#you should know i’m usually like. really meh about bobby like i just don’t really care enough about him? because we really don’t know | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thedeathdeelers · 3 years

Note

Trevor doesn’t remember when he first starts thinking of his bandmates again. His dead bandmates, that is, and just thinking the word dead makes him want to curl into the fetal position all over again like when he was seventeen. He thinks he starts remembering them when a decade has passed and Carrie is born. He was twenty-seven and there was this little baby with big eyes and small pink fingernails in his arms, when he thinks ‘She’ll never get to meet her uncles.’ He doesn’t cry then, but it’s almost as if his baby girl can feel his sadness because she starts screaming in his arms and it's enough of a distraction that he rocks her to sleep without thinking of the boys again that day.

He keeps them locked away in the back of his mind for the better part of five years until kindergarten rolls around and little Carrie with her curly pigtails and glittery Hello Kitty backpack comes home excitedly talking about her new best friends.

“Daddy, they are so cool! Flynn has dinosaur stickers and she gave me one. See!” She points to the top of her right hand where there’s a green pterodactyl cartoon sticker firmly slapped on. “And Julie has this huge purple crayon and she let me use it to write my name!”

At first, he’s beyond excited. His little girl made friends on her first day, which shouldn’t have been such a surprise now that he thinks about it since she has always been a little go-getter. Still, he ‘ooh’s’ and ‘ahh’s’ at the right moments as she talks his ear off about her new friends. By the end of the first week, Carrie has decided she wants to invite her best friends over for a small back to school party with just them and lots of pizza. She reminds Trevor three times Friday night not to forget that Flynn likes Hawaiian pizza and Julie likes orange Fanta best, and that he should become best friends with their parents because she’s decided they are all going to grow up and live together.

He laughs and a twinge of ache in his chest reminds him for a moment of a time when he was younger, not as young as Carrie maybe but just as naive. He remembers for a second flashes of running around playing tag at the park and scrapping the top of his thumb’s skin off. He still has the scar.

He can still remember Alex pulling a Batman sticker out of his pocket and taking him to the public restrooms to clean the cut. Alex the worrier, even at twelve, rambling about getting the cut infected and the proper way to tie his shoes and doesn’t he ever think about where he’s walking.

“Bobby! Oh my god, please tell me you don’t need stitches!” He can remember floppy blonde hair and blue eyes and gasping breaths. “Don’t tell me it doesn’t hurt, you idiot, your eyes are watering.”

“Maybe I’m just mesmerized by your beauty, dude,” he can hear himself replying to try and ease the rigid shoulders and deep frown on his friend’s face. “Really, man, I’m fine. Just a little blood.”

“Let’s just get you to a bathroom and wash it off, okay?” But Alex had been hiding his eye roll and curling lips and his shoulders no longer made him look like an awkwardly hanging scarecrow. It was enough to make him forget his thumb was throbbing and dripping blood.

The scrape is deep enough that it bleeds for a while into the sink, he can still picture the reddish water as it goes down the drain. He and Alex had met in the back of their sixth grade English class, Alex was shy and constantly biting his nails while he was just trying to catch a nap without getting in trouble. They’d bonded over a mutual silent agreement: Bobby held Alex’s hand under the desk when he had to read aloud in class and Alex would nudge him with the right answer when the teacher would call him in the middle of a power nap.

“Gatsby is gay,” he can remember Alex whispering to him when Miss Augustine had called him one time in class. He remembers repeating it without a second thought and realizing only seconds later what the fuck he had just said. He remembers wanting to turn to Alex because he knows there’s something important in the interpretation for his friend. He knows it by how Alex sometimes stares at that soccer player, Gabriel, who sits two rows in front of them. He knows by how Alex turns red when the guy notices him staring and the anxious way he strums a beat with his fingers. He wishes he could turn to him and say he accepts him no matter who he loves without saying it because he knows Alex isn’t ready for that discussion yet. But they’re in class so instead he turns to his best friend and gives him an overly exasperated look, hoping it conveys how he has no idea how he’s going to dig himself out of this one but Miss Augustine had smiled and just went about her lesson.

They never talk about it but a few days later, when he plops his copy of the book onto Alex’s desk before class he smiled and says, “You were right. Daisy was totally a beard. Nick and Gatsby were totally in love.” And reading shitty Fitzgerald - who stole more than half of the amazing work written and attributed to him from his wife Zelda, and as a feminist Bobby knows that’s just some misogynistic bullshit he cannot tolerate even for a school grade - is all worth it. Because Alex looks at him with a look of pure joy that makes him feel like he just scored an extra carton of strawberry milk at lunch (and that’s immense happiness because everyone loves that’s pink milk.)

He’s thinking about the park with a bloody thumb when he hears the doorbell and goes to answer it. And suddenly all the excitement of meeting his daughter’s new friends leaves his body as a chill kisses his spine. Nothing prepares him for seeing the girl from the Orpheum staring at him with a taller, blue-eyed man who must be her husband. His eyes are wide and his mouth is hanging open, What are you doing here? He wants to ask. Are you a ghost? But before he can, he feels Carrie wiggle her way past him and leap into two pairs of arms. He can just make out black, thick boxer braids, deep brown skin, and a bright mint feather boa above Carrie’s head and he knows he’s just met Flynn. The other arm wrapped around his daughter is attached to a girl slightly smaller than both of them, a huge mass of curls making her appear their height with light brown skin and a wrist covered in macaroni jewelry. And that must be Julie, which means, he looks up to see the parents in front of him - the girl from the Orpheum is her mother and he’s never going to be able to forget that night again.

“Flynn’s parents asked us to take her because they were running late for a dinner reservation they had scheduled months in advance. I hope you don’t mind just us,” the man says with a friendly smile as he reaches his hand out. “I’m Ray Molina and this is my wife, Rose.”

Rose, Trevor thinks as he briefly thinks back on that fateful night. Size beautiful, he can practically see Reggie handing her their band’s t-shirt. He can almost feel Luke leaning his arm against his shoulder and telling her that he’d had a burger for lunch. He didn’t even have to look to know Alex was rolling his eyes at how bad his flirting game was. It was like losing them all over again, only he couldn’t; this was his daughter’s day and he couldn’t wallow in pity. He has to host, so he reaches his trembling hand out and offers the best smile he could offer.

“Hi Ray,” he turns to his wife. “Rose,” he nods and watches as her polite smile fades into a softer one, a genuine one, “I’m Trevor.”

She doesn’t correct him on his name. She doesn’t even look to be affected to be honest, until Trevor leads them inside and she sees some of his awards on the walls. Ray is busy helping to serve the pizza and soda for the girls and it leaves him alone with Rose. She doesn’t mention the award for ‘Now or Never’ new hit single on the Billboard 100 or its being #1 on VH1. Rose doesn’t have to, all she has to do is look at him and Trevor feels himself turning back into the scared kid who showed up at the hospital screaming about his friends. Screaming to the nurses who told him he wasn’t looking for a hospital room, he was looking for the ID numbers of bodies at the morgue. He gives her a slight head shake, as if to plead with her not to bring it up. She nods, but he feels his guilt grow heavier as she leans up to gently smear a line across his name TREVOR WILSON next to the title for up-and-coming artist.

It’s Carrie with her signature giggle and yell that makes them head for the kitchen. “Daddy, can you come sit down! Before we eat we have a surprise!”

They walk in to find Ray sitting amusedly at the dinner table. He beckons them to sit down with him and Trevor can’t help but laugh at the scene in front of him. The girls have obviously gotten into his stage makeup and Carrie, Julie, and Flynn are wearing matching bright red lipstick and glitter on their cheeks. Flynn is sashaying with her boa as Julie holds Carrie’s pink one, and Carrie has her hand on her hip as she strikes a pose before snapping her fingers and triggering the sound system. ‘Barbie Girl’ by Aqua starts blaring in through the speakers and the three adults share a look. Should they turn off the song? It is highly inappropriate. But to do that would mean having to explain why it’s inappropriate and do they really want to ruin a song that as far as their kids are concerned is about Barbie living in her Barbie world?

“Hey!” Carrie yelps and their heads all snap back to the girls pouting at them, “We are trying to give you a concert! Don’t make us waste all of Flynn’s cool moves!”

“Okay okay,” he shakes his head, “Don’t you have more cool moves to show us, Care?”

“No,” his daughter gives him a dead serious face, “we have limited choreography.” She says it with such a puff of dismay and sass that Trevor can’t help but let out the loudest laugh he has in a while. There’s no way Carrie even knows what she’s saying but she must have heard it when he was on the phone with his agent who was arranging his next music video.

The thought pops up before he can squash it, Alex would’ve loved her sass, he would’ve loved to dance with her. But it doesn’t hurt as much, to think of Alex smiling and dancing with glitter everywhere.

It’s not long until Rose and Ray are laughing along too and the three watch the girls spin, twirl, improvise lyrics, and throw their feather boas around long after the pizza has grown cold. - 🌙 (so this is the first bit and each bit shows how I decided to headcanon bobby met the boys in school and remembering them and leads you to rose confronting him and learning about the boys before her death ahhh ok let me know if it’s ok 🙈)

excuse me this is

really good????

more please 😌

#no seriously moonon it’s really well written and i love the attention to detail and the way you’re introducing us to trevor - to bobby #and how he met alex and it’s just :(#so cute and sad?? and i want to know the rest!!#you should know i’m usually like. really meh about bobby like i just don’t really care enough about him? because we really don’t know #anything about him or his relationship with the boys #but this made me feel things #so ya #♥️#i hope this is encouragement enough for you to post the rest moonon🥰♥️#ask #anon🌙#jatp #julie and the phantoms

24 notes · View notes

dlwritings · 2 years

Text

Freezer Pops - TASM!Peter Parker

masterlist found here

pairing - TASM!Peter x reader word count - 4,300 warnings - language A/N - I don’t really know where this came from? But this might be one of my favorite things I’ve ever written

summary - What happens when you walk away from the love that might have been? And what happens when you see him again?

You stared blankly at the grades on your computer screen, subconsciously tapping your pen against your desk. You had been grading tests while your students were working on the assignment you had given them, but after a few minutes, you had officially zoned out. Grading had a tendency to do that to you, but today a little more so than usual.

It was March, a notoriously rough time for high schoolers. Everyone was sick of school and ready for spring break, and teachers weren’t exempt from that. Still, your kids were rowdier than usual, and it was getting exhausting. Plus, your ten-year high school reunion was coming up, and it had been consuming your thoughts as of late. You hadn’t spoken to anyone from high school for the better part of four years, but the idea of going back to the building where you spent such formative years of your life was hard for you to wrap your head around.

“Ms. (Y/L/N), could you stop tapping your pencil?”

You looked up at the voice of one of your students and gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Cooper,” you said. “Didn’t even realize I was doing it.”

“Are you okay, Ms. (Y/L/N)?” the girl sitting next to Cooper asked.

“Yeah,” Cooper said. “You seem all meh today.”

You scoffed. Sometimes you forgot that your 17-year-olds were good at reading you. And that, in their own little way, they cared.

“I’m alright,” you told them. “Just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, I guess.”

They teased you about getting to bed earlier before going back to their math sheet. You had music playing softly as your students worked, and you couldn’t help but watch them all. It made you laugh how, despite the fact that you hadn’t been in their shoes for ten years, they acted just how you and your classmates had when you were their age. In fact, if you tried, you could point out your own classmates amongst the students you taught now.

Ryan, sitting in the back of the room with his pencil scrunched between his upper lip and nose as his friends cackled around him, reminded you all too well of Flash Thompson. The tough, jock type who, despite the hard exterior, had a soft heart. He had just been hurt too much to know how to show it properly.

Ella, who took the pencil from him and thrust it back in his hand with a slightly teasing smile, had an air about her similar to Gwen Stacy. Ella had always been able to put some cracks in Ryan’s walls, just as Gwen had a knack for doing to Flash. She cared about her grades and her future, and she would likely be valedictorian, but she was also the type not to leave the ones she cared about behind to suffer without her help.

When you heard Bobby’s too-loud whispers from the corner of the room, followed by the playful “shush” of Anna, you felt an odd pang in your heart. You knew the looks they gave each other all too well. The soft, almost shy smiles. The gentle touches on hands and arms. You had to look away before you got too lost in your own thoughts of high school love and heartbreak. Still, your mind wandered.

You sat in the back of math class beside your best friend Peter. He kept poking your arm with the back of his pencil while you ignored him and worked on your assignment. “(Y/N),” he whined.

“Peter,” you playfully whined back.

“Pay attention to me,” he mumbled.

“I’m busy,” you said with a smile, despite your best efforts to keep a straight face. “And you should be too.”

“I can do this work in my sleep,” he said.

“Well then get it done now so you don’t have to work on it later,” you said.

Logical. You had to be when it came to Peter. Too careless and impulsive for his own good.

“It’s boring,” he complained.

“Tough,” you said, not looking up from your paper. While you kept working, he took your free hand in his and flipped it over so your palm was facing upward. You only glanced at him for a moment out of the corner of your eye before looking at your worksheet again. You heard the click of his pen before feeling it touch the skin of your palm. Despite how often you found yourself in this situation, you couldn’t help the warmth that spread through your chest.

There was something so soft, so sweet about his childish actions. When he was feeling particularly bored and you were in his vicinity, he would doodle on your skin. Some days -usually after an exceptionally dull history lecture- you’d leave class with your whole palm and part of your forearm covered in little doodles. Hearts and smiles and stick figures and silly sketches of his alter ego. If it wasn’t so unsanitary, you’d never wash your hands just so you could always have a bit of him with you. You once joked that he should draw you a tattoo. He said if you still wanted one in ten years, he’d do it.

Neither of you thought you’d go your separate ways before then.

“Psst,” Peter hissed playfully.

“What?” you whispered back.

“Try and guess what I’m drawing,” he said.

“Peter,” you sighed.

“Come on,” he said back. “It’ll be fun.”

“Please don't draw a penis on my hand.”

“You know I’d never do that.”

You sighed but stopped working on the math problem.

“No cheating,” he said.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” you said. He scoffed, and you knew he had a shit eating grin on his face. You focused on the slow, careful strokes of his pen. Circles. Curves. Lines -short and long. At first you thought you knew, but the longer he spent on the drawing, the less of a clue you had.

“Okay,” he said, clicking his pen closed. “What is it?”

“God, Pete,” you said with furrowed eyebrows, staring down at your worksheet blankly in thought. “I have no idea.”

“Guess,” he said.

You sighed. “A spider.” He laughed and you shushed him quickly before your teacher could yell at you both. When you looked down at your hand, you couldn’t help but smile. It was a drawing -messy, but clear enough to make it out- of Spider-Man swinging from a web with a girl -you presumed it to be you- who had her limbs wrapped tightly around his body.

Just the night before, Peter took you out swinging around town for the first time. A core memory now temporarily inked onto your skin.

“Cute,” you said, trying not to let him see how much you loved it. How much you loved him. “Now, will you please get some work done?”

The bell rang, snapping you out of your daydream. “Good job today, everyone,” you said as your kids packed up. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Hope you sleep better tonight, Ms. (Y/L/N)!” Cooper said as he slung his backpack over his shoulder. You smiled and thanked him as you waved him and his classmates off.

You knew you would not be sleeping well. You hadn’t ever since you received that stupid reunion invite. You knew you didn’t have to go, but what were you so afraid of?

Or who?

You subconsciously ran your fingers over the inkless skin of your palm until the next class entered your room and you shifted into teacher mode again.

You slipped on your jumpsuit -high neck, flutter sleeve, open back, dusty rose- and stared at yourself in the mirror. Your hair and makeup were done, and despite how good you knew you looked, you didn’t feel good. What would tonight even hold? Were high school reunions like they were on TV and in the movies? With Gwen -the class president- having passed when you were all only 19, who would run the show? She was always so well spoken, so put together, even as a teen. You had a hard time processing how the whole reunion could even come together without her.

Would Peter be there?

You shook your head and pushed the thought -and subsequential feelings- aside. How naive were you to think that, even if he was there, he would be alone? Despite his slightly awkward high school years, Peter was always attractive, and he had grown into a charmer. By the time you parted ways after college, he was downright irresistible. Which, you supposed, was what made you grow apart in the first place.

In order to ease your nerves, you convinced yourself that, no, Peter wouldn’t be there. He hated high school, so there was no way he would willingly go back. You got into your car and headed off to your high school, blasting whatever music was playing on the radio in order to drown out your thoughts.

When you got inside, you followed the sound of music to the gym, which was decorated tackily in balloons of your school colors. Oversized pictures of your graduating class were on display around the room, and large, circular tables covered in white tablecloths surrounded the outside, leaving room for mingling and drunken dancing in the middle, in front of the stage where a single microphone sat in the center with the DJ to its right.

You fought the urge to turn right back around and instead approached the check in table. Your old English teacher was the one who checked you in, giving you a warm smile and handing you a name tag, asking the obligatory “How have you been?” small talk questions while you signed in. Sticking the name tag to your chest, you thanked her and left, forcing yourself to find some classmates to mingle with. Save for Peter, you didn’t have a lot of friends in high school, and that was painfully obvious now.

Still, everyone in the room was an adult, and contrary to what happened in the movies, it didn’t seem like people turned back into their 18-year-old selves. You had new personalities and had grown, so it felt like you were meeting 100 strangers. It made you relax a bit, knowing you didn’t have to put on a show and pretend to be someone you weren’t. You were a successful adult -and you weren’t the only single one there- so it wasn’t nearly as awkward as you had feared.

Until Lizzy -a girl you somehow had every class with when you were seniors- nudged your side and nodded towards the doors to the gym.

The years had been very kind to Peter Parker.

“Oh god,” you mumbled to yourself, finishing off the glass of champagne you had been holding.

“How long did you two date?” Lizzy asked you. You shook your head, looking down at your empty glass.

“We never dated,” you told her.

“No?” she said. “God, we all thought you were from like 10th grade on.”

“Mm,” you hummed, your jaw clenched. “I’m getting another drink.” She nodded as you walked over to the refreshments table, grabbing another glass of champagne.

“Hey.”

Your shoulders tensed, and you wished you could vanish from the spot. Instead, you turned around and faced Peter with your best attempt at a genuine smile. “Hey,” you said. “I didn’t think you’d be here.” He shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Neither did I,” he said. “Kind of a last minute decision.”

“Well, it’s good to see you,” you said. You wanted to keep the conversation short. Say your pleasantries and go your separate ways.

“I’m actually glad you’re here,” he said, stopping you from leaving. “I, I’ve always wondered what happened to you.”

You laughed awkwardly. “Well, I’m a high school math teacher at West River High,” you told him.

He smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “I always thought you’d be a good teacher.”

You smiled back. “Thanks.” You took another sip of your champagne before saying, “What about you? What are you up to these days? Still enjoying your escapades around the city?” He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“From time to time,” he said. “Got caught up in something pretty crazy a couple months ago, and I’ve kind of taken a break since then. Mostly I do photography for The New York Times.” You couldn’t help but smile -sincerely now- at the casual tone of his voice. Always one to underplay his own successes.

“That’s amazing, Peter,” you told him.

He smiled back and shrugged. “It pays the bills.”

A warmth spread through your chest -one you hadn’t felt since high school- and you needed out. Needed away from the feeling. Away from the memories. Away from him.

“I’m gonna run to the bathroom,” you told him abruptly. Before he could say anything, you turned and made your way through the crowd of people towards the hallways. Despite the years since you stepped foot in the building, you still knew it well. You were just about to turn into the bathroom when he grabbed your arm and stopped you. The music was now no louder than a dull hum. The hallway was dark, but you could still read the emotion in Peter’s eyes.

“I have this thing against letting you walk away from me,” he said. “I let it happen once, and I can’t do it again.”

“I-” You started, feeling your words all get trapped in your throat. “I didn’t walk away.”

“You were the one who got distant,” he said. “You were the one dodging my calls and ignoring my texts. I tried to talk to you, (Y/N). You know I did. So don’t act like it’s my fault we grew apart.”

“It’s not your fault,” you said, your voice sounding small. “I know that.”

“Then-” He scoffed and ran a hand through his hair. “Then what happened?”

“Peter,” you said with a shaky breath. “I, it’s-” You put your hands on your cheeks before sighing and covering your face with your hands.

“Hey,” he said, gently holding your wrist and urging it away from your face. “Freezer Pops.” You could feel tears pooling in your eyes instantly, a lump forming in your throat. “You remember that?”

You and Peter had only been friends since 8th grade, and you never fought. Until 9th grade.

You both had studied so hard on the biology test. You stayed up for a whole night with each other at your house, quizzing each other with flashcards and taking practice tests side by side. You were sure you would both ace it. But that didn’t happen.

When Peter’s test was handed back to him with a big red ‘A’ on the front, and yours came back with a measly ‘C+’, you were devastated. “What’d you get?” Peter asked, turning around in his seat to face you.

“A 68%,” you mumbled, resisting the urge to crumple your paper in your fist. Peter snorted.

“Be serious,” he said. “What’d you get?”

“I am serious,” you said, your tone sharp.

“Really?” he said, his eyes growing wide. “What, did you get a concussion overnight and forget everything we studied?”

The teacher called Peter’s name, drawing his attention back to the front of the room. “Did you have something to share with the class?” he asked.

Peter didn’t like being called out. It triggered some fight or flight thing inside of him that always made him say the dumbest shit.

He shrugged. “Just trying to figure out how I outsmarted the smartest kid in class.”

While everyone laughed and you shrunk in your seat, folding your arms across your chest, your teacher managed to quiet everyone down while you fought back the tears that started coming to your eyes.

You managed to slip out of class as everyone else was packing up, and you effectively avoided Peter for the rest of the day.

He knew he fucked up as soon as the words left his mouth, and when he didn’t see you anywhere after class, he felt like a rock was sitting in the pit of his stomach. Knowing you were exceptionally good at hiding from him, he decided to follow you home.

You didn’t live too far from school, so you walked home when your parents were working and couldn’t pick you up. You didn’t notice him until you were already walking up to your house. “(Y/N)!” You winced when you heard him call your name. Had he been walking behind you the whole time? Instead of turning and stopping, you kept walking. “Come on, (Y/N)! I know you heard me.” You also heard his footsteps pick up as he jogged to catch up to you. Now, you were both at the stairs to your front porch. You adjusted the straps on your backpack and turned to face him.

“What?” you snapped.

“I’m sorry,” he said immediately. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” you said, turning on your heel and climbing the steps.

“Don’t be mad,” he said, stumbling a bit as he went up the stairs to follow you. Your hands were shaking as you unlocked your front door, and you weren’t fast enough to close it behind you before Peter could follow.

“I am mad!” you huffed, dropping your backpack on a barstool by the kitchen island. “You embarrassed me in front of the whole class!”

“I didn’t mean to!” he said. “I just, you know I panic when teachers call on me.”

“Seriously?” you said, turning to face him. “That’s your excuse?”

“It’s not an excuse,” he said. “There’s no excuse. I’m an idiot.”

“Yeah, you are,” you said. You turned away from him again and opened up your cupboards aggressively. You were searching for an after school snack -and looking for a way to avoid facing Peter. You closed the cupboards with a slam and went to the fridge. Before you could pull it open, Peter put his hand on the handle to stop you.

“(Y/N),” he said softly. You clenched your jaw and looked up at him, and you instantly knew it was a mistake. Curse him and his stupid puppy dog eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “Everyone in that class knows you’re way smarter than me. To be honest, everyone in the school knows you’re way smarter than me.” You moved your hand from the fridge handle and opened the freezer instead, finding a bag of Freezer Pops.

“How about everyone in the world?” you said, pulling out two of the flavored ice pouches -one pink and one green. When you turned to face Peter again, he was smiling.

“Definitely,” he said, taking the snack you were offering him. “Everyone in the universe, really.” You rolled your eyes, biting back a smile, and jumped onto the kitchen island while Peter went to get a pair of scissors. He cut open your popsicle before opening his own and joining you on the counter. He nudged your shoulder with his own while kicking his feet gently against the island. “I really am sorry,” he said again. “If it’s any consolation, I cheated off of Gwen Stacy.” You snapped your head up and looked at him.

“Did you really?” you asked. His cheeks turned pink as he hung his head.

“No,” he muttered. “I was just trying to make you feel better.” You let out an amused breath and rolled your eyes.

“Such an idiot,” you said again. Still, you rested your head on top of his shoulder and continued eating your Freezer Pop. You were both quiet for a few moments, the argument sufficiently ended. Peter was an idiot, and you were smarter than him. As long as he knew that, you supposed you could forgive him.

“How about,” he said, pushing the flavored ice farther up the plastic, “every time we get in a fight, we solve it over Freezer Pops.”

You laughed. “What if we don’t have Freezer Pops?” Peter thought for a moment, letting the popsicle melt in his mouth.

“It’s our new codeword,” he decided.

“Okay,” you said skeptically.

“So if you’re mad at me and need some space,” he continued, “or if you want to talk about something serious and I’m not being serious enough-” You giggled, knowing he added that because it was something that happened all too often between the two of you. “-or if I can tell you’re lying and I want to hear the truth-” He raised his eyebrows at you, knowing he had caught you telling a half-truth (usually about how you were feeling rather than anything too serious) on more than one occasion. “-we just say ‘Freezer Pops’ and we’ll know.” He looked at you expectantly, clearly proud of himself for the idea. “Deal?”

Of course you remembered that.

“Peter, I loved you.”

His shoulders -which had been tense, slightly raised in anger- dropped, and his face softened. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, then closed it again. Rather than saying anything more, you stayed quiet, allowing him time to think. After a full, agonizingly silent minute, he found his voice. “What?” he whispered.

So he didn’t say a lot, but it was better than nothing.

“You have to know I always had a little crush on you,” you said, trying to keep your voice light, like you found it all amusing. “But then, we got older, and you, we just-” You hated that you were stumbling over your words, but you never expected to find yourself in this situation, so you didn’t exactly have anything prepared. “I just realized that I loved you, and I knew you’d never love me back. You were going out with other girls, and I was always like your sister. And for a long time I was okay with that, but then I wasn’t. And it was just too hard to be your friend. I didn’t want anything to change. I wanted to just push through it and be glad that you were in my life at all, but I couldn’t do it. It was too painful. So I cut you out.” You took in a shaky breath and let out a heavy sigh. “I should’ve told you, or at least made something up and said goodbye. I’m sorry.”

Peter ran both of his hands through his hair, staring blankly past you with an unreadable expression on his face. “You loved me,” he said, a slight break in his voice. “I-” He cut himself off and finally looked at you. “You’re serious?”

You let out an amused breath at his question. “Yeah,” you said. “I’m serious.” Quickly, you added, “It was a long time ago, obviously, and-”

“How did I not realize?” he asked, mostly to himself. “I, I mean, I was crazy about you! Was that it? Maybe I was just so focused on how I felt that I didn’t even, I couldn’t even imagine you feeling the same. Was I really that-” He stopped himself and put his hands on your cheeks. “I loved you,” he said firmly, then he shook his head. “No. No, I love you. Present tense. And I don’t care how crazy and sudden that sounds. It’s not sudden. It’s a feeling I’ve been sitting on since I lost you four years ago.”

You searched his eyes, trying to get a read on him as you put your hands on top of his.

Yes, he was crazy. And he was an idiot. But he was also sincere.

You put your hand on the back of his head and pulled him closer to you, pressing your lips to his. He kissed you back, keeping one hand on your cheek while wrapping his other arm around your waist, holding you flush to him. Years of love thought lost was poured into the kiss, and you could feel the teenager in you finally letting out a breath of relief.

He loved you too.

“Ms. (Y/L/N)! Mr. Parker!”

Peter pulled back from you quickly, putting his hand on his mouth and closing his eyes in embarrassment. Your fingers also grazed your lips as you looked at who caught you.

“Hey, Ms. S,” you said, giving your English teacher an awkward smile. You could see the amusement in her eyes.

“Principal Davis is about to make a speech,” she said. “He told me to check the hallway for … lost sheep.”

Lost sheep. Your principal’s favorite thing to call kids who wandered the halls when they were supposed to be in class. In all your years of high school, neither you nor Peter had ever been a lost sheep. But things were different now.

“Sorry,” you said, since Peter seemed to still not have a voice. “We’ll be right there.” Your former teacher just smiled, shook her head, and turned to head back to the gym. You looked at Peter -who was now staring blankly down the hallway where Ms. S had just been- and put a hand on his cheek so he’d look at you again. “What’s going on in that head of yours?” you teased.

He put his hand over yours, pulled it away from his cheek, and placed a kiss to your palm. “We had to hear four years of Principal Davis’ speeches, so I’m good to miss this one,” he said. “Do you want to get out of here? Catch up a bit?”

You nodded before he could even finish asking the question. “Yeah,” you said. “I’d like that a lot.” He smiled the brightest smile you had seen on another person in years.

“Good,” he said, “Because you’ll never believe what I have in my freezer at home.”

----- ----- ----- -----

add yourself to my TAGLIST

strike-through means Tumblr won’t let me tag you

TASM!PETER: @randomwriter1021 | @raajali3

#peter parker #peter parker imagine #peter parker x reader #tasm!peter #tasm!peter parker #tasm!peter parker imagine #tasm!peter parker x reader #peter 3 #peter 3 imagine #peter 3 x reader #the amazing spider man #tasm #spiderman #spiderman imagine #spider-man #spider-man imagine #tasm imagine #tasm x reader

194 notes · View notes

issaxcharlie · 4 years

Text

Spectacular!

Pairing: Alive! Luke Patterson x Fem Reader

Summary: Inspired by Nickelodeon’s Spectacular! Luke Patterson needs the money for his bands demo, and miraculously, that same night he gets an offer to fix his problem. The catch? Rockstar boy has to join his school’s show choir and put up with their fearless Female Lead Singer. (don’t come here searching for accuracy remember it’s inspired by a movie)

Note: I had a lot of fun with this one, hope you like it! Oh and it’s a little long so keep it in mind +8k👀💜

Say this is not her scene would be to fall short, but she has to make sacrifices to find greatness. The first thing she notices when she walks into the little club, is that it's packed. The people look excited and somewhat desperate and she doesn't blame them. The pamphlet marked they were supposed to start at 8:00 p.m. and it's already 8:40. She makes her way carefully until she finds a perfect place in the middle of the room.

The musicians take the stage visibly anxious, especially Alex who cannot stop moving his hands trying to probably calm himself down. Reggie and the rhythm guitarist take their positions. They look at each other one last time before beginning to play the enveloping sound of the pop-rock song. The bass line sounds insane and she hasn't heard Alex play drums in years, he’s exceptional. They could both play without their singer all night and she wouldn't mind.

The space in the center of the stage that belongs to who she came to see today, completely empty. The bassist seems about to take the first verse when Sunset Curve lead guitarist and vocalist Luke Patterson appears on stage.

She has seen him multiple times in the hallways laughing with her childhood best friend, Alex Mercer and her lab partner, Reggie Peters, but she has never spoken directly to him. Still, it's hard not to notice how handsome he is and how much of a charismatic personality he has.

“I'm living my life just the way I like, they say I get a little too loud. Try to push me in a box, over analyze. But I'm never gunna turn it down”

His voice is enchanting and mesmerizing, a sound that immediately reminds her of the best rockers in history and his movements and energy are electrifying. In seconds the entire audience is jumping and dancing to the beat.

“They say never and I say right now!” Y/N analyzes him excitedly. The passion with which he sings and plays his guitar reminds her of when she is on stage, although the two of them dedicate themselves to totally different things, their love for music is the same. She definitely has a lot of work to do to polish him and make him the perfect performer she needs, but if there's anyone who can accomplish the impossible, it's her.

“No one's gonna stop me tonight! Thank you, we are Sunset Curve, tell your friends!” The presentation ends and Sunset Curve leaves the stage. The girl moves quickly to catch up with them at the back of the club, but when she finally arrives, screams can be heard from two of the members of the band.

“I know you don’t like me, Bobby. But trying to sabotage the show by giving me the wrong time is just the most stupidest thing you've ever done!” The guitarist looks furious, his muscles are really tense and Y/N can't help staring at his biceps way more than she probably should.

"This fight of egos between the two of you has to stop, we can no longer continue to be in the middle." The bassist cries out, tired of all the bickering.

“You no longer have to, Reggie. It’s time to decide. The lousy rocker or me. Remember that the money for the demo is mine before choosing... I'm not sure Patterson's lyrics can compete without the money to record them.”

The guitarist looks down at the ground, a mixture of anger and sadness on his face. Alex and Reggie turn to see each other for a second and then position themselves on either side of Luke, no sign of doubt on their faces.

“We’ll find a way without you. Let’s see If you find one without us.” Reggie declared with a little smirk. Bobby grabs his stuff and gets into his truck without looking back, completely furious.

"Some things Bobby was angry about are true and you have to improve them. You are not a solo artist, you are part of a band." Alex points to Luke as soon as the truck is out of sight, but before he can respond the blonde intercepts the girl at the door.

“Y/N?” The three of them turn to see her, Reggie smiles at her while Luke looks pissed off.

“Hey guys, I came to talk to Luke.” Luke frowns in surprise while the other two gape for a few seconds.

"Really?” Y/N turns with a murderous face towards her friend, who puts his hands in his pockets and begins to walk. “...Okay. Meanwhile Reg and I are going to figure out how to get the drums in Luke's car."

"If you come for an autograph please be quick, I don't feel like socializing." The guitarist declares to the wind, not wanting to pay attention to the stranger who approaches him in the middle of the alley, no matter how cute she looks.

“I’m not a fan.” She confesses in a firm voice, trying to measure the situation.

"Oh, then I'll go. See you later beautiful." He's about to leave when her voice stops him.

“Patterson, come back here!” There's something about her tone that makes Luke suddenly interested. He turns to see her carefully, her chin is up, her shoulders back. Her lips are press together and her eyes look determined and he can't help but admit that the confidence she projects is really doing something to him.

“2 minutes, firecracker.”

“I’m Y/N Y/L.” Faced with no comment from the guitarist, she decides to continue. “I need a male lead singer for my group and I think you might be the perfect fit, after I'm done with you, of course."

He’s unable to believe what he hears. “A band? I think you know pretty well I'm already in one.”

“It’s not a band, it’s a group. THE group If I can say so myself. Spectacular!” She affirms with the first smile he sees her that night, and he can't believe it is possible that she can look even more beautiful.

"Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit with the spectacular thing? At least tell me the name or what kind of band is." She rolls her eyes and he chuckles in response, thinking it was adorable and hot at the same time.

“I already told you, Spectacular! It’s a show choir.”

“Is this a joke? Did Bobby sent you?”

“No and no. I know it’s not really your style, but I’m telling you I can make it work. I heard a bit of the conversation you had with the band, the prize of Nationals is 10,000 dollars. I'm willing to give you half for the demo, if we win, obviously. And I can assure you we will if you accept and do absolutely everything I say.”

“Firecracker, are you trying to tell me that all I have to do to raise the money is put on some stupid cowboy or tiger-print outfit and humiliate myself in front of an entire audience with my best jazz hands? Wow, sounds like a dream!” Maybe he got a bit too sarcastic, but meh, as pretty as she is, she's still a stranger.

“My name is Y/N, and I'm not appreciating your tone of voice.” By this moment the girl seems tired of the musician, who feels the frustration in her and tries to be more gentle.

“I- I’m sorry. Thanks for the offer, but I don't feel as desperate yet as to end my reputation in that way. I hope you find what you are looking for, but that’s just not me. I'm just a guitarist.” She nods, entwining her arms against her chest. He admires her for a few more seconds and turns to his car, where his friends are already waiting for him to help with the drums.

Before getting behind the wheel he turns to her one last time, but she is nowhere to be seen.

Fights between Luke and Bobby weren't new to the band. The big-headed attitude of both collided practically all the time and things had been getting worse in recent months with the more overconfident attitude of the guitarist, but they never imagined that they would end up in this situation.

The days go by and the boys are running out of time. They have to deliver the demo to the Orpheum offices in two months so that they can be taken into account for the great concert they will hold at the end of the year presenting the best new talents in the city. All they've heard from Bobby is that he's trying to build his own band but without much success. Still, he doesn’t fold his hands and continues to try on his own.

The three remaining members of Sunset Curve are in Alex's room lying on the floor with their instruments around trying to think of solutions, when Y/N's voice coming from outside refreshes the blonde's memory. “What did Y/N want to talk to you the other day?”

“Who?” Luke narrows his eyes in confusion.

“Y/N? The captain of the school’s show choir? She went to talk to you after Bobby left the band. Small, fire in her eyes, a lot of attitude.”

“OH, Firecracker! So that group is our school's choir? that's even worse. She tried to recruit me, even offered me the money for the demo if we win the competition in which they will participate.”

“What? She wants you in Spectacular? What did you said?” Alex heard that his friend's ex-boyfriend broke up with her and joined last year's national champions, but he never imagined that she would try to replace him with someone like Luke. Luke is distracted by a melody and doesn’t answer his friend's question.

"Why does your mom always leave her music on when she leaves to work?" The music is definitely not his style, they are always usually pop songs or even songs from musicals, but the singer's voice is one of the most beautiful he has ever heard so it never bothers him.

“It’s not her music, is Y/N.” Alex responds, wondering what the young woman is up to since she is never usually home at this hour.

“Who?” Alex's eyes widen, not able to believe his friend.

“Really? I already told you!” The guitarist tilts his head and shrugs. “Firecracker?”

“What does firecracker have to do with this?” Alex opens his balcony curtains and the silhouette of a young woman singing and dancing through her transparent pink ones comes to their visions.

“She’s so good bro, I thought it was a record too.” Reggie looks at her with a big smile as Alex rolls his eyes at Luke.

As soon as he sees her, the musician is in a trance, admiring the grace and energy with which she moves, wanting with all his might to remove the pink curtain that does not allow him to see her properly.

The song ends and a well-known melody begins to play with prominent bass and drums. “Guys, shut up! I’m trying to hear her sing.”

“It’s not us, man.” Reggie answers almost screaming with how loud the girl’s music is.

“What do you-” Luke turns around and sees his friends with their hands raised, the cables finally connecting in his brain. "She is listening our song?"

"Not just listening, she's also destroying your career, her vocals are amazing." The black-haired boy adds, smirking and running to connect his bass.

Luke excitedly opens the balcony window and sings the pre-chorus as loud as he can to get the singer's attention. “Call me in the morning to apologize, every little lie gives me butterflies.” She immediately turns around and smiles at the guitarist's cocky smile. She opens the curtain and the window and her sunset curve t-shirt is the first thing the band notices.

“Something in the way you're looking through my eyes, don't know if I'm gonna make it out alive.” Luke sings seductively towards her, each word fully dedicated to the woman in front of him.

Reggie accompanies them with his bass while Alex looks at his friends incredulously, an "Are you fucking kidding me." Comes out of the blonde almost like a whisper when he identifies the shirt that the girl wears as his.

Both sing the chorus together and the chemistry is unquestionable. Alex had never thought of this two together because at first glance they seem completely different, but thinking about it a little more deeply they couldn't be more similar. They are both passionate, headstrong, live for the stage, and are ridiculously talented and confident.

“Fight so dirty, but you love so sweet. Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth. Late night devil, put your hands on me. And never, never, never ever let go.”

The performance between the duo is playful, driving, sexy and intense and Alex and Reggie can't help but feel like they're interrupting a private moment. As soon as the song ends, the girl moves closer to the window, blows them a kiss and closes it.

"Where did that woman come from?" Luke whispers as he tries to catch his breath. Nobody had enchanted him so much just by singing, well, nobody had enchanted him, period. But she’s definitely something.

“She has been my neighbor since we were 6 years old, we used to be best friends but we both drifted apart when we entered high school. She’s amazing, the best performer in the city.” Alex informs him and then Reggie adds his own piece of valuable information. “She’s my lab partner. Fun, smart, beautiful, the whole deal. A true gem.”

“Answering your question, I said no to her offer. But I guess the group of someone this rad can't be that bad. And we really need the money." The drummer purses his lips and nods. His friend definitely took the hook.

"Honestly, I always wanted to audition, I guess the three of us could try in, to support you obviously."

“Of course man, she sounded desperate when she asked, and if the shirt and song is any indication she is definitely a huge Sunset Curve fan. She tried to fool me by saying she wasn't a groupie, as if that was possible after seeing us perform.”

His friends leave the house and Alex plays on the drums the secret signal he had with the girl when they were younger, a minute later the girl appears in her window with an amusing smile, dressed in her classic blue pajamas.

“Really?” The drummer chuckled and his friend’s smile grows even bigger, a little laugh leaving her lips. “The shirt was a nice touch. A little much, but that idiot must have fallen for it completely. I want it back by the way.”

“You can see right through me. You know the invitation is open, right? I would love nothing more than to have you there.” He has known her his whole life, and realized early on that she was just trying to get his friend's attention to reconsider her offer by raising his ego, and he honestly doesn't mind. It's about time Luke met someone of his caliber. Perhaps her influence could do him good.

“I- thank you. I guess we’ll see. See you tomorrow.” She blows him a kiss and closes the window. Tomorrow sure is going to be an interesting day, Sunset Curve joins Spectacular.

Having to face Spectacular! And telling them they still don't have a male lead singer who can compete against Damian was not easy. Her options are running out and she honestly doesn't know what to do to save them.

Damian on stage is the best, it pains her to admit that she has never seen anyone like him. At first she thought she could continue without him, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that he is just impossible to replace.

Everyone continues to practice the routine, clearly discouraged after her bad news and it honestly breaks her heart. She knows how much the group means to everyone for different and personal reasons and she can't let them lose this. So whatever she has to do, she’ll do it so they can have the leader they deserve.

“I thought the children in the choir would have more energy, this is just sad, firecracker.” She hides her wide smile before turning to the owner of the voice, who is entering the auditorium with his best friends. Money really talks, otherwise she can't explain what would make him appear here.

“Dude, can you please play nice? This is important!” Reggie looks flustered and scolds Luke probably louder than he planned. The guitarist just ignores him and winks shamelessly at her. Seems her little plan from yesterday was successful, now she just has to play the situation in her favor.

“Mercer, Peters... Patterson. Can we help you with something?” The performer shows a perfect poker face, Spectacular continues to practice but they can't help but turn their attention to the rock band.

“I came to accept your proposal, but only If we can include Reggie and Alex in the deal. I guess as long as I’m in whatever I ask shouldn't be a problem." He crosses his arms and gives her a confident smile.

“I could actually do with a few more members, specially as talented as Reg and Alex. As for you, you've already turned down my offer Lucas, but if for some reason you don't graduate this year, make sure you audition the next one. Now, let’s start boys." Y/N moves within inches of Luke to gently close his open mouth with her index finger, and gives him a small wink before turning and taking the other two musicians each on each arm and pulling them closer to where the group is still practicing.

“Y/N, you can’t be serious.” The skilled singer continues to ignore him as she explains to her new members something Luke can't quite hear.

The musician frustrates and walks until he is directly in front of her. “Y/N” He groans.

“I'm not firecracker anymore? That is just sad.” Luke looks upset, but she's determined to not let him have what he wants after what he said at the club, so if he wants the money that bad he's going to have to prove it.

“I’m going to explain you something quickly so you can go and stop wasting my time. I’ve seen your band play, I know how good these two are at singing, which means I don't need you anymore, nor do I have to put up with your rockstar wannabee attitude. I need someone that I can connect with and have the chemistry that leaves everyone forgetting how to breathe, and after yesterday, I just don't think that's you.” Right now she is grateful to be such a good actress because yesterday's act melted her legs, even though they were separated by the balconies. This man is unreal, totally unfair.

"I do, I wouldn't be surprised if they kissed at any moment." The bassist whispers as Alex looks at him with an incredulous face, he just slowly shakes his head from side to side and continues to see the leader of their band and their new leader in a starting contest, is kind of an amusing sight since Luke is definitely not used to having to face someone like him.

“It’s like you said, you are just a guitarist. Thinking you could handle something like this was ridiculous of me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a group to direct."

Y/N hopes she hasn't pushed the rockstar too much, but remains firm in her tactics and turns to the others to continue with the rehearsal. She signals them to put the most similar song to the Sunset Curve sound that she can remember at the moment to make Alex and Reggie feel more calm and to see if she finishes catching Luke’s interest, who still doesn’t move from where he is with his eyes fixed on her, which she takes as as a good sign.

The moment the song start, both sunset curve members smile, and Luke's voice is heard from behind. “So you're the girl, I heard the rumor.” He sounds powerful and captivating and immediately sets everyone's eyes on him. She doesn’t give him the luxury of turning to see him, but he is not going to give up and in a quick and agile movement he turns her by the hand.

“Why don't you break my heart, make it hurt so bad. Come on give it your best, nothing less, I insist, I want it just like that.” The girl should have thought more about her choice before asking for a song like this. Every word that comes out of the musician's mouth is addressed directly to her with an intensity in his eyes and movements that should be illegal.

She tries to get out of his way but he makes it pretty clear that he's not singing to prove himself to the group, he's doing it to prove something to her. Specifically, to prove her wrong.

“Stare me down, intimidate me. Oh baby please you'll never break me.” He comes dangerously close to her, basically inches apart, his eyes fixed on her lips and smiling flirtatiously as he sings, his eyes glinting mischievously.

She enters the song so as not to make him feel like she’s defeated and starts dancing with him to the rhythm, their movements matching effortlessly as they move across the stage.

She pulls herself back as far as she can, but Luke surprises everyone by doing a body roll on the floor, his arms looking more gorgeous than ever in that sleeveless shirt as they take the full weight of his body without any problem, his eyes never losing contact with hers. All the girls start to do small screams while Y/N's cheeks turn red at her thoughts. He slides on his knees towards her and gets up as he puts his foot on her to make her lose balance and catch her right at the end of the song.

“Why don’t you break my heart.” They've been in a trance since the song started and it's like it's just the two of them in the auditorium. Their lips are almost touching, neither willing to give up eye contact or move from their current position, until the applause and shouts of excitement bring them back to reality.

“I have chemistry with everybody that I sing with, firecracker.” He whispers to her lips before shifting the girl's full weight to his right arm to raise his left one to her face and carefully close her mouth with his finger, winking with a cocky smile before lifting her up.

Immediately everyone begins to advocate for him with all kinds of arguments that ranged from how sensual he was to how much of a presence he had on stage. Her best friend’s comment is the one that catches his attention the most. "You have even more chemistry with him than Damian, I didn't think it was possible." That definitely sounds interesting.

Y/N pretends to listen to her teammates before saying Luke can enter the group. The truth is that she knew from the first moment she saw him perform with Sunset Curve that he was a star, but this facet without the guitar and irradiating passion from his pores was something that left her speechless.

Still, she knew all the work that would go into preparing the band and it really was exhausting. For them to understand that they couldn't just sing like they do at the club, that there are rules to follow, dance steps they have to learn, facial expressions they have to master, notes they have to hit perfectly, wasn’t easy but they succeeded.

Along the way, she regained her bond with Alexander, her friendship with Reggie grew stronger, and each day she felt closer to Luke. She has been practicing a duet with him for weeks now, and the chemistry that they have set to burn the stage more than once. It was hard for her to ignore how the guitarist's hands feel on her thighs as he lifts her or the way he wraps himself around her, breathing softly down her neck or brushing his lips teasingly over her cheekbone. Both are very physical to show affection so small contacts such as hugs or caresses, as well as small kisses on the cheek or hand were very recurrent. They had also gone out multiple times alone and with their friends, from the cinema, the park, to see them play, to small parties at home, to midnight talks.

Reggie was the one who had her alone the most because they were lab partners, but no matter how hard the bassist tried to get information from the girl, he never succeeded. The truth is that not even she knows what is happening with the guitarist, she is for the first time in her life letting herself be carried away and enjoying the moment, and she’s loving it.

Luke and Alex are in detention after the brown haired boy made a mess in the classroom by putting together a little concert with the help of the blonde, and as they die of boredom, his mind can’t help to go to her for the 14th time of the day. "How did she end up in the show choir?"

Alex is blank for a few seconds but analyzes the question and realizes who they are talking about. “Spectacular used to be the most important show choir in the country, led by her mother, may she rest in peace. Y/N always wanted to be a part of it and when she lost her, it became a goal. She suffered a lot to get to the perfect star we see today, especially because her father is rarely there since he works outside the country. She has practically had to face alone auditions, injuries, she had to learn to sew, comb her hair and put on makeup for the show, sing for hours her solos with no one to encourage her, without mention that the current director could not care less about the group and practically leaves all the work to her. That’s why she’s so be fearless, she kind of has to."

“I didn’t know.” The sight of Y/N as happy as ever with his mother when he took her home for lunch the week before appears in his memory. She looked radiant as she ate his mother's famous stew and listened to stories of little Luke as he gently stroked her thigh while songwriting with his other hand. When was the last time she got to experience something as homelike as that? Luke probably doesn’t want to know.

Alex's sad voice brings him back to the conversation.“I was supposed to be there, you know? At first I was. We were going to audition for Spectacular together, but that summer I met you and Sunset Curve was born, and I didn’t have the time anymore so I abandoned her. I knew how important it was for her to have me there, and I didn't even go to her audition. And do you know how many times she has reproached me? Not even one.”

Luke knows that Alex would never hurt her on purpose and that the situation was probably much more complicated than he expresses it, so he reassures him and lets him know that she loves him and is proud that he took his own path. As soon as the blonde calms down, he begins to tell him multiple stories about when he and the girl were kids, the songwriter takes out his journal and begins to add lyrics to the song he has been working on, more inspired than ever.

“You are falling so deeply for her, man. I’m happy for you both.” His friend comments to him while reading the verses written on the paper. He totally is.

“Bowling, nice. I'm going to finish you off, Patterson.”

“As sexy as your confidence sounds, I'm not going to let you win.”

“I'm pretty sure you've never gone bowling.” Alex adds with furrowed eyebrows.

“Your point is, Mercer?” She wrinkles her nose and sticks out her tongue. Reggie chuckles amused.

"How can you be so sure that you are going to win?"

“Oh, my dear cute blonde. I’m good at everything.” She makes a slight remark on everything with her eyes fixed on the guitarist, who chokes while blushing.

She smiles cheekily at him and confidently steps into the room, Sunset Curve behind as Alex and Reggie tease Luke for being completely whipped.

Happiness doesn't last long when the first thing they see inside is Damian Miller along with a couple of his new teammates. The moment their eyes meet, Y/N seems to melt, but not in the good way.

Her firm and perfect posture now all bent as she embraces herself with her arms and tries with the strength that has left to hold her gaze at the person who took everything from her without much more than an empty sorry.

When she feels the guitarist at her side again, she unconsciously stretches her hand to intertwine her fingers with him, who tilts his head to see their hands together and then to see her face.

She is not doing it to make Damian jealous, but to feel supported. And when Luke realizes it, he can't help not feeling angry at the boy in from of them. In the month that he has been with her, he has never seen her doubt, fear, or believe anything less than that she is unstoppable. And today for the first time ever he sees her intimidaded, and the fact that it's because of a jerk like this makes it even worse.

He rubbs her hand to make her feel less anxious and when she turns to meet his eyes, he brings his index finger to her chin and winks at her, hoping she gets the message. She seems to do it because she immediately smiles playfully and begins to look more relaxed.

The guitarist is aware that Damian was his firecracker's first boyfriend, and he also knows how much he betrayed her love and trust. No matter how strong the woman is, her reaction is completely normal and valid, and that she has the confidence to be vulnerable and let him be there for her means a lot to him.

“Princess.” Damian whispers as he moves closer to her, his eyes fixed on Y/N and Luke's clasped hands.

“I’m not your princess, Y/L is just fine. Listen, Damian. I could pretend this is not uncomfortable and boring but, I don't want to. So yeah, excuse us.”

She pulls the hand that joins her to Luke to make him walk and Alex and Reggie follow behind them, looking at her ex boyfriend with little smiles of pride. Alex knows how much Damian turned off Y/N’s spark and seeing her put him in his place makes him feel so proud.

"So someone is going to teach me bowling or what?"

“I’ll do it baby, but another day. Today we came here with a different purpose.” Luke points to the large Rock the World machine located in a comfortable corner space.

“Of course, is always about music with you, eh Patterson?” She smirks, getting a little closer to him.

“Pretty much, but I can tell that attracts you, Y/L.” He wrinkles his nose, his lips parting slightly.

“Hell yeah it does.” he smirks, not at all expecting her to admit it so openly but he definitely should have seen it coming.

“Good thing I’m into dominant firecrackers then.”

“Could you stop flirting for a second and start playing? I have plans to destroy Alex and your daily session of sexual tension is not going to ruin it.”

Both smile at Reggie while Y/N takes the games microphone and Luke the guitar. The song that Y/N chooses is She’s so gone by Naomi Scott, and it goes without saying that the boys have never played it in their lives but they love a challenge.

The mastery with which the girl interprets the song makes a good number of people come to see the round, including her ex-boyfriend and his new friends.

“Here I am, this is me, and I'm stronger than you ever thought I'd be. Are you shocked? Are you mad? That you're missing out on who I really am.”

The singer sings the verse directly towards Damian, as his friends start pointing out and teasing him. Reggie goes over to tell Luke he thought he would join her, but the guitarist only replies, "I want to see her shine."

She gets carried away with the music and draws Luke to her, jumping and twirling to the beat of the music. The guitarist hyping her up every single second og the song. At the end the night was incredible, the four of them spent it singing, dancing and even bowling, which Y/N ended up dominating from the second round.

Luke thought that there would be no better time than that night to show her what he had been working on, so after saying goodbye to her he went to Alex’s where he had left his journal.

Before he can say goodbye to the blond, screams are heard from the house next door. “I wasn't trying to embarrass you, Damian!”

“No? So what were you doing shaking your hips against the rock boy?”

“I don't have to explain anything to you, but I think it's pretty obvious why I wanted to be against that body, have you seen it?” She says it playfully with her eyes fixed on the guitarist, who is walking with the blonde to her door, her eyes glinting wickedly in the dark. He chuckles, knowing it's the girl's way of reassure him and she smiles as she sees his expressions relax.

“Everything alright, firecracker?” Luke does not stand in front of her like a brave prince, he stops a meter from both of them and asks before intervening, and that makes her heart melt. Because he wants to hear her first, he trusts that she can take care of it and has the confidence to tell him if she needs help, which is also completely valid. And it's something she has to work on, know that there are also times when it's okay to trust someone. That you don't always have to carry the weight alone.

“Go away, punk. My girl and I are in the middle of something.” The three of them start laughing at the ex-boyfriend's intimidation attempt, who seems to get angrier with every laugh that comes out of their mouths.

“I’m fine baby, but you guys could show him the way out? I’m tired of his bullshit.” She asks the boy with a cute smile, and he would disintegrate over the nickname if her horrible ex-boyfriend and her best friend weren't there.

"Don't touch me, I’ll go. Right now the numbers are not working in my favor so we will fix this where it really matters, on stage. Let's see if this attempt at a singer can save you from total humiliation, because let's be honest Y/N, you are nothing without me."

The faces of both members of Sunset Curve begin to tense, Luke's fists completely white from how much he's clenching them. For her part, the singer, who is already used to that type of comments from her ex-boyfriend, only tells him "yes, yes, you're right. It was a pleasure Dami, never come back." while pushing him to the other side to make him go away.

The nickname comes off her tongue in the most natural way in the world, she doesn't even seem to notice it and Luke feels some annoyance hearing it. As if someone had hit him in the stomach. But immediately the discomfort goes away when the girl turns to them again with a big smile and runs to hug them excitedly.

“Thanks for coming to check me out, guys. Things can sometimes get out of control with him.”

"We will always be there for you when you need us, okay? I actually went into Alex's house to get something I wanted to show you but it's late, I’ll come back tomorrow." The blonde turns from his friend to the other, a tired smile appears on his lips as he passes Luke his journal to place his arm on his childhood friend and lean on her.

"No, don't go please. Damian was pretty mad and... I don't want to be alone." She can be very dramatic at times but the fear in her voice sounds sincere, and remembering the scream that brought them outside in the first place Alex imagines how scared she really was before seeing them show up and his heart clenches at the thought.

“O- Okay, sure.” He sounds nervous but the excitement is evident in the way his left leg keeps moving, just like when he's on stage.

“I do have to go in, you already know mom. Will you be alright with just Luke?” He already knows the answer from the girl's radiant gaze but it doesn't hurt to confirm. She hugs him tightly with her arms around his neck and whispers a "Yes, I love you but go away already." which makes the drummer laugh out loud while high-fiving his other friend goodbye.

The third wheel enters his house and finally they are alone. She smiles and takes him by the hand to enter the house. Luke takes a moment to admire it, everything is in place but there are several instruments throughout the living room. A keyboard on the couch, a guitar next to the TV, even a tambourine on the table.

"May l?" He walks over to the guitar and turns to see the girl nodding and pointing up the stairs for him to follow. Her room is quite similar to her style, white is the predominant color but there are many details in pink and gold, as well as multiple yellow lights giving a romantic tone to the room at midnight.

“Do you want to show me now?” she asks eagearly, with joined hands, closed eyes and pursed lips.

“Y- yeah... of course.” He sits on the rug and puts the guitar aside, then puts his notebook between his legs and when he finds the sheet he is looking for, he carefully tears it off. The girl looks at him adoringly, the happiness of having him with her making her heart beat louder in her chest. She sits across from him making sure to brush his legs and waits for him to speak.

“Here.” He looks nervous, his cheeks totally flushed as he avoids eye contact for the first time since they met.

Y/N takes the sheet in his hands and a huge warm smile appears on her face when he sees the guitarist's terrible lyrics. BRIGHT written and highlighted several times in the title.

“It’s for you.” Luke whispers while bringing his face closer to hers, making her shiver.

“You wrote me a song?” She doesn't know what to say. Since her mom, no one had done anything so beautiful, considerate, and selfless for her. Something so vulnerable and full of love.

“Don’t be mad, but Alex told me a little about how you ended up in show choir, your friendship with him, your mom.” He turns to see her looking for her reaction, she just nods to tell him it’s okay to continue. “A sweet story about a little girl with the voice of an angel who loved to sing love songs. And you know what was in my head all that night? That even though I've never written one, I would write millions of love songs for you.”

Some tears fall from the girl's face, she carefully places the lyrics on the guitar and throws herself on the guitarist, who falls in surprise against the carpet, making sure to grab her by the waist so that she falls safely on his chest. She rests her arms on either side of his head and brings her lips against Luke's, brushing them gently.

Luke doesn't move a muscle, not wanting to do something to make her uncomfortable, when he suddenly hears her talk. “And what about teeth? I mean is not the sweetest love story ever told but-”

The boy chuckles, Y/N's curious eyes a few inches away. “Alex wrote that one after his first breakup, Reggie and I did the melody.”

“Good. Guess we’ll have to start making some experiences to help you write all that songs.” At that moment she finally pushes her lips against his, both in a moment of euphoria at the taste of each other. She presses her body against him and he bites lightly with his teeth on her lower lip to shove his tongue against her mouth in response. Her little hands pulling his hair hard as his hands go down her butt. Both of them enjoying what they had been dreaming of for so long.

When the two finally separate they fall in a comfortable silence, she starts to admire his facial features, delicately running her fingers through his nose, his mouth, his cheekbones, until he interrumpts her. “I knew you want me from the beginning, I could see the lust in your eyes. Everything about the choir was a complex plan to get me under you.” Luke affirms with his best poker face, and sees clearly how her eyes fill with light while a pure laugh escapes from her now swollen lips.

“And as always, I achieved the goal. The hot local rockstar is sleeping on my bed tonight.” No matter how hard he tries, he can never catch her off guard and he always ends up being the one blushing. She kisses him softly before getting up and taking the song lyrics back. “Luke, do you mind if I sing a bit of the song?”

“Of course not, it's yours. I will accompany you with the guitar, from the pre-choir?”

She nods and begins to sing the words he wrote for her. “Life is a risk but I will take it, close my eyes and jump. Together I think that we can make it, come on, let's run.”

She is reading the choir as she sings and the urge to cry reappears. He's basically telling her that she no longer has to go on living life alone, that she can lean on him, she can trust him to fight by her side. That it can be us instead of I.

“And rise through the night, you and I, we will fight to shine together. Bright forever.”

As soon as they finish singing Luke puts the guitar aside and goes over to wipe the tears from the girl's face. “I know that at first glance it doesn't seem like a love song, but..."

“But it is. It’s perfect, thank you Luke.” She didn't know that someone other than her could make her feel so special, but he proved her wrong, again.

The night before was like a dream. Y/N sleeping with his shirt while he wrapped her completely in his arms, singing softly in her ear and leaving little kisses on her neck every few verses until she fell asleep. At this point there is no way to deny how completely in love he is with her.

“Man, we need to talk.” His blonde friend wakes him up from his daydream and starts pulling him down the hall to an empty table in the cafeteria, where Reggie is already waiting for them.

They both sit down and Alex takes a deep breath as he plays with his fingers, trying to form coherent sentences with the words in his head. “Bobby called last night.” Luke's gaze instantly shifted to disgust, while Reggie looks quite shocked.

“So? What did he want?” Luke whispers, trying to sound disinterested.

“He sent some of our videos to an important person at Destiny Management and they are interested in the band. He said that if we comply with certain requests he will give the money for us to record the demo this Friday so that it’s ready for the appointment."

“And I guess you told him we don't need him or his money. What did he answer you? He cried?" the guitarist asks with an amused face, but his friends just look at each other.

“Don't you think we should think more about it? What happens if we don't win nationals? We’ll have lost something as sure as Bobby's deal for nothing."

“She’s my friend and I love her but I have to agree, Luke. As difficult as it is, our priority has to be Sunset Curve, not Spectacular"

“But-”

“They are right, Luke.” All three look at the girl, as pale as If they had seen a ghost. “Spectacular is my dream, And I know I'd do anything for it. It would be unfair of me to get angry because you’re fighting for yours. Don't hesitate, if anyone can find a way out of this it's me.”

“But, the duet...”

“I’ll just have to be the melody and the words. I’ll be fine, and honestly I'm so proud of you guys, I know you will be rock legends one day.” All three feel guilty but don't know what to say or do to make it right. She goes over to hug the drummer and the bassist who take her in their arms with all their strength, a “I’m so sorry” from the blonde accompanied by an “I know” from the girl can be heard. Then she stands in front of the guitarist and kisses his lips intensely, but breaking away painfully fast. The guys leave lovers alone for a moment of privacy.

“I believe in you, baby. You are destined to be a star, forget everything else, even me. Take the moment and knock them off their feet.” She kisses him lightly on the lips and walks a few steps back. “This month was the happiest of my life in a long time, thank you. Guess I’ll see you guys around.”

“Why do you sound like you are saying goodbye? And a horrible one? I thought you were good at everything.” Luke walks over to her again and places his hands on her cheeks, rubbing them gently. His voice is shaky and his eyes are glassy, she snorts at his sudden taunt, a little smile covered with the tears.

“Once everyone gets back to their own business, do you think you'll still have time for me? Alex is my damn neighbor, and we couldn't keep in touch.” And Luke gets it. She is used to being alone, to people not being permanent in her life. Neither her parents, nor her best friend, nor her boyfriend, nor anyone else has stayed. So this time to protect herself she decided that he too was going to leave, that it would be foolish to think that he of all possible people would stay.

“I‘m not letting you go baby, you're the only one I would let to boss me around.” The girl laughs when she remembers the millions of times she had to correct him and how he always ended up making her blush in some way, especially when they danced. She can't remember telling him but dancing with him has been the most special thing she has ever experienced. She danced with Damian for years and it never felt like the first time Luke put her long, strong hands on her waist and pulled her close to him. She can only hope to feel that way again one day.

“You are my one and only, firecracker. We’ll find a way, neither of us is a quitter.”

They say that actions are worth a thousand words, and Luke had definitely missed his first chance to show Y/N that he was serious about them by not getting in time to wish her good luck before she left with the group to the city of the competition, a few hours from there. He couldn't help but feel more miserable when he returned to the studio and found a small yellow sheet in his journal.

“You got this, rockstar. I have so much faith in you, so go make me proud. And I don’t want you feeling guilty, okay? I always want to see you shine, baby, no matter what. Your firecracker, Y/N.” Luke laughs softly, dazzled by her attempt to be sweet. If she trusts him so much, why doesn't he return the favor? She assured him they could win and when she says something, she follows through.

Why ruin his life with all of Bobby's ridiculous demands while ditching his girl in the process when he can go sing with her and do band things their way, without selling their soul to the devil. He sits on the couch thinking about what to say to the boys when they both rush in and pick him up, one from his feet and the other from his arms.

“What the hell are you two planning this time?” Luke sounds annoyed but does nothing to stop them from moving him, they throw him into the back of the car and he hits his head, getting him to kick them before they close the door.

"I'm not going to let her down again, I can’t."

"Yeah, and surely we can win, the number is spectacular... do you understand what I did there?”

Alex rolls his eyes and Luke smiles. They drive at full speed to Luke’s for him to take all his things and when he returns to the car, stands thoughtfully by the window.

“What are you doing?!” Alex is not having it, looks like a vein is going to burst from stress any second now.

“Do you think we’ll make it?” Questioned the guitarist, clearly nervous.

“If you stop asking stupid as fuck questions and get in the car, maybe.” Luke pouts but listens and finishes loading everything in the trunk.

The road is full of music to try to calm all the nerves, there was also plenty of time to rehearse the number over and over again, Luke analyzing in his mind every move he had to make, from time to time his bossy girl correcting him in his head. The only difficult thing was probably changing into the costumes, especially for Alex.

They arrive directly to register and the band turns pale when they hear the powerful and breathtaking voice of the singer who is playing her solo right now, a heavenly version of 'Never enough’. By the time they are ready to go, the main number has already started, the imposing woman in the very center of the stage with one of the boys of the group, who although does not have the voice of the guitarist, is making a good effort. Damian is on the other side, staring at her with a superiority smirk and Luke can't help but want to punch him.

“I never realized how anyone could make everything so right, I was so sad, you brought me back.” Alex quickly indicates to him how to enter the stage from the back, and Luke prepares to jump in time for the chorus, taking care of not being seen as he climbs the platform. The song is an old pop-rock song from the 80s, specifically chosen to make the guitarist's voice shine. He and his firecracker sat listening to music for hours until they finally found it, the girl's eyes shining with excitement as she imagined all she could do with the potential of the melody.

“You give me something to believe in, after all that we've been through.” He appears on the platform just in time, the lights and smoke coming out right in his grand entrance. Y/N turns immediately upon hearing her voice and he dances his way towards her.

“The love you give, it all comes back to you. You give me something to believe in, you can see the real me. And here with you is where I'm meant to be.” both singing together the remainder of the chorus and dancing to the beat. The biggest smile he has seen in his girl since he met her on her beautiful face. With that he feels satisfied with his decision, whatever happens, win or lose, it was worth it.

“And here we are together side by side, and nothing seems impossible tonight.” the duet between them is electrifying as always, he puts his hands on her thighs and lifts her with ease, both of them moving and enjoying themselves as if they were the only ones in the place. The dance ends as the first time they danced in the auditorium when he showed her that he was the right option, he holds her with one arm, their lips inches from touching but holding the magnetism back for a few more seconds until finally leave the stage.

As soon as they are backstage Y/N throws herself at Luke, wrapping her legs around his hips and devouring his lips with hers. “Someone missed me.” Luke whispers catching his breath.

"I can't believe you guys did this for me." Expressed the girl as she turns to see her other two friends, still wrapped around Luke who has her tightly held with his huge arms around her butt.

“We trust you as much as you trust us. We know that you will win, you worked like nobody for this moment.” Affirmed the blonde, giving her a small kiss on the forehead.

“I feel like I won already.” And she did. She won the trophy, the money for the demo, friends, and a ridiculously gorgeous rockstar who drove her crazy in more ways than one. All this years working hard were finally worth it... and Damian throwing a tantrum in the middle of the stage felt good too, not gonna lie.

“When are you going to ask me to be your boyfriend? As much as I love you more than anything, a man has to have some pride, you know? We've been together for like 5 months and I'm getting desperate.” They are both lying together on the girl's bed, their legs intertwined as he makes little circles with his fingers on his girl's stomach.

She raises her head resting her hand on his bare chest, her thoughts impossible to read. What are you talking about? I'm waiting for you to ask me!” He chuckles, prepared to tease her. “Bu-”she interrumpts him, pushing the hand that is resting on him to sit down. “Ba-”

“Wait a second, Lucas!” He bites his lip, he never liked being called by his name but for some reason it sounds incredibly sensual when she says it. “Yeah, baby?”

“D- did you say you love me?”

“I did, and I do. Everybody knows you've got me trapped in your claws.” He jokes to make her laugh, and he succeeds.

“I love you too, so much.”

“I know baby.” He winks teasingly at her. “Returning to the topic, you are the most bossy and confident person I have ever met, and you want to tell me that you were waiting for me to take the first step? Doesn’t sound like my firecracker. You literally pretended to be a sunset curve super fan to get my attention.”

"I totally did, I was awesome, first thing next day you were at the auditorium.” She says proud while Luke rolls his eyes with a smile. “But if it makes you feel better, I'm 100% a fan now, and...You are completely right, for once.”

She takes a deep breath, intertwining her fingers with his. “Lucas Patterson, I want you, if we're being honest, probably from the first time I saw you at that Sunset Curve gig we met at. You are annoying, cocky, passionate, and I love you with all my heart. Be my boyfriend... please.”

“There it is, that’s my girlfriend.” His eyes full of lust after hearing that she wanted him from the first night, he draws her closer to him to push his lips against hers, his girlfriend's tongue quickly dancing with his.

"Oh my god, we already talked about this, close the damn window, I don't want to hear it!” The blonde cries from his balcony, the couple can't help but laugh before joining their lips again.

Thank you for reading ✨

Taglist: @writerinlearning, @ghostofmgg @strangerthanfanfiction713 @thebloodthirstyvampress, @kinda-really-lost, @kcd15, @magnet-girl, @aliandthephantoms, @stxrkspidey, @pinkrockstar19, @s0uz4s, @shycupcakealissa @cookiebuba, @fangirlangioma, @sageellsworth05, @twist3dtinkerbell, @sunsetcurvenotsunsetswerve, @caitsymichelle13, @ifilwtmfc @luckylouiebug, @bibliophilewednesday, @totomoshi, @siennanoelle01, @lunashadow6955, @bookfrog247, @morganayennefertyrell, @kiss-themoongoodbye, @rachelle3musicals, @imsydneywalker, @really-dont-forget-it @agentstarkid @talksoprettyjjx @kaitieskidmore1 @lukeys-giggle @katie-navarro @crybabyddl @cocopuffs0211 @marvel-ousnesss @txrii @tuttigunner @dpaccione @justalittleweirdoo @mrstodorooki @averyharrypotterlife

#luke patterson imagine #luke patterson x reader #luke patterson x y/n #luke jatp #luke patterson #luke patterson fanfic #luke patterson fic #luke patterson oneshot #luke patterson imagines #jatp imagine #jatp fanfic #charlie gillespie imagines #jatp one shot #jatp luke #charlie gillespie x y/n #charlie gillespie fic #charlie gillespie x reader #charlie gillespie imagine

416 notes · View notes

leandra-winchester · 3 years

Text

Unpopular opinion, but I didn’t love last night’s episode. I mean I loved all the buddie scenes and breadcrumbs, but overall, as an episode, it wasn’t working well for me.

Overall, it felt kind of disconnected to me, like there were too many separate things going on that weren’t really connected. The pacing also felt weird. Jumping 5 days ahead, there should have been some kind of montage or something to cover that. You don’t actually feel that it’s been 5 days.

I don’t like vast parts of the whole Athena storyline. I don’t buy it that nobody noticed that Lou went missing for 5 days. I don’t get why Athena callously decides to not warn the victims that whatshisface is out there.

I didn’t like the call with the respirator battery, because connecting a power cord to fairy lights just doesn’t work. What BS was that? That story would have worked just as well with only the neighbours plugging everything together, no need for a last second difficulty.

And the whole blackout also feels kind of... unfinished? I know the 118 can’t actually go hunt down the perpetrators of the ransomware attacks, but I would have expected someone to do so. But Athena is busy with the escaped criminal. However, Taylor could have been there doing some more investigating. I actually expected it, but we got no info whatsoever what the status is, what the authorities are doing and if they’re anywhere closer to getting an entire CITY out of an area-wide blackout. It just feels strange.

Then the whole alpaca thing. Listen. Look at my freaking icon (which I’ve had on various platforms since 2009). I LOVE dinosaurs, and Jurassic Park is one of my all-time favourite movies. I was amused by the JP references here. I loved Chimney quoting the movie in the end. And I also would have enjoyed it if Hen and Bobby just freaked out about a somewhat JP-kitchen-chase-like scenario. But the tone didn’t quite work for me? It should have been more comedic and less truly threatening. Alpacas are NOT dangerous. Sure, they can kick and they can nibble/bite if provoked, but nowhere even remotely near to what we saw there. It would have been much better if it had been some stupid accident, and like I said, Hen and Bobby just freaking out because the scenario reminds them of the velociraptors but with no actual threat. 911 doesn’t usually go THAT far from what is realistic.

So yeah, I’m not really happy with the episode. Like I said, all the scenes that were about Buck and Eddie were great. They were in some ways more than I expected. But the entire rest of the episode was rather meh to me. I hope the next one is better.

#911 spoilers #buddie

13 notes · View notes

bobbystompy · 4 years

Text

My Top 88 Songs Of 2020

Previously: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

Though we couldn’t get as trim as last year’s 75, still very happy to keep this under 100 for the second year in a row. This was a very difficult year in many ways, but music helped make it more bearable.

As always, criteria and info:

This is a list of what I personally like, not ones I’m saying are the “best” from the year; more subjective than objective

No artist is featured more than once

If it comes down to choosing between two songs, I try to give more weight to a single or featured track

Each song on the list is linked in the title if you wanna check them out for yourself; there is also a Spotify playlist at the bottom that includes the majority of the songs

Usually a pump up video goes here, but 2020 had a different energy, so Michael, take us in.

88) Katy Perry - “Smile”

Even Katy Perry’s good songs are a swirling spiral of maxed out auto-tune. This one is just fine. It’s... fine.

87) All Time Low - “Trouble Is...”

Is All Time Low the Katy Perry of pop punk?

86) Tee Grizzley f/ Payroll Giovanni - “Payroll”

I have never heard of Payroll Giovanni, but I have two questions:

1) Is this his song, and he got Tee to jump on it?

2) Or, did Tee write a song called “Payroll” and think to himself “You know who would be great on this? Payroll Giovanni!”

Favorite stretch:

Listen, we is not the same, you say "door", I say "dough" You say "floor", I say "flow", you say "for sure", I say "fa'sho"

85) Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande - “Rain On Me”

Coming out in 2020 probably hurt this song, because I have no, like, out of the house memories with it. You can only have so much fun with Big Singers Singing over a pulsing beat when it’s coming from the phone in your kitchen as you’re indifferently scrambling eggs.

84) Benjamin Gibbard - “Life In Quarantine”

Now this is a song you can do nothing to; almost feels like it’s reluctant to even exist. It got released in March of 2020, so the outro (“No one is going anywhere soon”) served as a too sad reminder/mantra for what the year was about to be. Second shout out to Gibbard for the many YouTube sets he put together during the early stages of the pandemic (when so many of his peers were trying to figure out the next move).

83) Cardi B f/ Megan Thee Stallion - “WAP”

This felt less like a song and more of a “whoa, did you see the music video?!” and/or a means to relitigate the eternal question “What is the sexual line in music?” And while it was fun to watch people freak the fuck out... the quality itself really needed to be better.

(Note: YouTube video is the edited chorus; explicit version here)

82) McKayla Maroney - “Wake Up Call”

Former Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney -- of medals and memes fame -- dips her toe into the music waters. It’s inside-the-box modern pop music. One thing that’s hard to escape: it doesn’t really sound like her.

81) Chelsea Cutler - “Sad Tonight”

He vocals really remind me of Alessia Cara.

80) blink-182 - “Quarantine”

Blink doing a Bad Religion impression. Docked a few points for the very weak chorus lyrics (“Quarantine, fuck this disease”). That said, as serious as the song comes off, there are some clever punchlines to be found.

79) Dave Hause & Brian Fallon - “Long Ride Home”

This is kind of a nothing song, but it’s easy listening. Also, if your guitar leads can’t clear the “Could Bobby have written or performed this?” bar, then said leads are probably pretty weak.

78) Travis Scott & Kid Cudi - “THE SCOTTS”

Two artists who pair so well together, it’s hard to tell who exudes more influence on the track (eh, that’s not true, it’s Travis Scott, but Kid Cudi is more of a roommate than guest). They want you to be high by the time the instrumental outro hits.

77) The Strokes - “Bad Decisions”

The beginning sound feels somewhat evolved, but by the time Julian Casablancas croons “Making bad decisions”, the song feels like it could be on their debut album “Is This It?”. And it goes in and out like that from there.

76) Thundercat - “Dragonball Durag”

Thundercat is one of those artists I wish I liked more, but when the occasional track does hit, it’s a momentary glimpse into what real fans seem to always see.

75) TI f/ Lil Baby - “Pardon”

Standard fare. Lil Baby’s cameo is very meh.

74) Porches - “Do U Wanna”

For a song that repeatedly asks “Do you want to dance?”, it sure makes you feel like you’re moving in slow motion.

73) NOFX - “Thatcher Fucked The Kids”

On the best-named album of the year (“West Coast vs. Wessex”), Frank Turner and NOFX cover each other’s material. To start us off, the legends take a song from 12 years ago about British politics from 40 years ago and, well, very easily apply it to right god damn now in America.

72) The Bombpops - “Dearly Departed”

Ahh, my year’s first cancelled concert. The listed names in V1 always make me want to skip this song -- but patience, grasshopper. Chorus is aight.

71) Ratboys - “Alien With A Sleep Mask On”

This band name will never match what the music sounds like.

70) Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - “She’s There”

The vocals in this song channel, like, four completely different singers for me, ranging from Bob Dylan to Cloud Nothings.

69) NOBRO - “Don’t Die”

An anthemic chorus meant to be belted in a room with sweaty strangers.

68) Oliver Tree f/ blink-182 - “Let Me Down”

The original solo version of this song is 1:52, and though the blink cameo pushes it over the dreaded two minute mark, it adds enough diversity to justify the choice (keep an eye out for the quick Green Day lyrical nod in the back half).

67) AJJ - “Normalization Blues”

This dropped in January, and if you thought the year was bad then. Punk News:

I'll admit I do want the album to age badly because I really don't want to have to listen to it years later and still say this is the world we're living in.

Said album being titled “Good Luck Everybody” is straight cryptic.

66) Selena Gomez - “Rare”

Very chill for big pop; triplet rhythm singing in the chorus gets me erry time.

65) Kid Cudi & Eminem - “The Adventures Of Moon Man & Slim Shady”

Cudi’s second split collab yields bigger results than his Travis Scott joint (admittedly with a worse beat here). It rarely ever hurts to let Eminem do the heavy lifting.

64) Alkaline Trio - “Smokestack”

A little cheerier than the average Alk3 song, but Dan Andriano seems like he’s been in a great place for a long time now; confident and in control. For me, the whole song builds up to the “You changed my life” chorus.

63) Frank Turner - “Scavenger Type”

Here, Frank takes on the acoustic closer to NOFX’s legendary 1994 album “Punk In Drublic”. Though the energy boost is most noticeable, my favorite part is how you can hear how much Turner loves this song as his melody bursts on the verses.

62) Mike Posner - “Alone In A Mansion”

Mike Posner, an artist I have a very soft spot for, released a storytelling concept album in 2020. From the intro track:

This album was written, recorded, and produced over a period of two weeks in Detroit, Michigan in my parents' basement. It's meant to be listened to all the way through. At least on the first listen. And it's about 36 minutes long. If you can't devote 36 minutes of undivided attention to this album, I again politely ask that you turn it off and return at a later time. I love you and I thank you for taking the time to listen in the first place. Also, it's important to note that the characters and the stories in this album are completely fictional. In addition, anyone struggling with a mental illness - depression, schizophrenia - should not listen to this album. Turn it off.

So those are the stakes. Pulling this song -- the record’s closer -- feels unfair void of context, but them’s the breaks.

61) Nada Surf - “Just Wait”

Heavy hitting chorus without having to be heavy; this could really work in a movie.

60) Matt Pond PA - “Wild Heart”

This having only 805 views on YouTube is criminal.

59) Liquid Death - “Unnecessary And Unimpressive”

Liquid Death -- in this iteration -- is a punk rock supergroup with members of Rise Against, Anti-Flag, The Lawrence Arms, and The Bombpops. If that didn’t interest you enough, all lyrics in the project (which, I believe, is for charity) come from hateful comments or negative reviews. Of the four artists involved, this sounds most like a Bombpops song, with Jen on lead vocals as others chime in.

58) PUP - “Rot”

Off my silver medalist for album name of the year (“This Place Sucks Ass”), PUP doesn’t do anything new here, but it was relieving to see them still going in 2020 when so many others got roadblocked, both physically and creatively.

57) Paul Harrold and the Nuclear Bandits - “Massanutten”

This reminds me of local Chicago artist Al Scorch. So much earnestness in the vocals, but a little more prairie for Harrold compared to speakeasy for Scorch. This would be a good road trip song. And I’m not talking about singalong... more for the stretch where you want to sit in silence and look out at the sun-kissed land blazing by. The song’s greatest victory is getting me to like something that cracks 6:00.

Note to future me: Massanutten is in Virginia (saved you a Google).

56) Kesha f/ Sturgill Simpson, Brian Wilson & Wrabel - “Resentment”

Kesha has been vulnerable in the past but never this stripped down sonically; the chorus would feel right at home on a country radio station. Love a good bridge, too.

55) Megan Thee Stallion f/ Beyoncé - “Savage (Remix)”

An up-and-comer pairing with a legend rarely lets down when both sides are this locked in. Bey wins. Fav line: “If you don't jump to put jeans on, baby, you don't feel my pain”.

She matches flows with Megan but also brings melody. Her blessing takes this song from pretty damn good to undeniably great.

That beat, too.

54) Red City Radio - “Baby Of The Year”

If all you want to do right now is grab a drink in a bar, here is a video built to troll.

(Also: a Liquid Death cameo?!)

53) Nathaniel Rateliff - “And It’s Still Alright”

The last time Mr. Rateliff had our attention, he just wanted a drink. That hit had a chorus with the very-sad-when-removed-from-the-song “If I can't get clean, I'm gonna drink my life away” lyric. Well, our man got sober since. And when the party is over, the introspection comes.

52) Direct Hit! - “HAVE YOU SEEN IT?”

Listening to slowed down Direct Hit! is like watching Usain Bolt lightly jog. It kinda makes sense because the core action is there, but it also feels sort of incorrect.

51) Hayley Williams - “Dead Horse”

Solo Hayley songs have this feel like they could do anything at any time... but then don’t. This one does the same until a very fun chorus breaks it up.

50) Kid Cudi f/ Phoebe Bridgers - “Lovin’ Me”

Probably the most improbable collab on this list (if 2020 hadn’t repeatedly taught us to not be surprised by anything).

49) The Homeless Gospel Choir - “Don’t Compare”

Listening to The Homeless Gospel Choir is kind of like getting a dedicated pep talk from a good friend... while fire rains down from the sky.

48) Carly Rae Jepsen - “Let’s Sort The Whole Thing Out”

Queen vocals with one prince of a tempo; this chorus is Sour Patch Kids riding Twix logs down a soda pop waterfall -- and it’s a b-side.

47) Green Day - “Meet Me On The Roof”

I like this song because it reminds me of summer and because it doesn’t really sound like Green Day (but still totally does).

46) Broadway Calls - “Meet Me On The Moon”

Promise -- swear -- I was gonna compare this Broadway Calls song to Green Day before realizing they both had titles about meeting in an escalated location. That said, I did put them next together on purpose to more coherently make this point.

45) David Rokos - “Building Bridges”

My buddy Dave wrote this song, and I think I’ve asked him three times what “burning sugar” meant (he says it’s a reference to absinthe). This song will make you want to travel to enjoy not only the places but the people around you.

44) Charli XCX - “claws”

Charli XCX keeps it futuristic in a video that could be described as sexy, cheesy, goofy, and playful-yet-serious.

43) Brian Fallon - “Lonely For You Only”

This is too easy and should not work (and maybe doesn’t). But that chorus... that circular phrasing... it still takes me all the way out. But I’m the same cat who proposed while a Gaslight Anthem cover was playing.

42) Waxahatchee - “Fire”

This song could be in a different language and hit just as hard.

41) Harry Styles - “Adore You”

Purifying pop.

40) Local H - “Hold That Thought”

Hardest rock song thus far. Local H was one of the first artists to play “live” once the lockdown hit (on a simultaneous YouTube/Facebook stream), and watching them attack music in their Chicago practice bunker felt a little bit like taking in the end of the world. New songs, old songs, covers -- it didn’t matter; their cool, unmatched apathy fits a pandemic or peacetime.

Ironically, was able to see them live in 2020, as they played a socially distanced, outdoor drive up concert in a minor league baseball parking lot. It wasn’t the same, but it was still something.

39) Crazy & The Brains - “I Don’t Deliver Pizza Anymore”

This song is just cool*. The verses feel tense and crucial, it starts to unspool in the pre-chorus, and the chorus itself feels like a light comedown more than anything else.

(* - though the lyric video is docked some points for spelling y’all as “ya’ll”)

38) Drake f/ Fivio Foreign & Sosa Geek - “Demons”

Menacing Drizzy can be very fun from time to time. Also more than happy to keep “Toosie Slide” very far away from this list.

37) Hey Dad!!! - “Life’s Alright”

Small band, big song; though summer feels light-years away.

36) insignificant other - “i’m so glad i feel this way about you”

This song lands a big haymaker in the first few seconds, so it was probably a good call to pull back some for the chorus and, eventually, outro.

35) BTS - “Dynamite”

Heard they made the lyrics bad on purpose for their English hit, which makes sense, because they’re bad. That said, if you listen knowing they’re supposed to be bad, it kinda makes them... good? Listen, 771 million views would have me singing nursery rhymes in Pig Latin.

34) DaBaby f/ RODDY RICCH - “ROCKSTAR”

Someone said this could be the song of the summer, but, because there wasn’t really a summer, I feel like I only heard it once all year. Also, are we really pretending Post Malone* didn’t just do a “like a rockstar” song three years ago?

(* - and N.E.R.D. before that and Cypress Hill before that... though N.E.R.D. only waiting a year after Cypress, so maybe DaBaby actually was patient)

33) The Front Bottoms - “the hard way”

Don’t take it easy on the animal / I am the animal

Not quite sure what this line means, but I fixate on the phrasing every single time. This song sounds resigned in a very self-aware way.

32) The 1975 - “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)”

For a band called The 1975, they sure sound like they’re on their ‘80s shit here. Also, a real thing that happened:

Me: Is he coercing her to get naked?! I thought this band was woke.

/scans lyrics

/notices “She said” before the “Maybe I would like you better if you took off your clothes” line

Me: Ahh.

Sax solo, take us out.

31) Charly Bliss & PUP - “It’s Christmas And I Fucking Miss You”

A song that is already a forever staple on all my future Xmas playlists.

30) 2 Chainz f/ Ty Dolla $ign & Lil Duval - “Can’t Go For That”

Shorty said she love me / I said “I love me back”

This is a real genre blur; rap at its core, but also soulful, funky, and very danceable. Damn creative.

29) Billie Eilish - “Therefore I Am”

Billie's 2020 gave a few singles -- but no new album -- and a body shaming scandal where the backlash to the backlash probably caused more headlines than the tweet that started it all. Still, she stays on cruise control above the clouds; can all eyes be on you if they can’t even make you out?

Video for this is fun, too. Not sure if her running amok in an empty mall is more of a COVID necessity or commentary on the dying retail industry. As always with her, fill in your own blanks for now.

28) Future f/ Drake - “Life Is Good”

This was my most listened to rap song in the first half of the year, and bumping again now, almost forgot how good it is. Drake just chasing one-liner Instagram captions in the first half:

- “Haven’t done my taxes, I’m too turnt up”

- “N****s caught me slipping once, OK, so what?”

- “B****, this is fame not clout, I don’t even know what that’s about”

And, of course, “Workin’ on the weekend like usual”. The man could make anything glamorous. Let’s hit that H&R Block, bro!

Future’s back half is a totally different song and feels mostly like noise, but the vibe is cool, so I don’t even totally mean that in a bad way. You can even make out a “Got Promethazine in my blood and Percocet” lyric to mark your Future bingo card and immediately move on.

27) I’m Glad It’s You - “The Silver Cord”

This song feels like cold air blowing on the back of your neck.

(Sidebar: thought this band was called The Silver Cord until literally right now)

26) The Spill Canvas - “Mercy”

A dreamy, distorted, at-home version of whatever you remember The Spill Canvas sounding like. This song is confessional and at peace, with the Grade A self-loathing we’ve come to love from this band.

25) 100 gecs f/ Charli XCX, Rico Nasty & Kero Kero Bonito - “ringtone (remix)”

100 gecs first hit my radar with the explosively obnoxious “money machine”, but that’s a 2019er, so this remix to “ringtone” will have to do. It’s catchy like a younger sibling persistently singing a song you’re sick of hearing*.

(* - /only child trying to work in sibling analogies)

24) iann dior f/ Machine Gun Kelly & Travis Barker - “Sick And Tired”

Iann Dior -- ...yeah -- channels Juice WRLD on the hook, and MGK/Travis Barker buoy a track that, honestly, doesn’t really even need the help.

23) Nick Lutsko - “Unleash Your Spirit”

Lutsko hit my radar on Twitter with some legendary political anthems (word to the RNC and Dan Bongino + his Dashboard Trump parody). “Unleash Your Spirit” is the song I most fear hearing (or even thinking of) within a few minutes of going to bed. Not because it’s Halloween theme is scary -- because it’s that god damn catchy. It permeates your brain. True story: a week ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with “Bobbing for apples with the boys” so ingrained in my head, it felt like someone was standing there yelling it through a megaphone.

22) Dogleg - “Kawasaki Backflip”

Bad 2020 robbed many concerts from us, and not getting to see this band live might take the cake. I end the year liking them but could have been *all in* with the right performance and the right venue. Also, Song Title of the Year until further notice.

21) Eminem f/ Juice WRLD - “Godzilla”

Eminem has all of the words and all of the lyrical dexterity, but sometimes it feels like there isn’t anything to ground him. Enter: one of the best beats he’s ever spit on and a Juice WRLD hook to give it pop angle. But let’s not put Slim in the corner -- when he starts accelerating at the end, it’s is a true “holy fuck” moment. It sounds faster than if you actually fast forwarded.

The video ends with a touching audio message from Juice WRLD.

20) Soccer Mommy - “circle the drain”

This song is so gloriously ‘90s; it leans in and does not care.

19) Sam Russo - “Always Lost”

The first time I met you, we were on the last bus You passed me a bottle, and I knew you were one of us

Took 25 words to hook me; I was txting friends before the first chorus even hit.

18) Sincere Engineer - “Trust Me”

Deanna Belos pushes her vocals in this one. I asked about the performance, and she said it was one of the first ones they recorded in the studio, but when they were done and listening back to everything, she re-did this track because her throat was much more used to what the song required.

“That’s why it sounds like I’m on roids lol,” she added.

17) Jay Electronica f/ JAY-Z - “Flux Capacitor”

Jay Electronica signed to Roc Nation in November of 2010. At of the start of 2020, he had still -- STILL HOW FUCKING STILL -- not released a debut album. When he announced it was finally dropping in February, it was met with skeptic eyes. He’d “announced” before. Shit, he’d even posted track lists of albums that never saw the light of day. He was a tease’s tease. It ended up getting a release date of March 12. As the pandemic got really bad in the March 11 zone, he finally had an actual reason to delay the proceedings (the plan: a studio live stream listening party*).

But no -- this is Jay Electronica. Why wouldn’t he drop as the world was ending? The same reason why his costar wouldn’t not have a watch like a Saudi prince. It had to end for it to happen. I wish I saved the memes, because they were fantastic. All I have is my own Twitter memory to prove it happened:

I love this song entirely: the “get the gat” hook (soooo New Orleans), Hov calling out the NFL/acquaintances clout chasing his potential death/rapping forever bars, Jay Elect’s ham-fisted and awkward ass Farrakhan line. Everything is exactly where it should be.

Final verdict on the full album: I don’t know, a B or B+? It had a lot more Jay-Z than expected (wooo), but -- and I rarely say this -- it could have actually been longer.

16) New Found Glory - “Greatest Of All Time”

NFG with a song referencing the Jordan-Rodman-Pippen Bulls only a few months before “The Last Dance” aired. Dare we call it marketing genius? The punk beat does not care; the punk beat is too busy taking souls.

15) Dave Hause f/ Amythyst Kiah & Kam Franklin - “Your Ghost”

“I can’t breathe”

On the heels of the George Floyd/BLM protests came Dave Hause’s somber attempt to capture the moment, desperation, and hurt. On a podcast, he said he was aware he might not ever lead the movement but still wanted to contribute something in an effort to use his platform as a white artist to change someone, anyone’s mind going forward.

14) Taylor Swift - “this me trying”

The chorus makes me feel like the crowd is parting like the Red Sea on a high school -- shit, no, middle school -- dance floor; smoke machine and all. Your crush is waiting for you on the other side. What are you going to say?

13) Phoebe Bridgers - “Kyoto”

Phoebe is one of the best lyricists out because of her specificity, but even though this song is about her dad, you can really fit it to your own narrative.

12) The Lawrence Arms - “Last, Last Words”

The Lawrence Arms wrote their new record (which singer Chris McCaughan described as “this end of the world outpost”) prior to the pandemic, but once you start to process album themes -- and research its namesake -- you do wonder. All of this, combined with some “Catcher In The Rye” references, and we’ve got ourselves a winning formula.

Dressed to kill for oblivion

11) New Lenox - “Fairytale Of Gary, Indiana”

Your boy plays drums and is on the cover art for this one. Dave Rokos wrote the tune, which references The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York”. Good news: no slurs in the Gary version. We’ll have you in and out in 90 seconds. Also: say hello to the recording debut of Alisa Caruso (some backup vox at the end).

10) Beach Slang - “Tommy In The 80s”

My most played song of 2020, but it really was more of a byproduct of how early in the year the album dropped. I’m still such a sucker for it, though. Other than forced nostalgia, not totally sure what the track is about. Did learn Beach Slang recruited former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson to play on their LP, which was named -- /deepest of breaths -- “The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City” (so maybe it has something to do with that).

9) Juice WRLD f/ Mashmello - “Come & Go”

The :55 mark. Wait until the :55 mark. When the guitar kicks in and tempo doubles, we have a real “oh, shit!” moment. I knew who Juice was when he passed but only “Liquid Dreams”. His 2020 album (“Legends Never Die”) showed us of what could have been; 55 minutes, loaded with cameos and creativity and experimentation. This song had me in its gravitational pull immediately. By the end of the year, they were using it on sports broadcasts, and it felt like a ubiquitous part of the culture.

One of my favorite days of 2020 was visiting the Juice mural in Chicago with my wife. We went impulsively during the day after someone posted a picture on Twitter.

I snapped one of my own and posted to IG with the Signals Midwest lyric “There is such quiet grace in private moments in public spaces”. The band responded with “RIP JUICE”; the perfect online exchange.

Shortly after, I was out with a different group of friends, and we went back at night. This time, it was protected by a fence you had to squeeze past. When we got through, there were kids in there smoking, taking pictures, just hanging out; empty liquor bottles lined the bottom of the mural. Even though it didn’t take all that long to make it there, it still felt like a journey and total ‘movie moment in real life’; a complete rarity in a year like 2020.

8) Mac Miller - “Good News”

Maybe I’ll lay down for a little...

Sadly continuing the theme of artists gone too soon, we have this reflective Mac Miller single, which feels more like self-eulogy than traditional rap. You feel it the entire time. The song crests with “There’s a whole lot more for me waitin’ on the other side”, and it conveys a readiness for whatever happens next.

7) The Dirty Nil - “Done With Drugs”

I don’t pray to Jesus or even own a suit

We lost the creators of our last two songs to substances, and, if we are to take this song at face value, The Dirty Nil don’t want to go down the same path. Drying out never sounded so cool and defiant... until the IKEA suggestion.

6) The Weeknd - “Blinding Lights”

Uptempo Abel is undefeated. My favorite pop song of 2020 has you feeling like you’re speeding through the empty streets of nighttime Las Vegas in a stolen car; indifferent to your environment, only tuned in to your personal desire.

And, on the lamer side of the spectrum, it spawned a catchy TikTok dance.

5) Spanish Love Songs - “Self-Destruction (As A Sensible Career Choice)”

It won’t be this bleak forever... yeah, right.

SLS has always been over-the-top with their lyrics spotlighting the hopelessness of the human condition -- so it was the *perfect* combo to being locked inside with nothing looking to forward to. Bonus: fun cake video.

Though the song’s core is uncut despair, a random moment I remember from 2020 was my wife telling me “I can hear you smiling as you’re singing” from another room as I belted the despondent chorus.

4) Worst Party Ever - “False Teeth”

This song sounds like The Front Bottoms; insecure yet so full.

3) Run The Jewels - “the ground below”

There were a lot of songs *about* 2020, but I’m not sure any artist soundtracked what being alive now is like more than RTJ. My favorite rap song and rap record of 2020.

Fav Killer Mike line: “Not a holy man, but I'm moral in my perversiveness / So I support the sex workers unionizing their services”

Fav El-P line: “I'll slap a dying child he don't pronounce my name correct”

2) The Menzingers - “America Pt. 2″

The Menzingers unexpectedly released an acoustic, re-done version of 2019′s “America (You’re Freaking Me Out)” single. It dropped on my birthday -- June 5th, 2020 -- as the rage in this country boiled over and protesters took to the streets. Though some of the lyrics remained the same, the new ones were changed with true purpose:

Well George Floyd was murdered by a cop The whole world saw the video and watched Now justice is long overdue Grab your pitchforks, we’re heading to Pennsylvania Avenue

I had nothing left when the first pre-chorus hit: “I hope the Devil and Donald and Mitch McConnell rot in hell for all tomorrows”. Tattoo this on my fucking soul.

All funds from the song were donated to Community Bail Funds (via Act Blue) & Campaign Zero. I purchased the track before hearing a note.

1) Machine Gun Kelly - “My Bloody Valentine”

Going into the year, I couldn’t tell you the difference between Machine Gun Kelly and Mac Miller -- now they’re both fixtures in this Top 10. All I really knew about MGK involved tattoos and a rap battle lost to Eminem (not that anyone ever beats Eminem).

In 2020, he took a punk/emo turn, with the services of GOAT drummer Travis Barker and new squeeze Megan Fox at his side. This song’s lyrics could potentially be cheesy but aren’t -- they all land. From the simulation going bad to not wanting “fake love” to all the damn second guessing and the earnestness that just won’t let you off the mat.

Every piece to the puzzle adds something: the messy hair, the Ken doll build, the forced iconic pink guitar that now feels actually iconic. It was almost like no one had any fun this year so he could have all of it on our behalf. There’s a half second shot of him sticking his tongue our during the pre-chorus, a joy 99.99% of us never got to feel.

The album itself was just as fantastic*; a 2000′s pop punk throwback with a Halsey duet, horrible skits (hi, Pete Davidson FaceTime), OpIvy lyrical nod (complete with a royalty check), a warp speed punk track that doesn’t even crack the minute mark, your token 6/8 ballad, acoustic closer (about his daughter), and some experimentation that leaves the new genre but still stays nearby; shades of Lil Peep, if he had Blink-182 as his backing band. Speaking of, please do not miss Travis’ fill at the 2:30 mark.

(* - named “Tickets To My Downfall”... woof)

MGK could get cancelled tomorrow, but we’ll always have this year in a bottle. The acoustic version of the song (sung in a lower resister), the 10 minute making of video (that I watched, uh, twice)... shit, he even turned it into a medley at the start of 2021.

It might be cliche to say “stay winning”, but when someone stacks this many W’s with no end in sight, what the fuck else do you call it? Real love.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading. Here is the Spotify playlist (includes 87 of the 88 songs).

14 notes · View notes

patroclusonly · 4 years

Text

It’s not fair (until it is)

What do you mean I can’t write titles lmao.

Okay this got a little long and I feel like some parts are good and some parts are meh but yk it is what it is

Buck is an angel and deserves the world and he should get the apologies he deserves!

read on ao3

Buck had celebrated Hen’s win with the team.

After all, she had basically started a surgery on a moving ambulance and done it right, saving the guy’s life in the process. He was happy for her, she deserved the recognition. But then he overheard her and Bobby talking about how the hospital wasn’t going to present a formal complaint even though she broke many rules.

And Buck couldn’t help but think that if it had been him on that situation, he would at least get a suspension.

He was always the one punished in some way for every little thing. He was always the one naive and wrong that needed to be told that no, he couldn’t do that and because he did it, he had to pay for it somehow. And looking back at all the mistakes the rest of the team had made, he didn’t think that was fair.

He’ll admit, the first time he was fired, Bobby was right. He was irresponsible and immature and he learned and changed. Everything was fine for a while after that, but then he got crushed by the firetruck and he had to fight with everything in him to get back to his job.

Five months. It took him five months to heal and to do the physical therapy and to do all the training again for his recertification. He was so close.

And then the pulmonary embolism happened and everyone seemed to think he was too irresponsible with himself to be helping other people. When the reality was that he had been training, he thought he had overworked a muscle, how could he had known that he had blood clots. So then he had to step back and heal again, and he did. He didn’t like it, but he did. He waited patiently.

And then Bobby had admit to being the reason they wouldn’t let him go back to work. Buck had been so angry. The one person he trusted with everything had gone behind his back and kept him from doing what he loved. And when that lawyer had pointed out that he was being held back for being on blood thinners but Chimney had gone back to work less than a month later after having a rebar through his head and being stabbed multiple times, he had felt that anger again.

Because it wasn’t unfair. If he had gotten a cut while being on blood thinners, Chim and Hen would be there to patch him up right away. But if Chimney’s wounds weren’t properly healed and he had had internal bleeding, that would have been much more dangerous.

He didn’t have to go that far back to compare how different he was treated compared to the rest of them. Eddie had been street fighting and Bobby had found out. But he only got a warning and a pat in the back.

And Buck didn’t want them to be punished, not at all. He just wanted to understand why he was the one disfavoured every time. That thought stayed on his mind the whole day, leaving him with a bitter feeling.

The next weekend, they had gathered together for drinks at their usual bar. It had started great, he was enjoying spending time with everyone. But then they started talking about how great what Hen did was and that bitter feeling came back.

“Why is it that I am the only one punished for things?” He asked suddenly and everyone turned to him.

“What do you mean, Buck?” Chimney had asked after a moment of silent stares.

“Well, I was fired and kept from coming back to work for things much less relevant than some of the things that have happened to you guys, yet none of you has ever been suspended or anything.” He states frowning and everyone exchanged looks between them, not knowing what to say.

“You needed to learn the lesson, to understand that you can’t just get out of something serious and keep going like nothing happened. You have to be professional about some things.” Bobby explained carefully and Buck was taken aback. Tilting his head and narrowing his eyes, he sat straight on his chair.

“No. A lesson is something a father teaches his son. You’re not my father, Bobby, you’re my boss. And if that’s your reason, I think you were the unprofessional here.”

“There are rules to follow…” Bobby started but was interrupted.

“Hen broke the rules yesterday.” He said glancing in her direction. “What about that?” He asked, leaning forward, elbows on his knees.

“Eddie put everyone at risk by street fighting and coming to work injured. That could have affected the whole team.” He said looking directly into Bobby’s eyes, ignoring how his friend tensed up beside him. “What about that?” His tone got angrier with each word.

“Chimney got a damn rebar through his head and got stabbed but less than a month later he was back in full duty again.” He got up abruptly. “What about that?” He pointed at the direction where Chimney was. Bobby stood up, looking calmly at him.

“Your situation was different, Buck.” He said but Buck was not having it.

“How was it different?” Buck scoffed angrily. “Because all I can see is me repeatedly getting screwed over and everyone else getting unlimited free passes.” He was raging now and his eyes were burning from keeping the tears at bay.

Everyone stared a him with concerned faces, probably because it wasn’t like him to get this angry, or angry at all. But he was done playing nice and taking the unfair treatment.

“Buck…” Maddie stood up slowly, ready to comfort her little brother.

“Tell me you don’t see how unfair it is.” He faltered, looking at everyone else on the table. He only got stares and bowed heads as a response so he scoffed bitterly and stormed out of the place. He heard Maddie calling out for him but he was too mad to care.

He got into his car and drove to his apartment. He got there and as soon as he was inside, he started crying. He knew now they probably would hate him, but he couldn't keep quiet anymore. He was starting to realize that he needed to stand up for himself because no one else was going to do it for him. Not even the people he considered family.

He let the tears fall for god knows how long, sitting against the door. Once he felt like he had no more tears left in him, he got up and went to the bathroom. A shower would calm him down enough to sleep.

He got ready for bed and was about to turn all the lights off when he heard a knock on the door. He decided to just ignore it, he didn’t think it would be someone from the team considering that it had been over an hour and they hadn’t even text him.

“Buck?” He heard Maddie’s voice as the door was closed. He sighed and walked down the stairs, not even looking at her and sitting in the couch.

“Everyone probably hates me.” He said, covering his eyes with his arm.

“No one hates you, Evan.” She sat next to him, putting a reassuring hand on his leg.

“Why wouldn’t they?” He uncovered his eyes, sinking further into the couch. “I basically told them they should have been reprimanded for their mistakes and that Bobby was wrong about everything.”

“They don’t hate you.” Maddie repeated, patting his knee. “If anything…” She stopped for a second, taking out her phone and typing something. “You made them see how wrong they were.” She finished and smiled at him. He frowned at her. Made them see?

Before he could ask her what she meant, the front door was being opened and everyone was coming into his apartment. He didn’t move, didn’t know what to do. But they seemed to have a plan because they gathered in front of him, smiling softly.

He looked at Maddie for answers but she just nodded her head and looked at the others.

“I’m sorry.” Bobby spoke, tone calm and gentle. “You were right. I let my worry for you cloud my judgment and I hurt you because of it. Athena warned me and I didn’t listen.”

“I sure did.” She interrupted and gave Buck a fond look at which he smiled.

“I know, I know.” Bobby continued, raising his hands in surrender. “And truly, Buck, I’m really sorry and I hope you can forgive me.”

“And us.” Chimney spoke up from the side, giving him a gentle smile.

“Yeah, Buckaroo. We’re really sorry, we haven’t been the best friends to you and that’s not fair because you’re always there for us.” Hen chimed in, looking at him with her head tilted to the side and a small frown.

“Hopefully, you’ll let us make it up to you.” Bobby smiled and everyone stared at him expectantly. He couldn’t help the smile that broke into his face.

“Okay.” He whispered and everyone cheered.

“Come on!” Maddie got up and he followed her, being pulled into a tight embrace by everyone around him.

“We love you Buckaroo.” Bobby told him once they broke apart and his smile got bigger.

“And I love you all.” He answered softly, eyes filling with tears again, but luckily this time they were from happiness.

--------

After their apologies, they ordered pizza and stayed together, talking, laughing. Buck was grateful for them and he was happy that they finally understood what he felt. But one person seemed off for Buck. Eddie. He hadn’t talked much since they got there and every time Buck looked at him, he was already looking back.

After about an hour, all of the sudden, he got up and looked at him.

“Buck, can I talk to you in private?” He walked away from the group and went up the stairs, not even waiting for Buck to answer. Buck watched him go and when he noticed everyone staring at him and Maddie nodding his head in the direction Eddie had left, he followed.

He heard everyone mumble unintelligible things while he was going up and once he got to his room, he saw as Eddie paced back and forth beside the bed.

“Everything okay?” He asked and Eddie’s head shot up.

“Uh…” He walked up to Buck, standing a few inches apart and hesitating for a second before going on. “I am sorry, okay?” He asked, looking up at Buck’s eyes.

“Yeah, you all said you were sorry, I forgave you. It’s okay.” Buck shrugged and gave him a little smile.

“No.” Eddie groaned and passes a hand over his face. “I am sorry. I told you I would always have you back and I didn’t. You were hurting and I didn't do anything about it.” He whispered the last part, arms slumped and looking down.

“Eddie, hey.” Buck draw his eyes back up, with a hand on his shoulder. “I understand, man. You were just following cap’s lead” He shrugged with one arm, a soft smile on his face to reassure his friend that he wasn’t mad anymore.

“But it’s not okay.” He shook his head, locking eyes with Buck. “I shouldn’t have shut you out. I was angry because it felt like you were leaving us, leaving me... and instead of reacting like a good friend and trying to understand your side of things, I reacted from pain and I got angry and distant to protect myself but I am sorry.”

“Eddie, I’m never leaving you.” Buck comforted him, pressing both hand softly on his shoulders and rubbing with his thumb. “Not as long as you want me to stay.”

“What if I want you to stay forever?” He said so quietly that Buck almost didn’t hear him being inches apart. But he did and his smile got so much bigger and Eddie looked at him cautiously, waiting for his answer.

“Then let’s hope Chris doesn’t get tired of me too soon.” He joked and Eddie finally relaxed, a shy smile appearing in his face.

“He’ll never get tired of you.” Eddie answered confidently, with a soft smile.

They stood there, smiling at each other. Neither of them wanting to break the warm atmosphere around them. Eddie darted a glance from Buck’s eyes to his lips and he flushed. Buck laughed softly.

“You okay?” He asked teasingly and Eddie flushed even harder and then took a deep breath.

“I’m about to do something risky and you should totally stop me if you don’t want to but…” He trailed out and looked at Buck’s lips again, leaning closer and leaving a soft kiss. He pulled away and Buck couldn’t help but chace his lips and bring him back in with a hand on neck.

The kiss was slow and tender, Buck’s hands keeping Eddie closer by his neck and Eddie’s cupped Buck’s face, stroking gently with his thumbs.

They pulled apart only because they had to breath. They pressed their foreheads together, eyes closed and fond smiles on their faces.

“You know I love you, right?” Eddie whispered, opening his eyes and looking into Buck’s.

“I do, but it’s nice to be reminded.” He answered and gave Eddie a quick peck. “I love you too.” Eddie brought him into an embrace, breathing in his scent and sighing in content.

“We should probably get back down there.” Buck finally said, laughing when Eddie groaned. “You can stay the night, though.”

“I’d love that.” Eddie answered, giving him a quick kiss and taking his hand, walking to the stairs.

Once they were downstairs, Eddie gave him a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth before going to sit on the couch and Buck could swear he almost melted for how gentle he was.

“Ha! Told you, pay up.” Hen said and Buck let out a laugh when everyone else started complaining, looking over at Eddie who was smiling back.

Now his family saw him, understood him and was there for him. At last, he knew, he would be all right.

Tagging: @diazbuckleysworld @captainstennerstar @reachgirl I hope you like it!!

#911 fic #911 fox #buddie #firefam

60 notes · View notes

nellie-elizabeth · 4 years

Text

Supernatural: Carry On (15x20)

Oh my god. Lol. So... did Andrew Dabb forget to read back through his finale script one final time before deciding it was finished? Because like... Dean says "if we don't keep living, all that sacrifice (Cas and Jack) will be for nothing." Cut to a comically short time later, where Dean dies and is just like "time to go, let's not keep fighting, I'm tired lol."

Like WHAT did I just witness. I'm so grateful, in this moment, to a little show called The Magicians, because in April of 2019 they ended their fourth season with such an egregiously terrible decision that I literally couldn't sleep for a week, I was shaking and intermittently sobbing, I had never felt so betrayed and devastated over any piece of media before. After that, I've sort of become numb to bad endings, and this is no exception. This episode was absolutely terrible and I'm just sort of like... meh. I'll ignore it. Whatever.

I do want to forego the usual "pro" and "con" sections in this review, and do a more traditional full-on ramble about my thoughts, because they're kind of convoluted, if I'm gonna be honest.

The first thing I want to say, is that this wasn't the worst finale I've ever seen. Objectively, it was a terrible episode of TV and an insulting wrap-up to a fifteen-year-show. But I have a very specific category for the worst finales ever, and those are the ones that provide endgame states for the characters that are... unfixable in a post-canon but still-canon-compliant world. So, for example, the How I Met Your Mother finale killed off the titular mother and betrayed years of buildup, and that's a real-world sitcom. There's no resurrecting people from that shit. Or like. Game of Thrones being an obvious recent example. The Rise of Skywalker is a good movie example.

This? It's a little different. The endgame state of Sam and Dean and Cas is that they all die and spend eternity in Heaven, where they get to be with all their loved ones. I mean, sure, we don't get to see that, we only get a throwaway line to imply that Cas made it out of Super Turbo Hell The Empty, but that's the endgame state of the characters. And that's more or less what I would have wanted, as like a... years after canon situation. Right? So yeah, this was a bad episode, but if I edit in the shit I wanted to see, none of it contradicts the canon in a way that's not workable. It's a sad world we've come to where this is all I can really grasp at, but there is a perverse sort of comfort in that.

So, should we talk now about how Dean dying is a betrayal of what they said this whole season, and maybe whole show was about? Ha. It's so ridiculous. It's embarrassing. I watched Dean's final moments and I was embarrassed for Jensen. For Dean. For all of us watching.

Just. Watch the end of 15x19 again, okay? Watch it, and hear what they're saying. Yay, we killed God, we killed the author of the story, which means we get to write our own stories, finally. We get to do that. After all this time, we're finally free. And what does freedom look like? It looks like Dean dying on a run of the mill hunt.

We get this little montage of Sam and Dean at the Bunker, you know? They're doing laundry and going on jogs and cuddling with Miracle the dog, and they're brushing their teeth and going on hunts, I guess. And the emotional resonance from that scene was just kind of... ennui? And boredom? And that's what's so terrible and depressing about this ending. It's so empty, because Dean didn't get to do the thing he said he was fighting for. Sure, he was always fighting for Sam, but he should have been able to fight for himself, too, right? He should have been able to fight for a life after the years of programming. He should have gotten to be a rock star or a chef or worked at an animal shelter or become a foster parent or grown old as Sam's brother, as an uncle to his kid. He should have been able to find love, if he wanted that.

Look, I'm not even mad that Dean died in a "mundane" way. It's not like "nooo Dean is too coooool to die in such a laaaame way, he's a bad-ass and he should have gone out in a blaze of glory!" That's actually not what I'm mad about at all. Sam died old in his bed, and Dean should have been able to do that too. This whole season, since finding out that Chuck was the ultimate big bad, was supposed to be about free will, and Dean never got to figure out a way to be happy and find peace. That's fucking dour and stupid.

I kept saying, in the buildup to this finale, that a depressing, grim-dark ending to this show would be a failing of the themes they set up, and, hey, they didn't go grim-dark, because the writers did not think this was grim-dark. They thought it was powerful and emotional and resonant. You can tell they thought that, even though they're... uh... what's the word. Wrong? Yeah. Wrong. You know what I realized while watching this? It was just a lamer, less resonant and appropriate version of Sam's sacrifice at the end of season five.

Right? Because after Sam yeets himself into hell to save the world, Dean just has to keep going, and as Cas says, "you got what you wanted, more of the same." Just... more of the same. And Dean couldn't hack it, he was miserable without Sam, and Sam came back and we got ten more years of the fucking show. And now... what, we just get that in the other direction? Because Sam is the strong one and can soldier on without Dean because his codependency was a little less crippling? Wow, what a great ending for him, I guess. It doesn't work because we've seen Sam without Dean, and he falls apart too.

And now the show ends with Sam alone. Sure, he gets married to a blur in the background and has a kid, but let me ask you a question, here. Did Sam... want to be a father? I didn't know that was a thing he wanted, that would make him happy, honestly. I had no idea. So this doesn't seem like it works as something even remotely satisfying as an endgame state for him either. It's bleak.

And it's bleaker because there's nobody else in this fucking episode, y'all. The other big theme in all of Supernatural, after "free will" would be "family don't end in blood." And guess what? Apparently it does? Apparently Sam and Dean are each other's whole worlds and nothing else matters? We get... an implied wider world but we don't get to see it. We don't get to see Eileen, Jody, Donna, anybody left alive for Sam. So from the standpoint of characters that we know and give a shit about, Sam loses Cas, Jack, and Dean and lives the rest of his life lonely and sad. Nobody else even comes to Dean's funeral. It's just Sam alone with the dog. Like... that's bleak.

This ending gave the fucking Wincest shippers everything their hearts could desire, for fuck's sake. Like. Why did they cater to that and not follow through on the idea that they had created a family and community beyond each other? You know, this thing called character growth?

To take a brief break from the negativity, I will say something here about Sam and Dean. In the weird hysterical euphoria of the whole Destiel thing a couple weeks ago, I lost sight of something, which is that for me, the draw of this show has always been the relationship between Sam and Dean. I was never a brothers-only person, but it was their fucked up codependent bond that drew me to the show over the years. I loved the idea of Destiel, but I never thought it was going anywhere, so really I loved Castiel, the character, separate from the context of his relationships. Having a big dramatic death scene where Dean says "I love you so much" and there's a forehead touch and Dean saying "it's always been you and me" and confesses that he was scared to get Sam at Stanford because he didn't know how to survive if he didn't have him, and to have Sam say "don't leave me" and then give Dean permission to go... I mean, all of this is catnip, right? All of this is great, like, in isolation, it was such an amazing "broment," as the fandom says. I mean, it made no sense with context, it was utterly insulting in every way, but Jensen and Jared acted their lil' hearts out and I could tell they were really in the moment.

So let's talk about Cas for a second, while I have you here... they never should have done the big gay confession. They just shouldn't have even fucking bothered. I'm telling you, that makes this whole thing worse. It felt completely intentional and weird that Dean never acknowledged the confession, never told Sam, never had a moment where he specifically reckoned with Cas' loss. But that's what I knew would happen. I knew it in my blood and bones, and as the meta started pouring in, I knew people were getting their hopes up for nothing. See, Cas saying "goodbye Dean" and the handprint on the arm... I knew that was their catharsis, that was the writers' and Misha's big goodbye to the character of Castiel. They thought they fucking nailed it. I knew we wouldn't see him again.

Like I said before, I have to be satisfied with an endgame state that doesn't totally suck, right? So, we get this throwaway line from Bobby that Jack fixed Heaven and made it not suck, and that Cas helped. This implies a multitude of things that are... comforting. At least Cas doesn't get that dour, dark, helpless oblivion that I worried he'd get. We can assume Jack plucked him out of the Empty, that he gets to be with his son, and that, if the fic writers so choose, Dean and Cas can have lots of gay sex up in Heaven. I think Misha not being in this finale was frankly a slap in the face to one of the biggest and most important characters the show has ever seen, you know? And I think that they kept him out of it so we could have Schrodinger's Destiel. Because if we'd seen Cas in heaven, and he hadn't confessed his big gay love, Dean could have been like: "hey Cas! Buddy! Good to see you, my friend." But since we did have the love confession, whatever Dean did upon seeing Cas would have to mean something in that context. So instead we didn't get to see him at all.

Which is stupid.

Also stupid is that the big sacrifice was to save Dean's life and then a couple weeks later he gets impaled on a rusty nail and dies anyway. Thanks for making the whole thing feel so utterly pointless and empty. No pun intended. Wow, they did Misha dirty, here, didn't they.

Turning back to Sam's ending, let's just talk about that for a minute. Like I said, I'm happy he got to live a long life and die an old man, what Dean always wanted for him. But nothing about that ending was more poignant because Dean was gone. In fact, it just made it super duper depressing and lame. There was no reason Dean couldn't have gotten a happy life, too. It adds nothing that he died young and unfulfilled. Like, you know how people joke about the end of the Titanic, where you see that Rose's Heaven is reuniting with Jack and everyone else on the ship, and people will say "well, gosh, that's kind of a slap in the face to Rose's family" since she clearly got married and had kids and grandkids? This is literally that! Like, having an ending where a young-again Sam Winchester gets to Heaven, and his whole Heaven, the thing that he needed to find peace after death, was a return to his brother... look, I'm not mad about that, but what the fuck about nameless blurry wife that we couldn't even confirm to be Eileen for some reason? What about everyone else?

And did Sam... keep hunting? Did he go to law school? Maybe there were background details that confirmed what he ended up doing with the rest of his life besides becoming a husband and father, but I didn't see evidence of it because I was too busy rolling my eyes out of my skull at how dumb this all was. So Sam just gets a generic "raking leaves in the yard" ending, like we saw for Dean at the end of season five, with nothing to challenge that. Even though we've seen why life outside of hunting, life without Dean, isn't satisfying for Sam, we're now supposed to accept it as how he spends the rest of his life, without seeing him put the work in to get there?

One thing I realized watching this episode is that it tries to play the middle. Like, with the Cas thing, they didn't want to make his noble gay sacrifice totally meaningless, so they couldn't just pop him back into the story, but they did give us one single throwaway line to reassure fans that he's not still in The Empty. So, people who don't give a shit about Cas can assume he's off being Jack's assistant and doesn't really interact with humans in Heaven. People who do give a shit about one of the show's main characters can assume that he has a home in Dean's little Heaven neighborhood too, and they all get to buddy around for eternity. People who don't like Eileen? Well, Sam married some nobody who we never got to meet. People who liked her? Well, you can't prove that wasn't Eileen, can you? Even Dean driving around in the impala waiting for Sam to die so he could finally be happy with his fucking soulmate or whatever. Time in Heaven is weird, Bobby says. It's metaphorical. You could assume that the driving montage was actually intercut with other moments, with Dean getting to see dear old mom (and dad, I guess, but ugh), and spending time with Bobby, with OG Charlie, with other familiar faces, and new ones as they finally reach their own deaths on Earth and come up to party with the rest of the gang.

Like, in a better show, in a world without Covid, maybe they had plans along these lines, to get more guest characters back and show Dean getting sappy hellos to a bunch of side characters in Heaven. To be quite honest, I would not have been mad about that. If you're going to make Dean die young and never give him the chance to find out who he could have been when the choices were all his own, which is, in case I haven't made that clear, a horrendous and insulting ending for his character... at the very least you could have given us the cheesiness of seeing him hug his friends in Heaven. Jeezus.

I want to hammer in this point one more time before I wrap up: they ended the show by saying that character development didn't matter. They had Dean's dying speech be a meta reference to the pilot episode of the show, they had him saying "it's always been you and me" and then they confirmed that with everything they had. Sam became a father, but did he have a happy life? Seems like he pined away for his dead brother for decades and then died. If the pilot had never happened, if Sam had stayed at Stanford and Dean had gone on hunting by himself, you know what would have happened? Sam would have had a "normal" life and married a woman and had a kid, I guess, and grown old, and Dean would have died fighting some vampires in a barn. This show has been on for fifteen years, and the ending did not honor anything about the journey the characters had been on.

A particularly egregious example is the early scene with the pie festival, where Sam is like "I'm sad about Cas and Jack" and Dean is like "if we don't go on living it won't honor their sacrifice" like... yeah, I get it, bringing people back from the dead time and time again is supposed to be a bad thing that Sam and Dean did for each other because they were selfish. So Sam giving Dean permission to go was supposed to be a growth moment. Sam and Dean accepting that Cas was gone and not even asking Jack to make sure he got sent to a happy eternity instead of oblivion, that's supposed to mean they've learned their lesson. And what a fucking lesson to leave things off on. Jesus, this is grim.

So like. As I try to figure out what to say at the end of this review, I will point out one glimmer of light in the darkness, which is that this finale isn't going to ruin the rewatchability of the show for me. I can still come back and re-watch without feeling like the whole thing is ruined by the ending. It's more than I can say for some other shows.

But honestly, if this was the ending we were going to get? Why the fuck not leave it open-ended? I did not enjoy 15x19 particularly well, but at least that episode left them on the open road, with a wide future ahead of them. Anything might have happened. It's their turn to write the story, right? Chuck is dead, the writer is "dead", the show is over, and now the possibilities are endless. That would have been an anticlimactic ending, for sure. But this ending just turns around and slaps the whole point of that first ending in the face and says "haha bitch you thought". They don't get to write their own stories. We see exactly how those stories end, and it's lame. Leave something to the imagination, yo. Leave it vague how and when they died, what their lives turned into. Show them in Heaven, getting to their peace at last, reuniting with their friends, including Cas. Put in a significant glance between Dean and Cas, and leave it to the internet to go wild about what it could mean. And never answer when fans ask "so what happened, when did they die? Did they keep hunting?" Just leave it vague. If this was the only ending they could come up with, I'd rather be left with questions.

This finale gets a low score from me, because they couldn't even pull on the right heartstrings to make me sentimental...

4/10

But the show as a whole? Well, it was a mess, and it had some seriously high highs and some devastatingly low lows. It's a bummer that the lowest low came in how they tried to wrap up the whole shebang, but like I said, this ending isn't going to ruin the whole fifteen-year run for me. We get to make up what happens next, and we can make Jack's new and improved Heaven our post-canon fix-it haven. I don't think there's ever been a show in my life quite like Supernatural. The fandom is so bonkers. The meta narrative of the show is so convoluted and twisty and goes in so many unexpected directions. I liked watching this show for its own sake, and also as like... an anthropologist trying to discover something about humanity and American values specifically. It wasn't always a pleasant experience, but it was one I know I'll never forget. My heart tells me to give the show as a whole a high score, representing the many, many hours of joy and dread and delight and horror I got over the near decade I've personally been watching. How do you wrap up fifteen years in a score out of ten?

9/10

#review #supernatural #supernatural review #spn #spn 15x20 #spn finale #lol y'all #it's been a JOURNEY

8 notes · View notes

thewondersofsmut · 7 years

Text

Shh!!

Request: Can you do a fic with teen!Dean x reader(he’s 17 she’s 15)and she’s Bobby’s daughter and like clothed smut and John and Bobby catch them when they’re sleep (like her panties are on the floor his pants are unbuckled and stuff) and like over protective parents (I’m sorry I’m awkward) - @icycatgirl04 AND Can you do a thing where teen!dean and teen!reader where they’ve been secretly dating (because she’s ether Ellen’s or Bobby’s kid) and he takes her virginity but he’s not a virgin. And maybe Sammy hears them and teases them about it. Fluffy smut?(this isn’t really much of a plot but meh) I love your blog byeee!! - anonymous

Pairings: Teen!Dean x Teen!Reader

Warnings: smut

Word Count: 1570

Y’all! I’m baaack! Hope you like this fic!

“Gotta go mom, bye dad!” Your voice echoed through the house, you could hear your mom, Ellen, say her goodbyes as Jo whined that you get to go to school with your best friend in his car and you could hear your dad, Bobby, scream for you to tell Dean to drive safely. You smiled, knowing everything should be fine. John and Mary Winchester’s boys are good, and Dean is very responsible. You got in the car his dad got him when he turned 18, his Impala, and flashed you a smile. You smiled back. “How’s it going, sweetheart.” “Typical, drive further, please. I want to kiss you so bad.” You murmured. He chuckled but the twinkle in his eyes weren’t hard to miss. A mile away from your secluded house, he pulled to the side and turned to you. You inched closer and he cupped your cheek in his hand and pulled you close, closing the distance between your lips. It wasn’t making out but it wasn’t just a peck either. Your passion filled kiss was just a usual after almost a year being together.

“I just want to kiss you whenever I want.” He whispered against your lips. You nodded. “Soon, I promise.” You said as you counted the days of your senior high to tell your parents and his parents that you two are together. “My mom adores you and Bobby raised me like his own.” He said. “I think they won’t freak out too much.” He added. “Oh I hope so.” You replied. “So what do you want to do after class?” Dean asked, rubbing the tops of your hand. “Dads still at work by then, mom’s leaving town and she’s be back around later than 10.” He added. You looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Sammy has this review thing after school activity.” He continued. You chuckled. “Are you trying to get to a point, Dean Winchester?” You asked. He innocently looked at you, but the smirk tugging on the corners of his mouth wasn’t easy to miss. “Well, mister, I’m pretty sure my mother and father are gunna be looking for me.” You said in a challenging voice.

“Okay, how ‘bout this, we go to your house after school like we always do then we can tell your parents we wanted to try that new diner that opened a couple of miles down.” He said. “It’s not like we haven’t gone to diners just to try them out before.” He reasoned. “You sneaky little bastard.” You chuckled but intertwined your hand with his, silently agreeing. In your defense, alone time was rare and you would take every opportunity you could to be with your loving and ever caring boyfriend. Classes went by quick, well at least thats how it felt like and as 3 pm rolled around, you and Dean were off and driving back to your house. “Hey mom.” You called out as you saw her in the living room. “Hi sweetie. Hi, Dean.” She smiled at you both. “Where’s dad?” You asked. “John needed him at the shop today, I think they got a ton of cars after that crash from this morning from the other town. So, Dean, you better be careful driving, especially with my little girl in it!” She said in a strict tone. “Yes, ma’am!” Dean replied.

“You two hungry? I can make some food.” Your mom asked. “Actually, you heard of the new diner that opened?” You asked. She nodded. “Yeah, heard it had a good start.” She replied, you and Dean silently sighed in relief. “Well, I was telling Dean how I wanted to try them out.” You said. “Okay, you two have fun. I gotta wait for your little sister to get home. Stay safe and be sure you don’t eat a lot for dinner. Be back before that.” She said, mostly looking at Dean. “Alright mom. See ya later.” You said and pecked her cheek. “See you later, Ellen.” Dean said and you two were off. The trip back to his house was quick. The tension started building as you two got into the car and you just wanted to be with him. He parked in his usual spot, he locked the door behind him like he always does, Sam had his keys. And the moment you two were locked in his bedroom that he twirled you around and gave you the sweetest kiss.

You both took off your clothes neatly, you had to be presentable after all. And then his hands were everywhere. Heck it felt as if it were the first time. He left sloppy kisses all over your neck as he slowly pushed you towards the bed, laying you down gently. His hands were supportive yet they were caressing you at the same time. He grabbed a condom from his side table, securing himself and you urged him to flip you two over. You ground yourself to his growing member, teasing him as you took over his lips. You knew you two didn’t have much time but you liked to drag it just a bit but his impatient growls sent shivers down your spine. Your alined his hard cock to your aching core, slowly letting him fill you up, hitting sensitive spots that made you moan, much to his pleasure. You took your pace as he moved with your rhythm, your fingers attached to you bundle of nerves as the other hand supported you on his chest. With every thrust he made made it seem like he’s deeper and deeper, slowly pushing you both to the edge.

He slightly lifted your hips up and bucked his hips up, you threw your hands in either side of his head and lowered yourself to kiss hum as he pounded into you, eliciting soft moans and cries of wanting to scream his name. You were closer and closer and as his cock brushed against your sensitive spot, you fell unto his chest, coming undone. He thrusted a little bit more, wanting to reach his climax, pulling tiny explosions from you. With a pant and a low groan, he came undone. He slowly pulled out and left soft kisses all over your face, making you giggled. He cleaned you both up and he passionately kissed you one more time and then you two were dressing up. As two went down, you could hear the television turned on downstairs. Your eyes widened and he went down first.

The creaks on the flooring was heard and little Sam, back from school, was watching TV, turned to look at the stairs. You grew red and Dean gave a blank stare to his smirking brother. “You two are pretty loud without the TV on so I had to watch something.” He said. Dean couldn’t utter a word and you were frozen. Sam, with his smart 14 year old mind, chuckled. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell. Make sure to leave some snacks before you do the do so I could stay down here, my bedroom after all was beside yours, Dean.” He said and turned to face the TV, watching his show. “Uh, okay, we’re heading out. If dad gets back just say um, (y/n) and I went to the diner and he’s probably dropping her back home…” Dean trailed. Sam raised a thumbs up at the two of you. “Okay, make sure you get me something at the bookstore tomorrow for lying for you!” He commented. You could practically hear the smirk in that child’s voice.

Dean sighed and replied a yes. You two headed out and back into his car. You were still red and embarrassed. “Wouldn’t assume that that was the first time he heard us…” You said. “Just –let’s get going.” He said, shaking his head. The ride home you made yourself feel at ease as once again rubbed the top of your hand. “Gotta say though, it was really good.” You said, breaking the comforting silence with a chuckle. You heard hum chuckle as well. A mile from your house, he pulled over and turned to you. He caressed your face and kissed your forehead then your lips. “I love you.” He whispered against your lips. You smiled. “I love you too.” Dean then continued driving until he got into your graveled driveway. He walked you to your house and said his goodbyes. You walked in to see your mom helping Jo with her schoolwork. “How was the diner? What’d you get?” Your mom smiled, asking as you walked in. “It was pretty good, there were quite a few people. I got some pie and shake so I’m not that full.” You said and she nodded. “Dean didn’t pop by?” She asked. “He didn’t want Sam to be alone too long.” You replied.

“So since you two were doing the do and I gotta keep it a secret, I want that new compass I saw in the library.” Sam said as Dean walked back into his house. “Come on now, Sammy. Stop saying that, I got it, I’m getting you that compass.” Dean sighed in defeat. Sam expressed a yes making Dean shake his head. “Just be quiet ok!” Dean made it clear . “As long as you two keep quiet too!” Sam sassed back, meeting Dean’s face. “Alright! Alright! I will!” Sam promised and Dean ruffled his head, heading back to his room.

#dean winchester #dean x reader #dean winchester x reader #teen!dean #teen!dean x teen!reader #dean smut #dean winchester smut #dean wichester fluff #dean winchester one shot #dean winchester fanfic #dean winchester fanfiction #spn imagines #dean winchester imagines #spn smut #spn fluff #spn one shot #spn fanfiction #spn fanfic

890 notes · View notes

placetobenation · 4 years

Link

As we hit the Memorial Day Weekend, we hit what traditionally is the start of the Summer season around the World. Of course, this year is not your normal year due to the COVID-19 crisis, so instead of looking forward to a bunch of big shows and some outdoor wrestling events, we are left to wonder when the next show with ANY type of crowd will be.

With all 50 states now easing restrictions in some form or fashion, it’s only a matter of time when we will see that first event. Sure, the first will be small and measured in the number of fans that attend. But it will be a start. And of course, when it comes to the WWE, we wonder what will become of SummerSlam. We know by now that government officials in Massachusetts are not going to let a big scale event like that happen in their state with fans, so it’s just a matter of where Vince McMahon will take it. Will it be a replacement for WrestleMania in Tampa, Florida where things are moving faster than most other states? Or maybe it’s just allowing fans in the Performance Center or Full Sail again? Time will tell, but for sure, that time is coming as the public is just inching to get back to some form of normalcy.

Now, having said that, the industry could surely use the shot in the arm. Empty arena shows aren’t the biggest hits with TV viewers no matter what wrestling show you are watching. While it is giving TV time to those who may not have received it due to some talent not wanting to be at the tv tapings due to the on-going health crisis. I just wish that the WWE would acknowledge the reality of what’s going on outside their own four walls. It would help them and give them some needed flexibility. But then again, that’s just one man’s opinion and right now, the only opinion that counts is one Vincent Kennedy McMahon. So, I am guessing we won’t get that change anytime soon.

Backlash PPV

WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley

Universal Championship Handicap Match: Braun Strowman vs. The Miz & John Morrison

The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever: Edge vs. Randy Orton

Star of the Week:

… You haven't watched Chapter 2 yet? #TheLastRide @undertaker WATCH NOW

https://t.co/eY8TodLHk1 pic.twitter.com/Y8yJhCOLaW

— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) May 18, 2020

The Undertaker, Part 2 – This is the best thing going right now from WWE! Amazing that after all these years and a storied career, we got self-doubt from The Undertaker after his WrestleMania match with Roman Reigns. It was a wonderful look inside the comeback to face John Cena the following year at WrestleMania, in a match that even UT thought was too short after all the planning.

RAW

RESULTS

Murphy defeated Humberto Carrillo

Charlotte Flair defeated Ruby Riott

Bobby Lashley defeated R-Truth

Women’s Tag Team Title Match: Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross defeated The Iiconics (DQ) to retain titles

Submission Match: Shayna Baszler defeated Natalya

Kevin Owens & Apollo Crews defeated Andrade & Angel Garza

Aleister Black defeated Murphy (DQ)

Non-title WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre defeated King Corbin

What we loved:

Takeaway: @FightOwensFight is a good listener.#WWERaw @Zelina_VegaWWE @AndradeCienWWE @AngelGarzaWwe @austintheory1 pic.twitter.com/KLhBhcKlTA

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) May 19, 2020

Welcome back KO – It was a good sight to see Kevin Owens back in the Monday Night RAW mix this week. Not only did we delight in the one-line quips directed at Natalya wrecking his KO Show set, but we also got some in-ring action in a tag-team win with Apollo Crews. We also like the continued push for Crews.

Bobby Lashley – THIS is the strong, monster-driven Lashley that we’ve wanted for some time. Aligning with MVP is a good thing. Now, I’d like some other superstars to join the stable as well!

#WWEChampion @DMcIntyreWWE gives King @BaronCorbinWWE a royal thrashing on #WWERaw! pic.twitter.com/ARxe1qZm10

— WWE (@WWE) May 19, 2020

Wrestling – From Murphy vs. Carrillo, Murphy vs. Black, Baszler vs. Nattie, the tag matches and the main event of Drew vs. Corbin, it was a solid in-ring presentation. I say that despite the fact I hated that they spent the first 30 minutes of the show with only in-ring promos.

Will @EdgeRatedR vs. @RandyOrton at #WWEBacklash be THE greatest wrestling match ever? https://t.co/zsycDlf5WD

— WWE (@WWE) May 19, 2020

Legends Promo – As normal, anytime Edge and Orton get to go head-to-head on the mic, it’s usually very good. Monday night was no exception. I would’ve liked to see Edge’s acceptance of the match dragged out a bit longer though. Now, what do we have left for the build-up? I’d like each of them to pick a solid “wrestling” opponent for them to face over the next few weeks to keep it interesting. Oh yeah, by the way, I have NO hopes that it remains a complete “wrestling” match throughout.

Meh:

mood—— pic.twitter.com/aziJpfitKx

— NattieByNature (@NatbyNature) May 19, 2020

Nattie’s Turn? – So, I guess here comes the frustrated Natalya heel turn after breaking up the KO Show set during her tirade from the tapping out to Shayna Baszler in the submission match. Samoa Joe said it best. It’s no shame to lose. Accept it and move on. This seems like all the turns we’ve seen before. I hope we are wrong.

Charlotte/Ruby – We love Charlotte Flair, but we don’t need to see her every show, do we? The match vs. Ruby Riott didn’t really do much for either, but I do like that The Queen is facing someone new each show. There was also NO WAY she was going to lose before a Champion vs. Champion match against Bayley on SmackDown Friday night.

50/50:

Austin Theory switches teams – In a matter of 30 minutes, Austin Theory gets beat down and thrown out of the Zelina Vega faction with Andrade and Angel Garza to joining Seth Rollins and Murphy (and the Authors of Pain when they come back) as the Monday Night Messiah’s newest minion. Seems a bit forced, but I’ll roll with it. I do like that we have two heel factions now facing off it seems coming up. That, I’ll give a thumbs up too. Shades of the Attitude Era showing up in 2020.

Didn’t love:

DQ finishes – Having Bliss & Cross and Aleister Black win on another shady DQ finish seems lazy. We’ve seen run-ins all the time without ending the match as well as a superstar not heeding a ref’s warning without a DQ. Why now? Let it continue, especially in the case of the Women’s Tag Team Title Match. I’m sure that’s just to get to a stipulation for the Backlash PPV match. Just not a fan of the DQ finish folks.

Better left unsaid:

The Street Profits vs. The Viking Raiders in an axe-throwing contest to fulfill the “E” part of WWE I guess.

NXT

RESULTS

Karrion Kross defeated Liam

Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tournament: El Hijo del Fantasma defeated Akira Tozawa

Mia Yim defeated Santana Garrett

Roderick Strong defeated Dexter Lumis

Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan defeated Ever-Rise

Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tournament: Drake Maverick defeated Kushida

Io Shirai defeated Rhea Ripley (DQ)

What we loved:

.@NXTCiampa is not about to 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 from @WWEKarrionKross… The match is official.#NXTTakeOver: IN YOUR HOUSE#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/r9oMxlcWyw

— WWE (@WWE) May 21, 2020

Opening Bang! – Starting the show with Karrion Kross & Scarlett dominating and then being welcome to NXT by Tommaso Ciampa was exactly what Ciampa deemed Kross & Scarlett – SPECIAL. It had that BIG feel to it, didn’t it?! Can’t wait until In Your House to see these square-off.

PURE ELATION.@WWEMaverick defies the odds as he defeats @KUSHIDA_0904 to keep his place in the #NXTCruiserweight Championship Tournament! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/96xoecRnRh

— WWE (@WWE) May 21, 2020

Drake gets his due – Kudos to Drake Maverick for doing what few thought he could do – WIN! Not only did Drake upset Kushida to stay alive, but he now has a shot to get into the Cruiserweight Tournament Finals with another victory next week – a three-way dance with Kushida and Jake Atlas.

Brewing:

Lee vs. Gargano – The current North American Champ, Keith Lee has interjected himself into the Mia Yim vs. Candace LeRae squirmish by taking on Johnny Gargano. Will it be a championship match next or some mixed tag-team action? Either way, it should be entertaining.

Shining everywhere:

3 shows, 0 problems. All hail #TheQueen.

@MsCharlotteWWE #WWENXT @RheaRipley_WWE @shirai_io pic.twitter.com/28pX6CisVX

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) May 21, 2020

The Queen – Of course, Charlotte Flair stands tall on her own show as the NXT Women’s Champion takes out Io Shirai in the main event to give Rhea Ripley the loss as a precursor to Friday night’s battle with Bayley on SmackDown. Not a fan of the DQ finish, but it does help the story of the future three-way dance between the trio, which is now officially set for NXT TakeOver: In Your House in June.

Middling:

Lumis vs. Strong – A good match between these two leaves Strong with a sneak victory and brings back The Velveteen Dream into the mix to help Dexter Lumis from a post-match attack from Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish. We can see where this one is going….

Is it me or……

The Undisputed Era – Has some of the luster gone off TUE lately? It seems like the dominance just isn’t there. Adam Cole says there could be a celebration next week as he hits the one-year mark of being the NXT Champion. I just wonder who’s next to face Mr. Bay-Bay for the crown.

The Masked Mafia – I have no clue who they are or when they will be revealed. This week’s target – Akiro Tazawa. Maybe it’s part of Drake Maverick’s grandiose plan to save his job in NXT/WWE? Or maybe El Hijo del Fantasma.

SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

Non-Title Universal Championship Match: Braun Strowman defeated The Miz

Intercontinental Championship Tournament First Round Match: AJ Styles defeated Shinsuke Nakamura

Champion vs. Champion Match: Bayley defeated Charlotte Flair

Sonya Deville & Dolph Ziggler defeated Mandy Rose & Otis

Intercontinental Championship Tournament First Round Match: Jeff Hardy defeated Sheamus

Overall this stacked SmackDown was easily the best show of the week! All quality and no fluff. Now, it may not show up in the ratings as it is the Friday night of a long, holiday weekend but it was the a good two-hours from the blue brand, continuing an upward trend the past few weeks.

What we loved:

'The Phenomenal' @AJStylesOrg is here to reclaim 'the house that AJ Styles built' as he advances in the #ICTitle tournament on #SmackDown! pic.twitter.com/2a7kaaeaBB

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) May 23, 2020

AJ’s back in blue – Fresh off a trade from RAW for a “superstar to be named later, AJ Styles’ return to SmackDown is a successful one as he takes part in the Intercontinental Championship Tournament. In a rematch from WrestleMania 34, Styles wins the first round match in another really good match between the two. Let’s be honest, these two can’t have a bad match, right?

By any means necessary, @itsBayleyWWE takes down @MsCharlotteWWE on #SmackDown! #ChampionvsChampion pic.twitter.com/8rZtTTSdip

— WWE (@WWE) May 23, 2020

Champion vs. Champion – Odd that this wasn’t the main event of the show, but nonetheless, it was very, very good. Thankful that they didn’t have a predictable run-in from Sasha Banks to ruin this match. Bayley takes home the victory, with help from the ropes, in a surprising outcome for the battle of heel champions. The storyline is there and getting better. Loved the smack talk and expressions too throughout the match.

Sonya & Dolph – Heels in top form here! Sonya Deville and Dolph Ziggler take out their personal vendetta against Mandy Rose & Otis and it makes me wonder – at what point does Ziggler try to push Otis to put up that MITB case up for grabs against him.

Have we seen this before?:

Another challenge by @TheRealMorrison to @BraunStrowman has been made. This time for #WWEBacklash! pic.twitter.com/ZKrwMysKin

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) May 23, 2020

Braun Strowman’s Championship Handicap Match – Didn’t we just see Strowman lose his Intercontinental Title to Sami Zayn in a 3-on-1 handicap match at Elimination Chamber? Sure we did. Now, we get another championship handicap match at Backlash with Strowman defending the Universal Championship against The Miz and John Morrison. Why? Strowman already pinned Morrison last week in a tag match with Otis and this week, he took out The Miz in a singles affair. There’s got to be a better way to showcase a feud for SmackDown’s top title. Although, it would be interesting seeing how The Miz and John Morrison would co-exist as co-champions. That would be the only good payoff but at the same time further tarnishing Strowman again with a gimmick loss.

Good stuff:

The Dirt Sheet – Despite losing to Braun Strowman in an impromptu singles match, The Miz and John Morrison put together a very entertaining episode of the Dirt Sheet with enough shade to cover both Otis as well as Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins.It made me laugh, as it usually does.

Hardy vs. Sheamus: Jeff Hardy gets the victory in a physical match. I don’t think it’s the last Hardy has seen of Sheamus though as I can see him getting involved in next week’s semi-final match vs. Daniel Bryan.

Parting shots:

Coming up this week:

RAW – Triple Threat #1 Contender’s Match: NXT Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya vs. Nia Jax – Winner to face Asuka at Backlash (someone will have to explain to me how Nattie, who lost to Shayna Baszler for the second time last week and Charlotte Flair are in this match for the RAW Title Shot).

NXT – Cage Match: Matt Riddle vs. Timothy Thatcher / Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Group A Triple-Threat Finals: Drake Maverick vs. Kushida vs. Jake Atlas

SmackDown – Intercontinental Championship Tournament Semi-finals: Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy / AJ Styles vs. Elias

#RIPShadGaspard

pic.twitter.com/P16bE5IKOf

— WWE (@WWE) May 23, 2020

RIP Shad Gaspard. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. Gaspard’s body washed ashore in Venice Beach, California after he and his son were pulled in by riptide while they were swimming. Gaspard instructed lifeguards to save his 10-year old son, which they did.

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at [email protected]. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots and Red Sox fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND!

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

0 notes

whydoyouthinkileft · 7 years

Text

ele watches aos - aos spoilers

-okay the ep literally just started and I already got random feels from Fitz reassuring Jemma rubbing her back because 1 he's touching her a lot and given that s4 had mostly Jemma touch him to reassure him or them exchange very quick kisses I had been missing the cuddliness from both and 2 he's not pushing her away and 3 oh that's right, they are dating, I had almost forgotten it thanks also Fitz looks amazingly good to me in those specific clothes - I almost wrote 'and in that face' what the fuck does that mean?

disclaimer only now: I just woke up

-Jemma?? was smiling so much more when offered pie, and also while Coulson mocked those who came to 'arrest' them tho? like Jemma please. Sure, then she returned to blank pissed off face but cannot miss the smile when people get sassed, can you

-Fitz at 1:54 is ALREADY breaking my heart are you fucking kidding me, I thought I'd be more meh about this episode

-Fitz's head on the table makes me cry, and him cry makes me cry even more.

-the accent is lovely tho

-I can understand why they aren't taking him seriously over the robots and androids, I mean... the whole season was crazy, just like everything they go through is. I still think that most of shield looks at Coulson and their team and they are like 'yes this must be what the rest of Hogwarts feels like around the golden trio' and 'I'm not paid enough to ask'

-Fitz what the fuck. This is not the time to go 'yep I'm responsible for Mace's death', come on bby

-'so I know that they are okay'... they are not. And Jemma worried about you too, and you are so not okay

-Fitz needing the tv in the background while researching and getting that (good looking) food is literally me when trying to study. Of course it might just be a plan I don't understand yet involving soccer but for now Fitz is literally me, living in my one room, not communicating, eating and studying with noises to distract myself

-Fitz self-diagnosing problems with his brain damage is very Jemma of him. But also 1 the blonde police woman constantly intervening to soften the others (Let me say police woman I do not remember what else to call her, but I'm not talking about the boss, I mean the other one) 2 her pointing out Framework was traumatizing which yes, hello 3 I'm not entirely sure it could have gone that way with 'schizofrenia' should I even research it? or was it the writers using words like tv writers usually do? 4 seriously the blonde police woman asking him if he's okay

-the MONKEYS to keep the time

-I love how apparently it is standard for ALL of them to do push ups when captive (except Jemma had to act all cool and use the cage as a pull up BAR)

-I know Fitz going crazy against the tv might have been an example of him exaggerating and losing it, but given that I'm Italian... that's our culture so I'm not sure

-oh my god, he's going completely out of his mind, isn't he

-was he looking for messages in the editor notes of comics? they must have some secret agreement to communicate that way if separated

-HUNTER. HUNTER MY PRECIOUS BABY IS COMING. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH I MISSED HIM SO MUCH

-shit I can't understand much without subtitles of Hunter and Fitz talking over each other

-he DID leave messages that way

-the laws are laws so they had to let me in, well, they didn't really follow laws before tho

-is it all about to explode? YES IT IS, HUNTER YOU ARE ME AND I AM YOU, I'D DO THE SAME FUCKING THING, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

-Rusty? is that the name, what kind of pilot??

-also i have to thank Hunter for the plaid button up? thank you bby

-honestly he even got them a ride with a bathroom and probably food in it

-so he told Hunter everything, I know there is no time but my heart wishes I could have seen his face while Fitz gave him the whole damn story starting from s3b. OH HE DIDN'T TELL HIM ABOUT GETTING TOGETHER WITH JEMMA UNTIL HUNTER ASKED?? SO WHAT DID HE TELL HIM? JUST THE SPECIFICS HE NEEDED ABOUT S4?

-I love how there are ninjas in Hunter's story while he was gone but he's still aware it's not as crazy as Fitz's life. And chasing a beer trunk does sound like a perfect plan for him but the whole 'together forever but doing our own thing? I seriously hope Fitz won't consider that for him and Jemma as their way to be forever in love but separated willingly because they are NOT going to be happy that way, their story is different and they *are* compatible, it's life around them that fucks it up

-THERE THEY ARE, THE PRETTY FERRETS THEY ARE SO CUTE

-Hunter watching with a straw in his mouth is also so #me

-2091 finally we got a date

-Fitz's so weak 'no' about the Monolith

-Hunter 'there is only so much crazy talk I can take before I can start shooting holes in it' honey it's a good thing you weren't around lately

-HUNTER'S FACE WHEN FITZ TOOK HIS GUN AND AFTER, OH MY GOD

-I DIDN'T EXPECT THEM TO BE THERE, THE GUY WHO SEES THE FUTURE'S FAMILY EKHGKDFSHGKFH OF FUCKING COURSE HIS DAUGHTER ROBIN WOULD BE THE SEER, and there are the notes of the music they put when her dad died and I'm dying too

-Robin remembers Daisy

-I swear, when the police guy bit the apple I thought he'd find out it wasn't real by losing teeth

-HUNTER BEING CUTE WITH KIDS - you are a very good artist- I'm going to die forever

-Hunter what the fuck are you telling this child about Bobbi

-also the boss woman is a woman who appeared in Leverage too, in a position of power, she's seriously good at this.

-ohhh extinction level event was said and EVEN Fitz and Hunter react appropriately

-I NEED TO SEE ALL THE PICS FITZ HAS OF JEMMA ON HIS PHONE THAT ONE WAS SO CUTE

-what kind of sleepover are Fitz and Hunter having, this is so sad. Hunter asked *again* about him and Simmons, bless

-'the universe doesn't want or care about anything' Jemma wants to hug Hunter accross time

-oh yeah, because if you two hadn't gotten together the Framework wouldn't have hurt her, okay. Like you weren't hurt or worried about things happening to Jemma before you two started dating or even before the confession in the pod

-Robin's power is awful tho

-I KNEW HE WAS LEFT BEHIND SO HE CAN GO GET THEM BACK, after they avoided destroying earth

-IS THE CAPSULE GOING TO KEEP HIM IN STASIS OR SOMETHING

-How do they look so good though, wearing that grey stuff. Am I supposed to not be distracted by Hunter's smile though

-I wish they hadn't released that spoiler about the ferrets though lol

-is Hunter going to come to the future too or is he going to stay behind and get arrested for Fitz because I'm going to shoot someone today, also will they explain how Fitz learned so much about the future to pose as a buyer, get those clothes etc?

-THE ZEPHYR

-Did hunter say Fitzy?

-ALSO WHAT THE FUCK DID FITZ JUST DO WITH THE GUNS, is that from the doctor or SHIELD? Can you do that without muscle memory?

-the fucking fuck just happened with the blonde boss woman? what the fuck did I just watch?

-at least it's not stasis? OH NO IT IS STATIS, FUCK YOU

-Hunter is so upset tho

-I'M SO UPSET, ABOUT THEM, ABOUT FITZ, ABOUT AOS , THE FUCKING MUSIC TOO THEY HIT ME WITH THAT

-HUNTER NOT WANTING TO LET GO SAME WAY FITZ DIDN'T

-Hunter's I love you what a piece of

-oh Star Wars reference

-what kind of bitches write this show

-oh so the alien guy is the one to thank for Fitz's clothes and preparation

-give me a break I hate you all

#ele watches aos

2 notes · View notes

vertigoambrosia · 7 years

Text

f-f-f-frankfurt

shockingly, the english version went up at the same time as the german!

...unshockingly, vimeo app stil trash

guys mack should win this title shot match but physically i have trouble buying him defeating avalanche

[i think i’ve mentioned something like that about mack before]

dragan what are you doing here

why would you want dragan to be w/you on the outside

esp when the last time he was near you during a match he kicked you in the nuts

you know at least when i’m not watching on roku i can pause and go back to record for gifs

..which means it’ll take forever to actually watch it

how tf do people livegif that’s insane

HAHAHA these signs just get better and better

dammit adam’s back

please someone make him drop the shtick

emil’s new trunks look real nice but i’m a lil sad that they actually cover his butt

i guess it’s getting colder though

see this is why you don’t take dragan ringside

‘look at that o face that jay skillet is making’ ummmm

lmao dragan is literally the worst at helping

..huh

pretty surprised emil won that, tbh

here’s this snotty lil boy

i hadn’t seen his entrance video had great gatsby movie style art deco, that’s cool

and here’s every wrestler’s crush

interesting sock choice, timo

prime grapplefuck stuff here

oh man that is a beautifully nasty looking boston crab

‘hit eachother in the face! that’s what daddy likes to see’ god i wanna kinkshame adam polak but to be fair, aren’t we all here for dudes hitting each other in the face?

i stopped to record it it’s gonna take me forever to watch this

man tim’s expressions are so good

also i had no idea aj was such a good grappler

people who rico thinks are studs: timothy thatcher, pete bouncer, alexander james

oh that’s cattle mutilation, isn’t it??

yayy timo

it’s weird that they switch back to the german commentators sometimes

like, i don’t understand you

purple is ok on avalanche but i think red is really his color

mack does not need fashion tips

i wish mack did more strikes and less of the chops/flippy stuff cause his hits definitely have some impact behind them

and now he’s dead

lol ivan u in danger boi

god walter better kick his ass

awww and tim’s ringside

loll he slapped walter and fucking booked it out of the ring

adam

why the fuck did you bring up trump

wxw...no, all international entertainment: leave trump out of it

OH FUCK THAT SOUND

and walter gives zero fucks about fucking slamming his hand into the ringpost

weird, they usually don’t count in german (even though that seems sensible)

oh shit people besides andy get fined?

OH FUCK THAT KICK

walter is cool and i need him to come back to new york again

HAHAHA bobby got the taste slapped out of his mouth

wtf was that! emerald fusion? what is that?

anyway justice was served

man i like mella’s gray and black outfit a lot more than the beast one

like, it’s cute, but meh

or maybe i just like her other hair colors better idk

bless moth martina

haha i like how mella’s totally willing to chill with martina until the cigarette comes out

she’s clearly like ‘...wtf....but ok i can dance’

ok the sweatpants question is valid

this is more comedy than i would prefer in a championship tournament match tbh

also tbh a lil disappointed bu martina’s actual wrestling (i hadn’t seen her in ring before this)

...wxw we just saw this promo package

oh here we go it’s jinny

i wonder if pauline’s gonna have a subtitled promo

god i love lucky kid and his inability to be a normal boy

it’s like he was raised by wolves and tarkan found him

oh shit this is serious - no air guitar

look at david and jurn’s matching gear!

hahahaha of course ilja just fucking runs in and starts throwing punches

‘high treason’ wxw is so great

ummm adam ‘beat up rise’ is a common goal

bones just falling in everyone’s lap

yoooo that ff5 counter

i feel like that’s not the first time i’ve seen bones do it but it’s still cool

i adore lucky but he is v. good at getting beat up

“my beautiful reckless ilja”

*adam polak voice* ilja...my child...baby. baby boy

i love the theme that pete bouncer is the jobber of rise but also the dude who consistently helps everyone else out

hahahaha everyone gets in the pin on bones

‘castle cornette’ rico sweetie castles aren’t a thing in america

esp kentucky

also let us never reference cornette or rip rogers again

DIE ROHRZANGE

haha and tas is like ‘andy pls. pls do not do this’

ha are they getting another ref?

...why?

“this is like handing out speedingn tickets in a war zone” ...yaeh actually it is

oh are we gonna have a regular tag match now?

that was like, the worst way to stall on lions/a4

i mean, tas called it like, five minutes after the objects came out, and everyone had already been just brawling for like, fifteen minutes

:-*

either do a no dq match or don’t

“would you please not call him a hairy little man” oh please rico, i listened to your podcast, adam was probably quoting you

it’s still basically staged like a brawl

and we get two eliminations and a table break in like, two minutes

the wrestling in this is really fun but the structure of the match is awful

ilja dragunov is immune to low blows; he truly is above pain

hah i love ilja askign for more and both bones and tas are like ?????

actually all of bones’ expressions have been top tier

damn ivan just fucking punched out tas

and we go back to the (cool) brawl

so why did the tag teams get eliminated?

oh yeah that ref was already out there; good thinking, tas

but really why didn’t he fucking just kick the eliminated dudes out when they came back

ok andy diving and fucking catching the belt was sick as fuck

awww hugs all around

1 note · View note

timmyrx2000 · 7 years

Text

Dipper Steps Up: Chapter 3

Chapter Index: (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)

Chapter 3

Dipper made two discoveries when Monday arrived: First, high-school freshmen were so determined not to be impressed by anything that, though some of them had seen Mabel's photo of him, the general reaction in home room was "Meh. I've seen funnier." The second discovery was that some of his teammates did give him strange looks.

One of them, sharing a table with Dipper during lunch period—Jayden Dufresne (or J.D.; he was the one guy on the team who didn't seem to think Dipper's real first name was odd)—said, "Dude, I saw the picture your sister posted online. Cut way down on the eyeblack, 'kay?"

"She put that on my face," Dipper confessed, his cheeks feeling hot. "It's kind of hard to tell Mabel not to do something. Well, and have it stick, anyway."

At that point Mabel, tray in hand, joined them at the table, sliding onto the seat next to Dipper. She was wearing a brand-new sweater, a Navy blue one embroidered with a baseball bat and ball. She nudged Dipper. "Hey, Broseph!" Then she blinked at J.D. "Ooh, you made the team too! I recognize you from tryouts. Dip, introduce us!"

So Dipper did, and Mabel, in between shoveling food in as though she were stoking a steam engine with coal, said, "J.D., huh? What position didja get?" Crumbs flew when she pronounced "position."

"Left field," J.D. said, watching her eat with a fascinated gaze. "I was kinda lucky to get it 'cause I'm just a fresh—"

Mabel stretched her arm across in front of Dipper. "Hey, J.D., you gonna eat that apple? No? I claim it!" She snatched it off his tray. "Freshman, huh? Do you know anything about Chuck Taylor, other than he's dreamy?"

J.D. blinked. "Drea—uh no, no I don't, I just met him for the first time at tryouts and practice. He, uh, well, I know that everybody likes him."

"No wonder, am I right?" Mabel said, crunching into the apple for emphasis. "Hey, Dip, it's OK for me to come and watch you practice tomorrow, isn't it?"

"No," Dipper said. "Practice is top-secret, because, uh, Coach doesn't want anybody stealing our plays."

"What?" J.D. asked, sounding surprised. "That's not true!"

"Ah-hah!" Mabel laughed, dribbling a little chewed-up apple as she did. "My brother is such a kidder!" She gave Dipper's shoulder a shove, making him swallow some milk the wrong way. He coughed it out through his nose, mostly. "And a sloppy eater! Don't worry, Dipper, I'll be there, cheering you on. Hey—is there a baseball cheerleading squad?"

"Uh, no," J.D. said. "Never has been."

"There will be from now on!" Mabel vowed. "Uh-oh! Gotta run. I hate these short lunch periods! See you on the bus, Brobro. And I will see you on the baseball field tomorrow, J.D. TDLFN!" She swept up her cleaned lunch tray—she hadn't even left an apple core-and swooped off to return it.

"Wow," J.D. said. "Your sister is . . . I mean, she's . . . Mabel is . . . "

"I know, right?" Dipper said.

"Yeah." Then J.D. added, "Uh—what did she say? TD something?"

"T-D-L-F-N. Short for Too-Dle-Loo For Now," Dipper explained. "It's one of her ways of saying 'see you later.'"

"She left early, though. We still have, like, nearly ten minutes left for lunch," J.D. said.

"Not on Mabel time," Dipper told him. "She probably wants to get to her next class early to talk to some of her friends. It's hard to explain Mabel. My sister is sort of intense."

"Yeah," J.D. said. Then, sounding faintly surprised, he added, "I like her."

Huh. Well, you couldn't explain things like that. Heck, Wendy had once liked Robbie Valentino, too, despite his obvious limitations as a human being.

Then again, no one claimed that Gravity Falls had a patent on human mysteries. People liking Mabel was like the Bottomless Pit. You had to admit it existed, but you couldn't explain it rationally.

The following afternoon Mabel did show up to watch practice. In fact, when Chuck blasted a home run over the left-field fence, she went running to retrieve the ball and after a short three-step run-up made a power throw all the way back to X-Man, the first-string second baseman.

On the bench, Coach Waylund asked Dipper, "Did your sister consider trying out?"

"Uh, no. I guess she's more artistic than sports-minded," Dipper told him.

Coach shook his head. "Too bad. Heck of an arm on the girl!"

Then Dipper had to step up to the plate to do his usual weak batting performance, popping out to Chuck on the third pitch.

All through the practice Mabel ran back and forth on the sidelines. She was the only spectator, and she continually gave out encouraging cheers and urged the team on—especially, Dipper noticed, whenever Chuck was on the mound or at bat.

Some of the other guys found her a little distracting—Bobby Adamsky, catching, got beaned by a pitch when he heard her yell, "Hey, catcher, that crouch really shows off your cute butt!"

Fortunately, Bobby's catcher's mask saved him from injury, though he looked a little upset. Coach Waylund kept chuckling, though, and he told the team, "Don't get rattled by a little thing like that, men. This is good practice for when you'll be playing and the spectators for the other team might razz you to try to shake you up. Keep your mind on the game and your eye on the ball!"

Wily Casen—the tallest player, known as "Big W"—muttered, "I'm more worried about where she's keepin' her eyes!"

However, when practice was nearly over and Dipper was sharing the bench with Jon Jacobs ("Jon J"), the first-string first baseman, Jon said to him, "Man, I saw that picture Mabel posted of you and I was kinda mad at first, 'cause I thought you were sort of making fun of the idea of playing baseball with those crazy stripes and all, you know? But it was all her, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Dipper admitted.

Jon clapped him on the shoulder. "I got an older sister man. I feel you."

Jon went on to tell Dipper a little story about when he was six, and his sister, who was then ten, talked him into climbing into a shiny new galvanized-steel garbage can, just to see if he would fit.

"I did fit," Jon said. "And next thing I knew, she clamped the lid on, kicked the can over, and rolled me down a long hill. Thought I was gonna die, man! She told me she wanted to show me what an astronaut feels like when a spaceship comes in for a rough landing."

"How did you feel?" Dipper asked.

"Mad!"

At least, Dipper thought, as annoying as she could sometimes be, Mabel had never done anything quite that bad to him! Though prancing around outside the fence and yelling until she was hoarse came pretty close.

Thursday's practice was about the same, except that afterward Mabel brought a couple of cold sodas onto the field, one for Dipper, one for Chuck. Chuck looked at the can. "Pitt Cola?" he asked. "I've never heard of it!"

"It's real common in Oregon!" Mabel told him. "I brought back a whole case! Did Dipper tell you we like to go spend summers in Gravity Falls?"

"Uh—never heard of that, either," Chuck said, popping the soda.

"It's not on any map that I've seen," Dipper told him. "Before you drink that—"

"But it's the site of the world-famous Mystery Shack!" Mabel said.

"Oh. Uh. OK," Chuck said. "Uh, what is the Mystery Shack?"

Mabel punched his arm. "Now you get it! Bumper sticker! Bomp!"

"Uh," Dipper said, "Chuck, you ought to know that every can—"

Too late. Chuck shrugged and took a big swig of Pitt's and started coughing, nearly choking on the pit. He was a guy with guts, though. He spat out the pit and actually finished the soda without complaining.

But he politely told Mabel that since Pitt Cola was so rare in California, she should keep the rest of her case and not share it with him.

Soon baseball practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays just became a part of school routine for the Mystery Twins. The team progressed through September, October, and November, coming together, developing camaraderie, and improving their play. Finally, just before Thanksgiving, Coach Waylund told the guys, "You men are shaping up. Everybody still has work to do, but that's what we expect. Taylor, you want to explain the upcoming schedule?"

Chuck stood up. More and more, the coach was giving him responsibilities, and one was to organize practices and decide on what playing strategies and skills they needed to work on.

Another was to do things like, well, what he was doing: "We don't practice in December, guys—that's so we can concentrate on academics and finals. Everybody carrying at least a B average? Good! Keep it up so you'll qualify to play. Drop below a B, you'll be cut."

He waited out the inevitable moans and groans and then continued, "So, our first game will come up on February 15, home game against the Pico Padres. To get ready, we'll resume practice as soon as we get back from break in January, and we'll pick up the frequency—Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. We're also gonna take a look at some game videos from last year to see what we're up against."

"They're wussies, man!" Big W hooted.

But Chuck disagreed: "I hear that the Padres have like a half-and-half team, sophomores and freshmen, so they have an edge on us in experience, but we're getting pretty good. Next few days, I'm gonna talk to each of you one-on-one to suggest where you need improvement, things to work on in practice starting in January, but so far, guys—good work!"

Mabel, who was never far from the team, cheered while doing a triple cartwheel off to the side. Everybody grinned. They'd got used to having her around, and sometimes they called her the team mascot. She'd even brought a few other spectators around to watch them practice—now ten or fifteen people usually showed up, more than they'd ever had watch practice, according to Coach, though Dipper suspected they came mainly to witness Mabel's antics, not the team's efforts.

The only thing, the one dark cloud on the horizon—as far as Mabel was concerned anyway—was that Chuck so far had not asked her out or complimented her attractiveness or tried to smooch her or anything, really, except to be polite and to laugh when she made a joke and to chat with her now and then.

"I'm not discouraged, though," she assured Dipper that afternoon after practice while they waited for their mom to pick them up. "My spies tell me that Chuck still doesn't have a girlfriend. The field is clear! Next February I'm planning the big move! Wait'll that first game—Chuck Taylor won't even know what hit him!"

And knowing his sister, Dipper was inclined to agree. Chuck, he thought, should be afraid. Very afraid. . . .

To Be Continued

Note from the Authors: This was just an idea I had but the one who really worked his magic and wrote almost all of this is none other than BillEase. He’s an amazing author who usually hangs out at fanfiction.net. Don’t pass up on a chance to check out his stuff. This guy is AMAZING. He wrote the story, I just gave the plot.

#gravity falls #baseball #au #gf #dipper pines #mabel pines #mabel and dipper #dipper and mabel #pines twins #fanfic #dipper steps up #Chapter 3

10 notes · View notes

fmlfpl · 7 years

Photo

Lineup Lamentations - GW11

Our Transfers, Captains, and Starting 11s for the week.

*Warning* By far the longest lambs from Walsh that he's ever written. Lotta action - read at your peril or delight.

WALSH (on Bench Boost)

TRANSFERS:

OUT: Jesus, Morata & Chlobah

IN (for -4 points): Vardy, Firmino & Sane

I'd like to think this slate of moves is a compromise of sorts. My best friend Alon initially was very strongly backing Vardy for me. I'm not 100% convinced, but, with Jesus on for yet another mid-week price drop I fired on it. Would wait to figure out what else to do another day.

As options continued to be bandied about, a fork in the road was approached. My best friend Alon cautioned me against taking a -4 and instead preferred I hold Morata and get Zaha instead of Sane. Instead, I took a -4 because I don't think I wanted to live with myself another GW in not owning Sane. He has emerged as potentially the best midfielder in the game and I want to have fun with everyone else. If I went for Zaha in that spot, I'd have no real way of getting to Sane unless I did a lateral City mid to City mid swap which doesn't feel good....since they are all great.

I needed to make funds somewhere, and my eye was cast upon young Alvaro. I still think Morata will come good with goals in the medium term - but - with that said, I don't think he represents great value since I will never captain him. Chelsea are also kind of a fucked up mess so I don't feel that bad getting rid, and it's also a nice time to dodge his likely 2 pointer against United.

I am not in love with Firmino in this moment, especially since he will be out wide tomorrow with Sturridge starting, but basically I am still just backing Liverpool on the incoming run of good fixtures. They look to be approaching full fitness from a squad perspective after the international break and I think Firmino at 8.5 is still value. His stats haven't been great but he is still usually around most of what they do... I said when I took him out in GW6 that he would be back and that day has come. The fixture doesn't get better than at an injury ravaged West Ham so hopefully Liverpool fucking dismantle them and he pays back the hit straight away.

I now am completely in love with the way my money is spread in the front 7. I have Kane and 6 players all at 8m and up so it feels likely that I will be raking in points from some places each week. This is the by far the happiest I've been with my team all season.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No lineup decisions to make this weekend since I am on BENCH BOOST. I have been shouting on the pod throughout the season here and there that I was going to use it in a single gameweek and so I will try to articulate my thinking now:

For one, I think the free hit chip will be better used in a DGW rather than the blank GW. When we get realistically 2 good DGWs per season and the triple cap is obviously to be used in one of them I'd rather use the free hit on the other one instead of the bench boost.

Blank gameweeks are easy to navigate. We generally know what fixtures will be on and off well in advance of the given blank gameweek, for one. Because of this we are able to plan accordingly to get at least 8 guys out. Additionally, the teams that are usually involved in the blank gameweek are shitty teams as any sides who have advanced in the FA Cup are those whose fixtures get postponed. I'd rather focus on getting in players who will play in the blank around the fringes of my side with free transfers rather than use the valuable chip to get in a bunch of WBA and Stoke players who are all bad anyway. In my personal experiences over the past two seasons, bench boosting during a DGW has come in with a horrendously low point total. We already are pissing into the wind guessing who will start both games of DGWs, and, I found myself WCing into teams with the bench boost in mind to set myself up to look "good" for the BB DGW but then not look as good for the coming weeks - blinded by getting in only players who have two fixtures on the double. It hasn't worked well. Often times the cheaper guys available late on in the season who are involved in the DGWs do not have two good fixtures. Maybe 1 good 1 bad or 1 good 1 decent.

Then there is the question of which fixture that player will play in if not both. The bench boost gives you your 2nd GK, 5th mid, and 4th and 5th defenders in. To me, if you get 8 points or more the bench boost should be deemed a success. Realistically we will always have 2 defenders who are under 5m - and so on mid-table sides - when we'd be lucky to pick a clean sheet up. 2nd GK also, generally a 4.0 guy..in this case Elliot..where we'd also be lucky to pick a clean sheet up. 5th mid is a spot with some more upside if you spend 5.5m or something, but then is it worth spunking extra funds on that spot later in the season on WC just for 1 week? I have found no. It takes money off the pitch for the subsequent weeks. I am not saying this is "correct" or that there is a right way to use this chip. It is entirely possible that you BB into dreams of 20 points on the DGW if you hit it right. I have 15 fit players right now, and the fringes of my side this week - the aforementioned spots on my team - all have good fixtures. So I think I have a reasonable chance of getting somewhere between 10-16 points off the chip this week. Additionally, after the international break is when fixtures start to pileup with midweeks coming in and Europe still in effect for top sides. This GW feels like one where there will not be much surprise rotation or omissions from a side's best XI. The timing feels good to me. We'll see how it goes when the games have been played.

For those keeping score at home, the players who will be coming in from my bench this weekend are: Foster hud, Dunk swa, Francis newc, and Stephens swa. I have 3 clean sheet shouts there. If 1 comes in - I'm golden. If 2 come in - I'm flying. If 3 come in - it's dreamland.

Full team with writeup below.

GK:

Elliot and Rafa welcome Bournemouth. The Cherries look pretty fucked injury-wise with Stan out...and hopefully King still out. Rafa has been tight at home so a clean feels pretty good here. Foster goes to Huddy. West Brom have also been a fucked up mess but I still back Pulis to go play tight on the road against a team I still think is shit. Huddersfield should have a hard time finding space and playing against West Brom so it's another game where I think a clean could come in.

DEF:

Phil Jones love of my life auto. Suddenly becoming a bap machine he is the best defender in the game by miles to me.

Naughton welcomes Brighton to the Liberty. Swansea have been a bit unpredictable but they are still playing well defensively and I don't think a Glenn Murray led attack really inspires much fear into anyone. He might be playing as wingback if Clement goes three at the back which would be nice, although he hasn't done so much at home. Either way, a clean feels good here.

SWard at Soton is a dream fixture. Soton are utter shit.

Dunk going at Swansea too - so obviously hoping for a 0-0 in that one. Swansea are pretty bad at scoring goals, and I think this game will largely be played in the middle third with plenty of turnovers in the final third since both of these team's kinda suck at attacking.

Lastly, Franno at Newc - another 0-0 I would kill for - could come off. Bournemouth have been poor, but not awful. They haven't been conceding boatloads, but just enough 1 goalish type games to not hit on cleans. Joselu is bad, Newc are bad at scoring goals, and I think this game will look very similar to Swansea v Brighton. A lot of middle third, a lot of throw ins, a lot of fuck in the final third.

MID:

Triple City mid is finally in place. Dilva, Raz, & Sane here we go. It is realistic that one of Raz or Sane may be rested, but realistically, I expect him to play his best lineup and that includes both of them. Their pace against Arsenal's high line should be on the pitch. Another cheeky look at the three City mids is if/when they all start I'm on for 3 clean sheet points which is nearly like having a defender in as well when they keep cleans. Love that.

Salah is to my midfield as Jones is to my defense. Good lad.

Finally, piece of shit Stephens goes. Hopefully he doesn't pick up a card and just trickles in a couple of points for me. Wish I had someone like RLC in here but meh. 5th mid is shit.

FWD:

New faces and new friends off the back of my transfers. Alongside Kane go Vardz and Bobby Firm.

Leicester looked electric under Puel last weekend so I get where Alon is coming from with being high on Vardy. The new formation really looks perfect at getting the most out of the personnel at his disposal. Stoke are generally a shambles, although they do not tend to let up many at home. Vardy still feels good, though, and someone who I think will represent great value at his price over the near term.

Firmino discussed above, just hoping that Liverpool fuck Bilic upside down. 4-0 not out of the question in that fixture to me.

CAP:

Salah. As you know, dearest reader and friend, I don't cap against Palace so Harold does not get my armband. Salah has looked on form and I think West Ham will have a hard time dealing with him. Risky week to go off Kane but at least I own him so as long as Salah stays within a few points of him it won't be the end of the world. Of course, a Kane hat and Salah blank will leave me in the dumps, but decisions like these are always on a knife edge. It could go the other way and I go up five million places. Not quite, but you get the idea. Let's go.

ALON

TRANSFERS:

OUT: Lacazette

IN: King Harold of Kane

Thanks for nothing Laca flocka flame. Simple move and my Wildcard team was always designed for this swap as I kept the money in the bank for it. Not much to say on Harold, he’s the best player in FPL, just titted Real Madrid, home against Palace. Yep.

GK:

DDG will never leave this spot. I should just copy and paste it. All fixtures are good for Mou and his buses.

DEF:

So my kiss of death lives on. It was hard to imagine me killing all 15 players on Wildcard last week so I duno how my kiss of death works but it seems that Toby is the only one who I kissed.. or killed? I’m confusing myself with language... Anyway he is fucked and out but hopefully he can return to me after international break but for now I’m starting a 3-4-3 which is a bummer because that means I’m starting Jordan Ayew. But ok on to defenders:

Phil Jones just rinse and repeat what I said above RE: de Gea. All fixtures are good defensive fixtures for this team and he’s a BAP magnet and still fucking cheap too. It’s ridiculous how good he’s been this FPL season. Wish I’d’ve capped him every week.

Lejeune I’m very enthused about - he was a post-lambs change to my wildcard team in for Daniels. He’s really fucking good. He is going to score some goals this year by nature of winning every fucking header on the pitch. And his baseline bonus points are out of control. He’s just really really good and watching him closely vs Burnley (despite no clean) last week got me even more pumped for him. He might be the best 4.4 defender in the game but we’ll see. Don’t feel great about Bournemouth this week but hoping...

And lastly Duffy go on. Another good cheap guy and a testament to this price structure / formation. Brighton are a tight outfit and at Swans is a terrific fixture so let’s get some fucking cleans and BAPs. Duffy is just the better version of Dunk RE: attacking potential and bonus for 0.1 more. He’s a good lad.

MID:

My midfield feels very very strong. Only guy “missing” is Raz but ya know, I can’t have 6 midfielders so I feel great with my five (starting four).

Leading the line is Salah’s salad and Liverpool taking on West Ham. I think Walsh is spot on to highlight West Ham and their defensive frailty. Could fuck’em sideways this week but who knows. No Phil, Mane (off bench maybe), Gini, Lallana.. Missing a lot of guys. But Salah has been MoTM in more matches then not this year - he’s just fantastic. He will tit again.

Silva / Sané and Man. City should continue to thrill. And as you heard on pod I’m not deterred by back to back blanks from Silva I still think that he’s a completely fantastic FPL pick and has the stats to back it. He’s nice and rested from UCL and will keep ticking I believe. Sané just have to hope starts, as he should do. Just go look at that third goal vs. Napoli holy fuck what a run by him. Let’s.

Lastly Richarlison. Richarligate. Profarligate. Profligate. Heh... Sorry Rich just taking the piss. Yeah he fucks up good chances for fun. Many sitters and misses and whatever. He’s still really fucking good though. And still the standout budget mid I’d say with great fixtures to boot. Love him and Watford at Goodison running at Jags and Ash. Should shred’em. Go on Rich.

FWD:

Jordan Ayew gets a rare start but ok he does a job. At least it’s a “good” fixture. If Brighton and Duffy fail to keep it clean like I want then hopefully it’s Jordan who undos them. His stats are... Oookkaaaaayyyy but maybe in dog years (AKA for a Swansea player) that’s good? Like 2 shots on target in the last 4 Swansea matches in dog years means he’s actually shooting a lot. What am I talking about? Moving on...

Kane and Kun. Kun and Kane. Best two guys in all of FPL future and past. I gave my Kun sermon on this week’s pod and in last week’s wildcard lambs. TLDR I think he’s the main man at City and firmly ahead of Jesus. And when Kun is the main man you get Kun in FPL.

Kane looked energetic and good in what I saw / read of the Real Madrid match. And then good Poch news putting the injury behind feels good. Kane is auto.

CAP:

Unfortunately for people in my same situation I offer you no clarity here on cap. I just don’t fucking know yet. I need to maybe actually flip a three sided coin. Or ask somebody dumb. Kun vs. Kane vs. Salad. Really really tough. I need more time. I can’t decide now. Who are you going with? Fucking hell.

#FML FPL #FMLFPL #FPL #Lineup Lamentations #Fantasy Premier League

0 notes

ryanonwrasslin-blog · 8 years

Text

The Wrestling Optimist - March 16, 2017

Welcome to my weekly, mostly optimistic, look at the wonderful world of professional wrestling. This came about because I’m working my hardest to stop being such a miserable smark, and this column is my best effort at both keeping myself honest and funneling out the various thoughts I have on wrestling. For the most part, this will be a WWE-themed piece every week, and it’s still evolving, but for now I think I’ve found a solid format. I urge you to join me in being a happier wrestling fan, whatever that may mean to you!

Theme of the Week All of the authority figures on the main roster are TERRIBLE at their jobs

In some ways, this is all Vince McMahon's fault. The standard for manipulative, overbearing authority figures was set with Vince vs. Stone Cold, and ever since then WWE has been trying to recapture that magic, forever sticking to the idea of pitting the authority figure against one or more of the top wrestlers on the show, and usually shuffling them around the card like they do with other feuding superstars. They even go so far as to feud face authority figures against heel wrestlers, which is SUPER tricky to do and rarely ever works well except to make the heel look like the face.

But let's stick to kayfabe for a moment. On Raw this week, Stephanie McMahon, rather than devote her time and energy toward building to Wrestlemania and making sure that Raw actually, you know, is watchable for a change, tells Mick Foley that he has to fire one superstar. Mick, rightfully, is like, "Da Fuck?" and points out that, again, THEY ARE THREE WEEKS FROM WRESTLEMANIA and this is not an ideal time to fire anyone. She insists and he wanders around backstage in a daze for the next two and a half hours. And at the end of the night, after reviewing a roster that includes Curtis Axel, R-Truth, Primo, Epico, Sin Cara, Titus O'Neil, and like 4 cruiserweights I wouldn't recognize if they hit me with their finisher, tells Steph that SHE'S the one who he's firing.

Homie, if you were gonna go the self-sabotage route, why not fire like Cesaro or Sami Zayn so that Smackdown could sign one of them and they'd be free from the plodding march toward permanent mid-card status that is their career on Raw? That actually would have popped me and gotten me interested in the direction they were going with a story. But no, Foley "fires" Steph, which shortly summons Triple H, who does all but fire Mick, which was whatever, eats a Sock-O for his trouble and then "re-injures" or whatever a returning Seth Rollins, you know, one of their biggest superstars, THREE WEEKS BEFORE THE MANIA OF WRESTLING.

Alright, everyone calm? No? Well, at least I can skip the Let The Smark Out segment this week, because Smackdown Live, incredibly enough, was possibly even worse in terms of terrible authority figures, even if they at least serve a purpose beyond "Gotta get Steph and Hunter over."

So, there are two feuds on Smackdown Live that touch on Shane O'Mac and Daniel Bryan. The first, obviously, is AJ Styles vs. Shane. I'm going to skip the part about the build because it's covered below in my best moments of the week. But again, in kayfabe, AJ Styles absolutely has a point. That opening promo was like a fired-up babyface, pointing out all the ways he was wronged, and none of them are actually false or embellished or delusional, like you'd hope they'd be from a heel. Instead, he gets the crowd on his side and then goes to the back to wait for Shane O'Mac because he blames him for the conspiracy against AJ. And Shane, for some reason, on a two hour show that presumably required significant time preparing for in advance, doesn't arrive until we're like an hour in. Huh? Was dude just concerned about the non-title tag match and 205 Live (of which he's not an authority figure) going off without a hitch? Wrestling doesn't always have to hold up to intense scrutiny, but you should be able to at least think through the basics of a plotline without furrowing your brow. And if the story was, "Shane's a McMahon and doesn't have to give a shit about this job," then maybe they'd be onto something. But it's not, so they're not.

But I digress. Shane shows up, AJ beats his ass something fierce, to which the crowd cheers, Daniel Bryan fires AJ, to which the crowd boos, and then Shane gets the Monday Nitro NWO backstage cutaway during the "main event" which basically screams "we don't care about this match at all," and then puts himself against AJ in a match at Mania.

Now, maybe this could be mostly fine, and I'm not gonna pretend like I'm not way more hyped for this match now then I was a month agao, except for one other thing: We've seen countless wrestlers do terrible things backstage on Smackdown Live in recent months and not even get fined or suspended, let alone fired. Baron Corbin attacked Ambrose with a fucking forklift, Maryse beat Nikki Bella with a pipe or something, Dolph Ziggler was wailing on dudes with chairs, AND RANDY ORTON BURNED DOWN A MAN'S HOUSE. Corbin, Maryse, and Orton get matches at Mania, and AJ gets fired. Guys, we all know it’s one big scripted show, but consistency in the story has to matter at least a little bit or we’re just staging wrestling matches for no reason.. And also, no way does AJ get fired without Steph calling that dude in like .2 seconds and offering him a big old contract for Raw.

Alright, let's just move onto Daniel Bryan's role in Cena/ Nikki vs. Miz/ Maryse. Again, the build to this is mostly a lot of fun, but the authority figure, if you really think about it, is the worst. Miz has been rightfully murking Bryan on the mic for months ever since Bryan openly admitting during the draft that he didn't want Miz and then called him a coward a few weeks later on Talking Smack. Regardless of if you like Miz, Daniel, you deserve every bit of that verbal ethering you've gotten. And then on SDL, Bryan, as biased as they come in a feud that involves his sister-in-law and her boyfriend, books the match for Mania apparently against Miz's wishes after talking about how much he wants to punch Miz in the face. NOT IDEAL MANAGEMENT TALK, DANIEL.

Look, at the end of the day, much of this is done in the service of building feuds, and for the most part, I understand it (though not that Foley/ Steph stuff), but when you think about wrestling like it's a real show, and not with a winking nod at it being fake, the logic behind it falls apart, and that's just not good enough. But I guess what I’m really saying is, can we just get William Regal to take charge of both brands?

10 Best Moments of the Week

Shane O’Mac takes a bigger beating for a Smackdown Live backstage segment then Brock Lesnar took in his entire Mania match last year Shane continues to be a lunatic. That looked like a hell of a stiff whoopin’ he took from AJ, and as “meh” as I’ve felt about seeing the best wrestler in the world selling for Shane’s baby jabs, I can’t deny that this popped me.

That Austin Aries rolling elbow I mostly dislike that spinning lariat/ clothesline or elbow thing that a few different people do because they usually do it like Natalya where they spin, then have to step forward and throw the thing, thereby neutering the momentum of the move. Even Luke Harper doesn't do it very well. But Aries has the best one I've ever seen. When he comes out of the spin he is ON TOP of you and that elbow looks like it has extra oomph on it because of it.

Bringing back the Mick Foley/ Triple H blood feud It wasn't Rock/ Austin in terms of box office and hype, but the Foley/ Triple H feud, peaking with Cactus Jack's return, is probably my favorite feud for both men, and so I was getting a little worried when Trips was giving every appearance of absolutely neutering Mick, but I can't deny that there was a huge pop in my living room when the camera cut away from Mick apparently cowering in the corner of the ring but discreetly reaching for something in his pants. That was a good moment, though I felt less so about Trips getting to stand tall over Rollins at the end of the night, though at least that match is clearly on for Mania now.

SLAY MARYSE Wrestling feuds based on shootin’ are super tricky, but this Miz/ Maryse vs. Cena/ Bella feud continues to do the best job I’ve seen a feud do with “shooting” since, like, CM Punk. I have no idea how bad Maryse’s ring rust might be, but that genuinely seemed like a woman who is just going to punch Nikki in the face at Mania.

Dana Brooke, white bread baby face They stopped and started with this moment too much on the way there, but I'll be damned if Dana's goofy energy in the ring didn't get that crowd cheering for her. The timing seems odd to me given that we're a few weeks from Mania and Charlotte has much bigger fish to fry, but I'll allow the string to play out on this one and hope that they build on it and make her into the sort of mid-card babyface that isn't really present on either main roster.

Roman Reigns: Shithead heel I have no idea if they're actually doing this heel thing with Roman or if they're really content to let him wither and die in the middle, but R-double as a cocky, entitled dick throwing shade at Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker at once was a fascinating decision. Given that Undie has shown his own Bobby Hill-inspired heel tendencies as recently as the Lesnar follow-up feud, I wondered if maybe they were going to try and make the Dead Man play something of a bad guy here, but right now they are setting Roman up to get booed out of the goddamn building in Orlando.

Bray Wyatt... ewww I’m no big fan of any of the spooky stuff WWE does with Bray Wyatt because too often they half-ass it, and you can’t half-ass the mystical/ magical shit. It’s either real or it’s not. But Bray bathing in Sister Abigail’s ashes or what the fuck ever happened there was a billion times more memorable than the countless gaspy promos he’s done before about being the Eater of Worlds or something.

Sasha planting seeds I hope it happens, and I'm glad they're planting the seeds, but I hope they wait until after Mania for Sasha to even hint at hostilities towards Bayley. The night after Mania for a Sasha turn would cause just obscene levels of reaction.

William Regal, my dude That triple threat tag match at NXT: Orlando is now by far the odds-on favorite to be the match of Mania weekend. Adding that elimination stip is a fascinating stroke. It’s very unclear if any of these six guys are headed for the main roster anytime soon, so I could really see anyone coming out of there with the title, but I’d say the elimination piece makes AOP far more likely to retain. Still, that match should get 30 minutes if I have the say, and just be ten kinds of awesome.

Asuka stylin’ and profilin’ Asuka hanging by the pool, saying her catchphrases, and that entire segment, was a really good one for the champ. She’s never been more arrogant or looked better. I didn’t think they’d beat Ember on the way to the top, but I’m definitely starting to feel more like Asuka will retain and maybe go a little extra heel afterwards.

Let the Smark Out

I went overboard in the Theme of the Week on my smarky side, so I’m just going to list my two problems this week and not go too far in-depth about them here.

LOL Ziggler should be a meme at this point. I can’t believe how bad this heel turn has been.

The Club's self-inflicted words - Hey, Gallows and Anderson, in the words of CM Punk, "You need to watch the show." I'm actually debating making this into a weekly segment because I feel like WWE's characters way too often do the dumbest shit with the most obvious, self-inflicted outcome. And that's exactly what happened with Gallows and Anderson guaranteeing that Foley would put them in a Triple Threat match at Mania after interfering in the Sheamus/ Cesaro vs. Cass/ Enzo #1 Contender's match.

Let’s Rank Stuff

Two weeks to Mania and we’re so close that it’s pretty clear, with a couple possible exceptions, what the card will look like. So this week we’re ranking how long I expect the Mania matches to go, from longest to shortest. And keep in mind this is my prediction for how long the matches will actually last, not how long I want them to last.

Reigns vs. Undertaker (22 minutes)

John Cena and Nikki Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse (19 Minutes)

Triple H vs. Rollins (18 Minutes if Seth can go)

Corbin vs. Ambrose (17 Minutes because they go backstage and do goofy shit)

Jericho vs. Owens (16 Minutes)

Wyatt vs. Orton (15 Minutes)

AJ vs. Shane (15 Minutes because it takes time to set up a crazy Shane spot)

Charlotte vs. Bayley vs. Sasha (14 Minutes)

Sheamus/ Cesaro vs. The Club vs. Enzo and Cass (13 Minutes on the Pre-Show)

Neville vs. Aries (10 Minutes)

AMBAR (10 Minutes, longer if it goes to the Pre-Show)

Smackdown Women's Free For All (9 Minutes)

Lesnar vs. Goldberg (6 Minutes)

Match of the Week

Bobby Roode vs. Kassius Ohno for the NXT Championship - I was really torn between this and the 5-Way on 205 Live, but I have more to say about Ohno/ Roode, so I picked this one. I liked that they made Ohno look pretty good even as you knew there was no way he was winning. His offense looked and sounded stiff as hell, which I always appreciate out of a big dude. And Roode continues to just be smarter and survive by the skin of his teeth. But I also needed to talk about the elephant in the room: Ohno’s gear. That tightie-whitie and basketball jersey look was horrific. I have no problem with guys that aren’t as physically fit being really good at wrestling. I like the different body types. But the ring gear here is actively distracting and it’s going to hurt him.

Either put him in a pair of full-sized trunks that come up past the waist (think old school Dusty Rhodes) and let him wrestle shirtless, or get him pants and an actual shirt. Either option is fine, this option is atrocious.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Mania. Obviously, we’re headed towards Mania. But post-Mania, I’m nervous about how WWE might treat Smackdown Live. It’s been their best show for months, but change is a-comin’. Cena is reportedly taking time off, Nikki might be retiring, and word is the AJ Styles could be traded to Raw. That leaves an enormous gap at the top of the Smackdown card that I don’t see how they can fill without getting an enormous asset from Raw.

The top of the Raw card post-Mania would be: Brock, R-Double, BRAUN, KO, Finn, Styles, Rollins, SmoJo. And that’s without mentioning Sami, Cesaro, Sheamus, and Handsome Rusev. That roster is fuckin’ STACKED.

The top of the Smackdown card without Cena would be: Orton, Wyatt, Miz, Ambrose, and I guess Baron Corbin??? Yikes. If AJ goes to Raw and SDL doesn’t get like Seth and New Day in return (because let’s be honest, the rosters are already uneven), then they are completely setting Smackdown Live up for massive failure.

Do the right thing, WWE.

Hitting The Finisher

We saw the first concrete glimpse of a Sasha Banks heel turn on Raw this week. It was as fleeting as they come, an off-handed remark about "haters" intended to sew doubt in Bayley's mind, but NXT fans the world over had to be relishing it, dreaming of the inevitable moment on a future Raw when Sasha and Bayley are in the ring, perhaps yelling at a retreating Charlotte or Nia, when Bayley drifts a little ahead of Sasha, just far enough for Sasha to give her a quick stink eye and then... BAM! Backstabber into the Banks Statement. Even if WWE does its usual main roster, half-assed, telegraphing in the lead-up to such a moment, it will pop the hell out of the crowd and change the face of the Raw women's division for the better.

And yet I'm here to tell you that I hope they wait a while before they pull the trigger. Bayley seems incredibly likely to retain the title at Mania despite being the third best performer in the Triple Threat, and my guess is the night after Mania they pull the trigger on the Sasha turn. That crowd will eat it the fuck up.

But I hope they wait. If you want Bayley to retain the title, let Sasha hang at her side for a while, let her stay Bayley's friend out mutual respect. Maybe she helps Bayley survive a Nia feud post-Mania, while also feuding with Emma or someone from Smackdown that gets traded. The point is, let us get comfortable with Sasha and Bayley as friends, even as we all know that Sasha ultimately wants the title. Give Sasha multiple opportunities to turn, but never take it. Really build up the respect these two have for each other. Let Charlotte recruit a few others into a stable and let Sasha and Bayley withstand them, and then, pull the damned trigger after you're 110% sure you've earned it.

The Boss turning on Bayley should be heartbreaking. Right now it would just be predictable. Fun, yes, but emotional, no.

#wwe #wrestling

0 notes