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starry-eyed-extraterrestrial · 2 months

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A little fic that I wrote under the cut, I'm strictly posting this to prove to myself that not everything has to be perfect when it comes to my writing. Vince/Mick implied (kinda) and cursing warning.

“Dude, what the hell happened to your hair?”

Mick is broken from his restful state by the grating voice of Vince Neil.

He'd been minding his own business after their first show together in years. The red, white and crue tour looked like it was going to do well if the sold out venues suggested anything and he was feeling pretty good about everything they've accomplished thus far so he decided that a bit of a victory nap (read: pass out) on the couch of the dressing room would be fine, so he nodded off a bit.

He then processes what Vince said.

“What?” He replies dumbly, confused.

“What is going on with your hair?” Vince repeats while pointing his finger towards his own hairline to imply to Mick to look at his own hairline there.

“What do you mean?” Mick raises a brow, reaching for his hat only to realise that his hat wasn't on his head anymore.

He scans the floor frantically to find it laying strewn on the ground about seven inches away.

Vince laughs, amused by Mick's panic.

“Um, do you mind getting my hat for me?” Mick asks, too embarrassed to remember to be grumpy about being woken.

Vince picks it up but holds the top hat hostage with the advantage of standing and not having a crippling bone disease.

“Not until you tell me what's up with your hair, you try something different and it didn't work?” Vince chuckles, holding the hat close to his chest playfully.

Mick sighs wearily, looks like he wouldn't be getting that victory nap after all.

“What the hell are you talking about Neil?” Mick asks,annoyed that this conversation wasn't getting him any closer to going back to sleep.

“The colour man”

“What colour?” Mick is genuinely confused as to what his singer is on about, he's starting to think that Vince is asking him something completely different in reality but because of just waking up his tired brain was just interpreting this conversation very weirdly.

“The ginger”

Mick pulls a face before realisation sets in.

Fuck, his roots were starting to grow out.

He guesses that he just hadn't noticed because he's always wearing hat's…and he's not really a fan of looking at himself in the mirror.

“Oh yeah, I'm due a touch up, my roots are probably just growing out is all” Mick says holding his hand out expectantly for Vince to hand over his hat.

Vince doesn't budge.

“No fucking way dude, there is no way that you've been a ginger this whole time and I didn't know.”

“Well believe it” Mick leans forward making grabbing motions towards his hat. Instead of Vince giving him his hat he sits down next to Mick on the couch, still keeping the hat from Mick's reach.

“Abso-fucking-lutely not, there is no way.” Vince says unconvinced and obviously in the mood to bust Mick's balls, which Mick doesn't appreciate.

He should have expected this kind of behaviour from the blond, he'd known him for over twenty years so he knew something minerly inconvenient like this would happen, it's always something with not just Vince but with all the guys.

No matter how sober or ‘good’ they got their innate need for chaos would never truly disappear, but that's one of the reasons Mick loved the band so much.

It was never boring.

What he didn't expect Vince to do was reach a free hand out and thread his fingers though the thin faded hair on his scalp.

Mick's first instinct is to tense, a sudden violent flashback of when Nikki had ripped out a chunk of his hair flashes in his mind. And he knows it's irrational and a completely different decade at this point and a whole different person to Nikki (and hell even Nikki himself was quite pleasant as of late) so he tries to play off the illogical spasm as surprise.

He's not quick enough apparently as Vince takes notice almost immediately.Vince is the master of body language after all.

“Sorry man” the playful edge wanes a bit, as his movements become subtly more gentle. When his hand is comfortably seated he starts scratching.

And Mick is absolute putty in his hands, the gentle unintentional scalp massage he's getting while Vince playfully checks if his hair is real makes his brain short circuit for a moment. He's not used to somebody touching his hair like this.

Embarrassingly enough Mick finds himself nodding off again, his exhaustion from the show, his nap being interrupted and now the intentional scalp massage all elements to why he suddenly thought that falling asleep sounded great.

He leans back to how he was lying down (sitting down) before and for a second he's almost gone again.

Then he hears a snort and a chuckle that snaps him out of it.

“Ya like that Mickey~” Vince teases and pulls his hand away. Mick feels his face turn bright red.

“Fuck off Neil, go bother one of the other guys.” Mick says,trying to hide embarrassment with anger.

Vince gets up but not before winking at him.

“Ya know what I think I will, Nikki owes me twenty bucks.”

“How come?” Mick asks embarrassment, momentarily forgotten.

Vince answers while making his way to the door out of the dressing room. “I bet him about twenty years ago that you were soulless and now that I know your a ginger, my theories fucking confirmed”

Mick gives Vince a deadpan look, too end all deadpan looks, and if looks could kill, Vince would be dead where he stood.

Vince just laughs and he's out the door without another word.

It's only when Mick is comfortably settled again that he realises that Vince took his hat with him.

#my writing #wrote this in like half an hour so it's probably no good #like i didn't even proofread #I'll probs delete this out of pure shame later lol #hope this makes any sense at all

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postmodernmulticoloredcloak · 10 months

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Good Omens 2 Episode 5: Pride and Prejudice and demons (and a guardian angel)

I’m not sure I have anything insightful to say about this episode, as I’m mostly giddy about it. Crowley is the main character in this episode, faced with a series of moments that force him to process things and make decisions.

Ironically, Aziraphale is busy with organizing his Jane Austen soirée, serenely inside his comfort zone, having to deal with absolutely like-minded people - shop owners like him, people he can bribe with rare books he owns (i.e. people whose tastes and interests he perfectly understands), queer people.

But his evening goes to hell - literally - and Crowley’s evening goes to heaven. Which is pretty much the same thing, albeit opposite.

I imagine that, just as this episode was about Crowley processing some feelings and taking a huge decision, the next episode will be about Aziraphale processing some feelings and taking a huge decision.

I will never stop vibrating with the love I have for Crowley, who cares so much and is so nice but he’ll tell everyone he’s not (I caught the moment when he calls himself neither nice or a lad, Neil Gaiman) because he doesn’t think he deserves to be.

It took him so long to accept that he deserves to call Aziraphale his best friend! It took him so long to accept he deserves Aziraphale’s friendship! He who has so much love in him. Fans have imagined what Crowley’s feelings about Gabriel telling “Aziraphale” to shut up and die would be, and now that has made the text, and it’s exactly what we expected.

I love how Crowley is framed as Aziraphale’s... guardian angel. Not just in this episode, of course, but this episode makes very deliberate choices in how Crowley is positioned in the frames when the two of them visit the shops, and of course there’s the scene where he confronts Gabriel, and then his decision to literally go to heaven to save the day. Crowley has been Aziraphale’s guardian angel ever since they were both angels and Crowley shielded Aziraphale from the sun with his wing, and becoming a demon never changed that... in fact he made him a better protector for Aziraphale.

A guardian angel that Aziraphale doesn’t really need (he can make his own plans!) but Crowley wants to be, and Aziraphale loves that Crowley loves to do it. The line “But rescuing me makes him so happy” will live forever printed in my brain.

Crowley’s character resolution will be allowing himself to acknowledge he can and is what he denies himself to be and do. He says we don’t dance, but then he dances, as Aziraphale pulls him into the ball. He says he’s not nice, but he is all the fucking time, trying to hide it with his grumpy esterior and failing at it as soon as people get to know him a little.

And Aziraphale... personally, I hope he gets to commit at least one act of extreme violence before the end of the story. As a treat.

#good omens #good omens spoilers #good omens meta #my good omens thoughts #good omens 2x05

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palmettofoxesthings · 7 years

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I’m worried about your coffee dependency...

Um this is unedited and I wrote it a while ago I’m not 100% sure what happens anymore. Opps? Sorry for inactivity, I’ve been having feelings and yeah led to a life off social media for a while. Anyway, happier things.

So Matt is super nice and takes shifts from coworkers who have essays etc due if they have a night shift so they can do them

And it just works out that a lot of people wanna switch their shifts with him cos they all have assignments due

And Matt really regrets his choice

Like he wants to sleep. And see his girlfriend. And the morning.

He’d really fucking love to see morning again

(It’s for the greater good, he tells himself, but what greater good? Certainly not his grades)

But alas he has about ten nights shifts over the next two weeks and an abundance of assignments due that he’s just not gonna get done

He already vaguely recognises Neil from other shifts as he does a lot of the students cos you learn what people look like working at the 24 hours campus coffee shop

There are a few other regulars he sort of knows but there are honestly so many people he doesn’t really keep that many of them in his mind

But then Neil comes in and it’s 1 am and it’s pretty standard for students pulling all nighters to come for coffee at that time or sum long home after a night out

And he looks a bit off. He’s slightly pale and shaking a little and in a huge ass hoodie but it’s cold out so Matt puts it down to that

And Neil orders a double espresso. And then he hesitates when Matt asks him if he wants anything else and goes ‘actually make that two’ and Matt just nods like uh huh fine probably had an assignment due and needs to get it done

And Neil takes his coffee over to one of the corner tables and pulls out a laptop

And it’s ten minutes later Neil orders another two and matts just like okay must be a super important assignment

After an hour or so Neil gets a phone call and packs up and leaves without ordering another coffee

Matt sees a short blond waiting outside the entrance to the shop who seems to be really annoyed at the kid in the ginormous hoodie and they leave together

And Matt just shrugs cos it’s not the strangest thing he’s ever seen a student do

But what is strange is when Neil comes back at 3am seemingly looking over his shoulder all the time. Matt vaguely wonders if he’s looking for the blond who came by earlier but actually just asks neil what he wants. Which this time is a triple shot latte cos why not coffee is coffee and Andrew only said no more espressos

Neil stays sat there till long after the athletes have stared rolling in and the early lectures have begun

(Cos Andrew knows his boy and also Kevin is a night owl and told him)

(They’re all minorly concerned about him)

Matt had finished his shift around 5am and gone back to see Dan before classes started

When they go to get coffee together at lunch time Matt gets concerned when he sees Neil still hunched in his corner surrounded by scraps of paper and screwed up balls and Matt really wants to know what the hell this kid is working on

But he also needs his time with dan so they order and go sit down

Neil gets a text and looks really super alarmed by it and packs up super quickly with fleeting glances to the door every few seconds

And when everything has been hastily shoved into the bag and almost sprints out of the door

Boy forgot his class was about to start. Also Nicky was warning him Andrew was looking for him

Matt’s not on a shift again that night so he doesn’t know if Neil turned up again or not. He’s curious but he brushes it off cos he really needs to get this assignment done

(Neil is there again. In the same hoodie. Looking slightly paler than last night)

And drinking double espressos till Andrew comes to drag him home to sleep

Neil does not, in fact, sleep

The next two shifts Matt has Neil isn’t there. He hopes this is a good thing because last time he saw the kid walking around campus he was looking a little like a zombie to be honest

Matt also hopes this doesn’t mean he’s just been going at more normal hours of the day cos that would also be bad

It’s Friday night that Matt next sees neil

It’s 2:53 and Matt has had nothing to do for the past hour or so save for one English student who was getting really tired of Shakespeare and needed caffeine to finish Othello for the millionth time

He ordered a double espresso. Then a double latte. Matt felt bad for the girl

So Neil turns up. And this time he’s in a new hoodie. But it’s black and again it’s too big for him. He accidentally picked up Kevin’s on his way out so this time to like wayyyyy too big for him

And Neil looks like absolute death. 💀 like this

The other one is actually andrew’s tho

He has huge dark bags under his eyes

And Matt is like ok this is not good

But Neil only orders one double espresso this time and actually gets a cup of water to drink as well

So Matt feels slightly less bad about giving this small child (cos he is v small) coffee when he’s also having water

What he does not realise is that the water is to clean a cut on his knucles

So Neil squirrels himself away in a corner out of sight with a wad of tissue and cleans the cut

And then drinks the coffee

Matt doesn’t see Neil again for another half hour. Which is definitely an improvement on the last time he was in the shop

He gets a latte this time and gets us to go

And then another espresso and downs that before leaving

Hush child all in good time

Matt is beginning to get concerned

Especially when he goes to clear the table and sees the water not drunk and a bloody tissue on the floor

Neil thought he’d cleared it all

Ok it was an accident

So when Neil comes in the next night and Matt is working he finally says something more than what can I get you

‘Y'know, man cannot live on coffee alone’

'Man can damn well live on coffee’ is Neil’s response

And Matt can’t decide if that grey hoodie he wears is getting baggier or if it’s his imagination

'You look like death, man, what’s your name?’ Matt

'Thanks. I definitely come to the coffee shop for beauty tips’ neil replies monotonously

Matt is not perturbed tho cos it’s Matt and he’s amazing

Seriously though what’s your name. You’re in here so much I feel like I ought to be able to call you something

'Ok, something it is’

Matt frowns at this ball of grumpy in front of him

And thus I sleep

Sorry kid

So Matt is frowning at the smile ball of grumpy in front of him

And wondering what on earth he has done to piss the kid off so much

But he makes the coffee and watches Neil squirrel away in the same corner he always does. Just out of sight but not quite fully this time

And he can just see a bandage poking out of Neil’s left sleeve

And he frowns even more cos his ball of grumpy (no he is not going to call this kid something when he has his own much more accurate description of his own)

His ball of grumpy is hurt and he doesn’t know why and he wasn’t hurt when he came in yesterday so what on earth happened

Except he was and Matt just didn’t see as we know

The next time Neil comes in Matt opens with 'I’m worried about your coffee dependency’

And Neil just stares at him levelly.

'My name is neil’ orders his espresso and walks away

Matt if dumbfounded. Where did that come from. He is so confused

Matt isn’t sure what to say to Neil for the rest of the time he’s there. The kid is too many contradictions (well, he thinks so anyway, not that they’ve really had enough conversations for it to really be something he can say) but he just seems like the walking conundrum type to Matt

The short blond appears again that night to Matt’s surprise. He’d almost forgotten the kid existed since he hadn’t seem him since the first time, but now he’s kind of cowering behind his counter with the glare the kid is wearing and wondering what on earth Neil might have done to piss him off so much. He was now also worried for Neil’s continued life, not just his coffee dependency.

So he moves to intervene when Neil looks up like a deer caught in headlights at the other kid but then as matt approaches he sees that the glare in Andrew’s eyes has softened, only a little, and that Neil doesn’t seem to be scared of him so he kind of just lets it be but stands back close enough to be able to intervene in case something happens

So Matt is lingering behind them and he watches as Andrew reaches out his hand toward Neil’s hurt one but pause before he touches it

He doesn’t hear what he says but we all know that he’s asking for permission

and Andrew slowly unwraps the bandage and Neil’s knuckles are all bloody and Andrew just closes his eyes and leads Neil out of the shop

Matt doesn’t see Neil for a while after that

he’s spotted him around campus a couple of times but never in the right place for him to call him and say hi, they’re both always been rushing somewhere

so when he hears a story from a coworker about the kid with the weird caffeine addiction at 3am he decides it’s time to take more night shifts again

and so Neil comes in as he always does. but this time he has come in with the blond whose name Matt still doesn’t know (he learns it’s Andrew) and a tall dark haired boy who towers over them both

Honestly Matt finds it a little funny how they look together but he does not comment because he is scared of Andrew if he’s being honest with himself

Andrew orders his coffee, and Kevin gets some healthy thing that honestly Matt doesn’t really know how to make but whatever he’ll go with it, And Neil orders his two double espressos (by this point Matt knows to just put them in the same damn cup cos it won’t change how quickly the damn kid drinks them)

'I’m still concerned about your caffeine addiction’

'I thought it was a dependency’ Neil responds and Matt is kind of just like uh what how does the kid remember that I don’t understand what what how

'I think it’s both’ Matt shrugs as he makes the drinks. Neil sends Kevin and Andrew over to his usual table and leans on the counter to talk to Matt

Well, he leans on the counter to hum in response to Matt, same thing right>

Matt slides the drinks over a tray with a glass of water as well. Neil picks up the glass of water between two fingers and stares at it quizzically. Matt just sighs and says 'drink the water or I refuse to serve you’ and Neil is like the fuck man what why are you doing this what did I ever do to you ugh you’re worse than Andrew and I don’t even know you

But Neil takes the drinks and stares Matt down as he drinks the water first and then moves onto the coffee

when matt sees that neil has finished the water he is satisfied and walks back over tot he counter

he positions himself so he can still see the group but not so that it’s obvious

he watches and neil pulls out his laptop and starts typing away furiously

he is actually doing an essay this time

so are andrew and kevin

I say essay, he’s working on some super complex math revision for his exam, Andrew and Kevin are writing the essays

but they would have been happy to write them in the dorms

they just came out to make sure neil didn’t kill himself on the amount of caffeine he’s been consuming

Matt slowly worms his way into neil’s life bit by bit

andrew doesn’t glare at him any less

but he appreciates that while matt is serving the caffeine, he is at least trying to make neil drink water at the same time

then neil comes in and he looks really scared and now matt isn’t worried about his caffeine dependency as he tells neil every time he comes into the shop

he’s worried about actual neil

which to be fair he always has been but now

neil is so much thinner than he used to be and he looks like he wants to run

and matt sees blood

everywhere

but there’s too much of it to all be neil’s and him still be standing so some of it must be someone else’s

but matt can’t put the pieces together properly in his head so instead he follows neil to his usual tables

and he follows the instructions from neil to turn off the lights

and to duck down behind the table

and then he sees someone with a flashlight walking by

ad they’re shining the light into the coffee shop

and he ca . hear neil’s breathing start to get weaker

and matt is now concerned on immeasurable levels

and there’s a concentration of blood coming from his abdomen and matt is like oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck

so he fumbles and grabs some napkins from the stand nearby while trying not to be seen by anyone outside

but when he pulls his phone out to call 911 neil knocks it out of matt’s hand

and matt is just like ok ok no phones great wonderful what the fuck

but neil pulls his own phone out

and he calls 911 himself

and he just stares matt dead in the eyes and says 'my phone is secure’

and now matt is confused beyond epic proportions

because um ok? Who the hell knows about secure lines anyway

and why does this caffeine addicted/dependent ball of grumpy need or have one

but he takes the phone anyway and talks to the person on the end of the line

but then he realises that neil didn’t actually call 911

he called andrew

who is now preparing to storm down to the coffee shop armed with someone named Abby? Matt thinks and he’s making it sound like he knows what he’s doing but honestly matt is just like

ummmmm

what is happening

so Abby gets there with Andrew but she can’t do anything properly to help

so she has to take him to the hospital

matt and andrew are there when neil wakes up

andrew doesn’t say anything

but matt does. He’s concerned

'how are you?’

but neil doesn’t answer that question

instead he just looks at the boht, and the bandage around his chest

and says

'see, my caffeine addiction saved my life

and matt is spluttering indignantly

and Andrew just says 'junkie’

and matt is in a state of disbelief

and he is still confused as to what is actually going on

but it doesn’t seem like either andrew or neil are going to be very forthcoming with answers

so for now he just settle with the idea from neil that maybe they should hang out some time

when matt isn’t serving him coffee

and from his little ball of grumpy, matt considers that a win

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palmett-hoes · 3 years

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hello!!!! how do u feel about the pairing of kevin day and allison reynolds, if u dont mind me asking

uuuhhhhhhhhhhh,,,

in all honesty i have very few thoughts on the matter

like i've scrolled past the handful of fics for them and seen maybe one fan art and just kinda went "okay" and moved on

it doesn't really do much for me, though i can definitely respect bi4bi relationships

so i did spend a little extra time thinking on it to answer this ask, and my conclusion is that i don't think it would really be a stable, healthy relationship, which is usually what i talk about when i talk about good ships bc i'm a romantic and a coward who tends to only like ships that i think should get married and grow old together

to comment on their dynamic though, i think they could be good bitchy, judgemental friends and i think allison would be a good person to pull kevin out of his head and force him out of his comfort zone and away from exy. as a romantic relationship though? i think she would steamroll him

look, i love allison, but she's a ball-buster tbh it's part of the reason i love her, she's totally unapologetic

we see it with seth, and later a little bit with neil, too: allison does not tip-toe around your problems, and she's not nice about confronting them either. she throws them right in your fucking face and she doesn't give a shit if you can't handle it. and then in return, she expects the same back. she likes to yell and she isn't afraid of being yelled at

in fact, the thinks that the yelling and the insults is all a part of airing out grievances. she's from a very stuffy, uptight world where no one actually says what they think, where issues never get addressed head-on and where resentment can fester underneath a smile for years or even generations

her attitude is a direct response to the superficial, two-faced world of the super-rich. it's a powerful statement of her own identity and individuality, and to her it's the most direct and most effective way to solve problems

unfortunately, this also means that her relationships with other people are going to be ROCKY

when she's upset, her focus is on feeling and expressing all of her emotions in the moment, not preserving someone else's. she doesn't care about harmony and she doesn't care about the long-term consequences of her words, but she also probably hits a lot of nerves that don't blow over in a day. just because she doesn't internalize insults doesn't mean everyone is like that

allison and seth had an explosive relationship, but they seemed to be on the same page about this, and it's probably because they were both the types of people that dealt with their emotions like this that their relationship lasted as long as it did. the other upperclassmen got used to allison over time, but it was rough, and it was clear in the summer practices in tfc that she wasn't always on their sides, and was just as open to starting fights with them as her boyfriend

and that brings us to kevin

kevin seems very tough on the outside. he's rude and condescending and judgemental and picky, just like allison. but unlike allison this attitude doesn't really go both ways. kevin is actually somewhat delicate

kevin is from an environment of open, constant criticism. of high achievers aiming for perfection. but that criticism wasn't a two-way street. he couldn't tear down riko or the master the way they tore him down, he could only transfer that censure by proxy onto the lower ranking ravens or take it to heart and internalize it

remember "As brutal as Kevin could be toward the rest of the team, he was hardest on himself"?

kevin has an inferiority complex enforced by years of abuse, and he's been taught to shut up and bend the knee to people with more power than him

i think that kevin and allison could go toe-to-toe, tit-for-tat for a while, but i think that there are lines kevin has that allison would be willing to cross that would bring him to his knees, and she wouldn't even realize. but once she did her relationship with kevin would never fully be the same

it's not the same as with riko, allison doesn't actually have power over him, but ince the association is there even subconsciously it would color the way he sees her. he would become afraid of her

she probably wouldn't even know what she'd done, let alone know how to fix it

but yea, that's my take on kevin/allison

i really think that kevin needs a partner who is supportive and kind. (in the same way, allison needs a partner who is confident and opinionated)

i think a good way to determine what someone needs out of a partner is what they look for when they're under stress.

when kevin is scared he seeks goes to abby. he seeks out comfort and compassion. he seeks out kindness.

people like allison or neil or andrew confront the issue head on. they prepare for the worst so they want the bitter, jagged truth

kevin wants to be told it's going to be okay

if there are any foxes that i think kevin would be compatible with, it's either matt or renee or maybe even nicky tbh. i also like,, just don't care for any of those options as ships so pls don't ask me for more on this i'm not about to become a mevin content machine

i'm also actually pretty shocked that kevin/jeremy isn't a bigger ship, given that it was all but stated out loud that kevin has a crush on him, and tbh it's kinda sad that kevin's crush gets written off as a joke because of the popularity of jerejean which ive spoken about my feelings on before. like,, jeremy is kind and genuine and fiercely committed to exy, and in just the one scene he appears in it's very clear that he's super familiar with kevin, knows that he's a grumpy asshole, and is extremely fond of him anyway

like,,, what's not clicking?

#txt #cw abuse mention #kevin day #allison reynolds #character analysis #meta #my posts #im talkin #ask #anon #anonymous

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leahlisabeth · 4 years

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And because you want to reach 100 aftg fics by the end of the year, which is so awesome! How about prompt number 11 "checking your phone late at night and see them go online the moment you open their message" for andreil. Hopefully that inspires you to write a little something :)

Thanks so much for prompting! After this, I have thirteen fics to go before I reach 100! My askbox is still open for prompts from this list or any other ideas you might have. Just send me a scenario and a pairing! (I will also be taking mdzs/the untamed prompts even though they won’t count towards the 100)

Neil flopped into bed. He was too young to be feeling so old. All it took was an evening taking care of freshmen as they got their party legs to make him feel like he’d been alive for centuries. First Jenny had done a kegstand when her only previous drinking experience was stealing the dregs of her mother’s wine coolers. Connor had decided to play Never Have I Ever with Jack who absolutely did not play fair. Frankie had somehow found a fifth of whiskey and made a valiant effort to drink the entire thing themself. All three of them had been puking by the end of the night.

Neil could smell the sour scent of vomit hanging in a general aura around him. He groaned and dragged himself up again. He was never going to fall asleep if he didn’t take a quick shower first.

He slipped a little as he got out of bed and realized he had stepped on his cellphone. He picked it up and pressed the unlock button but the phone was dead. Andrew’s voice popped into his head, reminding him to plug it in and he fumbled for the charge cord before stumbling to the shower.

He only stayed in long enough to rinse himself off before giving himself a cursory rubdown and dragging himself back to bed.

As always, there was a moment right after lying down but before falling asleep where his bed felt big and empty. They were already a month into the semester and Neil still could not get used to the feeling of going to bed alone. Normally he could text Andrew or even call him after lying down to remind himself he didn’t have to be lonely, but it was already one o’clock in the morning and Andrew was playing an away game so it was three hours later where he was.

A lump formed in his throat and suddenly it was hard to breathe. He fumbled for his phone and powered it up. Even if he couldn’t talk to Andrew, he could at least scroll through old messages and see if Andrew had sent any photos of their new kitten.

He smiled a little when he saw Andrew had sent him three messages while he was out: first, a photo of tiny, fuzzy King Fluffkins perched on old, grumpy, one-eyed Sir Fat Cat McCatterson, second, a text block with approximately fifty knife emojis and one golf ball, third, a message saying, “if those children keep you up too late, murder is a valid option.”

Neil smiled, the loneliness of the room already dissipating at this reminder of Andrew’s steady presence. As he stared at the messages, Andrew’s status changed to online. Neil pressed call before he thought better of it; Andrew answered on the first ring.

Neil didn’t say anything, just enjoying the open line of connection between them.

“Yes?” Andrew asked. Neil could hear the amusement in his voice.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” Neil teased.

“Don’t be cute,” Andrew said. “You know why I’m not.”

Neil sighed happily, enjoying the familiar sound of Andrew’s breathing in his ear. “Me too,” he said. “I missed you too.”

Andrew didn’t say anything else, his breath already evening out into sleep. It didn’t take long before Neil followed.

#i wrote this #andreil #aftg #tumblr prompt

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lightsupinthenorth · 4 years

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Read on AO3

TW: mentions of child abuse and medical procedure

Billy really wants to skip school today. Well, he kind of always does, but usually the idea of seeing Steve Harrington gives him enough incentive to get out of bed even if the prospect of sitting trough a whole day of classes is less than satisfactory. That day, though, even Steve Harrington is not enough.

Billy pissed off his father last night, and he took a mean kick to the ribs for it. As a result, his left side hurts like a bitch, he didn’t sleep well, and he’s so exhausted that when he finally gets up, he sees black spots dancing in front of his eyes and he nearly falls to the floor, his legs as consistent as jelly.

He’ll never survive the morning periods, let alone basketball practice this afternoon. Billy sighs. This day is going to suck. There’s no doubt about that. He’s got to make his peace with the fact and power through, because he cannot skip, no matter how hard he wants to. His father is particularly intransigent these days, and Billy doesn’t need to give him any more reason to be angry.

So, he takes a quick shower, he skips breakfast, and before he realizes it, he’s sitting at his usual back row desk in his English lit class, feeling miserable as hell and trying to hide it.

“Who pissed in your cereals this morning, Hargrove?”

Okay, so the “hiding” part of it isn’t a success, apparently.

“Fuck off, Harrington, I’m a real ray of sunshine.” Billy says.

Steve and he have been friendly since Billy apologized for bashing his face in. Now is not the time to needle Billy, though, and Harrington would better be aware of that, lest it get messy again.

“Oh sure! Just a very grumpy looking one. You shouldn’t scowl that hard, you’re gonna get wrinkles.”

It only makes Billy scowl harder. Steve smiles his brightest smile at him, for whatever strange reason, and it makes Billy relax slightly.

Thankfully, the teacher arrives before Steve has time to ask anything else.

Billy avoids the cafeteria at lunch. He’s got no food, nor does he have money to buy some. He knows Steve would get him something without him even needing to ask for it, but he’s not hungry anyway, so it would be rather pointless.

When Billy enters the changing room, Steve is already there, and of course he mentions it. He’s a mother hen like that.

“I didn’t see you at lunch. Did you manage to eat something? I have granola bars if you want.”

“I did eat.” Billy lies, “but thanks for the offer, Pretty boy.”

“No problem.” Steve smiles brightly again.

Billy is lightheaded already from exhaustion and lack of food, Steve doesn’t need to add to it. How rude.

“Are you sure you’re okay, though? You look a little pale.”

He rolls his eyes.

“Yes, mom, I’m fine.”

Look, another lie! Way to go, Billy.

“Fuck off. You’re a disaster, someone has to look after your ass.”

Billy flips him the bird half-heartedly before putting his shorts on.

During practice, he insists on playing shirts, for once, so the bruise on the left side of his abdomen doesn’t raise any question. He shouldn’t have bothered, though. Barely three minutes later, he’s entirely out of fuel already and must take a break. He then makes the mistake of getting back into the match, only to be hit in the stomach with the ball and nearly faint.

“Hargrove, you’re out of it, what’s wrong with you?”

Billy assures he’s fine, but he’s slurring his words, so obviously the coach doesn’t believe him.

“Go sit down, go to the nurse, whatever, just stop playing. I don’t want you fainting on the court.”

Billy grumbles, but he obeys nonetheless. He doesn’t have enough energy to put up a fight right now.

He goes to the showers, and it’s all peachy until he slips on the wet tile and bumps his head on the wall. He regains consciousness to Steve leaning over him, looking freaked.

“What are you doing here?” Billy mumbles.

“I wanted to check if you were okay. Seems like it was good instinct on my part.” Steve says.

“Come on, let’s get you off the floor.”

It’s a strenuous process, and Billy can’t hold a groan in as pain flares up his side, but Steve does manage to get him back to his feet. He only then notices he’s naked, which is very embarrassing.

“What’s that?” Steve asks, pointing the nasty bruise on Billy’s torso.

“Nothing.”

“Uh, don’t bullshit me, Hargrove.”

“Calm your tits, princess, I am fine.”

Steve scoffs.

“Oh yeah, sure, you just fainted in the showers and you’ve looked half-dead all day. You’re the perfect picture of ‘fine’.”

Billy goes back to scowling, because the truth is not pleasant to hear, and Steve is serving it to him and forcing him to stop ignoring it. Again, rude.

“I’m just tired.”

“Maybe, but I don’t think that’s it.”

“Oh, you’re an expert on health matters now, Harrington?”

Steve huffs.

“No, you smart ass, but we have a perfectly competent school nurse, you could go to her, you know. Just to make sure.”

“Pass.”

“No.”

Billy glares at him.

“What do you mean, no?”

“No, I won’t let you decide. Your decision making is shit. I’m deciding right now, and I say you’re going to the nurse.”

The nerves of that guy.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Billy’s going for angry, but his voice is so weak he just sounds petulant.

“Okay then! I’m telling you what I am going to do. I am going to take you to the nurse to get checked out even if I have to drag you there!”

Steve, unlike Billy, has no trouble sounding furious. His eyes are glaring daggers at Billy, his hands are clenched into fists, and his chest is heaving with how worked up he is. Billy would probably get a hard-on if he weren’t so tired. It’s a good thing he doesn’t, because he’s still very much naked.

“Stop treating me like one of your kids! I can take care of myself.” Billy says through gritted teeth.

He doesn’t want to admit defeat, even if he recognizes he’s in the wrong. His pride can’t take it.

“You obviously can’t!” Steve yells.

There are a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, and then Steve’s anger seems to deflate. He sighs.

“Look, I’m really worried. Would you please, please, just go to the nurse with me? I’ll owe you one.”

And isn’t it just like Steve, to make it seem like Billy’s doing him a favor by taking care of himself? Great, now Billy feels bad. He could deal with angry Steve, but he’s no match against pleading Steve with his puppy eyes.

“Okay, fine… Just let me get dressed and we’ll go.”

It takes Billy forever to put on his jeans and T-shirt. He slips on his sneakers and is planning on leaving the laces undone, but Steve won’t have it and bends down to tie them for him. Steve is on his knees in front of Billy… and here he thought Steve was trying to help him, not kill him.

It turns out Steve was right to pester Billy about consulting a health professional, because he ends up in the hospital to get surgery for a ruptured spleen. It’s going to cost a small fortune, and Neil’s not going to be happy, but it’s his fault so he’s not allowed to bitch about it.

Steve is there for him until he gets taken to the operating room. And, God knows how long after the surgery, Billy wakes up to Steve holding his hand.

When he realizes Billy is awake, Steve tries to take his hand away, but Billy holds it in place.

“Are you okay?” He asks, after clearing his throat.

“Sure.” Billy croaks. “I’m sure it’s a pretty standard operation, Pretty boy. It wasn’t that big a deal.”

“Shut up. You scared the hell out of me.”

“I’m sorry…” he mutters.

“Don’t apologize… even if you were being particularly stubborn, it’s not like it’s your fault you ruptured your spleen.” Steve says, running his thumb on the back to Billy’s hand.

“About that…” he goes on, “I overheard the nurses talking… and uh… they mentioned domestic violence.”

“What about it?” Billy asks defensively, tensing up.

“Well… feel free to tell me to fuck off, but…”

Billy scoffs. As if he needed Steve’s permission to tell him to fuck off.

“Is it true?” Steve finishes, his whole expression radiating concern.

“What do you think? That I got into a fight in some bar on a Monday night?”

And really, Billy doesn’t mean to be that prickly. It’s just a subconscious and desperate attempt at preventing the walls he built around himself from crumbling down.

However, the sad look Steve gives him is enough to make his attempt fail tremendously and annihilate the said walls until Billy is laid bare, defenseless.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Just… stay with me, please?” Billy hasn’t sounded that vulnerable since he last was on the phone with his mother, begging her to come back for him.

“Of course.” Steve squeezes his hand. “I meant, what more can I do?”

“Nothing. You being there is enough.”

Steve doesn’t look convinced, but he thankfully doesn’t argue.

“Oh wait, there might be something.”

“What?” Steve looks ready to burn Hawkins to ashes and throw down the entire government if Billy asks him to.

Billy won’t ask that of him, though. He’d never do anything to taint Steve.

“Could you get me some water.”

Steve rolls his eyes.

“Sure. I was thinking of something a bit more substantial, though.”

“Oh, look at you, using big words!” Billy mocks.

“You just woke up from surgery, how are you already so annoying?”

“That’s one of my many talents.”

“I hate you sometimes.” Steve says in a deadpan voice.

“No, you don’t.”

Steve answers Billy’s teasing grin with a pout.

“No, I don’t.”

Billy cackles in triumph.

“What about that water, Pretty boy?” he then adds.

It’s not even to be a pain in the ass. He really is thirsty.

“Shit, sorry!” Steve replies, letting go of Billy’s hand to go fetch him something to drink.

Billy watches him with a fond smile as he exits the room. His life still sucks, but it sucks a bit less now that Steve is in it.

#Harringrove #Billy Hargrove #Steve Harrington #hurt and comfort #slight angst #fluff #I'm in the mood to write about Billy being hurt these days #I'm sorry

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imperfectcourt · 5 years

Text

Night practice

When the phone timer went off, they both abruptly stopped their lunges, pivoted, and sprinted back to the goal to pick their sticks up off the ground.

Neil still wasn’t used to dealing with Andrew with a backliner stick but the novelty helped. Even after months of this, the years of knowing Andrew could not predict his playing style. Part of it was because Andrew was a reluctant Exy genius. The other part probably had to do with how well Andrew knew him in return.

Either way, it was a challenge. Neil almost smiled through the grate of his helmet if he weren’t so busy trying to score.

Andrew smacked their sticks together and stole the ball back, hurtling it down the empty court for Neil to chase after. Neil jogged for it, this half of the court lacking any lighting, ready to swallow up anything that went too far.

“You’re hesitating,” Andrew accused when Neil got close enough so that he didn’t need to raise his voice.

“I’m not,” Neil said. He spun his racked and bounced the ball, ready.

“You are. The second you settle into a play, your instincts tell you to favor one side. Either learn to trust it or stay in the game.”

It was more frustrating that he was right than anything else. “I’m always in the game.”

“Every reset, you start strong and slowly lose your concentration. Somebody is going to catch on and exploit it. You never have this problem when you practice with Kevin.”

“Kevin grinds my ass about angles and stats. That’s not how I play. That’s never been how I play.” Irritation was quickly becoming something else, something ugly. Neil kept it all pointed inward.

“Exactly,” Andrew said. Neil shot the ball at a fast, shitty angle that Andrew didn’t even flinch after- he had no patience for hissy fits. But Neil didn’t know what else to do. Andrew had been the one to tell him, all those years ago, that it was stupid for him to try and adopt Kevin’s analytical playing style.

“Go run a lap,” Andrew said and headed to their duffel bag by the court door. Neil ran but it did little to clear his mind. He did one lap and came to take the water bottle out of Andrew’s hand. With some effort, he joined Andrew on the ground.

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me,” he said plainly. Several minutes of silence passed before Andrew responded.

“Kevin keeps you playing consciously because he never shuts up. So you never lose yourself to the game. When you play consciously, you make the decision to trust your leg. As soon as you begin to play instinctively, your body makes the decision for you, and the decision is to hesitate. You do not have the muscle memory for it yet.”

Neil stretched his legs out and knocked his sneakers together. The sight did not match the sensation. “Don’t have the muscle for the memory,” he grumbled, petulant and childlike. Andrew rolled his eyes, all show. Neil knocked his knee against Andrew’s and left it their as they finished their water.

“One more play.”

“What’ll you give me?” Andrew asked as if the answer wasn’t everything, always.

“I’ll get coach to let me do a post-game interview like the good ole days.”

“Don’t promise something you can’t guarantee. He knows what kind of menace you are in front of cameras.”

“It’s my first game back, there’s no way he’s going to turn me down for this. I bet some of them will have really stupid questions." He was selling something that was already sold. Neil loved how much Andrew enjoyed him wreaking havoc on national television.

"Let's get this over with, then." Andrew stood and hauled Neil up by the hands. Going from sitting to standing was up there with Neil's least favorite things, always thinking for the briefest of moments that his foot had fallen asleep. He didn't stumble at it, anymore at least.

Neil initiated their last face-off and concentrated on the way Andrew leaned into his bulk more than his speed. He focused on his movements, on his breathing, on turning his stick just so, on spinning backwards and sharply to the left. It was a little risky but the payoff was a hard smack of the ball against the goal. It didn't light up at this time of night. The sound was satisfying enough. Neil pumped his racket into the air and jumped once with a short cheer.

"And how did that little display feel?" Andrew asked, taking off his helmet and smoothing his hair back. His tone was mocking but his assessing eyes belied actual concern. Neil did them both a favor of twisting his hips and bending his knee a few times. He bounced on his toes and grinned viciously.

"Cassandra was right about this sleeve, it doesn't hurt at all. And the carbon fiber? I definitely wouldn't have attempted something like that before."

"Great. Exy's very own bionic man."

"It's literally one foot and a bit. That's hardly bionic."

"You're battery powered. It counts."

Neil took both sticks and helmets so that Andrew could pick up their bag and they could head to the locker room. He had the strangest desire to spend the night at the stadium, to keep the sounds and smells around him. Andrew might even say yes if he asked.

He didn't ask.

They went home to their loud cats and too many pillows. Andrew rubbed a sweet smelling lotion onto the end of Neil's leg as he laid back in bed and they talked. It was Neil's new favorite routine, a favor he never asked for and a moment he wasn't willing to give up.

"Sensation?" Andrew asked as he swiped his hand back and forth.

"Normal. Redness?"

"Normal. We should check it during half time, depending on how much you play. Especially if you decide to pull risky shit like earlier."

"It was experimental, not risky. You're just grumpy that I scored on you."

"You're a professional, you shouldn't need to be experimental to score."

Neil poked Andrew with the toes of his right foot until he grabbed it and rubbed the excess lotion into his sole.

"Professionals are supposed to be experimental. It's called innovation. And I need it against one of the greatest players in the world. If I trusted Garrison to goaltend I’d say you should ask about being a backliner for a game."

Andrew made a noise of disgust and shoved Neil's legs aside so that they could get under the covers.

Tomorrow, Neil would return to the court for his first professional game since Lola's return. Analysts would call it amazing. The press would plant seeds of doubt. The crowd would roar and Neil would wave at a little girl screaming in the front row and jumping on her own prosthesis.

Tomorrow Neil would score the game winning goal. Tomorrow, he would chew out a press member and make Andrew’s ears turn pink and he would limp after his shower.

Tonight, he pushed his back into Andrew until they were quotation marks at the end of a long day.

#aftg #andreil #Neil josten #andrew minyard #my writing

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sunmontuewrites · 4 years

Text

Fic snippets and summaries...

Because last night I found 79 fics... but here are the top five which I read and now want to finish after I have finished F&F (which finding these has lit a fire under me to get that fic done this weekend - I’d like to say today but real life things are happening too...) (I’ve included F&F below...)

Kurtofsky - 10k written so far - Dave is a famous actor who goes by the name of Dave Falcon, and Kurt is a super-outdoors fan (and paramedic). Due to a little stealth planning from Finn they meet...

He’s not tanned at all, which sits at odds with his whole perception of Kurt being an outdoorsy person, but he supposes if anyone is as careful as Kurt in putting on sunscreen then they wouldn’t be tanned either. He’s sort of waiting for Kurt to ask him to do his back and he has to shake himself out of it, because he can see Kurt’s got it perfectly under control, obviously used to putting it on himself. It’s thicker, and there are some streaks, but he can tell Kurt got good coverage before he’s pulling the shirt back over his head. He wants to tell him not to bother but he can’t, years of practice of watching what he says keeping his mouth firmly closed.

They keep walking, and he tries to pay attention to their surroundings rather than Kurt’s ass in front of him. Surely he can at least act suave and in control? It’s his profession after all. Except he doesn’t really want to act with Kurt. He wants to snap and be himself, grumpiness and everything. Fuck he’s a mess. Kurt stops again, bending over to place his tackle box on the ground and he swallows. In control. Right.

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Dave/Mike Chang - 6k written so far - Dave is a part-owner of a bar and the whole premise is alarmingly similar to Tale Feather except I had completely forgotten about this fic.

They end up talking for nearly three hours, Neil bringing out a plate of food for them to nibble on and making semaphore signals at Dave with his eyebrows. He just rolls his eyes and makes a shooing gesture with his hand. Mike eventually starts making noises about having to leave and he notes the stab of disappointment in his gut, it quickly turns to anticipation with Mike’s next words.

“I’ll be back later. You’ll be here right?”

“Yeah, I live above the bar so there’s no getting away,” he jokes and there’s a spark of something in Mike’s eyes and he swallows, wondering if he’s reading him right. When Mike leans forward, definitely putting himself right in Dave’s personal space, lips not even an inch from his own and he knows he’s not reading it wrong. Fuck.

“Do you want to get away?” He swallows and shakes his head, not trusting himself to say anything. “Good.”

“I’ll see you later then,” he manages to croak out, not wanting to seem like a complete idiot and Mike grins.

“I look forward to it.”

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Kurtofsky - 6k written so far - Sequel to Surf and Sand in which Kurt is a Hollywood A Lister and Dave is an oceanographer with a love of surfing.

He doesn’t expect to see or hear from Kurt again while he’s in Hawaii, and the newspaper article the following day pretty much knocks the final nail in any hope that maybe he and Kurt would see more of each other. He gets an apologetic text, followed by another telling him he’ll see him state side, and he supposes that’s good news. However it leaves the rest of his short holiday as a chaotic shit storm.

Despite Kurt’s sudden departure, the paparazzi don’t all leave, and both he and Neil are followed and asked questions… fortunately all his friends take it in their stride, finding the funnier side, which he’s eternally grateful for. And they all just continue to be themselves, which turns out to be incredibly boring all round and they soon stop being of interest after a couple of days. Trish informs them that pictures of them all do appear online, but that the accompanying articles and comments are all outlandish.

“I’m just flattered they think Neil is hot enough to snag someone as stunning as Kurt Hummel.”

“Hey! I’m a catch!” Neil protests and Dave and Trish both snort.

“You keep telling yourself that honey.”

“What! I am! Tell her Dave!”

“Uh yeah, you’re a real catch,” Dave says placating, sharing a knowing look with Trish and they both grin. He has three more days of his break before he heads back to work, and he can totally handle the lame, repetitive questions aimed his way. His final night in Hawaii he gets a text, the first since Kurt left, and he figures he must have been really busy, although he hasn’t sent him any messages to respond to, unsure whether he should make the initial gesture despite not being back on the mainland.

Sorry. Cleared up the mix up about Neil. Said I had just bumped into an old school friend. My apologies to Trish.

Not your fault. They think it’s funny. Hilarious even.

Depending on the sleuthing skills you might want to unlist your number. They have my senior year book. They won’t rest until they figure out who you are.

I wasn’t at McKinley for senior year remember? Don’t worry about it.

He’s not sure what more to say, because if he’s going to be friends with Kurt then the publicity and paparazzi are part of the package. It’s not Kurt’s fault, and there’s nothing he can do about it, except control some of what they know. He doesn’t mind if he tells them he’s a friend, because as much as they might stalk him, his life really isn’t that interesting.

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First & Foremost - Sebkurtofsky - currently at 94k - just a snipped from the last chapter.

He just nods, a little afraid to talk with how tight his throat is feeling. Sebastian pulls out a pair of sweat pants and shirt and he doesn’t bother worrying about modesty, the changing rooms and showers at NYADA have made him a lot less self-conscious. He undoes his belt, pulls off his jeans and laughs a little wetly when Sebastian help him pull the sweats up, tying them efficiently, because it should be undressing, not the opposite. He catches Sebastian’s eye and he seems to be amused by the same thought. Dave has been undoing the buttons on his shirt and he shrugs it off, sticking his arms into the arms of the red and black flannel that Sebastian is holding up.

He feels a little floaty, and he wonders if he’s just that tired. Dave’s doing up the buttons and he’s pretty sure Dave and Sebastian are somehow having a silent conversation with their eyes, because he’s gently shuffled toward the bed and Sebastian is at his back, just a warm presence and he reaches out to grab his hand, squeezes it to try and give him some form of reassurance, because this isn’t exactly what he imagined when he was first going to be in bed together, but maybe it’s better.

Sebastian moves to sit on the bed, his back against the headboard and cushions, motions for Kurt to sit between his spread legs. He crawls into the open space, presses his back against Sebastian’s chest, feels Sebastian wrap his arms around him and just hold him, chin hooking over his shoulder and he murmurs ‘you’re okay’ under his breath and Kurt lets himself relax back into it.

“You’re a good cuddler too…”

“I had a good teacher,” Sebastian says softly, giving him a light squeeze.

Dave is sitting at his feet, a warm hand settling around an ankle and then his socks are being pulled off, and his feet will get cold, he’s about to complain when Dave’s thumb presses against the ball of his foot and oh… he lets out a little hum of pleasure.

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Kurtofsky - 4k - Kurt moves to London after 4 years in New York and gets his first proper job and there’s this guy on the same tube as him every morning... (spoiler, it’s Dave.)

Of course his little holiday is over before he knows it and his first day of work he leaves ridiculously early. The tube ride takes over an hour, but there’s a paper he can read and it’s interesting looking at the people. Although none of them look back. When he eventually gets to work he ends up sitting on a cold bench, waiting for someone to come by and let him in, realizing about five minutes before someone shows up that he could have gone and got coffee while he waited. There seem to be enough of them. Regardless he lets himself listen to the instructions of his job, the information, break times and the exhibitions and products they have for sale. He’s told to explore the museum and become familiar with it and he can’t believe how lucky he is.

The novelty wears off in the second week, and once he starts knowing the tube more reliably he starts leaving a bit later, more sure of the fact he won’t be late for work. If everything was running smoothly (which he soon found out wasn’t always the case) he could catch the 7.04am train. Of course it could arrive anytime between 7.02am and 7.20am. The first morning Kurt sits next to him he really doesn’t notice. He sits there, earphones in his ears, intent on the free METRO paper. Kurt has figured out that this carriage places him the closest to the escalator that would make it easier to change onto the District Line where he had to change at Embankment. He has a pattern.

The guy wore the disinterested and detached gaze of many Londoners, particularly the ones who had a long commute. The gaze that said “Don’t bother me, don’t smile at me, do not start a conversation with me unless you already know me, and even then I might not reply…” That suited him and left him to daydream and plan out his day in advance.

It wasn’t his fault the gentle jostling of the train made him fall asleep most mornings.

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#Kurtofsky #Sebkurtofsky #that other one doesn't have a ship name it is SO RARE #fanfiction #writing adventures...

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 5 years

Text

Psycho Analysis: The Wicked Witch of the West

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

In cinema, there are few villains who can ever boast to be even a fraction as influential as the Wicked Witch of the West. Everything about her – her skin color, her cackle, her voice, her large nose, her outfit, her personality, and her infamous weakness – have all become so ingrained in popular culture due to the enduring legacy of The Wizard of Oz that much of those traits are just now accepted as general “evil witch” traits in films and cartoons.

And all this coming from a character who was in but a single chapter in the first Oz book. Just what is it about this evil hag that makes her stand out to the point that she has been referenced and reimagined more times than you can shake a broomstick at?

Actor: Margaret Hamilton is the woman responsible for the nightmares suffered by millions of children in the many decades since this film came out. She is, in a word, perfect. Her evil cackle, her mannerisms, her voice, she does nothing but command the screen with her presence, and then you have to give props to the fact that Hamilton suffered through some serious hazards while filming, such as being unable to eat due to her copper makeup as well as at one point being burned severely during her pyrotechnic exit from Munchkinland. What a trooper she was for sticking through and seeing the film to the end despite all this; the world is so much more interesting for her sticking around, that’s for sure.

Motivation/Goals: The Wicked Witch is immensely simple in terms of motivation and goal: she wants the slippers Dorothy stole off of the corpse of the Witch’s flattened sister, the Wicked Witch of the East. To this end, she basically goes out of her way to hinder Dorothy’s journey to the Emerald City, though she is very ineffective in this despite her clear talent in magic. I think keeping her goal rather simple was a good thing, and even if they don’t really explain what she’d do with the ruby slippers if she ever got her hands on them, considering how she acts it would almost certainly not be pleasant for the residents of Oz.

Personality: The Wicked Witch’s personality is easily her biggest selling point. She’s just a mean, bitter hag, but in a fun way. She’s just so unbelievably cruel and petty but the fact that she feels the need to joke around a bit and cackle at just about everything she does makes her an absolute blast to watch. I guess the dark side really is more fun.

Final Fate: The Witch’s demise is arguably one of the most famous aspects of her, infamously so, even. The Witch is killed when Dorothy douses her in a bucket of water, which frankly comes out of nowhere and does nothing but raise questions, with the most important one being: Why does she allow what is effectively liquid insta-death to be kept in open containers lying around her castle? Like I get it needs to be cleaned and all but this just seems like an absurdly lethal workplace hazard. And does this mean the Witch herself never bathes? How does she clean herself? Obviously those last couple at least are more joking ones that are funny to think about and not serious ones because, come on, it’s a silly fantasy film, who besides Neil DeGrasse Tyson feels the need to apply real world logic and sense to everything except as fun exercises in thought?

Her melting away, her death cries, and just the sheer out-of-nowhere nature of the weakness has been parodied so many times across pop culture that these days water being a weakness for witches is pretty common, though it’s not considered the definitive weakness in the vein of sunlight for vampires is due to Count Orlock. I think part of it might be because how just completely out of nowhere this comes, to the point where the Witch dying is a total accident; she gets splashed when Dorothy is putting out a flame on Scarecrow’s arm. That’s right, the villain’s death is a complete and total accident, to the point where Dorothy apologizes for killing her afterwards. There’s something so absolutely delightfully hokey about this that, while it is certainly a bit anticlimactic, it is definitely charming and hard to hate. What a world! What a world!

Best Scene: It’s really hard to narrow it down, but two really stand out: the scene where she takes flight from her castle to harass the Emerald City is pretty cool, and the effect still looks pretty decent even today, and the scene where she taunts Dorothy through the crytal ball after showing her Aunty Em, and then proceeds to laugh at Dorothy’s misery. Those scenes show her at her coolest and pettiest, which absolutely sum her up in a big way.

Best Quote: It can only be one line, the line that launched million imitators and named an entire trope: “I'll get you, my pretty — and your little dog too!"

Final Thoughts & Score: The Wicked Witch of the West is nothing short of an icon. She’s everything an evil witch needs to be: she’s hammy, she cackles a lot, she has an awesome evil lair, she flies a broomstick, she’s ridiculously petty, she is dangerous, threatening, and terrifying, and she is an absolute blast to watch. Throw in the fact that she has an entire army of winged monkeys at her beck and call, and what’s not to love?

I think the best aspect of her is how she contrasts to the rest of the world of Oz. Here we have this beautiful, colorful fantasy world that is “over the rainbow” as it were, and then here comes this black-clad witch figure who is as dark and dismal as anything in the real world Dorothy was living in. Her minions, her fortress, her attire – it all stands into stark contrast to the bright cheeriness of everything else. Even the grumpy trees are at least still a bit colorful and charming in their own way, but the Witch is just so dark and sinister. There’s a good reason why she’s frequently cited as one of the most terrifying antagonists in cinematic history – when juxtaposed to the sort of world she inhabits, she really does stand out as notably monstrous.

Just about every aspect of her has been aped in pop culture for decades. The shrill voice, the appearance, the green coloration… there are a lot of pop culture witches that should be paying royalties to the original Wicked Witch. Of course, let’s not pretend that the Wicked Witch totally invented everything wholesale. She is clearly drawing inspiration from folkloric ideas of witches, though obviously magnified through the fantasy lens of Oz (pretty sure folklore says nothing about witches being green), so at least in some respects she’s a bit less of a game changer than, say, Orlock or Darth Vader, who basically created an entire piece of lore or character archetype, respectively.

But the last thing I want to do is undersell the Wicked Witch, because she is still an easy 11/10. I mean, she’s managed to inspire an entire musical, she’s become the villains in numerous reinterpretations of the story despite playing only a minor role in the original book, and she was handled extremely poorly in that movie with James Franco. She’s most definitely left her mark on popular culture, and it’s entirely for the better (Mila Kunis notwithstanding). From her simple goal to her entire personality, everything about her is just completely and utterly enjoyable. She may not have reinvented the wheel in terms of characters… but damn if she didn’t perfect the wheel that was there.

#Psycho Analysis #The Wicked Witch of the West #Margaret Hamilton #The Wizard of Oz

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knox-knocks · 5 years

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home alone au

i was going write an entire fic for this but then i ran out of time so have this instead! also this got kind of long so i put it under a keep reading

neil lives with matt and dan his sophomore year of college

this is a couple years after his father was executed by his uncle, so neil is free to be neil josten without having to worry about his father finding him

matt and dan are going to paris with allison and renee

they offered for neil to go, but neil declined and decided to stay home

alone

after making sure he’s really really going to be okay by himself for two weeks, matt, dan, allison, and renee go off to the airport

neil’s okay

really

maybe a bit lonely

but he did survive on the run for eight years so he’ll be fine

insert andrew

or “the monster” as matt and dan call him

andrew lives alone a few houses down from neil, matt, dan

rumor has it he killed his parents and his twin brother out of cold blood and buried their bodies in the yard

too bad there just wasn’t enough evidence to convict

so andrew minyard walks free

now neil is NOT scared of andrew

he’s short, he’s grumpy, and he’s an asshole

but he’s not scary. not to neil

so he just kind of leaves andrew alone and andrew leaves neil alone

a couple days into neil being alone, he’s watching tv in the living room when he hears voices outside the house

neil freezes and goes to investigate

he nearly books a plane ticket to argentina when he sees who’s lurking outside

riko moryiama and romero malcolm

neil thinks they found me they found me they’re going to kill me

he quickly flicks on the light and runs upstairs to the find a weapon before he hides

but they don’t follow him

they thought the house was empty and good to rob, but when the light turned on they got spooked and left

they actually had no idea neil was there

the next day, neil is walking back from the grocery store

a bit spooked after seeing andrew, but andrew didn’t pay him any mind

neil isn’t paying attention to where he’s walking and is nearly hit by a van

driven by romero with riko in the passenger seat

neil immediately recognizes them of course

but they don’t seem to know who he his

he goes home, confused and more than a little freaked out

when romero and riko return to the house that night, neil quickly finds out that they turned to thievery after falling on hard times after the moriyama/wesninski empire was dismantled

and this is just some horrible horrible coincidence

once the mobsters-turned-bandits are gone, neil goes to the nearby court

it’s the middle of the night so he doesn’t expect anyone there, which is what he wants

he never played exy again after he and mary ran

but sometimes he’ll sneak into a court when he feels bad to hit some exy balls around with a borrowed racquet

it’s not the same but it’s something

except the court isn’t empty

and that’s when neil has his second heart attack in a week

kevin day is on the court, firing balls into an empty goal and going through several intense drills by himself

everyone knows that kevin’s career was ruined when he broke his left hand in a skiing accident. he tried to play a season with the palmetto state foxes, but he was never the same and he stopped playing after the foxes’ failure

neil never thought he’d see kevin pick up an exy racquet ever again. but now that he has, neil is in awe

kevin doesn’t see neil, he’s too absorbed in his game

but the person in the bleachers does

andrew minyard is watching him from his spot a couple rows up

when neil sits to watch kevin practice, andrew hops down the last couple rows and settles a couple feet away

neil tenses, but andrew doesn’t say anything. they just sit in silence until kevin is done and neil leaves before kevin can spot him

neil returns every night after that, and eventually they do start to talk

andrew drops kevin off at his house but he finds neil again and joins him on a walk

they start to talk

neil asks andrew if he really murdered his family

andrew confesses his mother died in a car accident, but she deserved it because she was beating aaron and andrew promised to protect him. but he never met his dad and andrew hadn’t talked to aaron or his cousin nicky since he graduated highschool

neil understands killing in defense, so he doesn’t hold it against andrew. if anything, it helps him understand andrew better

in return, neil tells andrew about how he got his scars after andrew asks about them. he tells him the basic gist of who is father was and being on the run with his mom

he tells andrew about mary’s death and the burning car. the kidnapping and the dashboard lighter. the execution and neil’s freedom

they learn to trust each other, even though it hasn’t even been that long since they officially met

a couple days later, three days before christmas, riko and romero return

neil just barely fends them off by making the house seem full, using mannequins allison left over and the life-size cut out of jeremy knox tied to a roomba

he hears romero say that they’ll come back on christmas eve, giving neil two days to prepare

that night, neil doesn’t tell andrew about riko and romero. instead he lets andrew talk about his family, and how he adamantly refuses to admit that he misses them

neil feels a pang at that. his mother wasn’t good, but sometime he still misses the good parts of her. and he misses matt and dan so much, even though they’ve only been gone for a week and a half

neil tells andrew that he should contact his brother, but andrew refuses

aaron has katelyn now, and nicky has erik. they don’t need andrew anymore

and andrew promised to protect kevin, no matter what. nothing will come in the way of his promises

the next day, neil begins to set up a bunch of traps

he ices the steps to the door, and puts an iron on the doorknob to make it super hot. he sets up a glue-and-feather trap in the living room and tar and nails along the basement stairs

when riko and romero show up on christmas eve, they don’t stand a chance

they both quickly figure out who neil is, and they really, really want to kill him

neil doesn’t call the cops of course. he doesn’t trust the police, not after those two cops that were paid off when neil was sent to his death by his father’s hands

so he lets riko and romero go through his traps

and, if he’s being completely honest with himself, it’s really funny to watch romero get hit in the face with a flying paint can and the outline of an iron on riko’s stupid face is hysterical

plus he shoots them with a bb gun, so that’s pretty great too

but neil’s fun ends pretty quickly when romero and riko catch him in the neighbors house

neil knows it’s the end for him

he’s trapped and romero has a gun. riko has two wicked-looking knives

neil squeezes his eyes shut, silently apologizes to matt and dan, and waits for death

except it doesn’t come

neil opens his eyes to see andrew with a blade against riko’s throat

neil takes his chance and dives for romero

the gun goes off and hits riko in the leg, causing him to drop his knives

neil snatches it before riko can and drives it through romero’s palm before he can shoot andrew

the cops come, and romero and riko are arrested for all the robberies

luckily, the cops know exactly which houses they hit, since they left the water running in all of them

neil and andrew go home to neil’s house, completely safe

that’s when andrew kisses neil

and neil thinks that this is definitely something he could get used to

the next morning, neil wakes up alone

well

with andrew borrowing the couch in the next room

neil goes downstairs. everything is quiet, and it’s snowing outside. it’s really peaceful

then he turns around and sees matt

and matt runs to him and gives neil such a massive bear hug that it takes neil off of his feet

matt tells neil that he didn’t want neil to spend christmas alone so he decided to come back to be with him. he tells him that he had to catch three different planes and had to get a ride with two other guys and it was crazy!

neil laughs and he really is grateful that matt is here

then a man with tanned skin and dark curls walks in with ... andrew?

no not andrew

his twin. aaron

matt introduces them as the guys he got a ride with, nicky and aaron

and that’s the moment andrew decides to come downstairs

matt stops because w t f why is the monster in his house and why does neil not look alarmed

he is even more confused when nicky immediately runs to andrew and stops just before he goes to hug him. andrew nods once and nicky pulls his cousin into a simple hug and doesn’t let go until andrew basically shoves him away

behind them, aaron and andrew nod at each other in acknowledgement

and THEN

dan, allison, and renee pop up behind them

they caught the morning flight and made it back just in time

neil, matt, dan, allison, renee, nicky, andrew, and aaron all decide to have christmas dinner and exchange presents

andrew calls kevin and bee and they come over with kevin’s dad, wymack, and his step-mom, abby

neil doesn’t think he could ever be happier than he is in that moment, surrounded by friends and family

for the years to come, they all get together and have christmas dinner with each other

and it’s perfect

#aftg #tfc #all for the game #the foxhole court #andreil #neil josten #andrew minyard #matt boyd #dan wilds #allison reynolds #renee walker #nicky hemmick #aaron minyard #kevin day #home alone au #merry christmas everyone :)#mine

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douxreviews · 5 years

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American Gods - ‘The Ways of the Dead’ Review

Mr. Nancy: "Well praise Jesus and four more white zombies!"

Stop me if you've heard this one, but a Zombie and a Leprechaun walk into a swingers party...

This was by far the Bryan Fuller-est episode of American Gods since Bryan Fuller left the show. Not just the tonal soundscape during the lynching, which couldn't help but invoke 'The Bone Orchard,' but also in the way it used its imagery and the episode's plot's relationship to the larger story being told. I, for the most part, liked it.

As was the habit in season one, we stop off for an episode in a small town and explore a god or situation that wasn't really part of the novel but could be seen to be existing alongside the book's events. It makes me wonder if some portion of this episode's conception had its roots before Fuller left, as it's exactly the sort of world exploration that he liked to do, and which seems to have been the main point of contention between him and Neil Gaiman.

But, of course, I may be wrong about the extent of that contention, and perhaps Neil plotted this one himself. Who can say from the outside.

So, in the town of Cairo there exists a funeral parlor run by modern day manifestations of Anubis and Thoth. Mr. Jacquel and Mr. Ibis, respectfully. This isn't news, we've known that for some time. Shadow has made his way to the City of Cairo, and is staying with them for a bit. So far, so canonical. But this week we learn that the town of Cairo is also home to the vengeful spirit of Will James, a black man who was lynched, shot, and apparently burned after a white woman whom he had been observed passing in the street was later found murdered. Since that day, Will has been disfiguring the bodies of black men who die in the town, in retribution for the other black residents of the city not helping him as he was being murdered.

The way that Will James appears in the modern day is the most Fuller-esque use of imagery on display here, incidentally. The flaming head on top of a pole, presented in full view in all its strangeness is very much in keeping with the confrontational way strange imagery was presented as just existing during season one. It made me realize how much I'd been missing season one's visual style this year.

I think that this narrative thread could have benefited from a little more clarity. Apparently, Will James' desire for justice is sated by possessing Shadow and making a speech about injustice at a funeral attended by about ten people. So, is that it? Will the local dead no longer be disfigured post-mortem by his angry spirit?

And as long as we're asking questions, is Mr. Nancy correct in his insinuation that Ibis and Jacquel have been assisting the spirit in order to get more dead bodies in the door? Was it just a coincidence that the latest victim was Ruby Goodchild's brother, leaving Ruby with nothing to stay in town for? Why was Nancy following Jamal Goodchild? Did he know what was going to happen, or did he cause it?

I think that mainly the show was trying to open a discussion about race and faith in America, but I was left unsatisfied with how little we got to know about anyone involved's motivations.

But that was just the A-plot. Meanwhile, Salim, Ifrit, and Wednesday take Wednesday's recently acquired magic spear to the king of the dwarves to get its magic fixed. They get there and Alviss, the aforementioned king of the dwarves, looks at it and says, 'sorry, I can't help you, I'm the forge guy. You need the magic rune guy.' Wednesday and company leave, having accomplished nothing at all. Honestly, this whole plot thread was a complete waste of time, outside of Alviss being played by Lee Arenberg, fka everyone's favorite character on Once Upon a Time, Grumpy.

The road trip scenes with Wednesday, Ifrit, and Salim have some quality bitching and I like that they're addressing what it means for Salim to be a devout Muslim in a world where he knows for a fact that all the other gods are real. It still felt like a waste of time in this episode, however. Also, Ifrit's irritation at Salim's faith in Allah seemed to come out of nowhere.

And then there was the C-plot. This was without question the best parts of the episode. Laura and Mad Sweeney get to New Orleans and go clubbing with Baron Samedi and his lovely partner, Maman Brigitte. Laura gets a mostly finished potion to restore her humanity, and of course they end up having graphic, meta-physically partner swapping sex. You know, the way everyone does on their first trip to New Orleans. I loved Samedi and Brigitte's relationship. I love the way they interacted with Sweeney and Laura. I really love that Laura saved herself from Argus' dimension, wherever that was. And there aren't words for how much I love that they're acknowledging Sweeney and Laura's incredible chemistry together. I'm 'shipping those two so hard. Also, holy crap but Pablo Schreiber is ripped. I had no idea.

Quotes:

Wednesday: "I have things to do and people to see. And I shall be seeing them and doing them alone."

Ifrit: "Thomas Jefferson said all men are created equal. But he still owned slaves."

Ifrit: "Look, there are many gods, Salim. And they are all as selfish as that one is with his women."

Bilquis: "I am sustained by the tranquility of love." Reverend: "God's Love?" Bilquis: "Something like that."

Salim: "Your truth, it is not my truth."

Laura: "I have a long history of really shitty impulse control."

Wednesday: "So the twelve saffron robed monks chanted as one, 'Have a little melon, Kali baby.'"

Bits and Pieces:

-- Mr. Jacquel's absence is getting increasingly awkward. Moreso since I can't seem to find anywhere online the reason for it. Was he just prevented from returning by his Star Trek: Discovery commitments? Was he part of the Fuller fallout like Gillian Anderson and Kristin Chenoweth?

-- Their workaround at the moment is to have Anubis only appear in canine form. Which works I suppose, although that was clearly a Doberman and not a jackal.

-- That said, how wonderful is it to have such a huge percentage of the cast, both gods and mortals, played by actors of color?

-- I don't understand what Bilquis wants from Ruby Goodchild. It can't just be that she wants to absorb her, or she'd already have done it. It seems a little convenient that Ruby's brother and grandmother are both dead now.

-- Minor point, but they confirmed my theory on Sweeney's luck getting worse the farther he's away from Laura and his coin. It's nice to be proved right.

-- Strange coincidence, but Maman Brigitte also turned up in last week's episode of Cloak & Dagger. I'd never heard of her before. Also, popular Constantine antagonist Papa Midnite is basically Baron Samedi with a different name, and now Constantine is on Legends of Tomorrow. I think my universe is contracting.

-- Wednesday made a tiger balls reference to Mr. Nancy! That was a nice little nod to the book.

-- The postcards of the hanging were an oblique reference to a real life event in Duluth, Minnesota in 1920. They took pictures of the lynching of three African American circus workers who had been accused of rape. And they did indeed sell them as postcards. That's the reference Bob Dillon is making in the first lines of the song 'Desolation Row,' which was covered by My Chemical Romance for the Watchman movie. 'They're selling postcards of the hanging/ They're painting the passports brown/ The beauty parlor is full of sailors/ The circus is in town.'

-- It's a small detail, but I love the choices Orlando Jones is making as regards when he slips back into an African accent and when his accent is modern American.

1940s mens styles really work on Ricky Whittle

Another good installment, held back from being great by virtue of wasting a little too much time on the unnecessary details of one plot, and leaving another plotline too vague. Still absolutely worth an hour of your time, though.

Three out of four postcards.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water.

#American Gods #Shadow Moon #Mr Wednesday #Laura Moon #Mad Sweeney #Mr Nancy #American Gods Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

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drawacharge · 6 years

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Hi!!! What's your opinion on Steve and Billy's relationship with the group and how the group would react to Steve and Billy being together?

oh man, ok, this will probably be long so.... strap in. also this will be assumed like after billy get his shit together and becomes like, apart of the group in some ways.

( dustin ) i mean, we basically know steve and dustin’s relationship ( and i really hope the duffers expand on it in season 3 ). steve is like the big brother dustin’s never had but has probably lowkey always wanted. as a only child i can tell you, as kids we spend a lot of time day dreaming about what it’d be like to have siblings, and i bet dustin did that and now he has one. and even though he can be a total nuisance sometimes, steve would die for him.

look, dustin’s annoying, we can all admit that. he’s loud and opinionated and a fucking tween and that is just... billy’s worst nightmare. however. i also think billy is a secret nerd, just the kind that doesn’t go around advertising it like the party does. so. seeing as billy is also very opinionated, i feel like he and dustin’s relationship would be a lot of bickering about comic and movie facts and theories.

also dustin would 100% give billy the “if you hurt him i’ll hurt you” talk, which would just endlessly amuse him.

( mike ) mike is... mike. he likes steve, he does not like billy. it takes him a while to like billy even a little imo. to be fair, billy is probably the meanest to mike so i don’t blame him. also, mike is super protective of his friends. billy terrorized his friends. therefore billy is on his permanent shit list. i think mike holds grudges and for a while ( lmao same tho ). i think the only hope he’d have of warming up to billy would be will’s influence. and speaking of.

( will ) will is gay and the duffers can fight me. he is gay, and billy is gay, and when will realizes this ( whether he catches him and steve sharing a kiss on the byers’ front porch or what ) there’s this kinship that forms almost immediately. will has probably never met another gay person, after all, and he has questions and fears. questions and fears billy probably answers because shit, how can he not? how can he deny this kid when it was the exact thing he needed and didn’t get at his age?

i’ve always imagined a talk going down between them maybe at some get-together at the byers’ that billy ( somewhat reluctantly ) attends. maybe will saw him and steve kissing a week or so prior and has been working up the courage to ask billy about it. billy, of course, is totally taken aback by it, and maybe gets defensive. up until he sees will like curl in on himself and almost shut down and thinks shit, because it all kind of clicks into place.

after that they’re pretty close. billy would threaten anyone who tries to fuck with will. as for steve and will i think they’re chill. i think steve-- and everyone in the group, really-- are all a bit more protective over will than usual just because of everything he’s been through. plus he’s nice and quiet, what’s not to like about him?

steve could do without those big knowing eyes that stare at him though.

( eleven ) speaking of knowing eyes :/ el looks at you like she can read your soul, okay. it creeps steve out. he likes her, but she creeps him out a little. it creeps billy out a little too, but then he sees eleven throw something across the room and thinks fuck yeah. and el thinks billy is pretty cool. he has the earring, the style, the music. it kind of reminds her of her sister and her friends. she’d be weary of him at first, because she’s protective of her friends, but i also think el like... reads people really well and there’s some things about billy she’d just get. especially when she finds out about his father. el, billy, and will kind of become the “hey, we’re gay and have shitty dads” club. oh yeah, el’s gay af, fight me.

( lucas ) lucas and steve have a good relationship. he’s the more realistic of the kids, the more rational one, and boy does steve appreciate that. he is, however, also very protective of lucas, and very aware of how some people in the town treat him. and then there’s billy.

billy’s relationship w/ lucas is.... rough. starts off rough, and even after billy apologizes lucas is weary. he’s a black kid growing up in the 80s, ya’ll. his parents have warned him about people like billy. even lucas’ own friends commit small microaggressions ( like mike assuming he’d be the black ghostbuster ). it’d take a while but.

i always felt like it’d only be a matter of time before neil found out about max and lucas. and i think when neil finds out, he would not only try to put hands on lucas, but max too. and billy’s an asshole, you know? and maybe, before steve and the others, he bought into his father’s prejudices a little too much. but things have changed, and he’s grown up some, and he’ll be damned if his father touches a hair on max’s or lucas’ heads.

after an altercation like that, lucas would slowly warm up to him. plus, like with will influencing mike, he’d have max influencing him. max who like, despite all her and billy’s shit, has this protectiveness towards her step-brother.

( max ) max thinks steve is a fucking weirdo. she likes him, sure. but he’s a total dork who tries way too hard to be cool and she has no idea how any of the girls in hawkins ever fell for it. she also totally gives him the “hurt billy and i’ll hurt you” talk, but she also gives billy that talk about steve, so. yeah. he’s alright in her book. he took her brother on by himself for her and the others, after all. that earns respect.

we all know max and billy have a complicated relationship. i think they got along better in california. i think he was a dick, but the kind of dick that somehow managed to endear himself to you anyway. he probably taught her to surf, took her out for food, ice cream, and movies. then they kind of lost that when they moved.

the now would be about getting back to that. finding that understanding in one another again. it would start with him apologizing, with him backing off ( some ) and kind like... respecting her for almost taking a bat to his balls and drugging him. that takes... well, some balls lmao, and billy would respect that shit.

their relationship is them bickering, though, that’s something to understand. max and billy getting along isn’t jonathan and will getting along. it’s bickering, and calling each other names. but its also billy letting max have the remote when they watch tv, or billy taking max to get ice cream when neil and susan fight. or max sneaking billy dinner after neil banishes him to his room, maybe even offering to help him with patching up after particularly nasty incidences. or, more often, billy threatening anyone with in an inch of their life if they ever hurt her. ( sorry, lucas ).

also, i hc that max eventually realizes she’s bisexual and that’s just another string that connects them.

( jonathan ) jonathan is... fine. steve hates him sometimes, tries to, but its hard. and then he doesn’t hate him anymore, because he’s moved on and, honestly? he’s just happy jonathan treats nancy well.

billy thinks jonathan’s weird. he also doesn’t understand why nancy would drop steve fucking harrington for him either, but whatever. what’s her loss is his gain.

( nancy ) lmao billy hates nancy, at least at first. i don’t think they ever become best friends, but they’re eventually amicable, giving each other advice on homework etc. before that, though, billy hates her guts. he thinks she’s a priss and that she’s an idiot for leaving steve. he also gets jealous because it takes him a fucking long ass time to get it through his big, dumb head that steve loves him, not her, and every time he sees them together before that his chest aches and his blood boils.

we all know how steve feels about nancy. i think, eventually, they become best friends, which is healthier for them anyway.

( joyce ) she loves them both :/ like everyone, she’s weary of billy at first, but, c’mon guys, she’s a mom. she’s the mommiest mom to ever mom. she finds out billy’s being abused, or suspects it, and it takes everything in her power not to just lock him in her house where he’s safe. she offers him extra food when he’s over and look. billy has a thing about moms ( no, not that thing ). he thinks all moms deserve respect ( susan to some degree, but only because she replaced his mom so he’s biased in that regard ). he offers to help with dishes, always says “yes ma’am” and “no ma’am” and joyce just eats it up.

steve is similar if not the same. there’s never been a parent he hasn’t charmed. plus, he willingly totes her son around without payment ( despite her offering ) so she adores him. as far as joyce is concerned she has four ( 4 ) sons.

when she finds out they’re dating, she reminds them that if they ever need a place to stay, her door is always open for them.

( hopper ) i mean :/ hopper is a cop, how do you think billy feels about cops? not great. he doesn’t trust ‘em, doesn’t like ‘em, and the feeling is usually mutual. and it is here at first too, but damn is it hard for hopper to ignore the signs of child abuse. he even tries to approach billy about it, but he can’t do shit to neil without proof and up until neil goes after max billy just refuses to admit to anything.

plus, jane loves billy and she’s so convincing :/ in the end, hopper is protective of all these kids, he’s just grumpy about it.

also, he likes steve. or, more accurately, he likes who steve is becoming. remember, before billy, steve was probably the closest hawkins got to a troublemaker. how many times had hopper probably knocked on the widow of the BMW at lover’s lake and told steve and his friend to scram? how many parties either thrown by steve or attended by steve has he raided? and now here steve harrington is, maturing, taking care of kids, becoming an adult. that’s the steve hopper likes. he even thinks, maybe, that kind of kid would one day make a good cop.

#hcs #harringrove #tHIS WAS LONG AF LMAO #i had... so much to say im sorry #@duffers hire me you cowards #ill fix your show #Anonymous

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smillingcartoonist · 6 years

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TV Shows that I Watched in 2017

A Series of Unfortunate Events (2 Episodes)

I Nearly forget that I watch this ! I Watched 2 episodes and then something happened to my computer, I don’t remember what ! but I lost interesting, and still with no interesting what so ever to continue watching.

Samurai Jack (Season 5)

This wasn’t my favorite cartoon back in the day so I wasn’t expecting much out of it ,but oh man ! Turn out to be a really good ! a much more mature story line, I got a little down by the end, But I think it end really well ! The whole story of Jack dealing with his failure and his own wish for Death was pretty interesting, when all of that was solved it kinda drop the ball a little ! and Visually too, by the end the visual aspect of the show is gone ! I remember that some people are really worried about if Ashi and Jack are gonna end up together,well this is tumblr,this is what really important here !! I don’t know/care about the general opinion about the ending of the show, but I guess for other people if doesn’t go the way they want they will rage about it ! which is pretty stupid ! after the success of this revival, some other shows announced a revival,First Invader Zim and then Hey Arnold, The Arnold movie come out just recently,But Invader Zim is still with no date of release,that’s a bummer.

Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex (Season 1)

If we talk about fidelity to the material which was originated, this version of Ghost In the Shell is the more faithful adaption of the comic ! Mamoru Oshii movie was good, but It kinda goes really far from the manga, like this version got more of the political and crime drama that the comic had and it’s more appropriated to the show. The Major of this version is more like the Major of the comic, she have a pretty humorous personality, way more in the comic, The tachikomas are in here and the the whole section 5 appears in most episodes, even trough the main focus is on The Major,Batou and Ishikawa,most on him ! I guess because he’s the most Human Character in the team !

The Show is divide in a main line story,The Laughing Man case, and some others cases, that later on some of they get integrated into the main story, overall is pretty good, I can’t think of something bad about this show, everything is really well craft, expect to the Major Child Spare body,why the fuck she have that ? Why she use that ? That’s was really weird !! Other think that is good and deserve some credit is the dub, the English dub is really good,but only for the main characters,everyone else have a mediocre or bad dub, In fact it was really hard to find subs for this show !

Doctor Who (Season 10)

This season was bad ! The First half of episodes are ok,but the second is just the worst ! and this season got the worst season Finale so far ! Let’s break this shit down !!

Let’s start with Bill, did she have a arc of a story in this show ?? for most of the time she was just there ! either something happen to her and the doctor have to save her or she was there to do something and say something, but outside of that, she doesn’t have a story ! in comparison to another character like Martha from Season 3,she did have a story, she began travailing with the Doctor,she kinda fall in love with him but he doesn’t love her, things happens and Martha and the doctor solve it ! and by then end she quits because the Doctor doesn’t love her and she get on her life,it’s kinda lame but at least it have some goods reasons, Bill story is like What ?? She travel with the doctor,die and becomes a cyberman, die again and become a liquid alien and then she goes way because the doctor is Dead and her Crush come to get her ?! Is that even a conclusion ? Nardole was even worse, he’s boring, he is a boring comic relief, he was pretty funny on the Christmas specials,but on this he’s like the Doctor’s mom ! and he also have nothing to do ! most of the episode he appear he doesn’t do anything, So Why put him in there ??

The First half episodes are good, they are most involving the relationship between the Doctor and Bill, again Jamie Mathieson write a really good episode “Oxygen”probably the best episode of this season even trough I don’t think it was his best episode ! Extremys was also good, even trough it had some of the over the top stuff that Moffat like to put ! The Doctor meeting the Pope, The Doctor Fuck the pope, a female Pope ? for some reason they keep trying to make that Doctor have bang half of the universe ! I was expecting at some point Matt Smith say to Clara “hey Clara did I Tell you about when I Bang Joana D’arc ?” and also anything that happens in this episode got nothing to do with the next, Why the monks are running this specific scenario ?? Why they let they own Computer send a warning to the Doctor ??

The Other half of episode is when things start to fall apart, “the Pyramids at the end of World” still a solid episode even trough the most convenient thing happens at the end to let the story have a third part ! This Third part is a Failure,they had a really good premise “the Monks have brainwash humanity to believe they are they rulers and the Doctor is on they side” This could be a really good episode, but turns out to be bullshit, turns out the Doctor is faking he do a faking regeneration just to fuck with Bill, also they really exploit the fact that this is the last season of Capaldi and think they audience are a bunch of idiots that don’t know that will only happens in the last episode ! At least the scene with Michelle Gomez was good ! Mark Gatiss write another bad episode so fuck it, The Eaters of Light was really good, after two really bad episodes it’s refreshing to have a episode with Doctor Who stuff on it !! and then The Season Finally comes in, World Enough and Time was pretty good, even trough I Got a big issue with The Doctor saying that he have a Crush on the Master when they are children, was that really Necessary ?? did Moffat had to do this so he could appeal the hearth of some horny teenager girl Out there ? did the Doctor really need to say “Oh he was my fundamental school crush”, Was that necessary,no ! Fuck You Steve !! But that’s not even the tip of the Iceberg ! The problems get worse on the last Episode !

The Doctor Falls his the lamest Season Finale so far !! This episode is a soap novel that doesn’t go anywhere !! and also they keep showing the Doctor Contenting his regeneration, Oh he can do that now ? yeah I Guess he can, and only now !! Why Bring John Simm back if you not gonna do anything with him ?? The Only thing that he do is Flirt with Gomez and then shoot her in the back, also that, You expect that Missy story will have some kinda of nice conclusion,Oh ! Missy is turning good ? she will have some kinda of redemption at the end,that since interesting, but Moffat have to end that in a lame way with he Master Shooting himself, Oh ! God Moffat ! get your dick out of our mouth !! that was terrible and we something even worse ! You have the lamest Deus Ex-Machina that I Ever seeing,so the Doctor is dead,cyberBill is about to die and then The Liquid alien girl appears at the end and just transform Bill into another liquid alien, Because she can do that of course !! if this chick could appear anytime to help she could appear sometime before all this shit happens,or even in some other episode where Bill was in danger and she could help, But any way, she get then make in the Tardis,How ??, and she just happens to know how to pilot the Tardis,because she is a Dues Ex-Machina !! and then Bill leaves the Tardis seeing “Yeah Doctor that was fun,But your Dead Now,and my Crush have come pick me up, so Bye !” and the she leaves, The doctor wake and say some embarrassing and unnecessary stuff and go outside the Tardis to Scream NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO in the snow,because he acting like a kid and does not want to regenerate. Man ! That was terrible ! Fuck You Steven Moffat !!

American Gods (Season 1)

Adaptation of a book,written by Neil Gaiman,Book that I read in the beginning of the year and I Like reading it,maybe it was the last Book that read this year ! I don’t remember ! But anyway, I Liked this show overall,really competent adaption,just some things i Think Like: Anansi is not a elderly pervert man,that was the whole reasons I like that character,because he was grumpy and every line he insulted Shadow. Other thing I didn’t like was the among of gratuity sex scenes in the show,there is not that among of fucking in book, there is this scene where Bisquis Pussy vore this guy in the beginning and some other sex scene later, in the show they put some more of Bisquis eating people for no reason at all !! she also become a important character now,because in the book she appears and then she appears again and die !

Michiko To Hatchin (22 Episodes)

Anime is not really my thing, But this year I Try somethings, this and Ghost In the shell are the ones that I Like ! I find this thanks to Tumblr,Yeah !! sometimes you can find good things in this place, It got my attention because of the premise, It happens in Brasil and some Brazilian guy made the sound track, that enough to get me to watch ! and I Like it, one thing I find weird is the Tone of the show, like it begins really cheeky and Funny and on the forth episodes things start to get more serious and then get less serious, and it keeps going like this into the end. The Director of this show Sayo Yamamoto, direct a show that made a huge success last year, specially here on tumblr, the anime about gay ice skating “Yuri on Ice” I kinda wanna watch that now,just because it was directed by her ! By The end of anime I Got that the message was “Girls shouldn’t be running after man that are fucking jackasses” which I think that is true and right !

Ballroom & Youkoso (4 Episodes)

This was the first deception on trying to get on Modern anime ! It is this slice of life with a bunch of dull characters and dull humor, I didn’t like anything about it, the animation too was really dull,like everything in this show was dull for me ! The whole point that I thought it will be interesting was the dancing part ! but when that happens, it’s lifeless, like Finally the dull Protagonist get to Dance and he does a incredible move where he stand still !! don’t move, dance is all about moving and the first he does is not Move !! in the next episode the “I’m the best” character goes dance,furious because the dull protagonist got some fun not dancing on his place, and the you think is gonna be the most awesome thing into the next Dance contest,but there is only 10 seconds of actual dancing and the rest is just flashing images and the crowd cheering, I Get the impression that I should be doing the same but is so dull !! after this I really could care anymore !

Preacher (Season 2)

I Enjoyed This Season a Lot more then the first,Like this season have a lot more of the fell of the comic into it then the first and it’s way more resolved in the adaptation part ! finally Jesse gonna search for god ! the they motivations are different, in the comic Jesse what to find God because pissed with him and the TV show he want to do that because he thinks that he is in some kind of holy mission ! The Humor get’s kinda predictable, Because everyone in the world of Preacher is really nasty and terrible person, so you know that something nasty is gonna happen ! One thing that I find strange was the whole Hitler good man thing,every time that happen is said “No Man! what are you doing !!” in times like this, that’s pretty dangerous !!

Castlevania (Season 1)

Warren Ellis can do anything, he can write a story about dish washing and it gonna be the most awesome thing ever, it will probably involve a alien abduction or a secret organization plot to kill aliens or supernatural creatures ! any way this was another good show with marvelous quality, the only bummer it is so short, 4 episodes, and when it ends it end out of the no where like “that is, more next year” ! I Just wandering what’s gonna happen in the next season ! if Belmonth is gonna have to fight the monster of Frankenstein and mummy ?!

Psycho-Pass (20 Minutes)

Din’t even bother to get anything for this ! I Thought this would be a good show, the premise was good, the design of the characters look like shit ! But maybe the story would be good, but when I Finally watch, damn, that was terrible ! the first episode begins with the villan (I guess) wanking about himself and then it goes for some of the stupid anime shit that ever seen ! I Just could care ! after 20 minutes i Just stop the video and said no ! fuck this !!

Twin Peaks (Season 1,2 and 3)

My favorite show of the year !! I Got interesting in it when I saw somethings here on Tumblr,and the I decide to Watch the First episode of the Third season, after watching some episodes I decide to go see the other 2 seasons (To see if anything that I saw it will make sense), that was like 36 episodes or something, for some reasons at the time I got nothing to do so had plenty of time of nothing to do ! I Enjoy most of it, it’s like a Soap Novel with bizarre characters and that managed to get me entreating to watch everything and see what was gonna happens with to does characters,You Know like any other show should be ! But It fells kinda flat after they solve the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer, but the whole thing with Window Earl was cool the actor that play him was really good ! I Just wonder how he moved a giant piece of Chest to that, hum that … that place and later they show like 5 people with a crane trying to move that thing from there !

I Also watched the two Movies,Fire Walk with me and The Missing pieces, The Movie are really different from the the TV show, like It doesn’t have space for comedy into it so the Movie is really depressing,You already know what is gonna happen, but even so !! after watching that I watched the Missing Pieces in a vain hope to see if anything that I saw later would make more sense ! Guess what, It Didn’t !! The Missing Pieces is all the scenes that didn’t make to the movie,it also have the scene of the meeting in the Convenience store and the scene with Phillip separated of which other,that for some reasons Lynch decide to put them together to make even less sense !! does that mean that it make sense now ! I Guess !?

Season 3 was incredible, if I was not terrified I would be laughing my ass off, but after 18 hours of pure surreal stuff did i Understand anything of it, mostly of it no, I saw some theories and it make me fells stupid ! Because there is this whole other thing happen and I didn’t even notice, “I’m a idiot for not noticing that early” I said to my self, and I saw some other theory about how this things that seen out of place and weird are in fact critics to state of America. When I finally saw the ending I was not expecting anything different, I wasn’t expecting to end on a good way, every season didn’t end with a happy ending, so this one should be the same ! What i find incredible was the number of people trying to figured out the meaning behind the ending in a number of way’s, but like It doesn’t matter if you watch all episodes at the same time, you not gonna find anything, the only way to figured out is to Interpreted everything you see and figured out how that work !! You have to think about you saw, But if can’t do that,what are doing watching this then ??

Big Mouth (Season 1)

I Got interested in this after seeing the two teaser, the first one I laugh once, and the second,that was the ending of the second episode, sold me into it. I find it really funny at some parts and not funny at all in others, all that Thing with Jay and his Pillow I think that was the most surreal stuff that I have seen in years !! even more surreal then Twin Peaks. Maya Rudolph was The Hormone Monstress is the high point of this show,she give a lot Charm to the character. A Lot of people didn’t like this show because it was to offensive for then and too ugly !! But like, all this cartoon show for adults are all really ugly !! so like, so what ??

Mindhunter (Season 1)

I Like a lot of crime investigative stuff, and like most of the show even through there is somethings that kinda seen like they go no where, all that stuff with the tickling, I Though it go to something bigger but it didn’t !! I Though that they will go back to the first case they reject and solve it, but I guess that would be a think for season two. I Like how they handle the arc of the Mindhunter,this whole thing of him being this ambitious agent that want to discovery a new method of investigation and becoming this self centre asshole that thinks that he his the fucking most ! Now that is a Grow of a Character !!

American Vandal (Season 1)

The whole part of the humor of this show kinda feel flat for me, but the investigation stuff is way more engaging, I like how fluid the whole investigation process how they going finding out how everyone in this school have some dirt in then and how that later affect them ! in the end they come to a solution to get the asshole that was false accused set free, but later he get in jail again because he’s just a asshole, But they don’t solve the mystery,Who Draw the dicks ?? My Guess is that was the History teacher,the cool dude that bad mouth the other teacher, I think because the way he storm out of a scene they show in the last episode.

Inuyashiki (3 Episodes)

I already have made fun of the two first episodes of this anime, I was reluctant to continue watching this,after the third episode I was done with this, basically what happen in it is a reminder that Bad guy is bad and good guy is good Nothing else happens,the characters does’t haven anything to them they have no charm or anything,they are this bland person with no expression, I guess that they faces never change,they have the same face every time !! I was really expecting something more out of this !! I Guess that I don’t have the age to watch this animes anymore,I can’t go back be a thirteen old again !!

Genocyber (5 Episodes)

This is some old cult anime stuff, ultra violent and really nonsensical, and some how can be was better any of this other animes that I have watched, is there a lot of more effort put into it by the way,it was kinda fun to watch this and see the stuff happening and just shout to the screen “What ?? Why ?” it made me care that’s the important thing, also the soundtrack is good,is probably the best thing out of it !!

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (Season 2)

Is kinda sad talk about this,since the show was cancelled, But even so,I don’t have enjoyed this season as more then the first one, It was funny and all,but the whole fantasy world don’t have got me, and this whole another plot of Dirk trying to be a normal Detective didn’t land well for me.I Think that the Third Season out have turn out to be great, also this thing of turning that Computer guy into the antagonist was kinda surprising and out the nowhere !! Also The Creator of the Show Max Landis was accused of Sexual harassment recently, Guess that’s way the show was cancelled !!

The Young Pope (Season 1 ??)

From all the shows here,this is the one that got the best cinematography of them all !! really stunning photography, Jude Law give a incredible performance in this show,I Guess that i never seen anything else with him,But anyway he’s just awesome ! They gave him a bunch of huge speech to him, so there are some incredible long scene of Jude Law talking about how his character is awesome and can do anything ! also I was kinda confused watching, the initial speech that he give on his dream confused me when he was taking decision that are the opposite from early, I was thinking that he was just pretending to be a huge asshole when in fact he is a huge asshole !! but also sometimes not a total jackass and by the end he have some kind of redemption ! that I don’t understand if they want to make a Season 2 out of this,the whole story of Jude Law is done what more can you go far from this ? But if they wanna do it I’m Fine with this !

Dark (Season 1)

My Second favorite show of the year, I Like everything about it,the story,the photography.the music, it’s really well put together, a lot people compared this to Stranger Things,and it’s nothing like it ! Stranger Things is this little light harder show that funny and colorful and Dark it’s just Depressing, It’s this show that nothing is gonna go well and it’s not go end in a happy way, The only problem that I got is that I don’t remember any of the names of the characters I Only know the name of the main kid with the yellow jacket that is Jonas. I’m looking forward to the next Season,the show leave a lot of question open, and I wanna know who is going to be our real protagonist !! Also The Director of this show Baran Bo Odar,is the director of one of the worst movies of this year called Sleepless,which I find weird since this show is so good.

Stranger Things 2 (Why The Two ? Season 2)

Another Show That I don’t think it make it up for the last one, I not part of the cult of adoration of this serie,but I like it I Think there are good and fun to watch and not this Grater masterpiece that people make up to believe. I felt that the some of the same stuff that happened in the last season is happening again in this, Hysterical Mom is more Hysterical, let’s trash Winona Ryder House in some way ! Friends are not friends anymore and get back being friends !! the rest of it was just ok, they the asshole from the last season not be a asshole anymore,guess I Kinda like him now, which make four of the characters that I like in this show,Him,Dustin, the new Hellboy man and Eleven. I Guess that they could’t stretch this for one more Season,but they did !! What gonna happen in the next season ?! Did they gonna turn the asshole of this season into not a asshole and make him have a affair with the mom of the sour face kid ?! is Dustin gonna have more adventures with the non-asshole cool guy ?! Winona Ryder is goona stop being Hysterical ?! (probably no !) Also they kinda ruined Dustin Character in this season,they turning him into fat kid slop comic relief, I don’t remember him being like that In the last season ?!

Punisher (Season 1)

The last Show that I watch this year, I enjoyed watching, even trough I Don’t think it had the among of shooting that I wanted to have ! From all this netflix super heroes show’s I only watched this,Jessica Jones and Daredevil,I Really don’t care about the rest, But This show is on pair with Jessica Jones in mine opinion.I don’t know much about The Punisher comics so can’t comment on anything of this part ! I Think that Jon Bernthal is great actor, he really give a good performance making the Punisher into this psycho maniac that want to kill people ! He have great Gutural Scream ! I saw video about Sicario and how Dennis Villanueve put this whole section of in the movie so he could Film Jon acting !! Like he is really good, I Think that he is the perfect Candidate to be a New rambo, If someone ever wanna do a new type of Rambo Movie he would be great there !! shooting people and screaming at the same time !

#a series of unfortunate events #stand alone complex #doctor who #samurai jack #american gods #michiko to hatchin #Twin Peaks #Big Mouth #Castlevania #Preacher #Mindhunter #Genocyber #Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency #The Young Pope #Dark #stranger things #punisher #American Vandal

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royalbluehues · 6 years

Text

Sidereal, Part 7

A/N: So my Physics teacher showed us a clip on the universe. That’s basically what I used. So all in all, your father is Neil deGrasse Tyson. I give full credit to him- but I did try to word it differently, because you know, plagiarism. But it is hard to find synonyms for scientific words.

@starxgazing Made a beautiful gif set based on the first few chapters of Sidereal, go check them out.

@starxgazing, This one’s for you.

Title: Sidereal

Chapter: 7/?

Summary: This is the story of a fallen queen.

Author: royalbluehues

Warnings: There be angst, and science lessons.

Pairings: Loki x Reader

Part 1

sau·da·de (noun)

a feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia

Part 7: Saudade.

“And you’re sure you’ll be fine?” Bjorni asked, his eyes nearly closing from fatigue. You undid the knot of your cloak, tossing it on a nearby chair.

“Bjorni, go rest. We will speak about it when we both have slept and eaten.” You pulled out the small dagger, placing it on the small table near the bedside. When you heard a grumble and the door close, and you allowed your shoulders to slump.

The room was a moderate size for a guest- the bed large enough to fit five persons. The room was decorated in silver decor, the tapestries embroidered with grays and whites.

You found it a bit too coincidental the king stuck you in chambers with the colors of your family. You walked to the bathing room, where the maid who had guided you told you a bath was drawn. The lavatory was just as incrinate as the main room, with pristine white walls, a chandelier and the whole lot.

A chair sat near the tub, a robe and towels resting atop of a table. A large circular mirror called your attention. You took slow steps, afraid to what you would see.

The woman facing back at you watched your every move. She looked like you. She wore the same tattered dress you wore. She had the same hair color, the same eye color, the same skin tone. When you lifted your hand up to touch your throat, so did she. But she was someone you did not recognize.

Bruises littered your skin- in multitude of colors that should not be be on a person. There was one of Boron’s handprint, where he had nearly taken your life. You could see the crescent moon marks and the raised skin. You began untying the laces of your dress, having to pry it off your skin where it had stuck.

Blood stained your skin. Dirt had overlaid it. Scratches added to it.

Your fears were confirmed. This woman was you.

You looked away in shame and disgust. Your heart was broken, and Boron was happily in your home, partaking in the celebration of your family’s extermination.

The bastard had taken everything away from you, including your dignity.

You walked slowly to the tub, entering it, cringing as your muscles groaned in protest.

Just a few days ago, you had been talking to Dagny about the boy she fancied from the market. Just the other day you were laughing over a conversation with your mother. Just the other day, you and your father had taken a stroll through the gardens.

Each memory was painful slash, more painful that the words of the Prince Loki’s in the study. Your eyes watered as you grabbed the bristled brush to scrub yourself raw. The water around you began turning brown, and your disgust heightened.

You gripped the sides of the tub, pushing yourself into the water. Your senses dulled, and you forced yourself to stay below until your lungs began burning. When you broke through the water, you took in a large breath, wiping the water out of your eyes. You felt around for the drainer, pulling on the chain to let the dirty water leave. Once it did so, you turned the faucet on, feeling the scalding water under your fingertips.

You washed your hair thereafter, scrubbing your body once more, scouring so rough the cuts on your legs and arms reopened.

You walked out of the bathroom, tying your robe, with your tattered dress in a ball. You approached the fireplace, feeling as the water streamed from your hair and down your neck, and stared at the flames for awhile.

Your mother was stroking your hair back. “There will come a time,” she said as she folded the cover over you, “there will come a time when you will take your father’s place in hanging the stars in the sky, and when you will light the moon and the sun.”

She had caught you standing at your balcony when you should have been in bed. You giggled as she flicked your nose softly. “The sun will still be there when you arise in the morning. The stars will still twinkle and the moon will look over you tonight and tomorrow. But for now, you must sleep. Little princesses need good shut eye, lest they get grumpy.”

The fabric between your fingers was rough, your fingers dancing over the few beads that were still intact.

The crown he had been wearing had rolled a few feet away from him. Your mother, whose dress had been torn open along on the bottom was kneeling beside him, sobbing into his hair. Dagny was being pulled out of a carriage by her hair-

You balled up the dress, throwing it into the fire. You watched the flames eat at it, listened as the crackling of the fires grew louder. Your breathing was becoming ragged-

You were running down the corridor, a laugh caught in your throat as you hid behind a large pillar. “This isn’t fair!” Dagny whined, “I’ll never be able to find you!”

You stifled a laugh as you bit down on your small knuckle. You watched as your sister passed you, rounding the corner. You crept up towards her, making sure not to make a sound.

“Boo!” You yelled, watching as your sister jumped three feet in the air and nearly fall on her bottom as she shrieked. You haunched over, doubling in laughter.

“Oh I hate you, you mule!”

You wiped away at your tears, making your way to your feet. You needed air. The night sky of Asgard was beautiful, and you felt a soft breeze against your skin as you gripped the railing. You breathed in a few times, and chocked on the beginnings of a sob.

You sniffled, trying to keep your eyes down and your tears at bay. You had just returned to one of your classes, where you were learning about the stars. The other girls, daughters of the highborn nobles had snickered at you when you asked a question, leaning towards each other to whisper into each other’s ears.

You had caught one thing that caused a turning in your stomach, “And she’s going to be queen one day… Doesn’t understand anything…”

So you stopped paying attention- to the lesson and the girls, the sudden insecurity crushing you like a bug. You heard a knock on your door, but didn’t stand up to open it. “Darling.”

It was your father. You hears the door open, and you quickly wiped your tears so he didn’t see.

“I heard what happened today.”

You turned around, hanging your head. “The other girls… they were whispering about me.”

“And why would they be doing that?” He pulled your footrest so he could sit down in front of you.

“I wasn’t understanding the lesson very well. So I asked a simple question and they started laughing at me. Father, what if I’m not meant to be queen? I can hardly understand the concept.”

“Forget about them. Better that you pay attention and ask questions than gather around like a group of hens to gossip.” His thumb came up to wipe away your tears. “I am very proud of you.”

You knitted your eyebrows, looking straight at him. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Maybe not. But I am proud you are my daughter. I am proud because I know you’ll make an outstanding queen someday.” He stood up, holding his hand out to you. “Come with me.”

You took it, and he lead you out to your balcony, where he crouched down so he could be eye-level with you.

He pointed to the sky, “Do you want to know something that astounds me every time?”

He looked at you, raising an eyebrow. You shrugged, your eyes narrowing. “Do you know that the universe is in you?”

Your knitted eyebrows returned, “In me? How can it be in me? The universe is up there.” You chimed in confusion, “And I’m down here.”

Your father shifted his legs so he could sit on the floor, patting the spot beside him. When you did, he wrapped his arm around your shoulder, hugging your body close to his. “When starts are under immense pressure, when they have high mass, they become unstable.”

You moved your head to look up at him, not fully understanding the message he was trying to get across. “Father I’m not in the mood to hear a lesson at the moment.”

He chuckled, his eyes bright as he held up a finger to his lips. “It’s rude to interrupt.”

You looked up at the Asgardian night sky, the hole in your chest expanding. You could hear your father’s words as if he was standing right next to you.

“These unstable stars explode. And when they explode do you know what happens? They disperse in the sky, creating what we see as nebulae. They scatter carbon, oxygen, nitrogen- and other basic foundations of life except helium and and hydrogen, which as you know, are created in stars. They later become gas clouds. These gas clouds become compact and they collapse, and eventually create new galaxies, already having the necessities for new life.”

You rested your head on his shoulder, looking up at the night sky, watched the stars wink down at you.

“Every time you look at the sky, I want you to remember that though you are in this universe, the universe is in you. Every particle of your being came from those stars.”

Loneliness crept up behind you, engulfing you in his presence. You couldn’t fully accept the fact that they were gone. But they are, and I saw their dead bodies.

Raising a hand, you placed it above your heart in vain attempt to take away the pain that was there. How could such emotional pain hurt as if something physical lashed at you?

Your chin quivered, and the lump grew.

The words of seer resurfaced, and the hairs on your body stood. “The Norns have already decided on a day. Though, they will not allow me to see when… All men die, my Princess. But yours will come soon, the Fates have promised me.”

Somehow you knew now he wasn’t being literal, because you have surely died already. You died long ago.

You died when you saw the lifeless body of your father, the headless bodies swinging in the cold night.

You turned around, behind you, the moons of Asgard became transparent, fading into nothing, the stars above dwindling one by one.

Inside you, the last fragments of your heart broke away, leaving behind a numbness. You slid under the covers, your wet hair leaving pools of moisture behind on the pillows. You wrapped your arms around yourself, to hold yourself together, to offer yourself just a bit of comfort as another quiet sob racked through you.

The seer’s words were true. The Norns truly have kept their promise; your death just came much sooner than expected.

Part 8: Miserly.

Part 1: The Ascent.

Previous Chapter

Masterlist

*Let me know if you’d like to be in the tagging list!*

Sidereal Permanent Tag List:

@i-venoidea, @jedionironthrone, @marty-the-flying-bison, @theyfckup, @antisocialtrashpotato, @deputy-orange-juice, @celestialmommy, @blackcat995, @mala-firebringer, @starxgazing, @sweetlytenacious25, @beanie-boy-jones-iii

Loki Tag List

@starxgazing, @jedionironthrone, @sweetlytenacious25

#loki x reader #loki #loki laufeyson #loki fanfic #loki (marvel)#pre-thor #thor #thor ragnarok #thor odinson #loki ragnarok #loki of asgard #loki odinson #mcu #sidereal part 7 #royalbluehues

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