#Today should actually be fine but mid to late May? That's the killer.

[babacontainsmultitudes]

I must remember to wear sunscreen in May. Not wearing sunscreen in May is the skin killer. Not wearing sunscreen in May is the little death that brings total epidermal obliteration. I will apply sunscreen thoroughly. I will permit it to get on my clothes a bit. And when my walk is done I will turn my eye to my unburnt skin. Where carelessness was there will be nothing. Only fun in the sun remains.

[nooneactuallyasked]

Diner Gal - Reggie x Reader Part 4

Requested: I am my own requester, we have fun here

Word count: 2,513

Warnings: Not enough Reggie? (Does that count? It does now lol)

Summary: Julie and the Phantoms ( + Flynn ) go to a musical diner/café/restaurant for inspiration and hopefully a future gig but they end up meeting a very special waitress.

Note: Sorry this took so long to get out, it’s quite a bit longer so that’s why. Also, can I just thank and say hello to @i-should-be-writing-my-own-fic​, all of your comments and reblogs are so sweet, you’re amazing! There will be more Reggie content coming up, this is a slow-burn, I hate when characters instantly fall in love, I feel like they need to make a connection first. Okay, enjoy!!!

Part 1 here

Part 2 here

Part 3 here

---

“Alex, stop pacing! Reggie- what- what are you doing?”

“Practicing my bass.”

“In mid-air…….without your bass?”

“It’s called an air bass, if I’m made out of air my bass can be too.”

“Okay, you do that.” Julie grabbed her keyboard stand, standing in the garage doorway, “Luke make your bandmates calm down, I have to take this out to the car.” Without an answer, Julie stumbled out of the garage towards where her dad and the car were waiting.

Luke scribbled in his notebook, without looking up, “You guys need to chill out, as long as we’re all together we’ll rock so hard there’s no way Cal will say no!” Reggie smiles and points a finger at him, “Plus, Y/N will be there, she’ll be able to convince Cal for us.” He adds as Julie jogs back in, “Okay we should be good to go as you guys can all poof in your instruments. You guys should get ready to leave.”

“Alright, but let me finish this line. I am in the zone.” Luke scribbled some final words on his notebook pages before looking up, “Alex, get off the runway, you’re gonna fall over the table or something.”

“But what if he says no and not even Y/N can convince him? I mean, what if- what if he has other bands in mind and just said yes to Y/N because she works there? What if we play and completely mess it up!?” Luke deadpans Alex as his bandmate starts shaking his hands up and down, his pacing increasing.

Luke rolls his eyes, standing up and holding Alex by his shoulders, “Chill, we’re gonna be fine. We’re gonna do amazing, like we usually do.”

“Guys, we need to go. Like, now. So, hurry up, move it!”

---

“So, Cal, my good buddy, my favourite boss, um...would it be alright, and remember that I’ve been a faithful worker for such a long time, would it be alright if I skipped every other audition apart from Julie and her band’s?” Y/N dragged out, her voice rising in pitch, trying to convince Cal with her best puppy eyes whilst he stared back at her with a deadpan expression.

“No, sit down. We have some performers to listen to.” She sighed and sat down in the chair next to him, putting her elbows on the desk in front of them, “I saw that coming…” she leaned her cheek against her palm as Cal chuckled at her, “And yet you always ask.”

“One day…one day I successfully skip this bullshit, mark my words.”

“Sure, sugar-pie. Now stop your grumbling, our first performer comes in 2 minutes.”

---

I want your love, and I want your revenge

You and me could write a bad romance

I want your love and all your lover’s revenge

You and me could write a bad romance

Oh oh oh oh oooh-

The poor girl’s voice broke. Y/N could see it coming, her vowel technique needed a bit more work but the girl was obviously passionate, this would crush her ego.

“You can stop now, we’ve heard enough. We’ll let you know.

Y/N winced, Cal could seem really cold at times however the warm smile he gave every performer at the end of his mantra definitely helped ease any hurt they may or may not feel.

“I can’t wait to perform here, I know you’ll make the best choice. I’ll see you on Friday.”

Maybe this wouldn’t crush her ego, after all, it seemed the thing was infinite. The girl walked out, her high heels clicking on the floor as Cal sighed. She knew why, when auditions were open to anyone who could arrive on time it was hard to find people who had that spark when performing. It doesn’t matter how good your voice is if you’re boring to watch then you might as well not show up.

Friday’s were important, they were a chance for anyone to get on stage and become an overnight sensation. But it got complicated when there were so many people that they had to pick and choose. That’s why they tried to get as many people as possible to perform, everyone deserved a chance to live out their dreams.

“Alright, I’ll grab our next victims. See you in a sec.” Y/N stood up, her chair scraping on the floor as Cal rolls his eyes, “Try to make it not sound like we’re about to murder everyone.” She chuckles, “Sure, I can try but I can’t promise it will happen.”

Y/N walked out of the door and into the ‘waiting area’, this happened every month and yet she never got used to how tedious it was. She picked up the waiting list and scanned the names, “Yulie and the- uh, the atoms? Anton's? Uh, come on through.” She put down the list and walked out, only hearing a chorus of male voices, “Again? Really?” “None of us are even called Anton!” and an awkward laugh from a female voice.

She sat back down in her chair and turned to Cal, “One Yulie and the Anton’s coming or up, or atoms, I’m not quite sure.” Cal started laughing, “Sounds fun, maybe we’ll get some science jokes.” Y/N started laughing too, “As long as it’s not physics I think I’ll be fine.”

The door opened up and four familiar faces walked in, all looking slightly sheepish. “Hi, sorry, it’s actually Julie and the Phantoms. Sorry if we’re late at all, we didn’t really know what time to come.” Cal raised an eyebrow and Y/N chuckled,  “That would be my fault, I never got round to giving them a time. This is the band I was telling you about,” She turned to Julie, “Sorry, I completely forgot the name and the writing, no offence, didn’t particularly help me out.” Luke grimaced at her words as Julie started laughing, “Yeah, I’m thinking I’ll get someone else to sign us up to things in the future.”

Cal coughed to gain our attention, “As much as I love this friendliness we don’t have all day, we have all of your kit here, our guys brought it in earlier. What will you be playing for us today?”

“Oh, uh we’ll we playing a song called Edge of Great. We hope you like it.” Y/N smiled at Julie and Cal nodded, pen at the ready. She hoped for the life of her that they were actually good or Cal would never trust her judgement again.

Running from the past

Tripping on the now

What is lost can be found, it's obvious

And like a rubber ball

We come bouncing back

We all got a second act, inside of us

Julie sat at her keyboard, her finger dancing over the keys. She seemed lost in the music and it was obvious how passionate she was, it made even Cal, the ever poker-faced, break out in a small smile. Julie moves to the middle of the performing area, as the beat drops the boys appear causing Cal to double-take in surprise, Y/N snickers in response.

I believe

I believe that we're just one dream

Away from who we're meant to be

That we're standing on the edge of

Something big, something crazy

Our best days are yet unknown

That this moment is ours to own

Y/N nodded her head and tapped her feet to the rhythm, her smile grew wider and wider, Cal would never doubt her again and she got to listen to a killer band, today was looking up.

'Cause we're standing on the edge of great

(On the edge of great) Great

(On the edge of great) Great

(On the edge of great)

'Cause we're standing on the edge of great

Luke kept sending glances toward Julie as she was dancing in between them all, the stage presence was amazing. They were definitely at the top of Y/N’s list of potential performers.

We all make mistakes

But they're just stepping stones

To take us where we wanna go

It's never straight, no

Sometimes we gotta lean

Lean on someone else

To get a little help

Until we find our way

Luke and Julie gravitate towards each other, their excited smiles growing soft and caring; the chemistry was definitely a plus, it was incredible to watch, like watching history unfold. The two share a microphone as they sing the chorus, Reggie and Alex share a look and Y/N smiles, not even Cal could find a fault in their performance.

I believe

I believe that we're just one dream

Away from who we're meant to be

That we're standing on the edge of

Something big, something crazy

Our best days are yet unknown

That this moment is ours to own

Y/N started dancing in her seat whilst Cal laughed. She then had a brilliant idea, she stood up and tried to pull Cal up to dance with her. While he refused and tried his best to stay down, his efforts were almost futile against his laughing and Y/N’s upward pull on him.

'Cause we're standing on the edge of great

(On the edge of great) Great

(On the edge of great) Great

(On the edge of great)

'Cause we're standing on the edge of...

Luke went back to his mic and Julie came over to Y/N, she smiled brightly and they danced around together. They both felt like they had made a firm friend, the fun dance they shared confirmed that feeling, neither could have felt happier at that moment, they were lost in the music and everyone around could see it.

Shout, shout

C'mon and let it out, out

Don't gotta hide it

Let your colours blind their eyes

Be who you are no compromise

Just shout, shout

C'mon and let it out, out

What doesn't kill you makes you feel alive

Y/N moved back from Julie and sat back down, her smile still evident. Cal laughed at her and she pushed him with her shoulder. Julie turned to Luke as he moved toward her, the heart eyes were back.

Ooh-oh

I believe

I believe that we're just one dream

Away from who we're meant to be

That we're standing on the edge of great

Reggie and Alex joined Luke in singing the chorus as Julie continued her high belt which left Cal in slight shock and Y/N almost jumping and screaming in support and excitement.

Something big, something crazy

Our best days are yet unknown

That this moment is ours to own

Y/N smiled at Alex when he looked up, he beamed right back and continued singing and drumming with a passion that shined through everything else. She looked over to Reggie and sent a smile his way too. He winked at her and chuckled when she rolled her eyes playfully at him, though her smile widened in response.

'Cause we're standing on the edge of great

(On the edge of great) On the edge of great

(Great, on the edge of great) On the edge

(Great, on the edge of great)

'Cause we're standing on the edge of...

Julie went back to her keyboard and slipped her mic into the holder, Luke went over and looked her in the eyes as they sang to each other. The chemistry was off the charts!

Running from the past

Tripping on the now

What is lost can be found, it's obvious

When they finished and the boys disappeared Cal just sat there speechless, Y/N pushed his shoulder before giving them a standing ovation. “That was amazing!” She turned to Cal who was still seated, now thinking over what he just watched, “Oh come on, stand up, clap, stop pretending to be professional we both know you’re not! Book the band and we’ll have them for our last set, we’ll go out with a bang.” Cal still looked unsure, “I don’t know, what if-“ “Okay, no.” Y/N turned to Julie, “You’re our last performance on Friday. We have rehearsals every other day to check up on you, if you let me know where we can do it at a place of your choice. Your soundcheck will be at 2pm on Friday. Don’t miss it. Once again, you’re our closing act so you’re welcome to stay or go at any time between you soundcheck and your performance. We’ll let you know your performance time when we figure out the rest of the performance schedule. Thank you guys for coming, it was amazing, you’re definitely going places.”

Cal stared at her, his jaw slack in surprise, until he shook himself out of it and stood up, going to ask Y/N what she was doing, “What- you can’t just- we need to think about this.” She turned to him and deadpanned, “We both know you were gonna book them anyway, I’m doing you a favour, even you couldn’t help but smile.” Y/N turned back to the group, “Once again, thank you for coming. Ask the front desk for my info, give me a call by tomorrow to sort out a rehearsal time and space.”

Julie smiled widely, her chest starting to warm with a familiar jittery feeling of excitement, “Thank you! Thank you so much! I’ll definitely let you know as soon as I can.” Y/N laughed, “Don’t sweat it, someone needs to make decisions for Cal when he goes brain dead.”

“Hey! I’m still your boss!”

“I might as well be yours at this point” She shouted back without turning her head, causing a chuckle from Julie. She tried not to acknowledge the boys because if what they were saying was true, it seemed to be looking that way, she didn’t want to appear clinically insane to the public eye.

The boys themselves, however, didn’t really have much to add to the interaction. They were just standing there, slightly shocked by how assertive Y/N was when she was passionate about something. Reggie just stared at her, a slight smile spreading across his face.

“Okay, we still have some more performances to listen to but it was great meeting you and I guess you’re our final act now so welcome, whilst you’re with us you are our family so relax. As you can see, our dynamic isn’t the most professional so rules aren’t always completely followed to the letter.” Cal joined them, a smile back on his face. He put his hand on Y/N’s shoulder and they smiled at each other, “This one over here basically runs the place so go to her for anything and everything. I can’t wait to see your performance, good luck.” He turned and walked out into the ‘waiting area’ to find the next performer

“Well, it’s been a blast, I’ll see you next time.” Julie smiled at Y/N and then the boys poofed out, making Y/N jump and stare at the empty space left behind, “I’m not even going to ask…oh! Also, please tell leather boy to stop staring at me, or at least ask why?”

“Oh, sure, I’ll ask him what’s up. I’ll call you as soon as I can, see you soon.”

“Goodbyyyeee!”

---

Taglist:

@hereforthejatp​

@slutforjjmaybank​

@morganayennefertyrell

[blue-angel-wings]

Ez Drabble - Bruised feet and phone numbers.

Warnings: cursing, butchers( I guess idk some people could be vegetarian 🤷‍♀️), injuries.

Characters: Ez Reyes x Reader (Y/N), Felipe Reyes

Summary: reader is a regular at Felipe’s shop and during a visit meets Ez and ends up with an injured foot. Accidentally.

Author notes: Thank you to all the feedback and likes and reblogs and what not on my last fic. I’m so glad it was so well received, so I’ve given it another go hehe. Also I didn’t really proofread so sorry for any spelling mistakes.

When you first moved from LA to Santo Padre you found the change difficult. LA was busy and there were people everywhere and you grow used to the constant company of strangers. Santo Padre was the complete opposite, quiet and somewhat small. Everybody knew everybody and there wasn’t a town centre full of the same shops. It had cute little shops that sold useless but fun items. There was only one well known drugstore, grocery store, 2 clothing stores maximum and most prominent was the singular butcher.

Felipe Reyes had owned the only butcher shop in town for decades and he had a known clientele. You soon became part of that, despite being a picky eater and quite fussy with your cut of meat, you adored the cute old man that never said much but looked i n a constant state of thought.

It was a Friday night, meaning steak night at the home you shared with your Nana and Cousin. You only worked at the salon across the street from Felipe’s shop so you were tasked with buying the meat for tonight. Not that you minded, you and Felipe had grown close due to your frequent trips after work and during your lunch break. It started as a harmless trip to buy meat but then you got roped into a game of chess one Wednesday evening and then the trips became less about food and more about chatting and losing at chess.

“Good afternoon, Felipe my love.” You called out cheekily to the man behind the counter. He returned the comment with a eye roll and kiss of his teeth but you saw the slight smile that graced his wrinkled face.

“Well if it isn’t Santo Padre’s worst chess player. The usual sweetheart?”

“Oh watch it, I’m getting better just you wait I’ll be rinsing you dry before you know it old man. And yes the usual.” You quipped with a hand placed jokingly on your hip. He chuckled, rounding the counter to give you a hug and kiss to the cheek.

“You would take money from an old man, do you have now manners?”

“Not when it comes to gambling” you shrugged. It was true if money was involved all class your mother forced on you went out the window, you were competitive what could you say?

“The cuts you want is out back, I’ll go get it and don’t steal from the register I may be old but I will hunt you down.” He jokingly threatened whilst turning to head towards the back of the shop. You ignored his comment and turned to look at the stacks of books, none jumping out at you. It wasn’t until you heard a secondary voice at the back of store did you raise your head to see the Adonis of a man enter. He was calling back to Felipe about changing parts in the grinder and didn’t see you, therefore giving you time to check out the body he was seemingly gifted with.

“Yeah pops I’ll flip the sign in the door on my way out, you go home early tonight and I’ll fix it when I-.” Stopping mid sentence to look at the girl at the front of store. Shocked to see anybody there this late in the evening, let alone someone so beautiful.

“Oh.” He fumbled with his words, the box of parts in his hands becoming heavy and his palms starting to sweat. Ez tended to be quiet and reserved but he always had words to say incase spoken to. But in this situation he was rendered speechless. Lost in a trance he didn’t spot that you had waved slightly, then extended a hand to shake as an introduction.

“Hi, I’m Y/N, Felipe is just getting my cuts of meat then I’ll be out of your hair-“

“No don’t- I mean you can go when he gives you the meat, we won’t trap you here.” He chuckled nervously towards the end of his sentence unsure of what to say.

You were kinda taken aback not knowing what to say to that, you quickly moved on asking his name, to which he replied and explained that he was Felipe’s son.

Interesting.

He extended a hand to shake, momentarily forgetting of the box that sat in his hands. Due to its loss of balance, it fell and landed on your foot. Hard.

“Oh shit.” You yelped grasping your foot and pressing down to soothe the searing pain you felt.

“Holy shit, I’m so sorry. What the fuck have I done!?!”

He apologised kicking the box to the side to guide you to the table and chair a few steps away. You grabbed his outstretched arm and felt the veins and muscle rippling under his skin. Once again. Interesting.

“It’s okay it’s not too bad.” You said inspecting the foot, it wasn’t a total lie. Although it hurt like hell, the bruising was only faint right now. Tomorrow is gonna be a whole different story.

“I am sorry, I was distracted by your fa- and next thing I know I’ve dropped the box.” He cut himself off when he noticed he was gonna say something creepy, you didn’t notice to engrossed in looking at the damage to your appendage. He continued to apologise, worried you would freak out and leave before he got to know you slightly. What a cutie. This Greek god looked genuinely concerned. Attractive and kind.

For a third time today. Interesting

“Truly it’s okay, it looks heavy. Did you want help carrying it somewhere?” You asked, moving to start to gather the objects that were once in the box. Ez looked at you quizzically.

“I just dropped this on your foot now your asking if I need help. Your foot could be seriously injured- wait here I’ll get some ice.”

You chuckled and grabbed arm to stop him and to kind of feel is muscle again.

“I’m hoping by helping you, you won’t drop it on my other foot.” You laughed and although he didn’t find it funny, he released a breath he didn’t know he was holding, knowing that you didn’t hate him.

Just as Ez stood to get the ice pack, Felipe returned with the cuts all wrapped up and ready for you. He took one look at you sat at the table with a rapidly bruising foot whilst a guilty looking Ezekiel stood next to you staring at the floor. From an outsiders view it was suspicious but to you it was funny.

“Y/N, what happened?” Felipe’s asked placing the meat on the table next to you to inspect your foot. You giggled when Ez sucked in a breath, waiting for you to tell his father about his ridiculous reaction to seeing a beautiful girl in the shop.

“Felipe it’s fine, Ez just dropped a box accidentally on my foot and it’s a little sore. I’ll take some pain killers when I get home and rest it. By the morning it will be fine.” You reassured the Reyes men, who both shared a look of worry.

“I’m sorry for my sons actions.” He said shaking his head and standing once again, you made a move to stand also, but didn’t get far before Ez stepped in to help you.

Once upright, after a momentary struggle with the pain. You were partially leaning against the counter paying for the meat, after much haggling on your part for you to actually pay, insisting that the accident didn’t warrant you free meat. Ez still had his hands firmly grasping you, however they had moved from your hands to your waist, not that you were complaining. After paying and bidding farewell to Felipe with the promise of you returning tomorrow to check in with him and play chess probably, you walked to your car, or should you say limped. Thank god your was automatic and the you didn’t need to use the inured foot to drive. Ez opened the door for you and placed you delicately inside, making sure not to knock the foot on the side of the centre console. He leant through the window to talk to you.

“When you get home make sure to elevate it and ice it. Probably take something for the pain and rest. Understood?”

“Yes Dr. I’ll do just that.” You rolled your eyes at Ez’s remark but agreed internally.

“I am still so sor-“ you cut him off by placing a hand over his mouth.

“Will you stop apologising, I know your sorry. Don’t worry your pretty head, okay?” You replied, moving your hand to tap lightly against his cheek in a faux patronising manner.

He chuckled and turned his head to place a kiss to the palm of your hand, causing a blush to rise to you cheeks, undoubtedly being noticed by the culprit.

“Well how about you give me your number, just so I know how it is in the morning?” He asked whilst fiddling with the tips of your fingers almost like he was afraid to look you in the face. You chuckled and leant across the car to open up the glove box, revealing a pen and paper. He watched as you neatly scribbled down your number and drew a little heart next to it just for fun.

“There, you can text me in the morning. Not too early though, it’s my day off and I don’t want to be woken by a guy who breaks feet in his free time.” You said as he took the paper with a smile on his face. You said your goodbyes and you drive off, looking forward to the text you would be receiving. Back at the shop, Felipe watched as his son looked longingly at his future wives number written neatly next to a little heart just for him.

[meat--grindr]

Hi I saw that your request thingy was open so I was wondering if maybe you can do a headcannon or a small fic of a child reader leaving a cute Valentine's day card for Harry Warden? Just cute fluff?

First of all, let me apologize for how long this has taken. I wish I could say that I’ve been really busy, but in truth, I just haven’t felt like writing these last few days. but we’re back at it now! Secondly, I’m really sorry if this isn’t exactly what you were looking for. I really struggle to write children, so I decided to take this prompt from a more neutral perspective, though it does low-key focus more on Harry. Fluff is also really not my forte, and things get a little dark for a moment, but I promise it’ll turn out fine! I’m really excited about getting to write for Warden though, because I’m actually from the area this film was shot! As such, we only respect the 1981 version in this household! People from the island speak in an…interesting way that I couldn’t help but include in this…so sorry if it sounds a little goofy or makes anything confusing. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this!

Harry Warden Receives a Valentine’s Card from a Child

·       The rattling of the thick brass keys against the door and the heavy clunk of the lock clicking open echoed through the near-empty hospital room. With the faintest whisper of white trousers, the orderly, a portly fellow with a ruddy, wind-burnt complexion entered the room. Harry Warden watched him passively from his perch upon the bed, which was already made up neatly. His sleep clothes were folded and ready to be laundered, waiting atop the desk to be picked up by the laundry crew. The orderly caught Harry’s gaze and started violently, “Jumpin’ Jeez-us, Warden!”

·       A second orderly, younger than the first, though cursed with a wicked case of smoker’s cough and a face like a can of worms, poked his head in the room. “'Sgo-in-on in here?”

·       It wasn’t unusual for Harry to rise and ready himself for the day long before the orderlies came around to release him from his room. It was a habit from his mining days he had been unable to break, with only one exception. In the days leading up to the anniversary of the accident and the massacre that had followed, he remained in bed long after he was called. On more than one occasion, he was forcibly removed from beneath the covers after repeatedly refusing to get up and take his medication. During this time, he became moody, despondent, and difficult; prone to outbursts of violence. Especially in the mornings.

·       Yet here he was on the 11th of February, bright eyed and bushy tailed, a pleasant smile on his face at 6:30 A.M. “Bill, Dave. How she goin’ b’ys?”

·       The first orderly, Bill, gaped for a moment, floundering for a response. Dave shouldered into the room, a small paper cup in his hand, saving his partner from his own dumbfounded shock. “Well, yer full of piss and vinegar today, ain’tcha?” He thrust a little paper cup out towards Harry, who took it with a nod of appreciation, downing the three pills inside. They scraped down his dry throat, but he didn’t complain.

·       “I think I’ll spend the morning in the common area, if that’s fine by you.”

·       Dave cast an incredulous glance over his shoulder at Bill. “Like fun, Harry. You know we can’t letcha down there this time of year.”

·       Bill looked Harry up and down, clearly contemplating something for a long moment. “Well, why not?”

·       Dave swung around to face him, apparently forgetting how foolish it was to turn your back on Harry Warden at the best of times. “Because he’s -” Then he stopped. He was going to say, ‘Because he’s in his February mood,’ But that wasn’t true. Warden seemed to be in very good spirits. He wasn’t exhibiting any of the behaviours that would require them to keep him separate from the other patients...so, why couldn’t they?

·       He rolled the idea around in his head for a moment or two, before turning back to Harry. “Alright, but one peep out of you and you’ll be pickin’ yer teeth off the floor with two broken arms, you hear me?”

·       Harry merely nodded, smiling placidly up at him, apparently unperturbed by the threats. Dave couldn’t shake the feeling that the murderous miner was up to something. He swiped a hand across his face, muttering, “Christ, I’m croakin’ for a cigarette,” as he stalked out of the room.

·       Bill motioned for Harry to follow. “I’ll take you down there now.”

·       But as they approached, the door, he thrust one thick arm out, blocking Harry’s path. “Seriously, Warden. Be on your best behaviour. People get jumpy around you this time of year, y'know.” Despite himself, he had grown to like the little man, and seeing his patients treated roughly never sat well with him, though there was little he could do about it.

·       Harry set his jaw, the pleasant expression chased from his face, replaced by an unreadable blankness, though his eyes flashed angrily, his voice was calm. “I know.”

·       Bill held his steely gaze for a long moment, before dropping his arm, and leading Harry through the twisting maze of hospital halls.

---

·       Upon arriving in the common area, Harry Warden settled into an armchair, tucked into the furthest corner. He settled quickly, turning his attention to the others in the room. His eyes passed quickly over the nurses and orderlies who were keeping watch over room – keeping watch over him. He could feel their eyes on him, but he paid them little mind, preferring instead to watch the other inmates as they read, drew, or wandered the room chatting either to one another or no one in particular.

·       The staff eyed him warily, content to leave him alone, but not unsupervised. The patients seemed unconcerned with the sudden appearance of the man, but calm and collected as he may be the nurses were unconvinced the day would pass without incident.

·       Though as the hours passed, one by one, they were distracted with other tasks, drawn into tiny disputes between other patients, or conversations with each other. By the mid-afternoon, they had all but forgotten that he was even there. He had yet to move from his chair in the corner, absorbed now in a game of solitaire he had spread out on the low table before him.

·       He did not look up when two new figures entered the room, hand-in-hand. One was tall, wearing a thick woolen coat and sensible shoes, while the other was very small, bundled tight in a jacket, mittens, and a hat: a mother and her child. Both figures were shivering from the cold and covered in a fine dusting of snow, which quickly began to melt in the warmth of the room.

·       Had he had looked up, Harry would have recognized the woman. She was a nurse, though clearly off the clock as she was without her uniform. He would not have recognized the child – he hadn’t known she had one, not that he cared.

·       Several of the patients exclaimed with delight at the sight of the pair. Unbeknownst to Harry, as he rarely spent any time in the common areas, she would often bring her child in to visit with the more well-behaved residents of the hospital. They usually made their rounds during the holiday seasons, bringing bags of goodies at Halloween and cookies for Christmas.

·       Today the child held a wicker basket in their tiny hands. It was almost too big for them to carry, but they managed to totter over to the nurses’ desk and plop it down on the ground. They began to pull at their mittens, tearing the hat from their head, and wriggling out of their coat.

·       When they were finished, their winter things lying in a sopping pile on the floor, they looked up to their mother for permission to begin distributing their presents.

·       With a fond gleam in her eyes, she nodded, and the child squealed with delight. As their mother bent to pick up the clothes they had discarded, they dug into the basket with both hands, coming out with a little stack of handmade cards. Each one was fringed with white lace trimming, a large red heart, struck through with Cupid’s arrow proudly displayed on the front.

·       One by one, the Valentine’s were placed into patients’ hands with a bright smile and a tight hug. The childish joy that lit up the room as the cards were distributed was such that no one even thought of Harry until it was too late.

·       The child took stock of the room and noticed only one set of hands without a card. They skipped back to the basket and picked out the final card. With the thick pink paper clutched in their hands, they approached the man in the corner.

·       It was one of the nurses who spotted the child, mere footsteps away from Harry Warden, Valentine in hand. If there was one man on Earth that child should not have been alone with in that moment, it was Harry Warden. She gasped, hands flying up to her mouth.

·       The child’s mother, along with the other staff members turned to see the child reaching out, extending the card toward the Miner, the Valentine’s Killer, and she nearly screamed. Before she was even aware of what she was doing, she was moving, rushing toward her child, terror coursing through her, sharp and icy-cold.

·       Looking up from his game, the pink card filled his vision. The red heart seemed to pulse as though it was alive, and a high-pitched ringing filled his ears. His breathing quickened, as his lungs began to feel thicker, full of dust, like they had been when the mine collapsed on top of him.

·       For a moment, Harry Warden’s vision went red, and rage built like steam in his chest. Lord Thunderin’ Frig…

·       His fingers curled into a fist, longing for his pickaxe, knuckles cracking as he did so. The child remained blissfully ignorant of the danger they were in. They giggled, thrusting the card out toward him, “Here, Mister!”

·       Their voice cut through the fog gathering in his mind, and he shook his head, looking down at the child in bewilderment.

·       “Take it! Taaake it! I made it special juss’ f’r youuu!”

·       Doing as he was told, almost without thinking, he reached out and took the card. His hands shook as he opened it and read the little poem inside, ‘Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet and so are you! Happy Valentine's Day!'

·       The writing was neat and precise, clearly the work of an adult, but the child had signed it in shaky, messy scribbles near the bottom right corner. It was completely illegible, but it made Harry smile, nonetheless.

·       He raised his hand and ruffled the child’s hair just as their mother, followed closely behind by the nurses and orderlies arrived to apprehend him, “Thank you, kiddo.”

·       Their mother quickly placed herself between her child and Harry, her chest rising and falling heavily. Two spots of livid colour stood out high on her cheekbones.

·       Harry held his hands up in an attempt to placate the frantic woman. “No harm done.”

·       She looked unconvinced and began to shoo her child back towards the nurses’ desk, eager to put some space between the unlikely friends. “I think it’s time we get going. Say 'goodbye' to everyone.”

·       “But Momma! I didn’t get my hug!”

·       “That’s okay, sweetheart. Mr. Warden doesn’t like hugs.” She shot him a dark look over her shoulder, and Harry said nothing in return. He did, however, keep his eyes trained on the child as they said their goodbyes and their mother fussed over them. When coats had been rebuttoned and mittens placed back on tiny hands, the child turned back to Harry and waved.

·       He smiled and waved back.

·       The orderlies and nurses still hovered nearby, completely floored by what they had just witnessed and unsure of what to do next. All eyes remained trained on Harry Warden.

·       He stood, reading the card once more before pocketing it.

·       One of the nurses found her voice: “You…uh…gave us quite the scare, Harry.”

·       “Ah, the kid didn’t mean no harm. Anyway, it’s the dance I can’t fuckin’ stand,” he paused for a moment, his hand hovering over the new-found treasure in his pocket, “I’d like to go back to my room now. I want to hang this on my wall.”

[teabooksandsweets]

Very Long Post On Cancel Culture, Wokeness And Tumblr

Warning: This text is not one bit ordered because it all belongs together and I write it down as it comes to mind, and I also stray off topic a lot.

Also: This text is NOT about how all people are too soft or special snowflakes or too sensitive or anything of that sort. On the contrary.

I am glad that people finally begin to speak out against cancel culture, but their approach to it is usually wrong.

It’s not just that it doesn’t matter if people maybe were not perfect(ly woke/pc) in the past, and can change. What really matters is that people don’t have to be perfect and woke and pc at all.

And I am saying this for an entirely different reason than you might think, for a different reason than people usually speak out against political correctness, and “sjws”, etc. The problem is: all this makes people less kind, less considerate, less caring and open towards others. It makes them hateful and hostile and selfish.

In the late 00s/early 10s everyone was a relativist, saying how there was no right or wrong, etc. and luckily that’s over. But in the mid-to-late-10s people began to be absolutely obsessed with morals in an entirely corrupted way.

The thing is this: people should always strive to learn and to behave well and kindly. Generally. Everyone. Always.

But people ought to be generally kind and good, not specifically perfect in regards to very specific things, and otherwise absolutely hateful, as is nowadays encouraged, especially on tumblr.

Tumblr cares about specific social issues. All of these are incredibly important. But tumblr doesn’t see the Big Picture, doesn’t connect humans to each other, fails to recognise that all humans are human and should treat each other well.

Instead, to tumblr, the smallest offence of a Very Specific Kind, one careless word, one lack of knowledge, is seen as the worst crime imaginable. But truly bad, truly evil behaviour of another sort, a sort that for some reason isn’t condemned by tumblr, is seen as unimportant, sometimes even encouraged. “It doesn’t matter if you harm people and make them suffer, if you are hateful or dangerous, as long as you remember the strict codes we have made up.”

All this is done without any sort of coherent logic or consideration. Different social issues (e.g. sexism and racism) are sometimes played out against each other to make a point, sometimes blended to make a different point, as long as the person making the point can use it to appear as woke or good as possible.

It is seen as absolutely fine to harm great many of the people in whose name one claims to do good, if that brings one closer to the goal of Doing Good In Their Name For Everyone To See.

Minorities and people who are for some reason often oppressed are taken up by people who are (in that sense) more privileged as a sort of “cute little pet” to be infantilised and misused, in order to make a point, or maybe just to offend a family member one doesn’t like, or simply to Appear As Woke As Possible.

(The patronising attitude towards minorities also often shows in the context of religion. There are so many posts on tumblr claiming to support a specific (often oppressed) religion, only to make plenty of other posts on how they hate specific aspects of another religion (usually Christianity, but not necessarily) or of religion in general, which this particular religion shares. But of course—some people (usually people of colour) are “excused” for being religious, even if their actual faith is looked down upon.)

Groups of people are only seen in the context of one Time And Place (today’s USA) and members of these groups in other times and places are judged and treated in exactly the same one as one would judge and treat their people in That One Time And Place.

Good manners and generally kind and considerate behaviour are rejected for being elitist and snobbish and antiquated, and instead replaced by a perverted sort of Political Correctness, which is by far more elitist and excluding, overly specific and only benefiting a few people, and free of any sort of warmth or kindness, instead expecting people to pass a test of sorts, to remember the latest overspecific information, and to repeat it correctly, regardless if one understands it, regardless if one actually applies it towards actual people.

Being considerate of others, treating them well, not behaving absolutely horridly should not be special. And the idea to take away all good manners, all kindness, all consideration, because they are supposedly outdated or even elitist, and to replace it with a stiff and superficial degeneration of what used to be political correctness, so that people behave well in certain circumstances (and not at all otherwise) out of nothing but fear is Not Good.

Pseudo-PC behaviour is even sometimes used to disguise hostility towards the people it should actually protect, you can harm people as long as you are Saying The Right Things.

(This also shows in the treatment of fictional characters. A serial killer might be a fan favourite, but once they say something racist or otherwise bad it’s like “uh, I can’t believe they did that! Now my fave is problematic!” No, your fave has always been very problematic and now there’s just another bit that shows what you should have known for a long time!)

Groups whose actual intention is supposed/claimed to be of a social and helpful nature are destroying themselves from within, attacking their own members or subjects of care in precisely the manner in which they claim outsiders do.

People are actually speaking out in favour of bullying people “if they deserve it” even though people always find “good reasons” to bully and harm people, and claiming that particular people deserved it is their go-ahead. As someone who has been bullied, I can assure you that people always find reasons, and if they are encouraged to bully people who “deserve it” they will make sure that they appear to deserve it.

People are encouraged to denounce people, which specifically means to accuse people of something to the personal benefit of the accuser, usually either made-up or twisted. I repeat this: People are not encouraged to report people for doing something bad, they are encouraged to denounce them, which has a very different and very specific and very, very harmful meaning.

Even more so, whatever accussation of a person is made, is believed. “Innocent until proven guilty” has been abolished. The moment a person makes a claim on someone the judgement has been made.

Even more so, well-meant, but politically incorrect things are considered worse than pc hate. If a person knows all the language, has all the background info, they can be personally hostile. If a person actually means to be kind, but is doesn’t go about it the “right way” is considered horrible (eg. a man who may be a unintentionally sexist but who doesn’t mean any harm is seen worse than a true misogynist who knows feminist lingo).

Even more so, “tumblr swjs” much too often adopt concepts of their actually hateful people. For example, while actual Cultural Appropriation is a horrible thing, people on here take it as far as “all cultures are valuable but they Need To Stay In Their Place and Never Mingle and Make Them Impure”. Which is precisely the argument of many... what? Ah, yes, white supremacists. Yes, you here me right. Not all WPs openly admit that they hate all people who aren’t white. No, many claim that they just want to keep people seperate, just like so many of the people on here who claim to be anti-racist. But cultures have never been seperate, many cultures people think to have nothing to do with each other have influenced each other greatly, and others that people were one and the same culture are actually not.

(In that vein, people on here also don’t understand that racism is always bad, but also always different, and that that dividing people into “white” and “poc” is once again a very Modern Day USA thing, and that people can be racist in many more shapes, and that what people have been considered white or not has changed greatly over the years. All racism is bad, but not all is the same.)

But even more so, in the name of social justice, many methods of actual fascists have been adopted. People don’t notice it, because the primary focus is not on what things are done, but on who does them and to whom they do it.

But that’s a particular problem. Consider the concept, not the victim or the culprit. Even if you apply it to people “who deserve it” it does. not. help. if you model for path to social justice after bloody revolutions that led to fascist governments, or if you systematically (help to) ruin people in the same manner as fascist states did and do. Perhaps I am biased. Perhaps I am simply a German who is frightened of seeing people on the internet telling others it were their moral duty to persecute people in manners common in nazi times and/or the gdr. But perhaps people should also consider whether it really makes sense to condemn people for using the term “witch hunt” outside of sexism. Because it’s also a method, a structure, no matter to whom it is applied, or why.

But to get back to the terrible lack of proportion. This is especially relevant in regards to celebrities. The bar is so high and so low at the same time, and so randomly adjusted, that people are praised and put on pedestals for absolutely no proper reason, simply because they acted like normal decent people, and then, just as quickly, pushed off it, and condemned, just for acting like normal decent people. Normal = nonetheless flawed, because: human. There’s so much undeserved hate following so much praise, usually unexplained, so that people just join in nwithout even knowing what “good” or “bad” that person has done. People are glorified for nothing, and then ruined. And what does it teach normal people?

To always look out, to always be frightened. To worry about every thing one says or does. Not about the way one treats others—treating people badly is a power move, of course, and general decency is entirely insignificant. Just to remember the special jargon of a superficial political correctness, and sometimes even the in-jokes of people. (I have once witnessed people bullying a child out of this site, claiming she was homophobic, because she didn’t understand a gay in-joke. You only get that on tumblr. I hope.)

And because people constantly have to prove that they are not bad, they can not even be normal. It’s not enough to be normal, considerate, kind, but imperfect people—everyone has to absolutely perfect, by standards set by some random people who claim to know better, and whenever people just appear particularly good by those people’s standards (especially if they are something Inherently Evil, like men) they get praised to be Especially Different Someones And The Only Good People Of Their Sort. Until they got found out, are finally proven to be normal, decent human beings, like the majority of all people, and are suddenly brushed aside, hated forever, another point made to prove that This Sort Of People Is Always Bad. (To this adds: Too many bad things are immediately attatched to a specific group of people, even if it is commonly done by various groups/all people/actually the people complaining about it.)

I mean, sure. Tumblr is the first place in which I’ve seen people who criticise Christianity don’t do it for the obvious problems in churches and with some of their members, but for the concepts of loving one’s neighbour and forgiveness. The first place in which I have seen people who “advocate” for human rights also support the death penalty and vigilante murder. The first place in which I have seen people talk unironically in favour of the French revolution and the USSR.

But, kids, I know, most of you are over-excited and extremely well-meaning teenagers, and it’s important to rebel, and all, and I hope you will never outgrow your social conscience, but you should really outgrow the way you apply it. Because there’s people among you who don’t mean well, and who take advantage of you.

I mentioned the (luckily) outdated relativism earlier, and I need to say more about it. It’s mingled its shades of grey with today’s black-and-white mindset. In the past, nobody could citicise people for doing something because nothing was seen as really good or bad. Now everything is either good or bad, and people still can’t critise someone for doing something they don’t like—unless they prove it’s bad. You can’t just say “Oh, this is not for me. I don’t like it.” Or even “This or that aspect of this should be looked at critically.” No. You have to say “Here I Will Prove Why This Is Evil And Shouldn’t Be.” Criticising someone, or just disagreeing, can’t be done out of worry over hurting their feeling, just as it was in the olden days (aka ca. 10 years ago) of Everyone Should Do As They Like, so what to do instead? Prove they are Bad and Everyone Who Doesn’t Agree That This Is Bad Is Also Bad. “Not my cup of tea” is over, everyone has to drink the same tea, always.

To this adds that things that people don’t like are always equated to things that are really undoubtedly bad. Thanks to this, actual terms used for actually bad things lose their meaning, and the demonisation of harmless things ultimately leads to the trivialisation of what’s truly bad. Words have lost their meaning and are used just as one pleases in order to “call someone out”.

(A particular common matter on tumblr is the equation of pedophilia and age gaps between adults; but the issue that many adults on tumblr seem to consider themselves children and seem entirely concided that they could also become victims of child predators, whereas they themselves can prey on children because they like Disney movies or whatever; and many children on tumblr think they had a right to patronise adults, is a different issue about which I really don’t care to talk right now. The idea that people also shouldn’t be in relationships with people who may have some sort of societal advantage over them, also holds plenty of implications that make me very uncomfortable, but about which I also really don’t care to talk right now.)

To come back to an example mentioned earlier. Take misogyny and racism. Two bad things, two things to fight against, two things that shouldn’t be exploited to fight the other. To say “I want to fight the bad treatment of women, and specific things are prevalent in specific cultures therefore I can be hostile and prejudiced towards these people.” is not good feminism, not even bad feminism, it’s plain racism, and nothing else. But to say “This thing may be really harmful to a lot of women is valuable to people of this or that culture, so one has to support it.” is also not anti-racist in the least, it’s just an attempt to appear open minded by people who are in no way affected by it. And these are two examples—it goes far beyond racism or misogyny.

There’s plenty of very right and good posts on tumblr on how people should benefit from society, rather than society benefitting from them. The same should be applied, for example, to feminism, and anti-racism, and other social causes. They should be positive and helpful to the people who need their help, and they need to work together. These are just two examples, to all other work to help people of all sorts applies the same.

If you don’t ask yourself “How do I help individual human beings, and how does my cause help some of them?” but instead ask “How do I help My Specific Cause That I Care About, regardless of the people?” you are doing it wrong.

And tumblr woke culture teaches that all humans are are seperated into little groups, which sometimes overlap, and that all people within these groups are exactly the same. But all humanity is one big group, and every human being is an individual, and some individuals have more in common with each other than others, but all in all, we all do belong together.

But I am not saying this to encourage even more people to attack others for caring about a specific social issue, seeing that as prove that they only cared about that. People cannot probably handle everything, and all things to play into each other anyway.

And yes, I believe in social mindfulness, in work to help others and especially to help those who are in particular need of help, in care and in consideration. But I believe that the means to these things, whether it’s a specific group with which people choose to identify or even join, or a concept such as political correctness, etc. should serve the people and their well-being and safety and happiness. People should not serve them out of fear or being torn down by strangers on the internet.

And people shouldn’t alienate each other, they shouldn’t attack those who want to help, they shouldn’t refuse people to grow and to learn, they shouldn’t seperate social issues from each other as if we weren’t all people, as we shouldn’t cooperate to b help those who need help. And to do all this, we must allow humans to be human, to be imperfect but generally kind and well-intentioned. This striving for over specific perfection combined with disregard for general kindness can not possibly help. It only alienates people, frightens them, and paints those who actually want to do good in a bad light.

Please: My writing was perhaps very muddled up, and it may be that I took up some strings that I didn’t finish, or phrased some things badly. So if you wonder about anything I wrote here, or dislike anything of it, please tell me so that I can explain myself. I’ve seen so many people lately write things that in the end got negative responses that were in no proper relation to the original text and obviously based in misunderstanding, and I don’t want that.

[theparanormalperiodical]

11 Weird Events that Happened on Halloween

It’s that time of year again:

Your local Tesco’s has officially begun stocking christmas-related food items, cheap cat ears have completed their invasion of every female-directed fashion shop, and thanks to global warming the temperature has barely dropped since mid-summer.

That’s right - it’s nearly Halloween!

And we all know what Halloween means: striking moments of political change!

Oh, wait, is that one just me?

Yep, thanks to British politics, the most wonderful day of the year could potentially be tarnished by Brexit.

But it got me thinking: what other major events have happened on Halloween?

And has anything spook-tastic ever coincided with All Hallow’s Eve?

Clearly the 31st of October has an aura of frightful goings-on.

In basic terms, Halloween is believed to be the only day of the year when spirits can cross over from the afterlife and wander with the living once more.

So, could these events be a coincidence, or sparked by the spirits crossing back over into this world?

Today’s edition of the Paranormal Periodical is going to be all about every event - from the political to the paranormal - that has happened on the 31st October.

Let’s get spooky!

We start with the political side of things.

And let me tell you, there’s like, a lot of things.

So, no, Brexit will not stand alone as a political memory on the best day of the year.

In fact, it honestly seems like a large chunk of American history just decided to, like, happen, on this one day of the year.

But we start with something less spooky, more sad.

It’s the Wreck of the Monmouth.

Take yourself back to 1837. 

It’s - yes, you guessed it, you understand the basic premise of this post - Halloween night. It’s also the moment from which the forced deportation of Creek Native Americans from their homeland begins, shortly following a war in 1836. 

This deportation used a number of boats, including the one that titles this tale: The Monmouth.

The story goes that it crashed into another steamship, and that the sheer force of the collision sent it to the depths of the Mississippi river. 

It is estimated that 400 Native Americans drowned in this collision. It has even been regarded as the worst American Steamboat accident to date.

But there seems to be more discussion surrounding this tale than simply its occurrence on All Hallows’ Eve:

It ignited a wider discussion of the portrayal of Native Americans among the population and in the press. As it was in a remote area and ceased to include white people, it was simply ignored by the press.

As I said before, American politics does seem to dabble on doing things in late October, but it really specifies a niche for itself by having yet another disaster with a ship.

Only this was to have much more global consequences. 

The USS Reuben James - created to protect supply shipments during WW2 - was sunk during conflict on Halloween.

It lost two thirds of its crew, and even earnt the honour of being the first ship sunk during the conflict.

Indeed, this occurred only a month before Pearl Harbour, cementing itself as part of one of the most iconic moments in modern American history.

Happy Halloween?

But before we get tangled up in American history, how about we move to the next crazy event that coincided with the spookiest day of the year?

Well, I’m afraid that’s going to involve getting knotted up in another country’s political history to do so… 

It was 1922 when Mussolini - the first European dictator to start the mid-20th century political trend - marched on Rome. 

Having created a coalition government, he decided to consolidate his power by (you guessed it) this infamous march on Rome. 

Bolstered by a sea of Blackshirts, his fascist supporters, his control symbolically began.

Keep your horror films, and hold onto your ghost stories: this scares the living shit out of me.

Our final event takes us back only 4 years before this march, and back across the borders to American history.

However, this does shed a more positive light on the darker moments already detailed.

It was October 1918 when the affectionately named ‘Death Spike’ of the Spanish Influenza hit the USA.

And with a death toll topping 50 million around the globe, it certainly seems to stick to the darker themes so far discussed in this episode.

(Look, I’m sorry history happened, I can’t control fascists or stop people dying.)

In October, 200,000 Americans from the Influenza died. This accounted for nearly a third of the total death toll in America for the Influenza.

The positive side to this story? It was Halloween that actually ended this month.

Yep, Halloween ended the Death Spike.

Well, phew, that’s over.

Can we finally get onto some cool, spooky yet awesome stories now?

What about some stories with less death and hatred and pure evil?

Maybe a handful of quirky coincidences to liven up the depressing stories already listed?

Nope, the next ones are just as awful.

Now we turn to the spooky shit that coincided with Halloween.

We start with possibly the most ironic death… ever.

Harry Houdini is the most famous magician - okay, fine, you can keep Merlin, whatever - that’s ever existed.

Yet it’s not actually his life that features on this list - it’s his death.

It was October 1926 when Houdini gave a lecture to McGill University students about fraudulent spiritualism.

Hahaha well this is awkward hahaha.

Basically, he invited some students to his dressing room at one of the theatres in Montreal. For some reason, one of these students decided to score several hard blows at his stomach.

One abdominal infection later, and he was dead. 

And so the death train continues.

Our next stop is still as deathy, but a smidgen more spooky. And a splash more serial killer.

In 1981, a couple was murdered. 

They were beaten, shot, and the house was left ransacked. The police even claimed it had the looks of an execution.

Initially it was believed to be related to drugs, but the tone of the case quickly shifted when it was discovered the murder was predicted by an prisoner.

Serial killer David Berkowitz gave an eerily accurate description of the murders mere weeks before it occurred.

Clearly, this would make him a give-away suspect in this case, but as he was in prison during the murder, this removed him from the list.

We now turn to a similarly ghastly murder.

In 1977, a baby girl went missing. She was snatched from her own cradle.

And the first terrifying detail of this case starts with her abduction - which okay, fine, that definitely counts as creepy enough but somehow it gets worse: as the doors and windows were found to be locked, it is believed the abductor was hiding in the closet.

Oh, and it only gets worse and weirder - her body was found in a fridge.

I suppose you could assume that the murderer, I don't know, panicked and hid the body in a pretty ordinary un-suspicious object. 

But this is when things get interesting. Prior to this, two young girls were also abducted and lured into a fridge, confirming that a fridge is somehow a prominent prop for a serial killer who may still be lurking among us.

One of these girls died during the abduction, and it was the surviving child that claimed it was the babysitter who attempted to abduct them. 

The babysitter was found to be innocent, especially considering the surviving child was so young.

We now move from deaths to a disappearance:

Even now, no less than 18 years later, information regarding Hyon Jong Song is scarce.

Following a Halloween party in 2001, Song made it home at 4am, still decked out in a traditional Halloween bunny costume, after a lift from a friend.

The last evidence we have of her is her belongings which were dropped off in her house - she had even managed to remove her eyelashes!

But this was to be the final trace of this grad student.

Our penultimate tragedy takes us to Indiana, and brings us swinging into the sixties.

During the Indiana State Fair, an ice skating exhibition was on display for hundreds of visitors. 

But it was during the finale that disaster struck.

Unknown to the managers of the event, propane gas was leaking from a tank in a room nearby. You don’t need a chemistry degree to tell you this wouldn’t end well.

The fire utilised in the finale’s effects set it alight, causing an explosion that killed 74 and injured over 400. 

We now turn to an occurrence that seems uncomfortably common for Halloween.

I take that back - I suppose it suits the time of year well...

In fact, I’d like to call this section: 

when Halloween decorations were not Halloween decorations but were actually dead bodies. 

Brace positions, everyone. 

The most famous case only take us back 5 years.

In 2014, a man dragged a fake corpse out of his apartment on Halloween in front of a crowd of unsuspecting onlookers, and kicked the head across the street in a jest.

Only it wasn't a jest.

And it wasn't a fake corpse.

It was his decapitated mother. He had killed her shortly before this.

A similarly tragic event - which doesn’t sound dissimilar to any old urban legend is the death of William Anthony Odem.

The 15 year old was hoping to embellish the theme of his haunted house by staging a Gallows scene in the basement.

Unfortunately, he hung himself in the process.

In fact, hangings in particular - accidental, or not - often have ended up as decorations.

Suicide victims has often gone unnoticed during All Hallow’s Eve, disguised as the ghosts and ghoulish figures hanging on trees across streets and suburbs.

And so we arrive at our conclusion.

Depressed and scarred for life.

So much for a horror film binge and thought out costumes - these real events should scare you enough for Halloween! 

[hannahindie]

We’re No Heroes - Chapter 2

Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, sister!reader, Tony Stark Word Count: 2,169 Warnings: Adult language, crochety Dean, and Tony Stark. I think that’s enough warnings. A/N: So this whole Avengers/Supernatural idea I had got out of hand, and this is the second part to it. There is no timeline for either universe; it’s most definitely an AU. As far as the Avengers go, it’s obviously before Infinity War (for reasons I’m sure you can guess) and I think, generally speaking, we’re just ignoring that Age of Ultron existed. (Unlike a lot of people, I didn’t mind it...but that’s just whole other level of me trying to fit stuff in, and it already hurts my brain. lol) Also, we’re just going to pretend that Civil War either happened and turned out better or it just didn’t happen at all. The Supernatural part is set sometime after they’ve found the bunker. What I’m saying is, I do what I want, and I want all of these people in one spot, and there doesn’t need to be an explanation. Doesn’t have to make sense. Just...let it happen, and bask in it.

Beta’d by @pinknerdpanda, because she’s been my lifesaver as of late. Well, always, but especially here lately. Thank you, twinny. <3 “ I love grumpy old man Dean.”

As always, tags are at the bottom. If you’d like to be added let me know! This fic will, hopefully, be updated every Wednesday until it’s over. Hopefully.

“So, Agent Springfield...Springfield, right?”

“Yep, that’s right.”

“Like Rick Springfield?”

“Yep. My friends call me Dick.”

“May I call you Dick?”

“Nope.”

“Okay, Agent Springfield, what I’d like to know is why you’re in New York. I’ve spoken with the local authorities, and not one of them can tell me why you’d be called in. Not a clue.”

“Hmm. Well, the locals aren’t always included in federal investigations, so there’s your explanation. I don’t report to them.”

“I don’t think you report to anyone. I think you’re impersonating a federal agent, and at the same time, lying to one. You do realize that I’m part of the organization, right?”

“I don’t even remember your name, much less your job description. No offense.”

“Let me refresh your memory, Dean Winchester. My name is Phil Coulson, and I’m the reason you aren’t in a jail cell in a high security lockup. You’ve done some pretty heinous things, so forgive me if I’m less than patient with you. Now tell me, what in the hell happened out there?”

“Why don’t ask you ask your merry band of men in tights? I seem to recall they had a hand in all of it.” He leans forward and Coulson sits back slightly, his eyes wide. “They certainly didn’t seem to be offended by someone like me. Maybe explain why the heroes of the universe would associate with such a heinous individual such as myself? You call me a serial killer? Looks like maybe you should do your job better. I seem to recall a few casualties at the hands of,” Dean rolls his eyes as he air quotes, “‘Earth’s Mightest Heroes’. Now my bro…” he clears his throat and leans back in his chair, “my partner, he’s the true crime expert so he would know better than me...and correct me if I’m wrong...but that sounds a hell of a lot more like a serial killer to me.  And you just let them run around in high tech suits and without superversion…” he whistles and puts his hands behind his head, “Doesn’t sound like a good idea to me, although I guess the government has a lot of those-”

“They aren’t serial killers, and if I were you, I’d be very careful how far you step over the line. I’m not asking them, I’m asking you. What happened out there?”

“You’re not as much of a pushover as I thought you would be, Phil. What’s your last name again? Collins? I bet you can feel it in the air tonight, can’t you?”

Coulson glares at Dean, his knuckles white as he clenches them tightly. “It’s Coulson,” he manages to grind out, “and you’d do best to remember that. Now, tell me.”

“Awwe, I’m just having fun with you. I know your last name is Coulson, Debbie Downer. Anyway, it started about a day after we got to New York…”

“Well, that was a fucking bust, wasn’t it?” Dean grumbles as he takes his jacket off and tosses it in the backseat.

“Did you really expect it to go any differently? Since when do we ever actually get the answers we need?” Sam grabs Dean’s jacket off the seat, straightens it, then lays it gently on the bench seat with his own. “Maybe Y/N’s got something.”

Dean climbs into the car and shuts the door as Sam goes around to the passenger side, “Yea, maybe.” He starts the car, and after checking his mirrors, pulls out into the road and is quickly honked at by a taxi that seemingly appears out of nowhere. He sticks his arm out the window, flashes his middle finger, then continues into traffic. Sam rolls his eyes and sighs, and Dean looks over at him. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Why don’t you call Y/N, see what she’s found?”

Sam is already scrolling through his phone, and he glances at Dean as he puts his phone up to his ear, “You know, you could go easier on her. She's an adult, and she grew up the same way we did. It's different with her, she can take care of herself.” He frowns when she doesn't answer and hangs up.

“What?”

“No answer. She's probably researching. Let's head back to the hotel and see what she's up to.” He taps out a quick text and hits send, then puts the phone back into his pocket.

“I know she grew up like we did, but that doesn’t mean anything. We just found her, the last thing we need is another Adam situation.” They both fall silent at the thought of the youngest Winchester brother still trapped in the cage. “Anyway, I’m just saying, we gotta watch out for her. Her mom will kill us if something happens.”

“She’s not going to kill us.”

“Sam, she could be Ellen’s twin. She will absolutely kill us.”

“Dean, you’re being ridiculous.” They pull into the valet parking and Dean practically growls when he hands his keys over. “What is wrong with you?” Sam hisses under his breath as he grabs their jackets and his bag from the backseat.

“If she so much as gets a thumbprint on a window…” he glares at the valet as he climbs into the driver's seat, Adam’s apple bobbing nervously as he swallows thickly under Dean’s hateful gaze.

“She’ll be fine. What is with you today?”

“I just don’t see why we have to stay in this fancy ass hotel. We could have stayed outside the city for cheaper, and I could park my own damn car. Maybe gone to a bar where I don’t have to pay to just sit down.”

“You don’t have to...you know what, never mind. It’s only for a couple of days, anyway. We’re scoping it out, then we’ll meet up with Garth and see what we need to do.”

Sam smiles at the woman at the front desk, and she blushes furiously before ducking behind her computer. Dean rolls his eyes as Sam pushes the elevator button.

“What?”

“Nothing, Mr. Universe, nothing at all.” They walk into the elevator and Dean jams his thumb into the thirteenth button. “Thirteenth floor. I feel like that's just asking for it.”

It is Sam’s turn to roll his eyes as they ride the rest of the way to their room in silence, other than the canned Muzak playing through the small speakers above them. The elevator finally slows to a stop and the doors slide open with a ding. “When we get to the room, please just...lay off her, huh? She's not a kid, she's a good hunter.”

They step out and begin walking down the hall. “Why don't you quit telling me what to do? As much as you're repeating it, it sounds like you're trying to convince yourself that she's fine.” He puts a hand on Sam’s arm and stops him outside their door, “She’s our responsibility now. We promised Alice that if she came with us, we’d keep her safe. Just being a Winchester is one strike, and I’m sure Y/N taking our last name is probably a second.”

Sam sighs, “Do you really think Alice would have let her come with us if she didn’t trust us? I mean, you’ve met her, right? She’s not exactly a pushover, and I’m also pretty sure she doesn’t care about the last name thing. Y/N did that before we even knew she existed. Nothing is going to happen to her, okay? Not everyone we care about dies.” Dean raises an eyebrow and Sam sighs again. “Alright, I see your point. She’ll be fine.” Sam unlocks the door and pushes it open, “Y/N, were you able to find anything-” He stops mid-sentence when he sees the that the room is empty and exactly the way they had left it that morning. “Y/N?”

Dean throws the bathroom door open, then walks into the connecting suite to find it also empty. He walks back into the living room, “You were saying?”

“I’m sure there’s a good explanation. Maybe she decided to work at the library instead of coming back here.” He pulls his phone from his pocket and frowns, “She’s not answered my text message.” He taps the screen, then quickly puts the phone to his ear. “Y/N, where are you? Call us back as soon as you can.” He hangs up, then looks at Dean, his brows knitted in concern.

“Okay, clearly no one came here...so somewhere between the police station and here, she went off course. It’s Y/N, so that’s not a surprise. And like you said, when she’s researching, she doesn’t pay attention to anything else. You’re probably right, she’s just at the library. Now, where’s that?”

“Do you realize how many libraries are in this city? She could be anywhere.”

Dean plops down on the couch and runs a hand over his face, “Yea, well, we have to start somewhere.”

“If you have a good idea, let’s hear it-” Sam is interrupted by his phone ringing and he quickly answers it. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me. Get anything?”

“Seriously? Where are you?!”

“Oh, yea, sorry, I got caught up. You’re never gonna believe-” A muffled voice in the background cuts her off, there is a moment of whispering, and then she comes back on the line. “Actually, can you meet me somewhere? It’s uh...it’s kind of hard to explain. But I think I’ve got some help on this little demon problem we’re having...well, not little. It’s not little at all.”

Dean grabs the phone out of Sam’s hand, “Where the hell are you? You were supposed to come back to the hotel room, what happened?”

“Like I said, it’s hard to explain. I need you guys to meet me at this address.” She rattles it off before Dean has a chance to answer and he grabs the notepad from the coffee table and hastily scribbles the information she gives him.

“But you’re okay, right? All in one piece?”

“Yes, Dean, I’m fine. Thank you for being worried. Now, hurry your asses up and get over here.” The line goes dead and Dean hands the phone back to Sam.

“She gave me an address, let’s go.”

“Where is she?”

“I guess we’re going to find out.”

Dean pulls up to the address Y/N gave him and slows to a stop, his eyes slowly traveling from the entrance to the top of the very tall building.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“What?” Sam asks without looking up from his phone. Dean grabs his face and turns it to the window and he looks up, his jaw dropping at the sight in front of him. “Are you... are you sure this is the address she gave you?”

“Yea, I’m sure.”

They both climb slowly out of the car, their heads turned upward at the sight, and close their doors.

“Mr. Winchester?” Dean looks down and sees a valet standing in front of him, his hand held out and smiling. Dean frowns and the valet laughs, “I’ve been told you’re very protective of...Baby. I promise, sir, she’s in good hands. I wouldn’t have this job if I wasn’t good at it.”

“He’s right you know, I don’t hire riff raff. Happy parks my cars all the time, top notch parking. As a matter of fact, he just parked my car, did it perfectly. Actually, we’ve got a deal, ideal parking in thirty seconds or it’s free.”

Both Winchesters snap their heads in the direction of the voice, their eyes wide. The man belonging to it walks casually down the stairs, sunglasses obscuring the upper part of his face. Dean drops his keys in the outstretched hand and walks around the Impala to join Sam. The man stops in front of them and pulls his sunglasses off, and Sam’s face transforms from disbelief to pure awe.

“What...we…”

“You must be Sam.” He looks him up and down for a moment, “You sure you aren’t part of the super soldier experiment? I mean, you’re huge. What year were you born? And where? I’d like to know what they put in the water there, maybe use it for something here. Science, you know. And you,” his eyes travel to Dean, “you must be Dean. I mean honestly, Y/N said you guys were large, but I think our resident super humans are going to be a little jealous. I’m not, because I’m comfortable with what I was born with, but you know how superheroes can be. Well, genetically enhanced superheroes, anyway.” He holds his hand out, and both Sam and Dean shake it half-heartedly, still confused by what is happening.

“Y/N...is here?”

“Yea, funny story about that. Anyway,” he waves in the general direction of the building, “welcome to Avengers Tower. I’m your host, Tony Stark. Food and beverages will be provided. Now, I think we’ve got some demons to take care of. Shall we?”

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[notnaturalanahi]

What Kinda Lame Name For a Demon is Dean?

Characters: 1st person Gender neutra!lReader, Demon!Dean, nameless Demon, OC’s (also unnamed). It can be a Demon!Dean x Reader if you want to.

Wc: 3167 (consider this a long drabble)

Warnings: Foul language, drinking, violence, blood, death (minor character), loose ends and loopholes, open ending. 

[This is a crack fic, don’t lose sleep over it]

Summary: I decide to stop  for a drink on my way home and it’s defenitely not what I expected for a wednesday night.

A/N: This piece is my entry for @evansrogerskitten Ash’s Hottest Dean Challenge my prompt is bolded in the text and there’s also a gif. I have so much writing this one. It was supposed to be a drabble of this scene that popped into my mind, but it turned out into this cracky/action thing. 

Unbetad, brace yoourselves for mistakes.

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Whatever, love you. bye!

The weather’s chilly and drizzly tonight, from where I’m sitting at the counter I have the perfect view of the dark night and the empty street outside. Well, empty with the exception of the occasional car that rolls by with the windshield wipers mid speed or the passerby covered head to toe and carrying an umbrella or a few street dogs… Okay, maybe not that empty. Anyway,  since I forgot my umbrella and only realized it after I got off work I decided to make a stop when I saw the bar down the street from my office was open. This first half of the week had been dreadful, so I deserve a drink to cut short the week.

Staring at my drink in hand I reconsider my previous plans. I made the decision as I walked into the establishment that I would only have two drinks, but now as I contemplate the last of the 2nd one I find my mouth itching for more, maybe just a 3rd or even a 4th after that one… I know I shouldn’t, I have an early morning tomorrow and I should be at home right now finishing with the retouches of my thesis. It’s been a long way but I think after the professor’s last corrections it’s gonna be perfect… so yeah, I’m going home.

A sudden chill runs down my spine, as if a cold breeze hit my skin or someone breathed right behind my back, twisting my neck I see noone. The front door remains closed, a big clock above it telling me it’s 8:45pm. Taking in my surrounding for the first time since I walked in 30 minutes ago I see the bar is almost deserted. To my left, a happy looking couple, too immersed in their own conversation, looking super cute together, sitting on the same side of the booth. To the right a drunkard nursing on his beer, eyes looking beyond anything, right into the astral plane. Also somewhere around the back is the bartender, a middle-age guy who looks like he’d rather be anywhere but here.

Sighing I look up and notice the amount of dirt in my glasses, I’ve lost count of how many times a day I had to wipe them today, I snatch a paper napkin from the metallic holder while removing them from my face and proceed to carefully rub the lenses. Once I finish I put them back on. Why can I just not wear glasses, what’s the meaning of having eyes if they’re not gonna work properly?

Ugh, the story of my life.

I shiver again and take it as a cue, in one semi-large chug I throw back the rest of my vodka, grimacing at the scolding sensation traveling down my esophagus and I know I’m gonna regret that in five minutes or less, my stomach’s not gonna let me forget about it. Immediately I fish onto my bag for my ever evanescent wallet. When I find it, I pull a big enough bill to cover for both my drinks and a very, very modest tip -sorry to the bartender but as student/trainee I don’t have much to spare-. And slide the sleeves of my jacket over my arms, followed by the strap of the crossbody bag before jumping off the barstool.

Apparently my eyes were closed or maybe I’ve fallen asleep while moving; I don’t know I’m tired, it’s been a long day, because I only notice the tall man standing right next to me when my face collides with the solid, yet tender wall of muscles that is his wide chest. I open my eyes.

“Oh shit! Sorry, I didn’t see you there. Almost like you appeared outta nowhe-” I can’t help it, I look up adjusting my glasses already fuming at the back of my head cause I will have to wipe them again and my words cut short, I swallow the rest of my apology down. At the end of broad shoulders and resting above a thick neck I find an extremely handsome face. Jawline for days, covered with sexy scruff. Plump lips -cocksure smirk- slightly crooked nose, deep, deep green/ hazel eyes that stare down at me and all of that served with a side of freckles dusted all over.

So hot, I hate him.

He just stares, smug smile and wrinkly eyes. He’s wearing more layers than a normal person needs tonight -it’s not that cold- and his hair is combed to the side.

“Leaving already?” obviously he ignores my apology.  

I blink the salacious thoughts away and focus on his piercing gaze “It’s late,” I explain plain and simple.

I attempt to sidestep him but apparently somewhere in the middle our four words conversation he laid an arm on the back of my old chair, successfully trapping me between himself and the unmovable counter.  I look back up and of course the mother fucker knows what he’s doing, a mischievous glimpse sparkles in his eyes.

I sigh, dramatically.

“Look I’m flattered. A tall, hot guy like you coming up to me. But hooking up is not why I’m in here tonight. So I dunno. Maybe we can exchange numbers, you know… get a raincheck. You can call me on the weekend? Tonight I have plenty to do, and unfortunately you’re not on the list.” I know he hasn’t say anything and I’m rambling a little. But certainly I don’t give a shit. Perhaps I did some time ago but at this point in my life, I don’t anymore.

He chuckles. A hand comes up and I still myself because I have no idea what’s so funny or what his intentions are. Thick and long fingers -I gulp at the sight- pass through his mane, pushing it all back and I think he looks even better that way than styled to the side.

“What?” I ask while trying to push his arm off the metallic bar at the back of the stool, realizing how solid it is, pure fucking muscle. My hand pulls at it but nothing happens.

“Dollface, I’m not here to flirt and sleep with you,” he states, “although I wouldn’t say no to you,” he adds giving me a once over and throwing a chin shrug to the mix.

When he stops talking my eyes shoot up, no longer entertained with the way my fingers look hooked around his forearm, or how the tips don’t touch each other as I wrap them around his wrist. With a coked eyebrow I demand to know what he means.

“I’m here to kill you,” he simply says, like it’s nothing.

I back away a little and snort at his joke. It’s gotta be a joke right… Who comes up to someone they don’t know at a bar and tell them they’re gonna kill them?

I let out a chuckle that I can’t hold in and he joins me. Our laughter increasing by the second and soon we engage in a full body laugh, belly shaking and I let my hand lay on his firm chest because I need to feel that firmness again. All of the sudden he stops laughing, I’m too busy to notice though, cackling away. Both my hands now on his chest, supporting my weight missing the way he leans in forcing me to bend backwards until my back hits the barstool.

My eyes flutter open and his face is right there, deadpan expression. “I’m serious,” he hisses, hot breath fanning my face.

“Okay,” I gush rolling my eyes.

His gaze drops, entrusting me to do the same and as I follow his line of sight down his chest and hairless stomach, up to the waistband of his jeans where he’s pulling the hem of his shirts up for me to see… and Oh. My. God! That belt’s kinda low around his hips and ugh they’re so narrow. Why are his hips so narrow? Is this how he wants to kill me?

Sign me up, please!

His hand let go of the fabric and it lowers down, my eyes widen because I think he’s gonna open his fly or something and flash me and I don’t know if I wanna see that … not here at least.  Except what I see is the handle of a knife, a blade that seems to be made out wood or bone or something… Eesh!

“Are those teeth?” I slap myself mentally, seriously though? The guy it’s showing me his lower abdomen and a knife, of curse the knife is actually what matters! I compel myself to stop looking, because as alluring that sight may be, he just told me he was here to kill me. Closing my eyes I lift my head to I can look at him in the eyes and-

“FUCK! Your eyes are totally black. Are you aware of that?”

He only nods.

“Okay it’s that because some medical condition or some like that and I’m being a total asshole for bringing it up. I’m so sorry!”

“I’m a demon,” he says with a malicious smile.

“Whaaaaaaat? No you’re not!”

He sighs, not even trying to conceal this exasperation,and with a blink his eyes go back to the normal deep green -yeah I’m gonna go with green- and he signals to the bartender, asking for a whiskey when the server gets closer.

“Hey!” I complain and he quickly changes his order from one to two. “Thanks! If you’re gonna kill me, at least buy me a drink first… like common courtesy,” I joke.

Breathing through his nose he pulls the barstool next to the one we were standing by and sits down. He’s so tall he only needs to move his ass to the side and he’s sitting. Me on the other hand, almost need crampons to climb into that thing like the first time, but I make it just in time to see the bartender deliver our drinks and some peanuts.

“I’m assuming you know everything about me, or at least enough… I mean, you’re sure I’m the one you wanna kill?” I say.

“I’m sure,” he answers before his lips latched to the glass.

“Oh-kay…you have a name?”

“Dean.”

“Dean, Really?”

“What the hell’s wrong with my name?”

“Nothing it’s just… Kinda lame ain’t it. I was hoping for a Moloch or Aemon or I don’t know… errr Abaddon?”

He gives me a killer look. “Dean’s fine though… Yeah, or perhaps you could also go with Deacon. Deacon has more of a demonic charm I think.” Dean makes a sound, kinda like a growl or something. “Okay, okay. Dean!”

“So what’s the deal, Dean. How’s this gonna happen? You gonna get me drunk and stab me with your big bone?”

He turns to face me, smirking, lines appearing in his forehead because of his questioning eyebrows. A horse laugh escapes me when I realize what I said, but I cut myself, this is not a funny situation.

“I mean, you come in here, pretend you wanna sleep with me and at the last second you drop this bomb on me and that’s it? When you gonna do it or why?” I move my bag from the middle and start removing my jacket.

“Shut up,” he commands. Breathing deeply he combs his hair with his hand again and looks at me sternly.

“Fine,” I complay and bite my lips into my mouth and turn to hang my jacket on the back of my seat, sitting forward in silence. He has the knife, so I should do as he says I guess. Taking a peanut from the bowl I play with it, rolling it around my fingers. Pulling that little tip of and chewing it with my front teeth.

I open my mouth to say something, closing it right away because I don’t even know what to say. I take the small rimmed glass in front of me and take a big gulp almost spitting it all out instantly. “God, I hate whiskey.” After that we both remain silent for I’m not sure how long until I can’t take it anymore and I jump off the stool.

He does the same and stands right in front of me. “I’m just gonna go to the restroom,” I tell him, lifting my right hand up as promise.

“How do I know you’re not gonna run on me?”

“If I do run, would you come after me, find me?” I allow my hand to lay on his arm, enjoying the way his muscles twist under my touch.

“I will,” Dean promises, roaring near my face.

“Then it’s useless for me to run. I’m gonna pee, if I don’t come out in… let’s say 4 minutes you can come looking for me.” With a couple of soft slaps on the side of his arm I walk past him and towards the restrooms, not even looking back to see if he’s watching me because I can totally feel the way his eyes pierced a hole in the back of my head.

Once in the restroom I sigh and closed the door behind me. Apparently I’m dying tonight… That’s happening. Shit!

Bending down to take a good looks in the stalls I check all of them are empty. I don’t like going to the bathroom with people sitting right next to me where they can hear everything I do. I pick the one on the far back and do what I have to do. I can see the stains all over my glasses again but chose not to wipe them to hurry it up a little just in case. When I get out I go to wash my hands and I hear the door sing open. The bar was empty so of course I assume Dean came to check on me.

“Hey it’s been like 2 minutes, you could have a little more trust in me. I told you I wasn’t gonna run,” I joke to my killer because that’s how I am and rinse the foam of my hands. “Besides, the moment I start running I will trip over my own feet and that’d be it for me,” I add while giggling but the second I lift my gaze from the jet of water I see someone else. A man, definitely not Dean standing right behind me at the sinks.

I turn around, my eyes scan his tall form, and head to toes black attire. He blinks and his eyes match his clothes.

“Fuck!” I try to go for the door, but he’s quicker than me -of course- and steps in my way, pulling my head and throwing me back. I stagger but surprisingly I keep my feet on the ground, his large hand lands on my throat and he’s pushing me to walk back, until my back hits the wall of the first stall.

My hands grip around his forearm, but no matter how much force I apply his grip won’t loosen, he’s a lot stronger than I am -not that that’s so hard to accomplish.

“I already have a demon here to kill me,” I force myself to speak through his hold, maybe he doesn’t know about Dean.

My eyes are starting to get lazy though and the blurry spots appear in my line of vision. The bathroom door whips open, crashing against the wall and closing again due to the forced and I’m able to see Dean walking towards us.

“A demon,” I scream, although I know it’s barely a whisper and I’m not really sure Dean can hear me, but I point to the demon with my finger, so he can catch my drift.

Dean retrieves the bone knife with teeth from his jeans and launches for this other demon, who ducks in time and he toss me aside, as if I were just a piece of paper. I land with my side of a trash can, wailing in pain.

The new demon, flashes from under his sleeve a long silver pointy knife, and it makes me wonder what’s with demons and funny shaped knives. It’s that like a trend?

They both stand right in front of each other, like facing a duel or something. “All you Abaddon groupies are the same, you know that?” Dean asks rhetorically.

Wow, Abaddon does exist it’s not just mythological!

“You can’t just can’t accept that the queen is dead, can you?” Dean continuous.

Oh, and it’s she and she’s dead. I sit up because I never in my life thought I see a demon, less of all two demons ready to duel… Will they count their steps?

“Maybe we just can’t accept that a douche like you was the one who killed her,” the other demon spits with anger.

It doesn’t truly surprise to know it was Dean who killed her. He does look like the guy who’d take down a  big bad legendary demon. “Ah. Yeah, that’s got to hurt, doesn’t it?”

That was too cocky, Dean should learn to be a little more humble.

The fight it’s quick, the other demon, swings to get Dean with his pointy knife but Dean is faster -ugh soooooo hot!- and blocks his move, spinning him around and jabbing his bone, teethy knife into his chest. I gasp, unintentionally when orange light shoots from the demon’s eyes and chest.

Then Dean let his body fall to the ground once he’s dead and blood start pooling around his body. I get up as fast as I can, I don’t want his blood to touch me. Dean looks at me, not even preneting he’d help me get up and nods towards me.

“I’m okay,” I raps clearing my voice. My throat feels swollen already.

He comes closer to me, his hand moving up and I freeze because he’s gonna kill me. He’s gonna do it and my last words were I’m okay, so lame. At last second his warm palm rests on my chest, fingers inspecting the bruises forming around my neck and I open my eyes.

“Let’s go somewhere you and me,” he says close to my face. I blink dumbfounded.

“What, you and me?” I swallow, the soreness of my throat still there. “Where?”

“I dunno, anywhere,” he shrugs, bending over to clean his knife of the dead demon clothes.

“You wanna kill me,” I refresh his memory in case he’s forgotten.

“I just save your life,” he defends.

“I guess you’re right, I’m still alive. But what are the chances of that becoming a thing?” I caress my own neck, whining in pain.

“Let me ask you this. If I really wanted to kill you, wouldn’t’ve done it by now?”

It’s my turn to shrug. “I guess.”

“Let’s go. You should get some ice on that neck before it gets worse,” Dean says, his hand on my lower back as he hold the bathroom door open for me and leads me towards the back door of the bar.

Everything: 

@nadiandreu7, @thegreatficmaster (no Sam/Jared), @mogaruke, @samisimportant, @ria132love, @donnaintx, @feelmyroarrrr, @just-another-busy-fangirl, @love-kittykat21, @emilyymichelle, @walkingkhaleesi, @imagining-supernatural, @kdfrqqg, @charliebradbury1104, @thedevilinthedetails, @docharleythegeekqueen, @artprincessbree, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @tardis-full-of-fallen-angels, @supernatural-girl97, @sam-inaflannel, @sammys-lost-shoe, @spn-dean-and-sam-winchester, @nanie5, @roxyspearing, @emoryhemsworth, @rambling-rabbit, @akshi8278, @meganwinchester1999, @geekgirl1213, @maui137, @creepykatftw @novakfandoms, @waywardasfudge, @kickasscas67, @spnwoman, @tattooedmomster13, @yoursmilemakesmeloveyou, @asgardianvamp21, @michell868,

@possesstheheart, @thatpeachybandgirl, @read-the-reid, @supernaturalmistress @jensen-gal, @its-my-perky-nipples, @esoltis280,

Dean/Jensen: 

@missmotherhen, @valerieshubin, @chennyetomlinson, @justanotherdeangirl, @jennell79, @ruprecht0420, @jalove-wecallhimdean, @evyiione, @laurafloradora, @fanfreak07, @superapplepie, @wingedcatninja, @sandlee44, @plaidstiel-wormstache, @lessons-of-red, @supernatural-fan-123, @mandilion76, @blackcherrywhiskey, @akshi8278, @papertrailsstrewnacrossthefloor, @shut-ur-face-and-get-in-the-car, @aly-winchester, @winchesterdemon67, @supernatural-strangerthings-1980

[360degreesasthecrowflies]

FarscapeWatch: 2.05 ‘The Way We Weren’t’

It’s been a minute, but we’re back in business. The season 2 reactions continue as I continue my first watch of Farscape!~

It's a flashback episode! This bodes well coming so early in the series after effectively a repilot as this season started.

Okay so we're in Moya...or are they just saving money by re-using the set, because either I'm watching a low-quality pitched-up version, or that's not Pilot??

Ladypilot? I like her. So something bad will happen no doubt. Just like Crais's lady second in command last season.

Are we watching a recording? Interesting flashback. Oooh yep they kill that Pilot and its...really quite brutal. Ugh Crais pfo.

And there's the stinger. Aeryn was part of the crew killing the previous pilot of that Leviathan. Which...actually is Moya. And it's Chiana that's found this recording, wuh oh. Good thing she and Aeryn have such a camaraderie and positive history so far... (Although we do seem to be retconning the character development in Taking the Stone away in these last few episodes).

So we enter the episode, and now we're all watching the tape...the whole crew, including Aeryn. Rygel right away stirs the pot, and I'm starting to see a Rygel-Chiana teamup connection. Rygel is somehow a lot more tolerable with someone else on his 'team', so to speak. So right away they all (minus John, I'm sure) jump to the conclusion that Aeryn has been deliberately concealing this past from them as some kind of long-held plan of her own, and really... I just don't think it's been seeded enough that Aeryn might be a traitor. She's been portrayed so far as The Main Girl even over Chiana who's had a lot of narrative focus, her entire character and arcs have been based around her being an outcast from her people, so what does she have to gain by playing what's by my reckoning now at least a months-long game against the rest of them and faking all kinds of emotional responses? Nah, not buying it. But the downside is that then makes the rest of the cast look bad, and I like those guys.

So they start to be paranoid that Aeryn might have come across - or even tortured! - them themselves in the past as they were on Moya at this time, three cycles - that is, three years, I think - ago. Aeryn denies it and John backs her up. Zhaan has a nasty little remark about being shocked that Aeryn would kill a Pilot but...Zhaan, she was ordered to, it would've been her own head on the block if she didn't. And Aeryn rightfully points out that Zhaan had no problem with cutting THEIR Pilot's arm off just out of her own selfishness. Chiana actually chips in as the voice of reason here and points out, had none of them actually thought to understand what it meant that Aeryn was a Peackeeper? She did bad things. So I wonder will this be an introspective episode about all that kind of thing?

Again, I imagine this kind of thing came up in the fandom at the time, but perhaps it's possible that Zhaan, D'Argo and Rygel, being the characters they are, just DIDN'T ever think too deeply about Aeryn's past - or even hid it from themselves so they could work with her. Chiana of course, the wildcard, has no such qualms. Being real though, they've all done plenty bad, Zhaan and D'Argo are canonically killers, even if they had reason, and Rygel and Chiana probably aren't squeaky clean either. Pot kettle much?

And we're into flashback with Aeryn ominously noting relationships. Romantic, perhaps? I'm just ready for John's whiny dudebro to rear its head again just as we'd started to move past that if it turns out she's gasp been with someone else before.

So the first thing that's established is that not only is Aeryn emotionless and focused because she's a Peacekeeper, her singlemindedness and adherence to procedure and policy are actually intense even by Peacekeeper standards. This Aeryn is very firmly Lawful Neutral, an alignment I'd say she keeps but adheres less strictly to at this point in Farscape real-time, veering into True Neutral. On that note, my imagined alignments for all our leads so far: Rygel = Chaotic Evil verging on Chaotic Neutral, Chiana = Chaotic Neutral, textbook, D'Argo = Neutral Good, Zhaan = True Neutral, John = Chaotic Good, Crais = Lawful Neutral. Pilot...hard to say, because Pilot's not been a character for long. Though going by last episode, perhaps that's due to change this season.

Flashback!Moya introduces a 'friend' of Aeryn's from the off. A male friend. Hmmm...

It's revealed that Aeryn also unknowingly facilitated the new Pilot, our character known as Pilot (this will get confusing fast >.<) being brought aboard Moya. It's decided that he should not be told about this tape and immediately the camera cuts to Chiana, hmm, I wonder if *someone* is going to show Pilot the tape??? Presumably he would not be happy to see Aeryn killing one of his kind, to be fair, would anyone be? This is going to go terribly wrong, isn't it.

Back into flashback. It seems that Aeryn's friend is a softly-softly approach kinda guy with his attitude to the imprisoned Pilot, but willing to change to overt violence in front of superiors like Crais. Peer pressure or looking after number 1? We also learn that Pilots are much more intelligent than human(oid)s, or at least, can handle a multipilicty of concepts far better than our brains could.

So we have a lot of Peacekeeper internal politics. Crais is a hard slavedriver who wants Aeryn's superior to work faster and do things ASAP no matter the damage that may cause. Aeryn's man disagrees, but has no choice as he's inferior. Also somehow Aeryn is always in the background in these scenes, although it seems to be the case that she's a lot lower down the chain. Just chance, perhaps?

Minor aside, a shot showing that Aeryn DID in fact see Zhaan while as a Peacekeeper and was not at all bothered to see her captured. So she didn't mention that. On that note, I'm unsure who's privy to these flashbacks - is she telling John in private, or just thinking of them herself and we viewers are looking in, or are we looking in as if we were there for the context of what she's feeling now, becoming privy to information np-one else on Moya is?

Okay so it's revealed why Aeryn is in the background; she's been trying unsuccessfully for a while to get Crais's attention to request a transfer, and has been rebuffed coldly every time. Here he just walks away while she's speaking, sheesh.

Back to present day. It's all weighing on Aeryn's mind and she beats her punching bag until her hands are bloody. John comes to her and they talk, we get some indepth on Peacekeeper culture. Emotions are just about forbidden, especially positive ones, and bonds are also discouraged. Romance is tacitly forbidden, but sex is fine as a biological need for stress relief. It's interesting, the latter - I wonder if that was shocking in the late 90s, because it feels like that's a more common or more accepted perspective on sex at least, today, emotional and abusive other parts aside.

CALLED IT. Aeryn and..Valorik? (I’m going to call him V) were totally bangin'. But possibly also developing feelings for each other, at least inklings of, maybe onesided, maybe both ways? Which is of course, the biggest forbidden fruit. So back then, baby Aeryn was playing on a knife edge of breaking the rules, interesting.

(Possibly slightly kinky sex too, there's a bit of grabbing there and chocking, wow)

ALSO CALLED IT. John seems dumbfounded that Aeryn used to be "lovers" with someone else, and is struck speechless and stammering. Sorry sunshine, but you're both at least mid-twenties, did you really think you were her first? You were ENGAGED or nearly it anyway back on Earth! Aeryn admits now that this guy was her something special that she'd had feelings for - which puts an interesting spin on her requesting a transfer earlier in the episode, and not for the first time either - perhaps easier to run from the situation than deal with the conflict in her vows and her feelings? (Also, still working out John and Aeryn's relationship right now...it feels like Official Couple, but it's interesting how John has now been very much accepted, even as a leader, if his partner is still privy to being outcast at literally a minute's notice...)

Well, now Pilot's seen the tape. "How did he get hold of that?" John asks. Well, John, you're on a ship with two wildcards and two characters who distrust Aeryn, is it rocket science? Pilot calls Aeryn - Officer Sun - in to see him, and does NOT sound happy.

Let me take this moment to note how different Aeryn looks with her hair down and long. She's like a different woman.

Aeryn claims to closer to Pilot 'than any other two beings on this ship' as she still has his DNA inside her. Guess she and John have been using space condoms then? (sorry)

So Pilot attacks her, and tbh, I'm Team Pilot on this one. Aeryn's view that being reminded of what she had done - tacit admission that she forgot, it mattered that little to her! - is just as bad on her as Pilot discovering she killed one of his kind coldbloodedly is pretty much not equivalent I think. "I killed someone which is bad, but it's hard on me too because I forgot and only now feel guilty!" is a pretty weak defence.

Now Pilot's having a flashback. Of being 'installed' into the ship, which is literally being inserted into the driver's seat...and then wired in so he's rooted in. Eesh.

So, we have some interesting ethical things arising. Moya's previous Pilot refused to do as she was told so was killed by the Peacekeepers. Pilot was installed, but was aware on installation that the ship had had a previous Pilot who was now dead in order for him to be installed. Moya was at the time unaware and Pilot fears he will be rejected. Also, the PKs are going to forcibly install Pilot, instead of going through a year-long bonding process, they aim to do it within approximately two days. That's a lot. In the present day, Pilot now refuses to fly the ship - echoing the previous Pilot - unless Aeryn leaves. But... I feel like the fact that it is the same ship that Pilot himself was installed in, also, perhaps, benefiting from the previous one's death, complicates things. He did not, in the flashback, seem to be under the impression that he would be the ship's first ever Pilot.

So Rygel showed Pilot the tape. And Chiana's mad at him for it, god I love her, you never know what she's going to do.

Zhaan and Aeryn scene. Zhaan tends to Aeryn after Pilot's attack on her throat, but is a little rough intentionally and makes some snide remarks too. Interesting little scene, at first Zhaan seems to be very angry with Aeryn, but when she starts to pack to leave, then, relents and apologises; Aeryn only did as she was told. An interesting time-wise parallel comes here, because at the same time as Aeryn was obediently following orders, the other leads were already imprisoned for grossly breaking what was expected of them by murder, theft, or rebellion. Who is right, though? Arguments can be made both ways. And what was John doing three years ago? Probably...similar to Aeryn, following orders, following the rules, and possibly not worrying about the ethics of the situation either.

Back to flashback. More ethics, which is interesting. Aeryn wishes to follow her orders, but her feelings - and what Mr V is telling her - are coming into conflict with those orders, almost suggesting the Peacekeeper system may effectively be two-tier. One rule for the grunts, another for those high up enough for High Command to turn a blind eye. V wishes for Aeryn and he to be assigned together again and stay as partners - and he can make it happen. He also badmouths Crais which horrifies Aeryn - outright "insubordination", but V justifies it to her as observation - likely something else she has learned to value in the military. I'm reminded of Asimov's robots realising that in order to fulfil objective #1 - prevent humans from coming to harm by inaction, humans actually have to be harmed sometimes to save them from themselves or each other.

To complicate things even more. V wishes to sabotage Crais to save the Leviathan, Moya, for fear that pursuing Crais's plans will kill it. V is telling Aeryn, his forbidden lover this - although hearing about it puts them both in danger and makes her an accessory. Tricky, tricky.

Just one little aside as well. V insists that he knows what Aeryn feels, and that if she does as he says and leaves with him, she'll be so much happier. That's a nice parallel to John - but not an all-out positive one, because in both, Aeryn's choice and what she actually wants is being subordinated.

Back to flashback with Pilot, and we learn that not only was Pilot's plugging-in to Moya painful, the pain *never went away* and he has just been living with it, accustomed to it, since then! Sheesh. Further, Pilot has only been accepted by Moya in the first place because she was tortured into submission.

Well this is good. Pilot, feeling guilty, has now unplugged himself from Moya by effectively amputating part of himself that was plugged in. Plus side, he's no longer in pain, minus side...he's no longer in control of the ship, so she effectively has no brain to maintain all the things that need done. Aeryn blames herself for this all and no doubt the flashbacks will let us know why...

Awh, Aeryn's solution is that Pilot needs to talk about the time back then, which is something she's learned from John, I quite like that. John of course seizes on this to pressure Aeryn to talk to HIM which...okay, but it's not all always about you buddy. Just let her do her thing, she's a grown-up.

Flashback to Aeryn and V, alone, intimate. She tells him she will go with him. She admits fear of the unknown, though, and he tells her she has it in her to be able to survive elsewhere - which is heartbreaking, because we know she since has, when she in the past didn't believe she could. She just never could have imagined the circumstances that would occur in.

So it turns out that Aeryn sold V out for his treason. PLaying by the rules and being good was more important. But it's understandable, it's how she was raised, and she was protecting herself, too. Even as he is dragged away, V tells her she's special, even in a proud tone - nobody else would have attempted this, that is, she has turned him in for the reward of being able to get her transfer that had failed so many times before. In a way, she has, ironically, gone about getting that through less than official, or typical channels.

Back to present, and it's heavily implied that V was tortured to death for his treason. Tough on Aeryn, tougher on him, of course.

Aeryn and John, present day, drop from above into Pilot's chamber, bypassing the sealed door. Pilot uses two DRD guards to attack, but John and Aeryn are able to shoot and disable them, approaching and holding Pilot at gunpoint, wow, that escalated fast.

Okay I love how Aeryn doesn't get his talking thing. So she pushes Pilot to talk by shouting at him and threatening to shoot him up here and now if he doesn't. Smooth. It's revealed that separated, Pilot will starve, life support will fail and the others will die, and only Moya will survive.

Aeryn offers herself to be killed by Pilot if he will spare the others. Pilot is humbled, and reveals that it is not just those brought up memories he's been struggling with; he feels just as at fault as Aeryn, because...

Flashback again. V on Pilot's planet, which again complicates good-guy-V that's been portrayed throughout the whole episode. It's revealed that Pilot was informed, and knew going in that in order for him to become a Pilot of that ship - at his young age, before he had been decreed ready - the existing Pilot would have to be killed and removed, and at the time, was although morally torn, happy with that. He was in effect, happy to facilitate another's death just so that he was able to see the stars - perhaps making him a criminal worse than any of the others on the ship in that sense, who killed in desperation or for the greater good. It is his guilt that was dredged up by the tape.

Aeryn convinces Pilot that they have both come a long way since they were those people. Pilot is convinced to reconnect with Moya in a rudimentary manner, but which will lead to a natural, non-painful bond, mutually between the two of them. He will though have less control now, a nice plot McGuffin for later no doubt, but it's thematic so I'm not bothered by it.

Coda, John and Aeryn alone again. Aeryn makes the point that V and John both said to her "you can be so much more" which I didn't pick up on, but hmm. Of COURSE John then tries to fish for a love confession out of her, and we close just on a positive musical cue as the two just look at, and then away from each other. Goddd just give her a minute dude. But they are cute together and I'm getting more a sense that she's just reserved about things of that nature this season than that she's actively not interested and he's pursuing obliviously because she's a humanoid who's the right colour and shape for him.

Okay, that was a lot! I quite liked this one, this season is shaping up already a lot stronger than this time in season 1. 7 to 7.5/10 for this one. Let's get into the breakdowns:

CHARACTER BEATS

JOHN

John...actually doesn’t have a whole lot to do this episode, except what’s required of him as the Designated Hero (be present for the solution of every plot element) and as the framing device for the flashback narrative. I feel like despite John’s prodding, Aeryn comes on her own to most of the solutions and means to reach solution in this episode. Having said that, he is a little more respectful of her this episode than he was last season (”Aeryn, do this, but I haven;t got time to tell you why. Obey me, woman!”) which is a pleasure. I still feel like his leadership hasn’t quite been narratively justified yet though, some more infighting from the others or incapability to work together in his absence would bring me more around to that viewpoint.

CHIANA

Chiana was, as usual, a delight, and for once this time actually wasn’t the progenitor of the plot through carelessness or not thinking about the impact of her actions. She didn’t have a whole lot to do here, though she did get the ball rolling. Still shows a tendency to be out for herself and crucially, only really rely on herself, as as soon as eyebrows are raised about Aeryn this episode she mainly makes herself scarce; interesting that her behaviour in ‘Crackers’ isn’t actually that far off her normal or baseline unlike the large divergences shown by the other characters in that episode. I wonder if that speaks to her baseline being madness or unpredictability, or if there’s a psychic strength there to her.

ZHAAN

First up, Zhaan ditched her horrible gold collar in this episode and looked a lot better for it, although the actress (I haven’t learned names yet) looked oddly shapeless in some scenes, almost like the gown was cut to cover up a pregnancy. No clue whether or not that was the case though, it may well just have been an unfortunate - or otherworldly, I guess - cut. I actually didn’t like Zhaan so much in this episode for the few scenes she made an appearance - she was unreasonably bitchy, I felt. Its possible she was just a little stressed out and acting out, but she didn’t feel like season 1 Zhaan - perhaps just wrongfooted by something she with all her foresight had failed to foresee. I felt Zhaan abused her power and influence in a few scenes here in a petty way I don’t expect from her, even if she did later show remorse. Still, character depth is always interesting.

D’ARGO

Shockingly, in this episode, D’Argo didn’t have a lot to do. This is becoming a recurring theme. There were some positive scenes of camaraderie with John (the rock-paper-scissors to decide who would intercede between Aeryn and Pilot was a nice touch) and I suppose tacit camaraderie with the rest of the crew by siding with them - although, I may have expected from history for D’Argo, the honourable warrior, to side with Aeryn, the honourable warrior. There’s some closeness with Pilot at the end, too, which builds on a (I think) season 1 scene where D’Argo played him music. Perhaps most interestingly, I don’t think he’s shared many scenes with Zhaan lately - yet is kissing her in the credits at the start of every episode, particularly interesting given the team-up with Chiana last episode. I will be keeping a close eye on proceedings.

RYGEL

I actually...didn’t hate Rygel here. Even though he caused the plot and stirred everything up by showing Pilot the tape, it did ultimately have good outcomes, allowing both Aeryn and Pilot to work through some trauma and improving Pilot and Moya’s in-the-background relationship. And he also at least claimed to have acted out of a sense of duty and honour, which...is fair, and also does in a twisted way fit with Rygel’s established perhaps old-fashioned traditional values. You’re alright, little man.

PILOT

This was...very much a Pilot episode, that actually gave surprising depth to, and made me care about a puppet. Two puppets, actually. I’m shocked at how formidable LadyPilot managed to be in her few seconds of screentime, and I’m actually a little sad for Moya - a character who’s literally a set - losing that connection and maybe still never knowing what happened. Dark. Lots about Pilot here; the big benevolent nonviolent alien turning out to be not only smarter than any of them, but also essentially a cold-blooded murderer worse than any of the rest of them was quite the twist. I’m also starting to wonder how far in advance and with what consequences the seemingly offhand monster-of-the-week plot of giving Aeryn Pilot DNA in season 1 was planned to have a lasting reach and effect on future plots. Perhaps it’s ironic to talk about a puppet becoming three dimensional.

AERYN

Woh boy, a lot to get into here. This episode is a little of an Aeryn character study, delving into her past alongside Pilot’s and revealing a past romance, unhappiness with how she was treated as a Peacekeeper, and a tendency to try and keep her head down and get on with it that remains in the Aeryn of the present day. A real duality is revealed in Aeryn in this episode; she has been tempted in the past and has resisted the temptation, but at the same time has cut herself off from happiness in favour of yes, safety, but also misery. She is not a risk-taker, though she is at the same time both a tactician and a warrior, which is an interesting combination of attributes and adds depth to the character she seemed to be early on this time last season. Seeing a Peacekeeper-heavy episode, we are also as viewers privy to how much of the Peacekeeper motto and policies are actually bent or broken by the people themselves and how Aeryn’s devotion to the rulebook is somewhat atypical.

WHAT THIS EPISODE ESTABLISHED:

Pilot actually has a history! And a dark one. John and Aeryn are actually not together despite hints pointing that way so far this series. Aeryn was rule-abiding even for a Peacekeeper, and everyone who isn’t John on Moya is still quick to distrust her. Crais was a dick even by Peacekeeper standards. And Peacekeepers aren’t as united a bloc of people as has been made out so far in the series. Also do we all just live on Moya now?

CHARACTER RANKING SO FAR AS OF 2.05:

1) Chiana

2) Aeryn

3) John

4) Pilot

5) D’Argo

6) Zhaan

7) Rygel

That’s us for this episode of FarscapeWatch until 2.06, ‘Picture If You Will’! (which seems to be perhaps a Chiana episode from previews!) Check out the #farscapewatch tag to keep up with the series, and/or read all my reactions in the masterlist which you can find here and linked on my blog’s main page

[golddaggers]

chemistry // part two

pairings: teacher!dylan o'brien x student!reader.

warnings: besides cursing? none.

a/n: look finally decided to realease chapter number two? hahaha :) plus, I’d like to announce that I will be uploading every Saturday. well, the ones I can because university is a bitch. nonetheless, proceed to your reading.

word count: 2,6k+

part one

For some weird reason I was yet to figure out, because it was a lot unlike me, I woke up in an incredible good mood. Which could totally be related to the fact that today was the first sunny morning after weeks enduring grey skies, rain, thick coats and freezing temperatures. Not that I hated all of that, except I did; it made me feel depressed. Plus my hair looked awful.

Yawning tiredly, I stretched out, sitting on my bed. While doing so, my eyes fell to Karen’s sleeping figure all curled up like a ball underneath three sets of sheets on a mattress carefully placed on my carpeted floor. She had decided to stay over the night because we still needed to go over some flash cards to our Algebra exam, that happened to be today, after my mother’s delicious dinner. I wouldn’t be the one to blame her, Louisa Smith was definitely a good cook, which means her belly was probably too full for her to find the strength to leave.

A small laugh slipped past my lips as I got back to my feet, muscles still numb for the amount of hours I stayed in the same position. Either way, I was refreshed to have had, at least once and in a long while, a decent night of sleep; also, the recently made coffee scent alongside the, very likely, scrambled eggs, homemade buns and everything a hungry person could dream about got my stomach complaining, setting my destination to the kitchen room.

The lovely forty year old woman I called mum was humming happily to a song whilst, by smell, squeezing oranges to make my favourite juice. I understood she used cooking as a self defense mechanism to keep herself together; we were still struggling with our father’s departure. It was complicated to even bring up in conversations, so, eventually, we just sort of stopped. I was pretty sure she would get over it. She was the strongest person I had ever known, of course she would.

“Good morning.” I mumbled, hugging her tightly, feeling her tummy shake as the woman laughed. “And this smells great, by the way.”

“Good morning too, sweetheart. What got you up so early?” My mum quizzed, directing me one of her best soothing smiles. “Are you nervous about the test?”

“Yes, obviously.” Rolling my eyes, a tiny smirk curled my lips as I took place at the table. “But it’s not why I’m up. I actually have no idea, but I have this feeling today is going to be great.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re happy, baby girl.”

“I am too, mum, these past weeks haven’t been easy, exactly…”

“Yes, I am aware of that, but you know what? We’re in a much better place now.”

“I think so too.” Supporting my elbows on the table, I watched my mother’s tired traits. “I want you to be happy too, ma.”

“I’m going to be fine!” The older woman looked away, prohibiting me from spotting her probably glassy eyes. “Now eat, before-”

A pale seventeen year old walked inside wearing a ridiculous bright red nightshirt and a sleeping mask controlling the brown mess that her hair was. She smiled kindly to both of us.

“Mrs. Smith, if you were going to say ‘eat before the eating monster arrive’, that would have been a great advice.”

The three of us shared a laugh before reuniting at the already set kitchen table, everything in place so we could eat together; Karen stole to her plate two muffins, three little breads, a couple of bacon’s slices and eggs, obviously. My mum and I just gazed at her, trying to hold our chuckles back. For someone so small, my friend definitely had a huge appetite.

Once the fun moment was over, we conducted a rather great breakfast, discussing light matters and gossiping like three old friends would do. To be honest, while we chatted, I was in awe to see that my mother was indeed improving; you could tell she had no masks on this time. No pretending nor disguising to be okay. It was purely and merely her.

Yes, this surely was a sign that a great day was ahead of me.

About twenty minutes later, Karen and I went upstairs to get ourselves ready to go to school. Because it was still a lot early, each one of us took our time to enjoy a warm bath, to pick a nice outfit, fix our hairs, etc, etc. Standard girl stuff, I guess.

“So,” The brown haired girl questioned, brushing her hair and locking it up in a tight pony tail. “You haven’t mentioned your date with Mr. McHottie a single time. Aren’t you going to go?”

“It’s not a date!” I whined, putting on a colourful sundress that fell to the mid of my thighs. Her green eyes glanced at me in disbelief, a smug grin taking over her heart shaped face. “It’s not! This is a class. Strictly professional.”

“Yeah… I just don’t buy it.” Scoffing, she stood and straightened her grey skirt, which matched perfectly her white buttoned blouse, the blue cardigan and also her heels. “You wouldn’t be dressing so nicely if the inner you didn’t think this is more than a casual lecture.”

“You are crazy, Karen.” Shaking my head, I slipped in my normal tennis shoes and put on a jeans jacket, grabbing my already fixed backpack that was placed near my closet’s door. “Can I just be in a good mood for once? Not everything has to be about men, you know.”

“What are you implying?”

“I’m not implying anything, I’m just mentioning I’m happy. That’s all. And that it has nothing to do with Mr. O'Brien.”

“Fine, if you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t push it.” Karen sighed, collecting her bag as well. “But, seriously, who are you denying this for? Me or you?”

The girl left without giving me time to even come up with a proper answer. Of course she had point; Karen knew very well I had had a crush on him a while back, in the tenth grade. But it was over, I was just kid. Furthermore, I highly doubted Mr. O'Brien would even think about the possibility of being with student; he was way too professional for that to happen. Like, friends, I guess, but dating? Not in million years.

A final exhale escaped as I made my way downstairs; I sure as hell needn’t to convince anyone, nor myself, that nothing was happening, because, well, nothing was happening. He was just being nice. That’s all.

“What took you so long, darling?” My mother questioned as soon as I took my place on the front seat, putting my bag on my lap as I fastened my seat belt. “You look pale too.”

“I’m fine, I swear.” Gazing through the corner of my eye to the back row, I saw Karen shake her head, frowning at my response. “By the way, I might be running late today.”

“Why so?”

“Uh, my chemistry teacher, Mr. O'Brien, offered to help me catch up on the subject. He said I have been off lately.”

“Isn’t Mr. O'Brien the hot one?”

My cheeks quickly reached a scarlet tone as my eyes grew wide to her last sentence. Since when does my mother notice if people are hot or not? I was clearly shocked, yet, Williams broke the tension with a laugh, getting mum to do the same.

“Mum!”

“Just commenting, silly girl. You should see your face.” She stopped under a red sign, looking at me tenderly. “If he says so, I’m okay. Just don’t be so late, alright?”

“Got it.”

Connecting the white earbuds to my phone, I opened the Spotify app and swiftly drowned myself on Sofia Karlberg’s version of the song ‘Toxic’, wishing nothing but to distract myself of all the things that could lead me into thinking of my encounter later with a certain chemistry teacher.

As it turns out, the whole putting out of my mind my own human personification of a Greek God was incredibly hard. I mean, I tried, I really did, but his sinful honey eyes kept haunting me the entire course of my classes. Seriously, why couldn’t him be like my AP Calculus teacher: bald, pudgy and not at all attractive? It would make things a lot easier for me.

Biting my bottom lip to contain a frustrated sigh, I glared at Mrs. Ziemann, trying to focus on her interesting lecture about the end of World War I. She excitedly explained how wrecked both Italy and Germany were once it was over, especially the latter, with the cruel Treaty of Versailles. Oh, well, at least paying attention to that could allow me to forget I was only five minutes away from my meeting.

As the woman finished her presentation, I wrote down a few topics to look upon later when studying the subject, which I needed to do, because this good looking lady was known for her killer exams. On a side note? I may have cried myself after a couple of them.

“And this wraps up our class today.” She smiled solemnly, her pretty blue eyes locked on the back of the class where the lacrosse team was based. “Oh, wait, before you all go, I would like to inform I want, for next week, a paper on the tragic events at the end of World War I.”

This time I didn’t hold back a sigh, taking notes on my journal to do this assignment soon, for next week I also had, oh darn, a chemistry exam. Fate must really think my life is a big fat joke. That’s ought to be it.

I swiftly packed my stuff, placing a handle on my right shoulder and moving away from the class, only to find Karen leant against a wall outside, trying to look casual while chewing gum. Oh, yes, I had to solve this too.

“Please tell me you forgot about our little misunderstanding from earlier today.”

“I didn’t.” Her eyebrows were knitted together, her mouth forming a straight line. “But I’m willing to move past it if you promise to tell me the details of your “class” with Mr.McHottie.”

“You are such a gossiper!” I laughed, stopping at my locker to get my Chemistry book volume two. “I have been trying all day long to not think about it.”

“Let me guess: useless.”

“Damn right it was.”

“Well, he won’t bite you, at least.” The green eyed girl patted my back, a smirk plastered on her face. “Not unless you want to, I guess.”

“You are such a mean whore.” We both chuckled, our next stop being in front of Mr. O'Brien’s office, me knocking at the door twice. “And this is where I leave you, K.”

“Tell me the details!” She whispered, winking at me playfully. “I mean it!”

“Get out! Now!”

Williams raised her thumbs up to me, winking one last time then disappearing in the halls just before the brown haired man, also known as Greek God, also known as my chemistry teacher, opened the door. I certainly wasn’t ready to see him so loose, if that’s the correct term.

His hair was more disheveled than usual, the scruff still framing the beautiful pink lips, his white casual shirt had a button open, revealing an adorable puddle of chest hair, and his red tie was lying over his desk from what I could see. O'Brien directed me a comforting smirk, placing his rather large hand on my back, pulling me to get inside the room. One small comment so we can proceed: did he have a heater on or was it me that just suddenly grew warmer under his touch?

Gripping tighter on my hard covered book, I went forward to take seat on one of the first row’s places whilst he stayed behind to close the door. Okay, first minutes, still not weird. Maybe just a little bit. Why am I so tense?

“Are you okay, Smith?”

“Yes. I’m sorry, I’m just a little bit nervous…”

“You don’t have to be.” He smirked tenderly, pulling a chair to sit in front of me. “It’s just you and me, plus I won’t do anything to you.”

“Uh, people already think you-”

“Well, I seriously don’t mind what people think. You’re amazing, you know?” His eyes connected with mine for a while until he gazed down at his feet. “I meant as a student. That’s why I picked you to tutor.”

“Thank you, Mr. O'Brien, you are a wonderful teacher as well. I love your lectures so much!”

“That’s relieving, it would be pretty bad if my favourite student didn’t like them.” A small laugh slipped and, suddenly, all the nervousness was gone. “Should we start?”

“Yes, definitely.”

The following hour was simply incredible!

If him teaching to a whole class was good, having him as a mentor was even better. It was like he didn’t have to hold back nor maintain a straight face all the time. Plus the jokes? Damn, I could never have imagined he had such a great sense of humour. I mean, the man had gift on finding the right words to make me laugh like there was no tomorrow.

By the end of our time, I had not only gotten more confident on physical chemistry, but also met a side of my teacher I didn’t know previously. Mr. O'Brien, or Dylan, as he asked me to call him, was a sweet, caring guy. If the fifteen year old version of me had known this, she would be dead and buried now. God, I was a lame kid.

“It was nice being being with today.” He mumbled, nudging my shoulder with his and wearing the best smile in the whole wide world. “I’m glad we’ll be doing this for a few more weeks.”

“I’m glad too.” The watch on my wrist told me it was over six pm, which strictly meant my mum would be all over the place once I got home. “I should get going.”

“Wait, I-I…”

“Yes?”

“Oh, fuck it.”

Not thinking twice, he cupped my cheeks, pressing his perfectly shaped lips against mine in a sweet, tender kiss. At first I was surprised, however, as his tongue slowly licked stripe at my bottom lip, I melted away, surrendering to his touch. It was definitely nothing I could have ever dreamt about. The way his hands found the crook of my waist, how we moved in perfect sync… Everything felt like this was meant to be.

When air became necessary, we merely glued our foreheads together, gazes boring into one another. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t ideal, but, hell, I enjoyed this.

“I’m sorry, Y/N, we shouldn’t-”

I didn’t want to hear the rest, he wouldn’t pop my bubble so soon, therefore, I kissed him again, this time with much more passion and hunger. So strong we were left a heaving mess afterwards.

“You’re an amazing kisser too.” O'Brien whispered, making me giggle. “I mean it.”

“You are one crazy person, O'Brien.”

“I told you should call me Dylan.”

“As you wish, Mr. O'Brien.” Playfully winking at him, I stole another peck, earning a small smile from him. “This is crazy… I mean, someone could have seen us! Oh, fuck, what if one of the cleaning ladies saw us? You could lose your job! Shit!”

“Relax, nobody saw us.” His thumbs massaged my cheekbones, trying to sooth me. “But you can’t tell this to anyone, okay? Not even Miss Williams. Even though I don’t regret one bit, I could really lose my job if this comes out.”

“Of course I won’t tell anyone, it will be our little secret.”

“Deal.”

I hid my face on the crook of his neck, breathing in the intoxicating musk of his cologne. I couldn’t believe this was actually happening to me; I mean, it was too surreal. If it was a rumour about Briannah, I would have believed more, because, well, she did want to do it, but me? Nah, it was messed up. Nonetheless, it wasn’t less real. I was indeed within his arms. And, in that particular moment, I decided to not care about the consequences any longer.

[straightestgay-voice]

Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness: Part One

Dedication; I wrote this story in dedication to one of my closest family members, and my bestest friend(as she would say)

In the event of her short life span, I had introduced her young mind to the world of Supernatural, and the effect it took was great, she told me, on her birthday, that she wished to be a Winchester, and since her passing, I've dedicated myself to making that wish come true in whichever way I can.

In loving memory of Liberty Trude

Disclaimer: The owners of the photos used to portray Liberty have given full consent and are happy and healthy :)

Characters: Slight oc John, young Sam, young Dean

Word count: Probably a lot.

Silence in the Winchester family car was normal, whether it was John moving them around for a new hunt, someone got hurt on a hunt, or everyone was just tired.

John Winchester had just received a call from the LaPlace Louisiana police department, informing him that he’s been summoned by the remaining family of the “deceased” to take a DNA test, with the possibility that he may have another child in tow. Glancing in his rear view mirror, he sighed when he noticed the sleeping faces of his boys. He hasn’t told them about their possible sister. Dean was 12, almost 13, while Sam had just turned 9. He didn’t know how a couple of kids their age would take the news of a new baby. Well, a couple of kids that live the life they live.

Of course, that’s what John had been trying to convince himself with. In reality, he hasn’t told the boys because he wasn’t even sure if he would take the girl in. With his ‘job’ and mission to find his late wife’s killer, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to tackle another kid.

Focusing his eyes back on the road, he pushed the intrusive thoughts to the back of his mind as he pulled up to the dim parking lot of the Troxie Motel and Pit Stop. As the car pulled into park, it jerked forward and sputter, waking Dean and causing John to frown. “That’s not normal.” He muttered under his breath, turning off the engine and nodding toward a sleep ridden Dean, gesturing him to stay in the car, while he surveyed the premises.

As he exited the car, he checked the waist line of his pants to make sure his gun was still in place and then made his way into the main building, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. 

Upon entering, the clerk was startled by John’s rough look and sleepy aura that could easily be misdiagnosed as deadly. The clerk watched with alert eyes as John walked over to the concession corner and roughly pulled open the fridge door to retrieve a 6 pack. John upsettingly groaned when he checked the price on the box and patted his pockets to make sure he had his wallet on him.

His jacket shifted slightly, giving the man behind the counter a quick view of the silver gun tucked behind it. With shaky hands, the clerk slowly reached under the counter for the shotgun hidden underneath, keeping it out of sight until he was sure he was going to need it.

From the corner of his eye, John noticed and scoffed, grabbing a couple of bags of chips for his boys.

“Unless you’re going to shoot,” John spoke, breaking the silence of the small building, walking over to the counter, “Put that gun away and ring me up.” He muttered, dropping his items on the counter. Reaching for his wallet, John gave the clerk the opportunity to get a good look at his red rimmed eyes, tousled hair, and scruffy salt and peppered beard. “Gimme a room. Two queens.” He said, passing his a credit card.

Taking the card and looking at the name, the clerk nodded and started to ring up the items.

After receiving his room key, John grabbed his bag and made his way out to the car where his kids awaited his return. Knocking on the door where Dean laid his head, he watched as he shot up and quickly opened the door. “Yes sir?”

“Get the bags, I’ll carry in your brother.” John handed the room key over to his son and opened the trunk for Dean.

Gathering his youngest son in his arms, he couldn’t help but think of the little girl he may be fathering. Who knows what type of life she lived before him? But the real question was would he really be okay with pulling this girl up from her roots, and putting her in the face of danger?

John woke the next morning to the sound of crinkling cellophane and cartoon characters killing each other on the television screen.

He rose from his bed and rubbed whatever sleep was left in his eyes, glancing over at his youngest son who sat on the floor with a bag of FUNYUNS® in his hands. “Sam?” He spoke, alerting his boy that he was awake.

Sam’s curly head of hair whipped over to his father, mid-chew. “G’morning Dad, I think Dean is sick.” He stood from place on the floor to stand at the foot of the motel bed where his Dad sat, staring out the window, watching the storm clouds roll over the previously blue skies, indicating rain in the near future.

John looked away from the window when he heard the bathroom door open and Dean step into the room, a bit green in the face, causing John to sigh. “How ya feeling boy?” He called out, startling him.

“M’ fine. Just a little stomach ache.” Dean answered, walking over to the bed he and brother shared the night before, and hoisting himself up. “Are we going somewhere today?” He asked.

John looked at the back of his hands with a woeful glance. “I actually wanted to talk to you boys about why we’re here, and no, we’re not on a hunt.” John had figured that he should tell the boys about their possible half sister. He would hate for them to find out from somebody but him.

Confused, the brothers shared a glance then looked back at their father for him to continue.

“How would you boys feel about a little sister?” As he let the words fall from his lips, he watched their faces for their reactions.

“Why can’t we have a little brother? Girls have cooties.” Sam was the first to speak, excitement lacing his voice.

John ignored the petulant question and looked towards his oldest, waiting for his opinion. “Dean, I’m speaking to you boy.” Dean’s eyes flicked over to his father’s booming voice.

“I’m sorry, sir, what?” John stood from his place on his bed to sit next to his son. Gently gripping the boy by his chin, John looked into his eyes, searching for anything to give him a sign that something was wrong. Dean’s eyes were cold, yet still alert as he stared back at his father. 

John placed a hand on the back of his neck and his forehead for any sign of fever.

“He asked about a baby sister.” Sam bounced over two the two, pressing his small hands into John’s thighs. Dean blinked in surprise, breathing out a gasped,

“Really?”

“I want your input. There’s a possibility that you may have a sister. If you do, I want your word that you’ll help me take care of her and protect her. Can you do that?” 

  Tag list: @sisterwinchesterwriter @winchesters-favorite-girl @dreamin-of-somewhere-else

[aikungfu]

Welcome back to The TechCrunch Exchange, a weekly startups-and-markets newsletter. It’s broadly based on the daily column that appears on Extra Crunch, but free, and made for your weekend reading. (You can sign up for the newsletter here!)

Ready? Let’s talk money, startups and spicy IPO rumors.

The week’s biggest IPO news had nothing to do with Monday’s S-1 deluge

During Monday’s IPO wave I was surprised to see Asana join the mix. 

After news had broken in June that the company had raised hundreds of millions in convertible debt, I hadn’t guessed that the productivity unicorn wouldn’t give us an S-1 in the very next quarter. I was contentedly wrong. But the reason why Asana’s IPO is notable isn’t really much to do with the company itself, though do take the time to dig into its results and history. 

What matters about Asana’s debut is that it appears set to test out a model that, until very recently, could have become the new, preferred way of going public amongst tech companies. 

Here’s what I mean: Instead of filing to go public, and raising money in a traditional IPO, or simply listing directly, Asana executed two, large, convertible debt offerings pre-debut, thus allowing it to direct list with lots of cash without having raised endless equity capital while private.

The method looked like a super-cool way to get around the IPO pricing issue that we’ve seen, and also provide a ramp to direct listing for companies that didn’t get showered with billions while private. (That Asana co-founder Dustin Moskovitz’s trust led the debt deal is simply icing on this particular Pop-Tart).

This brief column was going to be all about how we may see unicorns follow the Asana route in time, provided that its debt-powered direct listing goes well. But then the NYSE got permission from the SEC to allow companies to raise capital when they direct-list.

In short, some companies that direct-list in the future will be able to sell a bloc of shares at a market-set value that would have previously set their “open” price. So instead of flogging the stock and setting a price and selling shares to rich folks and then finding out what public investors would really pay, all that IPO faff is gone and bold companies can simply offer shares at whatever price the market will bear. 

All that is great and cool, but as companies will be able to direct-list and raise capital, the NYSE’s nice news means that Asana is blazing a neat trail, but perhaps not one that will be as popular as we had expected.

The NASDAQ is working to get in on the action. As Danny said yesterday on the show, this new NYSE method is going to crush traditional IPOs, provided that we’re understanding it during this, its nascent period.

Market Notes

Look, this week was bananas, and my brain is scrambled toast. You, like myself, are probably a bit confused about how it is only finally Saturday and not the middle of next week. But worry not, I have a quick roundup of the big stuff from our world. And, notes from calls with the COO of Okta and the CEO of Splunk, from after their respective earnings report: 

China-based fintech giant Ant is super profitable and super big and super powerful and is going to have a mega-IPO that matters, even if it isn’t happening Stateside. (This has long been expected.)

As I write to you, the TikTok saga is not yet over, but between the lawsuits and smokescreens and other crap, it appears that Microsoft and perhaps Walmart are the leading bidding duo. What a year.

SPACs for real companies are happening, and Boston unicorn Desktop Metal is pushing ahead with one. This is an event to watch, and if it goes well we could see a bunch more in rapid-fire fashion.

Speaking of which, here’s a run-down of all the companies that filed to go public on Monday. You are welcome, as that post was annoying to compile. (I jest, it was fun as hell.)

Also this week, Y Combinator had a two-day Demo Day confab that we wrote a lot about. Sure, these are early-stage companies, but their ranks will generate some material winners. So catch up here, with that link containing our chat about the startups and directions to all our coverage.

And for fun, here are some slightly deeper looks at Snowflake and Sumo Logic’s respective IPO filings, and a contrarian take on why Palantir has problems, but also some merit.

Over to our chats, starting with Okta COO and co-founder Frederic Kerrest:

Okta had a good quarter. But instead of noodling on just the numbers, we wanted to chat with its team about the accelerating digital transformation and what they are seeing in the market. 

On the SMB side, Kerrest reported little to no change. This is a bit more bullish than we anticipated, given that it seemed likely that SMB customers would have taken the largest hit from COVID.

Kerrest also told us some interesting stuff about how the wave of COVID-related spend has changed: “We actually have seen the COVID ‘go home and remote work very quickly’ [thing], we’ve actually seen that rush subside a little bit, because you know now we’re five months into [the pandemic], so they had to figure it out.”

This is a fascinating comment for the startup world. 

Okta is big and public and is going to grow fine for a while. Whatever. For smaller companies aka startups that were seeing COVID-related tailwinds, I wonder how common seeing “that rush subside a little bit” is. If it is very common, many startups that had taken off like a rocket could be seeing their growth come back to Earth.

And if they raised a bunch of money off the back of that growth at a killer valuation, they may have just ordered shoes that they’ll struggle to grow into.

And then there was new McLaren F-1 sponsor Splunk, data folks who are in the midst of a transition to SaaS that is seeing the firm double-down on building ARR and letting go of legacy incomes:

I spoke with CEO Doug Merritt, kicking off with a question about his use of the word “tectonic” regarding the shift to data-driven decisions from Splunk’s earnings report. (“As organizations continue to adapt to tectonic societal shifts brought on by COVID-19, one thing is constant: the power of data to radically transform business.”)

I wanted to know how far down the American corporate stack that idea went; are mid-size businesses getting more data-savvy? What about SMBs? Merritt was pretty bullish: “We’re getting to tectonic,” he said during our call, adding that before “it really was the Facebooks, the Googles, the Apples, the DoorDashes, [and] the LinkedIns that were using [Splunk].” But now, he said, even small restaurant chains are using data to better track their performance. 

Relating this back to the startup world, I’ve been curious if lots of stuff that you and I think is cool, like low-code business app development, will actually find as wide a footing in the market as some expect. Why? Because most small and medium-sized businesses are not tech companies at all. But if Merritt is right, then the CEO of Appian might be right as well about how many business apps the average company is going to have in a few years’ time.

And finally for Market Notes, my work BFF and IRL friend Ron Miller wrote about Box’s earnings this week, and how the changing world is bolstering the company. It’s worth a read. (Most public software companies are doing well, mind.)

Various and Sundry

We’re already over length, so I’ll have to keep our bits-and-bobs section brief. Thus, only the brightest of baubles for you, my friend:

Y Combinator startups are focusing on revenue in this more uncertain world. Per The Information, the startup org has encouraged startups in its world to “focus on generating revenue” and how to juice enough cash from their operations to endure sans checks from private investors. 

Given the pace of private investments into certain startup niches today, it’s almost odd advice. But what is true for late-stage SaaS companies (very hot!) might not hold true for smaller YC companies that are focused on consumers.

Natasha wrote about a particularly hot startup from this YC batch, so I reached out to a hot company from a prior batch, namely Tandem. But they didn’t want to talk on the record, so no news there. Alas.

The Fastly deal is super cool and you should read more about it. As was this $300 million investment.

And with that, we are out of room. Hugs, fist bumps and good vibes, 

Alex

from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2G3bVM8 via A.I .Kung Fu

[sonicawareness]

Phil Herring’s Best Albums of 2016

Phil Herring is a close friend of Sonic Awareness and a concert aficionado, regularly attending 100+ concerts per year. He has listened to a large number of albums throughout the 2016, and we’re happy to have him provide a guest column: his personal picks for the 40 Best Albums of 2016! 

Browse the full list below and check out the key tracks on Spotify!

40) BRIAN FALLON – Painkillers

After relentless touring and five records with his main act (The Gaslight Anthem), Brian Fallon steps out on his own with a collection of lovely mid-tempo roots-rock that establishes him as the singer-songwriter we always knew he was. While not quite as personal as the previous Gaslight Anthem record, Fallon allows himself to expand his sound. Fans of The Gaslight Anthem will still find plenty to enjoy but Painkillers is able to retain its own identity.

KEY TRACK: “Steve McQueen”

39) THE NAKED AND FAMOUS – Simple Forms

These Aussie electro-poppers always tend to have a few banging singles and then a bunch of so-so album tracks so it was nice to hear them to put together their first all killer no filler collection. The hook on “Laid Low” alone will ring in your head for days while elsewhere they strip their sound down to focus on vocal interplay between the two leads

KEY TRACK: “Laid Low”

38) CHAIRLIFT – Moth

Sadly this Brooklyn art-pop duo will be coming to an end next year but they really went out with a bang on this one. Their previous records tended to collapse under the weight of their own pretension so it’s nice to hear Chairlift (formerly most well known for their track “Bruises” featured in an iPod commercial) lightening up a bit and indulging in their pop fetishes that were only hinted at before.  

KEY TRACK: ”Cha-Ching”

37) GROUPLOVE – Big Mess

Parenthood hasn’t softened indie-poppers Grouplove. They still are able to bring the ruckus to your local festival’s 4pm time slot. Grouplove is one of the last bands standing which can still readily be played on alternative radio and keep a straight face when referring to themselves as “alternative”. The vocal connection between husband and wife duo Christian Zucconi and Hannah Hooper continues to be leading anchor to this band’s sound.  Big Mess also plays well because it avoids getting slowed down by too many mid-tempo anonymous numbers, a trend that many bands in this category fall into. As we go into a very uncertain 2017, Big Mess is a nice joyful break.

KEY TRACK: “Cannonball”

36) BEAR HANDS – You’ll Pay For This

Not totally indie, not totally retro, not totally electro-pop, not totally rock, Bear Hands refuses to sit into any sort of comfort zone. Led by unique instrumentation and singer Dylan Rau’s slacker-influencer vocals, every record these guys do sounds fairly different. Sure, you could probably draw some sort of comparisons to the likes of Passion Pit, Foster The People, etc. but that wouldn’t be telling the whole story. These guys have made their own brand of Brooklyn indie rock that thankfully isn’t indebted to all the passing trends the genre (and city) sees every few years. 2016 gave them their biggest single to date (“2AM”) but the whole record shows each of the band members bringing their biggest strengths to the table which results in their best record yet.

 KEY TRACK: “Winner’s Circle”

 35) DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS – American Band

 There are still American rock and roll lifers in this world and Drive-By Truckers are one of the few who continue to, er, truck on year after year logging endless miles on the road and putting together and incredibly consistent catalog. No Drive-By Truckers record has ever been light subject-matter wise but American Band is likely their most somber and reflective album to date. No doubt inspired by the political landscape and racial tensions in America over the past few years, American Band contemplates exactly what it means to be a southern rock band during this unstable time. Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley have always been excellent story tellers and this record continues to see them evolving in their craft while pleasing their core.

 KEY TRACK: “Ever South”

 34) SLEIGH BELLS – Jessica Rabbit

 Nothing about Sleigh Bells is ever subtle. Like Beach House in their approach (not sound), they continue to tweak and make small changes while still sonically assaulting the listener with gritty guitars and hard dance beats. This time around, the “rock” in their formula is less pronounced which leaves room for more pronounced melodies, beats and overall rhythmic pleasures. It makes for an overall lighter affair but since the songs still stick with you, Jessica Rabbit now makes them 4 for 4.

 KEY TRACK: “Rule Number One”

 33) DAUGHTER – Not To Disappear

 British mope-rock has provided us with plenty of gloomy soundtracks for rainy days. Daughter proved to be one of the stronger candidates with their successful release, If You Leave in 2003. Touring the world a few times over hasn’t softened lead singer/first class mope Elena Tonra. She even wonders if she should “get a dog or something” at one point. If anything, Daughter’s second full length release sounds even more brooding and morose than the first! Years of playing live will beef up anyone’s sound and Daughter doesn’t resist adding a bit more bombast and weight to their post-punk bitter neon-folk. There are still plenty of dark tones and delay pedals present to please fans of the first while giving this young band a whole new sheen. It might sound sad but there’s plenty of joy to be found when listening.

 KEY TRACK: “Alone/With You”

 32) THRICE – To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere

 After going on hiatus back in 2012, Thrice were never actually gone for that long. They bounced back in 2015 playing a slew of festivals while putting together ideas for their 9th proper studio album. The band members, now in their mid-30’s, have put together a fine collection of post-post-hardcore. No longer infatuated will fast tempos and rifts, To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere is one of their most straightforward collection of songs. There’s a new sense of comfort in the music which, to some, might indicate the band is on auto-pilot but Thrice sounds perfectly comfortable streamlining their ambitions in an effort to make a record that pleases both them and their dedicated fan base.

 KEY TRACK: “Wake Up”

 31) THE HUNNA – 100

 Rock and Roll’s true death happened about five years ago at this point but leave it to the UK to still export some excellent guitar-based pop year after year. The Hunna may never get to play a venue bigger than Irving Plaza but their adolescent charm still gets me every time. Here’s hoping that bands like this still continue to exist even after the idea of rock stardom is completely impossible

 KEY TRACK: “You and Me”

 30) WET – Don’t You

 I have no idea why I was so turned off to R&B in the mid-90’s yet when there’s a bunch of pasty white folks from Brooklyn who make it I’m all ears in 2016. There’s a bigger discussion to be had about that topic but in the meantime, Wet’s debut record is a totally competent and fulfilling update to the indie/r&b fusion we’ve been hearing in the past few years. Somber, reflective yet also not excessively melancholy, this was one of my favorite new acts of the year.  

 KEY TRACK: “Don’t Want To Be Your Girl”

 29) THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS – Everything You’ve Come To Expect

 On the previous Lash Shadow Puppets record it was really all about Alex Turner. Most people, myself included, forgot that Miles Kane was also a force to be reckoned with. The most likely reason for this, if you’re American, is that Miles Kane’s previous accomplishments were usually only recognized within England and nowhere else. On their second album, eight years after the first, Turner and Kane make it a more democratic practice while taking the R&B-infused rock blueprints from their day jobs. The end result is a sexy, smoky, hazy trip full of late nights out, late-night burnout accompanied by swelling strings in the right places. Both personality’s shine through and all the songs are keepers.

 KEY TRACK: “Bad Habits”

 28) BASTILLE – “Wild World”

 Bastille is a band that is constantly working. In today’s age, you have to be creating constantly to not only get attention but remind your hardcore fans you’re still around. After the success of 2013’s Bad Blood, the band kept busy touring, releasing mix tapes, and more touring. During this time they tightened up their modern approach to pop music and crafted an ambitious 20-song (if you have the deluxe edition) collection of arena-level pop/rock. Their sonic approach remains consistently modern as front man Dan Smith demonstrates the level of influences one would expect from someone who likely grew up with all music available at the click of a button. Lead single “Good Grief” might not have captured the public’s conscious like “Pompeii” did a few years back but Bastille remains one of the most interesting and dynamic pop/rock acts out there.

 KEY TRACK: “Good Grief”

 27) TOVE LO – Lady Wood

 Tove Lo tightens up on her second album of dark pop. This is the sort of thing that can easily sit alongside Katy Perry and Rihanna but there’s a certain darkness that Tove Lo brings to the mix. Added to the fact that the girl has songwriting chops writing hits for the likes of Icona Pop and Amelia Lily. Lady Wood is an overall darker affair than her previous release and a lot more concise. The beats are colder but that suits the bummed-out songs, even if you can still easily sing along to them.

 KEY TRACK: “True Disaster”

 26) AGAINST ME! – Shape Shift With Me

 Laura Jane Grace (formerly known as Tom Gabel) coming out as transgender in 2012 gave Against Me a much needed publicity bump along with, at least somewhat, making the world a bit more tolerant place. What we didn’t know was, perhaps not surprisingly, her marriage was falling apart during this time period due to the recent transitioning. As such, Shape Shift with Me isn’t a traditional break-up record but explores love in broader terms. What is it we all look for and what is it we all need? The band’s snarling punk approach now coupled with a higher level of pop-punk hooks provides a relentless attack and proves this band is still a force to be reckoned with.

 KEY TRACK: “Crash”

 25) SANTIGOLD – 99 Cents

 The usual M.O. after the “difficult follow-up” is to bounce bank with a brighter, more nimble and user-friendly record. Santigold started her career out as an A&R rep for a major label so she has first-hand experience of what artists should deliver in order to maximize return. As such, 99 Cents sounds exactly as its cover art implies. Bright, snappy, sharp and a blend of many genres. This is pop music by any means but its executed extremely well and with a nodding wink that lets the listener know the artist is well aware that it might seem like pandering, but this is pop music constructed by a master.

 KEY TRACK: “Banshee”

 24) JAGWAR MA – Every Now and Then

 Jagwar Ma are one of those groups that gets classified as “electronic” strictly because they don’t normally use traditional rock instrumentation. To be fair, is there is a fair amount of loops and electronic beats but the way they blend both psychedelic melodies and deep house makes for an intoxicating listen. Guitars chime in now and again to add a light human touch but this record is an absolute dance-fueled blast from start to finish.

 KEY TRACK: “Give Me A Reason”

 23) DEFTONES – Gore

 Now all in their 40’s, these nu metal survivors are elder statesmen which usually means diminishing returns for the listener. However, Deftones have aged rather gracefully from their skate metal origins to fully embracing their love of melodic atmospheres, ambient sounds all pushing back other boundaries the metal genre usually does not forgive bands for going past. It’s rare to see a band getting better and better as the years pass which makes Gore even more of a treat.

 KEY TRACK: “Hearts/Wires”

 22) TEGAN AND SARA – Love You To Death

 Playing it safe after a big blockbuster is a common move, particularly for a veteran act like Tegan and Sara who spent years and years building their audience with their polite and charming indie folk. After going full on electro-pop on 2013’s Heartthrob they stuck to the same formula this year and, while it didn’t exactly allow for lightening to strike twice, it still allowed for plenty of replay value with its shiny hooks.

 KEY TRACK: “U-Turn”

 21) KINGS OF LEON – Walls

 I never imagined I’d ever be including any Kings of Leon album ever on my year-ends lists. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have much against the band. I found their early releases and “Southern Strokes” press-boasting was completely off base as they basically just sounded like any bar band you’d find down south. They started to wear me down by injecting more U2 arena pomposity in their music throughout the years (even if their big hit “Use Somebody” was EXTREMELY hokey). Since then, they’ve settled comfortably on being a hooky mainstream rock band without excessive posturing and/or forced Southern rock throwbacks. Walls is their most consistent set of songs to date and I’m glad the band made it through their rough patch struggling with success.

 KEY TRACK: “Reverend”

 20) TAKING BACK SUNDAY – Tidal Wave

 Like Kings Of Leon this is a debut for Taking Back Sunday on my list and, again, like Kings of Leon it is their 7th full length release. After going through a number of ups and downs in the 00’s with a rotating cast of band members, Taking Back Sunday sound fully comfortable moving into middle age while playing tribute to the acts that inspired them. Lead single and title track sounds like a straight up Ramones-tribute amongst 12 other tracks that find the band coming full circle. It may not please the MySpace-core users of the previous decade but this is a great example of an emo band aging gracefully and not letting their sound become dated.

 KEY TRACK: “Tidal Wave”

 19) FITZ & THE TANTRUMS – Fitz And The Tantrums

 After the breakthrough success of their second record, Fitz & The Tantrums tighten up and aim to please even more on their third full release. Their self-titled album is almost like a how-to guide for how you get a late afternoon festival audience up and jumping after hours of dull jangly guitar rock. There’s no omnipresent theme here, other than wanting to make the listener dance, the hopes of love and also the disappointments. Throughout the whole endeavor, the band keeps the beats sharp and the hooks sticky which ensures listener fatigue is not an option.

 KEY TRACK: “Fadeback”

 18) PANIC! AT THE DISCO – Death Of A Bachelor

 Of the mid-00’s emo boom there are very few survivors. Panic! At The Disco (now down to just one member, Brendan Urie) can count themselves among the few. Urie has taken time to slowly reinvent the project to be a post-emo Jock Jam delivery service. Previous records didn’t have much in the way of one consistent theme but Death Of A Bachelor isn’t subtle in that all the tracks throwback to the “glory “days of Urie’s bachelorhood. There’s plenty of camp and sometimes unnecessary pomp but Urie makes it all work through his likeable personality, sharp assisted hooks from various songwriting teams along with a modern production scene that keeps him sounding contemporary. The record is a total blast and who would have thought, in 2006, that the group would be headlining Madison Square Garden a decade later.

 KEY TRACK: “LA Devotee”

 17) GREEN DAY  - Revolution Radio

 Don’t listen to anyone telling you this is a “return to from”. Green Day already attempted to do that with the ill-fated trilogy which was immensely enjoyable to some (including me!) but to most, was a bit too much and in all fairness, some of those tracks should have been delegated to a rarities compilation. Using this as a lesson, Green Day comes full circle and finally embraces simply being Green Day without anything to prove. There’s a few melodic pop-punk bangers but also a heavy amount of acoustic balladry and leftover rock-opera theatrics from the 00’s. The band still sounds as confident as ever and it’s nice to see them finally accept their status as elder statesmen while still crafting quality records.

 KEY TRACK: “Still Breathing”

 16) JAMES BLAKE – The Colour In Anything

 James Blake is essentially what Justin Vernon (a.k.a Bon Iver) is working towards (more on that in a little). The Colour In Anything is Blake’s third record and his most sonically ambitious by far. Previously, he was delegated to the less-douchey part of “dub-step”. Here he devotes all resources available to his craft, constructing a full-on adventure in sonic wilderness. There’s no vocal effect or digital nuance he won’t touch during this sprawling 76-minute adventure. All digital glitches aside, his songwriting hasn’t missed a beat since he first was heard from back in 2010 and, at this point, The Colour In Anything stands at his crowning achievement.  

 KEY TRACK: “Modern Soul”

 15) GARBAGE – Strange Little Birds  

 Unlike many of the 90’s holdovers, Garbage has little interest in relevancy. That’s not to say they haven’t built upon their sound but they no longer have an interest in sounding youthful which makes sense as all band members are now post-50. Strange Little Birds functions as an adult break-up record. There’s a lingering melancholy unlike the usual break-up records because singer Shirley Manson has been around the block a few times and knows, as she reflects in several songs, that sometimes she’s to blame for her transgressions. The band’s dark modern pop still sounds thrilling as they update their sound here and there with a few new tricks but with Manson still leading the way, the band never stumbles.

 KEY TRACK: “Even Though Our Love Is Doomed”

 14) BILLY TALENT – Afraid Of Heights

 While Billy Talent continues to play arenas in their native land of Canada, as soon as they cross the U.S. border they’re reduced to a club band. That’s a shame because these punchy Buzzcocks-style rockers continue to put out great records with snarly melodies, vicious guitar attacks and plenty of pit-ready rhythms. Of course, the band members are easing into middle age so there’s a lot of reflecting and more sensitivity here than previously but that doesn’t take away from the band’s passion. I’m tempted to dock them points for the silly anti-EDM “Louder Than The DJ” but part of growing old is finally succumbing to the fact that you no longer fully understand youth culture. Also, the song still rips so no hard feelings. Here’s to aging as gracefully as Billy Talent.

 KEY TRACK: “Leave Them All Behind”

 13) BUTCH WALKER – Stay Gold

 Butch has noted this is his last full length release so Stay Gold functions as a welcome send-off. Throughout the record, Walker finds himself looking back on his several past lives and reinventions. His love of guitar pop via Tom Petty style never completely disappears but, since this guy has been on pop radio via songwriting in one form or another for nearly two decades, the songs never fail to disappoint. Bonus points for the heartbreaking ballad at the end which is able to be perfectly nostalgic while also, begrudgingly, accepting the future at the same time.

 KEY TRACK: “Record Store”

 12) SIA – This Is Acting

 Hard to believe that so many of these songs were presented to various pop tarts and turned down. Most alarmingly, how did Rihanna turn down “Cheap Thrills”? Their loss is our gain as Sia has a different type of personality and seasoned passion which only comes with years of experience and false-starts. Fully embracing the sounds of today, she crafts her own world (with help) to deliver a stunning set of pop gems. Next time around, something tells me Rihanna will be more open-minded.

 KEY TRACK: “Cheap Thrills”

 11) ST. LUCIA – Matter

 There’s always a lot written in the press about acts being an “80’s or “90’s throwback these days. The real reason for this is those two decades were the last ones where distinct sounds could be tied to them. St. Lucia, the project of Brooklyn via South Africa Jean-Philip Grobler made no secret of their love of 80’s campy synth-pop with their 2013 full length debut. Matter takes that same template and kicks it into overdrive, fully allowing Grobler to embrace his love of huge hooks, cheesy synth lines and 80’s dance beats. They might still function as a “rock” band but this lovely record will delight anyone who has missed when synths ruled the world in the 1980’s.

 KEY TRACK: “Help Me Run Away”

  10) WEEZER – Weezer (White Album)

 In terms of redemption stories, Weezer might not be at the top of the list but they’re coming close. Once they re-engaged with popular culture in the early-mid 00’s they spent the rest of the decade tragically undoing all the good will they built up with old and new fans alike. 2014’s Everything Will Be All Right In The End put them back on track and allowed them to deliver the “White Album” (actually their 4th self-titled) which is a record they’ve been destined to make since their debut in 1994. A classic California beach guitar-pop record with modern flourishes, Rivers Cuomo dreams up his version of Southern California complete with soaring hooks, Beach Boys harmonies and crunching guitars. This isn’t a nostalgia trip by any means as producer Jake Sinclair, a Weezer fan growing up, steers the group to still sound modern and sleek without losing the nerdy and awkward charm that made us all fall in love with Weezer in the first place. Similar to Green Day’s record this year, Weezer finally sounds comfortable simply being Weezer.  

 KEY TRACK: “L.A. Girls”

 09) MIIKE SNOW – iii

 Swedes and note-perfect pop music go together extremely well. Miike Snow, the band (not a guy), took some time off after their synth-pop had fully penetrated the U.S. in 2012. Since then, they’ve come back with 10 more bangers stripping their music of pretension and focusing on the important stuff: beats, hooks, melodies and charisma. Some reviews focus on “style over substance” but style is one of the most, if not the most, important characteristic in pop music. It doesn’t always matter what is being sung about so long as there is swagger and personality which Miike Snow offers in spades.

 KEY TRACK: “Genghis Khan”

 08) THE STRUTS – Everybody Wants’

 As I’ve mentioned several times, I’m glad the Brits won’t fully give up on glam-infused rock and roll. The Struts pick up where previous British burnouts The Darkness and Jet left off. Their US full length updates their previous UK debut with a welcome 5 new tracks as well as all the keepers from their first release. If you’re cynical, this is the typical “save rock and roll” album a lot of people turn to when feeling bummed about the genre but there really are plenty of treats here for even the most jaded listeners. Big riffs married with big hooks and big crescendos will never stop being exciting to me.

 KEY TRACK: “Kiss This”

 07) PHANTOGRAM – Three

 Phantogram has been building up to this moment for a while. What started as a lo-fi electronic atmospheric pop project has now turned full-blown arena atmospheric pop. The duo has always been dark but there’s an even darker lingering theme throughout Three as the band had a number of people close to them pass away in the past year, most notably lead singer Sarah Barthel’s younger sister which is reflected in the devastating “Destroyer”. They turn pain into some wicked pleasures, all culminating in the excellent “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore” which will rattle around in your head for days.

 KEY TRACK: “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore”

 06) KALEO – A/B

 If you didn’t do any research, you’d likely think Kaleo was another gang of Southern boys re-purposing the blues for modern times. I had that same impression until I learned they were actually from Iceland, a place far removed from American blues rock. For cynics, it’s easy to scoff at these foreigners doing their best impression of southern rock but Kaleo pull it off with great success. There’s everything on here from straight-up Black Keys rockers to Bon Iver tributes all while maintain the band’s own identity. For rock and roll purists, Kaleo was as good as it gets in 2016.  

 KEY TRACK: “All The Pretty Girls”  

 05) RADIOHEAD – A Moon Shaped Pool

 Many were afraid to admit it, but with 2011’s The King Of Limbs Radiohead had painted themselves a little too much into a corner. Bouncing back with A Moon Shaped Pool, they learned to embrace the beautiful non-glitch elements of their sound including instruments played by actual humans while Thom Yorke’s melodies take on prettier pastures. Don’t be fooled, there’s still plenty of “end of the world” type executions here but, being Radiohead, they make it all sound so effortlessly easy and beautiful. Bonus points for finally giving us a recorded version of “True Love Waits”!

 KEY TRACK: “Burn The Witch”

 04) JIMMY EAT WORLD – Integrity Blues

 While the mainstream fell off a long time ago, Jimmy Eat World has been remarkably consistent in their career post breakthrough in 2001-02. I’m realizing there’s a reoccurring theme in this list of addressing getting older (NO idea why that might be, of course) and Integrity Blues continues that trend. While they’ll forever be pegged an “emo” band in the eyes of most, Jimmy Eat World toss off earnest sincerity with such ease its’ second nature to them at this point. After putting out a “grown up break-up record” in 2013, they’ve come full circle with the incredibly well-rounded Integrity Blues. There may not be as much bite in their sound these days but that’s due to continued maturity and also a wider range of influences. They still wear their hearts no their sleeves and Jim Adkins, now in his 40’s, can still easily soundtrack any high school.

 KEY TRACK: “Sure And Certain”

 03) BON IVER – 22, A million

 Justin Vernon is still portrayed as the sad bastard strumming solemn acoustic songs in the woods by the media. Any listen to this record, as well as his previous Grammy-winning self-titled release in 2011, should dispel that notion. 22, A Million is a strange, jarring but still extremely fulfilling listen that finds Vernon adopting a kitchen sink type approach to his music-making. There are still sad moments, yes, but they are spliced up between random glitches, beats and strange vocoder effects. It’s almost as if Vernon is still trying to shake off his success with a healthy dose of sonic confrontation. Underneath it all, the songs are still extremely pleasant and deliver in way listeners want Bon Iver too, even if you can’t fully figure out the odd song naming convention.  

 KEY TRACK: “7:15 (Creeks)”

 02) LUKAS GRAHAM – Lukas Graham

 Turning pain into pop songwriting is nothing new. Lead singer/songwriter Lukas Forchhammer grew up a child actor but also lost his father at a young age. He turns his autobiography into a charming theatrical musical-like record bringing you up to speed from his early childhood (“7 Years”) to even imagining his death being a huge party (“Funeral”). Even with the grim subject matter, Forchhammer never totally sounds bummed out, always keeping hope alive in his darkest moments. Perhaps the most honest and charming pop record of the year, I’m excited for what this band has to offer next.

 KEY TRACK: “What Happened To Perfect”

 01) THE 1975 – I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It

 If this list were titled “the 40 most obnoxious album titles of 2016” this record will still be number one. The 1975 has a lot that can get on people’s nerves, most notably the pretentious presentation and unnecessary pomp that American audiences aren’t used to from acts that present themselves as “rock” bands. The 1975 may feature the usual combo of vocals, guitar, bass, drums and keyboards but they are a straight up pop band, through and throughout. Note pop band and not singer. It’s amazing that the band member, who were all born in the late 80’s and early 90’s, have such a fascination with all thing 80’s. If this were a collection of songs, it’d still be great, but their ability to balance the anthemic pop bangers with moody introspective instrumentals and sparse acoustic tracks makes them a fully competent album band. Judging by the band’s success of selling out Madison Square Garden this spring without a true HIT hit single (they’ve done well on the modern rock charts), they might be well on their way to becoming a stadium act in a few years. Plus, try getting “The Sound” out of your head once you’ve heard it.

 KEY TRACK: “The Sound”

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