#genuinely why i joined and left a decade ago holy SHIT

[ur-fav-alien]

Partners

Trent Beretta/Tony Nese A little bit of angst? Emotions being rekindled stuff like that lol Tony Nese is now all elite, and Trent feels the need to congratulate his old partner. (+ a scene after their match on Dark)

Trent was still a little surprised. He didn’t doubt Nese, no, not at all. Trent was just shocked that the guy was now ‘all elite’. He was now going to be a part of Trent’s long list of coworkers, and that was… well, that was a lot to handle. 

They had a history, you could say that. A very long and complicated history. But he was still proud of Tony. That’s why he was currently weaving his way backstage, trying the asshole. 

Trent had been there for Orange because there were some rumors circulating that he was going to get his ass kicked by the Bucks and Cole. Nese had then come out and rebooted Trent’s entire nervous system. That was his excuse why he was trying to find the guy he used to call his friend, and not protecting the guy who he’s currently calling a friend. 

And after a million years of turning corners and asking for directions, Tony Nese was finally in his line of sight… once again.  

“Nese!” Trent called out. The two of them were alone at the back of the event center. Storage equipment and metal chairs lined the blank walls. They were right outside some office. 

Tony’s face turned into that of confusion when he turned around and saw Trent. “Beretta? The fuck are you doing here?”

Trent couldn’t help but stare. He looked good, like fantastic. Trent had almost spit out his drink when he saw his entrance earlier. “I’m supposed to be with Orange, but I uh… I wanted to…” Staring down at Tony’s boo- pecs made Trent realize how stupid this was. Going to a guy he hadn’t seen in what? A little less than a decade? God, Trent had some unresolved feelings to figure out. “I wanted to congratulate you on joining AEW.” 

“Oh…” Tony tensed up. “This isn’t a ploy to beat my ass, right?” 

“No! No.” Trent laughed. “I mean… Sammy already did that for me.” 

Tony’s face dropped. 

“I’m sorry, I had to.” Trent apologized with a smile. 

The ‘Premier Athlete’ rolled his eyes. “Once an ass, always an ass, right?” 

Trent made a noise of shock. “What?! You’re one to talk!” 

“I’m one to talk? I was always nice to you!” Trent was appalled. “You’re the one that left me at the last second.” 

The two of them had unconsciously taken a step forward. A gravitational pull of temptation and history pulling them together. 

“Holy shit!” Trent couldn’t believe it. This drove them apart all those years ago. Of course, it would drive them away again. You would think it would be all the ‘friends with benefits’ moments they had with each other, but nope! “How many times do I have to tell you I’m sorry?” 

“As many times as I need you to before I think it’s a genuine apology.”  

All of Trent’s apologies were genuine, because he felt genuinely bad! He didn’t know what he was doing when he signed with NJPW. He was just excited! Some big ass company wanted him to beat bitches up, and you thought he wouldn’t take that opportunity? The only reason Nese didn’t think Trent’s apologies were genuine was because he went by the philosophy ‘oh if you were sorry you wouldn’t have done it in the first place’, which is a stupid ass philosophy. People are stupid and make mistakes, and Trent had made a mistake. 

He made a serious mistake not telling Nese, like he wouldn’t want his best friend to join him on this big ass trip. Best Friend… boyfriend, same thing really when you didn’t know what to call yourselves. But either way, Trent wanted to bring Nese along. He had just… forgotten. 

“You never think my apologies are genuine!” 

“Because they aren’t!” 

And Trent didn’t know how this flurry of emotions erupted inside of him, but he suddenly felt more overwhelmed than he ever had before. He just needed to prove a point - prove that he did care about Tony. Before he could think, he grabbed Tony’s face and slammed their lips together. It was like waves crashing against each other, or fireworks going off. While both of them had changed in the past several years since they stopped talking, Trent had never felt anything more familiar. 

He pushed away angrily. “Is that a genuine apology, huh?” He asked, ignoring Nese’s shocked face. “Does that show you I cared about you?” 

There was a pause between them, a silence of heavy breathing. Trent wasn’t even regretting the kiss, he was just worrying more about whether Tony would kill him or not. It’s not like he would though… unless he was with someone now, then that would be a very uncomfortable conversation to have. 

Tony hesitantly brought his hand to his lips and gingerly touched his bottom lip, which was slightly wet from Trent’s spit. He usually wasn’t just a messy kisser, but Trent’s emotions were running high. He got pissed way too easily. 

Tony lunged towards him before Trent could process what was happening, and their lips connected once again. Trent’s heart ran wild as Tony’s hands held his face. They stumbled back from the force. His back hit a stack of metal chairs and the noise of pain that escaped his lips was muffled by Tony’s lips. 

His arms wrapped around Tony’s waist, pulling them closer together. The clanking of the metal chairs had echoed through the building, a loud noise that both of them had ignored in favor of the taste of their lips. Someone would probably appear around a corner to check out what caused that deafening noise. In the meantime, Trent savored this moment. He savored Tony, kissed him like had never kissed him before. 

It was a kiss that made up for lost time. 

A door opened, and the two pushed away, breathing heavily as Mark Sterling stepped out of his office… Was Tony going to see Mark Sterling? That asshole? Ugh. 

“Is everything okay?” Mark asked.

Trent was trying to hide his face while simultaneously wiping Tony’s spit off his lips. 

“Yeah.” Tony answered. “We’re good.” 

Mark gave his best award winning smile. “That’s good! Now do you uh…” Trent and him made eye contact.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” Tony answered his silent question. He gave Trent one last look before going off to sign his life away. At least Trent got to see him one last time before he sold his soul to the world’s worst manager. 

It had been an hour since his match with Tony, and he was currently getting himself some food. Trent didn’t know why he had picked the match in the beginning. He could’ve just kept his mouth shut and continued to tie up his shoes, but really? His favorite tag-team partner was Josh Woods? That weirdo? Not only had that comment hurt Trent’s ego, but also his heart. Yeah, they had a pretty rough ending, but Trent didn’t think it was that rough. 

And besides, they had made up. 

“Y’know,” Trent whipped around from his seat at some empty table. Tony was standing right behind him. “I didn’t mean it.” 

Trent stared at him. “Huh?” 

“Woods isn’t my favorite tag-team partner.” 

“I- What?” Trent couldn’t believe that Tony was actually saying this. “You tell me this after our match?” 

“Yeah?” Tony replied, as if it was the most obvious answer. “What did you think I was going to do? Tell you before?” 

“Yes! Maybe tell me so we don’t have to fight each other at all?” 

“Why would I do that?” Trent was appalled. “I like fighting you.” There was a smirk on Tony’s lips that Trent wanted to wipe off.

“You son of-” 

Before Trent could finish, Trent flashed him a smile and turned around, walking away. 

Oh… Trent was going to kill him one of these days.

[niicevibe]

finally... I updated my theme. the amount of emails I’ve sent at tumblr though for the amount of glitches I suffered through... 

[we-have-bangtan]

Fall together

Pairing: Jimin x reader

Genre: fluff, angst, best friends to lovers au

Warning: Swearing, smoking, mature content(no smut tho)

Synopsis: Jimin decides to kiss his bestfriend who he was in love with not knowing if she felt the same way.

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Jimin sat on the terrace, the rain pouring down on him, the drops of water falling fast and hard on his back, his body drenched to the bone. He didn't flinch when the rain drops fell on him, he had adjusted to the pain. The cigarette he had been smoking earlier was nothing more than ash now, too drenched to keep burning. He recalled the events of today as he lifted his chin up, feeling the rain drops pouring on him. Yn pushed up against the wall, her chest against his own, his lips descending upon her, hot and needy tongues meeting to dance together, his hands on her hips and hers around his neck, holding onto him while he devoured her. She had moaned for him, the sound so sinfully beautiful, it had him hooked; and then she had pulled away from him, cheeks red and eyes shaky, lips swollen and panting. Breathless as she opened the closet door and walked out, putting on a facade as she joined the rest of the group as if nothing happened. He wondered how long she'd play with him, how long she'd pretend like his feelings didn't exist, he was putting everything on the line for her and here she was, refusing to accept the fact that he was in love with her. He knew why she was pretending, she didn't want to throw away years of friendship for one chance at being something more. He knew there was no going back from here, no going back to the way thing were, he never planned on going back either. He didn't think he could stand being just friends with her anymore, he couldn't stand around, watching as others try and maybe even succeed in taking what he wanted the most in his life away from him. He had hoped that she'd push him away, stop him, tell hi this was not what she wanted, give him a clear fucking sign that she didn't want him, he didn't want to be given hope if he didn't have a chance with her. And yet she had strung him along, making him think that he did have a chance when she had let him kiss her like THAT. Now he didn't know how to feel, he wanted to hear her moan again, wanted to feel the euphoric high that kissing her made him feel, and at the same time, he didn't know if he could do this anymore. What if she didn't like him like that, what if she left, what if she decided he wasn't worth it. It worried him, the though of her leaving. He hear the door to the terrace swing open, he didn't turn around, knowing who it was already. "Why are you here?" he asked her, he couldn't bring himself to not care, it had become a habit. "I was looking for you" she answered, walking closer so her umbrella could shade him from the rain. "Why??" he asked, pulling himself onto his feet. "Why not" she shrugged as he took the umbrella from her so they both would be covered, her small height wasn't ideal for this. "Why do you do this to me?" he groaned as she pulled out a napkin from her pocket, dabbing at his face. "Do what?" she asked, genuinely confused as to what she was doing that was driving Jimin up the wall. "This!" He said as he pointed to the space between the two of them. "How long will you keep stringing me along?, how long will you keep pretending like I'm not right next to you proclaiming my love for every chance I can ?" he demanded as he dropped the umbrella, pacing around as he spoke, never giving Yn a chance to say anything. "I'm not pretending" Yn said quietly, almost too quietly but Jimin still heard, "Then why don't you just tell me if falling for you is waste of my time, am I just riling myself up for heartbreak Yn?" he asked, stopping right in front of her to grab her shoulders. "Should I give up?" he asked as he stood infront of her, she reached out to push his wet hair out of his face, "Come back downstairs, you'll fall sick if you're here" she said as she turned around to leave. But Jimin was not ready to let this go, not today at least, "how long will you keep putting it off Yn, just tell me if I should give up and I will" he pleaded gripping onto her wrist to stop her from leaving , she didn't say anything, moving his hand from her wrist into her hand, pulling him with her, the umbrella forgotten

as she dragged him into the warmth of the building. "Answer me please" he pleaded as he followed after her, his hand still in hers, she ignored his words, making her way down to Jimin's apartment. She unlocked the door, dragging him inside his bedroom before coming to a halt. Her hair and clothes stuck to her body from the rain, hugging each curve like it was meant to. "Go take a shower, you'll fall sick" She demanded, pulling out clothes from the closet for the two of them, "Yn you can't do that, you can't pretend to care and then refuse to answer me" Jimin huffed as he grabbed the clothes from Yn's hands, spinning her around to look at him, desperation in his eyes. "But I'm not pretending to care" she replied, looking up into his eyes, it hurt that Jimin thought she was pretending to care, there had never been a time when she hadn't cared, she always cared about him. He looked at her, searching for any insincerity, anything that would make him love her less and yet, he found nothing, all he found was genuine affection, a tenderness that he had fallen for a long time ago, it just made him love her more and it hurt to love her more, not knowing if she accepted his love or not was a risk h had planned to take, but it was still hard. "Are my feelings a joke to you?" Jimin finally snapped, he was tired of playing this game, trying to get her to realize that he wanted more, that he wanted to love as more than her best friend. "Why do you do this? How could say things like that and expect me to not fall in love? why do you not realize that I am in love with you? And that kiss, that freaking kiss, why the hell did you not pull away, why didn't you tell me to stop? Why do you keep giving me hope that I actually have a chance with you? Why do you keep making me fall if you're not going to fall with me?" Jimin yelled in one single breath as Yn stared at him, his heart pounding and out of breath. "Not falling? NOT FALLING? ARE YOU INSANE PARK JIMIN? HOLY FUCK! NOT FALLING?? YOU GO AHEAD AND CALL ME OBLIVIOUS AND ALL BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU - YOU FUCKING HYPOCRITE, DO YOU HAVE ANY CLUE HOW HARD I FELL? I'M NOT READY TO GIVE AWAY NEARLY A DECADE OF FRIENDSHIP FOR LITERALLY ONE CHANCE AT SOMETHING MORE, WE HAVE SO MUCH TO LOSE YOU ASSHOLE, THERE IS NO GOING BACK ONCE WE TIP OVER THE EDGE. DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO PRETEND TO NOT KNOW THAT YOU HAVE FEELINGS FOR ME?? I NEARLY CONFESSED LIKE 9 TIMES IN THE PAST 10 DAYS AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO YELL AT ME, WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE HUH? AND THAT KISS, THAT FREAKING KISS, I DIDN'T STOP YOU BECAUSE I WANTED IT AS MUCH AS YOU DID, HOW THE HELL DO YOU WANT ME TO ASK YOU TO STOP WHEN MY TONGUE IS SHOVED DOWN YOUR THROAT??" she yelled back as Jimin slowly backed away from her as tears streamed down her already wet cheeks. Well that certainly backfired, Jimin thought as he tried to process everything she had yelled, waiiitttt, did she just say she fell?, "Wait did you just say you fell, like fell in love?" Jimin asked a fuming Yn. "Boy, I will crack you like a glowstick if you tell me you didn't listen to a word I've been saying" Yn hissed, but Jimin was too busy making his way forward to take heed of the threat, pushing her up against the closet door, caging her in between before capturing her lips with his own, he felt euphoria all over again. "I've been waiting so fucking long for this" He whispered, pulling away from her, their damp bodies pressed against each other as he looked down into her eyes. "Jimin we can't" Yn pleaded as she reached up to caress his face, her palm soft against his stubble, "Why not, I fucking love you, so why the fuck not?" Jimin asked, no, begged. "There's too much to lose, it could go so wrong JImin, it could destroy both of us" she mumbled as he brushed his nose against hers. Jimin pulled away, looking down at her, "You really think I didn't think of that? I thought of it every night, I thought of it everytime I saw you, I weighted everything before I decided that I'm willing to risk it all, you're worth the risk Yn, our friendship is

worth the risk because I can't see myself being just friends with you". He retorted, Jimin had never lied to Yn and he was never going to, he was going to tell her everything he felt. "You know what fuck this shit" Yn groaned, grabbing him by the collar and latching her lips to his, Jimin was very happy to oblige, quickly taking control. Their tongues danced in harmony, what started as a sweet kiss, prolonging into a heated make-out session, what dragged Yn out of the daze was the coldness of Jimin's shirt against her skin. She quickly pulled away, earning a whine from him, "Go shower, you'll fall sick" she demanded, pushing him off her and shoving the clothes she had pulled out into his hands. "Care to join me sweetheart?" he teased as she tugged on her wet shirt, "Woahh, slow down chim, you shower in a temperature that is more than the boiling water of hell, so no thank you" she answered, turning away from him to search through the closet for a shirt for herself. Jimin pouted like a child as he stormed into the bathroom, he seemed to remember something in the middle of undressing because he popped his head out of the door, shirtless and his pants unbuttoned. "Do not leave while I'm in the bathroom, we still need to talk" He warned before going back inside, Yn shrugged, it wasn't like she was planning to leave. She went to the bathroom in the guest room to shower and get changed into one of Jimin's shirts. Jimin was still not out of the bathroom by the time Yn ordered the two of them takeout. She had no clue what took Jimin this long. Jimin's mind was going into over-drive as he thought about all the possibilities that he and Yn wouldn't work out. He had even used a love calculator in the past and it had showed him a solid 69% but he didn't have much faith in that calculator, personally, he thought he and Yn were 100% compatible, but that was just his opinion. He had already thought of the names of his three kids and two cats, the location of their house and what colors the walls would be. He was brought back to reality when the hot water ran out. Never letting hot water run out at my place, he thought to himself as he walked out of the bathroom, drying himself off before putting on the clothes Yn picked out. He walked into the living room to see Yn chowing down a plate of jajangmeon and he felt a little guilty for making her wait. "What took you so long?" she asked as she gulped down the noodles, picking at the side dishes, "The hot water was too nice to get out of" he lied, joining her side as she passed him a plate of japchae too. The two of them ate in silence, stealing a bite of each other's food once in a while before settling down to talk. "So, girlfriend~" Jimin drawled, "Girlfriend??" Yn questioned, "What you wanna be the boyfriend? I'm okay with that." Jimin said with a thoughtful nod. "Don't you think you're getting ahead of yourself Jimin?" Yn teased, rolling from her spot to his before wrapping her arms around him, "At least buy me dinner first" she jested, "Yah, didn't you pay the delivery man with my money? technically I already bought you dinner" he defended, wrapping his arm around her. Yn decided to be bold, swinging her leg onto the other side of Jimin before placing herself on his lap, a mischievous grin on her lips. Jimin was very pleased. "Well then Boyfriend~" she started, Jimin's hands finding their way to her hips, gripping her firmly in place, humming encouragingly when he heard her call him boyfriend. "I need to get home, it's getting late" she finished, ruining the whole mood, "Very romantic" Jimin quipped with a roll of his eye as she tried to get off his lap, his hands firmly holding her in place. "I try!" her retort was paired with a flirty wink. "Well girlfriend, might as well stay the night since it is so late, can't have the love of my life go home when it's so dark outside" he continued, sitting a little straighter so there was less space between the two of them. "Cute, but that won't work, try again tomorrow when I don't have work" she answered as she wiggled to get

out of his grip, "Yn darling, you might want to stop wiggling if you don't want to cause me problems" Jimin groaned as he felt Yn's core grinding against him, holy fuck this woman would drive him insane. "So Jimin-ssi are you taking me home or not?" She asked as she finally managed to get away from him, gathering her things from all over the house, "Only if you kiss me goodbye" he bargained, Yn nodded, fair enough, she was going to do it anyway. Jimin happily whistled as he lead the way to his car, Yn's hand in his as she followed behind him, dressed in his shirt and the heels she had worn when she had come to his apartment. He felt giddy, praying that they would part for the rest of their lives.

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END

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[findmeinpops]

FindMeInPops’ 12 Days of Christmas: Day Twelve - Southside Archive Secret Santa

Merry Christmas Liz ( @worriestothewind​ )! Here we have a festive friends-to-lovers oneshot for Female!Reader x Sweet Pea. I hope you enjoy reading this and that you have a wonderful festive season; I wish you all the best for the new year (and decade!). Harry x 

P.S. Thank you @southsidearchive​ for organising the Secret Santa, it’s much appreciated.

Prompt: Friends to lovers

Ship(s): Sweet Pea x Female!Reader

Rating: T

CW(s): Cursing, alcohol

Gifted: Liz ( @worriestothewind​ )

@riverdalebingo​ : A Christmas Bet

Reindeer Games: Prancer - Parties

As Y/N was pushing the pins into her hair to hold up her half-up half-down do, she could only think about how little she wanted to go out tonight. Every year the Southside Serpents held a festive party in the Whyte Wyrm - she had no clue how they could even afford the place considering their low budget but it probably did not hurt that FP, the current leader of the Southside gang, was brothers with the owner.

Y/N had joined the Southside Serpents three years ago so there had only been three parties since Y/N had first been permitted to go, and she was rather glad that she had only ever been roped into attending one of them; every other time she had been quite happy to stay at home, curled up in bed. Her best friend Sweet Pea had voluntarily attended each one, unfortunately for her, so she had been left at home alone to entertain herself. But this time he was dragging her along with him.

“I still can’t believe you persuaded me to go to this party,” Y/N complained, casually strolling out of her ensuite bathroom and standing in front of Sweet Pea, hands on her hips in the only act of defiance she could muster right then. He drew his eyes away from his phone, looking up from his position on her bed, not batting an eyelid at her half-clothed state.

It was an almost amusing contrast to see Sweet Pea in the setting of Y/N’s room; the floral pink duvet cover against the fully-black biker look, that Sweet Pea seemed to have had ever since he left the womb, would have been shocking to most. To be fair, his dark attire wasn’t all that different from Y/N’s typical outfits of choice, but she had an affinity for all things pink, pastel, and floral when it came to her decor and belonging, only preferring grayscale when it came to clothes.

Y/N and Sweet Pea had been best friends since birth, or near enough; they were both Serpent legacies, but Y/N’s family was somewhat more stable than Pea’s. When Sweet Pea hit the ripe old age of six months, his father took it upon himself to high-tail out of Riverdale to go and live with his pregnant mistress. A single, working, new-mother, his mom often resorted to leaving Pea with the Y/L/Ns’ and the pair became fast friends. They grew up together and, although they did occasionally venture outside of their partnership, they were each other’s closest friend. And it was for this exact reason that Sweet Pea had no reaction to Y/N standing in front of him in only a black mini skirt, fishnets, and bra.

“We need to leave in half an hour. Are you going like that?” Sweet Pea commented dryly.

“Pea,” She moaned, continuing to complain just in case he would allow her reprieve from their plans.

“It’s up to you, but I think FP may have something to say about your outfit of choice.”

“Pea, please?” She pouted, clasping her hands in front of her chest.

Sweet Pea sighed, dropping his phone between his crossed legs. “I believe we had an agreement, sweetheart.”

“Yes, and I will be forever grateful that you are not forcing me to go to the New Year’s party or any other Serpent festive gathering for the rest of this year, but,” Y/N crouched down, a hand on each of Pea’s knees, “would you not much rather be curled up with yours truly, hot chocolate, and a Christmas comedy on the TV?”

She tried to pull her most enticing puppy-dog face--which nine times out of ten melted Pea into a puddle at her feet, but not this time.

“A deal’s a deal.” He gave her a pointed look which softened slightly when he saw genuine disappointment flicker through Y/N’s eyes. “Hey,” he placed his hands on top of hers, running his thumbs over the back of them, “I’ll be there and I promise we can be back here by one am. I’ll even try to persuade your mom to let me sleep over and we can cuddle with hot chocolate and a comedy then.” The placating smile he offered did nothing as she rolled her eyes, pushing up from her position.

“You don’t need to persuade my mom to do anything.” She wandered over to her dresser, picking up her makeup bag before plopping herself down on the floor in front of the full-length mirror attached to her wardrobe. “She fucking loves you.” And didn’t Y/N know it.

‘Sweet Pea is such a nice boy’, ‘why don’t you date Sweet Pea’, ‘wouldn’t it be wonderful if Sweet Pea was my son-in-law,’ – Y/N never heard the end of how much her mother adored Pea but what her mother (or Pea for that matter) did not know is how much Y/N and her mother were in agreement in wishing that Pea would date her.

For as long as they’d been friends, Y/N had known that she loved Sweet Pea, but it was not until a moment in their teens, when she had had the sudden urge to grab him by the neck and crush his lips to hers, did she realise the love was no longer solely platonic.

Y/N had a crush on her lifelong best friend and he did not have a single fucking clue.

She had briefly entertained the thought of initiating something between them but the potential of losing Pea over such a thing was a devastating concept and so the idea was killed in moments. Regardless, Y/N knew that Sweet Pea had a huge crush on Toni, not that he had told her this, but she had noticed the way he smiled at her - that was the smile of a boy who was crushing on a girl.

Each time Y/N saw that smile, there was always a small twinge in her gut but she was determined to make her best friend happy, no longer caring that it would not be with her. Sweet Pea deserved to be happy.

“But she doesn’t love me as much as I love you.” He sent her a faux sickly-sweet smile in the mirror, forcing her eyes to roll yet again.

Drawing on her eyeliner, Y/N could not stop her mind from imagining him meaning it the way that she secretly hoped he would. No, she had to reprimand herself, Sweet Pea had been with her through thick and thin, spent many evenings soothing her as she sobbed over this and that as well as always having her back. She loved him regardless of context and, because of this, she wanted and needed him to be happy – if Pea wanted to be with Toni then she would make it happen.

“I fucking love you.” Their little phrase left her lips as she finished up the liner on her second eye.

“And I fucking love you,” he replied, as they shared a genuine smile before delving back into their respective tasks – Y/N applying minimal makeup for the forced exertion from her home and Sweet Pea texting whoever.

******

Riding on the back of a motorcycle in a skirt was never really the best of ideas, but it was a dark December evening and no one would see. But what Y/N had not considered was how bad of an idea it was to ride on the back of a motorcycle, in the middle of December, at night, in fishnets and a skirt.

“Holy shit, I’m freezing,” she exclaimed, jumping from the seat as soon as Sweet Pea turned the engine off.

“Yeah, probably not the best of our ideas,” Sweet Pea reasoned, sliding off the seat a lot more smoothly. He placed a hand on either of her arms, rubbing his hands up and down her clothed skin, trying to create a little heat.

“Our idea? Please, I wanted to take the car but no, we were already late so you wanted to freeze my tits off.”

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes at that before gripping her wrist in one hand, pocketing his keys with the other, and all but dragging her towards the bar door.

“I’m freezing, my legs are going to fall off, and I do not want to be here.” Y/N continued to complain and Sweet Pea could only compare her to a toddler having a tantrum.

They stopped just shy of the closed door, muffled music and chattering could be heard on the other side, and the glow of multi-coloured lights could be seen through the frosted panes of the windows. It all looked rather cozy and, if there weren’t fifty other people in there, Y/N would have probably been quite happy to enter.

“Stop being dramatic, we had a deal. These parties normally suck--”

She opened her mouth to interrupt but a slight glare from Sweet Pea stopped the words in their place.

“--but my bestest friend in the whole entire world is here and you’re going to make the experience so much better. Then, we will go home, maybe catch a lift with someone since I quite like your legs being attached,” he spared a glance to her goose-bump covered skin, “and we will drink hot chocolate and watch a movie.”

He took one of her hands in his, neither of their fingers particularly warm, and began to push on the door before stopping and turning back to face Y/N. “Oh, and Toni’s here.”

Ah, how could she forget her plan, although she wasn’t entirely sure why Pea thought that this would be an incentive for her to enter, he had no idea that she was aware of his crush. Y/N was going to somehow get her best friend to ask out Toni by the end of the night, whether she said yes was out of Y/N’s control, but she would be sure to get Sweet Pea to confess... somehow…

With a small smile now gracing her lips, they both pushed through the door into the large bar area, welcoming the overwhelming warmth that hit them as well as the tangy smell of alcohol. Hog Eye, the owner of the Whyte Wyrm, had strung fairylights along the walls and a small Christmas tree sat on the bar, adorned with the same multi-coloured lights and several red shiny baubles. People were scattered all over the large room, drinks in hand, and loudly chatting away as Bing Crosby was crooning out ‘White Christmas’.

Y/N hummed along as she handed her coat to Sweet Pea to hang on the coat stand, nodding a silent thanks as she continued to take in the room. It was whilst doing this that she spotted several bunches of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling, and then she had her plan. Now she just had to lure Toni and Sweet Pea over to one of the many bunches of mistletoe. She began to search for Toni but the latter had already spotted them and was waving them over to where she stood with a small group of her friends.

“Let’s join Toni,” Sweet Pea spoke before Y/N had the chance, sending a nod towards the fellow Serpent.

“Hey guys, cold out isn’t it?” Toni greeted each of them with a hug once they made their way through the crowd. This was not too much of a feat, though, as they tended to part easily for Sweet Pea as he towered over most people.

“Sure is. This idiot decided to ride on the bike wearing fishnets.” Sweet Pea knocked Y/N with his elbow, sending a kind smile to let her know he was only joking.

“Sure, sure, my fault, I know.” Y/N rolled her eyes goodnaturedly, bumping her best friend back with her hip.

“Well, at least it’s warm in here, you’ll be alright in no time,” Toni replied before pulling on the arm of a tall redhead beside her, who turned away from her current conversation. To say Y/N was shocked to see Cheryl Blossom in the Whyte Wyrm would be an understatement. It had been a few years since they had all graduated from Riverdale High, but Cheryl had always been an incredibly preppy individual, to put it kindly, who had deemed herself higher than most others around her. She and her brother, Jason, had practically ruled the school, hardly sparing a glance to others, particularly the transfers from Southside High who were made bottom of the food chain. She had obviously come a long way from her time in high school.

“Sweet Pea, Y/N, I’m sure you remember Cheryl.” Cheryl wiggled her fingers in a small wave and offered a sheepish smile as they were introduced. “She’s a ‘trainee serpent’, so to speak. FP is considering her for the initiation.”

Both Y/N and Sweet Pea’s eyes widened comically. Tonight was full of surprises. It was one thing for the Cheryl they knew to willingly surround herself and be associated with Serpents, but for her to also desire to become a Serpent - perhaps she had hit her head.

Cheryl must have noticed their expressions as she was quick to pull her hands together in a pleading gesture. “I know and I sincerely apologise for the unacceptable and truly horrible way I treated you and your fellow Serpents throughout our time at Riverdale High. I promise that I have changed my ways since graduation and, with the help of TT, I hope to show you how true this transformation is.”

“Of course, I’m sure we’ll see more of each other through Serpent business, but we can always hang out. It’s a regular thing we do with Toni,” Sweet Pea answered for both of them, swinging an arm around Y/N’s shoulders, signalling for her to nod her agreement.

“Brilliant.” Cheryl grinned.

A slightly awkward silence settled around the four of them, something that was most likely due to all of their being unsure how to act with Cheryl around. Y/N’s eyes flitted around the room, not knowing where to land, trying to avoid having to make stilted conversation. Her eyes just happened to catch on a particular bunch of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling above the bar.

Being in such close proximity with Pea heated her skin, something that was putting Y/N off of the whole scheme she had created, but the look that appeared on Pea’s face each time he saw Toni reappeared in her mind; she wanted only the best for him and for him to be happy and, because of that, she would continue forward with her plan.

“I don’t know about you, but I need a drink” Y/N broke the silence, and relief noticeably appeared on Pea and Toni’s faces, Cheryl seemingly oblivious. Pretending to notice Toni’s lack of drink in hand, you added, “Toni, why don’t you join us at the bar.”

Pea’s eyes narrowed slightly, trying to work out why she had intentionally omitted Cheryl from the invitation but seemingly settled on ignoring it for now, he released his arm from around Y/N’s shoulders before chiming in, “yeah, I’ll cover this round.”

“And I’ll stay here and make conversation with my soon-to-be fellow Serpents.” Cheryl did not seem overly bothered about her exclusion, smiling and nodding before making her way across the room to a group of younger Serpents.

Y/N led the three of them over, placing herself at the front of the group so she could strategically lead them over to the right-hand side of the bar where the mistletoe hung. She settled herself at the very far end, resting her arm on the sticky surface so that Toni and Sweet Pea would be forced to stand together at her left.

“Y/N, Sweet Pea, nice to see ya,” Hog Eye greeted, coming directly to the trio, bypassing a few already waiting patrons.

Y/N and Sweet Pea had helped out Hog Eye quite a bit over the last year. The Ghoulies, before they were run out of town, had made an attack on the Whyte Wyrm, destroying half of the bar, and the pair had been a part of a few Serpents who had helped reassemble the place. Veronica had pitched in the money necessary, due to feeling guilty about her father being partially responsible for the attack, so Y/N and Sweet Pea just offered some manpower, as well as occasionally taking up some shifts at the bar while Hog Eye was recovering from injuries he sustained during the ordeal.

Nevertheless, Hog Eye had been incredibly grateful and had no qualms ignoring the already waiting customers to serve them. “Toni too, I see. What can I get you three?”

“I’ll have a bourbon, please, Hog Eye, you know how I like it,” Y/N replied. “Pea’s driving so he’ll just have a coke?” Sweet Pea nodded to her question. “And Toni, what do you want?” Y/N turned to Toni who seemed distracted but requested a Jack and coke at her prompting.

As Hog Eye was pouring the drinks, Toni zoned out again, slowly gaining a mischievous twinkle in her eye paired with a not-so-hidden grin. “Y’know, Y/N, you’re looking hot as hell tonight.”

Y/N turned bright red at Toni’s words, and she wanted nothing more than to hit her head on the bar counter in embarrassment. A similar, but more subtle, pink dusted Sweet Pea’s cheeks. It was also joined by a small smirk.

“Um, thanks I--”

“Yeah, you look amazing, let me take a photo of your outfit. And Sweet Pea! Sweet Pea can be in the photo as well.” She was talking so frantically that neither Y/N or Sweet Pea really understood what was going on so when Toni suddenly gripped Y/N’s arms and spun her around for the picture, Sweet Pea had to grab Y/N by the waist to stop her toppling over.

“Perfect! Just perfect!” Toni exclaimed, pulling her phone out of her jacket pocket. “Now Y/N just move a little closer to Sweet Pea.”

“Do you know what the fuck is going on?” Sweet Pea whispered into Y/N’s ear, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. She shook her head in answer but also to rid herself of the odd sensation, she could use that bourbon now.

“And smile!”

Toni took the photo. The pair began to move apart from the too-close position before Toni stopped them with a hand, that mischievous look taking over her entire face.

“Would you look at that!” She feigned surprise, tilting her head to the ceiling. Y/N and Sweet Pea followed suit, freezing at what they saw. Shit.

“Mistletoe. You know what that means?”

“No, Toni you were--”

“You’re under the mistletoe, you have to kiss.” Toni seemed to be enjoying Y/N’s squirming, but Y/N was more concerned about Sweet Pea unwrapping his arm from around her waist and pulling away, taking it as rejection. Although it was nothing short of what she expected, it still stung.

“No, Toni, I think Y/N wants you to come here.” Sweet Pea stepped back, motioning Toni over. Y/N could almost scream in frustration, this was not going how she had wanted it to go.

“No, it was supposed to be you and Toni under the--”

“Guys, just get on with--” Toni tried to interrupt Y/N, but Sweet Pea stepped in.

“Wait, you were trying to set me up with Toni?” Y/N swung around to face him, now incredibly concerned that he had taken offence. She had not considered Sweet Pea might consider her scheming overstepping.

“Yes, I just wanted to see you happy and I know you have a crush on--”

“Me? Have a crush on Toni?” Sweet Pea’s eyes were almost bugging out his head.

Their outbursts had gained the attention of a few of the nearest Serpents whilst Hog Eye was trying his very hardest to hold in laughter, his face beginning to resemble a tomato.

“It’s fine, you don’t have to--”

“I thought you had a crush on Toni!” His exclamation caused Y/N to freeze, both of them oblivious to the listening ears and the amused smiles of the entire bar.

“You--I--What?” Y/N could not believe a single word that she was hearing. How had he gotten the idea that she liked Toni? Y/N had noticed how he had always smiled when they approached her and whenever she was mentioned in conversation the same look reappeared; how else was Y/N supposed to interpret this?

“As entertaining as this is, we would all appreciate it if you both shut up.” Toni’s words brought their attention to the silence that otherwise filled the room and the fact that every pair of eyes were trained on them. If Y/N had been embarrassed before, it did not compare to how she felt now.

Heat filled her entire body, and not in a good way, her face radiating as she chewed at the skin on her lower lip. Sweet Pea was hiding his embarrassment somewhat better, but pink still tinged his cheeks and the tips of ears.

“You’re under the mistletoe so stop stalling and just kiss!” a shout came from somewhere in the small crowd.

Sweet Pea shot a glare in the heckler’s direction before he took a step closer as Y/N was still frozen in shock, reaching his hand to cup her cheek, gently tilting her head upwards to face him. His thumb smoothed over her warm cheek as he scanned her eyes for any form of protest--there was some hesitation but also a hefty amount of want. The same thumb ran over her lower lip now, his ring cold on her skin as he pulled her slightly bruised lip from between her teeth. Pea’s gaze left her lips, meeting hers and silently asking for her permission. After a nod, so small that only he would have seen, he brought his other hand up to her unoccupied cheek, guiding her face up so they met in the middle.

Sweet Pea wasted no time in pressing his lips to hers, unable to believe that this was happening and savouring the moment. Y/N broke out of a trance, bringing one arm up to wrap around his neck, threading her fingers through the short hairs at the nape of his neck, ensuring he would not pull away quite yet. It was too soon.

Her lips were on fire, but it was the sparks that spread from their connection through all the nerves in her body that racked her with shivers and set her akin alight. Her other arm settled against his chest, clenching the material of his jumper in her fingers as one of Sweet Pea’s found its place at her waist, pressing her against him, trying to get as much contact as possible.

And then Y/N began to move her lips in a gentle caress, Sweet Pea following suit. There was no rush or urgency, they had time but also a passion as they poured their love for one another into this kiss. The pair moved almost in opposites, caressing each other in turn. Y/N took a gasp of air so Pea seized the chance to run the tip of his tongue along her lower lip, not needing to deepen the kiss further, but savouring the feeling, her touch, her taste, when they were no longer connected. Y/N moved to wrap her other arm around his neck but a loud clearing of a throat registered, triggering Y/N to remember just where they were.

She leant her forehead against Sweet Pea’s chest, her cheeks turning even redder whilst her lungs were still trying to catch up, snickers beginning to filter through to her ears. How could she forget where they were? She probably would have allowed them to progress to a full-on makeout session, without intervention, completely oblivious to the audience they had gained.

Sweet Pea pressed a kiss to the top of Y/N’s head, the hand not on her waist smoothing through her hair. The contact of his skin sent a shiver down her spine, her body obviously not registering their audience.

Once she finally caught her breath and calmed down, she pulled away enough for Sweet Pea to press a small kiss to her nose. An involuntary grin took over her lips and stayed in place as she finally twisted her head to look at the Serpents gathered around.

A chorus of cheering and wolf whistles broke out. Toni still stood behind her, only now joined by Cheryl, who had wrapped an arm around her waist; the former wore an incredibly smug expression whilst the latter simply looked thoroughly entertained. Fangs, on the other hand, who stood a few metres from them, had a slightly childish pout on his face aimed solely at Toni.

“Told you I could do it tonight,” Toni simply said in answer to his expression. “You’re going to have to pay up.” She held her hand out, making a ‘gimme’ motion.

“I don’t have the money on me right now! I was so sure…” the last part seemed to only be spoken to himself.

“You bet on us!” Y/N cried indignantly, wrapping her arms around herself, interlocking her fingers with Pea’s at her waist.

“Only last week,” Toni placated, as if that made it any better.

“If it’s any consolation, Y/N,” Hog Eye spoke unexpectedly. He was leant casually against the wall behind the bar, a smug smile that rivalled Toni’s, adorning his face, “me and yer’ mom have had one going for years.”

“My mom!” Y/N was not angry, per se, but more frustrated with the fact that everyone seemed to have been in a secret conspiracy, even her mom.

“Just don’t tell her about all the mistletoe I put everywhere.” Hog Eye began to full-on belly laugh when Y/N’s eyes bugged out of her head. The rest of the bar, still listening, joined in too.

Y/N twisted back around to properly hug Sweet Pea, wanting to fully gauge his reaction. It seemed she was not alone in her embarrassment, but by the chuckles that were beginning to vibrate through his chest, he was finding the humorous side of things. Y/N sighed. She supposed it was all good-natured.

Y/N‘s gaze flickered over Sweet Pea’s face, taking in the small smile, the slight flush to his handsome features and the twinkle in his forest green eyes. He was truly gorgeous.

“I fucking love you,” she whispered to him, smoothing a lock of his hair back from where it had fallen into his face.

“And I fucking love you.”

[coolgreatwebsite]

Cool Games I Finished In 2019 (In No Real Order)

We’re here. The end of the decade. 2019 was a weird, turbulent year for me. Despite my cross-country move already being a year behind me somehow, nothing’s really settled yet. Living situation is still weird, still separated from most of my belongings, I left my full-time QA job for a contractor position at a mobile game advertising company that may or may not convert into a full-time position... everything about what’s going on with me still just feels like I’m completely winging it, and while that’s not a position I’m really comfortable being in for such an extended amount of time, everything seems to be working out okay enough despite it. All this is probably why I spent most of my time playing the shit out of a handful of games rather than playing a bunch of different games this year! Needed some sort of stability. Also when I did manage to pull myself away from the timesink games and play something else, a lot of them ranged from “okay” to “real bad”. But I still managed to play just enough stuff that I liked to where I can put out yet another one of these.  Here’s a bunch of cool games I experienced for the first time in 2019.

Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst (PC, 2005)

I haven’t bothered to do two thirds of the story quests yet and have barely touched any Episode 4 content so this game technically doesn’t count for this list, but if I left it off I would be neglecting to mention an extremely large portion of my video game playing time this year. I fell back into PSO preeeettty hard this year after the surprise announcement of Phantasy Star Online 2 finally coming to the US. Guess what: game still rules. It feels stiff to play and it’s obviously far less expansive than it seemed back in 2000, but the core of Phantasy Star Online is still as fun as it ever was and the aesthetics are still entirely my shit. I love everything about the way this game looks and sounds, I love stumbling on a weird new weapon, I love participating in the custom seasonal events the server I’m on runs, and I love how oddly relaxing the experience of playing this game and taking it all in is. I will probably continue to play Phantasy Star Online into 2020. I will probably still dip back into it after PSO2 US servers finally launch. If I know you and you want to join my Discord server for PSO get at me. PSO forever.

Cookie’s Bustle (PC, 1999)

You ever play a game that just speaks to you? Even through a language barrier? A game so incredibly out there and bizarre in the exact way you love that you can’t help but adore it despite barely understanding it? Holy moly did I ever find that game. I learned about Cookie’s Bustle through a news story last year about some rare games leaking from a Japanese collector’s stash. Didn’t manage to get it to run back then, but my off and on attempts to get it working finally paid off in March of this year and I’m so glad I kept trying. I knew nothing of this game other than it had a weird name and was about a bear doing sports, and it turned out to be a fully voice-acted and mostly unsubtitled adventure game starring Cookie Blair, a 5 year old girl from New Jersey who sees herself as a teddy bear and has traveled to Bombo World, an island nation once visited by aliens and currently in the middle of a civil war, to participate in the Bombo Sports Tournament. Dead level, I probably shouldn’t have been able to genuinely love Cookie’s Bustle as much as I did. The only context I had for what was happening and what I was supposed to do was provided by a 20-year-old Google translated walkthrough with broken images, the game’s slightly higher than usual reliance on English loan words, and 30-ish years of video games and anime allowing me to halfway pick up on a handful of Japanese words. However, Cookie’s Bustle is dripping with an undeniable and off-beat charm that genuinely transcends language. Even if you can’t understand the words and specifics, you can understand the basic plot, characterizations, and emotions they’re going for. Cookie’s Bustle manages to both be completely off-the-wall bizarre and feel totally genuine and heartfelt at the same time, a balance very few games manage to successfully hit but many of my favorites do. One could say that’s why it seems to have resonated with a decent amount of other people this year, too. Games rarely make me feel sad that they’re over. but when they do that’s how I know they’re one of the good ones. Seriously, go look up a longplay or stream of Cookie’s Bustle if you (understandably) don’t want to go through the hassle of setting it up and figuring out how to play it, it’s impossible not to love.

Devil May Cry 5 (PlayStation 4, 2019)

Here’s something crazy to think about: Devil May Cry 4 came out 11 years ago. Aside from being a potent reminder that time is moving too fast and we’re all going to die soon, that means that there hasn’t been a DMC for over a decade. Devil May Cry 5 does not bare this fact even a little bit. Not only did they pick up right where they left off and manage to make another Devil May Cry game without missing a beat, they made arguably the best Devil May Cry game. I mean I still like the story and single-character focus of DMC3 the best, but DMC5 is the best playing game in the series without a doubt. Nero finally feels like he has a complete and complex toolset, Dante is the most mechanically dense and fun to play he’s ever been, and they even added a new guy that’s... neat to play as, until you start trying to S-rank the harder difficulties. Then he’s kind of annoying to play as. But it’s still cool that they tried something totally different and mostly got it to work! They also did something very stupid that I love and used this game as an excuse to make literally every single piece of Devil May Cry media canon. Like, characters exclusively from the anime and the books show up and act like they’re someone you already know and love? And they go out of their way to explain the most esoteric lore shit possible?? And despite it all they still intentionally give DMC2 as short a shrift as they can??? It’s so dumb, it rules. It’s just one of the many things about the game that show that even with so long of a gap between entries, no love for the series was lost by the people that make it. I don’t think the suits at Capcom expected this game to hit as hard as it did though, because despite there being clear areas where the game could be expanded on with DLC there still hasn’t been anything announced. I hope they’re maybe saving it for some sort of DMC3-esque special edition, or maybe just already working on DMC6, because even after getting all S-ranks I still wanted to play more. The game’s just that damn good.

Hypnospace Outlaw (PC, 2019)

I expected very little from Hypnospace Outlaw. I backed the game on Kickstarter solely because it looked cool and I thought a game about fake GeoCities was neat, and then I immediately forgot about it until it released. Admittedly my lack of expectations stemmed mostly from the fact that it’s kind of hard to set expectations for a game you never really thought too hard about, but even in the brief period of time where I considered it enough to give it money, I never expected it to be much more than a pretty-looking 101 Great GeoCities Jokez delivery vehicle. Boy was I wrong. I mean, it is incredibly good at that, but Hypnospace Outlaw is so much more than a funny period piece. The basic premise is that you’re in alternate universe 1999 and have just become a community moderator for an Internet service provider that allows people to connect to the Internet while they sleep. You’re tasked with browsing the game’s weird fake Internet and issuing demerits to users who violate the five basic Hypnospace rules, but it quickly evolves into something way bigger. Hypnospace Outlaw’s greatest strength is its exceptional ability at weaving together subtle world building, small and engaging character arcs, esoteric microjokes, and a genuine sense of mystery and discovery into an incredibly cohesive and engaging package. It’s as much a game about the people that use and run its weird fake Internet as it is about that weird fake Internet itself. And a lot of the problems both face echo the problems we face with our real world Internet today. When I was mapping out writing this article like a month or two ago I was prepared to go on about how at its core, Hypnospace Outlaw is an incredibly poignant story about how uncaring tech corporations actively harm their users and always have, but then a couple of days ago I read Colin Spacetwinks’ game of the year list and his #1 entry put most everything I would have said about that topic down in a way more eloquent and well-written way than I ever could have. And then I remembered that Friend Of The Site Heidi Kemps covered some of the same angle but from the perspective of the early Internet in an article earlier this year, again way better than I could have. So I highly recommend you read those when you’re done here. What I wanna bring up instead is just how effortlessly surprising and interconnected a lot of stuff in Hypnospace feels, using a mildly spoiler-ish late game example. Two of the first “zones” you’re allowed to moderate when you start Hypnospace Outlaw are Teentopia and Goodtime Valley, which are essentially alternate universe Yahooligans and a little slice of Hypnospace just for Boomers respectively. On Teentopia you’ll see a bunch of kids that are wild for Squisherz, Hypnospace’s alternate universe version of Pokémon, and over in Goodtime Valley you’ll see (much like there was back in real world 1999) a few pages made by religious fundamentalists convinced that everything the kids like these days is the work of Satan. This of course includes Squisherz, and you can find a page by one organization full of crackpot conspiracy theories with flimsy evidence that TOTALLY DEFINITELY backs up their claim. Squisherz contains a wolf, which the Bible warns about many times! This giraffe monster CLEARLY has a pentagram in its design!! And the eye of this snake-like Squisherz is the eye of Horus, an Egyptian occult symbol and NEED I REMIND YOU that Lucifer took the form of a snake in the Garden of Eden!!! It is very clear what this page is goofing on and throughout the course of the game it doesn’t get updated at all, so it’s very easy to laugh at it and forget about it. Very late into the game, you get an optional sidequest. Adrian Merchant, one of the CEOs of Merchantsoft, the company that created Hypnospace, was found out to have logged traffic indicating he was a frequent visitor of a website called Children of HORUS, and a call is put out to investigate what that even is. You can easily find the website, but it asks you for a password if you click the Enter button. Adrian Merchant is consistently portrayed throughout the game as a complete idiot, and the solution to this puzzle has you capitalize on that. Another early game objective ended up with you finding a list of cracked passwords, and one of those passwords happens to be for the instant messenger account of Adrian Merchant. If you can remember that he was even in that text file from forever ago, and then put two and two together that of COURSE that dumbass would use the same password for everything, you just punch in his messenger password and you’re granted access to the Children of HORUS page. It turns out that HORUS is an acronym that stands for Hiding Occult References in Utmost Secrecy, and the page itself is a basic leaderboard with a list of names and two numbered columns reading “Hidden” and “Found”. In that list of names you’ll find A. Merchant, along with the names of various other CEOs and celebrities you might have read about elsewhere in Hypnospace. One of the other names on this list is F. Kazuma, the CEO of Monarch, creators of Squisherz. The funny conspiracy theory website from the beginning of the game that you most likely forgot about was, about this one specific thing, correct. There was an eye of Horus hidden on the snake from Squisherz. Not as any sort of Satanic plot, mind you, but only as part of some weird millionaire dickwaving contest. This dumb tiny revelation is not called out by the game at all and nothing comes of it, it’s just there for you to notice if you’ve been paying enough attention. Hypnospace Outlaw is LITTERED with stuff like this. Weird small interconnected things you wouldn’t expect to be interconnected. Little dumb things you wouldn’t expect to have any sort of payoff but somehow do. And it’s also just as chock full of big things. Having all the pieces fall into place at once to where I was able to access Hypnospace’s equivalent of the dark web was the best sequence in a game this year for me, even beating out the outlandish shit in DMC5. Getting and solving the final case was a rush. Hypnospace Outlaw is full of incredible moments big and small. It’s genuinely engaging and affecting, which is so much more than I was expecting from a game that was pitched to me as “Funny GeoCities Cop”. It almost has no right being so good. But it is. Hell, even the music rules! I didnt even get into that! I don't have enough time or space to get into that now! The music is so goddamn good! I know I started these lists because I had no interest in ranking games, but every year I sort of jokingly-but-not-jokingly say “haha this game sure would be my number one if I did that!” for at least one game. It’s time to fully lean into it. I don’t gotta rank ‘em all, but I can pick a favorite. Hypnospace Outlaw is my favorite game of 2019 with a goddamn bullet.

These games were also cool, I just had less to say about them:

Etrian Odyssey (Nintendo DS, 2007): Man, this series just started out good, huh? I dabbled with the first two games in college when I got a DS flashcart but never really dug in until EO4, and the first game is enjoyable in just about every way the modern ones are. Definitely more barebones and punishing though. Kero Blaster (PlayStation 4, 2017): This is a game by the creator of Cave Story that does not aim to be Cave Story, and that’s fine! A fun little shooter in its own right, though I do think the shooting in Cave Story felt a little better than it does here. Space Invaders Extreme (Nintendo DS, 2008): I played the shit out of this game in college thanks to that flashcart I mentioned before, but I never finished a playthrough in full until this year for some reason. Still way stylish and way fun! I need to get a copy of the second one... CROSSNIQ+ (Nintendo Switch, 2019): Incredibly chill puzzle game that can be as hard or easy as you want it to be. Almost uncanny in how well it emulates the style of late PS1/Dreamcast games. Super Mario Maker 2 (Nintendo Switch, 2019): Mario Maker 2 is kind of weird for me. It’s a solid improvement in a lot of aspects, but a clear regression in a lot of others. Also the online multiplayer is the second least amount of fun I’ve had with a video game this year (Secret of Mana swooped in and stole the number one slot near the end). Still, I had a lot of fun with it and I’ll probably end up going back to it eventually. Katamari Damacy Reroll (Nintendo Switch, 2018): The original Katamari Damacy is still every bit as fun and charming as it was upon its original release. This port is weirdly based on the Japanese version with the English text inserted, which means no English voice acting and Wanda Wanda only plays in the multiplayer mode. The Joycon sticks also aren’t the greatest for doing charge rolls. But none of these faults detract too much from the game. Bring on We Love Katamari Reroll! Earth Defense Force 5 (PlayStation 4, 2018): Sandlot somehow keeps finding ways to make each new EDF bigger and explodier, and EDF5 is the biggest and explodiest yet. I think the mission design in 4.1 was more solid overall, but 5 feels the best to play and has the most fun tools. Also the dialogue is the most absurd its ever been, and the final boss goes for it way harder than the series ever has. Pokémon Shield (Nintendo Switch, 2019): This game is honestly just okay, but leaving it off would again be neglecting a game I put a ton of time into this year. Pokémon Sword is fun in the way most Pokémon games usually are, and extremely half-baked in basically every other aspect. I’m still having a good time putting together teams and finding shinies and doing The Pokémon Thing regardless.

And that’s 2019 (and this decade) in the bag! I don’t know where anything’s going from here, but I’m going to ride it out as best as I can! I hope you do too! As always, thank you so much for getting to the bottom of all these words. I’m hoping to be in a more stable place mid-2020, and then I want to get back to all the things I haven’t had time to do. I want to get back to streaming, I want to write more dumb articles like The Best Babies, I want to do it all! I hope I will be able to do it all. Until then!

[sfthearts]

Serendipity part 4

Word count: 2090

Ok so before we begin, the timeline in this is off from real life. This is before Panic gets big, presplit, they’re starting to book small shows, only everyone’s in their early/mid 20’s instead of 18/19. You won’t see any band members in this story because I am too lazy to write band scenes and this miniseries is over soon anyway 🤪

Ok I think that’s my only note? Other than that, I never proofread any goddamn thing so as always if something doesn’t make sense lmk I wrote this broken up over like 3 different days so ya

Kbye enjoy 😊

—————————-

(Y/N’s POV)

“Wow, it’s really you! I can’t… I can’t believe this! What are the odds?!” Brendon says, bewildered that the girl he knew so long ago was right in front of him once more.

“This is insane! I never thought I’d see you again!” You agree with him through your giggles.

The shock of everything mostly sobered you up, but a bit of your buzz still stuck around.

“So! Tell me everything, what have I missed out on in the last decade and some without the lovely Y/N by my side? You look fantastic, by the way.”

Your stomach does a little flip, you blush and thank him, telling him how handsome he’s become as well.

Even though it had been so long, you felt just as comfortable talking with Brendon as the day you left town. You observe the tattoos on his forearm as you begin to talk. You tell him everything he requested, How your parents were doing these days, why you ended up here in the city, your job, and even past relationships. Brendon listened with full attention, capturing your every word in his mind. Even back then you recognized that Brendon genuinely cared about you, and it appears that hadn’t changed.

(Brendon’s POV)

“So what about you?! What’s been going on with you!” Y/N asks you excitedly.

“Well, where do I begin?”

You tell her all about your life since she left, how you left your parents religion, and how they hated that but ultimately repaired the relationship you had with them, your move to the city, the small band you were in that was starting to take off, enough to pay your rent at least, and everything in between. She looked at you like you were telling her the most important and interesting story ever told, and you loved it. Just like at the party, her eyes sparkled and you couldn’t get enough of them.

“Wow, So it looks like we’ve both missed out on eachother huh? Tell me more about this band! That’s so cool! You’ve always loved music, I’m so happy for you, Bren.” She says sincerely.

“Thank you. Yeah it’s a lot of fun! It’s myself and a couple of my friends, we mostly play local venues but people are really starting to catch on!” You gush. As she had pointed out, you had always loved music. This was your biggest dream, even if it was still on such a small scale right now.

“Brendon that’s amazing! So do you play an instrument or sing?” She asks. You tell her you do both, but primarily sing in the band.

“I didn’t know you could sing! I can’t wait to hear you sometime. When’s your next gig, I’m totally crashing it” She says while laughing.

“Next weekend! It’s at this little bar downtown, I’m not sure if that’s your scene or not…” you trail off somewhat anxiously. You really want her to go, but you wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t want to go to some sweaty bar just to see you perform.

“Of course I’ll be there! I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Hell, I’ve already missed so much.” She say quietly. You can tell she feels bad about not being around all those years ago. You pull her into a side hug and look down at her.

“Hey, don’t feel bad. You couldn’t help it, Honey. Plus you’re here now, so let’s go right now and make up for lost time!” You say excitedly, an idea forming in your mind.

She looks up into your eyes and you swear your heart stops beating for a second. God, she was so beautiful.

“What do you mean?” She asks. “My friend is still in there, I have to at least tell her I’m leaving and make sure everyone else showed up”

“That’s fine! Let’s go back in and then I’ll take us somewhere cool?”

She nods her head and you stand up, taking her hand and helping her up from the bench as well. She doesn’t remove her hand as you walk with her back to the entrance, so you don’t either. Your brain is going haywire with nerves, you’ve always loved this girl for who she was, funny and fearless and strong but still soft and sweet. These days she’s still all of that and more, plus she’s also added stunning to the list. You still couldn’t believe any of this was real. Even as you looked at the smiley girl walking next to you, her hand in yours. A small smile formed on your face when you looked down at her, she looked up and met your gaze.

“What are you smiling about?” She asks quizzically, still grinning herself.

“Nothing you need to worry about, little one.” You say back simply. She shrugs, continuing your walk to the back of the bar where her friend was seated, now joined by a larger group of girls.

“Hey I’m so sorry I ditched you, but this is Brendon. He actually was my childhood best friend and we reconnected tonight!” She explains to her friend, who’s eyes have now lit up with the new revelation. She waves Y/N off with a “no problem” and tells her that everyone showed up right about when we walked outside, so she wasn’t alone for long.

“Do you mind if I steal her away for the rest of the night? We just have a lot of catching up to do and this bar isn’t exactly the best place to do it.” You ask, and before the words can finish leaving your mouth, her friend has turned you both around and pushed you in the direction of the door.

“Have fun! Make good choices!” She yells after you, and you both take this as your cue to leave.

(Y/N’s POV)

“Soooo.. where are we going, B?” You ask once you’re in his car.

“I know this little spot... you know what, I’m going to keep it a surprise. Do you trust me?” He smiles a big, beaming smile.

You nod and grab his free hand. Without question, you trust him.

He nods approvingly at this and continues driving to your destination. As he drives, his thumb absentmindedly rubs back and forth on the top of your hand, and your heart flutters again. You’re crushing on this boy something SERIOUS, you admit to yourself. You silently pray that he felt the same way.

A song plays on the radio and Brendon begins singing along quietly. His voice is phenomenal!

“Holy shit Brendon! You sound so beautiful!” You tell him, he giggles the cutest giggle in the world and thanks you, saying you’re being way too kind.

“No, for real! I’m not just being nice, if you weren’t really that good I wouldn’t have said anything at all. You’re incredible, Bren. Really.” You insist, looking up at the side of his face now. His cheeks are slightly pink and he has a permagrin, the kind someone gets when they don’t want to get their hopes up, but can’t help it.

“Thank you. I really appreciate that.” He says sincerely, and you feel satisfied that he at least somewhat believes you now.

A yawn sneaks out of you and you try to cover it, but Brendon notices.

“Are you tired? You can fall asleep if you want, we’ve got maybe 20 minutes before we get there. O-or I can take you home? I don’t want to keep you out if-“

You stop him short with a smile. “No no, I’ll just take a little power nap. I’ll be fine I promise.” You tell him, squeezing his hand that was still in yours, which you certainly hadn’t forgotten about.

“Alright. Take a nap, I’ll wake you when we get there.” He says with a sweet smile on his face, and that’s the last thing you see before sleep washes over you. The sounds of his quiet humming and the soft music swirl around in your head as you drift away.

(Brendon’s POV)

She’s out cold in less than 5 minutes, and even in her sleep she’s still holding onto your right hand tightly. You look over at her sleeping figure and your heart nearly bursts.

“Oh man. Y/n why are you so damn adorable?” You whisper to yourself with a smile painted on your face.

You know if you told anyone how you felt right now, they’d say you’re crazy for feeling this way in just one night. You know it’s abnormal, and you know it’s a big risk putting your heart out there like you can already tell you’re going to by falling so hard so fast, but you can’t help it. They say when you know you know, and you absolutely know. Being with her already feels like what you always imagined finding “the one” to feel like. This scares the shit out of you, but you couldn’t be more giddy all at the same time.

A short while later, you arrive at your destination.

“Hey Honey, wake up, we’re here!” You say quietly while gently shaking her shoulder.

She stirs and blinks her eyes open, smiling when she sees you. You smile back.

“Hi Bear” she says, her voice soft and small.

“Hi Honey. Are you ready to get out of the car?” You ask her. She nods and unbuckles her seatbelt, releasing your hand from her grasp. Immediately, you miss the warmth and the contact, but probably wouldn’t ever admit that to anyone but yourself.

You reach in the back for the blanket you keep back there for emergencies and get out of the car. You jog to her side, opening her door before she has the chance. She looks up at you and laughs a little.

“My, what a gentleman!” She states as she stands up, stretching. “Where are we anyway?” She asks, looking around at your surroundings. On the surface, you had brought her to what looks like some regular public park outside the city.

“Come with me, there’s the most incredible view of the stars over the lake through this clearing.” You explain, reaching for her hand. She quickly gives it to you and you walk her to your favorite spot.

You would come here at night sometimes to think, or write music, or just be alone. It was your safe place, your place away from the noise and the lights of reality.

Placing the blanket down on the ground, you sit down and pat the space next to you for her to sit. Instead of taking that, she sits down right between your open legs and leans back into your chest. Your heart rate skyrockets, but you hope she doesn’t notice.

You point up at the sky and show her all the constellations that you’ve gotten to know over the past few years you’d been coming out here. She seems to soak up every word you say, which you love her even more for.

“I know you probably don’t care about this stuff but I’m glad you’re listening” you tell her. She shakes her head quickly

“No, no I’m enjoying this. So much, Brendon. Thank you.” She says, and you smile, telling her you’re happy to show her.

She turns around to look at you, neither of you saying a word. Quickly, your eyes dart to her soft looking lips and back up to her eyes. Something in them tells you to listen to your heart, so you do.

(Y/N’s POV)

You see Brendon’s eyes move swiftly from your eyes to your lips and back up, and you’re hoping with everything that he would just-

and his plump, perfect lips were on yours. You kiss him back as soon as you realize it was happening. It was soft and sweet, and his lips tasted like minty lip balm.

You feel him smile into the kiss, making you smile too. You pull back and break the kiss, both of you grinning and blushing deeply.

“You kissed me” you say, smile still plastered on your face.

“You kissed me back, I was so scared you didn’t like me back like that but I had to take a chance and try because I’d regret it forever if I didn’t…” he trails off, as he realizes he’s nervously rambling. You’ve noticed he has a habit of doing that. You beam up at him and lightly brush your hand along the side of his face.

“I’m so glad you did.”

[neoduskcomics]

What Star Wars Means To Me

I was twelve years old when I saw Star Wars end. I was sitting between my dad and my brother at a screening of Revenge of the Sith, a movie that my prepubescent mind had convinced itself was the greatest thing it’d ever seen.

The movie’s climactic battle had come to an end, and as I watched the final scenes play out, I could feel the film’s looming departure steadily but surely setting in. In the movie’s last moments, Owen and Beru looked out into the binary sunset, cradling their new baby nephew, with John Williams’ score emotionally building toward the final credits, and a hollow emptiness began to overwhelm me. Episode III was coming to a close, and with it, so too would end the saga of Star Wars. Something that had brought so much happiness, so much excitement, so much magic into my life was now ending before my eyes. Everyone knew that there wouldn’t be another prequel or sequel or anything else. This was it—these final frames all-too-quickly spinning past the projector. In just a few seconds, it seemed that Star Wars would be gone forever.

As I left the theater with my brother and my dad, they started up a discussion about what we had just watched, but I was too emotionally drained to join in. It was hard for me to come to grips with the fact that the Star Wars movies were really done with. Sure, Star Wars itself would still go on in some form. The Clone Wars cartoon was enjoyable. And they started making those cool-looking Force Unleashed games, too. Plus, there were the comics and the books and all sorts of other stories being made.

But it just wasn’t the same. You could write a thousand books, make a thousand TV shows and develop a thousand video games filling in whatever nooks and crannies the films overlooked in the Star Wars canon, but they would never, ever be a substitution for sitting in that theatre and seeing the quiet fade-in of the words “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...”

When the movies left, it was like a bit of magic had left the world, too. And between the ages of seven and thirteen, that magic inspired me. It made me read and create and imagine more than any time I spent at school ever did. Whenever a new movie came out, I fantasized about what the next one might be like. And when the movies ended, I fantasized about what a whole new Star Wars trilogy might be about. Maybe it would follow Luke creating a new Jedi Order, or maybe it would take place thousands of years before the prequels and show us the origins of the Jedi and the Sith. I hoped and dreamed and wondered, but I knew how unlikely it all was. Lucas would never make another movie, let alone give Star Wars to someone else so that they could go on to make an Episode VII. And so, Star Wars, as much as I continued to love it, slowly faded from my life. There was no use crying over spilt blue milk. Star Wars was done, and it wasn’t coming back.

And then I heard that Disney bought Star Wars and that they were going to make an Episode VII.

At this point, I’d like you to recall the scene at the end of Ratatouille where the evil food critic Ego takes a bite of Remy’s titular cuisine, and then suddenly he’s transported back in time to a moment in his childhood when he could still feel the warm embrace of love and happiness, and the cold, melancholic ice that once encased his withered heart melts away in a matter of seconds, restoring life and wonder to his old, bony body. Do you remember that scene? Because that is exactly what I felt like when I heard this news.

And I am not hyperbolizing here; I was literally shouting with jubilance when I heard that there would be an Episode VII. I can scarcely recall another moment in my life when I felt that level of genuine, startling happiness. It was like throughout all those years of Star Wars’ absence, all those years of resignation, a repressed excitement for the franchise was building up within me, never surfacing, never finding the right opportunity to ignite, but steadily rising and rising in pressure. And then, on that day, at that moment, upon hearing those words, all of that pent-up excitement just exploded out of me like a volcanic eruption. I didn’t know who was making this supposed Episode VII or what it would be about or when it was happening or even if it would be any good. None of that mattered. Star Wars was back, and I was going to celebrate like the Empire had just fallen.

Flash forward to the holiday season a couple years later, and even the non-geeks could see that the franchise had been reawakened in full force (get it, awakened, force, see what I did there). Star Wars logos, T-shirts, cups, toasters, mugs, toys, Lego sets and waffle irons filled the stores and display windows. Star Wars really, truly was back. What a fucking exciting time it was. I couldn’t help but just let all that giddiness get to me. There was magic in the air, and it wasn’t the magic of Christmas, but rather the magic of mystical techno samurai flying across solar systems to murder each other with glow sticks. Holy shit. Star Wars was back. STAR WARS WAS BACK. The hype was real, and it was everywhere.

But with that hype came an extreme and sustained spike of nervousness and skepticism. Criticisms of every new bit of information spread like fire throughout the interwebs. Did you see that weird new lightsaber? Is that another Death Star? Doesn’t that character just look like a rip-off of this other character?

After all, people loved Star Wars, and they couldn’t stop themselves from asking if this revival would live up to their expectations. Would The Force Awakens be a worthy successor to the franchise—a true return to form after decades of waiting for a real sequel to Jedi? Or would this simply be another prequel trilogy to dash the fans’ expectations and burn everything they loved about the series to the ground, buoyed only by the parallel stories of fans and creators determined to make sure Star Wars lived on? Lucas had failed us for the last time. People needed something GOOD.

The Force Awakens destroyed at the box office. Unadjusted for inflation, it became the highest-grossing film ever to hit American theaters, and the third highest-grossing film ever to hit the world. It was released to critical acclaim and massive audience approval. Abrams had done it. He had made a new Star Wars movie that both he and the fans could be proud of. All that hype was justified. All that waiting paid off. Star Wars wasn’t just back, it was good again. Great, even.

But as people celebrated Episode VII’s monetary and critical triumph, and as memes and excited chatter spread across the web, a notably large group of people simply did not feel that The Force Awakens met the standards they had set for it. To the point that they began to convince others that it was actually a bad, perhaps the worst ever, Star Wars movie.

And I’ll be honest—even I wasn’t sure how to feel about The Force Awakens when I first saw it. There was so much pressure on it to be good, and I was spending so much of the film’s runtime questioning whether or not I liked it, that I don’t think I was really, genuinely experiencing it. The movie felt like such a self-contradiction. It was so weirdly, at times even jarringly similar to the Original Trilogy, and at other times it was so strangely and uncomfortably different from it. The Resistance? That’s just the Rebellion. Starkiller Base? That’s just the Death Star. Kylo Ren? He’s not as threatening as Vader. Rey? She’s not as relatable as Luke. Part of me thought it was great, but another part of me felt terribly, soul-wearingly conflicted. I had to search my feelings about this film long and hard before I would be ready to draw a final conclusion about how it fit into the series.

It wasn’t until I saw it again a week later—when the crushing weight of all that pressure and anxiety and anticipation had time to dissolve—that I felt as though I was truly watching the movie for the first time. I was relaxed, passive, and ready to be entertained. I already knew what the movie was. I already knew what was going to happen. There was no more nervously waiting and watching to see what would become of my beloved franchise, what new things they were introducing to it, what old things they were keeping, and whether any of it was any good. I could just sit back and accept the film for what it was. And this time, I absolutely adored it.

The Force Awakens is in no way a perfect movie—far, far from it. But it was a miraculous work of Star Wars storytelling that won over both audiences and critics with its skillful direction, clever writing, compelling characters, great sense of humor and warm spirit.

Yes, TFA was closely and purposefully tailored to the original movies, but it was so, so much more than just another adventure film about a desert-inhabiting youth taking off to explore the galaxy and blow up giant space stations. It was a tale of friendship, hardship, humanity, and facing your darkest fears. It was about Rey struggling to look beyond the unknown terrors that lied before her—to confront her destiny and take up the lightsaber so that she could protect her new family. It was about Finn embracing his own humanity and working up the resolve to fight that which he spent the whole movie trying desperately to get away from. It was about Han reaching the culmination of his character’s growth from self-absorbed, smarmy money-grubber who ran from danger to a damaged and guilt-ridden father who renders himself both physically and emotionally vulnerable in order to save his son’s very soul.

Every relationship feels meaningful. Every dramatic revelation feels earned. Every joke hits. Every effect is dazzling and eighty percent of the time completely practical, which is why this movie will look far better in ten years than the prequels do now.

Poe and Finn are two of the most likeable characters to ever grace Star Wars cinema, and it’s no wonder that everyone wants them to be a couple when they had such an amazingly fun first date. Kylo Ren freezes a fucking blaster bolt in mid-fucking-air with the goddamn Force. BB-8’s thumbs up made every audience I saw the movie with burst into laughter. Poe blows up, like, fifteen TIE fighters in a row, followed by Finn shouting “That’s one hell of a pilot!” not even knowing at this point in the movie that Poe is still alive. The scene where Rey touches Luke’s lightsaber and is thrust into an acid trip of Force visions is both terrifying and mesmerizing. The two guards steadily backing away from Kylo Ren’s temper tantrum is adorable and hysterical. That moment when an emotionally distressed Kylo Ren struggles to pull Luke’s lightsaber from the snow, only to see it zoom past him and be dramatically caught by Rey as John Williams’ iconic score begins to build is fucking fantastic. And Han’s final confrontation with his son is so horrifically tense, and so well-executed and fitting as a conclusion to Han’s story that the internet, as liable as it was to do so, miraculously did not explode with blinding rage when it found out that Abrams had killed off one of the series’ most beloved characters.

Is there reason to be skeptical about the direction of the franchise? Yes. Is Disney perpetrating some worrisome behavior with their successive hiring and subsequent firing of every prospective director they get ahold of? Yes. Will Star Wars just become another MCU where we get two to three new movies every year and they all kind of begin to just meld together without any sense of consequence or meaningful continuity between installments? Maybe.

But I just can’t bring myself to think about that sort of thing right now. And maybe it’s not even really useful to think about it like that at all. Because regardless of what I or anyone reading this thinks, all that stuff is basically out of our hands. Maybe Star Wars will become stale and burned out after a few years of sequels and spinoffs. Or maybe, after establishing their new claim to the franchise with a few safe movies, the company will start to be more willing to experiment with new styles, stories and characters. I mean, with that completely new trilogy on the horizon, it does appear to be where this ship is headed.

But, who knows. Speculation is all we have. And all I can really say for absolute certain right now is that, for the moment, I have Star Wars in my life again, and I’m going to cherish it for as long as I can. Because I spent ten years in a world without Star Wars, and I have a lot of love left in me to give the franchise before I burn out, as a lot of other people seem to have already unfortunately done. I’d rather not go into the future of this series revival already prepared to hate the new Han Solo movie or Rian Johnson’s new trilogy or whatever else might come our way.

Because at the end of the day, despite the way many fans and even some past creators have treated it, Star Wars, pure and simple, is about joy. And when we live in a world that’s so filled with dread, fear, corruption, terror, hatred and downright tragedy, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to just let yourself give into something like Star Wars. I don’t mean to say we should just unconditionally love everything with the Lucasfilm logo on it, but maybe just recognize that sometimes it’s more valuable to be open and understanding and willing to love something than it is to be skeptical, critical, nitpicking and pessimistic, especially with something that is so widely adored and cherished the world over.

Maybe people won’t like The Last Jedi. Maybe they won’t like the Han Solo movie, either. Or maybe they’ll love them. But Star Wars isn’t any individual film. It’s a part of our culture, a symbol of the human spirit’s fascination with adventure, mysticism and the battle between good and evil. It means a billion different things to a billion different people and spans generations.

My dad once told me that when he used to take my brother and I to the toy store—years ahead of The Phantom Menace being unveiled—he was shocked to see that Star Wars toys still lined the shelves when a new movie hadn’t been made in well over a decade. But that’s what Star Wars is. It might have peaks and valleys, and there might be times when it feels like it’s all but left us, but in reality, it never really ends. It’s an invaluable part of human history whose effects will be felt for generations to come, and right now, it’s thriving in a way that nobody has seen in years.

We owe it not just to the franchise but to ourselves to enjoy every moment of it. Because Star Wars is the very embodiment of love, joy, hope, humor and adventure. Because Star Wars is a reminder that sometimes it’s okay to just let yourself be a kid again. Because while everything can be going wrong in the real world, Star Wars will always see to it that the light triumphs over the dark. Because while life is tragically short and full of hardship, Star Wars is forever.