#uri pointed out that the blue especially looks a lot better and. yeah

[codgod-moved]

actually since i mentioned i remade my mc skin i’m making u guys look at it (the top one is the old one for Comparison)

i wanted to try a different shading style and i figured i probably shouldn’t use commissions to experiment too much + i wanted to revamp my skin anyway so. voila

[xandertheundead]

Hi! If you’re taking prompts, could you please write a stanlon cheating fic? One of them cheating on their partner with the other? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that with them.

Oh boy! I'm going to get in trouble, but I sure can!

Stan shifted a little when he felt a soft touch trail down his bare back, muttering into his pillow as the fog of sleep slowly started to fade. He smiled as the touch continued back up his back and the familiar sound of that deep voice humming a tune Stan couldn’t recognize filled him with so much warmth.

He slowly turned in the bed, loving the sight of Mike in his reading glasses as he read through the morning paper, Stan hadn’t even felt him get up to get it. He reached up to pluck them off Mike’s face, grinning when he saw Mike smile and placed the blue rimmed reading glasses on his own face.

“I still can’t believe you already need reading glasses. You’re only thirty-four.”

“You need glasses so I’m not so sure why you’re surprised.” The kiss Mike placed on his temple was gentle and lingering. “My glasses look good on you though. Blue has always been your color.”

Stan snorted and pulled them off his own face, folding them up and setting them on the nightstand before rolling back over into Mike’s warm side. “First off, I've had glasses since the 9th grade. Also I’m near sighted which is a normal thing that can happen to people ages two to whenever.”

“Two to whenever?” Mike grinned, wrapping his arms around Stan’s waist and holding him close. “I love when you spout perfect math at me.”

Stan laughed and punched Mike's arm lightly. “Shut up.”

“Never.”

The mornings Stan spent with Mike were some of the best he’d had in a very long time and while guilt weighed on his heart sometimes because of them, he felt better for them.

Richie had been gone a long time.

It wasn’t completely Richie’s fault, being a famous comedian and now actor tended to make a person be very busy and need to travel a lot. One didn’t really have a lot of spare time and even when they did, time differences made things difficult to schedule talks or Skype sessions. But over time things had started to irritate Stan more than normal. Like how Richie had started going days without answering the texts Stan would send or canceling their Skype sessions last minute or just up and forgetting they had one planned.

Stan knew that long distance relationships were going to be hard, especially when the two of them lived two very different lives.

The real kicker was when the firm had decided to promote Stan, asking him to lead the branch over in Savannah, Georgia. Stan felt like he was floating the rest of the day and he had quickly texted Richie to tell him because he knew Richie would be just as excited and proud of him.

Richie never replied.

When they finally talked over the phone, Richie swore he hadn’t seen it and congratulated him, until he realized it meant Stan moving out of LA.

“But that’s where our home is.”

It had been one of their biggest fights. Richie arguing that L.A was their home, it’s where all of his contacts and jobs were so it didn’t make sense to leave. Stan argued back that how could Richie call their apartment a home when he was barely ever there.

Richie didn’t talk to him for a week.

Stan accepted the job.

Stan honestly loved Georgia. It was nothing like LA and that was probably the reason he loved it so much. Everyone seemed more real and less fake, it also helped that he got to pick out the apartment which had so many more options than LA had. Stan spent two whole weeks just being happy and just being Stan even though in the back of his head he wondered what Richie was doing.

Richie called and after apologies they were back on.

Then Stan met Mike.

Mike Hanlon had been at Farmers Market the first time Stan went, which was another thing he was excited about because he had never gone to one before. He had been selling produce and cheese at a large table that was so artfully done Stan had to stop and take a look.

“Everything is fresh! Just picked from the farm.” The man’s smile was bright and happy, it made Stan think of a field of sunflowers. “We have flowers too if you’d like.”

Stan gave a soft hum to show that he had heard the man and he started looking through the options. “Organic?”

“Of course.” The man replied easily, smirking a little as Stan picked up a potato to inspect it. “No pesticides, herbicides or GMOs on my farm. I also sing to them so you know they’re happy and taken care of.”

Stan blinked and looked up at the man, confused and then annoyed when the man started to laugh.

“That was a joke.” The man chuckled as he picked up a healthy spring of rosemary. “Though sometimes I do sing around them.”

“Alright.”

“I’m Mike by the way.” The man -Mike- reached his hand across the table and held it out for a shake. “Mike Hanlon.”

Stan took a moment, watching Mike’s hand before taking it in his own and shaking it. “Stanley Uris, but most people just call me Stan.”

“Stan. I like that name.”

And Stan liked how warm Mike’s hand was.

After that Stan would see Mike every Saturday morning, they would talk and Mike would put an extra pear in Stan’s bag because he knew Stan liked them. It wasn’t long before Stan realized Mike was flirting and in his own way Stan was flirting right back, but flirting was harmless wasn’t it? It wasn’t like he was asking Mike back to his place.

And sure, he thought Mike was very attractive, kind, hard working and smart, but that didn’t mean anything because he was dating Richie. So that was that.

Until Mike asked him to coffee and Stan could find no reason to say no. Coffee turned into a regular thing, every Monday after Stan got off work and Mike finished things at the farm. It was when he started to see the way Mike looked at him that guilt started to quickly set in.

Guilt for letting his feelings wander from Richie as well as leading Mike on.

When he finally told Mike that he was dating someone, Mike looked surprised and a little hurt but he took it well and asked if it was alright if they still hung out. Stan wanted to cry at how good this man was, nodding quickly and relieved that he could still have Mike as a friend.

They continued to grow closer, dinners, hiking, trips to the library, going to visit Mike’s farm and watch chicks hatch. Stan, honestly, had never been happier and he knew what his heart was telling him but chose to ignore it because he didn’t want to lose what he had.

Then he had a Skype call with Richie.

“Hey! I finally have a break!” Richie crowed over the speakers and Stan had to smile at his enthusiasm. Richie always knew how to make him smile...and an awful part of his brain whispered so does Mike. “So come on back home, baby. I miss you!”

Stan bit back the retort then answer my fucking calls and nodded. “Yeah, sure. I think I can fly over in two weeks? I have a big client I have to finish with and then I’ll be free.”

Stan didn’t like the way Richie frowned on the screen. “In two weeks I have to go back to filming.”

“Oh.” Stan rapped his fingers against the wood of his desk before a great idea came to him. “Come to Georgia, I have room and you can see the sights or whatever you want to do while I’m at work and then we can go out after.”

Stan thought that was a perfect idea, excitement starting to come to life at the idea of Richie finally being there in Stan’s home instead of on a Skype call. Unfortunately, Richie didn’t seem to think it was as good of an idea as Stan did and he gave a weak sort of shrug.

“I dunno. I think here is a better choice.” Richie replied, scratching at his neck. “Like there’s stuff to do here and I’d be near work if I needed to be.”

Stan had to close his eyes and count to five before he replied, opening them back up as he tried to find a calm voice. “I understand that, but I already told you that I need to be here for two more weeks so I can’t come to L.A. You should come here since you have the break, I know it isn’t California, but Savannah has great points too.”

“Like what?” Richie sighed and that’s when Stan lost it.

This was always the thing, even though Stan’s job had supported them through the rough parts of getting Richie’s career up and going, Richie always thought of Stan’s career as less important. Add that to the fact that Richie was dragging his feet about getting to see Stan when they hadn’t been physically together in nine months made it all that more awful.

“It has me, you fucking dipshit. I figured that would be enough of a reason but I guess not.”

“Stan-“

“I’m done. Goodnight.”

He ended the call before Richie could reply, stood up quietly and took a deep breath as he started counting down from ten. This time, it didn’t work and he screamed loudly at the bowl of fruit next to him on the table, the hurt of loving someone and not getting the same amount back made his chest ache. He wanted to forget everything, he wanted to make Richie hurt the same way, he wanted actual physical affection, but he couldn’t do any of those and so he drank.

He drank and drank and drank.

Called Mike to come over and drank some more.

When Mike finally arrived, Stan was almost too drunk to even see straight and Mike let out a shocked yell when Stan full body tackled him, clinging tightly to the warmth of another human being. He could hear Mike ask him what was wrong in that sweet worried voice and that was so like Mike. Loving, caring, concerned, so many things Richie used to be but not anymore and that’s when Stan moves in to kiss Mike…

Only to be held back by Mike’s strong arms.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to kiss you, idiot.”

“You’re very drunk.”

“So?!” Stan yelled at him with all the anger and hurt he was feeling, a small part of his brain realizing that now he was ruining everything with Mike too. That’s when the tears started to come, running down his cheeks heavily as he started to sob. “I just want someone to put me first.”

Stan didn’t remember much of the rest of that night, except that Mike stayed with him and hugged him for a long time. The morning after Stan apologized over and over with a pounding headache, so amazed that Mike said it was alright but they needed to talk about what was happening between them. They talked for hours, Mike admitting that he really did like Stan, more than just a good friend, and Stan admitted to feeling the same way toward him. He told him about Richie, how he was basically dating a ghost for all he saw or talked to Richie and Mike sat and listened patiently.

“So, what do you want to do?”

Stan sighed. “I want to be with you, but also not hurt Richie even though that’s all I wanted last night.”

Mike nodded. “You’ve had time to cool down that’s why. So what should we do right now?”

Stan looked over at his phone, fourteen new text messages and six missed calls which he knew were from Richie. That had been the most Richie had contacted him in months and Stan knew for sure then what his heart wanted.

“I want to kiss you, then make some breakfast and kiss you again.”

“You’re sure? Don’t you want to call Richie before that?”

Stan thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No. I really don’t.”

They kissed. They made breakfast and kissed some more, Mike ended up spending the night and of course they kissed and more. It was finally a week later Stan picked up his phone, not bothering to read the messages that Richie had sent and typed out his own message.

I’m going to call you in an hour. You need to pick it up this time. We need to talk because I’m not doing this anymore.

Send me a prompt!

Taglist: @tinyarmedtrex @oldguybones @queen-sock @constantreaderfool @stylesmelon @appojoos @photoboothreddie @trashmouthnick @eddiefuckinkaspbrak @s-s-georgie @reddieforlove @moonlightrichie @eduardoandale @girasol-eddie @thorn-harvester-ven @pink-psychic @nancynwheeler @recycle-byn @marsisaplanetyall @yikesitsrylee @lifesucksheres20bucks @edstozler @uppperteeeth @s-onora @darkobsidianquill @purplepoisonedgem @mars-14 @rebecca-the-queen @madi-main

[skepticalcatfrog]

Stay Ahead and Stay Alive Chapter 1

First Chapter Next Chapter

Summary: When Bill Denbrough starts his third summer at Camp Half Blood, everything seems perfect. He's finally getting used to his cabin, he gets to see his friends again, and he's even getting the hang of fighting with a sword. But that perfection is quickly turned on its head when his little brother goes missing. Bill is determined to do whatever it takes to find him, even if that means he and his friends need to go to the Underworld.

Pairings: (Eventual) Reddie, Stenbrough, and Benverly

Word count: 3,254

Author's Notes: New series! This one isn't Sanders Sides, because I've recently gotten very into the It fandom, and I figured I'd try something new. For those of you who are currently reading Among The Stars, don't worry, that will still be continuing. Chapters might just be coming out a little slower than usual. Now, on to the important information! As some of you may have noticed, there's a new category under these notes. That's because this fic will be switching perspectives between the main characters from chapter to chapter. Enjoy!

POV: Bill Denbrough

I held my brother's hand tightly as we ran up Half Blood hill towards the camp boundaries. We weren't running from anything, just wanting to get to camp as fast as possible. I smiled when I saw the pine tree at the top of the hill, using my free hand to point towards it.

"N-not much further!" I glanced at my brother. "Think y-you can m-ma-make it?"

"Yup! You've got nothing to worry about!" Georgie said confidently, speeding up a little bit to prove his point. I just smiled a little wider.

We ran all the way up the hill and stopped only once we were sure we were past the boundaries, sitting down to try and catch our breath. We looked at each other then started laughing, for no reason in particular. I leaned back into the grass to get a better view of the sky. Georgie did the same. Everything was quiet for a moment, aside from the chatter from the other campers in the background. I just watched the clouds pass by. Then something (or someone, rather) blocked my view.

I smiled up at one of my best friends, Stanley Uris. He was the head counselor of the Athena cabin, and had been going to Camp Half Blood the longest out of all of us. Six years as of this summer, nearly twice as long as how many years I've been here. His eyes were a dark silver, like a sky full of storm clouds. He had brown hair, which was almost untamable due to how curly it was. If you got close enough, you'd notice freckles across his cheeks. Not that I'd ever gotten that close. He dressed like that kid in class who got straight A's every year, all button down shirts and khaki shorts. He offered me his hand and when I took it, he helped me stand up again.

"Hey, Bill. When did you get here?" He asked me, letting go of my hand quickly as soon as I was standing.

"Just now." I told him. Georgie stood up and was next to me again. "W-w-what about Richie and Eddie? Have y-you heard anything from th-them yet?"

"I have, yeah. Richie's only been here for four hours and he's already been to the infirmary twice. Eddie's taking care of him." Stan said. He gestured towards the infirmary. "It's nothing serious though, so he should be out again soon."

"Figures." I laughed. "S-s-sometimes it's li-like he does it on p-p-p-purpose."

As if on cue, Richie Tozier sauntered out of the infirmary, followed closely by a clearly frustrated Eddie Kaspbrak. Richie was a Hermes kid, which meant he was prone to getting into trouble. And more often than not, he would end up getting hurt. Then he would go to the infirmary, where he would be patched up and then scolded by Eddie. Eddie was an Apollo kid. He was probably one of the most qualified people in the infirmary, because he knew an unhealthy amount about diseases. He was like a tiny ball of anger and medical supplies. As they got closer to us, I could hear their conversation a little more clearly. But they didn't stop walking, so we just had to walk right alongside them.

"Arts and crafts? Are you kidding me? How do you get hurt in arts and crafts?" Eddie's nose scrunched up as he spoke.

"It's the beads, Eds. Their sharp edges will get you when you least expect it." Richie shrugged.

"The beads?! The beads are round, Richie. They have no sharp edges." Eddie's mouth was running a mile a minute, like a fast-forwarded recording. "The box says three and up. Are you over three? Because last time I checked, you were. But sometimes I can't tell based on how often you do stupid things. First it was the rock wall accident, now this. You do know that we don't have contests at the infirmary, right? You won't get a prize for being our most frequent customer."

"It was an accident!" Richie held his hands up in an 'I surrender' motion. Then he finally noticed me, Georgie and Stanley. "Hey, Stan the Man, answer me a question. Is it possible to cut yourself on a bead?"

"Maybe if it broke in half, then it might have a sharper edge. Otherwise, no, not possible. Especially not by accident." Stan shook his head.

"Aha! I was right." Eddie poked Richie on the shoulder. He suddenly remembered that there were other people there, and turned towards me and Georgie. "Oh, hi, by the way."

"Hey." I waved at him.

"Hi!" Georgie waved even more enthusiastically. He looked up to my friends for some reason, which was probably a mistake. Really the only good role model in our group was Stan.

"Speaking of our good friend Bill, what are your plans for this summer Mr. Son of Aphrodite?" Richie nudged me with his elbow. "Maybe finally asking Beverly out?"

Oh, right. Beverly Marsh. Beverly was the current Oracle of Delphi, plus the girl who I'd had a confusing relationship with since I first got to camp. Everyone thought we liked each other, and I guess it was kind of true, but there wasn't really anything there anymore.

"Since when do you like Beverly?" Stan asked, looking around at everything except for me.

"I-I-It's complicated." I sighed. "Long story sh-short, I'm p-p-probably not going to ask her out."

"Did you know that they kissed two years ago? There weren't many witnesses, but there were a few, so you can ask them if you don't believe me." Richie said, his voice just a little too loud for my liking.

"Oh m-my gods Richie c-c-could you please just be quiet?" I hissed, my charmspeak kicking in near the end. Some children of Aphrodite, including me, can use charmspeak. To put it simply, it's kind of like hypnosis. For example, when I said that, Richie finally decided to shut up.

"Speaking of Beverly…" Stan muttered.

There she was, waving at us from the mess hall. Her curly red hair had grown a bit since she'd cut it near the end of last summer, but her icy blue eyes were still the same. She also had freckles, and when I say freckles I mean a lot of them. She walked up to us, hands in her pockets.

"Hey, guys! I haven't seen you yet, when did you get here?" She asked.

"I've been here the whole time." Stan crossed his arms. He stayed at camp year-round, instead of leaving at the end of the summer like the rest of us. I never really knew why, but he always said it was because he knew he'd be safer there.

"Well obviously I know that, you do that every year. But I haven't seen any of them yet." Beverly gestured to the rest of us. "What have you guys been up to?"

"Me and Billie just got here. We ran from the car all the way up the hill, and it was so fun!" Georgie told her, practically jumping up and down from excitement. A small smile grew on my face and I nodded, confirming the story.

"Richie got here a few hours ago, but he's been too busy in the infirmary to do anything." Eddie scowled "He's already been there twice in the four hours he's been here, and I've had to take care of him. I thought that maybe this year he wouldn't get hurt as much, but I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. Like seriously, how hard is it to just-"

"That's nice, Eddie." Beverly cut him off. The rest of us let out a sigh of relief, because we knew that if she hadn't done that, then Eddie could've gone on for hours. "I've got to get going, but hopefully I'll see you guys later!"

"Y-yeah, hopefully!" I waved as she walked away. Richie started clapping quietly.

"Bravo, encore!" He teased. "You're a true poet Bill, you really do have a way with words."

"Leave him alone, Rich. At least he tried." Stan's sharp gray eyes glared at Richie.

"Yeah, a-at least I t-tri-tried." I echoed. Sometimes I just didn't know what to say, but for some reason Stanley always seemed to be able to think of something. "Georgie and I still need to g-get settled in, so we'll b-b-be in our cabin if you n-need us."

"Okay. I actually have to go too, they'll probably need counselors to deal with new campers." Stan nodded.

"I'll go too then." Richie went to follow Stan.

"Richie, you're not a counselor. The whole camp would be in flames if you were a counselor. You can go with Eddie, I'm sure you'll be able to find something to do." Stan pointed to our blond friend, who was indignant.

"Nope, no, not a chance. I have important things that I need to do, and I don't need Richie to be there while I do them." Eddie protested.

"Too bad then, I guess." Richie wrapped his arm around Eddie's shoulders, which Eddie immediately pushed away. "Looks like we're stuck with each other, Eddie Spaghetti."

"Fine. But I really do have work to do, so don't be distracting." Eddie turned around and started walking away, Richie following him.

"Alright, well, just find me if you need anything. If we don't get a chance to talk then I'll see you tomorrow." Stan waved and went back to his cabin. Georgie and I went to ours as well.

The Aphrodite cabin was definitely intense, if you were looking for a way to describe it. The first thing you'd notice would be the smell of things like perfume, hairspray, and nail polish. It would hit you like a brick wall the second you walked through the door. Posters of various celebrities were all over the pink walls, and a circular rug sat in the center of the room. There was a row of beds on one wall, and another one on the opposite side of the room. Everything was very neat and orderly, except for a few stray love letters. They came to the Aphrodite cabin regularly, since most of my half siblings were the subjects of many crushes at camp. Multiple small chandeliers hung from the ceiling, being the only light source aside from the windows. Overall, it was never boring in cabin 10. There was always some sort of activity, and no matter what it was, it always caused excitement.

My brother and I put our bags down on our respective beds, and unpacked all of our stuff. Some other campers had gotten there earlier than we had, and were already settled in. By the time we had all of our stuff put away, we had to go to the mess hall for dinner. The tables were sorted by cabin, so I didn't get to sit next to any of my friends. The table for the Hermes cabin was always more crowded than anywhere else, because it held all the children of Hermes, as well as kids who didn't know who their godly parent was yet. I remember staying there for a while at the beginning of my first year at Camp Half Blood. It was where I'd met Richie. After dinner, we all sat around the campfire for a little while. We sang songs, talked, and told jokes until it was completely dark out. Georgie looked like he was about to fall asleep where he sat by the end of it. I couldn't blame him, the first day of camp was always tiring. We walked back to our cabin and got ready for bed.

It felt like forever before I started to fall asleep. I was tired, but for some reason I just couldn't sleep. I got there eventually, but then I was woken up by a tapping on my face. I opened my eyes, and what I saw was Georgie sitting next to my bed and tapping me on the forehead.

"Georgie, w-what are you s-s-still doing up?" I whispered. I didn't want to disturb anyone else.

"I'm not tired. I slept for a little while, but then I woke up, and now I'm not tired anymore." Georgie explained quietly, a small pout on his face.

"Well what do y-you want me to d-d-do about i-it?" I asked.

"Let's go on an adventure!" Even with the whispering, the excitement in his voice was clear.

"Georgie, you know we're n-not supposed to be out thi-this late." I shook my head.

"Since when do you care about the rules?" He asked. I couldn't deny that he was right, I'd snuck out even later than that many times. I hesitated.

"Fine." I reluctantly got out of bed. My brother grinned.

"Yes! I knew you'd do it!" He stood up.

I quickly got dressed and grabbed a flashlight from my bag. I looked out the window. The magical barrier around the camp kept bad weather out, but I could tell it was raining outside the border.

"Get your j-j-jacket." I told Georgie. We usually ended up wandering outside the boundaries of camp anyway, so I figured wearing our jackets would be a safe choice. "It c-could be cold in the ra-ain."

"Okay." He nodded, getting his raincoat.

We left once I had my jacket on. I put the hood up, because since it was a dark color, I would be less visible. Plus it would protect my head when we were in the rain. I didn't turn my flashlight on yet, either. I knew we were outside the barrier when I heard the pattering of the raindrops hitting the hood of my jacket. I flipped the switch on my flashlight and saw the beam of light spring forward, illuminating a path ahead of us.

"Well, we're h-here. What now?" I asked, glancing at my brother. He looked around and thought for a moment.

"Let's go… that way." He pointed towards a forest that had a dirt road cutting through the middle. He immediately started walking, and I had to walk a little faster just to keep up with him.

I slowly started to lose my nervousness about being in the woods that late. We weren't even supposed to be out of our cabins at night, let alone out of the camp completely. It was like a free meal for monsters. But I'd left camp so many times before that I barely thought about it.

"At least the t-tr-trees block most of the r-rain." I held out my hand and only felt a couple of raindrops hit it.

"But there are still puddles on the ground!" Georgie stepped in one of the puddles, then frowned and looked down at his feet. He didn't have rain boots on, only sneakers. "Oh… now my feet are all wet."

"D-d-do you want to g-go back to camp?" I reached out and took his hand. He had a tendency to run off when he saw something interesting, and I just didn't want to lose him.

"No, I'm fine." He shook his head, starting to walk again as if nothing had happened. "They'll get dry again in a little while."

"Okay, if you're sh-sure." I nodded.

Suddenly, a steep hill stood right in our path. It was so tall that we couldn't see what was on the other side. I let go of my brother's hand.

"I'm just going to ch-check and see i-i-if it's safe on the other s-side." I looked at Georgie, and my charmspeak kicked in. I knew he probably would've done whatever I said anyway, but I wasn't going to take any chances. "I n-need you to stay right here until I get back, okay?"

"Okay." He nodded. I started to walk away, and he stood completely still as I did.

I climbed up the side of the hill. It was steep, and the grass was slick with rain, so I had to hold on to trees to stop myself from slipping. It was even more difficult to climb down the other side. I didn't fall, but I did slide about half the way down. Once I regained my footing, I looked around for a moment. All that was on the other side of the hill was more forest, there didn't seem to be anything too bad. I was about to turn around and climb back up the hill… and that's when I heard it.

"BILLIE!" My brother cried out from the other side of the hill.

My eyes widened and I could feel my heart beating. I turned around and started running, but I didn't get very far up the hill before I fell forward and slid down again. I got back up and tried again, now covered in mud. I used the trees to brace myself as I dashed up the hill as fast as I could. I slipped again when I got to the top, and sliding down the other side felt almost like falling into Tartarus. At the bottom of the hill, I was met with my worst fear. A puddle of water, stained red. My brother was nowhere to be found.

My hand started to shake, and my grip tightened on the flashlight I was holding. I started to run, as fast as I could, back the way we'd come from. I didn't stop to think, I didn't stop to collect myself, I just ran. My hood flew off of my head, but I didn't care. When the camp was in my sights I sped up. The second I was past the border I stopped, looking around frantically. No one would be awake, I wasn't even supposed to be awake, so who could I go to? I could only think of one person who might be able to help me.

I opened the door to the Athena cabin as quietly as I could in my panicked state. When I saw Stanley, I knelt down next to his bed and put my hand on his shoulder. He was completely asleep. I shook him a little bit.

"Stan? Stanley?" I tried to be quiet, but it wasn't easy. "Stanley Uris I s-swear, if you don't w-wake up right n-n-now-"

"I know, you can't sleep, but that doesn't mean you have to-" Stanley muttered. He opened his eyes, but his eyelids were heavy from drowsiness. When he saw me, he seemed to wake up a little more. "Bill? Why are you here, you're supposed to be asleep. And why are you covered in mud?"

"I'll explain l-later, right now I just n-n-need your help." I told him, wiping the tears from my face.

"What's wrong, what happened?" Stan sat up, suddenly becoming much more alert.

"I-I-It's Georgie, he's m-m-m-m-m-" I could barely get the word out. Because saying it made it real, and I knew it couldn't be real.

"It's okay, just breathe." Stan was about to take my hand, but he hesitated, and decided against it. "Everything's going to be okay. Now, do you think you can tell me what happened?"

"Georgie… is m-missing. We w-were out in the w-w-woods, and I l-l-left him alone, and now..." I burst into tears, burying my face in my hands. "Shit, I left him a-a-alone!"

Stan seemed surprised at my sudden outburst. "Are you sure? Are you sure it wasn't just a bad dream?"

"Y-y-yes, of course I'm sure!" I looked up again and met his eyes. "And I n-need you to help me f-find him."

[distressindisguise]

Love, Simon: Book vs Movie

Obviously this analysis contains spoilers for the movie Love, Simon and the book Simon vs the Homosapien Agenda. I’ve literally been wanting to talk about the differences between the two for so long but my friends haven’t read the book so it’s so hard for me to share and squeal about it. If you’ve read or watched both, or just one, hopefully you enjoy this :) So let’s begin.

1.) Casting

-Simon

When I heard that Nick Robinson was going to be playing Simon, I screamed. He’s played a plethora of different characters lately from strong Ben Parrish to Cocky Olly and now Awkward Simon. He played him so well although in the book, I would say Simon was a bit more feminine. But I kind of liked the change. Nick brought a lot of himself to Simon’s character, and I think that’s the cause for the change.

- Bram

First off, I was so freaking happy they kept Bram black and Jewish. What an icon. Anyways, I think Keiynan did a great job with his character. In the books, Bram was the more “masculine” one I guess you could say. But again, I really like the change whether it was done purposely or not. I think it had to do more with who played the characters than anything.

-Nick

Honestly, I had pictured Nick differently. Nick was supposed to be an intelligent guitar player who loved Indie rock and philosophical questions while still being a star athlete. And yeah explaining it like that, I can see why they changed his character. Nick’s character was so unrealistically perfect in the books but hey, I liked cute slightly oblivious soccer Nick as well. I don’t clearly remember what Nick’s ethnicity was in the book, but I like that they kept more diversity in the film by casting Jorge Lendeborg Jr.

- Leah

I. Loved. Katherine Langford. As. Leah. I. Have. No. Complaints. She. Was. Great. She portrayed her so well and her and Nick Robinson just had such amazing chemistry. Their friendship felt so genuine, just like the books and I have no complaints at all. I was so happy you don’t understandddd. There was some differences in her character though but I’ll talk about those later because it has more to do with plot.

- Simon’s sisters

Simon had more than one sister, but only the younger one was cast. I see why, honestly. The other sister wasn’t really necessary to the plot of the movie at all. The oldest was away for most of the book and the youngest was really the only important one. The movie hadn’t really portrayed Nora as Nora to me. I can understand that change as well though, because the only interesting thing about Nora in the book was at the end when we found out that she had formed a band. Giving Nora a specific personality in the movie made a lot of sense even if it was totally different.

-Abby

No complaints. She was exactly like how I pictured Abby in the books. Only change in her character that was obvious to me was that she lived closer to Simon than I would’ve liked. There’s this whole section of the book where it talks about how the black kids who went to the school lived miles and miles away. She had to spend a long time on the bus each day just to travel to school. That fact may not seem so important but it emphasized how segregated our society still is, even if it isn’t written anywhere. I liked that detail a lot so I was pretty disappointed when it wasn’t added in the movie.

- Martin

Martin looked and acted exactly as I imagined. Martin pissed me off in the books and pissed me off in the movies. One thing I liked that the movie stressed was his kindness. In the books, it was there sure but it was overshadowed by how much everyone hated him lol. In the Movie, you still hated him but it was easier to understand where he was coming from even though what he did was still wrong.

- Ethan

He did not exist in the books, but I think it was a smart move to add him in the movie. It stressed the fact that two very different people could be gay without following the same “stereotype”. I liked the conversation he and Simon had outside of the office. It’s a conversation I think Simon would’ve needed in the books that he couldn’t get from anyone else.

2.) Plot

Here’s a list of minor and major changes I witnessed that I had not already mentioned.

-Leah was not in love with Simon. This is one thing that I hated the movie did. It was a cliche that I was happy the book stemmed away from, but at least the Movie showed how Leah wasn’t mad about it and how she was willing to move on and accept him for who he was. I liked that part, but honestly all of it could have been avoided. Fun fact: Leah drew yaoi fanart in the book. I loved that about her. She was more upset about Simon not telling her that he was gay first in the books. She felt like everyone was replacing her with Abby, and it was honestly a big slap in the face. First Abby takes her crush from her, and now her best friend? Personally, that angle of things was far more interesting to me than Leah being in love with Simon.

-Cal was actually LGBTQ+ in the books. Or at least it was assumed. He was jealous of Abby when he saw Simon hanging out with her and genuinely seemed to be into him at one point. In the Movie, he doesn’t seem to be interested in him at all.

-The mystery of who Blue is was way more complex in the books. It was harder to figure out. In the Movie I feel like they just gave it away too early. There were too many obvious hints dropped and I don’t know if that’s just because I already knew who it was, or if it really was just too easy. For instance, Bram was sitting there eating Oreos and talking about how he loved the Halloween ones RIGHT AFTER SENDING AN EMAIL SAYING HE LOVED THE HALLOWEEN ONES. like c’mon now. Really?

-Bram and Simon’s friendship was more developed in the movie. THIS WAS MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT THE MOVIE!!! In the books, Bram was a background character that didn’t say more than two words to Simon. They sat at the same table at lunch and had English together, but other than that they weren’t really on daily speaking terms. In the Movie, Bram was a regular occurrence. Whether it was begging for Simon’s fries, inviting him to a party, kicking ass at cup pong, or singing karaoke together, they were definitely well established with each other. It was fun to see, especially because their chemistry was amazing as well. It’s something the Movie definitely did better. In the books, Bram and Simon just jumped into a relationship with each other despite few interactions in real life which outside of the fictional world: WOULDVE BEEN AWKWARD ASF.

- Bram knew that Jacques was Simon way before Matin exposed him on Tumblr. I understand the reason for the change in the movie though. They did not have 3 hours to develop this plot.

- Honestly?? My favorite part of the book was when Bram took Simon out to the grocery store on a date and bought a bunch of Oreos to create this sundae Simon joked about on an email because he worshiped Oreos. That small detail was so adorable to me but it got cut so ugh

- Another one of my favorite scenes that got cut was when Bram bought Simon a t-shirt from his favorite band and put it in his locker. That was so freaking cute as well. Also, side note. Simon’s favorite band was not Panic! At The Disco in the books but I’m honestly so happy it was in the movie. When Brendon Urie popped up on the screen I almost died oops.

- The musical Simon’s school did was Oliver! which doesn’t hold much significance but hey

- Abby did Simon’s make up for the play and he really liked it

- Simon used to like to wear dresses when he was younger (this was probably taken out because the movie portrayed Simon as less feminine)

- The Bram x Simon kiss did not happen on the Ferris wheel, but the change made sense in the movie. I don’t mind the change although I was lowkey butthurt about it at first before I saw the film. It made sense.

- Honestly the whole kiss scene was kind of cringey to me in the movie. That must’ve been so awkward waiting on a Ferris wheel for hours as random people took out their phones and whispered “I love gay people.” as if he didn’t already feel pathetic enough. In the movies, Bram caught Simon on this ride that Bram admitted made him vomit over email. That was really cute to me because Bram literally got onto that ride just for Simon and they were able to have their moment alone without other people ruining it.

- Their emails started to get really spicy. It progressed from “I can’t help but to think about kissing you” to basically, “I like picturing you horny” which isn’t a direct quote but it’s something along the lines of that.

- After the play, things got spicy in real life

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

3.) Important Things That Were The Same

- Simon’s speech to Martin about how coming out was his decision. I’m so happy they kept this

- a lot of the jokes were directly from the book as well which I really liked

- Abby and Nick had gotten together at the end

- Simon’s conversation with his mom

Okay that’s about all I can think of, feel free to add if you’d like. I’ve never actually done an analysis or anything before but I just really want to share my thoughts on these two masterpieces.

[canyousevmyheavydirtysoul]

You’re My Bodyguard, Not My Owner. (Chapter 3) (Brendon Urie x Reader)

“Oh, my god,” you gasped, recoiling for a moment before leaning back in. “Is that…?”

“In all of his star-spangled glory,” Agent Hill confirmed, exhaling as she joined you in peeking inside. “Captain Steve Rogers.”

“I thought he died during his battle with Hydra in the 40s?”

“Yeah, so did we,” she muttered, “But it turns out he’s still kicking. Albeit while frozen. Your dad was actually the one who found him.”

“Really?” You looked at her, trying to determine if she was telling the truth or not. As far as you could tell, she was. “I never heard about that.”

“It’s not public knowledge,” an authoritative voice sounded from behind you, and you both spun around to be met with The Director; Brendon stood next to him.

“Not yet, anyway. We’re still working on trying to, well, thaw him out,” Fury chuckled softly, “There’s only a handful of people who know about this. Now that handful includes you.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose and closed your eyes, having a hard time processing everything. “So my dad really did pull him out of the water?”

“Well, I was there too,” he pointed out, making you smile, “but yes, it’s mostly due to your old man that we have a frozen Captain America in our lab.”

“Wow.”

“Indeed. That wasn’t all he found, either.” Fury reached into his pocket and pulled out his smartphone. He tapped on it a few times before handing it over to you.

You took the device and examined the screen. It was a picture of a glowing, blue cube.

“What is this?” you questioned, looking more closely.

“That’s what we’re trying to find out.”

Chestertown, Maryland. Three weeks later.

“You aren’t actually serious about this,” you scoffed in disbelief as Brendon kept a firm grip on your arm, making sure you stayed as close to him as possible and keeping an eye out for any behaviour that seemed questionable.

“Yes, actually, I am. Last time we were here, you had a panic attack. Who knows what’ll happen this time round?”

“Brendon, it’s dinner with my friends. Whom I’ve known for years. If one of them was a Hydra agent, I’m pretty sure I would’ve been dead already.”

“Not if that wasn’t part of the plan.”

You shook your head in incredulity at his mistrust. “I highly doubt I’m in any danger tonight.”

“You’re so unbelievably naïve, you know that?” he said harshly, coming to a sudden halt and turning you sideways so that you were facing him. “Whatever you think you know about this world – SHIELD, Hydra, everything your dad told you – is not even half of the messed up shit that goes on. I’ve seen people killed by the ones closest to them. People who they trusted completely. The way you trust your friends,” he cocked his head towards the bar seats a few feet away where your friends were gathered, “So there’s no way in hell I’m letting you out of my sight.”

“Brendon, the place is crowded. No one’s gonna try anything,” you sighed, wanting nothing more than to be able to enjoy a night out with your friends without being under Brendon’s constant supervision. You knew it was only to ensure your safety, but it was annoying nonetheless.

Brendon let out a bitter laugh. “Yeah, that’s what you think. And then you end up in a body bag. Constant vigilance, (Y/N).”

You began walking again and a few seconds later you were awkwardly standing in front of your friends, who’d all gone quiet at the sight of your very pissed off-looking bodyguard.

“Uh, hey, guys,” you said cheerfully, trying to break the extremely tense atmosphere that had occurred. “This is Brendon.”

Various greetings filtered through the air as your friends smiled politely at Brendon, who only gave a curt nod in return before leaning in and whispering in your ear.

“I’ll be three seats down. Don’t go anywhere without telling me first and if anything happens, don’t make a move until I get to you, understand?”

You nodded to show your understanding and Brendon mumbled a quick ‘Good’ before swiftly disappearing to assume his position a little way down the bar.

Noticeably more relaxed after Brendon had left, your friends immediately engulfed you in a tight bear hug, bombarding you with questions.

“We haven’t heard from you in weeks! What’s going on?”

“How are you doing, hon?”

“Any news on that Asset guy?”

“Why didn’t you tell us that your bodyguard was smoking hot?”

“Woah, calm down!” you held up both hands to silence everyone and chuckled at your friends’ hunger for details. “I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch, things have been more hectic than you could ever imagine. But I’ll try to keep you updated and in the loop as much as possible, I promise. I’m doing better. Not one hundred percent, but I’ll get there eventually. No, there hasn’t been any news on him, and even if there was, I don’t think I’d be allowed to disclose any information. And I didn’t mention his looks because it’s not important,” you shrugged, stealing your friend Ian’s drink and taking a gulp.

“Uh, of course it’s important! I’d be dying from happiness if I had that hot piece of ass following me around every day,” Chelsey said, biting her lip and looking over at Brendon, who shifted uncomfortably under her penetrative gaze and averted his own back to the surrounding sea of people.

“The whole point of having him around is to not die. Besides,” you replied, grabbing a few pretzels from the bowl in front of you. “He’s not exactly the nicest of people.”

“He doesn’t seem that bad,” Ian interjected. “A little intimidating, maybe. But I’m sure he’s an okay guy.”

You scoffed. “Oh, yeah? Wanna be-“

You were cut off by the sound of gunshots and glass shattering. Automatically, people had started to run, scream and take cover. Within a few seconds and before your brain could even process the fact that you were in danger, Brendon had tackled you to the floor and was laying on top of you, using his body as a shield to protect your own. With every gunshot, his grip on you tightened as he pulled you closer in an attempt to cover your entire body.

More SHIELD agents had made their way inside from their undercover positions and more shots were fired as they attempted to take out the assailants. There were lots of voices yelling orders and trying to communicate with each other and you recognised one of them as Agent Coulson’s.

“Urie, there’s a car and two escorts waiting out back. Get her out of here. Now.”

Brendon wasted no time in gathering you into his arms and making a break for the back door.

Looking back over Brendon’s shoulder, your stomach dropped at the sight of your friends. They were huddled together under a table while trying to avoid getting hit by any bullets, fear evident on all of their faces.

“Brendon, wait! We have to go back! My friends! They-they’re gonna get hurt!” You thrashed wildly in Brendon’s arms, making a futile attempt to loosen his grip on you.

“(Y/N), are you insane?! You can’t go back there, it’s you they’re after!” He tightened his grip on you, preventing you from escaping his grasp.

“But they’ll die if we just leave them there!” You yelled, getting hysterical.

“There are other agents there who’ll protect them but right now we need to get you back to HQ.”

He picked up the pace and half-dragged you outside to the black SUV that stood waiting, engines running in order to make a getaway as soon as possible.

Opening the back door and practically shoving you inside the vehicle before hopping in himself, he instructed the driver to go, which he immediately did; swerving into a side road, he carried you away from the attack as fast as possible.

As soon as you were a good distance away, Brendon called SHIELD HQ.

“This is Agent Urie, reporting in. ETA 20 minutes to HQ. (Y/N) is secure.”

SHIELD HQ, Washington D.C.

“I told you we should’ve gone back for them,” you said angrily.

“And then what would I have done, (Y/N)? Save all five of them while you got killed? I don’t think so.”

“If you knew me, you’d know that I’d rather die before I’d let anything happen to the people I love. Especially if they get hurt because of me.”

“They’re alive, (Y/N).”

“Barely. They’re all in the hospital with critical injuries and I’m here without a scratch. That’s not fair,” you said, tears welling up in your eyes.

Brendon rubbed a hand over his face before running it through his hair and chuckling darkly at the ground. “Life’s not fair. Especially not your one. You’d better get used to it, sweetheart. Because the sooner you realise just how much danger you’re actually in, the sooner you can accept the fact that no matter what you do, someone will always end up hurt.”

“How?” you whispered incredulously.

“How what?”

“How can you not feel bad about what happened to my friends at all?”

“Because they’re none of my concern, (Y/N). You are.”

“So you couldn’t give less of a shit about their safety?”

“Not when it’s compared to yours, no,” he stated matter-of-factly, leaning back against the glass desk situated on the far side of the room. You were thankful that he was a good distance away from you, because at that moment you wanted nothing more than to break his nose. You couldn’t believe the lack of remorse he was showing. It was shocking.

“And you don’t feel any regret about leaving them there when I begged you to turn back?” you questioned, taking a few steps toward him.

“No, I don’t,” he replied sternly, standing up straight as you advanced on him. “Not one bit.”

Raising your hand above your head, you brought it down swiftly in an attempt to smack him but because of his lightning-quick reflexes, he caught your hand without even flinching and immediately pushed you up against the nearest wall, your hand pinned above your head.

“You wanna try that again, sweetheart?”

“I really can’t stand you,” you spat, repulsed at the lack of humanity in the person standing in front of you.

“My job isn’t to be your friend. My job is to protect you. And I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. The sooner you get used to that, the sooner you’ll stop being shocked at the awful things I do,” he said, leaning in so close to you that you could feel his breath tickle your neck, causing the hairs there to stand up on edge. “Because I can assure you, there will be more of them. Much more.”

_______________________________________________________________________Thank you for reading x

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[bethlehembroclub-blog]

chapter 3 - everyone’s dancing merrily

written by @sweatereddies​ and @gingerbreddie​

word count: 5.3k

pairings: reddie, stenbrough, benverly

warnings: swearing, drug/alcohol use, dwayne the rock johnson in a santa suit

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new chapters almost every day in december, follow us for future updates!

“Come on you guys, we’re gonna be late!” Ben called up the stairs, as he adjusted his watch clasp.

“I’m trying, Eddie’s hogging the bathroom!” Stan yelled back. He heard the faint sound of Eddie’s quipped protests and rolled his eyes.

“I’m leaving in five minutes!” He responded, walking into the kitchen to grab the case of beer they had bought. Bev hadn’t said it was specifically a BYOB party, but Ben felt bad bringing four people and no booze.

Stan came tumbling down the stairs. “Fuck it, do I look okay?” He gestured down at his outfit, a rather complimentary blue shirt and his nicer jeans.

“Yeah, you look fine.” Ben said after a cursory glance. His brow furrowed, looking back at Stan. “Why? You never care.”

Stan looked around, clearly planning an excuse. “I don’t know, okay? I just wanted to…”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ben smiled. “You don’t have to make shit up. I know you wanna impress someone. Question is, who’s gonna be there that you care so much about?” Ben said, leaning against the kitchen counter.

Stan’s face flushed. “No one, Haystack.”

“Alright, fine, I won’t press.” He threw his hands up. “But whoever it is does need my official Bro Approval, so tell me soon, yeah?”

Stan laughed exasperatedly, rolling his eyes. “Whatever.”

“Guys, have you seen my inhaler?” Eddie said, leaning over the landing on the stairs.

“You don’t have asthma, Eddie.” Stan deadpanned.

“Fuck you Uris, I’ve got something, I need it.”

“You haven’t needed it since seventh grade.” Ben said plainly. “Are you that nervous?”

Eddie fumbled with the hem of his shirt, glancing between the two boys. “Um..”

“You’ll feel a lot better once you have one of these in you.” Ben smirked, tearing open the box of beer and tossing a can to Eddie, who surprisingly caught it. “But seriously, if you don’t want to stay you don’t have to. They’re our neighbors, you can go home.”

Eddie eyed the can in his hands. “I don’t want to be too scared to go to a fucking dumb party.” Eddie muttered quietly.

“Then show up and smash the thing, man. Let loose, you deserve it.” Stan said.

Eddie cracked the tab on the beer, taking a swig. “I’ll go.” He said after he swallowed. “But I don’t know if I’ll have fun.”

“I think you will.” Ben supplied. “Like I said, Mike Hanlon knows how to throw a fucking party.”

Eddie sighed, taking another deep drink. “Jesus Christ.” He cringed at the taste. “Okay. Well the only way I’m gonna have an even mildly good time is if I have at least half this damn case to myself.”

“Done.” Ben laughed. “But that means you have to carry it over.”

Eddie finished the last few steps of the stairs and the last of the liquid in the can. He tossed it in their recycling as he passed it, and then lifted the case up. “Let’s go, then?”

______________________________________________________________

After locking up behind them (the three were the only ones left in the house after Chris had left that morning) the boys set off down the street, Eddie carting the case of beer under his arm. He huffed a bit under the weight of it, but kept thinking to himself about how light it would be once he's done with it.

Even from their vantage point, a good few houses away, they could hear the pounding music. It sounded like someone had put a Christmas song through some kind of alien machine, making it come out garbled and remixed in classic electronica fashion. Eddie scrunched up his nose; he hated nothing more than a shitty remix.

Stan kept his hands in his pockets, the crisp late November air nipping at his fingertips. He was grateful for the short walk.

The house in question looked like his store threw up on it. He even recognized the the giant light fixture of the leg lamp from A Christmas Story from when he’d seen it on their website earlier. He snorted at the sight, rolling his eyes at the tackiness of the entire yard. They'd certainly gone all out on the decorations; icicle lights hung loosely from the roof, where an old couch was perched, a fake santa with a beer in his hand balanced haphazardly on it. The yard was already littered with loose cans and cups, though Stan had a suspicion that they were already there before the party.

“Is- is that a couch?” Eddie faked a wretch, eyes laid skeptically on the santa.

“I do believe it is.” Ben said with a laugh. He found the whole display quite clever.

“I'm having second thoughts.”

“Don't think.” Stan said, stealing a can of beer from the box clutched in Eddie’s arms. “Drink.” Stan opened it and took a swig.

“I hate when you're right.” Eddie griped, reaching into the box for another can as they climbed the steps to the door.

Ben grabbed the handle and pushed it open, revealing an entryway stuffed with discarded outerwear. Beyond the room there was a hallway already filled with people milling around, and openings on either side to continue on into the house. Eddie swallowed nervously.

Ben glanced down at his phone as it buzzed in his hands. A text from Beverly read: hey, im here, where are u?

“I'm gonna go find Bev and grab some real drinks, wanna come with?” Ben said to the boys.

“No way. I’m staying right here.” Eddie said nervously, holding the case close to his chest. “I don't wanna get lost in there.”

“Fine, I'll be right back.” Ben rolled his eyes and left into the swarm of the house. Stan made to follow him but was stopped by Eddie’s arm.

“Don't leave me here.” Eddie squeaked, giving Stan a pleading look.

Stan rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Eddie, I’m not gonna hang around in the doorway all night. Unlike you I came here to have fun.”

Eddie gulped. “Fine.” He said after a pause. “But I’m parking on the first couch we see.”

Stan smiled and dragged Eddie off to the right, the opposite of where Ben had gone.

______________________________________________________________

Richie Tozier was not having a good night. Sure the party had started out as planned; all the decorations had gone up the way they wanted them to, and everything was in its place. Booze was flowing, people were partying, and by all intents and purposes, accounts and definitions, they had the best holiday party on the block. But every bit of it was unsatisfying. They’d already prepared for Christmas, decked in every single bit of tinsel they could possibly get their grimy paws on. They were ready to start the first weekend of the holidays with a bang proclaiming to everyone in the community that they were there to play this year. A preliminary to their holiday bash, they took special care in setting up excitement for future drinking games. They had posters with the rules written on them hastily tacked up on the walls so people could read them, become familiar with them, and laugh egregiously at them before the destined date. But as Richie passed them walking through the house, red solo cup in hand, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit of disdain. What fun was a good drinking game if you didn’t have someone special to share it with?  He knew he was being sappy; it was a ridiculous thought. But it was important to him to start really expanding his friend base. He’d been so close with Mike and Bill for so long, he’d forgotten what it was like to branch out beyond that. All of his other relationships were incredibly superficial. Almost anyone in his life was there because of a connection, or for business purposes. He found himself longing for companionship, for the first time in a long time, and it kind of freaked him out. He wasn’t looking for love, at least he thought he wasn’t, until earlier that day he’d gone out with Mike and Bill to grab supplies, and ran into the beautiful boy from across the way. It was frightening though, because he’d realized he’d put his foot in his mouth and overly flirted the first time he’d seen the boy. He did call Richie an asshole first, though.

Richie knew that his chances with the boy were probably slim. But he was supposed to be at the party, and maybe that was why Richie was feeling so listless. He’d seen nothing of Ben Hanscom, or curly haired Stan, or the beautiful brunette he’d been so excited to see tonight, and that was really the reason for the sinking pit in his stomach. He’d gotten his hopes up way too much that morning, out buying decorations and filling up the back of Mike’s truck with the boys. He’d been thinking all day about the look on Eddie’s face when he saw their tacky santa on the roof, or his particular favorite of the drinking games, one themed after Spider-man. He then realized he was unsure of what Eddie’s reaction would even be. How could he possibly gauge what the boy would say in response to their tacky christmas decorations? Eddie has been displeased with his terrible James Bond reference, and probably wouldn't enjoy the many allusions to Tom Holland’s voice cracks in the aforementioned game. But part of him hoped that Eddie secretly had a side to him that would enjoy these sillier things. He’d heard through the grapevine, aka Mike and Ben, that Eddie really had a fun side to him, especially when he was drunk, which was why Richie was so excited to see him at the party. He wanted to see that side of Eddie set loose. But how could he do that if Eddie wasn't there? These thoughts swirled around him as he sat on the couch in between Mike and Bill, who were chatting with some of their friends as they set up a game of beer pong for the night. Richie clutched his cup in his hand and rested his head on his chin, boredly gazing around the room, waiting for more people to walk in. Bill elbowed his side and spoke.

“W-Whats got you so down, T-Tozier? We worked so f-fucking hard on tonight, w-w-why are you not c-celebrating with the rest of u-us?”

“I don’t know Billiam, I guess I’m just in a bad mood.”

“A bad m-mood? It’s our e-e-end of the year party, you s-should be ecstatic, no more fucking ho-homework!”

“I know, I know, I'm really excited about that and I wanna party tonight but.. I was hoping the little germaphobe would show up.”

Bill laughed, looking to Mike for assistance, but he was deep in conversation with the boys setting up the table. Rolling his eyes, he turned back to Richie.

“O-Of course you are. But look, he s-said he said he w-w-was coming with Stan and Ben so j-just be patient and wait for him to show up. G-Get a few drinks in you, you’ll start feeling more excited about the whole thing.”

“Alright alright, I’ll loosen up.”

Richie stood, downing his drink in one go, preparing himself to cross over into the kitchen to grab more. But after he turned his gaze up from the empty cup in his hands, he saw none other than Eddie Kaspbrak himself walking into the living room from the entryway, Stan Uris and his curly hair by his side, a sixteen pack of beer under his right arm. One of the cans was clutched in his hand. Richie could practically see his white knuckle grip on the thing. Eddie was glancing around the room nervously, looking at the decorations, the people, the beer pong table; Stan was smiling abstractly and taking it all in, a beer in his hand as well, already open and much more loosely gripped.

Richie broke out into a grin. This was the time of night that he was really looking forward to.

______________________________________________________________

“Hey there handsome, finally decided to show up!” Bev’s singsong voice called to Ben as he walked into the kitchen.

“Hey there Bevie. Finally got Eddie to get out of that house, he’s been fussing forever.”

Bev laughed, passing a cup to Ben. It was clearly a drink she’d just poured for herself, but she offered it to him anyways. “Go figure, I thought he was gonna take all night to get the courage. But you did get him here?”

Ben took a small drink of the cup she’d just supplied. “In the flesh.” He let out with a laugh.

“Good, then let’s get him ready.” She went to pour another drink.

“He’s already got his beers for the night, I think he’ll be fine in a little while. But Stan’ll probably want something.” Ben supplied

“Sounds good to me.” Bev called over her shoulder as she began to mix Stan a drink, and then a follow up one for herself.

“So is this party everything I hoped it’d be? Ben said leaning against the counter where she worked, cup in hand, taking another small sip.

“Its shaping up to be,” She smiled. “I think they're holding back just a little bit because they wanna save us all the big shit for Christmas, but as far as end of term parties go, it’s the only one on the market and it sure as hell doesn’t suck.” She smiled, taking a large sip of the drink she just mixed for herself, grimacing a little bit as it went down.

“Any plans for the evening, or is it just a mixer?”

“Well I know somebody's setting up beer pong right now, and I think we might have a tournament going on, but other than that, I think just a quick few samples of the drinking games that are planned for the bashes coming up.”

“Yeah, I saw the posters.” Ben laughed

“Apparently the boys are trying to get the buzz around and tell people to prepare themselves for ones they have planned. I heard they're gonna do sort of uh.. Run up style parties, every other day over the break.”

“Holy shit, that’s ambitious.” Ben said after taking another drink.

Bev smirked behind her cup. “You're telling me.”

The two drank a little bit in awkward silence before Ben decided to speak up. “I'm gonna go take Stan his drink, okay?”

Bev gave him a strange look, before reaching down to interlock her fingers with his. “I'll come with you. We’re at this party together, right?”

He smiled to himself, a small blush on his cheeks. “Yeah, I guess we are.”

______________________________________________________________

Stan had never been one to understand Christmas traditions. The whole holiday was incredibly pointless to him. Being of a rather devout Jewish family, he’d always celebrated Hanukkah and followed their traditions, leaving Christmas to the crazies at the country club. But after working a couple years in retail and attending enough Christmas parties, he was aware enough of the holiday-esque things that many associated with the season. He knew about the tinsel, he knew about the lights, he knew about the trees, although none of it made any fucking sense, he knew about it. Just like anyone who grew up in anglo saxon America he could look at any Christmas item and think ah yes, that is in fact related to the holidays. What he couldn't fathom however was what a giant cardboard cutout of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in a santa outfit had anything to do with Christmas (other than the red and white suit of course). Yet here it was, in the corner of the living room that he had just walked into, surrounded by its own strings of christmas lights, tinsel strewn around it and the floor in front of it, appearing as though it at just been thrown at the poster itself. He chuckled to himself a little bit; he had to admit the decorations were pretty hilarious, and anyone who was drunk of their ass and looking for a laugh at two in the morning would find them quite entertaining. But as far as a party went? This was what qualified for the best party in all of college town? Stan scoffed. He knew how to throw a fucking party. It wasn't just about getting drunk, though he had been prompting Eddie all day that it was. He knew better. Parties weren't just about drinking. Drinking was the cherry on top. Ambiance was what you had to go for. Put together decorations, that actually took effort, and looked nice when you were finished with them, incredibly clever and well thought out games, different activities for everybody to do while they were drunk, now that was how you threw a party. And this living room where half the patrons were milling around or sitting and waiting for the beer pong table to be set up, Stan knew this was not anywhere close to a satisfactory party. His own self sense of pride inflated him, and he took another drink of the beer before his eyes landed on Richie Tozier, and his two friends from earlier, who were gathered on the couch as the table was being set up.

Richie was staring at Stan and Eddie like they’d just brought the sun. A huge smile was painted across his face, the empty cup he was holding falling from his hand as he eyed them. Stan knew the smile wasn't for him; he could tell from their interaction earlier that day that Richie had become instantly infatuated with Eddie, something which he thought was endlessly hilarious; way funnier than the cardboard cut out of The Rock in the corner. He glanced out of the corner of his eye to gauge Eddie's reaction and was not disappointed. The poor boy looked like he’d short circuited. Clearly Eddie was planning on avoiding Richie as much as possible at the party, and the first person he ran into was none other than the boy himself. Stan laughed a little at the situation, until he noticed Richie's brooding friend emerging from the couch to come join them as well. He took a moment to size up the boy again to get a better grasp on him than what he had from their interaction earlier. He still thought the boy reminded him of a vampire. He was absurdly pale and seemed to look like he never got any sleep, probably from all the partying. Contrary to his appearance in the harsh light of day, under the soft multi color glow of the Christmas lights his face held a sort of gentle kindness to it. Stan found himself a little bit mesmerized taking in the sight. As the boy walked over to them, he could hear Eddie's faint stammering as his brain tried to catch up with his eyes, but he offered no assistance to the conversation, instead deciding to pretend like he was studying a poster on the walls over the shoulder of the boy who'd introduced himself as.. Will? He couldn't remember. Richie broke the silence first.

“There you are pretty boy, I was hoping you would show up!” He threw his arms out and made an awkward gesture, as if he was going to hug Eddie, and then seemingly remembered that the boy abhorred strangers touch. Eddie groaned and turned to Stan.

“You know what Stan, actually, I just remembered that I left the oven on, so I need to go home right now immediately.” Stan threw Eddie into a headlock.

“Fat chance, Kaspbrak, you’re in for the night.” The smaller of the two boys across from them laughed..

“Whatta good f-friend you are, Stan.”

Stan laughed a little bit to himself. “If Ben's gonna be running off all night with Beverly, I need my party buddy here too. So Eddie is not allowed to go home.”

Richie raised an eyebrow. “Sorry Stan, but I'm gonna have to officially claim him as my party buddy. See, I threw this whole shindig here for Mr. Kaspbrak.” He cocked an elbow, resting a hand on his hip.

Eddie blanched. “You did what?”

Richie and Bill both laughed. “N-No you fucking d-didn't Tozier, don't be a shit.”

“You can't prove anything Billiam.” Richie said through his giggle. “Anyways Eddie, I'd really like to spend some quality time with you.” He wiggled an eyebrow.

Eddie rolled his eyes. “I’d like to spend some quality time with your couch, which is where you will find me the remainder of the evening.” With that he pushed his way through the two boys in front of him, entire case of beer still in his hands, and sat down on the corner of the couch that Richie and Bill had just vacated. He sat with the whole case in his lap, it practically dwarfing him, and his single unopened beer can still in his hands. He took a moment to look down at it, almost ceremoniously, before cracking it open and drinking the whole thing in one fell swoop. Richie watched him in awe, jaw dropping slightly open.

“Holy shit.” he whispered to himself. Bill clapped him on the back.

“You pick em fine, Tozier.” He laughed before turning to Stan. “C’mon Uris, I'll t-take you to the kitchen a-and show you the lineup we’ve got for tonight.”

Stan cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, so I see all of the effort today went to the booze selection.”

Bill’s eyebrows shot up in response. “E-Excuse me? All o-o-of the effort?”

Stan laughed to himself. “Yeah, I mean it's not like you guys went hard on decorations or anything.”

Richie had already left them behind to go pester Eddie on the couch, leaving Bill without a paddle. He glared at Stan a little bit. “I-I’ll have you know it took us a-a good hour and a-a-a half to get s-santa on the roof, couch a-and everything.”

Stan snorted. “If you ask me it's an hour and a half you could've spent working a little bit harder on the inside of the house. But that's just my opinion.” He shrugged a shoulder and turned towards the kitchen, Bill following.

“Our decorations are lit, Uris. Y-You're just jealous cause you're n-not having a p-p-party at your frat.”

Stan laughed as the boy followed him. “Oh trust me, I am glad this is not happening at my house. The cleanup? Can you imagine?”

Bill crossed his arms as they reached the counter, Stan surveying it to find a drink.

“I can i-imagine, I clean up after every p-party we have here.”

“Well by the looks of the cups on the lawn you didn't do a very good job last time.”

Bill gasped slightly, offended. “T-Those were there when you g-got here cause the p-p-party already started!”

Stan laughed as he poured himself a rum and coke. “Yeah, and they were also there when we ran into you this morning outside. So, try again. Bill was, it?” He said over his cup, turning around to lean against the counter as he took a sip of his drink. Bill's face was flushed red, his competitive side clearly coming out, uninhibited by his usual social graces as he was already a good few drinks in.

“Is that a challenge, Uris?”

Stan shrugged again. “I wouldn't know.”

Bill frowned, taking a moment to think over the statement. It was a little bit too advanced for his drunk brain to handle.

“Stan, there you are!” Ben said, rounding a corner from the other way into the kitchen. “We were just looking for you, Bev made you a drink.”

“Oh sweet, thanks, I’ll have it after I finish this one.” Stan said genially, turning to Ben and Bev who had just entered the room.

“Bill, hey, what's up?” Bev called to the other boy, who was still standing with his face red and his arms crossed.

“Hi Bev.” He muttered, perturbed.

“Not having a good time at your own party?” Bev tried, jokingly, but clearly Bill wasn't in the mood. He just continued staring at Stan, who was busy filling Ben in on what had just went down with Eddie and Richie. Ben was laughing, Bev was watching him laugh, Stan was laughing, Bill was watching him laugh, and the whole thing was too much for Denbrough. He took a second to pour himself a drink before exiting the room.

______________________________________________________________

After about two minutes of being met with nothing but short one word answers to all of his questions, Richie grew a little bit bored of pestering Eddie. He knew he needed another drink, and Eddie had swatted his hand away when he tried to steal one of the beers. So he decided to give it a moment and go get another margarita. Sighing to himself, he went into the kitchen, which was thankfully empty. He poured himself something strong. He downed the whole thing, and then poured another. This he would sip on the couch with Eddie, hopefully at some point having some kind of real conversation. He couldn't figure out quite why it was that Eddie so desperately disliked him. But he had a feeling that the negative behavior was mostly coming from the fact that Eddie didn't look look like a party boy. He seemed to be thoroughly not enjoying himself, the sweaty bodies and spilled drinks all around him, the general messiness of Richie's house (which he could admit was worse than he would have liked). All of it was probably too much for a guy who wouldn't even wanna shake hands with someone. He figured that the more beers Eddie got down, (who seemed to be drinking them out of sheer nervousness, with no thought for how many he'd gone through already) that he would be more loose and willing to at least initiate conversation. Richie knew somewhere deep in the back of his mind that he was definitely looking for a hookup. He hadn't had a good fuck in months, and Eddie was beautiful. But he also knew that unless physical contact was initiated but the other boy he wouldn't even try with it. What he really wanted to break tonight was their barrier just as people. He wanted to at least get them onto a friend basis so he could continue to see the boy and talk to him. But this wouldn't happen if Eddie completely refused to carry a conversation. So his goal was clear; get Eddie drunk and get him to talk. With this in mind he went back into the living room. Eddie meanwhile had sat on the couch, praying and begging that Richie would get dragged off by someone who wanted to play some stupid drinking game with him. He started in on his third beer, silently hoping to himself that Richie would just leave him alone. Mike Hanlon was still in the room, beer pong game finally set up, and was currently refereeing for the two boys who were facing off. Eddie watched him absentmindedly in between drinks. Mike seemed like a nice enough guy; he had Ben’s approval and really didn't act too much like he was hot shit. Eddie could see having a good relationship with him, friendship wise, of course. But he didn't really know where else they'd run into each other rather than party scenes. Perhaps they could invite the other three frat boys over to their friendsgiving. The fleeting thought surprised Eddie; he wasn't usually one to try and reach out to new people. He’d had too many instances of getting scorned by someone who turned out to be just looking for a quick hookup or totally uninterested in any kind of friendship relationship. He was content with the friends that he had, and he knew that if he made any more it would be because they came into their friend group, not vise versa. Although he had a sneaking suspicion, and fear, that that was what was occurring as the minutes grew on. He knew for a fact that Ben was enjoying himself, and he knew Stan was gonna have a great night, which only meant one thing. His friends were getting sucked in, and they were going to very much continue going to the dumb Omega Nu parties, which meant Eddie would be constantly dragged along with them. He sighed, finishing off his can. It was gonna be a long night for sure. Just as he was sitting and steeping in his despondence, Richie came back over to him.

“Didn’t miss me too much, didya Eddie?” Richie joked as he settled in next to him, a little too close for Eddie’s taste but at this point he was really getting tired of trying to push the boy away.

“Not even a little bit.” He griped, cracking open his fourth can.

Richie laughed at him. “Jesus Eds, planning on drinking that whole thing yourself tonight?”

Eddie gave him a side-eyed look. Did this fucker just give me a nickname? A really shitty one at that?

“My name isn’t fucking Eds.”

“I'll take that as a yes.” Richie laughed to himself. He took a moment to take a drink out of his cup as well. Eddie pondered for a bit about what was in it, but decided it was better not to know. He was just fine with beer and he didn’t wanna fuck with anything stronger. Richie suddenly seemed to loosen up a little bit, but not in a way of relaxation, but rather kind of the opposite. It was like he was untightening the reigns that he had on his casual appearance.

“.. I know we started off on the wrong foot, but I’m really not as big of an asshole as I’m coming across.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow. “Really. I’m having a difficult time believing that.”

“I’m serious! If you’d just take some time to get to know me, I’m sure you’d actually start to like me.” He smirked.

Eddie blanched a little bit at his forwardness. Unsure of what to say, he just closed his mouth and let Richie continue speaking.

“Unless you’d rather sit here by yourself moping around all night, while all your friends are off having fun.”

Eddie looked between the boy with the glasses and the beer can in his hand, taking a moment to mull over his decisions.

“Well, suit yourself then.” Richie got up as if to leave.

He supplied his thoughts with another wash of beer.

“You know what? Fine.”

Eddie knew one thing; he wasn’t fucking drunk enough for this.

______________________________________________________________

The porch light was still flickering, Bev noticed. She’d been here about two months ago for a party and came outside for a smoke and realized that their back porch light was probably in the process of going out. Every once in awhile it would flicker, signaling that it was running low on energy. She stared at it now absentmindedly as she quickly smoked her cigarette, trying to get it out of the way for the evening. She knew she could survive on one, especially if she was drinking, but it had been a few hours since her last one and she was getting a little antsy. Ben and Stan kindly agreed to go outside with her, though stood a little ways apart and upwind. The three of them carried on small talk well enough; she felt comfortable with the two boys and a little buzz going. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. Stan kept making cracks about the decor, Ben continuing to make jokes with him about Eddie's experiences inside, and all three of them were having a great time discussing a terrible professor they shared their freshman year. It was shaping up to be a great evening, and Bev was truly enjoying herself.

______________________________________________________________

authors notes: the drinking game mentioned? take a shot every time tom’s voice cracks in spiderman homecoming. try it. i dare u. 

tagslist: @ayyyymichele @megelizabethvh @flickerflies @beepbeep-losers @tapetayloe @gazeboseddie  @finnwollfhards @lemonadeandrice @i-is-gazebo @turtleneckrichie @reddieaddict @liznielsen19

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 29th July 2018

So, there a lot of new arrivals I need to talk about today, six specifically, by a whole bunch of artists – seriously, it’s all over the place this week. Let’s just get right into this.

Top 10

The top five is almost completely different this week, but that does not mean the top of the charts has shaken up at all, as Drake stays at the number-one spot for a second week with “In My Feelings”, featuring City Girls, after an incredibly impressive streaming week. I don’t know who that Shiggy guy is but I hope Drake’s writing him a big check for starting this dance challenge that has boosted this track’s popularity – because I highly doubt this cluttered, dull mess would be this popular any other way.

Oh, and “Shotgun” by George Ezra is also steady at the runner-up spot. Yeah, the number-two spot is quite ironic of a place for this song to be in, but I don’t think it’s going to gain back its chart-topping status anytime soon.

“Rise” by Jonas Blue featuring Jack & Jack rose three spots up to number-three.

“Youngblood” by 5 Seconds of Summer also enters the top five after a four-space increase that lead it all the way to number-four.

The last song to have a nice gain into the top five here is “Jackie Chan” by Tiesto and Dzeko featuring Preme and Post Malone, which has also gained four spots to number-five.

“If You’re Over Me” by Years & Years joins the gang of songs gaining four spots within the top 10, as it has also jumped to number-six, mostly because of the collapses of two songs that were above it.

“Don’t Matter to Me” by Drake featuring Michael Jackson and Paul Anka is down two spots to number-seven.

“I Like It” by Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin has suddenly rebounded up three positions to number-eight.

“Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B on the other hand, has decreased two spots to number-nine, despite continued YouTube success.

Finally, to round off the top 10, we have the collapse of “God is a woman” by Ariana Grande, which has leaped down six spaces straight to #10.

Climbers

A lot of songs that I thought were not going to re-peak or climb any higher increased this week, including “Fine Girl” by ZieZie up eight spots to #31, “Ocean” by Martin Garrix featuring Khalid up five spots to #29, “This is Me” by Keala Settle and the Greatest Showman Ensemble showing a stupid amount of longevity as it increases by nine to #28 (on its 30th week!), the terrible “Nevermind” by Dennis Lloyd is up five spaces to #24, and “First Time” by M-22 featuring Medina has entered the top 20, as it zooms up six spots to #20. “Ring Ring” by Jax Jones featuring Mabel and Rich the Kid does the same, as it jumps up to #17, while “Lucid Dreams” by Juice WRLD has gone up five spots to #12, meaning it might enter the top 10 next week... delightful.

Fallers

Wow! Due to UK chart regulations, cuts to streaming have demolished some songs’ chances of longevity. Former #1 “Solo” by Clean Bandit featuring Demi Lovato is down 10 to #13, “2002” by Anne-Marie is down nine to #21, and another former #1, “I’ll be There” by Jess Glynne, is down 11 spaces to #25. That’s not a bloodbath or even a massacre, because only three songs were affected and none of them dropped out, so I’d just say it’s the early stages of a premeditated mass murder.

Oh, yeah, and Drake’s “Nonstop” falls seven spots to #22, and is not falling fast enough.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

Speaking of drop outs, there are more than a couple of spoonfuls this week. We have “APES**T” by Beyoncé and JAY-Z featuring Quavo and Offset out from #36, “SAD!” by XXXTENTACION finally dropping out from #22, “Summertime Magic” by Childish Gambino out off the debut from #30, “Back to You” by Selena Gomez dropping out and ending its chart run pretty abruptly from #24, similarly to “German” by EO from #28. “Familiar” by Liam Payne and J Balvin drops out from #32 – good riddance! Finally, “Man Down” by Shakka featuring AlunaGeorge is out from #33.

In terms of returning entries, the only one here is “Flames” by David Guetta and Sia coming back to #36 after dropping out last week, so let’s get straight to the new feature on this show.

The Ed Sheeran Update

How’s Ed Sheeran fared today? Well, none of his songs are in the top 40, but outside of the top 40, “Perfect” is down a space to #59 and “Shape of You” exits the top 75 once again, going down three spots to #76, right below “Despacito”, which is also still there, somehow... and that’s all he has on the charts right now, so let’s look at the new arrivals!

NEW ARRIVALS

#40 – “Eastside” – benny blanco, Halsey and Khalid

We all know who Halsey and Khalid are at this point, but benny blanco is less of a big name. benny blanco is a producer and professional songwriter (who always stylises his name in lowercase for no reason), helping produce multiple hits for Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Maroon 5, Katy Perry, Rihanna and... Gym Class Heroes? I’m not even kidding, he co-wrote and co-produced their song “Stereo Hearts” back in 2011. Anyway, despite more than a decade in the industry, this is his first ever lead single, where he partners with Halsey, Khalid and co-producer Cashmere Cat for a short pop tune that has gained moderate success worldwide. Well, it definitely feels more Cashmere Cat than benny blanco, with a rather minimalistic vibe, simple handclap-like percussion and a pretty guitar-based instrumental, albeit a tad bass-heavy. Khalid sounds pretty damn good, especially harmonising with Halsey on the choruses, who also gives a pretty... unique performance. I can’t say if it’s really as good as Khalid because they take a completely different angle and direction, but, yeah, it’s serviceable, although more interplay with each other would have made this more interesting, and probably longer too. This feels way too short. It breezes over entirely with very little consequence. It’s underdeveloped, sure, but for what it is, it’s okay.

#39 – “079ME” – B Young

Really? We’re letting the “Jumanji” guy have another hit? Yikes. It’s not any better either – with a twinkling synth sound that makes this faux-dancehall-grime-fusion schlock feel even cheaper and lazier. B Young is even worse than he was in the last song, because he tries – and yes, that may seem strange, but he bothers with inflections and puts some effort into his vocals here, most of which is still moaning, which makes the result even more pathetic and kinda sad. The phrase “0-7-9 me” is trite too, but I will admit – B Young’s vocals in the bridge/second verse aren’t as bad, as he sounds kind of bearable over the beat, at least better than the first verse where he tries to replicate an American trap-rap ad-lib, specifically “skrr skrr”, yet it doesn’t sound slick and relaxed as when people like MadeinTYO or Offset make that sound, mostly because what surrounds it are bland steel pans and an utterly gutter-trash performance. Hell, I may not like Yxng Bane but at least we know he never tries or at least never seems to. This is just depressing.

#37 – “High Hopes” – Panic! at the Disco

This is actually the first time I’ve talked about Panic! on this show, despite me being a big fan of them, personally. Brendan Urie, frontman and at this point, the one man, of the band, has got some pipes and they always have some fun, poppy production and instrumentation. This song was a single released before their most recent album, Pray for the Wicked, and now, after a month of the album’s release, the song’s finally debuted on the charts, and was it worth the wait?

Well, those horns I now expect from Panic! as they always include some kind of symphonic element to otherwise mindless pop rock songs, however the strings are a nice touch and Urie kills it as usual, especially with the multi-tracking in the verses and the fantastically-sung hook, however I’m not sure how I feel about the pitch-shifted vocal sample that comes in and out, but I barely notice it, especially in the hook where the borderline-trap percussion is hard-hitting and adds some punch to that great horn riff. That pre-chorus with the piano and strings performing almost a solo behind Urie is also pretty great, and the third hook where there’s no instrumentation and it’s just Brendan harmonising with either himself or a female backing vocalist, and then the drums build up and explode for a final hook, ending as excitingly as it started. This is an absolute explosion of bombast, and is a pump-up jam that even when this whole pop-trap trend dies down, will stand the test of time as a fantastic example of a band never running out of steam. Still impressed, Brendan, very much so. So, what’s the next song?

#35 – “FEFE” – 6ix9ine, Nicki Minaj and Murda Beatz

Oh. Oh, Lord, no.

Okay, so, I hate this song’s concept alone. Tekashi69 or just 6ix9ine, 3 times-certified scumbag who plead guilty to sexual contact with a minor, has now collaborated with one of my personal favourite rappers, Nicki Minaj. Delightful. Listen, Nicki, if you’re going to buddy up with this freaky deformed Skittle, at least try and deflect backlash with any sort of reason. “All you’re hearing is #Nic9ine this, #Nic9ine that”, you say. Is that your defense, Nicki, moaning about the amount of attention you’re getting from collaborating with a paedophile? You knew you were going to get it, and all this is a PR move that you knew would help you from flopping hard with “Barbie Tingz”, “Chun-Li”, “Rich Sex” and “Bed”, all four singles from your upcoming album Queen, that have had little success compared to your older songs, and you’re just trying to stir up controversy so you can feel relevant again. This is a pathetic attempt at trying to upstage Cardi, when, really, that youthful exuberance is missing from Nicki’s work nowadays, and it shows on songs like “Bed”, where it’s clear she’s not really trying. This is 6ix9ine’s highest-charting song in the UK, and it’s expected to debut in the top five on the Hot 100 next week, and the only people to blame for this are mindless Nicki Minaj fans streaming an awful person... but I’m not particularly mad at 6ix9ine’s success, I’m just making sure it’s known that the only reason this is so high is because the added feature of Nicki Minaj, and her large, loyal fanbase. The people complaining about this should definitely keep that in mind... yeah, except, it’s still Nicki and 6ix9ine’s fault, but who cares? They’re getting their money and their attention... as is Murda Beatz for some reason... why is he in the title again? In fact, there’s another producing duo here, why are they not credited? It’s not like Murda has a verse or anything.

#35 – “FEFE” – 6ix9ine, Nicki Minaj, Murda Beatz and Cubeatz

Yeah, give them the credit they deserve. It just seems odd and unfair. It’s like there’s no rhyme or reason to who gets credited on this song. It’s also not from an album, so why is it 6ix9ine featuring Nicki and Murda on Spotify? It should just be all four acts, ideally. There’s no reason... except Azealia Banks. Yes, Azealia Banks of all people is the person who isn’t taking this lightly and is the voice of reason amongst the hellfire. Justin Credible of the Power 106 radio station gets even more credible when you realise he just plays Nicki’s verse and no-one else’s. Thank you, Lord Credible.

See, I didn’t complain and go on a whole spiel when XXXTENTACION charted, because he was making something, you know, good? Same with Tyga, who’s in the same boat as 6ix9ine, he hasn’t shown remorse, but at least he’s making something quality out of it. Chris Brown and 6ix9ine aren’t in the same boat as X and Tyga though. They are purposefully making trash music to gain the masses’ attention, without showing any remorse or regret for what they’ve done in the past. 6ix9ine denied some of the details he earlier plead guilty to in an interview, while Chris Brown is buddying up with Lil Dicky of all people to mock his controversial past. The song? I haven’t listened to it, and it won’t get a title in the conclusion because of that, because, frankly, I don’t want to give these dudes any money. Sorry, Murda Beatz and Cubeatz, you’re not getting the five cents you’ll get from my singular stream, if anything, because producers and songwriters are not getting the credit and money they deserve, especially when working with hip-hop artists.

I’ll end off this little rant with a quote from Nicki Minaj herself.

“People who abuse children should be stoned to death in public.”

At least the cover art looks kind of nice.

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrolli/2018/07/25/nicki-minaj-queen-album-rollout/#57f929732ddb

#33 – “Love it if We Made It” – The 1975

Oh, come on! I can’t catch a break. First 6ix9ine, then these douchebags again. Well, okay, at least I don’t need to get into too much detail here considering this is a pretty simple song. There’s a few synth melodies in the start, with a more ambient/alarm one behind a pulsating heartbeat, before the drums quickly come in and Matthew Healy shamelessly shouts “we’re f***ing in a car!” Yeah, that part’s pretty funny, but otherwise, this is a pretty decent composition, with a twinkling synth and a nice steady beat, smooth backing vocals but borderline unintelligible guitar parts until a brief bridge section which is actually pretty cool, but not as cool as the static-y second bridge that follows it, and the final chorus with some choir vocals. Overall, this is a pretty good instrumental...

Matthew Healy is not my favourite frontman. He’s way too shouty on this song, and he just yells all over the track, making it pretty unlistenable at times. The lyrics aren’t too bad here, I like how he mentions Lil Peep and how “the poetry is in the streets” (seemingly respecting hip-hop culture and how it has grown, which is nice), as well as making a pretty funny reference to Trump’s now iconic tweet “Thank you, Kanye, very cool!” Yet he also says “poison me, daddy”, so I’m not taking any of what this dude says seriously.

#26 – “Body” – Loud Luxury and brando

So, this is pretty cool – two artists I know absolutely nothing about, so I can get digging and I still don’t know who brando is.

Loud Luxury are a deep house DJ duo, and I heard their “Scared to be Lonely” remix and it was okay, so I decided to see who brando was, and he was a British trap-rapper with his most-streamed single raking up only 5,000 streams on Spotify. Okay, well, that’s less than impressive, and he still has very little info on his Spotify bio, but that’s not to discredit the underground; a lot of lesser-known artists are damn talented.

brando’s not, for the record. He’s pretty boring and he can’t sing, like at all. However, like Post Malone and Preme got assisted by Tiesto and Dzeko to make a decent, danceable song out of their reverb-drowned crooning, brando got a funky bass-line, nice wobbly synths and some pretty piano melodies, as well as a couple edits that chop up his pretty fast vocals that somehow make them even catchier, albeit a bit sloppily-put together. All the elements put together and this is actually a pretty cool, fun song. Check it out.

Conclusion

No, “FEFE” won’t get anything. That’d be unfair. Instead, Worst of the Week goes to B Young for “079ME”, with no Dishonourable Mentions. Instead, we have a tied Honourable Mention, going to Loud Luxury and brando for “Body”, as well as the 1975 for “Love it if We Made It”. It’s not perfect, but it’s alright enough, and at least more interesting than “Eastside”. Best of the Week should be obvious, but I’ll say it anyway, as it’s going to Panic! at the Disco for “High Hopes”, definitely one of my favourite songs I’ve ever reviewed on this show so far. See you guys next time.

"As Queen of rap, you are responsible for protecting the rights, safety and well-beings of young women of colour, and as such, thou shall not associate with or lend your voice to known paedophiles – as you send the message that it’s okay for 18-year-old boys to fondle with 13-year-old girls and get away with it. Thou shall not ever be that desperate for chart success that you basically slap all of your 8-15-year-old fans and their moms in the face for allowing their daughters to listen. [...] Hip-hop is the only genre in modern times that normalises sexual assault and physical abuse against women. It’s f***ing sad.” – Azealia Banks

[wanderingbutnotlostsoul]

What Makes Life Worth Living?

Below is my personal list of what makes my life worth living. Some of these were harder to pick than others. (this list is made in comparison to a list in a Woody Allen film)

I can’t really pick one personal hero as many people have had significant influences on my life. For example my father helped me with my love of science and my love of music, my mother helped form me into the strong-willed, independent woman I am, my brother showed me how important it is too be strong when you have no clue what is going on with your life, my boyfriend is helping me (NOT FORCING ME, just to clarify) to change what I don’t like about my personality and to become a better person, my friends help me make it tough emotional situations and give me strength. I don’t think it’s fair of me to pick one person over all the others in my life. 

My Willy Mays is not an athlete as I don’t really watch sports (I’d rather partake in a martial art or sport than watch them), but rather a doctor. My Willy Mays is Dr. Sandra Lee, A.K.A Dr. Pimple Popper. As someone who wants to work in the medical field, I find her youtube videos extremely interesting. (her channel is linked below) 

https://www.youtube.com/user/DrSandraLee

 There is a tie for my Jupiter Symphony album between the albums The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance and Sam’s Town by The Killers. With both albums I frequent very often, and I always find something new in both, whether it be a new song meaning or a bass line I hadn’t payed attention to before. (both album names are embeded with the album’s youtube link)

A song that always cheers me up is 20 Dollar Nose Bleed by Fall Out Boy, it’s catchy, it’s fun, and it has a surprise guest in it!

So, a category of obsession for me would Probably be music. I don’t mean simply loving music or appreciating it.... No.... I mean making it a point to know album names, dates, track numbers, ect..... I also tend to have a musical quote for almost any situation.... yeah.....

Despite how stereotypical this sounds, I return to the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling. Her books (and film series) helped carve my sense of wonder and adventure and are one of the big reasons I want to go to London. I grew up with these, and they’re near and dear to my heart. 

I have a lot of actors that I like whose films make life worth living, yet Benedict Cumberbatch’s work moves me more than others, so he would have to be my Marlon Brando.

My Frank Sinatra would be Brendon Urie from Panic! At The Disco, especially with the song Death of a Bachelor. 

From artwork I love the calm feeling I get from looking at Vincent Van Gogh’s Almond Blossom. I love it so much that my poetry journal’s covers have the painting printed on. 

My favorite food would be my mother’s Chile Colorado and re-fried beans (I unfortunately don’t have a photo but it’s meat in a spicy red sauce with mashed beans).

My equivalent to “Tracy’s face” would be my boyfriend Kellen’s eyes smile face, from his cute dimpled smile, to his gorgeous blue eyes, as you can tell, it was hard for me to pick something specific.  

[todokori-kun]

Did someone say suffering? SIGN ME UP.

(I think I’ve heard of it before but I have no idea what it’s about other than the fact that there are obviously terrorists involved lol)

Poor Hisoka. So much unnecessary hate.

I have something to recommend real quick too: could you search ‘Hisoka Schwing’ and then ‘Kyousou Requiem’ on youtube? The infamous ‘Schwing’ scene will show you why Hisoka is a trash pile, Kyousou Requiem is Hisoka’s character song from the anime and will show you why sometimes, rarely, Hisoka can be cool (or rather, he has a very nice voice and you can actually enjoy the song. Unless you’re waching the video with English subs. Then you’d probably get too distracted by the lyrics).

The troll side of me is really looking forward to your reaction XD

TYSM again <333

Really? I mean, if you’re ok with me spamming you and ranting about stuff (basically what I always do but still) I’d love to send you more pics.

That sounds really cool :D

Yay :) tbh though I have a weird definition of PG-13 LOL when I’m watching stuff with my sister PG-13 is anything that’s acceptable for her to watch if I cover her eyes at certain points/make sure to talk about things with her, and when I’m watching stuff alone PG-13 is anything that doesn’t have any sexual content (sexual references are ok though) and has no extreme violence/gore. That’s pretty much it XD

I think I read on the site that Rod is recommended as the first route? So maybe I’ll start with him :)

I WILL RESIST (we both know I won’t be able to though. Queen Luna knows my weaknesses.)

Yeah, Riza would be impressed. I think she’d wonder how on earth her idiot son managed to get such a beautiful, sensible young lady to like him LOL

Evans…would probably be a bit less impressed. If Roy managed to prove to me that he’s genuinely in love with the queen, though, I might give in. It depends on what he does though. If he mentions miniskirts or that on hold song I’m throwing him out. Like-

Roy: “LUNA, I THOUGHT YOU SAID SHE WAS SHY AND SWEET”

Luna: *stares at the wild Evans* “Sorry bae, but right now you’re on your own.”

Evans: “Colonel Mustang, you should understand that my anxiety makes me nervous around human beings, not trash.”

Yeah, I remember that 4-Koma Theatre thing XD All of FMA’s extras are pretty hilarious.

Tbh any relationship with Evans involves a LOT of awkward silences and going round in circles until SOMEBODY decides to step in like ‘nah you’re not getting anywhere like that here let me just give you this convenient push so you fall into each other’s arms’

(Also: I recently imagined what it would be like to be Kimblee’s s/o. I don’t know why I did that. It was a terrifying thought.)

Ok, ok, since we seem to talk about shipping each other with fictional characters a lot, I thought I’d leave a list of who I ship you with from various fandoms-

Oreo Cookie

Nishiki, for some weird reason?

Roy

Greedling (I STILL HAVEN’T WRITTEN THE GREED/LUNA HCs. I’LL SEND THOSE IN A SEPERATE MESSAGE)

Lust

Soma and maybe Sebastian? Like he’s way too trashy for the queen but still

Loki

Thor

Maybe Pietro? But he’s dead so ;-;

Jean (from AoT)

Armin

Hange?

I still care about a lot of people (other than Urie there’s Saiko, Nishiki, Kimi, Shuu, Naki, Yomo, Uta(?), Eto, Ui…) but yeah, I’m worried for Urie even if I’m sure he’s not going to die. 

I’m super excited for Ishida to reveal more of Rio/Shikorae’s backstory! He might actually play a bigger role in the plot now? And I really want to know how he ended up like that because his game design looks a lot more ‘normal’, for lack of a better word. Also I don’t think he talked in emojis in the game.

Yeah, tbh I feel sorry for all of them ;-; can Yomo and the rest really kill them/harm them? They’re CHILDREN.

Yep, the sketches are rough and messy because I was just doodling to vent my feelings ^^;; the black sketch does look a bit better than the blue one, though (at least I think so?). I’m glad you liked them :D and yes, they’re suffering. Naomi more than Tatsuo, though. The only way Tatsuo could suffer is if he was unsure of Naomi/Shuu/Mirumo’s safety or if someone cut off his wine supply.

Hm, looking forward to seeing what it’ll change to next time :) this one really is super cute though <3

(btw, an extremely random and maybe slightly creepy question that you don’t have to answer:

What do you do/how do you act when you’re angry?)

Oh yeah, there’s plenty of suffering there. It also has a really good soundtrack! My personal favourite is probably this one: Ís (it has a link so you can listen to it :3 ) Yee, it’s a pretty depressing anime. When i finished it, I stared at ny wall for solid 10 minutes thinking about what I just watches. You also cry a lot while watching it, especially if you’re like me (I never cry at live action movies, but anime het me really easily)

I am scarred for life. Wow. That guy is bigger trash anything I can imagine. Just. That’s so creepy >_< Getting turned on by the thought of fighting a boy that doesn’t look older than 13.  Also, the song is nice, his voice is nice, but then I saw the lyrics. “Your (something) makes me moist.” I don’t even watch the anime, but I am done with him on too many levels already.

I’m scared already… I’m absolutely fine with you sending me more of your drawing! In fact, I’d be more than happy to see them ^^ 

Oh wow, those are interesting definitions of pg-13. I think that pg13 means you can swear once or twice. Tokyo Ghoul has a lot more swears than that XD I’m curious, though, have you ever watched any anime with your sister? If so, which ones? You mentioned her reading kuroshitsuji, minus some arcs, but what about the anime?

Ah, Rod might be a good start (asshole). I hope you enjoy his route ^^ Tell me your impressions after it!  Also, (one last (hopefully)) word of advice, pace yourself. Don’t be like me and finish all the routes in 2 days. That’s too much suffering and emotion packed into 2 days XD

AHAHA WILL YOU THOUGH? 

O/////////=

After I read that burn, I literally sat here for about 5 minutes, just staring at the screen. 

That was absolutely savage.

Who says the silences have to be awkward? I’m a pretty quiet person, yet whenever my friends are over and we’re silent, it’s never awkward. We just enjoy the silence. 

That’s why you have me huehuehuehue I’ll be your wing(wo)man! 

Honestly, I’d write some Evans/Kimblee headcanons, but I honestly can’t imagine that man in a relationship. I tried, I really tried. 

Ara, that’s a lot!  Funny how you should say Nishiki, since he was actually my favourite, along with Shuu before Urie came along. You know me too well ^^

No, no, there’s honestly no need for that! You’ve already written so so much for me!

Tbh, I feel like one of the rare people in the fandom who don’t like Sebastian. I don’t find him hot, attractive or anything similar. In fact, he’s among the characters I dislike the most XD  Rip pietro. Why did you have to say goodbye?

Hange and I would probably have a more platonic relationship filled with weird experiments and titan research. I’d also participate in giving the titans horrible names just for the lols :P

I’m worries for everyone. Mainly, their mental health. I’m always worried about that when it comes to TG, though.

I wonder what’ll happen with him… Hopefully Ishida does make him a good character ^^

So. Much. Suffering. Well, cut of his wine supply, that’s probably the least suffery thing you can do to him XD

It might stay this character (very likely), change to a character from CP (also likely (help)) or something entirely else. We’ll just have to wait and see ^^ 

When I’m angry, I mostly rant inside my head and… I do schoolwork… Yep, I’m a nerd. It does help me vent, though, because it takes my mind of of things. When I don’t have schoolwork to do, I watch cutesy anime, because those can always make me smile.  I also listen to angsty music sometimes ^^;;

Aaalso, I recently (today) realised how to make proper aesthetic edits! So, uhm, here are some I made! I’d like your opinion on them ^^

((I tried to put 4 put the other 2 wouldn’t load =3= I’ll try to include them in my next answer ^^))

Masquerade ball:

Blue one ((Actually inspired by you)):

((Idk if you’ve read this, but the other two decided to load, huzzah!))

Living Legend Ballerina:

And the one where I decided to be conceited and made one for myself XD

If you have an idea for a specific character, or something, just say so, because I wanna practice and ideas are welcome!

[skepticalcatfrog]

Stay Ahead and Stay Alive Chapter 2

First Chapter Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Summary: When Bill Denbrough starts his third summer at Camp Half Blood, everything seems perfect. He's finally getting used to his cabin, he gets to see his friends again, and he's even getting the hang of fighting with a sword. But that perfection is quickly turned on its head when his little brother goes missing. Bill is determined to do whatever it takes to find him, even if that means he and his friends need to go to the Underworld.

Pairings: (Eventual) Reddie, Stenbrough, and Benverly

Word count: 3,208

Author's Notes: It took me longer than I thought to finish this chapter, but that's mostly just because of writer's block. Anyway, now it's done!

POV: Stanley Uris

~Earlier~

"Alright, well, just find me if you need anything. If we don't get a chance to talk then I'll see you tomorrow." I waved to Bill as I walked away, heading back to my cabin. I didn't want to go to orientation, but I knew I had to. I would've much rather spent the rest of the day with Bill. Oh, and Richie and Eddie. Of course.

I had to take a deep breath before entering cabin 6. It could be a little intense in there, especially when you were trying to get everyone on the same page. I opened the door and walked inside, clapping my hands once loudly to get everyone's attention. I raised my voice just a little bit.

"Okay everybody, listen up! Firstly, to everyone who only comes here during the summer, welcome back to the Athena cabin." That earned a quiet round of applause from a couple of campers. "And secondly, today is orientation! We'll probably be getting a couple of new campers, so be prepared for that. They'll probably be nervous about being here, and we all know how that feels, don't we? Just help them out a little bit. We wouldn't want anyone to start hating us on the first day, would we?" A couple of people laughed, but I was never really the funny one in the group. My jokes always seemed to land better with my friends than my siblings. "Anyway, that's the end of my speech. I have to go meet everyone at orientation, so I'll be back in a bit."

Then I turned and left. I knew that the entire conversation had gone quickly, but I was sure that all of my siblings were used to it at that point. I was probably one of the busiest counselors in camp, always doing something, constantly popping in and out of the cabin. It honestly got kind of hectic sometimes. That's why I enjoyed time when I could just relax with my friends.

A small crowd had already gathered at the amphitheatre by the time I got there. I sat near the back with a couple of other counselors. We just waited there while the camp director spoke. Once that was over, each counselor was assigned a group of campers to tour the camp with. I'd dealt with new campers before, so everything went pretty smoothly for me. They had a few questions, but otherwise they seemed to understand how I was explaining everything.

The really difficult part was dinner. Athena kids are the only half bloods who are claimed at birth, so we had a lot of new campers at our table. It was much louder than usual, and it felt like I had to remind someone of the rules every five seconds. Usually it was someone trying to go to another cabin's table. I was relieved when we finally cleared out of the mess hall.

Everything calmed down again at the campfire. All of us were tired, so no one had the energy to cause any trouble. The new campers appeared to be having fun, which was a good sign. A few of them were mesmerized by the fire, and how it would change based on the emotions of the people surrounding it. Eventually the moon was fully risen, and the stars were out. That meant it was time to go back to our cabins. 

My siblings helped the newcomers get into the routine of things. Soon enough, everyone was fast asleep, including me. Everything was peaceful, which was refreshing after the busy day I'd had. Unfortunately, that serenity didn't last long. I was woken up by someone shaking me.

"Stanley?" I heard someone whisper from near me. I opened my eyes to see one of my siblings standing next to my bed. She was significantly younger than me, maybe around seven years old.

"Yeah?" I said something so she knew I was awake, but I closed my eyes again.

"I can't sleep." She said simply.

"Have you tried imagining something calming?" I asked, glancing at her.

"No." She shook her head.

"Have you tried anything?" I closed my eyes again.

"No…" She admitted.

"Then how about you get back to bed. Maybe you'll be able to fall asleep in a little while." I resolved. Then I heard her climbing back into her bed.

A few minutes later, she woke me up again. We went through the same conversation, and it ended with her going back to bed again. That cycle repeated four more times. When I felt someone shaking my shoulder for the seventh time, I'd reached the end of my rope.

"I know, you can't sleep, but that doesn't mean you have to-" I opened my eyes, but she wasn't there. Instead, I was met by familiar blue eyes. I was startled out of my tired state. It was Bill, frantically trying to wake me up. He was completely dressed, his hair was wet, and the front of his jacket was splattered with mud. "Bill? Why are you here, you're supposed to be asleep. And why are you covered in mud?"

"I'll explain l-later, right now I just n-n-need your help." He told me uneasily, wiping tears from his face.

"What's wrong, what happened?" I sat up, now completely awake. If Bill had taken the risk of coming to another cabin at night, something big must've happened.

"I-I-It's Georgie, he's m-m-m-m-m-" He struggled with his stutter.

"It's okay, just breathe." I sat up and reached for his hand, but hesitated. He was clearly very emotional, any sort of contact might just make it worse. My hand dropped back to my side. "Everything's going to be okay. Now, do you think you can tell me what happened?"

"Georgie… is m-missing. We w-were out in the w-w-woods, and I l-l-left him alone, and now..." He burst into tears, burying his face in his hands. "Shit, I left him a-a-alone!"

My eyes widened. "Are you sure? Are you sure it wasn't just a bad dream?"

"Y-y-yes, of course I'm sure!" He looked up at me, his eyes catching mine. He spoke as if he'd never been more positive about anything in his life. "And I n-need you to help me f-find him."

"But why me?" I asked.

"I d-don't know, I thought you'd know w-w-what to do!" Bill dried his eyes on his sleeves, regaining control of his emotions.

"Well I'm not going to have a perfectly planned solution right away after being woken up in the middle of the night." I sighed. I was tired, and I didn't feel up to dealing with a serious situation. But I had to do something, I couldn't just tell him to get over it, he'd be crushed. I just needed time to figure things out. "Go back to your cabin and try to get some rest, we'll figure something out tomorrow morning. I promise."

"O-okay…" He stood up and went to the door. I attempted to go back to sleep. I heard the sound of the door opening and closing, signifying that Bill had left the room.

It took a while for me to fall asleep again, but I don't know exactly how long it was. I just had too many thoughts in my head. First I wake up in the middle of the night to see one of my best friends standing over me, then he tells me his brother is missing, and he needs my help to find him. It was a lot to process. At first I thought it might've been a dream, but then it started to feel a little too real. I tried to think of a plan until eventually I just couldn't keep my eyes open.

I was woken up abruptly the next morning by sunlight shining through the windows and the seemingly ever-present sound of projects in the process of being completed. I only had time to change into regular clothes before I heard a persistent knocking at the door. I was lucky that I got to the door first, because standing on the other side was Bill, still wearing the clothes he'd been in the previous night. That plus the faint dark circles under his eyes made it clear that he hadn't slept at all the previous night.

"We n-need to find R-R-Richie and Eddie." Bill got right to the point the second I opened the door. "The more p-people we have to help us, the b-be-better."

He started to walk away, gesturing for me to follow him. We went to find Eddie first, mostly because his cabin was the closest to mine. Bill stopped in front of the door of cabin 7 and knocked on it. I stood next to him, and we waited there for a good couple of minutes. It wasn't like no one was awake, Apollo kids tended to rise early; It was just that no one answered the door. Finally though, someone did. It was one of Eddie's half siblings.

She opened the door with a smile on her face. "Hi, can I help you guys with anything?"

"I-Is Eddie here?" Bill asked.

"Sorry, he's not." She shook her head. "He woke up a few hours ago with the rest of us, but he usually goes to the infirmary earlier. He says he has to be ready for whoever might come in."

"Okay, thanks. We should've known he'd be there. Sorry to bother you, see you around." I waved to her, and she waved back before closing the door. I glanced at Bill. "So, to the infirmary?"

"Yeah." He nodded, and we were on our way again.

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye as we walked. I didn't need to look at him to remember what he looked like, but sometimes I did it anyway. You would be able to tell that Bill was a son of Aphrodite just by seeing his face. His hair was brown, like the feathers of a song sparrow, but the sun made it look a little lighter. His icy blue eyes were striking, and could be intimidating at times. Especially times like just then, when they were filled with determination. Normally, though, they were much more welcoming. More like going to an ice skating rink with your friends and less like falling through a thin sheet of ice into freezing water. I snapped out of my train of thought and quickly looked away, worried about being caught staring. Soon after that, we approached the entrance to the infirmary.

We opened the door and stepped inside. Just as we'd been told, Eddie was pacing back and forth in the middle of the room. None of the lights were on yet, but the blinds were open on the windows, letting in the natural light. The infirmary was entirely clean and orderly. It looked like just the place you'd expect someone like Eddie to be. Clean tile floors, pristine white walls, various types of medicine organised on shelves. The beds on either side of the room were perfectly made, and looked as if no one had been in them for a while. However, the more likely option was that Eddie made all the beds the moment he got there.

Eddie looked up at us as soon as we walked in, but it was clear that he hadn't expected it to be us. What made it obvious was that he didn't immediately start talking. He looked relieved when he saw me and Bill, but also vaguely… disappointed. "Oh… hey, guys. What are you doing here? Is one of you hurt?"

"N-no, we're both fine." Bill closed the door behind us. "B-b-but we need your help with s-something."

"Yeah, it's more about who isn't fine." I glanced around the room nervously.

"Oh my- is it Richie again?" Eddie gritted his teeth. "Because I swear, if he's escalated to the point of sending you guys to get me, I will actually punch him right in the face. I don't care how bad the scrape on his knee might be, I'll do it."

"No!" I said quickly. "You don't need to do any of that. Seriously."

"Okay, if it's not Richie, then who is it?" Eddie finally stopped his pacing.

"Georgie." Bill said simply. Then he went on to explain. "He went m-missing in the woods last night, and I d-don't know where he is, b-b-but I need to find him. That's w-why we're here, we wanted to a-ask for your help."

"The North woods?" Eddie asked. "That's inside the boundaries, if he got lost there then he's definitely still in there somewhere. Maybe the satyrs found him."

"No, i-i-it wasn't the North w-woods." Bill shook his head. "It was outside the b-borders. I think s-something might've t-t-taken him."

"Wait, it wasn't the North woods?" I looked at the ground in thought, crossing my arms. "Then this is worse than I thought. Chances are, if something did take him, he's probably not in the woods anymore."

Bill shot that down right away. "He has to b-be, we'll be a-able to find him. We j-j-just have to look."

"That might be true, but the woods isn't the place to be looking." I sighed, tapping my foot on the floor. I finally looked up, glancing between Eddie and Bill. "Demigods who get taken by monsters… well, they don't usually come back. So as much as I hate to say it, I think the next best place to look would be the Underworld."

The room fell into an awkward silence. Bill stared at me like I'd just hit him with a rock, and that look alone made me regret what I'd said. He was about to say something, but then the door opened. We all looked in the direction of the sound. There, strolling into the infirmary with a bleeding knee and an elbow to match, was Richie Tozier.

"Hey Eds, I fell off of the climbing wall again and I need you to-" Richie seemed to become aware of the serious tone of the room. "What happened in here?"

We explained everything to him, from Georgie's disappearance to our plan to go to the Underworld. I even learned a couple of new things, like how Bill had found a bloodstained puddle of water in the place where he'd left Georgie. The whole time we were talking, Eddie was bandaging Richie's cuts.

"But the Underworld is all the way across the country." Richie raised an eyebrow. "How are we supposed to get there?"

"We could walk. Take a couple of buses, maybe." I suggested.

"We don't have enough money for buses. And if we walk all the way to Los Angeles, we might be dead by the time we get there anyway, which would make the part where we come back here much harder." Eddie pointed out.

"Eddie's right." Bill agreed. "W-we'll have to f-f-find another way."

"Transportation can wait, for now we just need to figure out the immediate details. Eddie, do you have anything I can write with? And maybe some paper?" I asked. Eddie went to look through the shelves and came back a minute later with a pen and a notepad. I started to make a list. "The classic things demigods need for quests. Weapons, extra clothes, personal hygiene products, and a satyr guide. That shouldn't be too hard."

"I-If we start n-now, we might b-b-be able to get it all done t-to-today." Bill read over the list.

"I have responsibilities, Bill." I handed him the notepad. "I know that this is important, but I can't just drop everything to do it. I'll try to help as much as I can, of course, but I might not always be available."

"Yeah, I'm usually pretty occupied all day too." Eddie nodded.

"I, on the other hand, am literally never busy. I'm available all day, so I'll help." Richie offered.

"So it's settled. We'll prepare today, and leave either tomorrow or the next day depending on when everything's ready." I said. Everyone agreed.

We all said our temporary goodbyes, and went our separate ways. I don't know what everyone else did, but I went back to my cabin. Not many people were there anymore. I used the unusual quiet to get some work done. It was mostly just cleaning, because there was going to be a cabin inspection in a few days, and I needed to prepare. I wandered around the cabin, tidying things up as I saw fit. 

Eventually the cabin was entirely spotless, and I had nothing to do anymore. I got my binoculars and bird watching book from my nightstand. I went to the Big House and sat on the porch, pointing my binoculars towards the sky. There weren't any new birds up there, just the same ones as usual. Sometimes I wished I could see something different. I stayed at camp all the time, so I'd seen all of the birds around here. Sure, I loved bird watching, but it got a little boring sometimes. Not to mention lonely, because I was the only person in the entire camp who did it. Maybe I could bring my book with me when we leave for our quest, I thought to myself. I knew that traveling across the country would bring me some different results. I put my binoculars down, and was shocked to see the scene in front of me. A large crowd of campers had gathered around something by the border of camp. I picked up my book and hung the binoculars around my neck, walking down the porch stairs to see what the commotion was about.

I pushed my way through the crowd. Most people moved for me, since I was a counselor. They assumed I knew what I was doing. At the center of the group was a boy who looked about my age. And he didn't seem to be doing too well based on the fact that he was terribly beat up. He was covered in cuts and bruises, with the worst one being a gash on his stomach. His clothes were stained with blood. I got a little closer to him and pushed everyone else away.

"There's nothing to see here, all of you can go back to what you were doing before!" I shouted to the horde of campers. A few of them left, but most of them just took a few steps back. Knowing I wouldn't be able to do much better than that, I turned back to the boy and lowered my voice a little. "Hey, everything's going to be alright. We're going to go to the infirmary, and they'll fix you up there, okay? What's your name?"

"Ben Hanscom." The boy told me.

"Okay Ben, let's go." I let him lean on me as we made our way to the infirmary. I knocked on the door once we got there. Just as I'd hoped, Eddie answered the door. His eyes widened when he saw me and Ben. His eyes asked a silent question, which his mouth then said out loud.

"What happened?"

"Nothing good, that's for sure." I answered. "Think you can help us?"

He nodded wordlessly and moved aside to let us in.