#Cole Schneider

[ilovemilestellersmoustache]

If It Weren’t For The Wind

WC: 1.5K

Summary: Choosing between Matt and your career wasn’t something you thought you’d ever need to do

The light in Matt Rempe's New York apartment was dim, a single lamp casting a weak yellow glow across the room. Outside, the muffled sounds of the city filtered through the windows—honking cabs, distant sirens, the unending hum of people who had places to be. It was a city that never slept, a city that thrived on forward momentum. And right now, it felt like the entire world was moving forward without Matt.

He sat on the edge of the bed, staring at his phone. The text from Y/N was still unread, glowing like a taunt on the screen. He hadn’t opened it yet. He didn’t need to. He knew exactly what it said.

It’s not that she’d hidden the job offer from him. Quite the opposite, in fact. They’d talked about it a few times, in that vague, abstract way that couples talked about things they didn’t want to believe would actually happen. A “What if?” conversation. Something distant, something that felt more like a passing thought than a real possibility.

But now it was real.

Calgary. His hometown.

For two years, Y/N had promised Matt that if they ever offered her the top position there, she wouldn’t take it. She swore it as if it were some sacred bond, something they could cling to like an anchor. She knew how much it meant to him, staying in New York together, growing their life in the city where Matt’s NHL career had finally taken off. New York had become more than just a home—it had become their home.

But promises were fragile, and time had a way of wearing them thin. Y/N knew she’d make that promise, but she knew later she was bound to change her mind.

Matt tossed his phone onto the bed, his chest tightening. He didn’t know what he expected her to do, really. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t seen the signs. The job was everything she’d ever wanted, and Calgary, though it was his home, was also the place where her future was blossoming. The opportunity she’d been offered was once in a lifetime, the kind of job people dreamed about but never thought would actually land in their lap. But it had landed in hers. And now, they were standing at the edge of something that felt irreversible.

He ran his hands through his hair, standing up and pacing the room. His hockey bag was in the corner, half-packed for tomorrow’s game. His whole life was in this city. But the truth was, he couldn’t help but wonder if her life had always been waiting for her somewhere else.

Maybe if the weather had been different, she wouldn’t have gone.

Maybe if the plane never took off.

Maybe if she hadn’t left at sunrise.

But she had left. And she hadn’t looked back.

Y/N stood at the terminal, clutching her boarding pass as if it were a life preserver, the one thing that could keep her from drowning in her own indecision. The airport was quiet, the early morning crowd still thin. She had always liked traveling in the quiet hours, when the world still felt half-asleep. But today, the silence wasn’t peaceful. It felt like the calm before a storm.

She knew Matt didn’t understand. Not fully, anyway. She hadn’t been able to explain it to him because she hadn’t fully understood it herself. But something had shifted inside her the moment she got the offer. A door had opened, and no matter how much she wanted to stay with Matt, to build a life with him in New York, she couldn’t ignore what was on the other side of that door.

Maybe she would have settled down with Matt, dug in some roots in NYC. Maybe she would have found a farmhouse with him someday, somewhere far from the noise and chaos of the city. Maybe they would have grown old together, laughing about how they’d met, how they’d survived all those sleepless nights when his road games kept him away. Maybe if it was different time in a different life, it could have been perfect.

But this wasn’t another life. This was her life, and as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t stay. Not without wondering, forever, what could have been.

“Y/N?”

She startled, turning to see Matt standing at the edge of the terminal. His broad shoulders seemed to take up the entire space, his presence both comforting and suffocating at the same time. How did he even get here? She hadn’t told him she was leaving this early. But of course he’d found out. He always did.

“You weren’t going to tell me, were you?” His voice was low, quiet, as if he was afraid that if he spoke too loud, it would shatter the moment entirely.

She looked down, unable to meet his eyes. “Matt…”

“I thought we had more time,” he said, stepping closer, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket. “You promised me.”

She winced at the word. Promise. As if it was so simple. As if she could just hold on to that promise and everything else would fall into place.

“I know,” she whispered. “I thought I could keep it.”

His eyes, usually so soft when they looked at her, were hard now, filled with something she couldn’t bear to face. Disappointment? Anger? Fear? She didn’t know, and she didn’t want to find out.

“What changed?” he asked, his voice breaking just slightly. “Was it me? Did I—”

“No,” she said quickly, finally looking up at him. “No, Matt, it’s not you. It’s not… It’s just… I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Try.” His jaw clenched, his gaze piercing.

She swallowed hard, searching for the words, but nothing came out right. Everything she wanted to say felt wrong, felt like an excuse. She could feel the weight of the moment pressing down on her, crushing her chest, making it hard to breathe. She loved him. She loved him so much it hurt. But she couldn’t stay.

“I need this,” she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I need to know what’s out there for me.”

“What about us?” His words were sharp, and she could see the hurt in his eyes.

She didn’t have an answer. Not one that would make this any easier. She had always told herself that she could have both—that she could love Matt and still chase her dreams. But now, standing here in this terminal, it felt like she had to choose.

And she had already made her choice.

Maybe it would have been different in a different life. If it weren’t for the wind. If it weren’t for the pull of something beyond the life they had built together. Maybe she would have stayed. But she couldn’t keep living in “maybes.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. She looked at him one last time, memorizing the way he looked under the harsh airport lights—the furrow in his brow, the tight set of his lips, the sadness in his eyes. She wanted to freeze this moment, to keep it forever, because she knew that once she walked away, it would never be the same.

But she couldn’t stay. Not now. Not with all the “what ifs” hanging in the air between them.

Matt didn’t say anything else. He just stood there, watching her, as she turned and walked toward the gate.

Each step felt heavier than the last, like the weight of her decision was pulling her down, trying to keep her rooted in place. But she kept walking. She had to.

As the plane took off, she looked out the window, watching as the city shrank below her. She thought of Matt, standing alone in that terminal, and wondered if he would ever forgive her for breaking her promise. Wondered if she could ever forgive herself.

Maybe she would always wonder. Wonder what could have been, what kind of life they could have had together if things had been different. If the timing had been better. If the job offer had never come.

But she knew, deep down, that no matter how much she loved him, she couldn’t keep wondering. Not anymore.

Maybe, in this other life, she would have stayed. But this wasn’t that life. And now, she had to live with the choice she had made.

[hottiesforhockey]

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ABOUT: This is a fan-fiction blog centered around hockey players and the nhl, please not that not all requests will be completed and may be deleted if not within my comfort zone.

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⎜who i write for ⎜

nico hischier

dawson mercer

alexander holtz

john marino

luke hughes

jack hughes

quinn huges

mat barzal

elias pettersson

trent frederic

jeremy swayman

auston matthews

joseph woll

cole caufield

jamie drysdale

matthew knies

seth jarvis

cale makar

jesperi kotkaniemi

andrei svechnikov

jack drury

jj peterka

matt rempe

braden schneider

mason lohrei

literally almost anyone

⎜what i write ⎜

angst

romance (sfw + nsfw)

alternate universes (e.g. soulmate au, college au etc.) 

fluff

[ajuice-matts]

babygirl examinations👩🏼‍⚖️

basically i just hyper analyze hockey players & their babygirlness because why the fuck not!

i am currently taking requests! request in the asks & add a 🎀 at the beginning or end of your request so i know it's for a babygirl examination!! (also pls check the masterlist before requesting!)

alexander holtz

andrei kuzmenko (coming soon...)

arber xhekaj

auston matthews

braden schneider

brock boeser

cole caufield

connor bedard

ethan edwards (coming soon...)

jack hughes

jamie drysdale

john marino (coming soon...)

joseph woll

juraj slafkovsky (coming soon...)

luke hughes

mat barzal (coming soon...)

matt rempe

matthew tkachuk

mcdrai

mitch marner

nico hischier (part 2 coming soon...)

quinn hughes

roope hintz

trevor zegras

vince dunn (coming soon...)

william nylander

[teenagedirtstache]

[seth-jarvy-24]

*update*

we have a small gc on instagram. I'm not sure if I'm getting messages so dm me there (k1mburke3)

[mirobraz]

Kevin Costner as "Robert Haynes" in Perfect World (1993), dir. Clint Eastwood.

[sharonaparadox]

warning for bright colors and some flashing lights (particularly in the second half), minor ableist language, and spoilers for the mysterium side mission

hd + subtitles available!

fandom: Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 focus: Quentin Beck (and a lil bit of Betsy Schneider and Cole Wittman) audio: “Illusion” by Tinie Tempah (ft. Luke Steele & Sam Frank) font used: Aliens & cows program: Sony Vegas Pro 13

this is why i made and posted this scenepack a few weeks back, lol

i wanted to get this done before 2023 ends bc i felt weird having only edited one other vid this entire year, and it had been about a whole year before that since i’d edited. work and everything going on in the world (for the past several years, tbh) has made me feel like a useless piece of shit, but i wanted to at least make something so ppl know i’m still alive

funnily, the hardest part was remembering how to edit stuff like this when i’ve mostly been absorbing utena amvs; i keep thinking i should edit with some music that resonates deeply with characterization or the narrative’s themes, but that just ain’t happening with ps5 spidey, lol. my scenepack was only seven and a half minutes, and that’s including extra footage focusing on miles

i ended up looking through my files to figure out what to edit with, and i apparently saved this song years ago to use for an mcu edit. i have very mixed feelings abt mcu mysterio (i’ll admit to being a bit of a hater, lol), so i’m glad to use it for a mysterio i genuinely just uncomplicatedly like. whatever else there is to say abt this game, i love what they did w beck 🔮 (gordon ramsay voice) finally, some good fucking food

[2ndaryprotocol]

The animated Adam Sandler comedy ‘Eight Crazy Nights’ opened in theaters this day 20 years ago. ❄️🍻🏀

“𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚢, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞? 𝚈𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝟻𝟷 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎. 𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚞𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗’𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛.”

[badmovieihave]

Bad movie I have Eight Crazy Nights 2002

[pastored123]

Evaluating Christian Character

Chapter excerpt from TO BE A PASTOR I was leading a start-up project in greater Philadelphia when I was tasked to recruit and facilitate the training and deployment of a leadership team. In the hope of stirring up the opportunity to identify and accomplish initial conversations with potential team members, I went about making community outreach contacts. To finalize the original group, it took…

[zepuckinghockey]

NHL Wedding Season 2024

We're back again for another summer of NHL weddings! If you'd like to see last year's, check out this post.

If you see something wrong or someone missing, let me know! I'll continue to update this list until September when the weddings fizzle out. I appreciate the replies, reblogs, and asks with corrections and additions ❤️

6/7/24: Adam Larsson: (private wedding, no idea)

6/19/24: Jake Evans: Brendan Gallagher, Joel Edmundson, Tyler Toffoli, Nick Suzuki, Joel Armia

6/22/24: Max Jones: Trevor Zegras, Jacob Bryson

6/26/24: Adam Fox: (looked to be just family)

Josh Anderson: Nick Suzuki, Max Domi, Nick Foligno, Seth Jones, Cam Atkinson, Scott Hartnell

6/29/24: Ryan Pulock: Matt Martin, Noah Dobson, Casey Cizikas, Oliver Wahlstrom, Adam Pelech, JG Pageau, Josh Bailey, Mat Barzal, Anthony Beauvillier, Cal Clutterbuck, Bo Horvat, Simon Holmstrom, Pierre Engvall, Mikey Reilly

Jake Oettinger: Mason Marchment, Tyler Seguin, Ty Dellandrea, Wyatt Johnston

7/3/24: Mason Marchment: Jake Oettinger, Tyler Seguin, Ty Dellandrea, Brandon Montour, Mike Carcone, Owen Tippett, Sam Reinhart

7/6/24: Nic Hague: Cody Glass, Owen Tippett, Zach Whitecloud, Alec Martinez, Shea Theodore, William Karlsson, Keegan Kolesar, Nic Roy

Brendan Gallagher: Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Carey Price, Jeff Petry, Chris Wideman, Tanner Pearson, Nate Thompson, Philip Danault, Christian Dvorak, Jake Evans, Sam Montembeault

7/7/24: Adam Fox 2.0: Ryan Reaves, Kevin Rooney, Will Cuylle, Vincent Trocheck, Jacob Trouba, Barclay Goodrow, Alexis Lafreniere, Blake Wheeler, Jimmy Vesey, Jonathan Quick, Ryan Lindgren, Braden Schneider, Sammy Blais, Ryan Donato, John Marino

7/10/24: Elias Lindstrom: (haven't seen any NHL guests)

7/11/24: Jared McCann: Jordan Eberle, Yanni Gourde, Vince Dunn, Jamie Oleksiak, Jaden Schwartz, Matty Beniers, Will Borgen, Kailer Yamamoto, Justin Schultz, Andre Burakovsky, Ryan Donato, Darnell Nurse, Brandon Tanev

7/13/24: Jack Campbell: Tyler Toffoli, Jake Muzzin, Kyle Clifford, Evander Kane

Alex Carrier: Frederick Gaudreau, Mathieu Joseph, Jimmy Oligny

Pierre Engvall: Simon Holmstrom, Owen Wahlstrom

Andrew Mangiapane: Johnny Gaudreau, Rasmus Andersson, Mikael Backlund, Noah Hanifin, Erik Gudbranson, Mack Weegar, Troy Stecher, Jonathan Huberdeau

Kyle Connor: Zach Werenski, Evgeny Svechnikov, Connor Hellebuyck, Tony Calderone

Eetu Luostarinen: Niko Mikkola, Lundell Anton, Aleksander Barkov

Tyler Madden: Alec Turcotte, Akil Thomas

Zack MacEwen: (haven't seen any NHL guests)

7/18/24: William Carrier: Mathieu Joseph

7/19/24: Kaapo Kahkonen: (haven't seen any NHL guests)

7/20/24: Jamie Benn: Tyler Seguin, Joe Pavelski, Jordie Benn, Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, Joel Kiviranta, Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lundell, Ben Bishop, Luke Glendenning, Ty Dellandrea, John Klingberg

Alex Killorn: Yanni Gourde, Pat Maroon, Brandon Hagel, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Zach Bogosian, Anthony Cirelli, Luke Schenn, Ryan McDonagh, Tyler Johnson, Blaine Gabbert, Cam Brate, Andrei Vasilevskiy

Thomas Chabot: Josh Norris, Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Mathieu Joseph

Sebastian Aho: Teuvo Teräväinen, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Seth Jarvis, Antti Raanta, Nino Niederreiter, Jesper Fast, Jani Hakanpaa

7/22/24: Michael Bunting: Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Jake Muzzin, Morgan Reilly, Fred Anderson, Wayne Simmons, Alex Kerfoot, TJ Brodie, Kyle Clifford

7/26/24: Jake Lucchini: (haven't seen any NHL guests)

7/27/24: Connor McDavid: Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse, Zach Hyman, Evander Kane, Cody Ceci, Evan Bouchard, Vinny Desharnais, Brett KUlak, Connor Brown, Ryan Mcleod, Derek Ryan, Stuart Skinner, Philip Broberg, Warren Foegele, Devin Shore, Kyle Turris, Luke Gazdic, Zack Kassian, Patrick Maroon, Sam Gagner

Carter Verhaeghe: Matthew Tkachuk, Aaron Ekblad, Evan Rodrigues, Stolarz, Ryan Lomberg, Nick Cousins

8/3/24: Travis Sanheim: Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton, Shayne Gostisbehere, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Tyson Foerster, James Van Riemsdyk

Connor Ingram: (haven't seen any NHL guests)

Cody Glass: (haven't seen any NHL guests)

8/4/24: David Pastrnak: Taylor Hall, Tukka Rask, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Zdeno Chara, Charlie Coyle, Hampus Lindholm, Jeremy Swayman, Linus Ullmark, Torey Krug, David Krecji

8/9/24: Alex Tuch: Shea Theodore, Zemgus Girgensons, Tage Thompson

8/10/24: Tyler Johnson: Yanni Gourde, Ondrej Palat, Mathieu Joseph, Ryan McDonagh, Alex Killorn, Pat Maroon, Reese Johnson, Adam Gaudette

8/17/24: Cale Makar: Gabe Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Erik Johnson, Bo Byram, Darren Helm, Andrew Cogliano, Josh Manson, Kurtis Macdermid

Zachary Sanford: (haven't seen any NHL guests)

Mike Amadio: Zach Whitecloud, Ben Hutton, Brett Howden, Nic Hague, Nic Roy

Andrew Copp: JT Compher, Tyson Jost

Ryan Johansen: Colton Sissons, Luke Kunin, Roman Josi, Matt Duchene, Dante Fabbro, Cam Atkinson, Ross Colton, Miles Wood

8/23/24:

Roope Hintz: Tyler Seguin, Esa Lundell, Patrik Laine,

[vintagetvstars]

Hot Vintage TV Men's Bracket - Full List

Sorry for the delay, it took us longer than expected to finalize the list. We are currently working on finishing and finalizing the bracket for round 1. For now enjoy the list of everyone in the tournament and we'll be back on Thursday evening to kick off round 1!

Boris Karloff

Clint Walker

Desi Arnaz

Claude Rains

James Arness 

James Garner 

William Hopper 

Adam West

Alejandro Rey

Bob Crane

Cesar Romero 

David McCallum

David Selby 

Davy Jones

DeForest Kelley

Dick Gautier 

Dick Van Dyke 

Dwayne Hickman 

Eddie Albert 

George Maharis

George Takei 

John Astin 

Jonathan Frid 

Larry Hagman 

Leonard Nimoy 

Mark Lenard 

Martin Milner 

Michael Nesmith

Micky Dolenz 

Patrick McGoohan

Patrick Troughton 

Peter Tork 

Randy Boone 

Raymond Burr 

Richard Chamberlain 

Robert Conrad

Robert Fuller 

Robert Vaughn 

Rod Serling 

Russell Johnson 

Ted Bessell 

Ted Cassidy

Tom Smothers

Walter Koenig 

William Hartnell 

William Shatner 

Alan Alda 

Brian Blessed

Darren McGavin

David Cassidy

David Soul

Dean Butler

Demond Wilson 

Derek Jacobi 

Eric Idle

Erik Estrada 

Fred Grandy 

Fred Rogers 

Hal Linden

Henry Winkler

Jamie Farr 

John Cleese

John Hurt

Jon Pertwee 

Judd Hirsch 

Kabir Bedi

Kent McCord 

Lee Majors 

Michael Landon 

Michael Palin

Mike Farrell 

Peter Falk

Randolph Mantooth

Richard Hatch

Ricardo Montalban 

Robert Wagner 

Rock Hudson

Simon Williams

Telly Savalas

Terry Jones 

Tom Baker 

Wayne Rogers 

Anthony Andrews

Bruce Boxleitner

Bruce McCulloch 

Colin Baker 

Dave Foley 

David Hasselhoff

Dirk Benedict

Gene Anthony Ray

Gerald McRaney 

Hugh Laurie 

Jameson Parker

Jeremy Brett

Jimmy Smits 

John Forsythe 

John Stamos 

Johnny Depp 

Kevin McDonald 

Mark McKinney 

Martin Kove

Michael J. Fox

Michael Praed

Mr. T

Patrick Duffy 

Peter Davison 

Richard Dean Anderson

Rik Mayall 

Rowan Atkinson 

Sam Neill

Scott Thompson 

Simon MacCorkindale 

Stephen Fry 

Sylvester McCoy 

Ted Lange 

Tom Selleck 

Tony Danza 

Alexander Siddig 

Andre Braugher

Andreas Katsulas 

Andrew Robinson 

Anthony Head 

Anthony Starke

Armin Shimerman 

Avery Brooks 

Brad Dourif 

Brent Spiner 

Bruce Campbell 

Charles Shaughnessy 

Colm Meaney 

Craig Charles 

Dana Ashbrook 

Danny John-Jules 

Darren E. Burrows

David Duchovny

David Hyde Pierce

David Schwimmer 

David Suchet 

David Wenham 

Dean Stockwell 

Garrett Wang 

Gary Cole 

Grant Show

James Earl Jones

James Marsters 

Jeff Conaway 

Jeffrey Combs 

John Corbett 

John de Lancie 

John Goodman

John Shea 

Jonathan Frakes

Joseph Marcell 

Kevin Smith 

Kevin Sorbo 

Kyle MacLachlan 

LeVar Burton 

Luke Perry

Marc Alaimo 

Mark-Paul Gosselaar 

Matt LeBlanc

Matthew Perry

Michael Dorn 

Michael Horse 

Michael Hurst

Michael O’Hare 

Michael Ontkean 

Michael Tylo

Miguel Ferrer 

Mitch Pileggi 

Nate Richert 

Nicholas Lea 

Noah Wyle

Paolo Montalban

Patrick Stewart 

Paul Gross

Paul Johansson 

Paul McGann 

Peter Wingfield 

René Auberjonois 

Robert Beltran

Robert Carlyle

Robert Duncan McNeill

Ron Perlman

Scott Bakula 

Seth Green 

Spencer Rochfort

Stephen Nichols 

Ted Danson 

Ted Raimi

Thorsten Kaye 

Tim Daly

Timothy Dalton

Tim Russ 

Valentine Pelka

William Shockley

Ben Browder 

Brandon Quinn

Brian Krause

Chad Michael Murray 

Christian Kane 

Conner Trinneer 

Daniel Dae Kim 

David Boreanaz

David Tennant 

Donnie Wahlberg

Eric Close

Ioan Gruffudd

Jensen Ackles 

Jeremy Sisto 

Joe Lando

Joshua Jackson

Keith Hamilton Cobb

Michael Shanks 

Nathan Fillion 

Neil Patrick Harris

Reece Shearsmith 

Richard Ayoade

Rob Lowe

Ron Glass

Scott Cohen

Skeet Ulrich

Tom Welling

Tony Shalhoub 

Billy Dee Williams 

Bruce Willis 

Clint Eastwood 

Colin Firth 

George Clooney 

Jeremy Irons 

Paul Michael Glaser

Pierce Brosnan

Sean Bean

Blair Underwood

David James Elliot 

Michael Vartan 

Michael T. Weiss 

Scott Patterson 

Sebastian Cabot

Luke Halpin

Adam Brody

Jason Bateman 

Matt Bomer 

Timothy Olyphant 

Woody Harrelson

Richard Biggs

Robin Williams

Will Smith

John Schneider

Milo Ventimiglia

Bobby Troup

Bobby Sherman

Chad Everett

Casey Biggs

Jason Priestley

Don Adams

[lgbtqreads]

any suggestions for queer books for a junior high school library? there's a book order coming up in december and i noticed my school is severely lacking in queer books so i need some ones to request. in particular, we're really lacking in books with transgender and/or bisexual main characters. (also, i'm in the south so books that have been targeted by bans may not be available here)

Absolutely yes. The ban-targeting is definitely a challenge (my Cool for the Summer is actually a great fit for this but may be an issue for that reason), but let’s see what we can do!

For trans main characters I think are a good fit for that age, try Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas, Zenobia July by Lisa Bunker, the graphic novel Cheer Up! by Crystal Frasier, Val Wise, and Oscar O. Jupiter, the upcoming graphic novel Girlmode by Magdalene Visaggio and Paulina Ganucheau (upcoming as in 3 weeks from now, so it’ll be out by December), Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller (genderfluid MC), The Heartbreak Bakery by AR Capetta (agender MC, transmasc LI), The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons, Spell Bound by FT Lukens (nonbinary MC), Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa, I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (nonbinary MC), Self Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore, and The Borrow a Boyfriend Club by Page Powars. (Those are all YA except Zenobia July, but I felt like that one might work for older tween readers in a way other titles might not, just because the MC’s a hacker, which is cool.)

For bi main characters, some of the above also fit (I Wish You All the Best and The Borrow a Boyfriend Club come to mind immediately), and also try Cool for the Summer, Some Girls Do by Jennifer Dugan, You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson, Wish You Weren’t Here by Erin Baldwin, Running With Lions by Julian Winters, Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli (Imogen is newer and great but not sure if college visits are as interesting to junior high students?), Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales, Hani & Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar, I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee, The Disasters by MK England, the Emry Merlin series by Robyn Schneider, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee, and They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera.

[na-bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: Common Murre

Photo: Kenneth Cole Schneider

"Widespread on Pacific Coast from Alaska to California, but more local in the east, being found mainly off eastern Canada. This large auk sits upright on sea cliffs, looking like a northern version of a penguin. It swims and dives expertly, but its flight appears labored. For its size, the Common Murre has the most densely packed nesting colonies of any bird species; nests may be so close together that incubating adults are actually touching other adults on both sides."

- Audubon Field Guide

[rancid-zinnia-onthepatio]

I don't like PS5 Mysterio.

Full disclaimer: I know some people I follow like him and will likely see this post. And I am going to say to those people that I am glad you can like a character I don't, please, don't let my nitpicks ruin that. This is my opinion, not a fact.

I want to like PS5!Mysterio, I really do, but I have too many issues with how he was depicted.

I'll start with his design, then I'll ramble about his storyline. I'll also preface and say the most I've seen of him are playthroughs and some fandom wiki excerpts. How professional of a researcher I am, I know. 😭😭 If I am wrong about anything source-wise PLEASE tell me.

Design

This portion is literally the most "this is my personal preference" thing ever btw.

I don't like his outfit, it reads to me like a hipster Mysterio cosplay. The cape erasure saddens me. The skull in the helmet is meh, I'd just prefer a vague shape or plain fog. Mysterio could have looked so cool, like I adore this franchise's Scorpion design. But Mysterio's design is just so muddled to me in this game? You get a lot of dark purples and browns. The gold(?) accents are also just too dark compared to the rest of him. There is a sliver of bright green on his top. Babes, a sliver.

I get it, if you want to modernize the classic comic supervillain's outfit and make it "cooler," it can be hard when the colors are limited.

Limited because you want to stay faithful to the original design.

Then again, Scorpion in the comics looks absolutely obnoxious (to me), but they still kept him green in the game. He was allowed to be colorful and his silly arachnid self while modernizing the suit to look more armor-like.

Mysterio's such a dramatic figure that seeing this design just saddens me. They stripped my boy of his diva.

Glad he took some inspiration from Shattered Dimensions with the clawed gloves, no comment there. <3

Side note: his regular man appearance is eh. I want to know why developers/writers are so scared of giving this man a bowl cut or a clean face. (I like beards, but Beck with a beard is so odd to me and I can't place why.)

Storyline

I will say again, I haven't played the game. Girls, I do not have the funds. I watched playthroughs, a few just to make sure I didn't miss anything.

For those who don't know, the fandom wiki states that in his History tab: "Quentin Beck was a special effects artist until he became [the] supervillain Mysterio. Beck eventually stopped being Mysterio and reformed."

So, this happened (I think) before the events of the game.

I am a sucker for a redemption arc if done well. Yes, I like my villains evil mostly, but I am open to layers in a baddie. My issue is that this is his given history, we do not see any of this arc in the game from what I know.

And that makes me sad.

What we do see is that Mysterio's identity is stolen by Beck's coworkers.

Betsy Schneider and Cole Wittman, hey, a Webspinners reference! (betsy)

Beck (from what we know) had nothing to do with this. This man was literally bound and left in a storage closet ... room ... place.

This allows him to get away with being innocent, and that makes me a little irritated. That is only because of what he tells Miles after his coworkers were exposed.

He says: "Mysterio will always be a villain. Just as Spider-Man will always be a hero. It's when you start looking at the people behind the masks that things get messy."

This would be a good quote if Beck had that messiness that he is literally talking about. Granted, he does in a way, if the wiki is to be believed. But we aren't looking at that mess of a man who is still working to free himself from villainy. He's completely free of fault for what happened. He was innocent, Betsy and Cole were guilty.

He's not trying to clean the Mysterio image and the crowd still fears him. He's not falling slightly into old habits as he tries so so hard to be better than who he was. Because people falter, all the time. I want to see that inner conflict, I love inner conflict. I want to smell, taste, hear, see, and breathe it.

The quote only holds some weight to me because I was told he has been through that mess. My issue is that we are told this, we do not see any of it. (My bestie @bluebutterflytears phrased it like "They told instead of showing 😔")

If we did, it could also be a beautiful opportunity for parallels between symbiote Peter and Beck. (This is my bias for parallels coming in.) Both are people struggling with inner demons that they need to fight against day by day lest they become the worst of themselves.

I want to see Beck snap at Miles for not taking him seriously, then apologizing as regret sets in. I just wanted a conflict that wasn't so ... flat.

(Though this questline was a side thing, so I get if the developers or whatever didn't want to go through all of that. I'm just going to say that you shouldn't throw in what could be a meaningful message if you aren't willing to show that message to us.)

[still-a-morosexual-help]

idk if this has been asked before but. what songs remind you of mammon?

I've answered this like 3 times before this but I keep adding new songs so here's the (new) full list again

Some of the choices are much less serious than the others

Mammon:

Why Should I worry - Jonathan Young Cover

Tangled up in me - Skye Sweetnam

Must have done something right - Relient k

Accidentally in love - Counting Crows

Take on the world - Girl Meets World theme (male cover if you want ig)

Better - Ananya Birla

Greedy - Ariana Grande (male cover)

Hell and You - Amigo the Devil

In case you don't live forever - ben platt

Sledgehammer - Fifth Harmony

I can't fight this feeling anymore - REO speedwagon

Cheerleader - OMI

La Da Dee - Cody Simpson

Invincible - Crossfade

I think I'm in love - Kat Dahlia

Sucker - Jonas Brothers

They don't know about us - One Direction

Never Enough - Karl Loxley cover

Better Place - Rachel Platten

Somebody to you - The Vamps

Paper Rings - Taylor Swift

Handclap - Fitz and the tantrums

Honey I'm good - Andy Grammer

Casino Royale - Derivakat

Greedy - OR3O ft Swiblet

Gossip - Måneskin ft Tom Morello

MC about Mammon:

Best Friend - Sofi Tukker

Umbrella - Rihanna

Fire Meets Gasoline - Sia

I'll stand by you - The Pretenders

Hot Mess - Cobra Starship

Parachute - Cheryl Cole

Animal - Chase Holfelder

Let it be me - David Guetta ft Ava Max

Unconditionally - Katy Perry

Burn with you - Lea Michele

You & Me - James TW

Stand by you - Rachel Platten (to me, this is just the general mc song overall. It fits so perfectly, specially after seeing what their priorities are like in nightbringer)

Sweet tooth - Scott Helman

Both:

Army of Two - Dumdums

Don't let go - don diablo ft holly winter

I'l think of you - Kurt Schneider ft. Sam Tsui, Alex G. & Alyson Stoner

Only Us - Dear Evan Hansen

Partners in Crime - Set it Off

ME! - Taylor Swift ft Brandon Urie

Bud like you - AJR

Two voices one song - Barbie the Diamond Castle

This Hell - Rina Sawayama

True Friend - Hannah Montana

Better than one - The Score

And because I'm having EMOTIONS about angel Mammon:

Stand out, Fit in - Caleb Hyles cover ft Aruvn & Tre Watson

We are - ONE OK ROCK

Family:

Fire - Gavin DeGraw

Archers - With Confidence

Wicked Ways - Halestorm

People like us - Kelly Clarkson

Family - Mother Mother

Sinners - Lauren Aquilina