#I literally only have 30 tickets but I BELIEVE

[adamant-hearts]

It’s dangerous to pull alone, take them for good luck!

[cicerfics]

Re: the headcanons I shared in this post...

Man. I really do enjoy headcanoning Q as the World's Worst Date.

Like, I adore Q. He's my special baby boy. And I think Bond adores Q, too. I think Bond believes Q is the best date.

But on a date with anyone else, I feel like Q just sucks so bad.

First of all, there's only a 30% chance he'll show up. He may get busy in the labs and forget he had a date. He may have one of his eternal and recurring 'work emergencies' (which he always refuses to explain). One of his cats may develop a slightly upset tummy, and of course Q is not going to keep the date if one of his babies might be ill! Never mind that you booked this restaurant six months in advance or that those theater tickets are nonrefundable and cost you £200 apiece!

But even if he manages to keep the date, I feel like Q is still just The Worst.

He will talk, very passionately and enthusiastically, about some really boring topic his date absolutely does not care about. (Might be something to do with physics. Might be some obscure detail related to 17th century French oil painting. Might be something about cat biology. Who knows! Q has so many interests and opinions, and he would like to share all of them!)

He will 'well, actually...' you. Not with malice! Not to mansplain! Just because he thinks being accurate and factual is extremely important, and of course you want to know if you're mistaken about something...don't you??

He will debate things over the dinnertable. He will provoke a passionate, determined, bare-knuckle academic debate at a candlelight restaurant while a violinist plays in the corner, because that is what's fun for him and he forgets this is not always fun for everyone else.

Q is extremely cute and extremely kindhearted and extremely loyal and really a lovely partner overall! ...But he literally never gets asked on a second date.

Until he meets James H. Bond, who thinks it's very fun and interesting when Q infodumps at him about nanotechnology! He delights in Q arguing with him about increasingly pedantic things, stubbornly refusing to cede any ground whatsoever!

And of course Bond understands about cancelled dates and work emergencies. (He is probably at HQ, too, dealing with the same emergency!). And of course he would not expect Q to keep a date if one of the cats are unwell.

Honestly, I think Bond is very contemptuous of the men who previously dated Q and foolishly declined to ask him on a second date. (You couldn't handle it when Q argued with you for 20 minutes about the aesthetic merits of neoclassical architecture? Skill issue, tbh. Bond is built different. Arguing is such a fun activity! The best part of any date! Needling and pestering and provoking one's partner is the height of enjoyment! Truly, some people have no appreciation for the finer things in life...)

IDK, I just like it when 00Q are meant2be in the most eccentric of ways.

[heavyhitterheaux]

Butterscotch Harlow

First Lady of Private Garden Instagram AU

Liked by jackharlow, urbanwyatt, neelamthadhani, 2forwoyne, taylorrooks, blancahood, and 1,283,052 others

y/ninsta: A little while ago, I surprised smush with a puppy (even though he said no more pets). the two have finally warmed up to each other and all she does is terrorize him lmao

jackharlow: I like how you find my pain humorous smh urbanwyatt: I still can't believe yall literally have fourteen pets now lilnasx: urbanwyatt you mean fifteen, they have druski2funny druski2funny: what the actual fuck do yall be on for me to constantly get dragged like this?!?!? 2forwoyne: yall might as well open up your home and sell tickets because yall live in a damn zoo y/ninsta: all yall can kiss my ass because who is over here every damn week trying to get fed? not too much on my babies. blancahood: you have 3 real babies, pay them some attention y/ninsta: B, I have 5 children. how quickly you forget. jackharlow: who the hell is four and five?!?!? dualipa: jackharlow you and Urban urbanwyatt: NOW WHY AM I ALWAYS IN IT?! y/ninsta: dualipa you a real one for that softtcurse: urbanwyatt because your ass is always doing something smh jackharlow: dualipa and now here you come terrorizing me too smh dualipa: jackharlow I was nice about it but I can be mean. watch that tone. jackharlow: dualipa you better not start with me. I swear yall want me bald by 30. jackandy/naremyparents: I'm convinced that soon y/ninsta will find a way to buy an elephant. mark my words. urbandjack26: jackandy/naremyparents she probably already has one and just keeps it at the actual zoo in Louisville jackharlow: DO NOT GIVE HER ANY IDEAS y/ninsta: 👀👀👀 jackharlow: y/ninsta baby don't you dare y/ninsta: jackharlow BRB

Liked by y/ninsta, druski2funny, claybornharlow, urbanwyatt, maggieharlow, quiiso, jessicakelce, and 1,943,271 others

jackharlow: your shirt says mother so please come and get this puppy. I have not known peace since you bought her 😭

urbanwyatt: jackharlow let's be real for a second. you haven't known peace since you got married to y/ninsta taylorrooks: URBAN! TAKE IT BACK BEFORE SHE SEES IT! 2forwoyne: urbanwyatt not your wanting best friend to kick your ass jackharlow: urbanwyatt you just asking to die tonight aren't you? y/ninsta: I heard I've been summoned and urbanwyatt don't go to sleep tonight urbanwyatt: y/ninsta not my fault you terrorize my best friend! y/ninsta: urbanwyatt is this about me forgetting to make you spaghetti the other day? because right now your ass is acting outta pocket. don't let that mouth of yours get you hair cut off and weed stolen theestallion: Y/N PLEASEEEEEEE blancahood: y/ninsta if you steal it, save me some yungskylark: why when it's taco tuesday, someone in PG acts like they don't have no got damn sense smh shloob_: urbanwyatt my stomach is making whale mating calls. you better fix this shit so she feeds us. urbanwyatt: I SAID WHAT I SAID y/ninsta: urby, you asked for it smh jackharlow: like not too much on my baby now but urb actually claimed me as his best friend for once so I call this day a win y/ninsta: look at my pookie defending me and you were always the first best friend, he just loves me more jackharlow: 🙄🙄🙄

yungskylark: he need to defend my stomach from biting the rest of my insides quiiso: jackharlow IT'S NOT NO WIN WHEN WE'RE HUNGRY, TF? jackharlow: quiiso oh imma eat regardless. idc what happens to yall lmaoooo saweetie: jackharlow just nasty as hell as usual jackharlow: saweetie HAVE YOU SEEN MY WIFE?!?! saweetie: jackharlow for the billionth time, YES! jackharlow: saweetie just making sure lol

Liked by y/ninsta, saweetie, urbanwyatt, theestallion, privategarden, theshaderoom, neelamthadhani, and 3,281,937 others

jackharlow: you see what she does in my time of need? LEAVES ME 😭

But my wife a baddie 😍😍

y/ninsta: jackharlow you are so damn dramatic! I'm only going to be gone for two days! but love you smush. claybornharlow: oh, so the babies have to eat jack's cooking? maggieharlow come save your grandchildren! jackharlow: HEY! THEY'RE FINE! dualipa: I highly doubt that jackharlow: dualipa hop off the nearest cliff y/ninsta: I pumped enough and there's more in the freezer, along with formula and the baby food I made. they're good! jackharlow: umm y/ninsta...... I think I only have enough for a few more hours y/ninsta: WHAT blancahood: oh good lord smh jackharlow: y/ninsta axel is eating like he has never seen food in his entire life maggieharlow: smh jackharlow if you needed me, why didn't you call? jackharlow: maggieharlow I got it handled! claybornharlow: only thing jackharlow has a handle on is.... hmm.... I'm at a loss saweetie: clay, pleaseeeee lmao urbandjack26: chaos in the Harlow household lol neelamthadhani: and jackharlow has the nerve to want more children smh handle those three first! y/ninsta: jackharlow is a good daddy! but his way of doing things concerns me sometimes jackharlow: y/ninsta I know I'm a good daddy. to my triplets and my wife. y/ninsta: jackharlow I'm taking my compliment back smh

Liked by jackharlow, urbanwyatt, saweetie, estgee, champagnepapi, zackbia, taylorrooks, and 1,928,036 others

y/ninsta: pleading for my damn help, and once I get home, this is what I see 🙄🙄

jackharlow: and that was the first decent amount of sleep that I got since you left y/ninsta: jackharlow I see little miss kept guard while you slept. I told you she loves you. jackandy/naremyparents: are yall gonna tell us her name now?!?!? jackharlow: jackandy/naremyparents I want to protect her privacy urbanwyatt: this man has officially lost it lmao saweetie: privacy? she literally pees and shits outside for the world to see jackharlow: not too much on my baby now! she still deserves privacy! claybornharlow: jack, she's a dog jackharlow: claybornharlow and? she's MY dog and what I say goes blancahood: that man don't know how to act now that he has his own pet quiiso: y/ninsta please get your husband lmao y/ninsta: quiiso he's a lost cause. I tried to come close to him while she was next to him and long story short, she is very territorial of him. she likes me, but he's her go to person. like sis, I was here first. show your mom some respect lmao urbanwyatt: not y/n finally having to compete for jack's heart y/ninsta: urbanwyatt he lowkey might divorce me to be able to have all of his attention on her jackharlow: I AM NOT THAT BAD neelamthadhani: jackharlow who lied to you? smh y/ninsta: jackharlow just tell everyone her name! jackharlow: y/ninsta no. that's her business and no one else's. jackandy/naremyparents: she probably doesn't even have one jackharlow: YES SHE DOES! If yall can guess it, I'll tell you saweetie: wait, what did yall end up deciding because it was down to two names urbandjack26: probably named her alcatraz y/ninsta: urbandjack26 over my dead body lmao allthingsy/n: hmm..... Louisville related? y/ninsta: allthingsy/n no for once lol jackandurbupdates: toffee y/ninsta: getting warmer jackandy/naremyparents: caramel? y/ninsta: getting closer! jackharlow: yall get on my nerves jackandurb26: BUTTERSCOTCH! BUTTERSCOTCH HARLOW! jackharlow: 😒😒😒😒😒 jackandurb26: well?!?!? jackharlow: I'm logging out y/ninsta: 😭😭😭😭

[m1ssunderstanding]

You know if even Francie is saying it I'm starting to think old Jim Mac may have been slightly abusive, I don't think that's the right word since what happened it was a different time and place etc. But with the way he treated Paul and Mike, especially after Mary's passing and how he expected so much more when his son was one of the most famous musicians in the world, it's just - his whole family to he fair it's like they never really saw him as human and more akin to a musical monkey

Yeah I would actually call it abuse. I think Jim probably had mostly good intentions and genuinely loved his sons, but that doesn't mean his treatment of them was just or didn't have any affect on them. By my definitions, there's emotional as well as physical abuse going on (Paul was expected and pressured from the time they started to realize how intelligent he was to grow up and save his entire family from poverty; Appearances were everything and emotional needs suppressed; There was no financial security; After Mary's death, Paul was extremely patentified, depended on emotionally and materially by the person who was simultaneously physically abusing him)

About the normalization of the physical abuse specifically for a minute, if it was so normal for the time, why is Paul the only one of the four Beatles to have experienced it? My family has always been working class, and my grandparents who are Paul's age were not subjected to the violence that Paul was. Not saying it wasn't more common then and more accepted, but it's also not something you can just pass off as "that's what everyone did in those days".

Also, I wouldn't be surprised at all if even in that one interview where Paul specifically talked about how he got Jim to stop hitting him, he was downplaying. That's what Paul does. We have no way of knowing. But it does fit with Paul's usual story-telling and framing of events that maybe it was more than what he said.

And yeah, the financial abuse started early and clearly continued far into adulthood, maybe up until Jim's death when Paul cut Angie and Ruth off for selling his birth certificate. Paul was trained as a door-to-door salesman for Jim's club as a nine year old in the literal projects. He figured out how to snatch other people's lunch tickets out of the fire at the inny and pass them off as unused. What are we going to do without her money? He first saw John when he was a paper boy and John was buying chips. As soon as the band started making money, he became the head provider of his family (Jim made 10 pounds a week at the cotton brokers while Paul made 15 a week in Hamburg) and when the band wasn't making money, he found whatever work he could to make up for it. Meanwhile, we have no reason to believe Jim wasn't gambling insatiably. As the child of an addict, I know addictions don't just go away and then resurface when they're affordable again, and Jim was certainly an addict. He gambled so much Paul had to buy his house back for him (that he'd bought for him in the first place while Paul himself was living in an attic room like some kind of starving artist at the same time as the rest of the band was buying their mansions).

Paul clearly loved his dad so much and craved Jim's approval, trying to find a girl Jim would approve of after Jane, trying to be a good family man, trying to stay close to his working class roots. You can even see it in his music, from When I'm 64 to A Walk in the Park with Eloise. (I think the 1920s & 30s influence in much of his music came from him genuinely loving it and also from a desire for his dad to appreciate his talent). But he also had no patience for Jim's frailty toward the end, didn't go to the funeral, and didn't write about Jim's death in MYFN.

I really don't know too much about the extended family, anon, but it does seem the case that part of Paul's role in it, from the beginning, was to be a savior and a cash cow, and no one considered his humanity.

[turttastic]

Was just struck by the overwhelming urge to rate Stormlight characters on their driving ability. I have no evidence I'm going off of vibes alone. Here they are in no particular order:

Dalinar- I think he's generally a fine driver now, though still prone to bouts of road rage when someone won't let him merge. Very bad driver in his youth. 5/10

Jasnah- I think she would be a shockingly bad driver. She seems like the kind of person that believes the rules of the road apply to everyone other than her. The type to run a red light because the meeting she's going to is important. Never uses her turn signals because if shes in the left lane it should be obvious shes making a left turn. Despite her lack of care she always arrives safely and without a ticket, somehow. Would fit right in in Northern Virginia. Also the worst backseat driver ever. 3/10

Sadeas- Good driver but employs bad practices. When traffic is heavy he uses the shoulder of the road as his own personal lane. Only person capable of surviving New York traffic. 6/10

Kaladin- Fantastic driver but kind of slow. Won't make a left turn unless there is literally no other car on the road. Always follows the speed limit and uses his turn indicators. Also the type to yell at everyone to shut the fuck up and let him drive when he's in heavy traffic. 8/10

Syl- Cannot be allowed to drive under any circumstances. Bridge 4 let her drive once and she backed the car into a mailbox. 0/10

Shallan- Shes a bad driver but better than Jasnah. Her following distance is atrocious and she frequently rear ends people, but she does at least try to follow the rules of the road. 4/10

Veil- Worse than Shallan but says she's better. Will take a turn at 60 to try and make the car drift. 2/10

Radiant- Fantastic driver who follows the ruled perfectly. Not great at responding to unexpected situations though. 8/10

Venli- Drives like a psychopath. Weaves in and out of lanes to get there 30 seconds faster. If traffic is bad she will dead ass make a U turn in the middle of the road over a double yellow to leave. 1/10

Rock- Great driver, but hates driving. Not much more to say. 8/10

Sigzil- Best driver in bridge 4, only slightly held back by the fact that he knows every obscure rule and expects everyone else driving does also. 9/10

Moash- Believes the rules of the road are stupid and there to hold him back. The kind of guy who will not let you merge in front of him like his life depends on it. Would go 100 in a school zone for fun. 2/10

The Lopen- The guy that tells you he's a great driver but starts playing pokemon go while behind the wheel because he can absolutely do both. 4/10

Szeth- Mediocre driver prone to shocking episodes of road rage. The kind of guy who would slam the brakes to make the car behind him rear end him out of spite if they were following too close. 5/10

Navani- Fantastic driver. Always has the newest lane correcting tech and such installed on her vehicle. 10/10

Adolin- Cannot stay focused on the road. Type of guy who will look over his shoulder for like 15 seconds to carry on a conversation until Shallan yells at him to look at the road. Horrible speeder. Usually manages to avoid crashing though. 3/10

Wit- Shockingly competent driver. I mean he had all that experience with Wax, so... 10/10

Gavilar- The kind of douche who lifts his truck and has his mufflers removed so he can rev his obnoxious engine whole going through neighborhoods. 1/10

Renarin- He's a good driver in small towns and on winding, narrow country roads, but cannot handle big city traffic. Luckily he knows and readily admits this. 7/10

BONUS:

Rlain- I feel like he's just a typical good driver. Follows the rules as best he can, goes a few miles over the speed limit on the freeway, but nothing crazy. 8/10

Kelsier- It's a miracle he's survived this long with the way he drives. He would make a left on red without hesitation. Vin screamed the first time she rode with him. 1/10

[evilcoconutz]

How I met Neil Newbon.... Twice

TLDR at the bottom. This literally has 2,944 words so I totally understand if you wanna skip around, I tried adding little chapters to help chop it up a bit. I'm a very details kind of person lol.

This took me like two days to type out, still can't believe this happened to me.

I just wanna say that I got a very unique experience and got extremely lucky. When I say I got LUCKY, you have no idea.... I have a shitty memory and will forget this if I don't type it out. This is mainly for myself to come back and re-read again and again. This is my memory of Fan Expo Dallas and meeting Neil Newbon.

I decided to go all three days because Neil had two separate panels I wanted to attend. One on Friday and the other on Sunday. I went dressed as a Sith on Friday with lil Batstarion on my shoulder with a tiny magnetic lightsaber (Space Cowboy of course). We did some shopping and walking around before trying to get my signature with Neil that I had scheduled for that day. Neil's panel that evening was like 7:45 pm and so we joined the line to get the autograph well before then. Around 5ish I think. I get to the back of the line with my husband, we sit there about five minutes and only one other person lines up behind us. (I only uploaded pics of my druid outfit and not my Sith, just imagine the same shit but with a black dress and black and red pauldron, I also carried my personal lightsaber)

I cannot explain how long this line was. it would be at least 2+ hours before we could get through the line on a Friday, I couldn't imagine what Saturday would be like.

It's been a few years I have been to Fan Expo, the crowds would not get better, and I knew that much.

Having every intention of standing in line and waiting multiple hours just to get his signature, I looked around and saw so many amazing Astarion, Karlach, Gale, and Shadowheart cosplays. Not too far from this amazing cosplay!

We also saw a Damon and Karlach hanging out, a couple of Alfira's too!

A Fan Expo Staff Member goes through the back ends of the line and picks out those who have an "All Days" pass, which included us.

He pulls about 20ish of us aside and explains that if we come back tomorrow, we had two options. *Checks Neil's itinerary on phone* "He's got nothing scheduled before noon tomorrow, if you see him at the table early don't hesitate to get in line."

-----The red ticket-----

So if we accepted this red ticket our options were:

Come back between 10-10:15 am tomorrow and get in line asap, to be first in line, they usually only allow VIP to line up during this time and if we had the ticket, we would be allowed through.

Come to the VIP booth tomorrow between 12:30-1 pm and MAYBE get a spot if there are any left.

Don't accept ticket and rejoin the line.

-----Saturday and the virtual line-----

Obviously we wanted to come back the next day to be there before 10:15, but between traffic and trying to find a parking spot we were late. My hubby almost insisting I get out and go stand in line while he wait in traffic <3 Soooo sweet, but I didn't wanna be there with out him!

Before we even get to the sign floor... yeah... it is so crowded we be sardines. We bee line it for Neil's line and immediately get told we need to come back in an hour because the line was completely full. BUMMER. We decide to walk around a bit more to kill time for said hour. There is so much to do and see at Fan Expo, do not sleep on some of these panels! Free programming and cosplay building, it's amazing!

We come back an hour later and are greeted with a virtual wait line! Yay!

I have nothing against these, but as we accepted our virtual wait ticket, we asked about our red ticket from the day before.

We were then told our best bet was either to wait until 12:30-1 pm to go to the VIP booth or wait for our number to be written on a white board they had put up (virtual wait list number in which we could line up). I wish I had a picture of it, but it was incredibly crowded.

-----Let's Go, Baby!-----

12:30 pm just rolled around and we were curious what the white board number was, it wasn't close to ours so my husband asked where the VIP booth was (we had no idea what this meant btw) and were directed to the other side of the celebrity signing area. As we approached, there was only one couple before us. The Staff asked who we were there to see, "Neil Newbon, we have a red ticket." The couple ahead of us was there to see Jim Cummings, which was the booth next to Neil's. There was a brief walkie talkie moment, I had kinda spaced out and my husband tapped me and said "Let's go, baby!" I was like "Uh, where?!"

"To Neil" The staff then swept all of us through a maze of people, we formed a small train apologizing to any one we bumped into. The very kind woman who was in front of us commented on my dress and metal halfling ears. She said she had seem them at Renfair and always wanted a pair (I told her go for it next time, I highly recommend! <3)

They pushed us into a small waiting line next to those who had been waiting for hours. This felt so weird, like I had skipped the line or something (which yes, but like... not for sinister reasons). I probably had about 10-15 mins max to think of what to do or say.

Right before it was my turn to approach the signing table, one of the workers noted "Yall don't have to be so nervous, I can see yall shaking, he's really nice!" Even while standing at the front of the line one of the other staff members came over to chat with another staff, pointing at Neil saying "He's one of my favorites! So nice!"

The girl that was right in front of me, she was trying to load her QR code and the signal wasn't the best. My heart would have hit my stomach if that were me. Imagine waiting all that time and now your phone won't load! Yikes! She did finally get it, I'm glad I had mine printed. Take screenshots of your QR codes if you can't print them!

So now it's my turn to walk up to the table, but just before meeting Neil, they ask your name + spelling on a card, they ask if you want to add a small quote (5 words), large quote (more than 5 words), table picture, signature, that kinda thing for an additional fee. He has prints you can choose from (unconfirmed but possibly free if you pay for signature, looked like Streamilyish prints). She asked "What are we signing today?" I then asked if cloth was ok, and she said it was fine. I told the lady behind the table my 5 word quote and she was a bit stunned, lol. Looked at me like I was crazy or something.

The person in front of me was one of those whom had been waiting quite a long time in line, she was so nervous to get her words out to Neil, like she had been rehearsing all day what to say. She looked proud afterwards and happy.

I honestly didn't know what I was going to say, I'm one of those people who cross that bridge when I get there. I was not prepared at all, but I was confident I wouldn't say anything stupid.

I cannot tell you how hard it was to look Neil in the eyes. I am 5'0" and this guy is tall, his eye's are very blue and it's really hard to keep eye contact, at least for me.

We walk up to the table and he immediately held his hand out and said "HI! I'm Neil!" I shook his hand and told him my name, he said nice to meet you and looked at my husband.

"And you are?" He held his hand out as well.

"Dakota, I'm her husband." My husband got to shake his hand too!

In the loudest Astarion voice, "HER HUSBAND?!? Oh there's nothing to see here, err umm side eye" He kinda did this looking away motion with his hand. We laughed and he leaned on the table and said "What's going on guys?" Nobigneil? Verytallneil! Even with him leaning on the table.

I chose to introduce my Batstarion first. I plucked him off my shoulder and placed him on the table. I told him I missed him yesterday as a Sith because Batstarion was a Space Cowboy. I had Batstarion hold the lit lightsaber and Neil said "Surely I'm not going to sign him..."

"No, you'll sign the material I made him out of!"

"Alison

Feeling cute

might decapitate

later! Astarion

Maker <3"

Immediately, he smiled and said "That's from one of my recent live streams."

"It is!" I replied with glee.

He asked me to hold the fabric so he could sign it. As he wrote the quote, he read it out loud just like he does on his signing streams. he warned me the marker would bleed horribly and I did not anticipate what he meant...

I thanked him but I wasn't expecting what happened next.

Neil held out his hand again after finishing the signature for a handshake, but then met the top of my palm with his other hand "See you in the Streams" He spoke so genuinely. His eye contact pierced my fucking soul. Dedz. I honestly don't think I even said anything after that, it stunned me.

I quickly swept my things off the table to make way for the person behind me, not paying attention to exactly what I was doing. I was just trying to not waste anyone's time, I only had to wait a few minutes for Neil but everyone else waited hours. It didn't feel fair for me to stay longer.

I am not kidding when I say people waited for hours on end. When he was swept away to a photo op or to a panel he was involved in, people waited. I don't think I ever saw his line short.

We walk away from the booth to an empty corner to wrap up my cloth, I brought like 1/4 of a yard of fabric so I could wrap it up on itself. That's when I notice Batstarion and honestly wasn't even upset.

It so bled....

He meant what he meant...

Batstarion got bled on... lol... accurate.

TBH I'm shocked the cloth survived all of that, the ruffle and shuffle of bumping in to others through that traffic on a Saturday...

I had the idea of going to see what number was, up on the white board it was at 1030. I wouldn't have even been able to line up yet. This felt unreal.

-----The Waiting-----

So! Now it's time to take a photo with Neil on the SAME DAY.

It's almost 1 pm at this point and it was so crowded, we decided to go ahead and make our way to the photo op area. Neil's photo op wasn't until 2:30 pm so we decided to just wait it out.

Around 1:30 my husband noticed a spot had opened up closer to the entrance of the photo op line area. They started calling for last call for Mads Mikkelsen, in booth A. I noticed some people in a hurry to get there, I looked up and I see one of my favorite Youtubers!

FunkyFrogBait! I only got like the side of their face, but the glasses and hair were unmistakable. Here's their channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@funkyfrogbait

Seriously though, if it wasn't them, it was a damn good cosplay! Really wish I could have said HI and spread the love, but I never saw them again.

Anyway...

I bought my FanExpo tickets on mother's day and added the signature for Friday and the photo op for Saturday. This put me in group A for the photo op. Depending on when you buy your tickets and how many people buy them is what group your are put in.

I don't remember what time they started calling for VIP line up for Neil NewBORN. This made me laugh, no one corrected this poor man the whole time.

I think there were three people total that lined up in VIP. As soon as they called for group A line up for Neil Newborn, we were off and got in line fairly quickly. Only a few moments waiting in line and an older man that was just passing by, stopped and asked us what we were in line for. My husband said "We're in line for a photo with Neil NewBON." He just said ok and waved his hand as he left. The lady behind my husband snickered and said "Newborn" as if mimicking the announcer.

"Pfft! I know right!?" Suddenly, I was approach by someone who had this in their hands and they gifted it to me!

I'm actually still wearing it as I'm typing this.

I squealed "OMG!!! Thank You!!!" Seriously! So cute!

The energy of all the people waiting in line, it was very comfortable, we all knew why we where there. Soooo many amazing cosplays waiting in line, we saw a Heisenberg, and several Lady Dimitrescu's, a couple of Astarion's.

-----The Photo OP-----

The line is FULL. We have maybe six people in front of us including VIP.

This doesn't feel right, it feels like I just cheesed and speed ran my way into meeting Neil in the shortest amount of time possible without being VIP on the busiest day of FanExpo. WHAT?!?

Granted, I bought my ticket way in advance for the photo op and we got there early, I never thought I would ever be so close to the front of the line like this!

It's time to start the photo op so VIP goes first, but we where right behind them. They bring you, along with 4-5 others into a small room with a table, that you can set your bags on. My husband just held onto ours.

The process of this was so amazing to me, I have never taken a photo with a celebrity before and had no idea what was going to happen. There is very little preparation they give you to take the photo.

Back to back, they give you maybe 10 seconds to prepare. SNAP. Go. SNAP. Go. SNAP. Go. SNAP. Go.

I got a glimpse of the first photo, she had a stuffed Astarion, she had Neil hold upside down. All the others just walked up, posed, left. By "pose" they just did a side hug.

I didn't know what to do so I just did the same thing as everyone else. I walked up and immediately, he went "Heh, Druid..."

At first, I thought we were going to take the same picture as the ones before me, but to my surprise, he touched my antler and said "Ooo pointy" When they called for the picture to be taken he literally yelled

"HORNY!"

I'm sure my face went bright red after that. I said thank you and turned to walk away. He even said "Nice to meet you!" as I left. I was again shocked and didn't say anything! Ugh... Kicking myself a little over that.

As we left, my husband pointed out, Neil really didn't say anything to anyone else. They sent us down a winding pathway to get our prints. We came to a small area and prints started shooting out of the printers so fast, it was actually amazing. (Six Flags take a fuckin note!) Anyways, here is my photo with Neil, my face blocked out because I look like a deer in headlights lmao!

So yeah, if you ever get the opportunity to meet him, you should! 10/10 nicest dude ever. Those bracelets he's wearing are the ones his fans have gifted to him in case you were wondering.

So what's really great about this photo, it looks like Batstarion is leaning on him! <3

I zoomed in and you can really see the red from his signature and his cowboy hat!

This is what he looks like today, it's almost completely gone, dunno if I want it fully gone though tbh.

So yeah. I just wanted all of my memories in a place I could keep them. I don't play with Facebook, Twitter, Insta, Snapchat, or any other social media, so I only post here. I hope you enjoyed my rambling!

The serotoneil was very high this whole weekend! Sunday would be the best day to go if you have kids!

BTW both panels he was in was very entertaining! This clip was from Friday's!

TLDR: I got to skip big lines to see Neil Newbon and maybe saw one of my favorite Youtubers? Batsarion got red ink from Neil's signature.

My Druid cosplay:

https://www.tumblr.com/evilcoconutz/752031078643040256/druid-cosplay-update?source=share

My Batstarion build:

https://www.tumblr.com/evilcoconutz/751141069044023296/lets-write-these-wrongs?source=share

[harryforvogue]

this means you have to write about Harry and Faye at her play or smt!!!

Faye’s not upset. Seriously, she's not. And she lets Harry know too.

don't beat yourself up over it please. really! i’ll see you in the morning

i’ve got to go now okay? i love you, i’ll text you later. <333

Harry reads the message but doesn’t reply. That doesn’t make her upset! She can’t expect Harry to be at every one of her plays, and this one isn’t even the opening night! Though Harry had been real upset about missing that one early this weekend anyways, but he’s been away at some tattoo art convention…business…er, festival? Okay, she doesn’t know what it actually is, but it's a valid excuse for him to miss her shows.

Which, as she’s repeatedly insisted, is totally fine. Harry loves to come to her plays, but of course his job comes first. It’s his career! Just like this is hers.

He’s supposed to have had come back from his weekend long trip this morning. But from what she’s gathered from his very annoyed texts, the car has overheated twice, leaving him and Timothée stranded and very much at each other’s throats.

Timothée even texted Faye a few hours ago.

I’m so sorry. I’m gonna fuckin kill him I’m sorry I'm gonna send your man back to you in a fuckin box I don't know how you stand him sometimes

Faye knows they’ll be fine. She thinks part of Harry’s anger is from missing her show. But as she’s literally told him several times, it’s fine. There will be another show in three days.

When the show is about to start, Faye turns her phone off and takes deep breaths, readying herself for the stage. It’ll be okay. She’s done so many shows without him. She puts on 3-4 shows a week. Of course he won’t be there every time.

The play starts and Faye pushes all the thoughts of Harry to the back of her head. Time to work.

***

Harry didn’t end up making it. When Faye joins her fellow actors and actresses for a final bow, she glances back at the section where Harry would have sat, finding his seat empty. She shakes it off. It’s okay. Really.

When the curtain falls, everyone hugs each other and then they begin to head to their own dressing rooms. Faye’s pulling her hair extensions out carefully in front of her door when someone grabs her arm, tugging her back into the hallway.

She nearly screams, her defense tactics kicking in, but it's only Harry. His hair is messy, his chest is rising and falling quickly, and his face is flushed. “Hey. I’m here. I’m sorry. I’m so so–”

“Harry!” Faye throws her arms around him and hugs him tightly, his voice muffled against her shoulder. "Thank goodness it's you! I was about to bite you or something."

He squeezes her so hard, she stops breathing for a moment. “I saw it. I saw the play, I swear I did,” he whispers. “Every minute of it. And I loved it. And you were perfect. So beautiful, you’ve got the voice of an angel. I loved it. I’m here. I’m a little late, but I’m here.”

Several actors walk by, giving them peculiar looks especially when Harry holds her face, repeating his apologies. Faye opens her dressing room door and pushes him in, locking it behind her.

He’s still reaching for her when she turns back around, his hands finding her waist immediately. “Faye.”

“It’s okay,” she says, gliding her hands up his arms. He’s in usual normal black shirt and blue jeans, curls falling into his eyes. “I’m so happy you’re here! I can't believe you made it!"

“I wasn’t in my seat,” he whispers, pulling her closer. He leans down to kiss her softly, breaking away only an inch to keep talking. “I got there like 30 seconds after the doors closed and I had to beg them to let me in because I knew you and I showed my ticket and I told them you were going to break up with me if I didn’t show up–”

“What?! I would never–”

“And so they let me in but I couldn’t get to my seat so I had to stand by the side but…” he takes a deep breath, grabbing her face between his hands again. His eyes are bright, a bit wild. “I swear I saw it all and I love you and you’re so perfect like always and I’m so so sorry I wasn’t here earlier. You have every right to be furious with me.”

Faye’s smiling so hard, shaking her head. She puts her hands on his. “Harry! Stop! It’s okay!”

“It’s not okay.” He’s bending down to kiss her again, more desperately. “I love you. I love you so bad. Always want to be here.”

“I’m just happy you got here safe,” she says in between kisses when he lets her take a breath. “I really appreciate the effort, Harry.” She pushes his hair out of his eyes. “I hope you didn’t kill Timmy.”

“Fuck Timmy,” Harry murmurs, kissing her again. “I’m never traveling with him again.”

She giggles. “That bad?”

He sighs and shakes his head. “No. Nothing was his fault. I just never want to be stranded with him ever again.” He kisses her once more. “I love you. You were wonderful up there. I love when you sing. Do more of that please?”

She closes her eyes and lets herself soak up all his love as his arms go around her waist again and he’s kissing her like he hasn’t seen her in weeks, twirling her hair, playing with the hem of her dress. He must be so tired from the constant traveling. The place he’d gone to was a decent four hours away, and the whole stranded thing clearly has made it worse.

Faye opens her eyes. “Wait. You came straight here?”

Harry’s nuzzling his face in her hair. “Yeah.”

"You didn't stop at home?"

"Had no time, baby."

“So…Timmy is here?”

“Yeah. He either had the option of watching your play or staying in the car outside for hours, so naturally he bought a ticket way up in the balcony.”

“He must be looking for you then.”

“Don’t care. I’m with my girl right now.” He takes a deep breath and drops his head to her shoulder. “I love you. You’re the best person to ever exist, baby.”

“I should be saying that to you! Harry, you didn’t have to come. You’re probably so sleepy and hungry and I know you want to just get out of those clothes.”

“Doesn’t matter," he insists, his voice firm. "I want to be with you.”

“You could have come to see my play next week.”

He clicks his tongue in disagreement. “Already felt bad about missing opening night.”

She huffs. “That’s ridiculous. You don’t always have to come to those! Work comes up and all that.”

“I always take the day off.”

“But some things are clearly unavoidable.”

“Mhm.” Harry hugs her tightly again, lifting her off the floor. He turns his head and kisses her neck. “You’re so soft. I wanna take you home. Come home with me, yeah? I'll wait here. I've just gotta shower real bad.”

“I’m…I’m being serious!” His kisses are too ticklish.

When he puts her back down on the floor, his mouth is on hers again, kissing her hungrily. “I didn’t even get you any flowers. I’m the worst boyfriend ever, huh?”

“No!” She surrenders to his kisses, and he picks her up again, seemingly unable to pull more than an inch away from her. She wraps her legs around his waist and holds onto his shoulders tight when he spins her. They fall into her makeup chair.

Harry’s hands are all over her as she positions herself to straddle him. “I missed you,” she whispers, grasping his hair. He groans softly when she gives it a slight tug.

He surges forward and catches her mouth again, deepening the kiss until everything melts away and it’s just the two of them in her dressing room.

That is, until there’s a hesitant knock at her door. “Um,” Timothée calls from the hallway. “Are you guys in there? I wanna come in but…are you decent?”

“I’m gonna do it,” Harry promises with a growl to his voice. “I’m going to kill him.”

[archeolatry]

Sparkstember Day 30: Whatever

51 weeks ago I became a Sparks fan very literally overnight, and it has been the best-slash-worst exercise in grief.

This is difficult to write about without both trauma dumping and giving away too much IRL info and/or some autobiographical details; but I also wanted to put it here because I know there are other people who’ll read it and “get it” better than others.

(Felt emotional, might delete later.)

1. A friend of mine died about five years ago. Put simply, he was one of the best, kindest humans on the planet. He was the tireless champion of people and things he felt had gone unrecognized or underappreciated. And he was the kind of stalwart believer that would keep gently nudging you until you Got It. He was also an enormous Sparks fan, and had been since the 70s. He saw them play in rooms of 500 to theaters of 7000 and everything in between. He was there for every night of 21x21. When they were in town, he’d buy extra tickets for friends on the promise that they’d attend the show. More than just being stubborn, he had the patience of a ninja.

He died 12 days after I returned home to LA for good, while I was still readjusting to driving and air conditioning and Pacific Standard Time.

He was spared the horrors of the pandemic, and January 6th, and the three days of collective sphincter-clenching before Joe Biden was announced as the winner of the election. He never got to see The Sparks Brothers or Annette, or see his favorite band headline at the Hollywood Bowl- all after a comeback that even he couldn’t have anticipated.

2. I had resisted the charms of Sparks for a long time, in what I can only describe as an Austenesque series of missed steps and false starts. Being enticed by hearing Lil’ Beethoven over the speakers while working at Famous Arthouse Theater but being told I couldn’t borrow it and being given Balls to borrow instead (which probably set me back a decade). The fact that around 2004 the clearance bin at Amoeba was full of copies of both Plagarism and Gratuitous Sax… at between $1 and $5 apiece. The music industry environment that I “grew up in” leading me to mistake their thumbing their noses at genre for dilettantism. Their daunting discography. The fact that I could almost never take him up on one of those free tickets because I was working two jobs to stay afloat and couldn’t afford too many nights off.

Similarly, there was a lot about my grief that I couldn’t process. I had culture shock upon re-entry. Then there was the pandemic. There was processing my ADHD diagnosis at 38 and mourning all the potential lost in those unfocused years. There were family issues and found family struggles. Outlets of joy and creativity either being postponed or canceled altogether. All of it just sort of coalesced into a sort of flavorless blancmange of inertia and ennui.

I would think about him at certain times of the year and feel the most crushing sadness. Not only for his loss, but that of the community he’d built and welcomed so many into. One full of people as passionate and nerdy and pop-culturally omnivorous as he was.

In both cases, there was always something in the way.

3. It took over a decade of his friendship, a two and a half hour documentary that made me say “Huh, so Sparks aren’t just one slammin’ electropop album and then a bunch of new wave dork music?”, and a microdose of a mind-altering substance, but I finally got it. Overnight, even. One could argue it was the drugs, but those wore off a year ago and I still love this damn band. I love that they were able to give me the excitement of discovery again; of finding a new album or artist that wasn’t spat out by an algorithm but by certified word of mouth (even if it had to come via Edgar Wright). I thought I’d lost that somewhere around age 30.

Patient as stone, he’d managed to keep nudging me until I Got It from beyond the grave.

I can’t say how many times in this past year I’ve cried, or how often I wished I could call or email him after listening to an album. I don’t think I’ll ever know his favorite Sparks song. We’ll never get to argue about our top 5 albums and why we ranked them the way we did. (I think if he were still around he might even be able to convince me that Balls is Decent, Actually.)

I held onto that grief for so long without confronting it. And for better or worse, I’ve kinda been forced to. There’s never going to be anything Sparks for me without the echo of him around it. But little by little —album by album or even song by song— I’ve managed to process it. And if I’m lucky, I can transform it.

4. I joke that Sparks are my emotional support septuagenarian art-pop duo, and they are. They’re my bridge to the friend I never got to say Hello to before he was gone. But more than that, they’re also a bridge back to when I was 25 and downloading obscure 60s albums off of newsgroups because the bands were Sunset Strip scenesters. Of educating myself on film through Famous Arthouse and the video store next to it that gave our staff free rentals. Russell mentioning Sky Saxon and reminding me that I haven’t listened to The Seeds’ self-titled album in at least a decade; finding it on the external hard drive I’d downloaded it to and listening to it with new ears. Hearing Ron talk about film and remembering that, for as much Kurosawa as I’ve seen, I’ve never actually sat down to watch all three-plus hours of Seven Samurai. That I actually have a list of movies to see to that I’ve been neglecting for Who Knows How Long that I should probably get to crossing off. Reminding myself to take in more art and less content; consuming more slow media but not being a hifalutin jerk who can’t enjoy something silly or bingeable. Or, put simply: patience.

It is, perhaps, a little bit like joy.

Thanks fellas.

[thedollarstoresatan]

Something I firmly believe they should have done with Ikerev is simply reduce the prices of literally everything. I'm talking things like story, gacha, and other mechanics. They shut down the game, and now knowing that nothing in-game will ever change again is pretty boring and unmotivating. I know nothing in-game will change, and ive played 90% of the routes, so the only real reason I have to continue to play is for simple nostalgia purposes.

If they were to reduce the prices of things like the gacha, it would at least give me a reason to continue playing through routes to get the diamonds and get rewards from it.

On the topic of story tickets, I just genuinely feel like it would be nice to be able to play an entire route in one go rather than wait 30 days to be able to be able to play through it, especcially if I alreadly completed the route multiple times over.

[fuckwhoeverpickedallthefunnyurls]

Noting down things on my rewatch of Season 1 of Good Omens

While watching that scene where God explained that "it was like playing poker in a pitch-dark room, with a dealer who won't tell you the rules and who smiles all the time" and so many things appeared on the screen I just imagined how long it took to edit/make that whole scene.

In the book it's mentioned that Crowley's remark "You're an angel, I don't think you can do the wrong thing" is supposed to be sarcastic but Aziraphale doesn't notice. Well then I guess I'm like Aziraphale because I also did not and continue to not notice the sarcasm there unless I really watch out for it then slightly I guess.

Rewatching I feel like Eve opening her eyes after taking a bite of the apple is given even more underlinement than when Adam does it. Especially also through the sound effect in the background

I didn't even remember that Ligur & Hastur came out of the ground. To do it on a graveyard too like they....rose from the dead. Yeah cool symbolism or something 👍

Hastur with his flaming hand to light is cigarette is also cool. Once again thinking about editing and special effects etc. etc.

LIGUR'S LITTLE ANIMAL PAL ON HIS HEAD MOVED!!!!!! IT'S PAW OR HOWEVER YOU CALL IT MOVED!!!!

Long hair Crowley

I didn't even notice but Crowley sways his hips EXTREMELY after walking back to his car after receiving the antichrist. This is the Crowley slutty walk everyone is talking about

"Ciao. Means...Food." Always cracks me up. The pause adds to the comedic effect.

The whole "Yes" simultaneously. Also very funny tbh. Especially the way they say/pronounce it.

Until recently when I searched up about the actors starring in Good Omens in detail I literally didn't notice that the actors of Nina and Maggie were literally both nuns in season 1. Call that recycling (or foreshadowing, who knows)

Yooo the soundtrack when the ambulance arrives at the nun hospital is lowkey fire

Crowley's old glasses...I feel like the new ones are better bc they have these things at the side so the eyes are covered completely from all angles. I can't believe I'm getting a pair of them on Monday!! (For my Halloween costume)

WHY are there so many people on the street in front of Aziraphale's bookshop. Is that just what it's like in Soho.

The way Crowley talks and also his expression in that telephone cell are so funny in a way

Now that I've started reading the book and know that Aziraphale was the one blew up/set on fire the block of traffic officer who tried to give Crowley a ticket for parking in the wrong spot, I think it should have been included in the Show

I don't even remember this much happening in the first episode. I'm so used to OFMD's 30 minute episodes. And Good Omens Season 2 episodes somehow don't feel that long Idk why

Nanny Astoresh!!!!!! (Idk how it's spelled tbh)

I never noticed that Nanny's lullaby was to the tune of like the Good Omens soundtrack

Crowley going down the reflection of the escalator to go to hell weeeee

Crowley's little bun ❤❤❤ (+ his coat ❤❤)

Crowley's expression when saying "They [Heaven aka The Opposition] don't suspect a thing

Beelzebub & Hastur & Ligur all have little animal pals I think Crowley should have a little snake pal

I don't know how I never realized the first time watching that Crowley only has the snake tattoo on one side. I always thought he had dual snakes. I guess that is his little snake pal.

Why the close-up shots of Gabriel 😭😭

The famous "Please do not lick the walls" sign!!!

Isn't that Erik the demon that they fed to the hellhound??? He just keeps coming back like a Nokia huh. Indestructible.

Crowley short hair all of a sudden 😢 (he still looks good but it was a jumpscare ngl after seeing him with long hair all the time)

Crowley suggesting child murder on a sunny afternoon (I just now realized, Crowley doesn't kill kids. Is that why he suggested Aziraphale do it? I thought it was just because then it would be "heavenly doing" but this is probably his deeper motivation)

Crowley's watch is really cool?? I had to go back like 3 times to see what all the different lanes for the numbers were for though

Crowley's new glasses too

Them drinking again because they f-ed up

[prettysweetprettysweet]

guys. i've got something to tell you and it's so important....it's so important. but first a recap:

- news that mileapo are coming to Paris, arriving at the same time as @fulltimehabibti and i. ranya texts me the news, all of a sudden i, who has not thought about kinnporsche in a good long while, am utterly consumed by the idea of seeing them with my own eyeballs and confirming they are real human beings. my thoughts return to this constantly throughout the day. i do not want to speak to them or have them notice me! i just want to perceive them.

- our hotel is right next to the Dior Gallery and mileapo are here for the Dior show. the next day, we tap out of our day for a tiny 30 minute break, walking past the Dior Gallery to our hotel. we discover on our way back out that mileapo had been posing with fans only 7 minutes prior at the exact location that we were standing when we discovered this.

- ranya goes to the Dior show and sees them, takes great videos and photos. I literally could not go because of work deadlines. i think, perhaps having reached a neutral point, that there might be another opportunity soon but probably the universe has orchestrated a series of misses to humble me.

- I discover that I had booked our Louvre tickets for the wrong day. we can no longer go for our late evening ticket. during the exact window we were meant to be at the Louvre, mileapo end up there. i am heartbroken but i've made peace with the fact that i won't see them and i'm just glad Ranya got to see them

-today. we are all over, the Rodin museum, pointedly to a few stores looking for certain items, we end up walking by the Galeries Lafayette. ranya asks 'have you ever gone in?' and sort of with a light where-the-wind-takes-us attitude ('yeah lets go in im in the mood to look at stuff') we wander into the galleries and spend about an hour perusing the floors when ranya asks, 'do you want to get bubble tea at this shop?' we head leisurely to the nearest exit.

-we walk out one of the exit doors and me and ranya see him at the same time. i am thrown off because he looks so different in person but i know something is happening. stopped dead in our tracks, ranya says two words: 'that's pond.'

-literally dead in our tracks. we are four feet away from pond who has just stepped out of a van and is waiting patiently. we know something is about to happen and we don't move. mile and apo quickly pile out of the van with huge smiles on their faces. for about a minute they collect themselves, turn, and walk right past us to enter the gallery. five feet away from us, no one in between us. we were not noticed.

a city of 2 million people, an area of 104 km, a full day of activities and our steady stream of minute decisions led entirely by ranya's instincts thoughts and questions, brings us straight to the feet of mile and apo. the probability of that happening is absolutely insane. the previous misses, the way we (mostly me) were obsessing about it, the absolute perfect timing, exiting through that door, us noticing pond despite the hundreds of bodies around us.

i snapped a photo as they walked away bc i couldn't live with myself if i didn't have proof that this insane luck befell ranya who is blessed and god's favorite (i entertain no delusions that i had any hand in this, if anything i was a disability her guardian spirits had to work around).

as i told ranya, i believe in god now. also, this moment was so perfect and absolute that i think im immune to celebrity culture now. i could see al pacino on the streets tomorrow and i wouldn't be phased. i think i also might be ready to die

[because-its-eurovision]

I did not forget that I was supposed to write some kind of concert report thingy @another-sun asked for, but I've just been so overwhelmed

anyway, here are some of the things I can remember from seeing Blind Channel's secret show with @thisisntaparty who I now own my life to 🖤

- the tickets stated that you are not allowed to camp out in front of Tavastia, so we were there maybe one hour before the doors were supposed to open and there was only ten or twelve people before us

- at the door they checked our ids and took signed NDAs that we wouldn't record during Flatline

- there were free water bottles and soda cans available, they also sold merch and I got the new Flatline shirt after the show, no other new merch items

- we just. walked. to the stage. no fence. nothing. like literally Olli's platform was maybe 20 cm in front of us (already started to lose our minds because they would be SO CLOSE to us) 😶😶

- Santeri came to stage and reminded us of the not filming part, and told us that the gig would last around 30 mins

- thisisntaparty was checking her phone and we were wondering if the show would start in half an hour and AT THE SAME MOMENT the intro started playing and Tommi stepped on stage, and then Aleksi and Joonas and Olli RIGHT IN FRONT OF US and then Niko & Joel and I just started screaming and screeching so hard I had to press both palms in front of my mouth to muffle it because it was just too much 😭😭

- they played Over My Dead Body, We Are No Saints, Balboa, Bad Idea, Flatline and Dark Side, in that order

- all of them wore the Flatline promo clothes which I loved because I'm so used to seeing them in same black stage clothes. special shout out Joonas's shiny overalls and Olli's boots ✨️

- I was headbanging ridiculously hard during the first two songs, OMDB still has that great EDM drop with all of them dancing and spinning around the stage and WANS is just SO good and epic live and I love it aaaarrrrrrrr 🖤🖤🖤

- at some point we were just grabbing each other for support because everything felt so overwhelming 🥹

- Olli & Joonas switched places more often than I think they usually do so we got great uhhh close-ups of them both

- almost got hit in the head multiple times by the bass neck because Olli still doesn't know how to handle his instrument responsibly 😅

- Balboa works live like a charm but of course we all knew that, and everyone around me was singing to Bad Idea from the bottom of their lungs, and I'm getting welled up right now because that song has meant SO MUCH to me and made me feel less alone during the last year and just hearing the crowd singing in unison there's darkness and it follows me --ok moving on before I'll start crying again

- I was asked to hide all spoilers and opinions about Flatline, so those are under the read more 👇

- Joel called Dark Side an "old classic" that they "have to play so they won't forget it" 🖤

- when the show was over Joel started giving fistbumps to the first row and at first he couldn't reach us because we were too far, but then he climbed on the platform and gave thisisntaparty a triplebump as if to apologise 😄 and I got one too 🥰 and Joonas gave us highfives as well and I still can't believe they are real people and I saw them up close and touched them and are we still sure that wasn't just a dream or some kind of croup hallucination 🥲

Disclaimer: I heard the live version, wasn't wearing any earplugs so the sound wasn't very clear, and I was also out of my mind 🥲

the beginning/intro is the English version of what Käärijä read from the card in his ig story. it's like an infomercial sales pitch: are you tired of ups and downs, do you feel like you can separate music from your thoughts? or something along those lines. my guess is that it won't be a part of the actual song, but rather a separate intro they are going to use in shows and eventually it will end up on the album, similarly to National Heroes/We Are No Saints. I like it, it's funny.

we've heard the chorus in the preview clips, and melodically it's the part I can remember. as in many other BC songs and especially singles, the chorus is the catchiest part and repeats three times growing bigger and getting more massive sound every time (think Dark Side, Bad Idea, Over My Dead Body, WANS, you get the idea). most of their songs use the same structure and why fix it if it ain't broken.

there are also three or four instrumental parts, one right at the beginning, when they do the stupid boyband dance move <3

Joel said on stage that he was very nervous before the song, and they've said that their music style is changing, but for me it didn't sound that different to their earlier stuff. compared to BB or VP LotSaD has much more variety and experimentation of different styles and sounds, even genres (like Don't Fix Me vs Autopsy or Bad Idea vs Glory For the Greedy), and in my opinion Flatline wouldn't have been the odd one out if it was on their fourth album.

it does sound bigger, heavier, more massive, yes, but otherwise it's a very standard BC single, compared to for example We Are No Saints which has the epic choir and guitar solo we don't have in ANY of their other songs. but of course I neither can remember everything that happened in the song nor did I hear all the nuances and instruments in the live performance, so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

I'm in love of the lyrics and the guitar riff and can't wait to hear to studio version on Friday 🖤

[lovebillyhargrove]

Wake me up when July is around

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

I incorporated my other story "Cucumbers" (which was written earlier as part of this fic when the fic was still in the drafts) into this chapter.

*** Steve's POV

It's Tuesday, and Billy hates Health. It's so fucking boring. Smoking kills you slowly, alcohol kills you faster. Drugs - that's if you want a fast-train ticket out of this life. He doesn't need a performance set up to show how sperm are swimming to get to the egg. He knows about STDs. He's aware if you have unprotected sex, you just might become a papa too early in life.

Blah blah blah, zero new information.

However. He likes some lessons. Like today, Ms. Babcock is handing out cucumbers and condoms. Ms. Babcock is around 30 and probably still a virgin judging by the unsure way she's holding those cucumbers like she's not used to holding anything close in shape, and her tomato-red face betrays her on the spot.

"Let me help, Ms. Babcock," - stressing the cock. Billy's just trying to be nice. He's smiling his nicest smile, no implications whatsoever.

Ms. Babcock almost faints

"Oh. Thank you?"

Steve's rolling his eyes. Of course. Billy fucking Hargrove. Always the charmer. Always having a finger in every pie.

Stupid asshole.

Hargrove's handing out the cucumbers, choosing the biggest one for Harrington. The fuck?

Judging by the look on Steve's face, he wants to shove the giant cucumber up Hargrove's ass. Just to make him less smug, take him down a notch or two.

Not only Ms. Babcock's face is red. Girls are blushing and giggling, and the colour on Harrington's face is close to that of someone who's about to have a stroke.

When all the poor vegetables have been distributed with Billy's kind assistance, Ms. Babcock proceeds to show how you should actually put a condom on a hard shaft-shaped object. She's not doing a good job, maybe it's the nervous shake of her hands, the inexperience? .. but the condom just pops off the tip of the cucumber, refusing to stay there.

Naturally, Hargrove is at it again.

"If you need any help .. I'd be happy to demonstrate, Ms. Babcock, I've trained for that uh .. in my lifeguard classes."

Oh, now he's also a lifeguard. What a bunch of crap, they don't train lifeguards to roll rubbers on dicks.

He's just an idiot, why do all teachers keep believing all the bullshit he tells them?

As for sliding that condom down the cucumber, Billy's making a show so entertaining, everyone is watching. Closely. All girls, some with mouths open, Ms. Babcock, and, what's more interesting, more than a couple of boys. Tommy and the rest of them are lost somewhere under the desks wheezing and in urgent need of CPR probably, which Billy can actually provide since he's a licensed lifeguard and shit.

Everyone is watching and listening as well. To that husky drawl?? Please. Girls' panties are already soaked. Ms. Babcock is going to re-evaluate all her life goals tonight. Not sure the information is sinking, but the words like "penis, shaft, ejaculation and sperm" are definitely getting across.

There's only one person who's purposefully not watching and trying not to listen, although the latter is impossible.

Harrington. Sitting there with the biggest cucumber of all, totally disrespectful of the lecture and the lecturer.

".. So a very important thing is to hold the tip of the condom .. like that.. to let all the air out of the reservoir."

There's literally a moan which escapes someone's mouth right now

"Mmm-hmm .. the reservoir should be able to accommodate all the sperm and not burst under all the uh .. pressure during the ejaculation. Trust me, no-one wants a condom to break."

Thanks for pointing out the obvious, dumbass.

"When you have correctly placed the tip of the condom on the head of the erected penis .."

A girl is leaving the classroom.

".. You should roll the condom down the shaft .. slowly. Some may prefer to do it with their mouth."

Ex-fucking-cuse me??

Ms. Babcock is past the point if caring.

"Once the condom covers the full shaft of the penis, it's time for the actual

*pause

sexual

*pause

intercourse."

The douchebag is clearly enjoying it.

"Here, let me demonstrate it once again. Or better yet, any volunteers from the class?"

Steve's heart pounds in his chest and he's afraid everyone will hear the sound of his heart, suddenly being so ridiculously loud and stupid, what if Hargrove calls his name ??

"Vicky?"

Oh god, he's the dumbest. Like with a capital D. Why did he even think that Hargrove's gonna say Harrington ?

Vicky and Billy look like newly weds excited to spend their first night together. Vicky is on cloud nine and still ascending.

"Now, with two demonstrations, everyone should try doing it on their own. Right, Ms. Babcock?"

There's a pile of ashes on the chair where the teacher was sitting. Tommy and the guys from the team are having a cucumber fight and stuffing unpacked condoms in their pockets in case they get lucky later. Girls are doing what they were told to do, diligently rolling those condoms down. Like they expect Billy to whisper a hot You're doing such a good job, honey.. in their ear. Vicky looks as if she's won a million dollars. Everyone is in excellent mood, actually.

Except, of course, for Steve.

Hargrove goes the extra mile and helps the teacher to collect the cucumbers at the end of the class. He stops near Harrington's desk and stretches his hand out.

Steve is not gonna do it. He's not gonna take the cucumber and fucking put it in Hargrove's hand.

"Well, well, well, looks like you've ignored the assignment, Harrington. Why, you don't think it's a man's job? Have all your girlfriends done it for you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, dipshit."

Hargrove is grinning obnoxiously still waiting for Steve to pass him the vegetable

"If you have an interesting story to tell, I'm all ears."

"Fuck off."

Steve slaps Billy's hand away. Hargrove glances at the teacher but her eyes are on him, so he lets it slide. He proceeds to another desk, leaving the goddamn cucumber still lying in front of Harrington.

Steve really fights the urge to grab it and throw it at the asshole's back.

Hargrove gets extra points for being of such huge assistance, the annoying ass-kisser. How did he manage to get everyone wrapped around his fucking finger, in a matter of what .. a bit more than a month? Even Tommy eats out of his hand, how is this fucking possible. Hargrove this, Hargrove that. Especially after that prank they've concocted together. Tommy was the mastermind behind it, but they sure must've had fun putting the plan into action together. They even kinda included Steve in the whole thing, with the crown, which was cool, but did it make him regret not being there even more?

Maybe.

It's like the crown doesn't belong to him anymore.

***

After the shitshow with rubbers and cucumbers Steve's even more pissed, than he usually is lately, and he doesn't know at what exactly. He sees Hargrove sitting on the camaro's hood in the parking lot after school, smoking a cigarette and looking at his watch in irritation. Vicky is with him. She definitely wants some, and she looks determined to get it.

Steve wraps his arm around Nancy's shoulder. They are walking towards the beamer

"Hey Nance? Whatcha doing tonight? You want to come over?"

"I'd love to but .. "

Wait, Steve knows what's gonna follow

I have to study

"I have to study cause I have two big tests this week."

"Won't you have enough time now? I could pick you up at .. I don't know, seven?"

"I guess.. I don't know, Steve. It might take a while."

She's looking at him with those big eyes, and her voice is so gentle, and Steve thinks he's so in love with her. It's been a tough summer, it'll all get better little by little. He just has to be patient.

***

When he gets home, his mom tells him she and dad are going to Alfredo's for dinner, and Steve's welcome to come with. Steve kinda wants to get out of the house but he's afraid his parents aren't gonna eat that much of the dinner, but pick at his brain, with a little spoon, slowly, asking him questions about his future and speculating about the importance of getting a proper education. Steve's aware, like, really. He has written his application essay, and Nancy was kind enough to go over it and correct it in a couple of places .. more like, rewrite it in a few places.

His essay sucked, okay? He's not good at such stuff. Never been good.

He's not the worst though.

But surely not the best. Anyways.

Steve doesn't want to listen to his dad droning on about all that stuff, so he asks mom to bring him some lasagna from the restaurant, tells her he's got plenty of homework to do for tomorrow, and goes to his room to do some. When he hears "Bye, Steve!" at six, he comes down to watch TV and rummage around the fridge for a little snack. At around seven he thinks he could again try asking Nancy to come over. They haven't been spending much time together recently. He misses her. He misses being close to her.

Steve dials the number he knows by heart now.

"Hello, Wheeler residence, how can I help you?"

"Good evening, Mrs. Wheeler! It's Steve Harrington, I would like to talk to Nancy please?"

"Oh hi, Steve! How are you? Haven't been seeing you around lately."

"Yeah well .. you know, just .. school stuff. It's kinda busy."

"I bet. Hold on a second."

Mrs. Wheeler is covering the receiver with a hand and shouting

"Nancy! Naaancy! .. A phone call for you!"

And a few seconds later

"Hello?"

"Hi, Nance! I'm just calling to see if you're uh .. done with studying for tonight?"

"Oh .. Steve?"

Is she actually happy to hear him, or not really? What's with the tone?

"Uhm .. not quite. Haven't even done half of my flashcards. Sorry."

"Well uh .. maybe you still wanna ditch those flashcards and I'll pick you up in half an hour? You can stay overnight. My parents are at home, but they won't mind. Maybe we can .. you know. Make loooove?"

Steve is trying to sound sweet and goofy, although he's had a feeling in the past few weeks, like every time he wants to sleep with his girlfriend he has to actually beg for it.

There's an exasperated sigh at the other end of the line.

"I told you I wanted to study tonight. Maybe some other time? At the weekend?"

"Yeah. Yeah, okay. The weekend is fine."

He's begged her enough, right?

"Bye."

"See you tomorrow!"

On the other hand, you wanted to date a smart girl, Steve. Here you go.

Parents come back at half past eight, and the lasagna is delicious.

When Harrington gets in bed, he doesn't fall asleep right away. He's tossing and turning. Would really appreciate having his girlfriend by his side right now. They haven't slept together for a couple of weeks already, and Steve's .. well, he has needs.

Like .. people always talk about finding someone's who makes you happy. Who takes care of you and your needs and who makes you complete, and content and it's like you're on the same wavelength when it comes down to what you both want.

In bed, too.

Steve sometimes wonders if that's actually realistic. With all of the girls he's been with, including Nancy, he's never been satisfied. He's always wanted more, and never got it. Like he wanted to give so much, but none of his girlfriends needed that much.

Thank God for other ways to attend to your desires. Steve opens the lowest drawer in his bedside table and digs deep. Fishes out a skin magazine with a busty blonde on the cover.

Hello, beautiful.

He starts turning the pages to get into the mood. Slides his boxers down, his dick already hard and heavy on his belly.

Let's get down to business, ladies.

Steve cups and fondles his balls first, slowly, feeling the slight ache rolling around, the want. Moves his palm up and down his rock hard cock. Smears the precome over the sensitive head, bites back a moan.

Come on, baby.. He's looking at a set of nice bouncy tits, and blue eyes and a slightly open mouth, inviting Steve to put his dick inside the warm heat.

Yeah .. yeah baby, just like that. The head of Steve's dick is wet with precome, and it urges him to stroke himself faster.

He closes his eyes and pictures those blue eyes looking up at him, lips wrapped around his cock and delicate fingers rubbing his shaft. Only .. fuck, what the hell? For a fraction of a second there's an image of a guy's fingers, no, not just any guy's, it's fucking Hargrove's thick fingers sliding a condom on a dick

Fucking shit

Eww

Gross!!

Steve opens his eyes quickly, trying to erase the image

Are you fucking kidding me? He needs only a couple of minutes to do his thing, and that asshole crawls into the back of his mind, trying to ruin it??

Steve's still painfully hard, so he doesn't stop stroking his cock but he keeps his eyes open, just in case. Looks at the open welcoming mouth and the blue eyes staring at him from the glossy page

Baby come on, I just need a little.. little bit more .. yeah, like that, take it all in your pretty mouth, all of it, deep .. oh fuck ..

He grabs the shaft, close, he's so close ..

Hargrove said shaft today, Steve can hear him saying the word so clearly, the shhhh of it, the depth of his fucking voice

FUCK

Okay, just uhm .. he needs to refocus.

Steve imagines how his cock would slide into a warm pussy, wet and tight, in and out, in and out .. that's right, that's good ..

The head of his dick feels full and the balls feel heavy, just a bit fucking more of the tightness..

Harrington lets out a moan of pleasure and a hot stream of cum lands on his chest and belly

Fuck yeah

He strokes himself till he's not shooting cum anymore and lies in his bed breathing heavily

Head empty.

He wants more sex. He's fucking seventeen, has a girlfriend and he wants to fucking have more sex.

Steve doesn't want to take a shower cause he already took one before getting in bed, so he finds some tissues to wipe the cum off of himself, pulls his boxers up, tucks the magazine back in the drawer and closes his eyes.

He's not even gonna think too hard about Hargrove interrupting his masturbation. The jackass is annoying as fuck, he's all over the basketball court, he's all over each class they're having together, he's all over the parking lot, and the whole damn school.

Fucking piece of California trash.

Steve doesn't realize how everything becomes blurry in his mind and he finally falls asleep.

***

*** Billy's POV

Fucking Maxine is late. Again. Last couple of times she was late? Billy waited for her. Didn't even give her much shit for that, just asked her nicely to pay attention to the time. He fucking has a job now, he has homework to do, he can't really dance to the tune of a thirteen? .. fourteen? year-old skanky teen. He's not sure how old she is.

He knows he has to, he has no choice. She is his responsibility. What a wonderful way to delegate stuff. Neil and Susan got married, and Max is suddenly Billy's number one chore, like he asked for it. Like he doesn't have his own life. Everything has become a problem, because he always has to line up his schedule with hers.

Just like now. He actually needs to get to work at 4, and he wanted to have some fun time with this girl who's been following him around since day one, Vicky .. he doesn't remember her last name.

Billy glances at his watch one more time, and decides

Fuck it.

"The little shit can skate home."

He and Vicky get in the car, and he drives her to her house. They park nearby and make out. She smells nice, sweet and girly, and she's cute and so willing to go further.

"My parents aren't home till six, do you want to come inside?"

"Would love to, sweetheart. Can't. Gotta be someplace in an hour."

Vicky is disappointed but at least they sucked each other's faces. That's progress, and she'll be telling her friends all about it.

Billy is strangely not excited about it, like at all. He's not even hard, and he hasn't had anything close to sex since .. well, since summer, when he ended up in bed with a girl he doesn't remember the name of, drunk to oblivion.

He jerks off almost every day, otherwise he'd already be crawling up the walls. Still, the fact that Billy is not turned on by physical contact, and yes, he did feel Vicky's nice soft tits, is a bit worrisome.

Fucking Hawkins.

When he gets home, no-one is there. The little rat must be still skating, and Susan must be out grocery shopping. Billy throws a sandwich together, changes his clothes and is off to Old Joe's garage. Tommy did not let him down. He did ask around, and although the whole Starcourt thing fell through cause they didn't hire anyone from the outside,

"They have weird secrecy around it and stuff, man. Very strange, considering it's a regular shopping mall."

Tommy told him to go check out Old Joe's car repair on Cornwallis. Said he saw a "Help wanted" sign put up there.

Old Joe's son, Pete, decided to move to Indianapolis after marrying a girl from the big city, so the old man was in urgent need of an assistant.

Andy, a guy from school, is bringing his yellow camaro to the garage for a check-up today. He says the engine's making funny noises. Billy can look into that. Give him a chance to get his hands on a Camaro, please. And who knew that he would come across such a beauty in this shithole? Back in San Diego a muscle car was nothing extraordinary, and a couple of guys he knew had really nice ones. Billy's own camaro is his baby, of course, there's no competition, but the chances of having two Camaros in the same small town? Andy and he, they should definitely set up a date for a race.

There's also an old Buick at the garage that needs some work. Billy has already had this job for more than a week. Every other day plus some shifts at the weekends. He's good with cars, and Old Joe seems pleased with his new assistant.

***

When Billy comes home at 9, his dad is sitting in the living room watching a baseball match on TV. The moment the door closes, there's a stern voice calling his name

"Billy? Can you come here for a second?"

Billy has an unpleasant feeling in his gut. Whenever his dad tells him "to come here for a second" it doesn't mean anything good.

"Good evening, dad."

"Evening. Would you care to explain why your little sister had to skate home from school today? You were supposed to pick her up."

Of fucking course. The snitch.

"Dad, I know! I was waiting for her for half an hour, and she was late! I kinda have a job now, I can't be .."

Neil springs up from his armchair and in a second he's slapping Billy on his mouth. It's quick and humiliating and burns Billy like a brand.

"Exactly. You kinda have a job. Do not ever use such a disrespectful tone talking to your parents! Do you understand?"

Does he understand what

That his own dad hates him

Neil puts an index finger up in Billy's face

"I pay for every day of your life. You'll wait for your sister as long as it takes."

Billy is silent

"Do you understand me, son?"

Billy chokes out a quiet

"Yes."

Neil is grabbing him by the collar of his shirt

"Yes?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Go apologize to Maxine."

"Dad, it's not my fault! She was late!"

Neil grabs his collar tighter and Billy feels his father's breath on his face

"I repeat, do not use such a tone talking to me." Slowly, quietly, menacingly

"Apologize to your sister, and always wait for her even if she's running late."

Neil shoves Billy in the direction in Max's room.

It's less than a year.

It's only less than a year.

Billy goes to the door of his stepsister's room, followed by Neil. He knocks on it, and Max's voice pipes up

"Yes?"

Billy cracks the door open and mutters

"I'm sorry I didn't pick you up today."

"Okay." Max squeaks.

"Was it so hard, son?"

"No, sir."

"Alright. Now let me get back to the game."

Neil walks back to the living room and Billy shuts Max's door. He wants to slam it, to bang on it, hot tears are choking him, but he's not .. he's not gonna cry.

It's not fucking fair.

There's only less than a year left.

Billy is not feeling hungry anymore. He goes straight to the shower.

***

Max listens till the water stops running in the shower and goes out of her room. Waits a little more not far from the bathroom door. When Billy comes out she's blocking his way, whispering hurriedly

"Billy, I didn't .. Mom saw me skating home. I didn't even say anything."

Billy stops for a second and then shoulder-bumps her out of the way

"Piss off, Maxine."

He's not in the mood to do any homework, so he just slides under the blanket and closes his eyes.

***

It's basketball practice, which means Billy's suffering. Just pick up the pace, people, for the love of god! Tommy is trying. Andy is actually not playing so bad today. Gotta talk to him about his yellow beast of a car. It looks chic, with black stripes over the hood and the boot. Come on, Andy, you've got such a fast gorgeous-looking babe on your hands. You have to match the high standard.

Hargrove is faster than anyone anyway. He's here, he's there and he's every-fucking-where. Harrington is being exceptionally irritating today. Always getting in his way. He seems to get under Billy's feet on purpose, to annoy him even more. As if he enjoys rubbing against the sweaty bulk of Billy's body. Alright, let's do it, it won't hurt. You want attention? Your girlfriend has you on a sex diet or something?

Come on, take the ball from me. Take it!

Billy lets the loser snatch the ball but then catches up with him

"King Steve, huh?" Billy's chuckling and panting in Steve's ear

"Used to run this school, right?"

"Then you turned bitch."

Harrington is huffing

"Hey maybe you should just shut up, asshole, and play the game."

The next second the ball is in Hargrove's hands again and he sends it straight home. He looks at Steve triumphantly

"Oh I am playing. Question is, what the fuck are you doing here?"

Harrington just stares at him with quiet hatred deep in that brown and tries to steady his breath.

Later in the showers Billy catches himself looking at the dickhead shampooing his hair. He looks kinda pretty. Not that Billy cares. The pathetic jerk just bugs him for some reason, that's all. Like, have some self-respect, dude. Stop moping about your love life, it's just a girl, for fucks sake. It seriously hurts to watch you. Billy has never let himself pine over someone like that. No-one gets called King for nothing, so where is that something you got crowned for?

***

*** Steve's POV

Will his whole year be like that? Steve didn't sign up for that shit. Of all the places in the wide United States of America god has decided to send this douchebag here. To Hawkins. To Steve's town. The asshole ruins every basketball game. Today he called him bitch and told him that Steve used to run this school? Used to, huh. We'll see about that, motherfucker. Steve notices that Hargrove's looking at him in the showers when nobody else sees that. Harrington's eyes were closed too cause of shampoo, but he cracked an eye open and there Hargrove was. Staring. The fuck is his deal.

It's Friday, and Steve's on a mission to spend some quality time with his girlfriend. Nancy remembers that she promised to hang out with him at the weekend, and they agree that Steve will pick her up at six. They can have dinner at Steve's place with his parents and she'll stay for the evening.

Everything seems great. Steve knows that his mom and dad like Nancy, they like the Wheelers. Dinner's good and the sex that happens later in his bedroom is wonderful. They have to be quiet cause of the parents downstairs but it's not a big problem.

When he's driving Nancy back to her house at a quarter to ten, however, things stop being so good.

"Steve? Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"I think .. look, I .. remember how you broke Jonathan's camera a month ago?"

"What? Jonathan?"

Who's Jonathan?

"Jonathan Byers? You broke his camera cause he had taken pictures of us in June, and you didn't like that."

"Of course, I didn't like that. Did .. did you like that?"

"No! Of course not, but .."

Nancy's taking a deep breath

"I had a talk with him. He didn't mean anything bad. He was just looking for his little brother that night, Will. He was missing and Jonathan was uh .. searching for him that night, in the woods."

The information is settling in Steve's brain

"Wait, you had a talk with Byers?? When?"

"A couple of weeks ago maybe? I'm just .. I think that .."

"Have you actually been talking to that sicko?"

"He's not a sicko, okay!? He was looking for his missing brother!!"

"How would taking pictures of us and of you naked have helped him to find his brother?"

"I don't know! He was just .. looking for some clues! But what you did wasn't nice."

"Nance, what he did wasn't nice! I mean .. search the woods all you want, but don't take photos of people who don't even know you're there! It was creepy as fuck and I still think I made a mistake of not going to the police to report that freak!"

"I don't think the police can help find Barb."

"Find Barb? Nancy she's been missing for five months already.. I don't think.. I don't think she's out there alive."

"I know. But at least we can find out what happened. Jonathan thinks .."

"What?"

Nancy understands she's repeatedly said something she probably shouldn't have

"Okay, Nance, I'm.. I really .. I just think you shouldn't be talking to him."

"Okay and I think you should really get him a new camera."

"I should what ??"

"To replace the one that you broke!"

Steve's speechless

"Also I think you shouldn't be telling me who to talk to or not."

And here Steve thought that he was having a perfect evening with the love of his life

"Okay, Nance uhm .."

He shouldn't .. he should probably take some time to process the information. He's at a loss.

They are stopping near Nancy's house. She looks at him, disapprovingly but with a spark of hope.

"Steve I know you were upset at that time but .. what you did, was .. vile. Jonathan can't afford to buy a new camera, and uh .. he really was just looking for Will that night. Think about it, okay?"

Steve's still majorly speechless.

"Yeah uhm.. okay."

"You promise?"

"Yeah, sure."

He doesn't even kiss Nancy goodbye, and neither does she.

"Bye, Steve."

"Yeah. Bye."

That's not the turn of the events he saw coming.

He is not buying Byers anything.

Steve has a suspicion this conversation is far from being finished. Like it's the beginning of something way bigger than just a little misunderstanding.

***

The weekend lets him take his mind off certain things. On Saturday morning Steve goes to Indianapolis with his parents. Spends the whole afternoon shopping. Gets himself some new clothes and a black suit a-la Tom Cruise's character in "Risky Business". Nancy has mentioned earlier, she'd like to dress up as .. what's the girl's name .. Lana for Halloween, so.

Well, maybe. Steve isn't even sure where this is all going. He hopes their love will conquer all the unfortunate events life keeps throwing their way.

Steve also visits a special shop in Indianapolis. The kind they don't have in Hawkins. It's a secret though. He'll reveal the secret next week.

He and his parents stay at their big city apartment for the night.

On Sunday Steve drives back to Hawkins alone and calls Tommy. He invites him and Carol over for the evening, they drink some beer, grill burgers in the backyard and shoot the shit. Just like in the old times. When they both start saying some unpleasant stuff about Nancy, Steve tells them to cut the crap which they do, and the evening is alright.

***

Steve wakes up on Monday morning covered in cum, head all fuzzy from a wet dream he's been having at night. He doesn't remember the details, but is was something involving photo cameras, Hargrove's sweaty, heated body grinding on him, and penis-shaped objects.

The same thought has been on Steve's mind for quite a long time now, and this morning seems to be the right time to repeat it.

What.

The.

Fuck.

***

Chapter 5/?

[ramrage]

God, I'm going to fucking kill myself i swear to fucking god. I don't know how I could've fucked my morning any more than I already fucking have. Here, let me detail to you how I am a fucking incompetent idiot:

Phone fucking shut off in the middle of the night so I get woken up an hour late. Shit's not turning on so I scramble to my laptop to tell my boss about the situation. This is perhaps the one thing that is not my fault, but tbh the list on such things starts and ends here

I decide that as it would lead me to being an hour late at least, it'd be better if I worked from home and so I let my boss know that my phone fucking shat itself and as such I'll be working from home lest I be terribly late. because that would be annoying right? well this was the wrong move, for anyone who is in a similar situation. he says something to the effect of "okay whatever you can work from home but not sure how a broken phone necessitates this"a nd like. whatever. fair. i could've. it wouldve been a bit more difficult since i have my train tickets on my phone but i could by more in person and then id be phoneless throughout the day and ideally id fix this shit asap but i dont have to

we're working on this post, which should've been entirely resolved and ready to go this morning, but i sent him the wrong copy for the post which we had discussed last night, so he was like wtf no dont you remember the change? and ugh. yes. i do. i did. belatedly. strike one.

then he wants to tag companies associated with the post except for one company. im fucking frazzled by my completely stupid fuck up and misread it as "tag companies associated with the post LIKE that one company" which struck me as odd since they're apparently weird about us posting about them. whatever. so i go through and list all the companies and send it his way to get an okay, but he's like. write out the company names properly. and this part is just a misunderstanding because the names will correct to the company's page name so it doesn't matter, but i guess he didn't know this which is fine and given my idiot fuckup not moments prior, a reasonable concern

i explain this, fine, and send him a screenshot of the drafted post with the tagged companies. including the one he said to not tag. fuck. now he's pissed like, i literally said to tag everyone /but/ them are you even paying attention. it would appear as if im not. what strike are we on now?

i correct that. he asks me to tag another company, which i do. turns out i didn't tag one of the /other/ companies that i had sent in the shorthand list and now he's fucking PISSED sending in all caps that i need to proof my work and that this post shouldn't be taking 30 minutes. absolutely correct, sir, it should not. i don't even know what to tell you at this point.

like holy shit. this was fucking brutal. i dont think i have ever been so fucking off my shit, and it was fucking THING after THING you would assume that after the first gaff, i'd be extra sensitive to making my list and checking it several fucking times over, but im just, fucking frazzled and i know we wanted this up before the start of the work day ideally so I'm rushing, and i already fucked up with the whole going in thing, which i honestly dont do much because i am scheduled to come in only twice a week and have somehow been managing to get sick on those days and i feel fucking awful that it looks like im probably playing hookie and shit because come on most people hardly miss work and they're there more often i just.

i used to be able to believe in my capabilities, at least a little bit, but im fucking up this ridiculously easy shit like what the hell. and its not in ways that seem to be entirely out of character for me. like, am i always going to be this fucking way? no. i dont have to be. i could put in the two fucking ounces of effort to get better, to improve myself, but i don't. for example, instead of making up shit to do, im writing this fucking sob story about something that probably doesnt even fucking matter that much and definitely isn't a big issue compared to the quotidien horrid shit people encounter.

an aside, as an honest assessment, i don't have much to do at this job which i guess is nice, but it makes me feel so useless and unnecessary. part of the reason i was more eager to just, work from home. obviously it's more comfortable for me, but i feel like im wasting my time and everyone's time and their water and tea and whatever, because im just taking up space and at least i dont have to pretend im busy if im home and i can get food and not be hunger braindead like i am when im there because im too normally-braindead to leave and get fucking food. like an idiot.

i need to get a new fucking job. i can't fucking come in next week (again, only work two days a week because this is a fucking pity job that i only landed because my dad likes networking, like a sociopath) like how do i face fucking anyone. just sit there like a stupid little bimbo looking nepo pity hire, the fucking child in the kitchen that you allow to tear bread into breadcrumbs because it's fine if they fuck it up, which they will, but it's something you can deal with because it doesn't fucking matter anyhow.

i feel like such a burden despite just sitting there. i am so fucking embarrassed and pissed i fucking. ugh. i

[seokjinsonlyone]

Ari if that's ok with you, may you please tell me how ticketmaster works and what is the process of getting tickets for a good seat...I have no idea what to do. I already have my account created, is there a way to add a payment method beforehand? I also heard about waiting in line to get a ticket, is that true? I read how I should reload the page 10 seconds before the tickets go on sale? I also shouldn't reload while in line or I'll lose my spot? Just some stuff I tried to look up that I read...This is for one of the California shows I plan on going to see Yoongi...We're so close to Army presale already, I can't believe it.

i guess bc you're trying for a cali show i will reveal my knowledge at the risk of my enemies using it against me 😔

so first of all you definitely can add a payment method beforehand which i strongly recommend doing bc even if the tickets are available and you get to check out someone else could be going for the same ones and if they submit before you you will get kicked from the transaction all you gotta do is go to the tab that says my account and then click on payment options and then you should be able to

second there is a waiting room to enter the queue for the purchasing tickets i can't remember how much before the presale starts does the waiting room open it's between 15 and 30 minutes i would check ticketmaster on twitter or turn their notifs on bc it does say when the waiting room goes live or you can just like continuously refresh and wait for it to open which is important!! it determines your spot in the line and it will tell you which place you're in like it'll literally say like okay 2000+ people ahead of you or 847 or 95 or you're next up and yeah once you're actually in the queue don't refresh at all or you'll be knocked to the back even if it seems like the number isn't changing it updates in real time so just be patient

but really EVERYTHING is dependent on you getting a code like if you don't get a code then 💔 like you can't even enter the waiting room without a code and baby them tickets is not hitting general sale like if they even hit the general fan presale it's only going to be resale tickets left which!!! if you plan on buying resale which is what i've had to do with the past tickets i've bought check vivid seats!!! bc people on ticketmaster be tripping tripping on them prices vivid seats is a secure site and be having resale prices that are half of what you'll see on ticketmaster so that's always an option too if you like me and are just like i'm going to that show no matter what

also! my last little tidbit which is if you do get tickets i recommend getting the ticket insurance just bc you don't know what could happen between now and then it's usually an extra $10-$30 but idk that could just me and my friends being an anxious group lol

HAPPY HUNGER GAMES AND MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR!!!

[raspberryconverse]

Real talk: I did not live 100% on my own with very little parental help until I was 32.

Part of that is being a geriatric millennial who graduated from college in 2008, right when the economy tanked. I believe that a lot more of us would have succeeded if the Great Recession hadn't happened. I spent literally a decade trying to figure my shit out while underemployed. I moved back in with my dad twice during that period. The only reason I got out was because I went back to school for web development (after being laid off from my bank teller job when I was 28), and even that wasn't my golden ticket right out the gate.

I started a not quite full time web dev gig during my last semester of college, but got all but officially fired a few months before graduating (I knocked all our websites offline right before I needed to go to class and our account manager told me to go, but the admin got mad that I didn't answer my phone in class 🙄, so they banished me to email only, which joke's on them: that's all I do now and I'm really good at it because of that and get paid triple what I did there). I landed a contract position that summer that was supposed to end in December, but I ended up leaving it early for my current job, which a headhunter actually contacted me for.

I saved up for 6 months and moved out of my dad's for good the following April. I met my spouse in November, we moved in together the next May (yeah, we uhauled it 🤣) and got married literally 4 years and 1 day after that.

Every time I see a 29 year old dreading their 30th birthday, I reassure them that my 30s were light years better than my 20s ever were. Sometimes I think about what might have happened if the economy hadn't tanked as soon as I graduated from college the first time. What if I did land a job at WXRT after being "the best intern ever" (the late Lin Brehmer once introduced me to his brother as that)? Perhaps my 20s wouldn't have been such a struggle. I'd have about $15k less in student debt too, but I never would have met my spouse. And I wouldn't trade that for anything.

If you're not succeeding in your 20s, don't panic. Your 30s are going to be so much better. Trust this geriatric millennial. Your 30s are where all the pieces start to fall into place.

I just want to remind you that sometimes your life really doesn't begin until you are 26+... Romanticizing and obsessing over our youth is harmful. Growing up is beautiful. Discovering who you are and how you interact with the world is a gift. Maturing and learning what you truly want out of life and living in that purpose brings fulfillment and peace. Your life is not over in your early 20's because you haven't figured it out yet, it's just beginning.