#the last time i saw him was 4 weeks ago and we haven't said a single word to each other since then

[niallandtommo]

.

[matchingbatbites]

i thee wed

Teen | 2.9k | Female Steve Harrington

A very late submission for @steddie-week Day 5: Reunion/Getting back together, as well as @stevieweek Day 4: Special Outfit.

This fic is too short to be as late as it is, but alas. It was originally supposed to be just runaway bride Stevie showing up to Eddie's home in a huge wedding gown, but somehow Carol wheedled her way into the story, so.

Read on Ao3

Stevie’s mom is doing up the last of the buttons on her dress, each one tiny and pearlescent and perfect against the white lace fabric, when Robin walks up, clearly worried about something.

“Carol's here, and she's asking to talk to you,” she says quietly before Stevie can even ask what's wrong, and oh. She's been expecting this for a while - ever since Tommy proposed, really - but she didn't think Carol would wait until the day of the wedding to actually seek her out. “What do you want me to tell her?”

Stevie hums and thinks for a moment as they smooth out the skirt, as she steps into her heels which are as white and pristine as the rest of her outfit. “I'll talk to her. She deserves that much.”

Robin continues to frown but nods. “She’s in the back hall. I'll keep an eye on everyone here, but scream if you need anything.”

“I will. Thanks, Birdie.”

It's not hard to find Carol, leaning against one of the back walls in an outfit that's too casual to be appropriate for a wedding guest. Stevie still smiles as she approaches, and receives a small one in return. 

“Hi, Carol.”

“Hi, Steph. You look beautiful.”

Stevie huffs and fluffs the a-line skirt again. “Thanks. I'm kind of dying a little, if I'm being honest. I didn't realize how hot this thing would be.”

That earns her a chuckle, and Stevie feels a bit lighter- feels like this might be okay as she asks “So what can I do for you?”

Carol's expression drops, her entire being taking on an air of sadness that almost leaves Stevie breathless. She and Carol haven't really spoken in years, but it's still upsetting to see her so down.

“I'm here because- We were friends once, and I miss that. I miss you.”

Stevie can't stop herself from muttering an “I miss you too,” and Carol pushes herself off the wall. She takes Stevie’s hand in her own and starts to lead them down the hall, slow and meandering.

“You know, after everything went down, I thought I hated you. It felt like I'd been betrayed by two people I thought cared about me, two people I thought I could trust."

That hurts, even though Stevie knows it's true. Tommy and Carol had been together for years before- before. When they broke up it had been a big deal in their social circle. Stevie had honestly never planned on dating Tommy, but then the letter came, and Tommy asked her out, and- and she'd been so lonely.

"It took me a long time to realize that I had nothing against you at all; it was that Tommy dropped me the second he saw a chance to be with you. Just left me like our relationship meant absolutely nothing to him. After that it was pretty easy to come to terms with the fact that I was just a placeholder for Tommy while he waited for you."

She pauses and Stevie glances up to find Carol's sharp gaze locked on her, calculating but not quite cold. "Just like you're using him as a placeholder right now.”

“Tommy's not a placeholder-”

“Eddie's out of jail.”

Stevie freezes on the spot. Carol might as well have stabbed her with the pain that shoots through her chest, the ache that had dimmed in the last four years coming back with a fucking vengeance.

“What?”

“I ran into him last week. He got out a couple months ago. Tried to get in contact with you a few times.”

Steve swallows around nothing and reaches up to grab her necklace, something that only intensifies her pain as her brain screams that it's the wrong shape, that it's not right. 

“I don't know why. He already said everything he had to say to me, right in black and white.”

Carol tugs on her hand, guiding her down the hall once more. “See, I asked him about the letter, and he had no idea what I was talking about. He told me that he sent you dozens of letters, but none of them talked about him being done with you.”

Dozens? Stevie only ever got one letter from Eddie, a single page that ripped her heart to shreds, that crushed every dream she’d had about their life together. “What else did he say?” she can't help but ask, and Carol looks uncharacteristically disturbed.

“He said that Tommy and your parents have been working to keep him away from you. Steph, he said that your dad threatened him. Said that if Eddie did anything to ‘get in the way of your happiness’ that he'd make sure Eddie went back to prison and never came out again.”

Stevie stares at Carol, searching for any hint, any possibility that the woman is lying to her. Even after years apart, she can tell that Carol is telling the truth.

“Why are you telling me this?”

Carol's smile is a small, sad thing. “Like I said: we were friends, once. I want you to be happy, but more than that, you deserve to know the truth. Tommy being fucked over is just a bonus.”

She gestures to the side and Stevie looks over, out the glass door she hadn't noticed before, and sees a taxi waiting on the curb.

“That's the cab that brought me here. It's ready to take you anywhere you want to go.”

Stevie's heart lurches. She's supposed to be getting married in twenty minutes. Supposed to wear this dress she can't stand and walk down the aisle of a church she didn't choose and go to a reception that's going to be full of her parents' friends so they can show off their daughter's accomplishment.

If she was marrying the man she truly wanted, she might have been able to shove down her frustrations and just deal with it, but Tommy just isn't that man. She knows it in her heart, and when she looks at Carol, Stevie can tell that she knows it too.

And suddenly, none of it matters.

“They're gonna come looking for me.”

Carol smiles. “I'll tell them you stepped out for some air.”

Stevie is overcome by a sudden rush of affection, and she can't resist pulling her old friend into a hug. “I owe you one,” she says, and feels Carol shake her head.

“Consider it my apology for being such a bitch to you after Tommy dumped me.”

“Apology more than accepted.”

They pull apart and Stevie gives her one last smile before heading for the door.

She doesn't really remember the ride to the trailer park; it's all a blur up until the taxi slows to a stop in front of a place that Stevie used to think of as home. She thanks the driver who told her that Carol prepaid for her ride, and then climbs out.

Wayne's truck is out front, so at the very least she'll be able to apologize for not visiting anymore. She knows the man was hurting just as bad as she was when Eddie was put away, but after the letter, she hadn't even been able to look him in the face.

She knocks on the door and shifts in her heels as she waits. What if she’s too late to make things right? What if Carol really was lying and it was all just a means to get her away from the wedding, to ruin her life?

There's barely any time for her thoughts to spiral before the door swings open and she's suddenly face to face with Wayne, the man that she considered to be a better father to her than her own. He certainly seems surprised to see her, but before she can even begin to explain, he turns and calls out “Ed! You got a visitor!” 

Stevie reaches for the older man and tries an “I'm so sorry-” but he shakes his head and takes her hand in his own work-worn ones. 

“There'll be time for that later. I'll give you two some space for now.” He gives her hand a gentle pat before releasing it, grabs his truck keys, and heads out the door and down the steps.

Stevie hears a door open further in the trailer and steps inside just in time to see Eddie stepping into the hall, his sweatpants and tank top an extreme contrast to her lacy, fluffy wedding gown.

She's surprised to see that he's filled out a little, the lankiness he used to have now replaced with a sturdier, stronger frame, and his hair is the shortest she's ever seen it - a bit longer than buzzed now that he's been home for a little while. His eyes are the only thing that haven't changed, still the same deep pools of chocolate she remembers, although they're currently wide in surprise as he registers just who is before him.

“Stevie?”

Stevie gives a single broken “Eddie,” and then they're both moving. They meet in the middle of the tiny kitchen and cling to each other, hands and arms clutching tight like they're both worried the other will disappear if they let go. Stevie can hardly breathe through her sobs, can barely even take a breath with how her face is pressed into the skin of Eddie's neck. 

The man isn't much better- she can feel the way his fingers dig into the fabric of her dress, trying to haul her closer, like the millimeters of clothing between them is still too much distance. Stevie thinks her legs must give out because they sink to the floor, her skirt pooling around them as Eddie just holds her and mutters reassurances- “I've got you baby, I'm here. Never gonna let you go again, princess.”

She doesn't know how long it takes her to stop crying. It’s only when she can actually breathe again that she pulls back enough to cup Eddie's face, to run a hand over his short curls. “Your hair,” she says, smiling through the few tears that still escape her. The man gives her a watery smile and brushes a stray lock of hair away from her face.

“I can’t believe you’re talking about me while you’re over here looking like a Bridal Barbie or something.”

That makes her laugh, and she confesses “You don’t know how much I hate this dress. It’s so awful, Teddy.”

“Let me guess, your mom vetoed the slinky, sexy dress?”

“I thought she was going to have a heart attack right there at the bridal store when I walked out wearing it.”

Eddie shakes his head and rubs his thumb over her cheek. "That's too bad. I bet you looked like a fuckin' dream, sweetheart. Honestly, you still look like a dream, even in this cake topper gown."

Stevie laughs again, and it hits her all at once how much she still loves this man, how undeniably happy he makes her. In the last four years, no one has made her feel the way Eddie did, has even looked at her the way the way he is right now. Tommy only ever looked at her with desire, like a prize to be claimed and flaunted, and her parents never really looked at her at all unless she was doing something to make them look good.

Eddie though. He's always looked at her with wonder, like he can't even believe that he's allowed to be around her, much less have her for his own. She grabs his hands, holds them tight between them.

"I left Tommy at the altar," she says and Eddie's eyes go wide in shock.

"Oh, shit. What, uh. What made you change your mind?"

"Carol came to see me. Told me what you said about him and my parents, about the letter." She pauses and takes a deep breath as tears well up in her eyes again. "Eddie, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have trusted it blindly, I should have believed in you. I promise I was gonna wait for you, and if I'm too late-"

Eddie frowns and rubs a thumb over her knuckles "I told you a long time ago, sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me to. Honestly, when I found out you were engaged to Tommy, I thought that I was too late. Thought I'd fucked up too bad and you finally realized you could do better."

Stevie can't help but scoff at that. "Tommy is not better than you. He just- he was there, and he wanted me, and I- I didn't want to be alone anymore. I wanted someone to love me."

A soft, broken noise escapes Eddie and he tugs her into another hug. She goes willingly, clings to him as he shifts and pulls her into his lap.

"You won't be, baby. Now that I've got you, you won't ever be lonely again, not if I can help it."

"So you still love me?" Stevie asks, her voice wavering on the question that's been plaguing her for years, the question that she needs to know the answer to.

"Oh, sweetheart, of course I still love you. You're the girl of my fuckin' dreams, you know? I think I'm always gonna love you."

He loves her.

Eddie still loves her, and it's like something at the center of her being settles into place.

She pulls back just enough to kiss him, deep and desperate and everything she's wanted in the years that he's been gone. She pours every ounce of her feelings into it, her desire, her regret, and she feels like crying all over again as he returns it tenfold.

It feels like coming home, like she can finally relax because she knows Eddie has her, will always have her. He won't brush her off the way Tommy does, won't disregard her opinions or criticize her clothes or-

God, Tommy really was a piece of shit, wasn't he?

Stevie breaks the kiss but doesn't move, lets her lips brush against Eddie's as she says “Do me a favor, baby?”

“Anything, sweetheart.”

“Take me to the courthouse. Make me your wife, please."

Eddie frowns and moves back enough so he can look her in the eye. "Stevie, maybe we should take some time to think about this. I mean- I'm not the same guy you knew when I went away-"

"And I'm not the same girl. Hell, neither of us are those dumbass high schoolers that fell in love over a fucking history project. We've both grown, both changed. But Eddie, our years together were the happiest of my life, and I've gone through all of this wedding planning bullshit wishing I was marrying you instead."

Stevie moves a hand to the back of Eddie's neck and tugs until their foreheads are pressed together, and she can stare into endless pools of Eddie's eyes. "I wanna be your wife, Eddie. We can figure out everything else after.”

Eddie lets out a shuddering breath and nods, mutters a soft "Yeah, okay. I mean, can't say I haven't literally dreamed about it."

"Well, I think we should make some dreams come true, yeah?" She presses a quick kiss to his mouth, not letting it linger before she says "You gotta change though. As hot as you look right now, we can't get married while you're in sweatpants."

They're stopped outside the church by a red light on the way to the courthouse.

Stevie can't help but grin at the sight of people scattering from the building as Tommy stands on the front steps, his face tomato red as he throws what seems to be the mother of all tantrums. Stevie's father is yelling back at him, and her mother is off to the side looking absolutely distressed as Tommy's parents try to calm the two men down.

The van is in the far right lane, giving Stevie a perfect view of the chaos, and a thought crosses her mind. She rolls down the window and shifts until her torso is nearly hanging out of it, and she brings a hand up to her mouth. The whistle is loud enough to cut through the noise, and Tommy and her parents all turn to see her.

He barely gets out a "Steph?" before she chucks the ring he proposed with in his direction. It hits the sidewalk and bounces a couple of times, and she can see when the realization of what it is hits Tommy.

"What the fuck-" he starts, but doesn't finish. Stevie yells a "Fuck you, Hagan!" and flips him off as the light changes and Eddie starts to pull away. She lurches a bit as the van moves and she feels a steadying hand settle on her waist as Eddie cackles behind her.

Stevie settles back in her seat and rolls the window up, and looks over to see Eddie beaming like he just won the lottery. "I fuckin' love you, Stephanie Harrington," he says, and she smiles as their hands lace together.

"I love you too," she replies, wanting nothing more than to cross over the center console and plant herself in Eddie's lap. "And that'll be Stephanie Munson soon, if you can hurry the fuck up."

Eddie laughs again at that and brings their hands up so he can press a kiss to the heirloom ring he'd given her earlier. "Hang on, baby."

Stevie grins as she clings to him, and as the van speeds toward the center of town, she knows she'll hang on to him as long as she possibly can.

Divider Credit

[kikimurphys]

Behind Closed Doors (Part 4)

Pairing: Cillian x Y/N

The next morning, you woke up feeling a mix of excitement and nerves. Today was the day of your 18-week ultrasound, and you were anxious to see your baby. After a quick breakfast, you got ready and headed to the clinic.

When you arrived, you saw Cillian waiting in the lobby. He looked tired, but his eyes lit up when he saw you.

"Hey," he greeted you, kissing your cheek.

"Hi," you replied, feeling a flutter in your stomach that had nothing to do with the baby.

“How are you? Where did you go last night?” you inquired, your voice laced with concern.

“I stayed at Paddy’s,” he shrugged, trying to sound casual.

You nodded, remembering how close he was with his brother. It was a comfort to know he had someone to rely on, but it also reminded you of how isolated you felt sometimes. Most of your family was in England; you had moved here only a few years ago for work. Now, with everything happening, you felt more alone than ever, except for Livvy. Cillian sensed your loneliness and felt a pang of guilt.

“Have you talked to her?” you asked as you both sat down.

“No. I will go home later. I need to talk to Max too, God knows what she has told him,” he said, a saddened expression on his face.

“Hey,” you said softly, taking his hand in yours. The feeling of his warm skin was a small comfort. “Don't worry. He will come around.”

“We have this little one to focus on, don't we?” He changed the topic, placing one hand on your growing bump. His touch was gentle, but the underlying tension in his voice was hard to miss. He wanted to be with you, to support you, but neither of you knew what the other truly wanted.

“It's been giving me quite a hard time. I have been so dizzy lately, I feel like I can't eat enough,” you joked, but on the inside, you were frustrated and always so tired. The constant concern for your baby’s health gnawed at you.

The receptionist called your name, and you both headed into the ultrasound room. The technician greeted you warmly and instructed you to lie down on the examination table. Cillian stood beside you, his hand resting lightly on your shoulder, a silent pillar of support.

“So, how have you been feeling, love?” she questioned as you lifted your shirt.

“Better. The sickness eased off but… I've been so dizzy lately, like I haven't eaten enough,” you confessed, your voice tinged with worry. You felt vulnerable and scared. Though your pregnancy had been relatively easy, you knew how many things could go wrong.

“Well, your body is working hard to support your baby, and that requires plenty of energy,” she said, applying gel on your belly and beginning to move the transducer. “The midwife can give you pills for that.”

Cillian's grip on your shoulder tightened slightly, a silent reassurance that he was there with you. He felt a deep sense of concern knowing how much you had been struggling, wishing he could do more to support you.

“How is the baby? Is everything developing right?” you asked, your heart pounding in your chest. The anxiety that had been your constant companion flared up, making it hard to breathe.

The technician smiled reassuringly. “Everything looks fine. The baby is measuring accordingly.”

A wave of relief washed over you, easing the tight knot of worry in your chest. You looked at the screen, seeing your baby’s tiny form, and felt a surge of love and protectiveness. This little life inside you was all that mattered.

“Do you want to know the sex?” the technician asked, her voice gentle.

You turned to Cillian, waiting for him to decide. He looked at you, his eyes filled with a mixture of hope and uncertainty. “Yes,” he said softly.

“Well, nothing between the legs. It’s a girl,” the technician announced.

Tears welled up in your eyes as you looked at Cillian. “A girl,” you whispered, the reality of it sinking in.

Cillian managed a small, genuine smile. “A girl,” he repeated, his voice filled with wonder but also with the weight of everything he was processing.

tags:

@xsweetcatastrophe @mamawiggers1980

[tehnakki]

Had to have another frustrating convo with a white guy who started his introduction at a sex party I was hosting with "i'm lonely/recently divorced/widowed and haven't had sex in a couple years" and then afterwards reached out to me that he had a good time but couldn't figure out how to initiate anything more than surface level conversations with people.

This is like a regular trope of straight white dudes in a bunch of the sex communities I'm in and I just want to take them all and shake the fuck out of them and scream in their faces "YOU GET BACK THE ENERGY YOU BRING TO AN INTERACTION"

You come in with your mopey ass vibes and then wonder why no one thinks your sexy???? You started the interaction off with "hi, i'm pathetic and sad". Of course that is a vibe killer for almost everyone! Also, you didn't ask for sex! You said that you haven't had sex in a while, which implies that you either don't want to have sex or you don't know how to ask for what you want, both boner-killers.

We give explicit instructions during opening circle to ask for one specific thing you want and these dummies never do. They just say what they don't have and then are surprised that it hasn't changed by the end of the night. And I always model it by going first.

(read more for those who don't want to know what gets me off lol)

"Hey, I'm Nakki, they/them pronouns. I'm a pain slut and always open for pain play with new people. Tonight I would like to be fisted." And guess what, I got fisted by 3 different people, and caned/whipped by 4 others. Super fucking easy.

Thankful one of my cohost is a older cis white man and he has infinite patience for talking these dudes through how to behave like a normal human being at a sex party. So if they reach out to me I give them a quick read of their intro and why it didn't encourage me to ask them to play, and then pass them over to my cohost to have the manly heart to heart about actually listening to what people are saying and asking for what you want.

And over time some of them do get better at interacting and participating. I had one older divorcee guy who was beyond awkward at 4 or 5 parties last year and then showed up a couple weeks ago at one and just said his name and pronouns at opening circle (which impressed me, because normal he mentions he was divorced, and had misgendered me a couple times before) and came up to me immediately afterwards and said, "I've been learning electroplay because you mentioned it last year. I've been practicing it on myself and others and I'm really good at it now. Can I hurt you sometime tonight?" Apparently I got so wet so fast that my top (who had her hand between my legs) started cackling uncontrollably.

Anyways, that guy now has my full consent to choke me on his cock while he electrocutes the shit out of me whenever he wants. And he also has a bunch of regular play partners out of the group because people saw me losing my mind and wanted to take him for a spin as well.

Bring your sexy vibes and you will get sexy back. Bring your sad vibes and you will get sad vibes back. It is so easy. Stop making sex awkward.

[jusalle]

• Neymar Jr Imagine •

~ I can only have you~

Right now you and Neymar were heading to Neymars practice. For the past 4 weeks he's been practically begging you to go with him to his practice to meet his team.

You kept declining because you had a busy schedule just like Neymar. You played for Barcelona and you were a great player and a well known player so you were always going somwhere.

Finally you had a week off so you accepted Ney's offer to meet his team. Plus you knew he'll keep bugging you and you didn't know anyone on the team.

But you might recognize somone if you see them but you doubted that you'll see somone you'll know

"You excited to meet the team Meu Amor?" Neymar said happily

"Yeah, they seem like there nice people, I only know Richarlison, I don't know anyone else on the team" you said smiling

"Is Richarlison going to be there?" You said

"Yeah the whole team is, Richarlison will be happy to see you again after so long. Your schedule is always so busy especially Barcelona's schedule" Ney said

Once you guys got to the stadium, you helped Ney with his bags and started walking to the locker rooms.

You two entered the locker rooms and it was empty. That's when you knew Ney was late to practice right now.

"You idiot, why didn't you tell me we were late" you glared at Ney

"I didn't want you to worry Meu Amor" Ney said nervously as you continued to glare

You guys walked out the lockerooms and started walking to the field.

Once you guys got on the field you saw the team practicing

"Y/N!" You heard a voice yell as they tackled you into a hug

Then you instantly recognize it as Richarlison

"Your going to squeeze me to death Richarlison" you said laughing as he let's you go

"I haven't seen you in so long Y/n, but it's nice to see you" He said smiling happily

"It's nice to see you to Pombo" you grinned

Then you looked behind Richarlison and see the whole team staring.

Ney sensed how uncomfortable you were when everyone was staring at you.

"This is Y/n my fiance"

Everyone said there hellos and introduced themselves and they all seemed sweet.

But 1 teamate was missing

Then in the distance you see Ney talking to one of his teamates but you haven't met that specific teamate.

Neymar sees you staring and waves and calls you over.

As you start getting closer you look at the guy Neymar was talking to.

He looks up at you.

It's Silva

"Silva?"

"Y/n?"

You walk up to him and give him and hug. You were shocked to see Thaigo here. You knew Thaigo because a few years ago he went to one of your games.

You pulled away from the hug and he takes your hand and kisses your knuckles and you smile at the small gesture.

Then you saw Ney walk away which suprised you but you brushed it off since maybe he wanted to practice.

"I didn't know you played for Brazil Thaigo" you said intrigued

"Yeah, the last time I saw you was at one of my games at Chelsea" He laughed

From there you guys began talking and catching up on old times.

After awhile Thaigo had to practice with the rest of the team and you watched Neymar.

But you noticed he was acting off. Everytime you gave him water he wouldn't even accept it or anytime he made a goal he didn't even spare you a glance. It all made you confused. You tried to think what you had done but nothing came in mind.

After the practice everyone went into the Lockerooms and it was only you and Ney

Then you see Thaigo leaving the stadium

"Bye Silva" you waved goodbye

"Bye Princesa" he smiled and left

Then you heard somone scoff.

It was Neymar

Thats when everything in your head clicked

Neymar was Jealous of Thaigo

"Meu Amor" you said softly

Ney didn't awnser

"Neymar"

Still didn't awnser

"Neymar why are you jealous of Thaigo?"

"I didn't bring you here to flirt with people" Ney said harshly

"Ney I wasn't flirting with anyone" you said softly, trying to not make an argument

"Neymar, I knew Thaigo from awhile go. He met me at one of my games, it's nothing else Ney, trust me."

He scoffed again

"You fucking sure about that, he was looking at you as if-"

"Meu Amor your overreacting, just listen to-"

"I don't fucking care Amor, your mine and mine only" Neymar said starting to get angry

"I can only have you" Ney said lowly

You didn't like when Ney got upset or angry so you decided to calm him down.

You both sides of his face and turn his face towards you.

"I'm yours Neymar, I'm yours" you said softly to Ney

Once he heard that his body relaxed and he closed his eyes

"Kiss me Amor"

"Ney wha-"

He grabs you chin and kisses you softly

"I'm sorry Amor for acting like that..it was childish, your right, I did overreact.

"It's fine Neymar, I understand but I only love you Ney, I'm yours and I'm not anyone else's. Let's go home now? Does that sound good Meu amor?" You said whispering into his ear.

"Of course Meu Amor" you said softly as you smile at Neymar.

You guys began to walk out the stadium hand in hand

"You know amor my hand fits perfectly with yours" Neymar said smiling and that made your knees go weak

••••

Hello once again my lovelies, I know this one isn't the best but I hope it's enjoyable enough to read😭. But I need more suggestions and I'll gladly accept!

[jbaileyfansite]

Interview with Evan Ross Katz (2024)

Whether he’s carrying Kylie Minogue to the Hyde Park Festival stage with his pal Andrew Scott, making the Internet go collectively feral for merely running a half marathon, chasing dinosaurs (in the upcoming Jurassic World reboot), romancing Matt Bomer (in Fellow Travelers) or Simone Ashley (in Bridgerton) or Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo (in Wicked) or, with his most recent venture, launching an LGBTQ+-focused charity, it seems Jonathan Bailey is always up to something. And yet, he still makes time, from his hotel room in Thailand (where he’s shooting Jurassic World 4), to hop on a Zoom with me to catch up.

We discuss everything from chafed nipples to queer shame to who he’d like to see in the “Drink Your Milk” T-shirt to if we’ll see him on Broadway any time soon, which is to say it’s a brief but wide-ranging chat.

I haven't seen you since the Met Gala! When we last spoke, you were prepping for your first half marathon. I obviously saw the viral photos that went around of you at the finish line, but how did it go?

You know, I should have put those nipple stickers on. That's my main takeaway. 

[Laughs] Did you bleed?

I did a bit, yeah. Did you? I know you've done a couple of marathons. 

I did bleed, and I didn't know about the bleeding beforehand. It's not something you really hear about but it's painful and uncomfortable.

Totally! And not even just beforehand: It took ‘til 4 hours later when my best friend told me there was evidence [of the bleeding]. But anyways… it was euphoric!

At least there was no photo evidence of that element!

Exactly! So thankfully, it's done. But it's just the most amazing thing, isn't it? And the community as well. Hackney Moves is amazing and they raised loads of money. It was the Bridgerton [Season 3 release] week so I feel like you could sort of harness that.

I do have to ask you a pressing question: Days ago, it was announced that Wicked had moved up its release date and will now be released the same day as Ridley Scott's Gladiator 2. Many online were affectionately calling this Barbenheimer 2.0, which led many to try and speculate about a proper portmanteau. Jon Chu wrote on Instagram that the consensus seems to be “Glicked,” which you reposted on Instagram, signaling a cosign. But I have to ask you, Johnny: Are you not considering“Wickediator”?

I love it. Whatever Jon Chu has ever said to me, I’ve taken as gospel, so I actually hadn't explored all the other options. The one that I've now heard since then which is making me reconsider everything is “Gladicked.” [Laughs] It's quite good, isn’t it? 

Yes! To me, “Glicked” feels too Wicked-skewed and then “Wickediator” is just clunky AF, so I like where you're at. 

We want it to be equal footing for sure. Another thing that I love that went viral is someone going: “Oh, brilliant. A film for the ladies and a film for the ladies.” [Laughs] 

I am both ladies! 

Oh, yes. Me too! 

Let’s talk The Shameless Fund, the charity you founded to raise money for LGBTQ+ nonprofit organizations. Can you tell me about the formation of this project?

It's been a labor of love over the last three or four years. It's been quite an organic experience, mainly inspired by Fellow Travelers, hence why I started with a collaboration which references a very specific scene and a performance by Matt Bomer.

I think through Covid and Bridgerton coming out, I found that there’s a real sense in the queer community about awareness of people who came before you and other experiences. And then obviously in Fellow Travelers, which explicitly explores that, the character I played was sort of on the front all the way through a very complicated experience for gay men at that time.

He experienced real moments of blooming liberation and quite insane amounts of oppression as well, and he was always fighting. He ends up becoming an activist, essentially, and I think it was in playing that part — which was kind of spiritual for me and for everyone who's involved in it — that I was like: Right, okay. I know that I've got this idea in my head and having experienced how much love there is for things like Bridgerton and how much money there is in collaboration, I felt that there's so many things I had said “no” to because it didn't feel quite right for me but if there was a world in which I could marry all of it in a creative sort of cocktail, then why not? And to give back to the community that I so love, and also, I'm a massive beneficiary of the work that the people that came before us did, so that's where it came to fruition from. 

You collaborated with our dear friend Jonathan Anderson, the creative director of Loewe, on a T-shirt with a memorable quote from Fellow Travelers to promote the launch of The Shameless Fund. How did this collaboration come to be?

During the strikes during the filming of Wicked, I went on a run one day and this idea of a T-shirt came into my head in full form. Then I sat next to Jonathan [at a Studio Voltaire fundraiser], and he’s lovely and brilliant and naughty and has a foundation, so it was all kind of organic.

Then I went over to DC to present Matt Bomer with an award for the Human Rights Campaign and it was really galvanizing to experience the American fervor. It was a gala, and the energy in the room was absolutely wild and there were amazing stories on stage. I texted Jonathan and I said: “Look, I have an idea and it involves milk and a T-shirt. What do you think?” and he said: “Call me tomorrow,” and then he said yes within the same phone call. I just felt tentative because it’s the sort of thing where you ask and you don't know, but then it went from there. 

I do recall first seeing a photo of you in the shirt several months ago during a night out with the Loewe team in China…

I went to the Loewe exhibition in Shanghai, which was incredible, and that night, we had quite a big night out and I wore the T-shirt because I’d been given the first prototype.

I was having a little boogie and [Anderson] uploaded it whilst I had no access to the Western World — my phone was off the whole time. So by the time I came home, you could see that people were gonna go wild for the T-shirt. Now, it's sold out and we're gonna get some more and it'll be a first step for The Shameless Fund to raise some money. 

Jonathan Anderson did my and my husband's wedding looks and I had to send him that same initial text to be like: “Can one even ask this?”

That's what's so brilliant in life: People who have the ability to collaborate, and that's just what Jonathan does.

One thing that you said just now that struck me is: “Why not?” I interview a lot of people in your profession and they're not asking that question all the time. A lot of people say:

“Oh, there's lots of money I can make. I can have more money. I can have more things for myself.”

Why are you a “why not?” person rather than a “why”? Is that something that was imbued in you by your family and your upbringing or is it how you've always been?

I don't know. I just feel quite strongly emotionally. I sense injustice in certain places, and I think what comes with success — especially being a gay actor — is that you think: “Hang on a minute. Are there limitations? Are there glass ceilings?”

When you experience success that you never thought you would and you grew up thinking that you're limited because of your identity and who you are, I think about the people that have supported me and the people that were really pioneering, but also, the actual heroes who do the real work; the people who work for these nonprofits and these charities where the majority of their energy is spent trying to raise money. When Bridgerton came out, I was inundated with requests to help draw attention to [these organizations] or raise money or donate things that they could sell, so that's where the kernel of this idea came from. All my life, I’ve been thinking about how I can give back.

It's not for nothing that you call this The Shameless Fund. We grew up at a time when, and I don't know if this is the same for you, but I didn't know that gay people existed. I thought I was the only one because I didn't have access to the kind of media kids do today where you can go on Instagram and see that gay is not only acceptable; it's cool. There's this very significant paradigm shift. I feel like a lot of gay men of our generation felt this shame as young people and often spend a lot of our adult lives working to rid ourselves of it. What is it for you about this idea of shame? 

I totally agree in terms of generations. I think the queer experience changes every five years. Even with some of my friends who are 10 years older than me — it's just so specific to cultural moments and representation as well, as you're saying. But I think my understanding of shame, especially having experienced Fellow Travelers, is that it permeates. It's not just a community that experiences the shame; it's the people around them. It's the parents who don't understand it and kick their kids out of their house. It's the sisters, it’s the cousins, it's the nephews, it's the children that are in broken families because of it. It's actually so toxic, that sense of self-hatred. That’s why The Shameless Fund is actually something that I hope is going to benefit everyone, even beyond the community itself.

Also, the older we get and because of the world we live in now, you can read The Velvet Rage and you can read Matthew Todd’s Straight Jacket and you can explore and have conversations with your friends that are really enlightening and you can have therapy, if you're lucky enough that you can afford to do that. As a 36-year-old now, I look back and I just go: “My God, I had such a loving family and yet I was still so isolated and so crippled.”

Shame can stop people from having a proper education and from being able to structure proper emotional relationships, like fundamental relationships with their family, which is the one place you're supposed to feel safe. It's flawed if the family is not aware of what you're going through. 

How did you come up with the name?

I did have other names [in mind for The Shameless Fund], but we won't go into them. One was so aggressive! [Laughs] But “The Shameless Fund” felt punk enough and fundamental enough. To me, I think that to be without shame is to be able to be joyful and to be able to thrive and to be able to learn and have a bloody good time whilst doing all those things, so it just felt right that it should be targeting shame because then hopefully it benefits the whole community in every color on the pride flag and, in turn, will also help so many people around them. 

So what can people expect next?

There's going to be some really fun things coming with The Shameless Fund and there's different ways in which it can grow, but I have people who really know what they're doing who are helping lead it. By the end of the year, we'll hopefully have worked with three different charities, starting small and helping people understand the work they're doing because that's the most important thing. If you think about Instagram, other than chatting with Evan Ross Katz [laughs], that's the platform through which you can really draw attention to things. Literally anyone in our community who's thriving at the moment — in a community that's obviously under threat going forward — knows what it's like to receive support. We know what we missed growing up.

I, too, grew up with an accepting family, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t still feel ostracized. I appreciate you recognizing that nuance, one I think many of us experience in some form but don’t always discuss.

Now, on The Shameless Fund’s website, it does say that more collaborations are coming. As you said, there’s going to be a restock of the Loewe shirts, but are there other brands in the mix?

There are other brands, and it'll be really exciting because the scope is endless, but I definitely had a couple of other ideas. After Fellow Travelers, the next thing will be a Wicked garment, so you might have to keep your eyes out for that. Maybe jumpers and sexy boots?

That’s perfect for my fantasy! So we've seen Kylie Minogue wearing the shirt — who I was lucky enough to be introduced to by you on the dance floor at the Met Gala after-party, thanks again — and we've seen Kit Connor, Scarlett Johansson and your Bridgerton co-star Luke Newton sporting it as well. I'm wondering who else is on your wishlist of celebrities that you'd like to see in the Drink Your Milk T-shirt?

Oh, God. What a question! Great shout. I would love to see Jerrod Carmichael in it right now. Very specifically Jerrod Carmichael. 

I feel that.

I would also love to see Hanson in it. Their three-part harmonies are a knockout at the moment.

At the moment?

[Laughs] We were just talking about this today. I’ve literally just come away from a field where I was running towards or away from dinosaurs, and we were talking about Hanson for about four hours today and listening to their three-part harmonies. 

That is not what I was expecting.

Who else? I can only think of people who are going to be wearing it over the next few weeks, which is quite exciting. Is there anyone you want to see in it? 

I have quite a few people. First of all, Jamie Dornan. I would love to see him in it. Paul Mescal, for obvious reasons. And the fans are waiting for Matt Bomer!

Don’t you worry. They’ll be satiated! They’ll be quenched. And Andrew Scott had a good time at Glastonbury is what I’ll say. [Laughs]

I bet he did! Last but not least: Richard II is bringing you back to the stage. Wicked is giving us the musical theater moment we've been craving. Is there a musical theater moment that’ll be live on stage in Jonathan Bailey's future?

Potentially, actually. Maybe in 2026. 

On Broadway?

I would! I had the best time recently in New York and I watched as many things as I could. I saw Stereophonic, which, to me, was like a religious experience. That, and Oh, Mary! And Cole Escola.

That is what it's about. I would come back to watch that; I was so inspired by it. Obviously, I'd love to [be on Broadway] at some point and you just have to wait and see what pops up. 

Source

[lorkonsghost]

Sorry I met post this last night the rest of chapters will be on Ao3 but here's the completed chapter 1 hope guys forgive me about this I haven't really wrote fanfic for anyone other myself for while which was mostly self satisfaction fics I had in brief spurts of inspiration I had so understand this might be a bit oocish for now and hopefully it gets better and in this au is more about the how turtles and friend react with dc April and jason are just tools that and if happen to write a good love story along the way is good to.

The Red Hood ,The Red Head, The Big Bats, And The Big Green Turtles.

They miss being normal

 

Things about this au this all started when the Turtles where 13 and April was 16 she’s been with the Turtles for 5 years after her father dies in this au she only has 3 human friends in this au Irma who doesn’t know anything about the Turtles. Casey Jones who left for college and hopefully to go pro in hockey also he going for a physical education degree. An Karai who is currently in Japan trying to take over the foot clan their from shredder.

 

Jason in this au is friends with all outlaws and Rose he’s been back in Gotham since he was 17 and a crime lord. He’s been and is on good terms with Bruce for most part they can be in same room and have pleasant conversation as long as the joker not brought up. He doesn’t like Ra’s for a few reasons a lot because of Tim although don’t tell him that and he feels used by Taila

 

 

 

 

 Jason has no idea why he’s fighting alien robots with almost 6ft tall turtles, or why the girl he started dating a month ago is also fighting said alien robots but he wasn’t really going to question it. He was fighting alien robots makes a lot of things easier if you don’t question them wait are those fucking ninjas and why did the turtle in red say their name like it’s a bad thing. Jason was really rethinking coming to New York to go drinking by himself was a bad idea maybe if he at least brought Roy he wouldn’t be in this mess.

 

1 month ago, and 2 weeks after Jason’s 21 birthday

 

Jason was getting sick of always having someone tag along every time he went drinking, for his 21st birthday wasn’t the problem, but the 4 times he tried after that though. The first time doing it solo Dick showed up not 10 seconds after his first shot the next tine he did it was in star city and Roy showed up before even his first shot. The third time it had to be a joke because why did Rose fucking Wilson show up at the bar he was drinking at in central city she normally never even visit central city. The fourth time he knew it was joke because he went to the most sewer rat bar in Gotham and for fuck sake why was Bruce their wearing a fucking fake mustache. Jason wasn’t really annoyed at not drinking alone if he actually wanted to do that he would just stay home and buy a few beers with Bruce’s credit card but it was the fact that he kept running into people he new he just wanted to get drunk and make a few mistakes but no now somebody he new was their and he can’t go embarrassing himself in front of them he had reputation to up hold. So that’s why he’s in New York he knows almost no hero’s who even touch New York so he thought no problems.

Jason was a few drinks in when he first saw her it looked like the first time she ever been in bar by herself and Jason thought why would she choose such a warn down bar like this. Jason took a shot for confidence and approached her thinking the most he could do is keep her company.

 

“Hello their beautiful looking kind of lonely mind if I join.” Jason say with his buzzed confidence

 “Hmph ha ha ha are you serious my ex had better pick up lines.” the red headed girl says

“Sorry I never been the kind of guy to try pick up a girl this way.” Jason says with a slightly bruised pride

“Oh so how you do it mister aren’t you looking lonely miss.” Her blue eyes smiled behind her glass

“honestly most of the time we just start dating or they fall for bad boy charm” Jason with a cocky smile

“Sorry dated one bad boy don’t know if I need another” her red hair drops a bit but she says with a cheer in her voice

Jason doesn’t know actually why he tried flirting with her Jason knew it wasn’t good to get involved with a civilian Isabel taught him that he missed the flight attendant. But maybe it was the alcohol In his system, or it was the fact he wanted to ignore the hero stuff that’s also probably why he wanted to drink  without anyone he new he just wanted a night where he’s okay to be somebody other than Jason Todd the red hood, the son of Batman in somebody’s eye just Jason.

 

“I never introduced myself I’m Jason I’m not just a bad boy I also happen to read pride and prejudice.” Jason says in half cocky smile with another swig of his drink

“Okay mister Jason tell  me your favorite quote and I’ll tell you my name” Her smile softens

“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.” “I know the original quote is about falling in love but it’s like I lived my life by it”  Jason says trying to hide the emotions he feels when he says it

“My names April so you where telling the truth about reading it” April say with a reassuring smile

Jason collects himself for a moment he’s kinda surprised how far he’s come along in this conversation. Jason really was only Jason right now no baggage to unravel yet and he’s okay with that right now it only him, April, his slowly blurring vision, and the hope maybe he could get a date out of this.

“So miss April tell me something other than your name please”. Jason say with a half smile

“Well currently I’m trying to be a journalist but to get the last 5 credits of my degree I need to intern under another journalist for a year.” April says with a slight annoyed frown on her face

“so what’s the problem can’t find respectable enough journalist or something else” Jason says trying to offer a chance to vent

“It’s not that it’s just any intern ship I apply for needs me full time and my home life just doesn’t allow that right now” April says with happier expression

Jason wants to call in a favor from Clark or Lois so bad right know he really could solve this girls problems with a phone call. But Jason was taught by Bruce, Ra’s, Dick, and Talia you can’t solve all the problems even if two them he would stab and not regret it and Bruce and Dick have been off his shit list for a good minute. But all of them where right he can’t just solve her problem for no reason but Jason wanted to do he makes a compromise.

“Okay that’s problem I could possibly help with” Jason says with cockiest smile yet

“Oh how so” April says with curiosity

“So a family friend is a journalist I could put in a word for and give you a chance at something buuut with it would be uup to you to convince them to agree to whatever youuu propose” Jason say with seriousness but with slurring

“Are you serious why would you do that for me” April says questionably

“Well I could ask you for a date as compensation but instead here’s what in going to do I give them a word if they give you a chance you go on date with me as celebration if they don’t drop my number we never talk again” Jason says with a smile

“Well mister Jason you got a deal and if don’t get I might stillll give you a chaaaasnccce for at least not being a creeeep” April tries to say a little flirty

Jason grabs a napkin and calls the waiter over to closes his tab and ask to borrow a pen and writes his number down

“call me in the morning I’ll set up an interview” Jason say as gets and walks over to April

Jason kisses the back of April hand and says as looks into her eyes once more ”Did you admire me for my impertinence?”

April laughs “yeah I did.”

Jason offers to pay for April’s tab as well but she’s says it’s okay and as Jason leaves he wonders if he’s doing the smart thing involving April in his life.

 

 

April was tired, The Turtles where getting on her nerves a little yeah they where her little brothers in her eyes but still April missed Casey Johns. Although they dated for awhile and lived together and also one maybe 5 good humans who actually new about the turtles. But then Casey Jones afford a full ride scholarship and a almost guaranteed spot on the hockey team for some big school in North Dakota. Both April and him knew this was only chance out of this life and chance to full fill his dream of going pro.

 

April didn’t blame him but she could still be mad dammit then he comes back for your 21 birthday a week ago and their it is the spark. But then he leaves again now April here drinking in a bar she never been to because she only been 21 for a week and she had pass up on another internship. Also this the first time she’s been in a bar by herself and honestly it probably wasn’t a smart idea.

 

When Jason first approached her she felt like he was similar to Casey but she was wrong he was a little awkward and had already a few to many drinks in his system. But without much he Offered to help with internship, he let her rant although he was bit to drunk he answered all her questions honestly. April actually wanted to give it a shot although she could see how it could look like a rebound. She hopes the turtles won’t give her hard time about this.

 

After she left she knew how to get home and it wasn’t by car she wished it was sometimes she walked be behind the bar and found the manhole picked up and went down. She had a normal apartment but that was only for mail and throwing away of dirty money they took from shredder or the purple dragon’s and honestly she wished they just had over to the police but nope. Officially April’s a college student who works for nights at TCRI Donnie faked it for her who make a pretty penny their all though that’s just so she could have the fake address most money goes for food and other essentials for the lair.

 

Getting to lair is never easy since it technically apart of section of abandoned sewer. But April was taught by master splinter even drunk she navigate theses sewers and make all the jumps needed. When she finally gets close she knows because it always has a hint pizza coming from it.

 

Ralph was only one up it appeared she could hear Splinter snoring so she new he was asleep so it was safe to assume they other where as well. Although Donnie could be working in his lab but she didn’t hear anything so not likely and Leo normally doesn’t stay up on slow nights. Ralph was probably awake ether waiting for her return or was playing the pinball machine again.

 

Ralph in a rough voice While not looking away from pinball machine ”So your back form the bar April”

 

“Whooos said I went to the bar “ April tries to lie

 

Ralph says with a bit of worry “April I can smell booze from here, and I see your stumbling I don’t even know how you made it back without getting hurt. You also just slurred you words together I might not be a detective even I can see your drunk”

 

Ralph takes a breath looks her up and down “ I know why you went to bar and probably not the best for this conversation but April I get it your lonely and all other humans who know about us are old, evil, or we can’t meet often. And it doesn’t help you can’t bring yourself to live normal life”

 

April went silent maybe it was alcohol or it was Ralph being right on mark. Unlike Casey who joined this as like a helping hand, April was kind of forced into this and feels she owes the Turtles so much. April knows she doesn’t she helped them as much as they helped her. They become her family when none of hers where left she can’t abandon them Casey still had a sister, and a mom he didn’t need a family the only reason he stayed as long as he did was for her. An as long she was their sister she wasn’t abandoning them.

 

“Can we talk about this in morning when I’m not drunk” April use as excuse to leave the conversation

 

“Fine, but know this I know full well your capable of having a full on ass complex conversation. Even when drunk splinter taught us all how to maintain cognitive thinking even under the worst hallucinogens being a bit drunk is same as fully lucid to you” Ralph says with a tone that says this isn’t over yet

 

“Ok just let me sleep it off and Ralph your right” April says with defeat

 

Ralph says “About what”

 

April open her rooms door ”probably everything”

[a-moth-to-the-light]

Most-Listened of May 2024

[last month]

May 2024 was finals + road trip home from uni + getting settled in at home for the summer, so the songs on this month's list were the soundtrack to a really busy time for me. (Because of that, I'm extra grateful to them for helping me power through it all!) I didn't have the brainspace to be properly excited about any new releases (except Repion's at the end of the month), so a lot of the songs here kind of snuck up on me. Surprisingly, I'd still say I enjoyed May's releases more than April's, though!

1. Not Like Us -- Kendrick Lamar

The Drake-Kendrick beef finally graced my YouTube recommended at the beginning of May, just in time for "Not Like Us" to save me from the Inevitable Finals Gloom. The beat was what hooked me at first (so string instrument!! so texture!!), but there are SO MANY good lines here--more than enough to keep me excited about this song, even after I massively overplayed it in just a few days of finals. (I'm a 'leave songs on repeat for hours as I float in and out of The Work Vortex' kind of guy, you know?)

2. Candy Store -- from the 2014 Heathers soundtrack

No complicated reason here: the vocal performances are just breathtaking, so I haven't been able to get this song off my mind for the past two weeks. Shoutout to @embraceofday for introducing me to this one! (That was a couple of years ago, I think, but somehow it came back to me recently, and I've been more obsessed than ever!)

3. Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl -- yeule

I've been getting ads for I Saw the TV Glow all month, and they worked on me--sort of? I still have no plans to see the movie, but this song from the trailer has taken my listening by storm. Lyzette G on YouTube mentioned yeule last year (I am SO jealous of their taste in music), so I'm proud to say I like a yeule song now! This is peak 'driving home on the highway at night and your heart is all sparkles because she said she'll text you later', which is one of my favorite kinds of music, actually. (Yes, this is oddly specific. But it's also like A General Feeling, you know?) It's eerily inhuman but also full of longing; it keeps a consistent, hazy atmosphere while still including a few moments of emotional punch--it's great!!

4. Down Swinging -- Holly Humberstone

Saxophone solo!!!!!!! That actually isn't my favorite part of this song, though--the way Holly Humberstone sings "watch me keep my cool tonight" at the end of every chorus is full of just SO many emotions--shame, determination, acceptance, longing--I find it captivating (really, every lyric in this chorus is a gem). I love songs like this (see also: Betty Who's "You Can Cry Tomorrow" and Lee Hi's "HOLO"), songs that aren't about being over something bad but are just about being within something bad and getting by anyway. Being stuck, and knowing you're stuck, and being okay regardless? Sometimes, I just need to know that's possible, and "Down Swinging" makes it feel more real than ever.

5. I'm the Ocean -- Neil Young

My dad and I ran across this on our (twelve-hour) drive home from my university, while we were listening through this playlist. My dad is a huge Neil Young fan, while I'm just meh about him--"I'm the Ocean" caught my attention from first listen, though, and I've been revisiting it daily since then. (Funny enough, my dad doesn't care for this one.) I love its haziness, how it walks the line between hopelessness and rage and how you're never exactly sure how to feel about the speaker, or about the song itself. I love singing "I'm the ocean / I'm a giant undertow". (Like, that is a captivating lyric. So powerful, so simple yet so layered with meaning?) I love the crunchy TV-static guitar!!!

6. From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come) [Live at Malieveld...] -- Bruce Springsteen

Spotify keeps notifying me whenever Springsteen releases a new compilation album (they know me too well...)--and he just keeps releasing them. I'm not sure I needed all these albums, but I'm glad to get this gem, at least! This one has a super-singable chorus, and the fiddle solo is SUCH a high.

7. Turn it up -- PinkPantheress

Not particularly exciting, but super fun! It's a solid serotonin jam to go on a playlist with all the early Twice title tracks.

8. No Biggie -- Itzy

SO CUTE SO CUTE I LOVE IT. With "None of My Business" + this one, I've been so glad to see how well the post-NewJeans world suits Itzy. My main problem with a lot of their music, especially title tracks, is that the songs strain their vocals in ways that end up sounding unpleasant to me--a chilled-out song like this one reminds me just how listenable Itzy's music can be!

9. Rollercoaster - MTV Unplugged -- Bleachers

I think Spotify suggested this one to me. I am THE Bleachers girlie, but I'd never heard this specific version of "Rollercoaster" and oh my GOD does it make me emotional. If you've ever cried to "Someone to You" by Banners, I think you already understand what this one makes me feel.

10. The Ghost of Tom Joad (feat. Tom Morello) - Live in Anaheim, CA -- Bruce Springsteen

My #1 song from my #1 artist!! (Sorry, "Badlands". Your top spot was beautiful while it lasted, and we've had so many good times, but I just... I don't think you're the one for me anymore...) I did an essay about Springsteen for one of my finals, believe it or not, and I talked about this song in particular, so that explains the sudden spike in listens--though it's constantly in my rotation regardless.

11. Wave - Ollounder's Bold Dynamics Mix -- Ateez

It's a time-honored tradition, now: trashy club remixes are my THING during finals. This one stuck with me all month, though, because it's actually kind of compelling--I find it fun, even when I'm not speedrunning a final paper. "Wave" is just a really sweet song already, and I think this remix adds a variety of sounds that make it not just pleasant, but also super captivating.

12. Lookalike -- Conan Gray

No comment...

13. Set Me Free (Lindgren Remix) -- Twice

Re: trashy club remixes for finals. This is so trash, I can't even argue that it's worth listening to at any time other than finals season. (The synth riffs in the prechorus are kind of awesome, actually, but the vocals sound like you're listening to them through a tin can telephone.) It was a great hype song while I studied, though.

14. Maybe -- (G)I-DLE

My second-favorite G-IDLE song ever (though I have no idea how I'll make room for "Eyes Roll" and "Revenge" in an updated top ten) is never not welcome on my most-listened list, but I have no idea why this is here. Maybe I left it on repeat while working on a paper? It has the right kind of beat drop to give me the same kick of adrenaline as my trashy club remixes do--though in terms of how much I admire it, "Maybe" is on a whole different level!

15. BOA -- Megan Thee Stallion

This is a wildly addictive song. The Gwen Stefani sample is such a good hook, but it's used so sparingly that I'm left hanging on Megan's every word, waiting for it to appear again. The deep bass makes the song feel full, though--by the end, I'm left wanting more without feeling like the listening experience was actually incomplete. My favorite line is definitely the Birkenstocks one; I still smile every time I hear it! I'm so excited for the album :)

Five-Star Songs (& Albums!) This Month

BOA -- Megan Thee Stallion

Lime -- Soojin

With just a few twists on a sweet, summery formula, "Lime" manages to stand out from the pack of cheery dance songs coming out at this time of year. The orchestral intro is so exciting, and the weirdly gritty vocal production (I still have no idea why anyone would consider that on a song like this--this album has some truly baffling production choices amid all the fantastic ones) unexpectedly grew on me. This song does sweet-and-sour so well!!

[Speaking of baffling production choices: "Drop Top" from this same album is a very nice listen, but what the hell is happening in the bridge... It would totally be a five-star song for me if not for that screechy violin (?) note in the dance break. Like. Why. Why would you just repeat the same ear-piercing note. The whole time. Have you considered a riff? Or making it just a TAD BIT quieter? Or just... a lower note? Anyway. Also, the ENTIRE title track, "Mona Lisa", is a baffling production choice. Just. The whole thing.]

Not Like Us -- Kendrick Lamar

Summer Daze -- Soojin

I like "Lime" a lot more than this one, but I can't help but admire "Summer Daze" too! I'm so in love with how it's a pop b-side just feels so authentically indie-rock? Like, "Más Lejos" by Atalhos was one of my favorite songs of the summer last year, and that's an actual indie-rock song--and it feels like everyone who had a hand in "Summer Daze" understood exactly why people enjoy that type of song & decided to write a love letter to the genre. This track would fit right in with anyone's wistful k-indie playlist!

Entre todas lo arreglamos (album) -- Repion

Yeah, fuck it--I added Repion to the stanlist this month! After this EP, how could I not? The pre-release "El día no me da" had my heart already--it was so similar to their last album, though, that I found it a tad bit boring. But as an opener for a song like "Viernes", "El día no me da" reaches its full potential; it functions so perfectly that my qualms completely disappear. "El día no me da" builds up the energy to this delightful high, and then "Viernes" is the rollercoaster ride back down, full of twists and turns--I love the experimentation with rhythm, which continues in "Qué hay de ti?". It adds such a nice edge to the album; even though this release retains the things that drew me to Repion in the first place--strong vocals and incessant energy--it feels anything but boilerplate. This EP has only one flaw, and it's the kazoo-sounding thing that shows up in "Vienen de pasárselo bien". Maybe it's a perfectly lovely instrument in other contexts, but I think it just sounds silly here, and I really would rather just appreciate their (always delightful) harmonies in peace. Those harmonies do save the song for me, though! To be fair, this album only has four songs--putting it in the albums category is kind of a stretch--but these four songs are packed with enough interesting ideas to make this the fullest EP I've heard in forever. (Plus, Repion gets extra-credit points for releasing my album of the year--a full-length one, too--last year.) I'm not sure if this EP will turn out to be a smaller part of an upcoming album, but I really hope so--I love this sound for them!

[winterspiderpurrs]

Clicking onto the link to go over the conference itinerary for trip out to San Francisco, Stephen took a sip of his hot tea. After scrolling through the presenters he pauses, and scrolls back up at a name he thought he recognized. Selecting the bio of the presenter confirms it for him. His old roommate was presenting.

Peter Parker. Actually Doctor Peter Parker with degrees is Biochemistry, Biophysics, Chemical Engineering.

Huh.

Its been years since they have seen each other. Stephen was in his 3rd year of his fellowship specializing his field when his roommate at the time moved across the country to finish up with a program out there. They subleased their part of the rent. Enter Sophomore Peter Parker.

Peter was only his roommate for the 2nd half of the school year, til the lease was up in June. By then, Stephen got his own penthouse. But for those 6 months, he has gotten close to Peter. Who was sassy, funny, shy at times, and overall kind.

They, of course butted heads the first month, but then they got along. Became friends even, despite the age gap between them, with Stephen being 12 years older. Stephen also thinks about the almost kiss they had one night. And the outings that now looking back felt more like dates.

He still recalls the disappointed look at Peter's face when he said he wasn't going to renew the lease. He got his own place, and he had a job offer to work at Metro General Hospital. They kept in touch off and on for the 1st year after that, but then, like everything else, life got busy.

Pulling his cell phone out, he scrolls through the contacts and sees Peter's name. Should he? They would just be old friends catching up. Far as he knows Peter is probably in a relationship. So, he sends a text to his phone, asking if this is still his number and if so, to let him know.

He received 4 quick texts back, shaking his head. Very much a Peter response. He lets him know that he will be at the conference as well, and if he had time, would he like to have coffee at some point or dinner. He was flying in on Saturday, and the conference didn't start til Monday.

A week later arrives and before he knows it, him and Peter had a coffee together at the hotel that the conference is being hosted at. Peter managers to wrangle him into some sight seeing. They ended up doing two days worth of sight seeing, having dinner together, laughing, having a good time like it hadn't been years since they last hung out.

Monday morning, Stephen was getting ready for the day, room service was on the way with his breakfast when he gets a phone call from Peter.

" Stephen! Your awake! I'm glad I didn't wake you. I am so so sorry about this."

Blinking, Stephen looked at the phone before holding it back up to his ear.

" What are you talking about?"

Someone knocked on the door, the muffled ' Room Service' was heard, Stephen opened the door, allowing them to roll in the cart before slipping them a tip.

" Oh no.. you haven't seen it yet. I... Well.. I guess its better to hear from me. "

" Hear what from you? I'm confused with what's going on. And you know I don't like being confused. Spit it out."

" We were photographed out together and its such a huge invasion of privacy, I can't believe I didn't think about how it would look. I am so so sorry for dragging you into this."

" We were photographed? Why would someone do that and even publish it? I know I'm big in medical circles, I assume you are too in your area but..."

Stephen was opening the newspaper he ordered and right there on the front, were two photos of him and Peter.

The large headline read as "Tony Stark's Ex finally moves on with New man"

"Stephen?"

" You dated Tony Stark?"

" Oh god, you saw the paper? I mean... Yes? Kinda? Look it was... a bit ago. We went our separate ways romantically at least. But... Look I love Tony, I do. But we haven't been together in two years now almost three. He is a great man, and one I consider a friend. Its just... Tony is protective of those he considers his."

"So he is an egotistical asshole who doesn't want you seeing anyone else?"

"No! But " he can hear Peter sigh on the other side of the line.

" Tony is much more then what the media says, and while it didn't work out between us, Tony still wants to look at for me and ANYONE really that he includes in his circle. Imagine Christine in this situation"

And Stephen could understand that, he loves Christine and probably always will. He would definitely defend her always.

There was another knock on the door, thinking maybe room service forgot something he opened the door and then just stares at the person on the other side of the door as Peter continues to talk.

" Either way, I'm sorry about the photos. I'll get in touch with my lawyers and maybe even Tony's since they brought his name up to see what they can do. Damage is kinda done though, and I apologize about that."

"And in your wording of Stark being over protective. He isn't prone to violence is he?"

"What? NO! I mean... He did punch a guy one time while we were out cause they called me a gold digger but no? Why? Did you already get a threatening text from him?!"

"No, he is at my door right now"

" TONY! oh my god just uh lemme finish getting dressed and I will be at your room as soon as possible."

Stephen hangs up the phone, tossing it onto the bed behind him before crossing his arms.

There, in the open doorway, was Tony Stark, cleaning his sunglasses as if he hadn't a care in the world.

[millerflintstone]

Yesterday I went to lunch with Grammy C and one of the other ladies that Grammy C met and befriended when she ran the ceramics studio with her DIL. I'll call this lady Zany K. She's very extroverted and silly and just really likeable. She's very open about things and doesn't mind openly expressing when she is completely clueless about what's going on, which is really refreshing. She's got 3 adult daughters, two of which are twins. One of her twins had a baby yesterday. The other one had her first baby 6 months ago.

Lunch was good. We were all catching up on things. We oohed over Zany K's new grandbaby. We also found out the reason why Grammy C was a bit late to lunch was that her youngest son ended up needing to go to the hospital. He called her at around 8 in the morning letting her know that the arm rash he went to the urgent care for yesterday had gotten worse. It's basically covering the top of his left forearm and it looked swollen, red and awful. They had given him antibiotics but told him if it got worse, to go directly to the ER. She took him to the hospital because his wife was en route to a doctor's appointment for their toddler son who needs a kidney specialist.

After lunch, Grammy C was going to go back to the hospital. They had admitted him to a room by the time she left to meet us. She parked 2 cars down from me and I heard her say, "Oh no!" I walked over and saw it at the same time she said it, "I have a flat tire!"

The driver's side front tire was completely flat. Zany K called her hubby to ask if he could drive over to help. They live about an hour north of us. He told her to just use their AAA membership and say the car was hers, which she did. I ended up helping her with the service call. They send a text message to the number that calls that has a link for submitting the request online, so I helped her with that piece. We all waited for the tow truck service to come by and change the tire to the spare.

Grammy C made it to the dealer afterwards. Her car is fairly new - a 2022 Toyota Corolla. The tire change was still covered but the damaged tire pressure sensor was not (?), so she's driving around with an annoying warning.

She went back to the hospital to see her son and he has MRSA. No idea how. He didn't have a scratch or anything that he knew of. No animal interaction.

I read up and didn't realize how contagious it could be. I had hugged Grammy C. I let Grammy C know that she should disinfect her car where her son's arm might have had contact and sent her some links about MRSA. I also saw some videos that just freaked me out. I am fine. I actually have a minor scratch on my right elbow that I bandaged with one of those hydrocolloid bandages because they do help speed up my poor healing and help me prevent scarring. I scar so freaking easily. But I'm glad I had it covered because with my luck, I'd get MRSA.

I am fine today but I have to admit that I was worried. Whenever I've gotten sick as of late it's stemmed from Grammy C and her exposure to her toddler grandchild. She's had strep maybe 4 times since the winter and apparently had it again last week. I haven't heard about how her son is doing today. They kept him last night and she mentioned he'd hopefully be released today.

[didhewinkback]

bestie just randomly thought about reader's thoughts on lhh like I'm guessing she truly loved it and maybe braided his hair and stuff?

oh babe 100000% i alluded to it so briefly in parts 4 & 5 (like 3 sentences blink and you'll miss them) but will elaborate here

and by elaborate i mean write 3 baby blurbs bc i simply could not help myself

---

he spent so much time in la and malibu after the band took a break, absolutely soaking up his newfound freedom and the fame that came with it, that you rarely saw him but he was sure to spend as much time as possible with you whenever he was back in london, which found you here, just the two of you and the weed you nicked from Roxy's stash lounging in the living room in your flat. You leaned back against the couch, your assignments for the week long forgotten, relishing in the warmth from the weed and the way your knee brushed against his thigh.

You rolled your head along the back of the couch to look at him, the way his cheekbones stood out when he inhaled. He looked good. He always did, but there was something about the way he carried himself with this hair, the way it looked when he pulled it back into a bun like he had now, illuminating all his best features, making it impossible to look away from his face. He had somehow grown since you last seen him, filled out more too, looking more like a man than the boy you had grown up with, something that made your heart absolutely gallop in your chest.

"I've got an idea," you said, your mouth feeling drier than normal as you spoke for the first time in ages. He put the bowl down on the table and turned to you, his half lidded eyes gleaming at you.

"You should let me braid your hair." you continued.

"What?" he asked incredulously." "Fuck no."

"Think it'd be fun," you said. "You'd look fit."

"Think so?" he snorted, his eyebrows shooting up as you blushed, silently cursing the weed for loosening your lips. Ah, well. Whatever it takes to get your way.

"Only one way to find out."

"Alright then," he says, his hands languidly coming up to take down his bun, shaking out his long locks. "How do y' want me?"

It took some coordination but you eventually found yourself sitting cross legged on the couch as he laid his head in your lap, his long legs hanging off the arm of the couch. You ran your fingers through his hair, goosebumps lining your arms when he groaned in appreciation.

"Feels nice," he murmured softly, eyes fluttering closed as you began to braid, fingers mindlessly following patterns you taught yourself ages ago.

"You're so gonna fall asleep," you said with a laugh.

"'m not," he said stubbornly, though the way his speech slurred and breath deepened betrayed his words. "Wan' to hang out with you. Haven't been around -"

"Been busy though, yeah? You don't have to -"

"s gonna be different now, I promise. Won't be like before." he said, his brow furrowing as he tried to get his words out through his slurred speech. "Gonna be around more -"

"Not sure about that," you say, smile growing on your face. "We don't have many yachts in London."

"Nooooo," he groaned, blush spreading across his face before he brought his hands up to cover it, hiding his face in his hands. "Y' promised."

"Did no such thing," you say, unable to contain your giggles, laughing so hard he has no choice to join.

"Gonna get you back for that," he mumbles, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'd like to see you try," you say as he hums, a comfortable silence falling over you as you continue your handiwork, living for the way that no matter how much changes between you two, you'll always have this. You'll always have each other.

---

i mean you really liked it, after getting a vague text from him "you should watch corden if you want to see me do something really stupid" you stayed up to watch, only to feel like every nerve ending was on fire, staring enraptured at how he looked getting tattooed, the wooziness of his eyes, the cockiness of how he was sat, legs spread wide with that irresistible smirk on his face and found yourself falling asleep later with fantasies whirling through her mind, dreaming of being there with him, sat on his lap as he mumbled "pull my hair, love" into the skin of your neck as you rolled her hips against his. "tha's it, love. fuck the pain away," he groaned, his big hands sliding down your hips to help their roll against his as their lips crashed into each other. you woke up in a cold sweat, absolutely soaked, and completely unable to look him in the eye any time he brought up that tattoo, trying your best to seem unaffected, desperately hoping he wouldn't see right through you.

---

You stood next to his mum and Gemma when he was about to cut it off, keeping the conversation light to ease his nerves about the whole ordeal.

"Actually -" he said, causing Lou to pause when her hands reached for the scissors. "Do y' want to do it?"

"Me? Cut it?" you asked in disbelief.

"Just the chop, let the professional do the rest." he said and Lou snorted, handing you the scissors.

"Could get you extra points with the boss," he said, alluding to the fact that he was donating it to the company you were interning for, but there was something else behind his eyes. Like the time he took the bandana out of his hair for the first time, letting his longer hair fall for the first time, a moment of self consciousness so rare for the lad who had girls screaming his name at every turn.

"Yeah, I'll do it," you said, stepping behind him, squeezing his shoulder as you quietly murmur. "It's gonna look great."

You take the braid in your hands, trying to ignore the slight tremor as your palms begin to sweat.

"Hang on, are you only asking me so you have someone to blame if it goes all wonky?" you asked and he honked out a laugh, his shoulders relaxing from the tension they held despite his best efforts to conceal it.

"Caught me there," he said before locking eyes with you in the mirror, quietly murmuring "I trust you."

You smile back at him, lift the scissors and cut. End of an era.

---

[destinyc1020]

TCR Reviews: Episodes 5 & 6

I missed posting my review for Ep 5 last week, so I'll just combine it with my review for Ep 6.

*****WARNING: SPOILERS!!!!

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Ep 5 Review:

Overall, I felt like this episode was really good! I was glad that we as the viewers were able to get a little more insight into Danny's childhood. This episode was very sad to me though. 😔 And some scenes could have possibly been very triggering for some watching because is deals with the topic of child sexual abuse. 😔

To me, it's just utterly DISGUSTING how a grown adult would take full advantage of a CHILD and abuse them in this vile way, and basically rob them of their innocence like this. 😡 Those actions have awful consequences for the child victim, and many times they struggle with the abuse even into adulthood, and it basically ruins their adult life forever...especially if they don't receive any assistance/therapy. 😔

I kept praying that they weren't going to show us too much of the abuse in this episode, because that would have just been super sad. 😭 Thankfully, the show stopped just short of showing too much (thank goodness). I feel like Ep 4 started making it more and more apparent that Danny is dealing with DID and doesn't even realize it himself (but others around him can tell something is wrong with him), whereas I feel like Ep 5 kind of showed us why Danny is the way he is, and some of the reasons behind his mind split. The interesting thing though is that his mind seems to have split even before the abuse of the stepfather, so it makes me wonder if maybe he had some other possible childhood trauma in his history? 🤔

Anyway, by the end of Ep 5 I just felt SO SAD for Danny, and I keep wondering..."When is his life going to change for the better??" 😭 His life is just so sad and depressing. 😩 My heart goes out to him. With that said, I like how this show isn't making Danny into some kind of "monster", but is more so showing how we should have sympathy for his character and his mental struggles. I know a LOT of fans were worried that the series would focus on the murders and rapes, and were afraid it was going to cast people with DID in a bad light, and some were worried about seeing Tom in a controversial role like that, but so far, it's clear to see that a LOT of fan worries and anxieties (and assumptions) were waaay off base.

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Ep 6 Review:

I really loved this episode! 😃 I LOVED getting to know more about Rya and seeing more into her life. Now things are starting to come together. The pieces are all starting to fit.

Idk why critics claimed that the series is difficult to follow in the timeline. The timeline isn't difficult to follow imo at all. In fact, I actually LOVE when shows/films go back and forth from the past to the present. I like trying to connect the dots lol. Maybe they didn't add the "5 weeks after the Rockefeller shooting" taglines on the episode scenes at the time the critics saw the show?? Anyway.... Tom's acting! He did awesome in Ep6. 👏🏾😃I can't wait for more! I feel like we will get even MORE of his great acting in the latter episodes. He did the transitions so well too. You could see him switch from Jack to Danny so effortlessly. Even the way he holds his eyes... It's very subtle, but it's noticeable. His scenes in this episode remind me so much of James McAvoy's performance in the film "Split" and his therapist scenes. The switch btwn characters is just amazing. I'm glad they added those elements in this series as well.

After what I've already seen so far, I definitely think Tom deserves at least an Emmy NOD. I can only imagine we get more of his fine acting in latter episodes.

This series reminds me so MUCH of "Primal Fear" with Edward Norton. GREAT movie. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it! I saw it years ago, so when Tom said this series was going to be a lot like "Primal Fear", I already knew what type of ride we would be in for lol. 😅🤣

I honestly don't know why critics slammed this series so much. It has been a "slow burn" (sure), but definitely not anything horrible at all! I'm almost wondering if they even saw all 10 episodes?? 👀 I also love how the series isn't making Danny out to be a monster. I know a lot of fans were worried about that, but I had faith that they weren't going to go that route when I kept hearing about how the series was being described. I like how it's moreso focusing on his mental health. I love it. It's been very good so far. It's VERY much like the film "Primal Fear" imo.

Can't wait for Ep7!!! 😁👏🏾

[aylacavebear]

Stockroom Antics - Chapter 4

Maria had changed jobs numerous times over the last five years, more to keep herself safe than anything else. Her mother had told her she was a fairy but she thought it was just her mom being weird. Honestly, though, she had no other way of explaining what had happened to her that stormy day before she'd gone into a coma for two weeks.

Please don't take my work. I'll post warnings for each chapter. Will probably be 18+ I haven't decided yet!

Word Count: 2044

Pairing eventually Dean Winchester x OC

Warnings: Angst, Past Car Accident, Past Coma

A/N: This one's written a little differently than my last one. Let me know what you think. It's the first time I've tried this type of writing. Chapters will alternate viewpoints as well. I also looked into an actual area so this one could feel more realistic.

----------------------------------------- Stockroom Antics Chapter 4

Back at the hotel, a half hour later, Sam was sitting at the table, staring at his laptop with Dean sitting across from him, “Well?” he asked, impatiently.

“Huh,” Sam said, somewhat interested.

“Dude, if you don’t spill-” Dean began, but Sam interrupted him.

“That Maria girl you mentioned. She’s worked at almost all the locations or nearby to every demon hit over the last five years,” Sam explained.

Dean raised an eyebrow, “We’ve never questioned her before. Anything weird about her?” he asked.

Sam read through the numerous pages he had up on his laptop, “She was in a car accident, five years ago and a coma for two weeks due to it. The doctors were baffled because she didn’t have a single injury and then just woke up one day,” he explained, then showed his brother pictures from the police report.

The little car she’d been driving looked like a squished tin can. They had to use the jaws of life just to get her out of the driver’s seat. She had been unresponsive even though she was breathing. She had blood on her as if she had been injured but there wasn’t a single scratch on her, baffling the rescue crews and the doctors.

“I’d say that’s our kind of weird,” Dean mumbled.

“She always quit her job before we showed up to question the employees,” Sam told him, glancing over at the case files from the last five years.

“There’s no way in hell that girl is almost forty-five,” Dean said, shocked when he saw her date of birth. She was the same age he was.

Sam looked at him a little puzzled, “What do you mean?”

“She looks like she can’t be more than thirty-two, if that,” he answered, still reading through the page before him.

“Well, we can either go back to her work and pull her aside, question her alone, or just tail her,” Sam suggested.

Dean sighed and slid the laptop back to his brother, “If we go back and question her, it might make things complicated. Let's just tail her for now.”

They changed into regular clothes, jeans, t-shirts, Dean with a flannel, and then both tossed on their jackets before heading to the Impala. They grabbed some fast food from the Burger King across the street from Ross before they found a decent place to park and watch the store. With the windows rolled up, neither of them could smell the sulfur. They saw her come outside and sit down on the ground between two of the columns out front of her store. She seemed to be looking at something on her phone, smiling a bit, biting her lip at others, and even seemed to laugh. 

They both sat forward when she almost seemed to get spooked by something, looking around the area. They too scanned the area and the people that were going about their business. Sam tapped his brother’s arm, then pointed to a couple that were standing almost twenty feet away from her but out of her view. Dean turned to look as well.

“What do you think?” Sam asked.

“They’re definitely watching her. Question is, what are they,” Dean replied, almost quietly, like he was attempting to guess.

“It’s not like we can just go toss holy water on them,” Sam chuckled, trying to lighten the mood a little. However, he also knew that they couldn’t use a silver knife on them either, not with them in such a public space. 

“She didn’t see you yet. Go inside and keep an eye on her. She’ll recognize me,” Dean told him.

Sam agreed but had to wait until after she went back inside. The store was a bit busier now. Sam made it a point to walk by every customer in the store, pretending to look at things on the racks and shelves. He and his brother had been hunting long enough to catch the odor of sulfur at a demon possession. 

The phone only rang once before Dean answered, “Three inside, then the two outside. Total four males and the one female,” Sam told his brother, glancing around the store.

“Son-of-a-bitch,” Dean grumbled, “Just, keep an eye on her. They might not do anything in such a public setting.”

They hung up and Dean kept an eye on the two who were outside while Sam kept his eye on the ones inside, as well as on Maria. When he did see her, his brows furrowed in slight confusion. Dean was right, she didn’t look like she was in her forties. He noticed the same things Dean did; she always seemed to be smiling, softly singing along with certain songs that came on the speakers, dancing a little to others, helping customers, and stocking shelves. He may have thought her job somewhat boring but he could see how much she enjoyed doing it.

He watched her and Sarah exchange their goodbyes, waited for her to leave, and then noticed the other demons also heading outside, so he followed. They seemed to mingle with the people outside, blending in. Sam watched her go to her truck, smiling a little at it, as it was nice. Once she began driving away, he made his way to the Impala and hopped in before his brother followed her carefully. In this area, his car stuck out like a sore thumb and he had seen her notice it. The brothers also noticed two other vehicles pull out and follow her. They weren’t sure if they were the demons, as there were a lot of vehicles moving around due to it being five in the evening.

Her truck was one of almost ten vehicles on the stretch of road through Avra Valley. Only once did Dean slide the Impala over a bit to take a peek at her truck but quickly got behind the rig again, not wanting her to see him. The drive was long, taking a half hour. He recognized the area, and how it had barely changed in four months. The small glider port with the feedstore across the street from it, then, closer to her place, the Speedway and Dollar General which looked a little busy. So far, they had managed to stay out of sight of her, still behind the rig, which looked as though it was following her.

They followed her down several more roads, staying behind the rig, which headed to a farm after she turned onto her property. Dean pulled off the road and out of sight of any of her windows. The brothers only vaguely remembered her actual place. When they’d come down for the minor tornado incident, her property hadn’t had much damage to it, only some tree branches that had been blown out of the trees. They hadn’t questioned her then. They noticed a small area around two sides of her place that was fenced in and wondered if she had dogs but never saw any.

There wasn’t much for them to see, not with the kind of place she lived in. It didn’t look like much, not from the outside and they wondered why she still lived there in what looked like a run-down couple of trailers. Sam had his laptop and continued looking into her and anything he could find online. Dean had grabbed the files and was flipping through them, still wondering how they’d managed to never question her before, even when they went through the neighborhoods.

Every time the dogs in the area went off or a vehicle drove past, both brothers looked around, still on high alert. With as noisy as the area was, they had no clue how anyone could feel safe enough to sleep, let alone live there. It wasn’t until it got dark that things only seemed to get worse. The dogs went off more often, even sounding as if they were getting into fights with things, an occasional whimper could be heard too. 

“Dude, this place is nuts. How the hell can she even sleep with all that going on?” Dean stated, looking out the window again.

Sam looked over at one of the neighbor's yards, and noticed three stray dogs antagonizing the dogs in the yard, “Seems there are a lot of strays out here. Then there’s the wildlife, coyotes, bobcats, even a mountain lion from time to time,” he explained, wondering if Dean had done any reading from several of the last case files.

Dean groaned a bit and looked back at her place. Once what he assumed was her bedroom light went out, he noticed them, standing just on the outside of her property.

“Sam, look,” Dean almost whispered as he stared at them through the windshield.

Sam turned his attention to where Dean’s was. It was three of the five demons from her store, just standing there, “Why aren’t they doing anything?” Sam asked, perplexed.

That wasn’t normal demon activity and they both knew it. Demons normally took action when what they were after was alone. The brothers knew that they would have to wait a bit for her to fall asleep at least, not wanting to alarm her when the fighting broke out. So, for now, and for the next hour, they watched the demons, who didn’t move. 

“We only need one to question,” Dean told his brother quietly.

“Guns are already loaded with the devil trap bullets,” Sam replied, just as quietly.

They slowly opened the doors of the Impala, and slipped out, closing them as quietly as they could behind them. The night air was briskly cold, causing the brothers to shiver for a moment as they pulled their guns, keeping them hidden for the moment.

“Hey fellas, nice night for a walk,” Dean told the three demons casually.

“Move on stranger,” the first demon told him, not looking away from her house.

Seeing the focus the demons had, they chose to use it. The brothers walked behind the demons, almost two feet between them. Sam pushed one forward while Dean shot the second one, and Sam shot the third. The first demon, though, had crossed the line of her property and went up in flames, causing all four of them to look extremely surprised.

“If neither of you want to end up like your pal there, start talking,” Dean growled, quickly recovering from his surprise. He could figure out what happened later.

The other two demons looked from the burnt-to-ash buddy and then over at the two brothers, “We’re more worried about what the boss will do to us,” the second demon said confidently.

“Alright,” Sam said, then pushed him over the line of her property, letting the third demon watch him go up in flames and then turn to ash.

Lucky for them, the third demon was in no mood to die, “Fine. I’ll talk… just…. Just don’t kill me,” he begged.

Dean pushed him down on his knees, “Why are you following that girl?” he growled.

“The boss… the boss wants her,” the demon replied.

The brothers shared a look before looking back down at the demon, “Crowley? What does Crowley want with her?” Dean demanded.

The demon was visibly worried, he’d already said too much but he also didn’t want to die. He glanced from the brothers to her property line where the ashes of the other two demons had fallen and closed his eyes for a moment. He sighed and looked back at the brothers, “She’s a Peri,” he replied quietly.

Again the brothers looked at each other. They’d never heard of that particular thing before, “What does that even mean?” Dean growled, wanting more information.

“It’s a fairy kind of creature, with magical powers. I’m sure you can piece the rest together,” the demon replied, knowing that either way, he was dead.

Dean shoved the demon over the line of her property, watching as it went up in flames, and then turned to ash, “Time to do some research. At least she’s safe,” Sam somewhat chuckled.

The two headed back to the hotel, knowing they weren’t going to get much sleep that night, partially wishing they had the books at the bunker. Those always held more information than any internet search they could do.

----------------------------------------- Chapter 5

Link to the series Master List

[steddie-island]

20 Questions for writers

I was tagged by @runninriot over 2 months ago Thank you friend 😘🥰

I've done one before but I like answering these types of questions so I'm doing it again.

No pressure tagging @wynnyfryd @stervrucht @wormdebut @mugloversonly @augustjustice

Pressure tagging @v3llichor who saw this over my shoulder and said "I wanna fill one out!" 😂😘😘

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

37, all but 1 of which were posted between October of last year and now. Which I'm really proud of. 🥹 The only other fic I'd written and posted was for Frasier back in 2020.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

63,421!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I write Stranger Things mostly, but I've written Good Omens, Frasier, and Destiel (I haven't written for them in a loooong time though.)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Just Because We Get Around (Part 1 of my Fuck his dad series. Steve is Dustin's dad, Eddie is Dustin's college friend, they fuck nasty and then there are feelings. It's silly and cheesy and I still love it even if I think about renaming it at least once a week. 😂)

Mutually Beneficial (Written for this art by @2jihiir0 😌 There may be a part 2 coming if I can ever get Inspired to work on it again WE'LL SEE!)

With Extra Nuts (Eddie sees Steve in his Scoops uniform, they fuck nasty in the back room about it.)

Dustin's Dad (Has Got Me Down Bad (Part 2 of Fuck his dad, wherein Dustin finds out. 😌)

Vixen (Steve wears lingerie to a Christmas party. He and Eddie fuck nasty about it when they get home. There's a pattern here. 😂)

5. Do you respond to comments?

It definitely takes me some time sometimes but I try to! Even the ones that are just like, hearts or a laugh emoji. They took their time to not only read my fic but to leave a comment and I want them to know that I appreciate it. 🥹

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I had an answer here but I had completely forgotten about A rush kinda like the old times (I still cross your mind). It's Stommy, with Tommy reaching out to (fem) Steve after he gets engaged. There's lots of reminiscing but it's bittersweet because Tommy's clearly not happy, and Stevie isn't going to give him what he wants.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I have a transfem Steve series (Wallpaper, Long Haul, Candles) that gave me so much joy to write. I don't really write unhappy endings (IDK maybe that'll change but I kind of doubt it. to quote T Swift, "I'm just too soft for all of it.") but these three just. I'm really proud of them. Part one is Stevie coming out to Robin, part 2 is Eddie, and then part 3 is Stevie getting dicked down a happy ending to her birthday. I was nervous to write these, because I'm not trans. None of it is from Stevie's POV, it's from the POV of the people who love her. And that's what I wanted to show. A beautiful trans woman who had been through so much hell before life decided to throw gender stuff at her, getting to come out, getting to be herself, and getting so much love and support from the people around her. 🥹🥹🥹🥹

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully no (knock on wood)!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

All kinds? We have monster fucking and some good ol' sapphic steddie semi-hate fucking and some Steve playing Billy Loomis (with the softest fucking aftercare in the world, tbh). 15 of the fics I've posted are explicit (it feels like there should be more but I think that just means they're all in WIP purgatory, who knows when/ if they'll see the light of day).

10. Do you write crossovers?

I have one I've been working on for months that's a Marmalade/ Baron x Eddie fic but I also haven't touched it in months. 😅

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of (knock on wood again).

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so but that'd be cool!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Not one that's been posted yet but I actually have two written with my spouse that we're going to upload eventually!

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I love Steddie, I've found so much community here, but I would be remiss to not acknowledge the fact that Destiel had such a strong hold on me for years. I've made so many friends because of it, I literally met my spouse writing it.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I honestly don't know. I'm intending on finishing the ones I have started but my WIP folder is kind of daunting so. Who knows?

16. What are your writing strengths?

Even though I don't write it often I think my angst is pretty good. I've also been told that I make things feel very alive, and that's something I try hard to do, too (and am glad that I can do, I've only been writing for over half of my life even if I'm only just now posting it! 😅)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Action scenes. I struggle SO HARD with action scenes. It's something I'm working on, something I've been working on for a while, but I feel like my pacing is way off and needs a lot of work.

I also can't write slow burn to save my fucking life. I just want them to get to smoochin' already!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I would do it but I would want to be so careful and not have a scenario where I translate it as one thing and someone comes along and says "she said he smells like dirty socks and liver" or something. 😂

19. First fandom you wrote for?

That I posted, Frasier. First fandom that I started writing for in general was Spn!

20. Favorite fic you've written?

This is the same answer I gave last time but I think it has to be Don't go where I can't follow, which was I think my 2nd Steddie fic? It's under 1,000 words but it's the one I've reread the most. There's lots of hurt/comfort packed into those 990 words. It was written as a kinktober prompt, written in an hour and posted in the middle of the night and IDK. I just really love it.

[pendragonthegreat]

okay so. i haven't made a real post about seeing dj in hollywood last week because it was really last minute that i decided to take the trip. and it was really different than when i saw him a few months ago (that i talked about here) and it was kind of crazy so i needed time to process it. i'm not going to put every detail in this post but i want to tell you guys the big thing that happened so here we go

the biggest difference between this event and creature feature was the amount of people there to see dj. there's probably more factors than the relative popularity of pendragon vs ayaotd (advertising, location, etc) but the difference was a lot. i mean there were maybe 4 other people who talked to him. which meant i talked to him for much much longer

i was determined to talk about stuff i hadn't heard dj talk about before but i also know at this point that dj is able to take control of the conversation and come up with stories to tell so i didn't really have a plan. so first of all he recognized me but i had to remind him from where. so then i had at admit that i am actually not from california and actually the entire opposite coast and he was so shocked. i showed him the pictures of my collection and i think that and the fact that i came from so far away has shattered any idea dj might have had that i'm a casual fan. but yeah he seemed flattered and not totally weirded out which i was a little nervous about

sooo we talked about pendragon of course—somehow got back onto book 10 (must every conversation about pendragon end up at the soldiers of halla somehow?) but as i said i didn't want to rehash old topics so i was like "you know when people talk about book 10 it always seems to be about either solara or the epilogue, but a lot of other stuff happened in that book" and he was like "you know what? you're right!" so we talked about spader and nevva and the general adventure in book 10 YAYYYY

we talked about sylo and the sylo movie and he told me some more about why they didn't go through with making the movie. basically the scripts were bad. i can say more detail if anyone cares. and then we talked about f29d which i think he was excited about because people don't talk to him about that show as much so i heard a few stories i've never heard before! the biggest thing was that the production of f29d was much closer to lost than i thought—both in terms of the crew and literally, physically, the filming locations were basically on the same beach. he told me sometimes they would go and steal props from lost (lmao) and they kept the lost airplane wreck and the f29d wreck in the same hangar!

okay enough rambling VVV THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART VVV

we started talking about his new book (if you don't know, his next book is going to be a continuation of the last story in Beyond Midnight) and i was saying i'm excited to read it and i'll be sure to look out for it. he said the book is written but he's not sure yet if he's going to self-publish it or not. then he told me this: that just for me, because i came from so far away and was a huge fan, he would send ME the manuscript for the book early. holy shit lol i can still hardly believe it. but i'm telling you this so you know dj really is such a nice guy. he talked to me for so long and he did not have to give me anything but it's such a wonderful special gift to have. :)

anyway the book did just have a sticker on the cover. but it's doubly special now with dj's second signature and personalization :D

[wearethekingdom]

okay so I know we’ve caught up a bit but honestly, I feel like I don’t know much about how things have been with you lately and I feel bad low key :( because I’d really like to know about your life! so, what’s new with you? Doesn’t have to be anything big, but just, how’s life been lately? Are you on summer break? (I don’t know how things work outside of America </3) Have you seen any new movies or read any books or played any video games lately? This is an invitation to info dump about literally anything that interested you lately too btw :3

Omg hey bro so how you fix the problem is by messaging me /lh like if you just wanna talk about your and my life then you can message me asking and stuff, I have a friend on here and we literally just chat about our lives for like 4 hours at a time

ummmm so I went to sleep away camp or whatever ygs call it in the US for 3 weeks, its an Irish spoken one so you know I ate that up, volunteered for the youth club camp and lost a child at a theme park while doing so (we found him, he was fine) and got some horse riding back in cuz I missed out on like 5 weeks of training lol

With movies I haven't watched a whole lot cuz I've literally had like. No time. I'm seeing the Kneecap movie tomorrow with my bf which I'm very excited about and I'm gonna see I Saw The TV Glow on Monday with some friends even though it's showing kind of late at the cinema (7:45pm), tbh I'm going in completely blind with but people say it's good so I'm simply just going to watch it. I've also rewatched alot of matt damon movies because why wouldn't I? I'm still his number one fan, currently watching The Martian as we speak which I've never actually watched before, kind of disturbing but it's okay because again, it's matt damon!

What I said all those months ago about my partner will need to fight for me when it comes to matt damon? I still hold to it. Guess who my bf looks like 😐 you will never guess its totally unpredictable 😐

I have readdd The Twelfth Day of July by Joan Lingard, it's a book about this guy and girl and the guy is a cath and the girl is a protestant and how they hate eachother and its really good, I love it a lot. I also read all of Diane Olivers short stories while at irish camp, they're really good and I totally reccomend her stuff, I think you would like some of her more scary short stories, a lot of her stuff is unpublished though cuz she was died at age 22 and she really needs more recognition, like when I looked up her most famous story I couldn't even find her other stuff at all.

Games I played Alan Wake about this guy (who is an author) who goes on holiday to this island and his wife goes missing so Alan has to investigate it while this story that he doesn't even remember writing becomes a reality, there's a second one I just haven't played it yet. I played The Quarry about a group of young adult camp counsellors who have to stay one day extra before they get to go home but there's creepy stuff on the property that wants to kill them and it's so good my fave character is my profile picture, we love Dylan Lenivy.

THENNN I played A Way Out with my brother set in the same prison as Shawshank Redemption, these 2 criminals set a plan to escape prison and get their revenge on the guy who murdered one of the mens brothers and well the other one kind of gives away the whole story so I won't go into detail on that one but it's depressing, it's a little disturbing and you get attached to Leo and Vincent the main guys.

Ive just been chilling this last month before school starts again and hanging out with my friends, I was going to go to NI for a while but there's protests and people setting streets on fire so I'm not going anywhere near there for now.

But yeah that's my life, you should totally reblog this with your telling of your life I would love to hear about it!!!