf place. “Robin, call Nancy now.”
“She’s not picking up!” Robin says, phone to her ear. “I’ll text!”
Your stomach churns with anxiety. If the Hacker kills Nancy and Steve while he’s in your body and you switch back, you’ll feel guilty forever. You’ll also go to jail. But if you don’t switch back, you’ll go to jail as Henry! This is all too much.
You’re certain the pale face that doesn’t belong to you is green right now as Jonathan drives like a racecar driver to save his girlfriend and your crush from “your” wrath.
🔪🔪🔪
Steve’s not sure what’s gotten into you today.
First, you showed up to school. That was surprising after your attack.
“Hey!” he had said when you walked into woodshop class. “How you feeling?”
You hadn’t responded, but you had looked quite intrigued when he accidentally cut his finger working on his birdhouse.
“Ah, shit,” he’d grumbled. “Do you have a—”
You leaned over and licked the blood clean off his finger. It startled him—and annoyed him when that freak Eddie Munson mumbled, “Whoa, that’s hot,” from across the worktable.
Steve’s cheeks glowed rosy red, flustered at your boldness. But you’d left class before he could do or say anything about it (or give you the candy he brought for you).
And now, after school, you’re standing with Billy and whispering salacious things into his ear. Since when do you like Billy? Billy, the guy that throws things at you? Billy, the guy that wrote “Y/N Y/L/N is an ugly stupid bitch” on the bathroom stalls? Billy, the guy that didn’t give you the time of day until you dressed differently?!
Why doesn’t she like me?! Steve thought, trying to look unaffected as you continued flirting with Billy. He fails, the wrinkle between his brows getting deeper as you continue talking to Billy in a low voice.
“Steve,” Nancy says urgently, rushing up to him. “We need to talk.”
“Can it wait?” Steve says. He crosses his arms. “I don’t want to do anything right now except sulk.”
“Something’s really, really wrong,” Nancy continues, ignoring Steve’s pity party. “Jonathan’s MIA and isn’t messaging me back. And neither is Robin. And Carol claims she saw them earlier get in Jonathan’s car with a tall, blond weirdo.”
“So, maybe they have a new friend,” Steve says. He squeezes the handle of his mini-golf putter and watches you walk toward the glow-in-the-dark course. “I need to go talk to Y/N.”
“No!” Nancy hisses, following him as they cut through the crowds. She tucks her phone deep in her purse. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. The Hawkins Hacker is a tall, blond weirdo. Carol didn’t get a good look, but—”
“But you think your boyfriend and Robin are rubbing elbows with a killer? Nance, that’s bullshit.”
“It’s not!” she snaps. “I think that, somehow, that tall blond weirdo is actually Y/N and that girl that you’re going to go talk to is the Hacker.”
“That makes no goddamn sense,” Steve says. “Body-swapping isn’t possible.”
“Just listen to me! I was reading an article in The Weekly Watcher…”
Nancy follows Steve into the course, whispering her findings and bringing up Y/N’s odd behavior as they navigate the dark room lit up with black lights.
The more he listens, the more it makes sense. You’re not acting like yourself. But it still seems too far-fetched.
“I don’t know, Nance,” Steve says, scanning the room for you. “I think you need to stop listening to Robin so much.”
Swish! The beaded curtain leading into the next section of the course rattles as Henry Creel barrels through.
“Nancy! Steve!” he yells. “Watch out!”
Henry pushes them to the side and grabs Y/N’s hand—huh, when did you sneak up behind Steve and Nancy? The Hacker twists your wrist and you cry out.
“Y/N!” Steve shouts, rushing forward to protect you. Before he can, Jonathan and Robin grab his arms.
“No, no, let them fight!” Robin says.
“Let go of me!” Steve snaps.
He watches, helpless, as the Hawkins Hacker punches you between the eyes and you crumple like sand.
“Whoa, cool!” Henry Creel says, turning around and facing the four teens with an excited glimmer in his eye. “I’ve never knocked someone out with one punch before.”
“Wait!” Nancy says. “Am I right?”
“Right about what?” Jonathan asks.
“Did Henry and Y/N…switch bodies?”
Henry (or, Y/N?) puts his hands on his hips.
“Girl, how did you know?”
It all becomes too much for Steve. He blacks out.
🔪🔪🔪
When Steve wakes, he’s lying on the Byers’ couch. Henry Creel sits on a kitchen chair next to him.
Steve opens his mouth to scream.
“Wait!” Henry says. “Steve, don’t freak out. It’s me! I know I look like the Hacker, but it’s Y/N!”
Across the room, the person that looks like you is tied to another kitchen chair.
“Steve, don’t listen to him!” Y/N laments. “He’s crazy! He brainwashed these three idiots into working for him!”
“Who are you calling idiot, idiot?” Robin snaps.
“Steve, I was right,” Nancy explains patiently, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Y/N and Henry Creel have switched places.”
“No!” the tied-up Y/N shrieks. “Please! Steve, look at me.”
Steve turns his head toward her.
“No!” Henry says. “Look at me, Steve.”
Steve turns back toward the Hacker/potential real you.
“Steve!” the tied-up Y/N groans, trying to sound in distress but actually moaning like a Bridgerton reject. “Steve! Steeeeeeeve!”
“Oh, dry up, bitch!” Robin snaps.
“Jesus Christ, Robin!” Henry says. “Don’t talk to him like that when he’s got my face. That’s rude.”
“This is all too much,” Steve says, jumping to his feet. “I—I can’t be here.”
He darts toward the door, but before he can exit the Byers house, Henry stands and says, “We danced together at our freshman year Snow Ball!”
Steve pauses with his hand on the door handle.
“It was in the parking lot,” Henry continues. “You were vaping and I was leaving early, because truthfully, I was having a terrible time. But I saw you, and you saw me, and we split a snowflake-shaped sugar cookie and talked for, like, half an hour. And then someone propped the doors open and we could hear the DJ, and he was playing that creepy ’80s song about always watching someone, and we ragged on the lyrics for being weird and stalker-y. But you asked me if I wanted to dance, and we did for half a minute, and then my dad came to pick me up and I left. But that was the most fun I had had all semester and it gave me a fat, embarrassing crush on you. And I really, really wish I wasn’t a total coward, or I would’ve told you way sooner than our senior year—and when I wasn’t in the body of a serial killer.”
Steve watches the way Henry nervously wrings his hands—he recognizes it as a habit of yours. For a long minute, he’s not sure what to think.
🔪🔪🔪
For a long minute, you’re not sure what to think.
You just blurted out your secret crush on Steve Harrington to Steve Harrington, and he’s staring at you like he doesn’t understand you.
But then, he gives you a small smile.
“Maybe this is weird to say while you’re in the body of a serial killer,” Steve says, “but I have a fat, embarrassing crush on you, too.”
Your heart soars.
“Pathetic,” the fake-you/the Hacker grumbles. “You’re both cowards. I can’t wait to gut you like a fish.”
“That’s enough!” Nancy says sharply, shoving a sock into the Hacker’s mouth. He glares up at her with your face, but Nancy doesn’t even flinch.
“Now that that’s out of the way,” Jonathan says, “let’s divide and conquer. I’ll stay here to keep an eye on murder Barbie.”
He nods in the direction of the scowling, incapacitated Hacker.
“And I’ll drive the rest of us to the police station,” Nancy says. “Y/N, you’ll stay in the car while we distract your stepbrother and steal that knife back. He should be the only one working, because everyone else is hunting you. Er, Henry.”
“Knife?” Steve asks. “What knife?”
“It’s a spooky, magic dagger and it’s the reason Y/N and Henry Creel are swapped!” Robin says.
Steve blinks once, twice.
“Right. Totally. That makes sense.”
“Let’s go!” you say. “We have four more hours to do this!”
🔪🔪🔪
While Nancy and Robin go to get the knife, you and Steve wait in the car.
It’s a little awkward, due to the circumstances. When you imagined sitting in the backseat of a car with Steve Harrington, you hoped for something a little more amorous. Not you in the body of the Hawkins Hacker.
You start to feel a little brave and even consider reaching for his hand to hold—when you see the fake you running down the sidewalk and into the station.
“What?!” you say. “How’d he get out?!”
“Shit,” Steve says. “You stay out of sight, I’ll try and stop him.”
“No!” you say. “My stepbrother’s in there! I have to go help. You stay here and call Jonathan! Make sure he’s okay.”
Steve frowns but nods, agreeing to stay behind.
When you bolt into the police station, you see Phil with his hand on his holster, glaring at Robin and Nancy. Fake you feigns a frightened gasp and runs behind him when you enter, and Phil pulls his gun and points it at you. You throw your hands up.
“Don’t shoot!” you squeak.
“Kill him!” Henry says from his hiding spot.
“Don’t! Stop!” Robin and Nancy shout.
You see the spider dagger on the ground by your friends’ feet. Before you can try and grab it, Henry does and runs out of the station.
Phil doesn’t even give him a second look.
“Put your hands behind your head,” he says to you, “and walk slowly into the cell.”
“This is a mistake!” you protest, but following his instructions so you don’t get pumped with lead.
“Please, Officer Callahan,” Robin begs.
“We’re telling the truth,” Nancy says, “just—”
“Quiet, you two!” he barks. “You! Keep walking.”
You gulp and step into the cell.
“Do you remember what I got you for Christmas in 2017?” you ask.
“Shut up,” Phil says. You glance behind. He still has the gun pointed at your back, but you see his hands shaking. And his finger’s not on the trigger.
“It was a pack of limited-edition Pokémon cards,” you continue. “Mint condition. With a holographic Charizard. But I didn’t realize I ordered a rip-off pack called Pokeymans, so it was actually a Chumpizard card.”
“How the fuck do you know that?!” Phil demands, voice shaking in tandem with his hands.
“Because I’m not the Hawkins Hacker!” you say. “I’m really Y/N. And…I’m sorry about this.”
With Henry Creel’s strength, you knock the gun out of Phil’s hands. It skitters across the floor, and you yank him by the arm into the cell.
He stumbles against the back wall and you step out, closing the door and locking him inside.
“HEY!” Phil screams, yanking at the bars. “LET ME OUT!”
“I’m so sorry!” you say. “But it’s really me. I have to hunt that bitch down and stab him with the stolen dagger and then our bodies will switch back and things will be normal again!”
“STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!” Phil roars, evidently not buying into the body-swap story.
Touched, you clasp your hands to your chest.
“Wait, you called me your sister!” you say. “Not stepsister! That’s so sweet. You’re my brother, Phil. And I’m going to make things right.”
Phil furrows his brow, confused, as you run out with Nancy and Robin in tow.
Jonathan and Steve meet you three out front.
“Your brother can’t drive for shit!” Steve says. “He just almost ran us over with his squad car.” “That wasn’t Phil!” you say. “It was Henry! He stole his cop car. But why? Where the fuck is he going?”
“Earlier this evening,” Nancy says urgently, “I heard you—uh, him—tell Billy that they should throw a homecoming party at the old mill, since they canceled the real dance.”
“That’s where he lives!" you say. "His homebase. It’s where I woke up this morning.”
“It’s his hunting ground,” Robin says darkly. “No doubt he’ll be killing teens left and right.”
“We have to stop him,” Jonathan says.
“No shit, Byers!” Steve says. “Let’s go!”
🔪🔪🔪
When you arrive at the mill, your group agrees to split up.
“Wait!” Steve says, before you dart off. “Hold out your arm.”
You hesitate and do as he says. He attaches his watch to your wrist.
“I always have it set for five minutes ahead,” Steve explains. “So I’m not late to stuff. So we have 30 minutes to find the Hacker, get the knife, and do the switch.”
“Everyone keep your phones close,” Jonathan says. “Move out!”
You divide and conquer, searching the party of wild, drunk teenagers for the evil man wearing your face. Eventually, you find him in an empty back room — towering over an unconscious Billy with an axe in hand, ready to whack the bully in the skull.
“WAIT!” you yell. “STOP!”
The Hacker freezes and turns, giving you an evil smile. You see the hilt of the magical dagger shining in a sheath attached to his belt. 
“It’s you again,” he spits.
“Yes, hi,” you say. “It’s me. And I’m going to ask you to put the axe down before I make you.”
The Hacker cackles.
“Really?” he says. “Even in your pathetic, puny body, I could overpower you in half a second. Plus, this jerk makes your life hell. Don’t you want me to finish him off?”
“No!” you snap. “Because I’m not a monster like you!”
You notice Jonathan in a doorframe behind the Hacker, staying out of his eyeline.
“What’s your problem, man?” you ask, hoping to distract him so Jonathan can take him by surprise. “Why do you kill people?”
“Do you really want to know why?” Henry asks. You nod.
“Well, guess what: there’s no reason. None at all. I kill people because I think it’s fun!”
“You’re sick,” you mutter.
He grins evilly.
“And you’re my next vict—Argh!”
Jonathan interrupts the Hacker’s evil spiel by hitting him in the back of the skull with a fire extinguisher. The murderer crumples to the ground, the axe flying out of his reach.
He doesn’t stay down for long. Thankfully, you’re able to tackle him and snatch the magical knife into your hand.
You raise it above your head, and—
Beep. Beep. Beep.
You gasp and look at Steve’s watch. The timer is done. You’re out of time.
The Hacker laughs and laughs and laughs.
“Shit,” you say, tears of anger and despair welling up in your eyes. “Shit! I’m stuck like this!”
“I win!” the Hacker cackles. “You’ll be tossed in jail, and I’ll be free to keep killing. I think I'll stab your little boyfriend Steve next.”
You’re about to drop the dagger and run, unsure of where to go or what to do, when Jonathan says: “Wait, the clock tower!”
You whip your head over to look at him, brow furrowed.
“The clock tower in the library!” Jonathan continues. “It’s not going off! You still have time!”
Puzzle pieces fall into place.
“Steve sets his watch five minutes ahead,” you say, glancing at your wrist.
Henry Creel’s eyes widen, and then you plunge the dagger into his shoulder.
You feel strange, like you’re floating in the air. Then, suddenly, both you and the Hacker are thrown backward.
When you hazily blink and sit up, you see the Hacker doing the same.
“It worked!” you say, face splitting into a grin.
The Hacker glares at you. You feel a chill down your spine. But before he can do or say anything, your brother swoops in with his gun raised.
“Hands where I can see them!” Phil yells. The Hacker grumbles but obeys. You and Jonathan skirt away from him as Phil slaps handcuffs on the killer and drags him into a squad car.
“Y/N!” Robin shouts, running over with Nancy and Steve in tow. “Are you okay?!”
“I’m okay,” you say. You wince and grip your shoulder. “Except I reopened my shoulder wound, and I think I’m going to have really, really freaky dreams every night for the rest of my life.”
Phil races back over once his colleagues have Henry Creel in custody, fussing over you like a mother (brother) hen. You find yourself seated in the back of an ambulance with a freshly bandaged shoulder.
After Phil steps away to debrief Chief Hopper on the arrest (and to lock the magical dagger away once and for all), Steve wanders over.
“Can I sit here?” he asks, gesturing vaguely next to you on the back bumper of the ambulance. You nod and scoot over.
“How’s your arm?” Steve asks.
“It’s mine again,” you say, “so it feels amazing, despite the stab wound.”
“I’m definitely glad to see you as yourself again,” Steve says, cheeks flushing pink. He looks down at his fidgeting hands, the epitome of bashful, when he adds, “Actually, now that you’re yourself again, I was going to ask if you wanted to go on a date with me sometime.”
Your insides melt.
“Really?” you practically squeal, trying not to sound too eager. “Ah, I mean. That would be cool, or whatever.”
Before you can convince yourself not to, you give Steve a quick kiss on the cheek. He beams at you, but you both roll your eyes when you hear Robin, Jonathan, and Nancy hoot and holler from a few yards away.
Everything will be fine, now. You’ll be fine. That’s what you tell yourself when Phil drives you home and LeAnn gives you a million hugs and says how happy she is that you’re okay. That’s what you tell yourself when you fall asleep after having a lovely text conversation with Steve. That’s what you tell yourself when you have nightmares about being stuck as the Hacker forever, nightmares where he escapes jail and kills you (and everyone you love) once and for all.
But you tell yourself it’s fine, that you’re fine. That nothing is wrong, despite the chill down your spine that can’t quite go away.
🔪🔪🔪
a/n a happy yet spooky ending. is everything really fine? is the hacker really gone for good? maybe I'll write a sequel one day. or maybe I won't, as to not torture y/n any more.
tag list: @hollandweather @starry-eyed-steve @aloneinthehellfire @a-dealwith-god
if any of my mutuals (or anyone else) would like to be tagged in any of my future steve fics, lmk!
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femslashrevolution · 4 months
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Femslash Revolution's Holidays and Happy Endings 2023
Dearest followers,
From 2013 to 2019, our blog hosted an annual event at the end of the year. For a small period of time in December and January, we posted holiday-themed art, edits, fic, and anything else femslash-related to celebrate the festive season. This was always a popular event, but in 2020, mods were pretty busy, so we stopped hosting the event for a few years.
We've decided to start once more in 2023 and host another Holidays and Happy Endings event! This will take place from Monday, December 18 through Monday, December 25. Our posting schedule will remain on the same times, but weekly themes will be discarded. Posts will be tagged with Holidays and Happy Endings 2023 and we are open for submissions from now until the end of the event!
While holiday and winter content is encouraged, we will accept all fluffy, feel-good submissions to make us warm and cozy during the week. And though this event does take place over Christmas Eve and Day, we celebrate all winter holidays and would love a wide variety of submissions.
Submit your Holidays and Happy Endings 2023 content here. This is a low-key, low-stakes event that is all about feeling good and celebrating each other. Have fun, and we hope you enjoy our festive posts.
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harlowcomehome · 1 year
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How we met:
A/N: This is the start of my series between Jack and Y/N (AKA Hazel & Jades mom.) This is based in Atlanta, GA. TWTAS was released December 11th 2020. They are meeting weeks after it’s release.
Series link
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You were walking around your shared apartment, struggling to find something to wear. Layla, your best friend was a singer who mainly covered songs at weddings and events. She had a gig tonight, and as much as you wanted to be there, you had other plans.
You had a date, which was a rare occurrence. If anyone was unlucky in love, it was definitely you. You were nervous for your date tonight, it had been a while since you dated anyone and you were ready to put yourself back out there. You had just finished your hair and make up when your phone dinged. You assumed it was Layla and sprung up, excited for her to finally give you some outfit suggestions but you were quickly disappointed when you realized it was Joseph, your date, canceling for the second time. You were frustrated with yourself, you had just assumed the first time was bad timing and decided to give him a second chance, now you felt silly knowing that if he was canceling plans, he definitely made them with someone else.
You wanted to cry, and be upset but you just couldn’t bring yourself to it. You always expected the worst, so no part of you was surprised. Just as you had sat on the couch to sulk, the front door began to open and there was Layla. “What’s the matter?” She asked instantly, hardly needing to look at you to know that something was off. “Joseph flaked again” you shrugged and she clicked her tongue at you. “ Come with me tonight! It’ll be fun” Layla begged in a sing-songy tone. “Where is it at?” You asked curiously, as you followed Layla into her room as she got ready.
“The Ventanas! I’ve sang there a few times remember?”
Your eyes widen, “is this the event for Atlantic records?”
Layla nodded excitedly as she peeked at you from the bathroom, “yeah! It’s super bougie but luckily I’m not the only one covering tonight. We can eat, drink and leave before midnight if it’s boring.”
“Am I allowed to come?” You asked nervously and Layla giggled “Yes! They told me and everyone in the band that we could bring a plus one!”
“What should I wear?” You asked as you sat with your legs crossed on Laylas bed.
“Emerald green dress! The long sleeve one with the mini black fur coat!”
Your eyes widened “how do you do that?” You jumped off her high bed, leaving the room to go change.
“It’s a gift” she giggled as she rushed to get ready.
You were nervous on the way to the venue, you weren’t sure why because you wouldn’t be the one singing but you just felt incredibly anxious. You moved the vent in the car to hit you directly, turning on the air conditioning. It was winter time in Atlanta but you were still sweating.
“You’re really sweating right now?” Layla giggled as she pulled into the parking area.
“You’re not? Aren’t you nervous?” You asked in shock, assuming that Layla knew just how many important people from the record label were going to be here.
“Nah, they won’t be paying any attention. This is their New Year’s holiday party, end-of-the-year rendezvous. They definitely aren’t going to be looking for any talent tonight” she shrugged as the two of you made your way out of the car and into the building.
The party was on the roof of the building, meaning you had a great view of the city. The venue was also prepared for winter events, meaning they had giant patio heaters spread throughout the rooftop.
You got a drink and sat down at your designated table, you spoke with some familiar faces. Layla had band mates and a few of them were married or had significant others that they had also brought. You nursed the drink in your hand, worried that if you actually drank it you’d have to search all over this great big building for a bathroom.
A few famous faces that you recognized trickled inside of the building, Lil Uzi Vert being one of many. You tried to hide your excitement, it was easy to as they were on one side of the rooftop and you were on the other. Even if they were near you’d be too shy to say anything, anyway.
Layla sang a handful of songs and when she was done the two of you and the rest of the band were served plated dinners.
“You’re not going to eat any of this are you?” Layla teased as you pushed around the food on your plate.
“Mmm, no” you giggled and she did too. You scanned the room while everyone else spoke. That was the good thing about being such a reserved person, you noticed things others didn’t.
You noticed him walk in, Jack that is. He was incredibly late, his curls were a mess and it was clear he and whoever he came with were in a rush to be there. Both Jack and his friend (who you later realized was Urban) looked like they were notified of this event less than five minutes ago. You found it somewhat adorable, and you couldn’t take your eyes off of him as he went around greeting everyone.
“Jack Harlow” Laylas band mate interrupted your daydream, taking you back a little. “That man you’re eye fucking from across the room love, his name is Jack Harlow” he chuckled and you felt your face immediately get hot with embarrassment.
“It’s okay babes, I don’t blame you” he teased and you managed to force an awkward giggle.
“Is that the what’s poppin guy? Brand new whip just hopped in?” Layla giggles as she nudges your shoulder.
Layla knew you had been playing TWTAS around the apartment ever since it came out but she wasn’t about to embarrass you in front of the table.
“We should go say hi” she whispered and you looked at her mortified. “Absolutely not, I’d rather jump off this roof” you joked and she snorted.
“Do you wanna leave?” Layla asked after a few minutes and you shrugged “I’m fine, do you want to?”
“No, I’m fine” she smiled and patted your leg with her hand for reassurance. “We have to find a bathroom though” she whispered and you nodded, the two of you standing to go find one.
Eventually you found the very long bathroom line and let Layla know you’d be waiting for her off to the side. You wanted to take some photos of the view for Instagram and finally had the opportunity to do it.
You were standing alone when you noticed Jack from the side of your eye, he wasn’t close enough to touch but he was close enough for you to notice him. You took a look at the outfit he was wearing, a cream colored cable knit turtleneck. He felt your gaze and smiled at you, you had been caught and all you could do was awkwardly smile back before pretending to be distracted on your phone again.
He eyed you up and down, and you could swear you felt it but ignored it assuming you had just been being hopeful. You took a few more photos of the view and before you could turn to leave, you heard him speak.
“Hi?” He walked directly over to you now. “Have we met? I’m Jack” he shook your hand and you smiled.
“I don’t think we have. I’m Y/N” you let out a soft nervous giggle and Jack could immediately tell you were the shy type.
“Y/N huh? I like that” he smiled and you did too, not saying a word.
“What made you decide to come here tonight Y/N?” He leaned against the wall, as he spoke to you.
“My best friend Layla, she actually covered some songs tonight” you hummed, trying to break the awkward eye contact you were unintentionally making. He smiled, he found your awkward energy endearing.
“Did you know that Atlanta is the only place where it’s legal to have rooftop parties in the winter?”
He smirked and you giggled “did you just make that up?”
“Perhaps” he grinned, making you laugh nervously again.
“You have a cute laugh, I like it” he hummed and you could feel your face getting warm again.
Before you could respond he was being ushered away by someone you assumed was management or someone on his team. He looked over their shoulder and held up a finger to you mouthing the words “be right back.”
Layla showed up almost immediately after, she noticed the look on your face.
“What did I miss?” She smiled and you did too.
“I just talked to Jack” you gushed.
She was shocked “as in Harlow?”
“Yeah, as in Harlow” you giggled.
Unfortunately, it was a while before you saw Jack again that night. Layla insisted on staying until past midnight to watch the fireworks from the rooftop and you didn’t mind it, you thought it would be a perfect excuse to wait around in hopes that Jack would have time to talk to you again.
It was almost perfect timing, 11:50 when Jack approached you. Layla immediately made herself scarce, flashing the both of you a big smile.
“Sorry, things got kind of crazy for a second there. Where were we?” he laughed awkwardly and you mirrored it.
“Oh yeah, your cute laugh” he teased and you shook your head.
“I didn’t think you’d come back” you changed the subject quickly off of yourself.
“Why wouldn’t I?” He questioned, eyeing you up and down once more.
You smiled and shrugged, “I thought you had already forgot about me” you teased.
“You’re the most beautiful woman at this party, how could I forget about you that quick?” He smiled and you finally looked over at him.
You really took him in, his features as a whole. His smile was infectious, his eyes were sparkling like something out of a movie. He was so tall that he basically towered over you, even in the heels that you had regretted wearing.
You made small talk for the next ten minutes. You had noticed a lot about him in these ten minutes. He was easy to talk to, he was actually really funny and oddly enough he never mentioned his work to you once. You were kind of surprised, knowing that he was in a position to be somewhat braggadocious and he wasn’t.
The clock was moments away from striking midnight. The room roared in unison counting down.
10
9
8
7
6
Your heart started to beat faster, Jack scooted closer to you and the two of you smiled as you leaned against the rooftop railing slightly to get a better view of the city.
5
4
3
You turned to Jack and the two of you mouthed “two, one” to each other. You wanted to go in for a kiss, that’s what people usually do at midnight right?
Jack bent down however, kissing your cheek, which surprised you.
You pulled back with a confused look on your face, “maybe we should save the first kiss for our first date?” He smiled before he handed you a napkin from his pocket with scribbled digits on it, you assumed he was holding on to it since you had spoke earlier.
You nodded, still in shock about how tonight had went as a whole. He asked if you were going to be okay, and you let him know you’d find Layla and then you’d be on your way. He gave you a quick hug before waving goodbye and leaving with a group of people.
Layla saw you standing there, staring at the napkin in your hands and walked over. “Did you get your new years kiss?”
“Not exactly” you smiled, shoving the napkin into your purse. “But I think I got something better” you hummed as the two of you made your way out to the parking lot.
“A date?!” Layla nudged your shoulder with hers.
You giggled in response and before you could say anything Layla turned to you “I need full details on this drive home, don’t skip anything!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t” you smiled.
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sedicii · 10 months
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Charles Leclerc to GQ France « From the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed, victory is on my mind » 
(the interview is available on Youtube)
CL : Hello GQ, we’re here today for my career highlights!
• First interview (the infamous vid of Charles with his red and blue suit where he says « from the first time I went karting I liked it. On the road, we respect the rules and on the racetrack we race! »)
I was very responsible even at that age! Oh yes those are very good memories. This must have been my first official interview so I was very stressed but I did pretty well and I agree with the things I said when I was 11 years old!
First victory in 2019
It was a very special moment for me because it was my very first victory in formula 1, a moment I’d dreamt of for my whole career. Well, first we dream about getting into F1, then driving for Ferrari, then winning a race and finally winning the championship, but this remains to be done. But yes, the first victory is a race one never forgets and it was an exceptional moment. It was also a very difficult week end because I lost a dear friend of mine the day before, Anthoine Hubert, on that same track, so it wasn’t easy. There were a lot of emotions that day but it remains a memory that will stay with me forever. People who watch formula 1 on tv only see the driver but there’s a real team with lots of people involved and when we succeed, emotions are multiplied because a lot of people worked hard to get there. 
pole position in Monza in 2019
Everytime I see those images I still get the same thrill. It was the most incredible day of my life. Winning in Monza… There’s enormous pressure, not only on us, the drivers, but on the whole team because Italy is really behind Ferrari and everyone expects a lot from us. We had just won the week before with my first victory in formula 1 so this race just after to follow up with a second win at home, it was amazing. Tifosi are everything when you’re a Ferrari driver. We’ve got a lot of support everywhere in the world and in Italy even more. That day, seeing the number of people just below the podium with the red smoke, the flags. It was just exceptional.
Pierre Gasly’s victory in 2020. First French victory in 24 years. 
I’ve still got the chills here as well! For two reasons. First, because Julien Febreau did an amazing job that day with the commentaries during the whole race but especially on that last lap which is now legendary. And then because it’s my buddy, Pierre. We’ve known each other since we’re small. We used to go on holidays together when we were young. At that time, it was a dream for one of us to get into F1 one day. In the end we’re both in F1, we’ve both won a GP, both of us in Monza. It’s rare I think, it’s very rare to have a sincere friendship in F1 because there’s a lot of competition so yes there’s friendship but it’s not always entirely sincere but with Pierre it really is and it has always been. So yes, I was extremely happy that day even though it wasn’t a great race for me, it was great day still. 
He has become the face of the APM Monaco brand
Yes, i am an ambassador for APM Monaco and it makes so much sense. I am so happy to represent this monegasque brand internationally. It just made sense. I love fashion, jewerly and accessories are things I’ve always worn/had so to work for such a beautiful brand from Monaco made all the sense in the world. I don’t feel complete when I don’t wear jewelry. Jewels and accessories are something I always wear and if i had to choose two, it would be bracelets and rings, which I love a lot.
His physical preparation in the mountains.
So first it’s a place I absolutely adore in Italy, the Dolomites. It’s exceptional. The landscape is incredible and preparing in altitude has a lot  of benefits. It’s harder to work certain exercices. I do ice-climbing, cross-country skying, normal skying… It’s mostly during the winter break, from December to February where there are less things to do so we have more time to prepare ourselves for the new season. I go there frequently to prepare myself with my physio Andrea. And it’s very hard but it is necessary. It’s really a place I adore. It also helps mentally to disconnect from motorsport. It’s always good. But there’s always that goal to prepare oneself to win on track. That’s the fixed thought in my head, from the morning when I wake up to the evening when I go to bed, it’s always the same. 
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7grandmel · 3 months
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Todays rip: 18/12/2023
Ripping Video Game Music​.​.​.​.​.​.​At Night (2020 Edition)
Season 4 Episode 2 Featured on: Neon Lights & Holiday Nights ~ The SiIvaGunner All​-​Star Winter Festival Collection
Ripped by cookiefonster (@cookiefonster)
youtube
Can you believe it guys? Christmas! Just a week away! Christmas is in a week! Oh wow!
I was really close to making this post a simple double-feature to yesterday's on Ripping Video Game Music​.​.​.​.​.​.​At Night, because, well...they're very similar to one another! I've previously only done three double features on here, one of which was on another Pokémon Gen 4 rip with The 2:28 Collab and The 2:28 Collab -The Sequel- - excellent rips absolutely, yet also specifically a situation where the latter was building quite directly off of the former. As the title here says, Ripping Video Game Music​.​.​.​.​.​.​At Night (2020 Edition) isn't as much a sequel as it is a new take on the same idea - and I find that really fascinating.
Because yeah, let's cut that part out of the equation immediately - the joke in this rip is the same as the one its directly based on, a jazzy medley of various SiIvaGunner memes within the confines and instrumentation of the original Route 216 (Night) theme. Yet its those chosen memes, and the differing context the two rips were released in, that really gets my brain spinning in listening to them. From December 16th 2016 to December 16th 2020, four entire years had passed: so much had happened to the channel in that time, yet simultaneously so much still remained. In 2016, the original rip was like a joyous celebration of SiIva's original Season 1 run, a cheerful look back before moving to new horizons with the Christmas Comeback Crisis. With Ripping Video Game Music​.​.​.​.​.​.​At Night (2020 Edition), it was released as part of the All-Star Winter Festival, an event all about celebration and joy, in a SEASON all about celebration and joy. With just that one small change, paired with the memes chosen specifically being ones that debuted or thrived during SiIva's run in 2020, the rip is given an interestingly different energy from what its originally based on. I have an emotional connection to both, yet the two feel...different, in my mind.
By the time Season 4 Episode 2 was coming to an end, the worry and confusion of 2016's end was a long-distant memory. Because of that, I feel like Ripping Video Game Music​.​.​.​.​.​.​At Night (2020 Edition) more feels like a nice little trip down memory lane, rather than reminiscing on an era long gone. For instance, The Phineas and Ferb theme song, Crank That Super Mario, Natsuiro Egao de 1, 2, Jump!, are all specifically referencing the SiIvaSummer festival from earlier in the year - another event that still carried the same festivity and fun that the channel was still under during WinterFes. Season 4 Episode 2 felt a lot more...steady, so to speak - the community and creatives at SiIva were at more of an understanding with one another than back in 2016, and rips like this feel like a sort of affirmation of the channel's new ground.
I dunno, I may just be waffling about, but...both rips do really mean a lot to me. I think it says a lot about how well SiIvaGunner works as a cohesive entity, that two very similar rips feel so different due purely to the context they were released in, the vibe and feel of following the channel back ín Season 1 compared to in Season 4 Episode 2. I really can't pick a favorite between the two - to me, they're both perfect the way they are, as sort of bus-stop checkpoints to sit idly by and reflect on the year as a Season comes to a close.
Here's hoping for another one - either this year or the next!
...oh god Season 8 is soon upon us...
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Hi Sea, did you know a Larries think that Louis plans all his professional events around Harry’s calendar. Apparently he even skipped his promotion event for his very first single to be in the same city as Harry because it was his birthday, even though Harry was out partying with his celebrity friends promoting Irving Azoff’s friends restaurant because for Harry his birthday is a way to network but for Louis it’s forget his life hide in the shadows waiting for Harry day.
So, he left his promo for Harry to fly to a different city but on his 30th birthday Louis planned his shows on the other side of the world. I wonder why he did so when he could have started his tour a week later?
The more you look at it the more you realise how ludacrist their theories are.
Listen, Larries believe that Louis flew out to hide in the shadows of Harry’s shows during Louis’ own solo tour. During Louis’ own tour!
Larries believed that during the Covid pandemic where people were dying in record numbers, no vaccine was available (March 2020), and air travel was significantly down, that Louis brought Clifford to Los Angeles to hunker down with Harry and Jeff Azoff and Kendall Jenner. They believed this from a random dog barking in the background of Harry’s interview.
Larries believe there’s only one vintage Umbro shirt on this entire planet and it is being used as a secret gay signal to them.
Larries believe that Louis snuck out to Japan in winter 2018 to be with Harry while Harry was hanging out daily with a friend of girlfriend Camille Rowe and writing songs with Kid Harpoon and partying with the creative head of Gucci Alessandro Michele.
“Larries believe that Louis sneaks to Harry”… but Larries don’t believe Harry ever comes to Louis. Not to his shows. Not to birthdays or holidays. Not even to take a break from promoting himself with Rob Stringer and Liam Gallagher days after Fizzy’s death.
On the night of Walls’ release, 31 January 2020, Louis was playing a gig in NYC. James Corden had Meghan Trainor on the Late Late Show for Carpool Karaoke. Trainor is a Full Stop client and her album released on the same day. Harry planned to play a Super Bowl pre-show in Miami that night, filmed a segment with Corden’s parents, delayed his show for so long that after the show was cancelled, the audience had to wade through a flood at midnight to even get to transportation. Then (still the night of Walls, the album Louis waited 5 years to release), Harry had dinner at 3 AM with Rande Gerber who came from LA to meet him in Miami. And right after that, Harry flew back to LA for a birthday party for Glenne Christiaansen, Jeff Azoff’s fiancée! Meanwhile Louis returned the same night back to the UK. Zero proof of contact between the two men on a pretty important night for Louis.
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avida-heidia-5 · 3 months
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I was tagged by @twinkodium. This was a lot of fun! Thanks for the tag! 😊
Star Sign:
Aries. 🐏 (I don’t believe in zodiac signs and their supposed meanings. I just know I’m an Aries as I was born on 22nd March. 🤷🏻‍♀️)
Favourite Holiday:
Easter! 🐰🥚🌸 Because chocolate. I’m ADDICTED to the stuff! 🍫 Also, Spring is one of my favourite seasons. I just love seeing nature come back to life and seeing more wildlife more often after a long winter period. It brings me so much joy every single time. 😌
Last Meal:
I’ve just eaten homemade toad-in-the-hole for linner (dinner at lunchtime). It was deeeeelicious! 🤤😋
Current Favourite Musician:
Depeche Mode. I fell in love with them ever since they released their latest album Memento Mori (2023). I pretty much binged the whole of their discography on Spotify last year out of sheer curiosity and I’ve now become strangely obsessed with them as a result. I’ve recently learned that fans of DM are called “Devotees”, soooo yeah. I’m a Devotee now! Whoopsie! 🌹🎹
Last Music Listened To:
Meet Me In The Woods by Lord Huron. I like me a good folk rock song to keep me going. This song was just so pleasant to listen to. Plus, it’s very catchy. I couldn’t get it out of my head after listening to it.
Last Movie Watched:
I watched The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) with my parents on Netflix a couple of weeks ago. For those who don’t know, it’s an anthology film of sorts containing many different stories centred around the Wild West. My dad recommended it to me as he likes watching films made by the Coen Brothers. I don’t have a lot to say about it other than I really enjoyed it. I’m a film buff and I usually have a lot to say about the films I’ve just seen, so having that happen to me was really odd. 🤔
Last TV Show Watched:
I don’t watch a lot of TV and I don’t keep up to date with any shows, so I don’t know if what I’ve put down counts.
I recently finished watching the Fernando (2020–) docuseries on Amazon Prime and I loved it. 🤩 It’s mainly about Fernando Alonso and the many adventures he got up to during his 2-year retirement from F1. It’s really interesting!
Last Book/Fic Finished:
The last book I read was The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum and the last fic I read was a Chalex fic called I Can Feel The Sun On You by mintchocolatechip97.
Last Book/Fic Abandoned:
The book I abandoned quite swiftly was a Dave Grohl autobiography my uncle and auntie got me for Christmas. I was never a Foo Fighters listener and I’m not a Foo Fighters fan. I still have no idea why they thought I’d like it. Sorry to the people who like them, they’re just not for me. 🙁
Currently Reading:
A Pocketful Of Happiness by Richard E. Grant. It’s such a sweet, tender, and heartbreaking autobiography that highlights how he got into acting and how he met and fell in love with his acting coach Joan Washington. ❤️
Last Thing Researched for Writing/Art/Hyperfixation:
“sebastian vettel mark webber 2010 monaco”. Just seeing pictures of these two smiling and hugging each other makes me smile. 🥰 I was also psyching myself up for this week’s F1 Watch Party on Discord, which, funnily enough, will be streaming the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix this Sunday. I can’t wait!!!! 🏎️💨🏁
Favourite Fandom Online Memory:
I love making friends through their interests in the fandom. The F1 community is massive, so it was easy for me to make friends online and in person as a result. I can feel comfortable being weird around them and in turn they can feel comfortable being weird around me. 🥰🥰🥰
Favourite Old Fandom You Wish Would Drag You Back In/Have A Resurgence:
I used to love the Merlin fandom when it was popular. I still do, but not as strongly as I used to.
Favourite Thing You Enjoy That Never Had an Active or Big “Fandom” But You Wish It Did:
Hmmm, this is a tough question. I’m not fussed with how popular my fandom choices are. If I had to choose one though, I’d say The Beatles. I think a lot of RPFs about certain bands and singers don’t get as much attention as, say, Formula 1 or Super Mario or Supernatural do.
Tempting Project You’re Trying To Rein In/Don’t Have Time For:
I really want to post some more fanfics on AO3, make some more banners on InShot, and do some video editing and gif making on CapCut, but I’m incredibly slow at doing all of them because college work keeps getting in the way of my plans. 😵‍💫 I hardly have enough free time to do any of them. Don’t worry though, I haven’t abandoned them altogether. I will get them done eventually! 🤞🏻
I tag the following peeps: @kaossbells, @hurricane-heatt, @racingliners, @formulaes5, and @wanderingblindly. Feel free to participate if you’d like to. No pressure obviously. 😊
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Anyone here ever listen to the Fine Tooning podcast hosted by entertainment writers Drew Taylor and Jim Hill?
I tend to tune in every Tuesday. Sometimes I learn things about Disney history I never knew, in addition to hearing their takes on current animation news.
This week's episode was about Gary Rydstrom, long-time sound designer - especially for many Pixar films - and filmmaker who eventually directed the Pixar short LIFTED (attached to RATATOUILLE in theaters) and Lucasfilm's STRANGE MAGIC.
As many people know, he was set to direct an ill-fated Pixar film called NEWT, which would've - at one point - released in the summer of 2011 following TOY STORY 3. Before its cancellation, it swapped spots with CARS 2 and went to summer 2012.
What I never knew about this movie was that it was meant to begin a line of lower-budget, quirkier Pixar films. Similar to that of the films Disney Feature Animation's Orlando unit made before they were shut down in 2004.
And if you remember, back when NEWT was announced, it was supposed to share that year with THE BEAR AND THE BOW. That movie, of course, would later be titled BRAVE, and it opened in the summer of 2012. BRAVE would've been a holiday 2011 release if plans had held, and obviously would've been the mainline bigger budget movie opposite NEWT.
Pixar would try doing two-a-year again for 2013 - but w/ both movies being mainline big budget endeavors. So for 2013, the plan was: MONSTERS UNIVERSITY was set for the summer, and THE GOOD DINOSAUR - the thrown-out version that was being directed by Bob Peterson - following during the Thanksgiving frame. Of course, as we all know, that didn't happen either.
Finally, in 2015, they made it happen... INSIDE OUT was the summer movie of the pair, a huge hit all-around: Boffo box office, enthusiastic critical reception, an Oscar... THE GOOD DINOSAUR, the Thanksgiving movie, didn't enjoy any of that. Overshadowed completely by its sister picture, and it also lost money on top of being a very troubled production. Would it have fared well in a different year, on its own? Who the heck knows. It lived a nice second life through solid home media sales, and I'm sure someone somewhere is clicking on it on Disney+.
Then they tried again in 2017. The summer release, CARS 3, did so-so at best at the box office and got okay-ish reviews. CARS isn't everyone's cup of tea, so it was expected. Barely doubled its as-usual-for-Pixar gargantuan budget. Thanksgiving release COCO, by contrast, was the big hit. All of it: Great reviews, fantastic box office, and an Oscar.
2020 was another attempt, this time with a movie at the tail end of winter (the first weekend of March) and a summer movie... Well, COVID-19 happened. ONWARD was cut right off within a week of release, and SOUL went straight to Disney+. The recent theatrical release of SOUL sadly flopped. SOUL did, however, get an Oscar for Best Animated Feature 2020. ONWARD was also nominated for the award that year. So, the two Pixars finished the year with better than average reviews and Oscar noms.
2022 was the second attempt at this new strategy. TURNING RED in March, LIGHTYEAR in June... But Disney, concerned about COVID-19's Omicron variant, sent TURNING RED straight to Disney+. TURNING RED was well-loved and was up for the animated Oscar. LIGHTYEAR bombed in theaters, got okay reviews, and no Oscar nom.
This year was going to see that strategy again, until... Disney and Pixar delayed ELIO, which was set to be the March movie - with a trailer and everything, all the way back to summer 2025. The sole Pixar movie for that year... Leaving INSIDE OUT 2 as this year's Pixar film, and the summer release at that. I expect it to be huge, given that it's a sequel to a movie that clearly did so poorly years ago.
So... 2026, the current plan is for there to be two Pixars. A March and a June. We know TOY STORY 5 is in active development, and I suspect it'll nab the summer 2026 slot. Whatever is brewing in the hallway of the original movies for the March slot, I have no idea. It could be anyone's picture. Kristen Lester? Brian Fee? Rosana Sullivan? List goes on... We'll probably get an inkling of what it is sometime this year. Maybe for D23?
But here's the thing... We know Pixar keeps it all under one roof. After all, their Vancouver unit didn't make it, neither did attempts to collaborate with other filmmakers (see Henry Selick/CinderBiter's THE SHADOW KING). Every movie they make is some $175m+ costing behemoth...
And I think, why can't they do the big movie/small movie thing? It would allow them to double up production, while keeping costs lower on the quirkier movies, and allowing the filmmakers to experiment more. I mean, that's kind of the gist behind the SparkShorts, right? Or those few Co-op program shorts, like BORROWED TIME. Look at Illumination and their proposed adult animation label, Moonlight... That Pixar was attempting to do smaller and weirder films alongside their usual blockbuster spectacles tells me that... Maybe they should try again?
Though weirdly, TURNING RED was their usual $175m+ picture, and that had a different art style, was much more filmmaker-driven than usual, and was indeed a little quirkier. But even then, making a picture like that for such a massive budget puts it at risk. Remember, we watched ELEMENTAL open with a blah number and subsequently claw its way to a "just made it!" final gross. If that movie had cost around $85m instead and still looked as lovely, the near-$500m gross wouldn't even be an issue.
So why not have the next original after ELIO - should that be another triple-digit million movie - be this sub-$100m costing movie? Can it be done? Are they thinking about it?
I dunno, that podcast just got me thinking. I also found out a lot more about NEWT's production and rather mysterious cancellation from this very episode, stuff I was kinda dying to know for years... Yeah, Fine Tooning is worth listening to, check 'em out.
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takeachillpillshawty · 8 months
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When playing Twst, I always wondered if time moved faster or slow in Twst.... My first theory was that time moved faster in the world of Twisted wonderland than our world.... And I went to do a little digging and Twisted Wonderland official release was March 18, 2020 in our world. Meaning us the player have been stuck in Twisted Wonderland for 3 years in our world's time. And my reasoning for time being slower in Twisted Wonderland are two things.
1. Time duration- in Twst we often see time cards and holidays to see the time duration. For example, book 4 takes place during winter break meaning it was near Christmas at that time I estimate that Prefect has been in Twst for about almost a year between the events of book 1 to 4. And during the training camp thing in book 5 it took us weeks to train for the SDC whatever you call it.
2. We are still first Years- in the official website of the game, for the bio of MC we are first Years of NRC along with all the first year gang ( Ace, Deuce, Jack, Epel and Sebek) and that haven't changed a bit, until book 6 where it's confirmed that Ortho was going to be a new student at NRC making him a new member of the first year squad, and probably had to wait a few months to officially transfer to NRC as a fully fledged student.
In conclusion, us the player have been in Twst for about 1 to 2 years while we've been missing in the real world for 3 years.
And I was wondering, ' Well, what about our birthday greeting from the characters? ' I then remember about time zones.
In different parts of the world have different time zones meaning it's in different years for example. When people thought 2012 was going to be the end of the world but it was 2012 in Mayan years.
So in my final conclusion, Twst has the same time flow as our world but it's much slower due to our worlds holding different time zones. in Twst we spend about 1 or 2 years there and in our world we have been missing for 3 years.
Or maybe I'm wrong! But this was a fun theory to work on.
Edit: To be specific, I'm going with the story. So Vignettes and side stories do not count. I'm only sticking with the main story stuff.
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jcmarchi · 3 months
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Discord Lays Off 170 Employees Due To Overhiring
New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/discord-lays-off-170-employees-due-to-overhiring/
Discord Lays Off 170 Employees Due To Overhiring
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Community chat application company, Discord, has laid off 170 employees, or 17 percent of its staff, according to a new report from The Verge. Discord CEO Jason Citron cites overhiring, which has led to the company becoming “less efficient” in how it operates. The layoffs affected people across various departments. 
The Verge obtained an internal memo from Citron sent to employees announcing the layoffs, which have already happened. That memo explained why the layoffs were happening, when affected employees would receive the email telling them they no longer have a job, and follow-up meetings for those who remain at Discord. 
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“We grew quickly and expanded our workforce even faster, increasing by 5x since 2020,” Citron writes in the memo. “As a result, we took on more projects and became less efficient in how we operated. Today, we are increasingly clear on the need to sharpen our focus and improve the way we work together to bring more agility to our organization. 
“This is largely what drove the decision to reduce the size of our workforce. While difficult, I am confident this will put us in the best position to continue building a strong and profitable business that delivers amazing products for our users and supports our mission for years to come.” 
You can read the full internal memo at The Verge here. The Verge writes that Discord raised about $1 billion in funding in total, with more than $700 million “in cash on its balance sheet and the goal to become profitable this year,” according to the publication’s sources. 
These Discord layoffs follow a heartbreaking trend in these first couple of weeks of 2024. Just this week, we learned video game engine creator Unity is planning to lay off 1800 employees (25 percent of its workforce) by the end of March, and that streaming company Twitch is laying off 500 people (35 percent of its staff). 
This string of layoffs this week follows a terrible 2023 for the people who make games and those in game-adjacent industries. 
n January of last year, Microsoft laid off 10,000 employees amidst its ongoing $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which it completed in October. 
Striking Distance Studios, the team behind 2022’s The Callisto Protocol, laid off more than 30 employees in August of 2023. That same month, Mass Effect and Dragon Age developer BioWare laid off 50 employees, including long-time studio veterans. The following month, in September, Immortals of Aveum developer Ascendant Studios laid off roughly 45% of its staff, and Fortnite developer Epic Games laid off 830 employees. 
In October of last year, The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog laid off at least 25 employees, and Telltale Games also underwent layoffs, although an actual number of affected employees has not yet been revealed. Dreams developer Media Molecule laid off 20 employees in late October.
In November, Amazon Games laid off 180 staff members, Ubisoft laid off more than 100 employees, Bungie laid off roughly 100 developers, and 505 Games’ parent company, Digital Bros, laid off 30% of its staff. 
In December, Embracer Group closed its reformed TimeSplitters studio, Free Radical Design, and earlier in the year, Embracer closed Saints Row developer Volition Games, a studio with more than 30 years of development history. A few weeks before the winter holidays, Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering owner Hasbro laid off 1,100 employees. 
The games industry will surely feel the effects of such horrific layoffs for years to come. The hearts of the Game Informer staff are with everyone who’s been affected by layoffs or closures.
[Source: The Verge]
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beardedmrbean · 11 days
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Newspaper Helsingin Sanomat covered a recent survey conducted by the Finnish Red Cross (SPR) in which 82 percent of people in Finland responded that they have either personally experienced or witnessed racism.
Some 83 percent said what they witnessed had not been directed at themselves. In addition, 15 percent of survey respondents said they had witnessed or experienced racism directed at themselves and others.
According to SPR's research, racism was experienced and witnessed most in large cities, where more people with an immigrant background live.
"Witnessing and experiencing racism is also more pronounced among people with a university degree. People over 65 years of age and those living in large areas of eastern and northern Finland are less likely than average to report experiencing or witnessing racism," SPR commented in a press release on the survey results.
However, despite a majority saying they recognised racism, just under half, 45 percent, responded that they had intervened.
On the other hand, 78 percent of respondents under 25 years old said they had intervened.
"It's great that young people and young adults are so vocal about their ability to tackle racism. However, the responsibility should not lie solely with young people. Young people themselves have also expressed the wish that adults should be more active in tackling racism," said Sanna Saarto, SPR's anti-racism action planner, in a press release.
Questions over summer berry crop
Rural-focused newspaper Maaseudun Tulevaisuus carried a warning over this year's berry crop in light of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs suspending visa applications for berry pickers.
The Ministry announced last week that it would suspend visa applications for wild-berry pickers from Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar over concerns that the practice leads to exploitation and human trafficking.
Valio, a domestic food producer in Finland, said that if next summer's berry crop is left unpicked in Finnish forests, they may have to resort to importing berries for their products.
"We want to be able to buy responsibly produced domestic forest berries. If we cannot buy domestic wild berries, we may have to buy foreign wild berries," said Kirsti Rautio, Valio's Procurement Director.
However, Rautio said it was too early to assess the impact of the Foreign Ministry's decision on both the availability and prices of domestic wild berries. Valio has not yet made any decisions on berry purchases for next summer's picking season.
While Rautio said there would likely be issues in procuring berries this summer, the responsibility of how they were sourced was also important to the firm.
"We do not tolerate any human rights violations in our supply chain.The main responsibility for monitoring lies with the authorities, and any human rights challenges that arise must be resolved at the Finnish level under the joint leadership of the authorities," Rautio told MT.
Best month for summer holiday?
With winter rearing its head once more, maybe your mind has wandered to summer and are wondering what the best month is to take your holiday. That's what tabloid Ilta-Sanomat asked meteorologist Markus Mäntykannas.
Based on data from 1991 to 2020 showing when it was warmest and sunniest, Mäntykannas said that August might be the best month for heading to the summer cottage.
"Some people may have outdated ideas about when Finland's summers are at their best. August has been a bit of an underrated month for us. I was a bit surprised myself when I looked at the statistics and saw that August is warmer than June in most parts of the country," said Mäntykannas.
Mäntykannas also pointed out that in coastal areas and in the archipelago, temperatures are significantly warmer in August than in June.
"An interesting point in the statistics is that May and June are the months that have warmed the least over the decades. It seems that the late summers have warmed more," said Mäntykannas.
Most people in Finland start their summer holidays at Midsummer at the end of June. Unlike in central and southern Europe, August is not such a popular holiday time in the Nordic countries, partly influenced by school beginning then.
Many businesses and services aimed at holidaymakers also shut down in early August.
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) has predicted that this coming summer will be slightly cooler than usual for Finland, while it will be warmer-than-average for southern Europe.
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aestheticvoyage2023 · 3 months
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Day 360: Tuesday December 26, 2023 - "Huckleberry Appreciation"
This post contributed by Audrie:
Our Huckle-Buckle-Berry-Good-Boy
It was a few years ago (maybe 2019) when I really started to think about and maifest the concept of actualizing a new four legged friend into our lives.  Afterall, it had been a really spectacular run as a duo and then a trio; from 2009 it was just me and the cheese-dog, then in 2014 Jake joined our duo to make our family.  And so went our tro status quo for more than 6 years.  And with the 2019 practice house in the old pueblo, and the 2020 pandemic pressure that caused us to leap into home ownership and baby making mode almost simultaneously, my maternal instincts were on high alert looking forward to and calling out the universe gods to send us our next four legged family member.  And lowe and behold, in September of 2020 our huckle-boy fell into our lap.  We would have to wait a couple months to pick him up and bring him home with a close early life shave with puppy parvo, but thankfully to a loving and lovely foster family we had our berry boy on his way home to us around halloween.  Havarti, we think, was thrilled at first, but then concerned when he learned that this sweet red hound we brought home and tagged was not a visitor but a permanent sibling brought here with loving intention to stay.  The two of them got along as one would expect an old steady seasoned grandpa and a young energetic whipper-snap to.  One had all the patience and one had all the play.  Thinking back on these two, it's not all that different than thinking about the way the puzzle pieces between William and his Great Grandpa Acton fit together instantly.  They just go. In a flow that nobody could have ever predicted and somehow made perfect sense.  
We lost our best good Cheese-Boy this past summer, and in so, Huckleberry lost his brother, his mentor, his papa-dog, and his every day play, snuggle, meal, lounge, cuddle mate.  The loss for us with Havarti was immense, and to think about the loss from Huckleberry's perspective feels immeasurable.  Havarti was his world.  His mentor. His model. 
We saw major changes with Huck as soon as Havarti passed.  Our trazodone doped anxious animal mellowed too with the loss of Havarti's heartbeat.  So we stopped drugging him on the daily.  Huckleberry seemed to process Havarti's passing so much like any human would grieve the loss of a sibling, friend, mentor, family member.  And as the months and life have begrudgingly moved on without our best cheesy boy, we have also been witness to the best good boy Huckleberry has been that we never fully expected him to become.  
We already knew he was good and patient and trustworthy with William, but once Havarti passed, we saw extra caution come into his play and movement around our toddling boy -- And extra patience and calm presence held down by his more relaxed body and energy through the days and the weeks and the months that passed after Havart's passing.  
And as we have moved through the fall and into the holiday winter months here at the finca, inching the days closer and closer to the stocking stuffers and the package unwraps around our strange human seasonal traditions, we have been able to just sit back in awe of our Huckle-nuckle-good-berry-boy, and see him truly come into himself.  At about age 3.5 now, shedding his puppyness and stepping powerfully into his Humancompanionness, he has caused pause many a moment through our bustling Christmas season to honor, acknowledge and praise this new best-good-boy of the house.  And as hard as it is to say we have another best good dog in our life, with the utmost respect to the most wonderful predecessor before him, we see more and more of Havarti's slow patient wise being and compassion come out of our wild Huckleberry as the months move on; we see more stretchy legs and lazy dog couch days that make us think about the good life Huckleberry has had, has learned, and has ahead of him as William's best bud and furry compadre.  
We have caught ourselves in awe of this sweet rescue pup, that happened into our lives, made a home in our hearts, and laps, with giggles, and kisses, and head hugs, and good boy snuggles.  And I have to pinch myself sometimes at the beauty of the best good boys that surround me in my home.  Huckleberry following in those very big puppy shoes, filling them up, far better than any expectation we could have set.      
Song: Elton John - Step Into Christmas
Quote: "We were together, I forget the rest." ~ Walt Whitman
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