#also 'guy who works at a video rental store' but i think he probably did that one. and he hated it. it's retail. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sweetghosttea · 2 months ago

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also bro i feel like this video is gonna be us at some point in the future xD https://www.youtube.com/shorts/p6fj3G_aNu0 12/20/23 7:45 pm

Monday, December 25, 2023

[2:00 AM] Ragtime Cat: merry christmas bro!!!

Monday, January 1, 2024

[12:15 AM] Ragtime Cat: HAPPY NEW YEAR BRO!!!

Thursday, January 4, 2024

[5:26 PM] ✦randi✦: OH GOD BRO STEAM DIDNT SHOW ME ANY OF YOUR MESSAGES OMG HAPPY NEW YEAR!! MERRY cHRISTmas!! ALSO YES THAT WILL BE US OMG I HOPE YOURE DOING OKAY!! A LOT HAS HAPPENED TO ME THESE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS

[11:07 PM] Ragtime Cat: SHAKES FIST DAMNIT STEAM. DONT DO THIS TO US IS IT GOOD THINGS I HOPE?? TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT BRO THERE'S BEEN A LOT HAPPENING OVER HERE TOO BUT I WANNA HEAR ABOUT YOU FIRST

Friday, January 5, 2024

[12:15 AM] ✦randi✦: I EVEN HAVE IT ON MY PHONE TO TRY AND MAKE SURE I RECIEVE MESSAGES OMG. AND YES AND NO, BUT I WOULD SAY MOSTLY GOOD. THE BIG ONE IS THAT ROMAN AND I BROKE UP IN NOVEMBER. ILL SAVE YOU THE DETAILS, IT WAS PROBABLY AS GOOD OF A BREAKUP AS ONE COULD GO. THINGS JUST DIDNT WORK OUT AND HE DIDNT LOVE ME ANYMORE. THATS THE BIG NEWS. HOWEVER, I HAVE A NEW BOYFRIEND ACTUALLY. HE IS WONDERFUL, HIS NAME IS ADAM. I KNOW IT SEEMS A LITTLE FAST BUT AFTER REFLECTION, IT WASNT MUCH OF A RELATIONSHIP FOR A FEW YEARS. SERIOUSLY, ADAM AND I HAVE DONE MORE FUN DATE THINGS ALREADY. WEVE BEEN DATING SINCE A FEW DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS LOL. BUT DID SOME DATES BEFORE THEN. ANYWAY, AND THEN I GOT A HUGE PROMOTION AT WORK! WELL KINDA. ITS BEEN A MESS A LITTLE. SO I DON'T KNOW IF I TOLD YOU THAT IVE BEEN WORKING AT A GROCERY STORE FOR A LITTLE NOW, ILL BE THERE THREE YEARS IN JULY. BUT I AM ALMOST PROBABLY GONNE BE THE ASSISTANT STORE MANAGER SOON! UNFORTUNATELY THE OTHERONE GOT SUPER SICK AND SHE HAD TO RESIGN, BUT THINGS WERE UP IN THE AIR FOR A WHILE, AND IVE BEEN THE TEMP ASST STORE MANAGER SINCE MID OCT I THINK. ANYWAYS, BUSY BUT EXCITING!WHAT ABOUT YOU BRO?? I HOPE GOOD THINGS TOO!

[2:34 PM] Ragtime Cat: OMG WHY DOESN'T IT WORK THEN C'MON STEAM DO BETTER THAN THAT.OH BRO, I'M SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT YOU AND ROMAN. HOWEVER, I'M ALSO HAPPY TO HEAR ABOUT YOU AND ADAM. CONGRATS ON GETTING A WONDERFUL NEW BOYFRIEND AND I'M SO GLAD THINGS ARE GOING SO WELL BETWEEN YOU TWO. I DON'T THINK YOU'RE GOING TOO FAST AT ALL. IF HE MAKES YOU HAPPY THAN THAT'S WHAT'S IMPORTANT YEAH?THAT'S ALSO AMAZING BRO! CONGRATS ON YOUR PROMOTION AT WORK AS WELL. I HONESTLY CAN'T REMEMBER IF YOU'D TOLD ME BEFORE OR NOT. YOU PROBABLY DID THOUGH. ANYWAY IT'S A SHAME THAT THE OTHER ONE GOT REAL SICK AND HAD TO QUIT. THAT'S NOT SO GOOD. BUT AT LEAST THINGS AREN'T SO UP IN THE AIR ANYMORE RIGHT? NOW YOU KNOW FOR SURE! IT IS BUSY BUT EXCITING!!!I'M ON THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE END OF THINGS ACTUALLY. INSTEAD OF GOOD THINGS HAVE BEEN ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE. WE ALMOST LOST ALL THE RENTALS BECAUSE ONE GUY WANTED TO BE A COMPLETE ASSHOLE. I ALMOST ENDED UP HOMELESS BECAUSE MY YOUNGER BROTHER WON'T ADMIT HE HAS ANGER ISSUES AND WENT ON A MASSIVE POWER TRIP FOR ABOUT TWO MONTHS AND TRIED TO KICK ME OUT,OF MY OWN HOUSE TWICE QUOTING THAT I'M USELESS AND WORTHLESS AND EVERYONE IN THE FAMILY HATES ME. I'M STILL HERE THANKFULLY AND HE'S NOT GOTTEN HIS WAY. BUT IT'S REALLY PUT A WEDGE IN NOT ONLY OUR RELATIONSHIP, BUT MY RELATIONSHIP WITH MY DAD AS WELL. BECAUSE HE ALSO SAID I'M PRETTY USELESS BECAUSE I DON'T MEET HIS EXPECTATIONS OF ME. WHEN HIS EXPECTATIONS ARE FOR ME TO GET A JOB HE PICKS OUT INSTEAD OF THE ONE I'M DOING THAT I LIKE. SO HE CAN QUIT HIS JOB AND NOT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING BECAUSE I'LL BE TAKING CARE OF HIM. WHICH IS NOT HOW I WAS RAISED TO DO THINGS AND HE KNOWS THAT SO I DON'T KNOW WHERE IT'S SUDDENLY COME FROM. BUT MY AUNT AND UNCLE FROM HIS SIDE OF THE FAMILY ARE REALLY PUSHING FOR ME TO DO THIS TOO CAUSE IT'S "MY RESPONSIBILITY AS THE OLDEST CHILD" WHEN THEIR OWN FUCKING CHILDREN DON'T DO THAT FOR THEM. AND THEY DON'T DO THAT FOR THEIR MOM, WHO I'VE NEVER THOUGHT OF AS A GRANDMA SO I DON'T CALL HER THAT. BUT YEAH LIKE WHAT THE FUCK??ON TOP OF THAT I'VE BEEN LIVING BASICALLY IN OUR DEN FOR THE MONTH AND A HALF BECAUSE THERE'S SOME WEIRD POWER STUFF GOING ON WITH MY ROOM. THE OUTLETS JUST STOPPED WORKING SUDDENLY FOR NO APPARENT REASON. ALL OF OUR TESTERS AND METERS AND STUFF SAY THEY'RE GETTING POWER BUT NOTHING TURNS ON WHEN YOU PLUG IT IN, AND IT'S TOO COLD FOR ME TO BE IN THERE WITHOUT A HEATER. UNFORTUNATELY THAT MEANS I HAVE ABSOLUTELY ZERO PRIVACY ANYMORE AND IT'S REALLY STARTING TO WEAR ON ME. I HATE IT BUT EVERYONE'S DRAGGING THEIR FEET ABOUT DOING SOMETHING TO GET IT FIXED OURSELVES AND I'M NOT MAKING ENOUGH TO HIRE AN ELECTRICIAN. SO IT JUST SUCKS ALL AROUND. ;n; A LOT OF PERSONAL STUFF FROM MY MAMAW AND PAPAW THAT I REALLY CARED ABOUT GOT DESTROYED TOO AND THAT'S HURT ME. I FEEL LIKE ANY TIME WE DO A LIFE UPDATE I'M GOING THROUGH SOMETHING ROUGH ANYMORE. BUT YEAH THAT'S HOW THE PAST LIKE HALF A YEAR HAS BEEN FOR ME.

Saturday, January 6, 2024

[Yesterday, 8:08 PM] ✦randi✦: I KNOW, ITS SO STUPID. I HAVE THE SPECIFIC CHAT APP FOR THIS REASON, BUT NOOO. IT IS OKAY. IT NEEDED TO HAPPEN, AND I REALLY ADORE ADAM. HES A GREAT GUY. HE DOES MAKE ME VERY HAPPY OMG. AND THANK YOU FOR THE CONGRATS ON THE PROMOTION. I AM SO SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT ALL OF THAT FUCKIN SHIT THAT IS GOING ON, HOLY COW BRO. YOU'RE PUTTING UP WITH SO MUCH, DAMN. IM GLAD YOURE STILL THERE, I CANT BELIEVE HE WOULD TRY AND MAKE YOU HOMELESS HOLY SHIT. HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A BIT OF A PROBLEM THOUGH, WHICH IS UNFORTUNATE. BUT HOLY.FUCKING.SHIT I CAN NOT BELIEVE YOUR DAD. YOU DAD?? THE LIKE, ONE GOOD FAMILY MEMBER YOU HAD LEFT. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH HIM. IM SO SO SORRY YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT BRO, D: HAVING NO PRIVACY IS REALLY BAD, I CANT EVEN IMAGINE THAT BRO. I YHOPE IT GETS FIXED SOON OR SOMETHING FOR YOUR SAKE. GOD BRO I REALLY HOPE THINGS TURN AROUND, IM SORRY ITS BEEN SO BAD FOR YOU. YOU DESERVE MUCH BEETER

Sunday, January 7, 2024

[11:05 PM] Ragtime Cat: I KNOW BRO. THAT'S ANOTHER THING I'M TRYING TO GET SORTED OUT IS GETTING A BETTER COMPUTER SO WE CAN HANG OUT AGAIN WHEN YOU'VE GOT TIME! SOMETHING MORE RELIABLE THAN A SECONDHAND ANXIETY TRAP THAT'S JUST GOING TO DIE ON ME AGAIN IF I BREATH ON IT WRONG. BUT I'M HAPPY THAT HE MAKES YOU HAPPY AND THAT THINGS ARE GOING MUCH BETTER WITH HIM. MAYBE I CAN MEET HIM IF I EVER GET THE CHANCE TO COME VISIT? I STILL HAVE THE BOX OF STUFF I MEANT TO SEND YOU IN A PACKAGE. BUT I THINK THAT WAS WHEN THE MESS WITH YOUR BASEMENT STARTED HAPPENING AND I JUST HAVEN'T THOUGHT TO ASK WHERE TO SEND IT TO SINCE THEN. ALSO YOU'RE WELCOME BRO! I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT YOU DESERVE IT AND ARE GOING TO DO GREAT IN THE POSITION. THAT'S HONESTLY ONLY LIKE A THIRD OF IT TOO. EVER SINCE MY MOM DIED I'VE JUST BEEN IN HELL AND DEALING WITH SO MUCH. I'M ALSO SORRY BRO I WAS HALF ASLEEP WHEN I WROTE THAT BECAUSE I HAVEN'T BEEN SLEEPING WELL SO I'M UTTERLY EXHAUSTED MOST OF THE DAY SO I DIDN'T REALIZE UNTIL I LOOKED BACK AND READ IT BUT IT'S NOT MY DAD DAD LIKE THE ONE YOU LOVE SO MUCH THAT DID ALL THAT IT'S MY STEPDAD. THE ONE THAT LIVES WITH ME AND MY BROTHER. I'M REALLY SORRY FOR NOT LIKE CLARIFYING THAT SOONER. ALTHOUGH HONESTLY EVEN COOL DAD'S BEEN KINDA WEIRD LATELY. THE LAST TIME I WAS ACTUALLY AT HIS HOUSE AND HUNG OUT WITH HIM HE WAS JUST DOING A LOT OF GUILT TRIPPING?? ABOUT HOW I DON'T CALL HIM ENOUGH AND HOW WE DIDN'T DO A LOT TOGETHER THIS YEAR AND ALL OF OUR PLANS GOT MESSED UP SOMEHOW WHEN WE COULD. BUT WHENEVER I CALLED HIM AFTER THAT HE DIDN'T WANT TO SEE ME?? HE DIDN'T EVEN WANNA SPEND CHRISTMAS OR NEW YEARS WITH ME?????? I DUNNO WHAT I'VE DONE WRONG TO EVEN MAKE HIM MADE AT ME BUT JFC. I CAN'T TAKE MUCH MORE. BUT ANYWAY YEAH I'M GLAD I'M STILL HERE TOO AND FIGHTING TO KEEP DOING WHAT I LOVE INSTEAD OF WHAT OTHER PEOPLE WANT. AND HAVING NO PRIVACY SUCKS SO MUCH. I HOPE IT GETS FIXED SOON TOO. I KEEP HEARING 'YEAH WE'LL WORK ON IT' 'WE'LL FIX IT HERE IN A DAY OR TWO' BUT EITHER NOTHING HAPPENS OR I DON'T GET A DEFINITIVE ANSWER ON WHAT 'A DAY OR TWO' MEANS. UUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHH. THANK YOU BRO <3 I'M SORRY TO HAVE TO DUMP SO MUCH SHIT ON YOU LIKE THIS WHEN WE SHOULD BE FOCUSING ON YOUR GOOD NEWS ISNTEAD!

1-28-24 [3:00 AM] Ragtime Cat: HOWS BAUDLRS GATE BRO? YOU ENJOYING IT?

2-14-24 (7:30 am)

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY BRO

Monday, February 19, 2024

[Yesterday, 10:23 PM] Miranda(✿◠‿◠): OH SHIT BRO!! HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!! OMG BELATED VALENTIONES DAY ANYWAY I HOPE THINGS ARE GOIN BETTER FOR YOU, AT LEAST A LITTOE BIT

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

[12:06 PM] Ragtime Cat: THANK YOU BRO I'M KINDA STUCK IN PURGATORY RIGHT NOW ACTUALLY. IT'S NOT GETTING ANY WORSE THANKFULLY BUT IT'S NOT IMPROVING ANY EITHER. I'M STILL STRESSING MYSELF INTO MAKING MYSELF SICK AND WORRIED AND A LITTLE SCARED.

Monday, February 26, 2024

[12:01 AM] Ragtime Cat: BRO!!!!!! BRO ARE YOU READY FOR AN UPDATE i HAVE A ROOM AND PRIVACY AND A BED AGAIN!!! SORT OF HALF OF A ROOM TECHNICALLY IT'S NOT MY ROOM BUT WE EMPTIED OUT ONE OF THE STORAGE ROOMS AND STUCK A MATTRESS IN HERE FOR ME AND MY PC SO THAT I CAN HAVE MY OWN SPACE AGAIN UNTIL I DO GET MY ROOM BACK.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

[10:22 AM] Miranda(✿◠‿◠): OH MY GOD BRO!! THAT IS A PRETTY DECENT UPDATE OMG!! IM SO GLAD YOU ARE ABLE TO KIND OF HAVE A ROOM AGAIN! HOPEFULLY THEN THAT MEANS THINGS ARE KIND OF ON THE UP AND UP, IT SURE AS HELL IS A START! OMFG IM SO HAPPY FOR YOU BRO

[10:31 AM] Ragtime Cat: THANK YOU BRO. EVEN IF IT ISN'T MY ROOM I STILL FEEL SO MUCH BETTER. THE SETUPS A LITTLE AWKWARD FOR MY PC WITH THE WAY THE OUTLETS ARE IN THIS ROOM, AND THE DOORS NOT ACTUALLY A DOOR ITS JUST ONE OF THOSE FOLDING SLIDING PANEL THINGS THAT DOESN'T LATCH WHEN YOU TO TRY TO CLOSE IT. BUT ITS STILL SOMETHING RIGHT?! I'M KEEPING ALL OF MY FINGERS AND TOES AND ANYTHING ELSE I CAN THINK OF CROSSED THAT THIS DOES MEAN THINGS ARE LOOKING UP.

Saturday, March 2, 2024

[11:02 AM] Ragtime Cat: BRO I HAVE ANOTHER BIG UPDATE!!!! ONE I COULD SUPER USE YOUR HELP WITH IF YOU WANT. I'VE BEEN ASKED TO BE A DND DM!!! FOR TINY LITTLE POKEMON CAMPGAIN. I'VE GOT A GOOD START TO IT THOUGHT UP ALREADY I THINK BUT I'D LOVE YOUR HELP WITH THE STORY OR JUST SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPORTANT NPCS AND RANDOM SHIT THAT CAN HAPPEN AND STUFF LIKE THAT.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

[Yesterday, 11:08 PM] Miranda: IM GLAD IT FEELS SO MUCH BETTER!! IT IS STILL SOMETHING, AND WE WILL TAKE THAT! I WILL ALSO KEEP EVERYTHING CROSSED THAT I CAN POSSIBLY CROSS TO HELP!! OH BRO! I CAN TRY MAYBE!! IM GONNA BE BUSY FOR A MONTH, CAUSE I HAVE TRAINING FOR MY WORK OUT OF STATE WHERE ILL BE WORKING 6 DAYS A WEEK LMAO. BUT ILL HAVE A LAPTOP, I MAY BE ABLE TO HELP! LAY ON ME WHAT YOUVE GOT ! OMG ITS SO EXCITING THAT YOURE GOING TO DM A LIL POKEMON CAMPAIGN!!

Thursday, March 7, 2024

[10:04 PM] Ragtime Cat: THANKS BRO. FOR KEEPING EVERYTHING CROSSED AND TRYING TO HELP ME. THEY LAST MINUTE DECIDED TO DROP ON ME THAT THIS SATURDAY IS THE ONLY DAY THAT'S GOING TO WORK FOR EVERYONE GETTING TOGETHER. WHICH HAS BEEN FINE AS FAR AS THE SET UP IS CONCERNED. BUT I'M WORRIED THAT EVEN MY BASIC IDEAS FOR A STORY MIGHT NOT BE INTERESTING/FUN. CAUSE I MEAN ITS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SUPER DETAILED ANYWAY I RECKON SINCE IT'S JUST A TEENY TINY SHORT COUPLE HOUR CAMPAIGN RIGHT? BUT I DUNNO. MAYBE I'M JUST GETTING STAGE FRIGHT.

[10:16 PM] Ragtime Cat: MY IDEA IS THAT YOU'RE ON A VERY SMALL ISLAND REGION THAT IS MOSTLY UNINHABITED SAVE FOR ONE BIG CITY, A LITTLE FISHING VILLAGE, WHAT IS BASICALLY A THIEVES DEN, AND A SMALL TRIBAL VILLAGE WAAAAY OFF AWAY FROM EVERYONE ELSE AND CUT OFF FROM THE "CIVILIZED" WORLD PRETTY MUCH. THERE'S NO GYMS OR LEAGUES. AND THERE WASN'T EVEN A POKEMON PROFESSOR UNTIL RECENTLY. WHEN THIS NEW ONE RE-OPENED THE OLD LAB THAT HAD BEEN INACTIVE FOR YEARS. SHE PUT OUT A CALL FOR TRAINERS TO GO RECLAIM THE OLD RESEARCH STATIONS FROM NATURE AND SEE IF THAT'S WHY HER READINGS ARE COMING OUT SO INCONSISTANT AND WEIRD. SHE'LL PROVIDE EVERYTHING THEY NEED FOR THEM BEFORE THEY GO AND PAY THEM PRETTY WELL FOR THE WORK WHEN THEY RETURN. THEY'RE GOING TO MOSTLY DECIDE HOW THEY GO ABOUT IT AND WHAT ROUTES THEY TAKE SO THERE'S GONNA BE POKEMON BATTLES AND TRAINING AND SOME LITTLE EVENTS/BATTLES ALONG THE WAY. BUT AFTER MAYBE ONE STATION I WANT THEM TO SORT OF SNIFF OUT THAT ITS NOT JUST THE STATIONS THEMSELVES BUT THAT SOMETHING IS ALSO VERY WRONG WITH THE WILD POKEMON. THEY'LL MORE FREQUENTLY COME ACROSS SPOTS WHERE POKEMON ARE JUST REALLY SICK OR ACTING UNNATURALLY. AND THE SECOND BIG HOOK AND THE TWIST OF THE STORY IS THAT IT'S BECAUSE THERE'S A BIG BAD RICH GUY THAT SEES THE ENTIRE ISLAND AS AN INVESTMENT AND WANTS TO TURN EVERY OUNCE OF IT INTO A MONEY MAKING TOURIST ATTRACTION. ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. SO HE'S TRYING TO LIKE FORCE THE TRIBE TO LEAVE OR STRONG ARM NATIVES INTO SELLING THEIR LAND TO HIM. AND GETTING RID OF ANYTHING THAT'S "PROBLEMATIC" FOR DEVELOPMENT. LIKE SAY POKEMON THAT AREN'T GOING TO BE USEFUL TO HIM. MY FRIENDS' SORT OF RIVAL IS GONNA BE THE SON OF THIS BIG BAD GUY. WHO EVEN THOUGH HE /IS/ TREATING HIS STAY MORE LIKE A VACATION TO HIS DAD. STILL HAS THAT VERY RICH BOY AIR AND ATTITUDE ABOUT HIM AND THINKS HE CAN GET AWAY WITH DOING AND SAYING ANYTHING HE WANTS AND TREATING PEOPLE ANY WAY HE WANTS CAUSE HIS DAD IS GONNA "OWN THE ISLAND AND EVERYONE IN IT SO YOU MIGHT AS WELL GET USED TO IT. YOU LOSERS BASICALLY WORK FOR ME ALREADY."OH I ALSO FORGOT TO MENTION THAT

IF WE HAVE TIME FOR IT I EVEN HAS A LITTLE SIDE STORY ON STANDBY ABOUT A LEGEND OF THE TRIBE AND HOW THEY BASICALLY WORSHIP LYCANROCS.

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tuffduff · 4 years ago

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#1 Fan (Axl Rose x Reader)

Pairing: Axl Rose x Reader

Words: 2,043

Request: @normatural “Hii, hope you’re doing fine! Could you write some Axl (current or 80’s) x reader, where she’s a famous young (20s) actress and they go to a talk show/interview together? It’s okay if you don’t feel like writing :)) Thank you xx”

A/N: Hello, love! I went with 80s Axl for this one, and lemme tell ya, I LOVE this request so much. I love ideas like these, thank you for requesting! Happy Friday loves! <3

Taglist: @ubernoxa @the--blackdahlia @reigns420 @stradlin-cold-heartbreaker @rumoured-whispers @dustnbones

“Critics have already been calling The Winter Trials your breakout film. This is also your first action movie. What was it like filming and working as a lead role opposing Arnold Schwarzenegger?”

For you, doing media to promote your movies was one of your favorite parts of the job. That is, when you got to actually engage in intellectual talk rather than just details of your diet. But this late-night talk show appearance had you more nervous than most.

“It was an awesome experience. Getting into acting, I’ve never wanted to do only one genre, I’ve always wanted to do different types of work. He’s an absolute workhorse and a true professional, which is such a privilege to be around because your company really elevates your own mindset. And he’s so kind! He really helped bring out the best in me.” The talk show host nodded at your words.

“Well, I know I can’t wait to see it and I’m sure the rest of the world feels the same; you’ve really been working hard the past few years to make a name for yourself. Do you have time for anything else? Do you watch MTV?” You laughed despite feeling your stomach drop; you had a feeling this was a segue point.

“Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I love MTV.” You shifted nervously on the small loveseat you were seated on.

“Have you heard of Guns N’ Roses?” The crowd cheered, mainly the women. You pressed a smile on your lips, hoping the camera couldn’t see you sweating.

“Yeah, of course.” You replied evenly. On the inside, you were screaming. You were a huge fan of Guns N’ Roses. When Appetite for Destruction came out, it was the only thing you listened to for months straight. And if there were any other guest appearing on the show with you, you would probably be gushing over that fact.

But your fellow guest star was in fact Axl Rose, and you couldn’t lose your cool. You were actually certain he probably had no idea who you were. He probably didn’t care.

He had a bad boy reputation, known to fly into a frenzy at a moment’s notice. You were America’s current sweetheart.

Ever since you found out you would be appearing on the show with Axl Rose, the only thing you could think about was his reaction to you. He probably thought you were boring, uptight, and some actress snob. He was probably disappointed it wasn’t Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“What do you think of them?” The host asked.

“I think they’re very talented.” The crowd clapped in agreement and you took a breath before you added, “I think their album actually is the greatest debut album of all time. Of any genre.” The crowd cheered louder in agreement and the host’s eyes went wide.

“Wow. Are you just saying that because of our other guest this evening?” You laughed a little and shook your head.

“No! I’m being honest. I don’t ever get asked about my music opinions.” You admitted. If Axl held a certain disdain for you, or no opinion at all, it couldn’t hurt to put your honest feelings out in the open. Right?

“Well, alright then—let’s talk music! Don’t go away, up next we’ve got Axl Rose joining us!” The crowd cheered and clapped in anticipation. You smiled and clapped with the audience, knowing Axl himself was in the back waiting to come out.

Sooner than you expected, the show came back and the girls in the front row were screaming exceptionally loud as Axl walked out. He was instantly an intimidating sight in his leather chaps over his blue jeans, thick studded snakeskin belt paired with an LA club tank top and black leather vest. You swallowed nervously as you clapped, realizing the loveseat you were sitting on would barely provide enough space for the two of you. You saw the host stand to greet him with a handshake and scrambled up to your feet, remembering etiquette. Oh god, were your hands clammy? Was your top wrinkled from where you were sitting? You didn’t even have time to think because as soon as he shook the host’s hand, he was turning to you.

There was something immediately disarming about him. You’d seen the magazine covers and music videos of a rough and tough arms-crossed-and-covered-in-tattoos man, but now, here, he didn’t even look like the same person. He was smiling pleasantly at you and his face was incredibly clear. Smooth and frustratingly beautiful, like a sculpted Greek statue. His hair wasn’t ratty and teased and sprayed in Aqua Net like other rock stars. Instead, it rested against his shoulders neatly, shining a delicate strawberry blonde in the studio’s lighting. Even his handshake as he grabbed yours in his was gentle. You weren’t expecting him to lean forward and kiss your cheek.

“How are you?” You heard him ask next to your ear. It wasn’t small talk other famous people made for appearances, he genuinely pulled back and waited for your answer.

“Good.” You were able to murmur in reply. You could smell his cologne and almost felt your knees weaken.

“W. Axl Rose! Guns N’ Roses!” You heard the host say and you were suddenly reminded this was an interview. You sat back down again and Axl followed your lead. Your legs instantly brushed, and you wondered if you should’ve tried to scoot over, but decided to stay frozen, waiting for him to be the one to move. He didn’t. His leg stayed against yours, brushing yours with his every time he moved ever so slightly. “How are you? How’s the band?”

“Good. We’re really good. We just got done touring for our last album. We’re all taking a short break and getting everything in order before we head back to the studio and start working on the next album.”

“Right, yes. I’m sure everyone’s heard it, Appetite for Destruction?” The host checked with the crowd who cheered and clapped in response. The host turned to you, a teasing gleam in his eyes. “We all know Y/N has.” You could feel your cheeks heating up and you looked down at your lap, unable to even look at the man next to you, though you were pretty sure you heard him laugh. You were eating your words now. “But what I found interesting is, in the beginning, MTV wouldn’t even play your videos. The album didn’t even get notoriety until a whole year later, which doesn’t happen. How did that make you guys feel, Axl?”

“Uh, I mean, it’s kind of disheartening. When you put so much work into something and everything is against you, it only makes you want something more. We had to claw our way to where we are now.” You listened carefully to his words, surprised by how well-spoken and articulate his response was. And his voice, smooth and deep, so different than the earth-shaking screams he could produce. “But, in the end I guess it all worked out. If Y/N thinks we’re good, then we’ve really accomplished something great.” You looked up quickly at the sound of your name. The host and crowd laughed, and at first you assumed Axl was being sarcastic until you saw the smile on his face. One of earnest, with his eyes lighting up a little when you finally met his. You smiled back at him, laughing a little as you relaxed.

“Are you surprised Y/N listens to your band?” The host asked.

“Oh, yeah. It’s a real trip—I almost lost my mind back there while I was listening and waiting to come out because,” Axl shifted in his seat, facing you with his body. Somehow, he managed to appear bold and yet bashful at the same time. “I’m a really big fan of yours. I almost considered canceling this appearance because I was so nervous.” The host and crowd were delighted at his revelation, but you could only sit there with your mouth open.

“…Me? You were nervous to meet me?” You managed to get out. There was no way you could hide the blush on your face now.

“Yeah. I’ve been a fan of yours ever since Don’t You Remember?” You blinked a few times in amazement. That movie had been filmed years ago, when you were barely breaking into the film world. It was a romantic and sentimental 1800s period piece.

“No one’s seen that.” You laughed in amazement, making the crowd laugh too. Axl only smiled sincerely at you, and all of a sudden you felt like a giddy teenager again.

“I have. I liked the title and the cover when I saw it in the rental store. I don’t really watch movies, but I watch all of yours. I go back to that one all the time.” You were speechless. “Yeah, I think you’re incredibly talented. I’d really love it if you starred in one of our music videos someday.” The crowd cheered in agreement.

“I would love that!” You couldn’t help but blurt out. “So much. I’ve never done a music video, but I would love to do one with you guys.”

The rest of the interview went pretty smooth, with Axl shedding a little light on some of the song’s inspirations, what Guns N’ Roses hoped to accomplish in the future, and upcoming tentative tour dates. But it was when you were both backstage together again that you felt the most nervous, just the two of you.

“You know, I meant everything out there. I wasn’t bullshitting you for TV or something.” He told you. Without the noise of the crowd or studio, the deepness of his voice struck you even more.

“I meant it too. I had no idea you were gonna be so…” you struggled to find the right word. Charming. Interesting. Insightful. “…not scary.” You finished lamely. He laughed warmly, but you noticed he stepped closer.

“Did I scare you before?”

“I…didn’t think you even knew who I was,” you admitted. “I mean, your band has this reputation, and I get it. More than you probably know. The media likes to twist you around and paint you a certain way. But I can see there’s a lot more to you than what everyone else thinks they know.” He listened intently every time you spoke, and now, his eyes continued to search yours for a long moment after you were done speaking.

“I think all the hype about you is true. And you’re more beautiful in person.” You were a nervous mess, practically giggling like a school girl at his compliment. “…But I agree with you. And I want to know the things about you no one else knows.”

That was it; you gave Axl your personal number and he called you that next night. The magazines, radio, and TV had a field day with your interview segment and rumors ran rampant of the two of you crushing on each other. The world was obsessed with the idea of the two of you together. Polar opposites—the rebellious rock star and the polished starlet.

There was a mad frenzy the first time you two met for dinner, with pictures in the magazines and tabloids for weeks after. You and Axl then agreed to have secret rendezvous in disguises at odd times of the day and night, the two of you sneaking around and going off to hole in the wall restaurants far from the prying eyes of Hollywood.

As time went on, you kept your relationship very private, though neither of you failed to mention the other in interviews or speeches. You went to each other’s award shows, movie premieres, and concerts. You became the “Guns N’ Roses” girl, appearing in every single video afterwards on starting with “Don’t Cry.” Axl even wrote a song for one of your movies. The both of you were obsessed with each other, always one another’s biggest fan, always celebrating every accomplishment together. Out of any accolade you could attain regarding your professional career, nothing could ever top the true happiness of a partner who loved, cherished, and respected the blood, sweat, and tears you put into your craft. And with Axl, you had that, as he did with you.

#axl rose #axl rose x reader #axl rose imagine #guns n roses #guns n roses imagine #gnr #gnr imagine #classic rock imagine #80s imagines

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tisfan · 5 years ago

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Hey, are you still doing those prompts? If yes, would you write some IronFalcon - or even some WinterIronFalcon? (which huii ~ *fans myself*) With either 21. "Are you being sarcastic?" "Me? Sarcastic? Never." Or 82. "What a load of bullshit." Please and thank you! :D (If you don't do them anymore; whoops my bad :P)

Title: Welcome to the Club Collaborator(s) Tisfan Link https://archiveofourown.org/works/24235783 Square Filled Y4: Collateral Damage StarkBucks Bingo: B1: walking disaster Ship/Main Pairing Bucky/Sam Bucky/Sam/Tony Rating general Major Tags/Triggers/Warnings some homophobic language, homophobic parents, Howard Stark’s A+ parenting, pre-slash, possible threesome much much later Summary Bucky’s getting some use out of his terrible Christmas Present. Unfortunately, Tony gets in the way. Word Count 1580

For @buckybarnesbingo @starkbucksbingo and @justsomeoneunordinary

Tony took the empty cardboard boxes, neatly broken down as requested by the big sign in front of the dumpers, down the stairs. Moving in the day after Christmas had been rough, and he was glad he didn’t have a lot of stuff to take with him. (Howard had practically growled the whole time he was packing, making sure he didn’t take anything valuable with him to sell on the other side.)

The smallest rental van he could afford and a few trips, and he was now the proud renter of a shitty apartment with almost no furniture, some crappy dishes, his clothes, and Dum-E taking up space.

On the plus side, he’d discovered that his mom had slipped a couple thousand dollars into one of the moving boxes before he left, so he had a little less precarious problems than he had before he’d unpacked it.

Tony about jumped out of his skin when the dumpster next to him exploded. Debris rained down on him, sharp and stinging.

He hit the ground, scraping the denim out at the knee, and erasing some of the skin underneath. “Son of a bitch,” he yelled, covering his head.

The moment of sheer panic subsided and he realized what he’d thought was a bomb or gunfire was, in fact, the shattered remains of a plate.

He stared around, until finally he looked up to discover two men standing on a balcony overlooking the trashcan. One of them had his hand over his mouth and looked aghast. The other was laughing like a loon, pointing at the first one.

“Shit, man, you okay?”

Tony climbed to his feet, hissing as his knee stung. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Sam’s chuckin’ china,” the other man said, still giggling. “Sorry, you’re just collateral damage.”

Tony looked down at his ruined jeans. “Yeah, great,” he said. “Fantastic. Terrific.” He limped a few steps back toward his apartment, the cut dripping blood down his calf and into his sock. Shit. He didn’t even think he owned a first aid kit.

“Seriously, man, you okay?” Sam was practically leaning off the balcony, and while it wasn’t that high up, falling three stories onto a cement sidewalk wasn’t going to be good for anyone.

“Scraped my knee,” Tony reported.

“You missed, you asshole, you missed,” the other guy said.

“Hang on a minute,” Sam yelled, then smacked the other guy who was still laughing. “Shut up, you walking disaster.”

Both of them vanished into their apartment. Tony waited for a moment, then decided he didn’t really need someone taking pictures and for it to end up in one of those cheap supermarket magazines. It wouldn’t take long for Howard to figure out that Tony hadn’t even made it one day before something stupid happened.

He got all the way to the stairs before his leg decided enough of this shit. Fuck. Well, maybe he could just rest a bit, and--

“Wait, no, don’t sit down, we’re comin’,” the laughing guy said.

Don’t sit down, what was he, crazy. “Don’t sit down,” Tony grumbled, “what are you, crazy?”

“Don’t you mind him,” Sam said. “Look, if it’s okay, we goan carry you upstairs and see to that knee of yours. You can trust me, I’m an EMT.”

“Don’t look at me,” the other guy said, “I just drive the ambulance.” The other guy was hard not to look at, honestly. Grey-blue eyes and a jaw you could rest a shot glass on. Man, Tony would like to do shots off that jaw, honestly. He decided that not getting punched in the face was the better part of valor, however, and didn’t say so.

“You guys--”

“Work for the local hospital, yeah. I’m Sam Wilson, this is my partner, Bucky Barnes.” Sam offered a hand to shake.

“And you’re going to carry me upstairs,” Tony continued. “Are you sure you didn’t hit me in the head?”

“Yep,” Bucky said. He and Sam did something, and suddenly their hands were aligned in such a way, with one of them gripping the other’s forearms, that made a little basket of their arms. Something to sit on. Huh. Tony was impressed. Sure, why not.

“If you all drop me down the stairs, I will sue,” Tony said.

“I ain’t drop nobody yet,” Bucky said. “That’s Steve.” And at Tony’s blank look, he added, “another guy on our crew. But me and Sam are the same height, so we can do this.”

“Huh. Okay.”

Gingerly, Tony sat down on the little seat-frame they made.

“One, two--” Sam said, and suddenly Tony was being carried like he was the damn Prom King or something, and they went up the stairs with alacrity. Two flights and Tony might have been breathing hard, but these guys weren’t even breaking a sweat.

“Uh, don’t you even want to know what floor I’m on?”

“Nope, you’re coming to our place,” Sam said. “My kit’s there.”

“Am I being kidnapped for my kidney, this sounds like it might be--”

“Oh shut up,” Sam said, “an’ open the door. It’s unlocked.”

“All right, here, on the sofa, and--”

“Drop your britches,” Sam said.

“This is sounding more and more like a kidnapping at every turn,” Tony said, but he did what Sam said, because there was, in fact, an EMT kit right there on the coffee table. And also, treating a scraped knee was going to take either getting the pants off, or cutting them open. And Tony didn’t have that many pairs of pants, really. He could get one of those iron on patches, and whine at Pepper, maybe, until she fixed them. Although she would probably just look up some videos on YouTube for him and tell him to stop assuming she knew how to cook or sew just because she was a woman. Maybe he wouldn’t ask her.

See, Pepper, I can be taught.

Sitting in his boxers on someone else’s sofa that he didn’t even know was super weird.

“This is super weird, guys,” Tony said.

“No, no, the guy we had to triage about fifty feet down a drainpipe, that was weird.”

“I dunno, I liked the lady who got stuck to the inflow pipe of her swimming pool. That was fun.”

The two of them traded stories back and forth, Tony listening with rapt attention, as Sam cleaned out Tony’s knee.

“Here, you got some gravel in it,” Sam said. He pulled out a pair of extra long tweezers and a kidney shaped metal dish, plucking the rocks and debris from Tony’s wound with an expert hand. The gravel made little plink noises as it hit the dish.

“Little bit of bacitracin and some topical numbing agent--”

“Like the stuff in solarcaine,” Bucky added helpfully.

“--and a bit of spray on skin, to seal it up. Wearing a bandaid on your knee is all but pointless,” Sam said.

“Huh.” Tony looked down, then put his pants back on. It still hurt, but it wasn’t bleeding. So, you know, that was good. “So, uh, why were you throwing dishes off the balcony?”

“So, Bucky and me, we’re partners, right?” Sam said. “And--”

“My father doesn’t approve, which you know, whatever, screw him anyway,” Bucky said. “Although I can’t figure out if the problem is, I am gay, or that Sam is black.”

“Usually with that type, it’s both,” Tony said.

“But he’s been trying to-- I don’t know, get fuckin’ brownie points with me by pretending everything’s still cool,” Bucky said. “It’s stupid, but I reckon he don’t want to end up being old and my bein’ the person who gets to pick his nursin’ home or something. Or he doesn’t want people to ask the wrong sorts of questions.”

“Bucky’s a hero,” Sam said. “It was in the papers and everything. So people do ask about his son.”

“So, he sent me this fuckin’ Christmas present, right?”

“Dishes?”

“Yeah, like, not even ones you can eat off, but those bullshit things you put on the wall,” Bucky said.

“Bradford Exchange,” Tony asked, because Rhodey had gotten big into those for a while, buying plates with Star Trek ships on them, and the like. He had a whole collection of them.

“An’ like, not even nice ones of those. Crappy ones. With bible verses on them. That you get from like, the Dollar Store.”

“Which would still be okay, spirit of Christmas, maybe,” Sam said. “Except he regifted them. Someone at his office gave them to him, and he left the receipt in the box. Probably not on purpose--”

“With George, it’s not like you can tell whether he’s bein’ a jackass or not,” Bucky complained. “What a load of bullshit.”

Tony recognized that tone of voice, too. That was the tone of a man who still cared, and was mad at himself that he did. Wanting Dad’s approval and hating himself that he wanted it. And still not getting it.

“So, this happy asshole here,” Sam said, “was trying to see if he could hit the dumpster from the balcony. Which is how you ended up involved.”

“Hey, I got two of them in, which ain’t half bad. You’re the one who missed by a mile.”

“My dad kicked me out three days ago, because he caught me in my room with a boy,” Tony said. “So-- can I join your club?”

Sam and Bucky looked at each other, then grinned. “We’ve even got jackets.”

#buckybarnesbingo #starkbucksbingo #prompts #winterironfalcon #EMT AU #justsomeoneunordinary

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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years ago

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Survey #396

“every time i leave, you say you won’t be there, & you’re always there”

So, is it gif with a hard G or soft G? I used to say "jif," but now I pronounce it as "gif." If you use libraries, what is the largest overdue fine you’ve ever had? *shrug* Do you ever borrow things other than books from the library? I remember back in the day, they used to offer educational computer games, and I bought a dinosaur one as a kid that I was madly obsessed with. Are there still any movie rental places left where you live? Just Redbox things outside of some stores. Do you ever buy secondhand books (or DVDs, video games, CDs)? Yeah; Ebay is my friend. Or do you prefer them to be brand new? I mean yeah, but it's not a massive deal to me so long the thing is operational or not falling apart. Do you ever write fanfic? Of what? Nah. Do you ever READ fanfic? Of what? Also nah. Do you have a favorite classical composer? No. Have you ever had multicolored/rainbow hair? No, but I would LOVE to. What kind of hats, if any, do you like to wear? I don't wear hats. What is your #1 deal-breaker with friendships? If you're manipulative, byyyyyeeeee~ Who is your favorite character on Bob’s Burgers and why? (If you watch it) I've seen some episodes, but I don't actually watch it. Have you ever had a retro celebrity crush? Like a crush on an “old” celebrity who was most famous a long time ago or is long dead? Audrey Hepburn, for one, is drop-dead GORGEOUS. When you buy/receive new clothes, do you instantly wear them or wash first? It depends on what I bought and where it's from. What’s the weirdest item you’ve seen for sale on Ebay? Idk. Are parents to blame for what their kids do on the Internet? No; kids make their own choices. I do, however, believe the parents should monitor what they do until they reach a certain degree of maturity, as well as the child's history with what they've done on the Internet. Do you use acronyms to remember things? Sometimes. Do you take pills like Tylenol for the littlest aches and pains? No. Only if I'm really in pain will I take Ibuprofen/Advil. Don’t you think Crocs are ugly? Big time. I don't know why they're in vogue now when they used to be so widely hated. When was the last time you went roller skating? Oh, it's been years. Who was your favorite Ninja Turtle? I was never into the franchise. Horror flicks make you: laugh, scream, or squirm? I prefer the ones that make you uneasy. I'm not a big fan of the nasty ones, and I want to feel on edge when I'm watching a horror film, but it's EXTREMELY rare I become legitimately scared. If you could become a doctor, what would you specialize in? Uhhhh. Maybe genetic disorders. What’s the cutest thing a little kid has ever said to/in front of you? I'm sure it was something my niece or nephew said, but I'm unsure of what. They've said many adorable things. Did any characters from TV shows scare you as a kid? Which one(s)? FUCKING KING RAMSES FROM COURAGE THE COWARDLY DOG. FUCK he gave me nightmares. What’s the saddest thing you’ve heard on the news recently? I was very saddened to hear about the giraffe that died giving birth. Do you believe that acupuncture works? I'm not educated enough on this subject. Have you ever been hypnotized? No, and I don't believe it's possible to be. What’s the first food you can smell when you enter the mall? The soft pretzels, omg. That little stand is my favorite part of our local mall. They make DELICIOUS pretzels. What is the worst hurt you’ve ever experienced? Jason leaving. Are huge muscles gross or sexy? Like serious body builders, it's gross to me. I prefer a natural musculature. Have you ever fished and caught something weird? I know I have, but what isn't coming to mind. Do you use an umbrella when it rains? Unless it is absolutely pouring, no. Do you like getting caught in the rain? No. What is the hardest part of cleaning for you? It requires physical exertion and I am INCREDIBLY weak with non-existent stamina. Do you have any fake flowers in your room? No. Do you own any succulents? No. What is your favorite thing about spring? The only thing I like about spring are all the flowers. What is something you find hard to draw? HANDS. UGH. Was it sunny for your senior prom pictures? Sigh. It was a beautiful sunset. I REALLY wish I didn't delete all those pictures from existence. Have you ever seen a double rainbow? I've seen like, a triple rainbow. What’s one thing you want to learn how to make? Your ordinary meals. I really want to be able to cook my own food from scratch. Do you have stomach issues? Maybe TMI, but it's been questioned but not fully examined that I may have IBS. My stomach is very sensitive. When was the last time you apologized and didn’t mean it? I'm not sure. Do you prefer to be the “talker” or the “listener” in a conversation? The listener. What’s a movie that you think everyone should see? Johnny Got His Gun. If you could have any hair color, what color would you want? Either pastel pink or light creamsicle orange. When was the last time you saw your “first love”? February of 2017. Who’s the smartest person you know personally? My best guy friend Girt. What makes them so smart? He's just very intelligent. Book-smart. Are there any bands/artists that get you all emotional? Ozzy. He and his music are so important to me. What’s your favourite aunt or uncle’s first name? Robert. Have you ever done a first aid course? No. What time do you generally wake up in the morning? It varies from like, 6:00-8:30ish. If you could have one superpower, what would it be? Definitely shapeshifting. I'd love to be a druid, man. Do you ever make surveys? If so, are they long or short? No, but I combine them because I don't like surveys that are too short by my standards. When is the next time you’ll change your hairstyle? Will you color it? Honestly, probably never. I love my current hairstyle, but I most certainly plan on dyeing it maaaany more times. As a child, what was your favorite game to play? I was hooked on the first three Spyro games. I would play 'em over and over. Do any of your siblings have significant others? Do you like them? My older sister is married, and I am NOT a fan of her husband. He's WAY too conservative and bigoted and racist and misogynistic, etc. etc. He's wonderful as a dad, like holy shit he loves his kids, but his beliefs are abhorrent. Dad's daughter is also married, and her husband is awesome. Mom's eldest daughter is also married, and her husband seems cool. My brother has a fiancee that I've never met. Do you believe in the concept of global warming? No fucking shit I do. It's impossible to logically deny, especially as the years go on. When was the last time you took a picture of something? Was it yourself? I took some pictures of this beautiful hydrangea bush outside the TMS office a few days ago. When drinking soda, do you prefer bottles or cans or poured in a glass? Cans, because it stays colder. Do you wear deodorant? Um, yes? If you had a pet pig, what would you name it? Probably something very unoriginal, like Wilbur. Do you like Led Zeppelin? I LOVE "Kashmir." "Stairway to Heaven" was madly important to me, but yeah... I can't listen to it anymore. Like seriously, I haven't in years. Do you like hugs? I do. Have you read the Constitution of the United States of America? Only the Bill of Rights for school. Do you have your own computer or use a family one? I have my own laptop. Do you take out the trash? Sometimes. Is there a calendar in the room you’re in? Outdated meerkat ones. What is your best friend’s name? Sara Jane. :') Have you ever seen a real-life cop chase? Maybe? What is your favorite shape? Circles. Are pigs adorable or dirty? They're precious! And pigs are actually a lot cleaner than people think, if they're not muddy. Anything moldy in your house? Not to my knowledge. Our old house had a serious mold problem, though, which is the primary reason we had to move. Especially with Mom having cancer at the time, she needed to be in the most sterile environment possible. Have you ever been in an earthquake? No. Do you enjoy history? No. Are you watching TV right now? No, but rather GameGrumps on YT. Could you ever be a mortician? True shit, it actually doesn't seem THAT bad. Can you solve a Rubik’s cube? Never seriously tried. How many pets do you have? Just two right now. Are you more close with your mom or dad? My mom. Who is the person that has impacted your life the most? Jason. Or Mom. Have you ever had a pet fish? Yeah. Poor things, they had terrible husbandry. I've learned a hell of a lot from a YouTuber/streamer that is like obsessed with fish about just how misinformed people are on how to take care of various fish. Your goldfish in that little bowl died for a reason, you know. Do you believe in ghosts? Yes. Do you prefer tea or coffee? Both suck. Have you ever vaped? No. How did your parents meet? They were co-workers. What was your first word? "Dada." Have you ever had a kinky dream about a celebrity? ... I mighta lmao. When was the last time you had Nutella? A long time ago. It reeeeaaaally needs to stay out of my house, because I will eat it straight out of the jar. Name someone with a sexy sounding voice. So I don't know where this was, but Mark was once credited in something as "if chocolate had a voice" and I was like YOU FUCKIN BET YOUR SWEET ASS.

#survey #surveys #random questions #lyrics: ''jet city woman'' by queensryche

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gallymagines · 6 years ago

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A Fork In The Road - Steve x Reader x Alexei (Part 1)

Summary: Steve Harrington has been your best friend since childhood. Although others thought he was kind of a jerk you’ve always known him as sweet and caring. He’s been there through every step of your path in life and recently you started to imagine him continuing to be with you on that path. Dr. Alexei is your physics professor at your local community college whose kind and happy demeanor have led you to take quite a liking to him on more than just a professional level. With emotions raging and the fact that someone will be left heartbroken, you must make the ultimate decision and choose which road to travel down.

A/N: Not what I usually post but I’ve been on a Stranger Things binge and got inspired. In this story, Alexei did not get shot at the fair and is living near Hawkins. Also, I used google translate.

Word Count: 4.1K

Warnings: None

___________________

September 7th, 1985

The cool breeze swept through your hair and the sunbeams warmed your skin as you walked down the main street of your town towards the entrance of the local video store. This had become a common routine for you on days you weren’t attending your classes at Hawkins Community College. You’d get up, get ready, take the 15-minute walk from your house and arrive at the video store almost an hour after it opened. Why? Well to hang out with your childhood bestie, Steve Harrington, of course!

After you guys graduated from Hawkins High School and all of the crazy paranormal stuff that had been occurring in the town subsided, Steve decided he wanted to make some money before heading off to college. He previously worked at Scoops Ahoy, an ice cream shop in the Starcourt Mall. Of course, that was before it was destroyed by Russians and the Mindflayer. Working at the video store Steve would explain to others that he wanted to give himself a “financial headstart”. You, on the other hand, knew the truth. After his breakup with Nancy, losing his ‘King Steve” status and every crazy, improbable thing that has happened in this town, he really lost track of where his life was going and what he wanted to do. He didn’t lose passion, just purpose. It made you sad to think about your best friend being so lost. It hurt even more because you knew he saw you making strides during this first semester at Hawkins CC. I mean you were practically top of all of your classes. Well, except for physics. Steve’s always been so caring and supportive of your major and life goals, but there is just something sad behind his eyes whenever you bring up school. You like to think it’s only because he doesn’t know what he’s doing about college, but deep in your gut, you get a strong feeling that it’s something else. When you see the video store you decide to push the thought out of your head and the feeling out of your gut. Pulling the door open you hear the jingle of the bell above you, as it rings to let the workers know someone is here. When you enter you see Robin at the front desk organizing the rental returns so that they can be put back on the shelves. She looks up from her work and says,

“Hey Y/N.”

She glances at the clock before turning her attention back to you.

“3 minutes earlier than your average arrival time.” She jokes

You and Robin had shared a drama class in high school. You didn’t get to know her on a personal level then but you knew she was smart, honest and very persuasive from her interactions with other students. Now though, you guys were close friends and got along really well. It was nice to have someone other than Steve to hang around. It was even better when you guys would tag team to mess with Steve.

“So where’s Captain Hair?” You ask

“In the back of store restocking shelves. Why? You want to see your boyfri-”

You threw your hand over her mouth while glaring at her. Robin pulled your hand off and started to laugh.

“Oh my god, you have it so bad for him.” She teases between laughter

“I do not!” You try to protest, a blush rising to your cheeks

“I don’t know why you don’t make a move. He likes you too!” Robin mentions

She had said this on many occasions. You wanted to believe her, you really did, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to agree. Steve was your childhood best friend. He still is your best friend. But that’s all he’d probably be to you. A friend. As you and Steve grew up, you were always together, and the older you got the more you realized you had a strong affinity for him. He was sweet, funny, caring, not to mention really cute. You had expressed these feelings to Robin but never to Steve.

“You know I can’t do that,” You start to reply “If I-”

You’re cut off by Robin saying,

“Yeah yeah, if you tell him how you feel and he doesn’t feel the same way it’ll ruin your friendship. You’ve said it at least 20 times.”

She looks down at her notepad and makes a tally mark.

“26 times to be exact.” she finishes

“I just can’t-”

You’re cut off again but this time it’s because a pair of arms wrap around your waist and spin you around. You know who the arms belong to and start to laugh.

“Y/N! You’re here!” Steve exclaims

“Of course I’m here, it’s Saturday.” You joke

Steve smiles before asking “Sorry I cut you off, what were you saying to Robin? You just can’t what?”

You shoot a warning glance to Robin before turning your eyes back to Steve. He waits in anticipation of your answer and you reply,

“I just can’t...uh do good in physics. I’m having a lot of trouble in that class.”

“Well, I could help you study again tonight if you want,” Steve suggests

“You’ve helped me study since the first day of class. It helps a little but I can’t fully grasp the concepts.” You complain

“Well, why don’t you go and talk to your teacher? I’m sure they’d be willing to help you.” Steve suggests

You nod your head.

“Yeah, that probably is a good idea. I’ll do it on Monday, as for today though I’m here to be with you.” You reply

Steve smiles and you can’t help but feel your stomach flutter a bit. The way he looks at you with so much happiness just fills your heart to the brim. If only you could tell him that though. You’re pulled from your thoughts when he grabs your hand and pulls you towards the back where he was working. Once you showed up at the video store you guys would play the same game over and over again. Back and forth you guys would hold up a movie with the title facing forward and the description on the back, and whoever had the title facing towards them needed to guess what the plot was just by the title and movie image. Sometimes you guys were close, but a lot of times you were way off base and that’s what made the game fun.

Hours passed, customers came and went and before you knew it, it was time to close. Robin and Steve had to lock up the store so you told them you’d wait outside. As you walked out Steve watched your every move, taking in every detail, from the way your hair moved with every step to the fact that your left shoelace was coming untied. Once you exited though Robin spoke up and said,

“So when are you gonna say something dingus?”

Steve fell out of his trance and asked,

“What do you mean?”

“You like her. And don’t give me that ‘of course I do she’s my best friend’ bs again. You like her.” Robin retorts

“So what if I do? It’s not like she likes me like that.” Steve complains

Robin looks down at the desk drawing something.

“What are you doing?” Steve asks

“Finally giving you a ‘you rule’ tally for admitting your feelings but also adding a ‘you suck’ tally for admitting it to the wrong person.” Robin states

“Thanks.” Steve replies monotonously

“Just take a chance, you’ll never know if you never try!” Robin mentions

Steve rolls his eyes but nods his head. He knows she’s right. He’s just...nervous. How could he ever find the right words to express how he feels for you. How he’s always felt for you. Nancy, all the girls he talked to in high school, all the girls at Scoops Ahoy, all of it was to just push away his strong feelings for you. Did it work? A bit. When he was with Nancy he almost convinced himself that everything between you two was strictly platonic. But every time he looked into those eyes of yours it was always undeniable. He really REALLY liked you.

“I’ll finish locking up, go be with your girl friend, not girlfriend.” Robin remarks

Steve waves goodbye to his co-worker and friend before heading out. When he exits you look up at him and ask,

“Is Robin coming?”

“Nah she’s got some stuff to do. Want to sleepover my place tonight?” Steve questions

“Sure.” You answer

You had been sleeping over at Steve’s for almost as long as you’d been friends. At this point, it was just a tradition and your parents assumed if you weren’t home that night, you were probably there. Heading up the stairs you made your way towards his bedroom and opened the door. His house was your house. Literally. You had as much of your stuff here as you did at your own home. Your own toothbrush, hairbrush, shampoo, space in the fridge, chair at the dining room table and even a couple of drawers full of clothes in Steve’s room. You grabbed a T-shirt and a pair of pajama shorts and walked to the bathroom to put them on. When you came back to the room Steve was already in his bed in a plain white undershirt and probably his boxers. It's always what he slept in so you assumed it was that again. You didn’t mind though, it was just normal to you. Lifting the blankets you got on the other side of his bed. As children, you would share his when sleeping over so it just became routine. When you guys got older though you questioned if it was still okay, especially after your crazy middle school sex ed teacher claimed that if boys and girls looked at each other near a bed they would both get STDs and die. You guys agreed that if you sleep back to back it would still be okay to share, and so you both continued to do that even though you knew her claim was wrong now. Sometimes you wondered what would happen if you faced him. You wished you didn’t sleep back to back, you wanted to face him and look in his eyes as he wrapped his arms around you. It wouldn’t happen though...so you took what you could get and laid with your back facing him. As you turned the lamp off on your side of the bed you quietly said to Steve,

“Good night.”

You fell asleep soon after. Steve, on the other hand, was lying awake. With his back facing you, he glanced over his shoulder, but all he saw was your back. This was normal for him. Every time you slept over he would look to see if this time you were facing him and every time you weren’t. He wished you did though. Steve’s mind raced with the thoughts of what Robin had said. If he didn’t make a move he would never know. And god, did he want to know badly if you felt the same way about him that he did about you. With Robin’s words repeating over and over in his head, Steve took a deep breath and whispered to himself.

“I’m going to do it.”

He slowly tried to work out a plan about how to tell you how he felt. He needed to do it, but if he was going to do it, he was going to do it right. He continued to think but as time passed Steve grew more and more tired. His back still facing yours, he fell asleep.

September 9th, 1985

The alarm of your clock wakes you up as you groggily look at the time. The clock reads 9:03.

“Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.” you yell jumping out of bed

You slept through your alarm. It wasn’t the first time but this was the latest it ever happened. If you were going to get to the 9:20 shuttle bus to the community college then you had to move fast, otherwise, you would be late. You quickly ran around your room searching for half-decent clothes to wear. Throwing on a white tank top, you tucked it into a black mid-thigh skater skirt. You then threw on a pair of black keds and a red and blue plaid button up that was “borrowed” from Steve. Grabbing your backpack you raced out of your room, quickly brushed your teeth, spritzed some of your mom’s cherry body spray and rushed out the door. There was literally no time to do anything else. No time to shower, no time to eat what mom cooked, no time for anything. You needed to catch that bus. Usually, you would walk but today you had to run as if your life depended on it so you could get to the shuttle stop. When you got there you were out of breath and a bit sweaty but you hopped on the bus just in time. Catching your breath in the bus seat, you noticed the growling of your stomach and the headache you had from exerting so much energy. Ignoring the problem you arrived at Hawkins CC and made your way to class. Today you had physics, your worst class. The professor, Dr. Alexei, was very kind to all his students and very knowledgeable about the subject. He had come from Russia a little over a year ago and only knew so much English. Enough to talk and teach but he still stumbled on his words here and there. As you walked into the door to your classroom you greeted,

“Good Morning Professor.”

Dr. Alexei nodded towards you with a smile and replied,

“Good morning Y/N.”

You went and sat at your desk as you waited for others to arrive. As for right now, it was only you and Dr. Alexei in the room. You watched as he worked on some papers intently at his desk. For someone around 10 years older than you, he was quite handsome. His rolled-up sleeves on his dress shirt, his naturally messy hair, and the way his glasses fell on his nose were quite attractive to some of the girls in the class, including you. On top of it, he had a positive personality that was intoxicating. In a trance, you looked at your professor biting your bottom lip. When he looked up though you looked away at your notebook. As you looked down at your notes and forced those thoughts out of your head, your stomach growled louder and your head started to bother you more. At 10:15 when class started you felt sick but you decided to push through it. The clock went slowly and everything started to feel like mush. You forced yourself to focus on the board and take notes but your head was spinning and you started to get lightheaded. The person next to you asked,

“Are you okay?”

It was too late for that though, you had already passed out and fallen from your seat. Dr. Alexei stopped his lecture and went over to you. He was distressed at the sight of you passed out on the floor. He looked towards the class of concerned students and said,

“Rest of the class canceled. I will take her for help.”

The students shuffled out as Alexei picked you up and carried you to his office. He placed you on the couch before calling a professor from the nursing program to come check on you. When the nursing instructor arrived she immediately heard the sound of growling from your stomach. Putting a cold compress on your head she turned to Alexei and said,

“Don’t worry it’s nothing bad. Your student most likely passed out from not eating, since her stomach is growling so loud. Let her rest and give her some food when she wakes up. Call my office again when too so I can do a checkup and a concussion test since her head hit the floor.”

Alexei nods yes and the instructor leaves. He closes the door and goes to sit at his desk to do some grading but mainly keep an eye on you. After about 30 minutes you slowly start to regain consciousness. As you do, your body starts to move and your head falls off its position on the couch. Alexei makes his way over to you and gently places your head back on the armrest. He smells the cherry fragrance on you. He always enjoyed when you wore that scent and sometimes he wondered what made you choose that specific one. Did you know he liked cherry? Did you wear it for him? He knew he shouldn’t think like that. Professor-student relationships were forbidden to occur. He could lose his job if anything happened, and without a job, he’d lose his work visa and be sent home. He’d be labeled a traitor. He could be tortured or even worse killed. He already had an attempt on his life once. For all these reasons, it was quite risky for him to have feelings like this for you, but the way he saw you looking at him in the class made him wonder if it would be worth it. He started to talk to himself as you continued to stir. Awakening enough to hear again, you listen as he muses to himself. You can only kind of make out one word that he mumbles,

“прекрасный,” He says

You have no clue what it means though since you don’t know Russian. As your eyes flutter open you look around and notice that this isn’t the classroom. This is an office. Dr. Alexei hands you some food in a container and says,

“пельмень. Pelmeni good food, have some.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t take your food!” You say as your stomach yells at you.

“You are hungry, please eat.” Dr. Alexei asks gesturing to your growling stomach

You nod your head and start to eat but then question,

“But what will you eat now?”

Dr. Alexei smiles and grabs one of the dumpling-like foods from the container before sitting down at his desk seat.

“I eat one, happy?” He jokes

You smile at his joke and nod your head yes.

“Uh, professor?” you ask in a curious tone between bites

He turns his attention to you as you continue,

“Well, how did I get here?”

“I carry you from the classroom to the couch. You fell from the desk.” He responds

“Oh okay.” You say before continuing to eat the food he gave you

Dr. Alexei turns to his office phone and dials in a number.

“She is awake,” He says to the person on the other line before hanging up.

A couple minutes go by and a woman in scrubs shows up. She explains that she’s a teacher from the nursing program and just wanted to check that you were okay before going on your way. She looked at your eyes, ears, mouth, took blood pressure, asked some questions about the year, who is the president, and some other general stuff.

“Well, it looks like you didn’t hit your head too hard! You should be okay but if there’s any drastic pain or memory loss I’d suggest heading straight to the hospital.” She says “You’re free to leave if you feel well enough to.”

The nursing instructor then walked out the door. Before you left you had to ask your professor for help with the concepts you were learning. Ugh, this was so embarrassing though. What if another student heard. You looked at the open door and carefully walked over to it. Shutting it gently, you turned your attention to your professor. He looked at you with wide eyes. You were confused but nevertheless continued.

“Professor, I need to talk to you about something...I feel a bit embarrassed about it but I really think it’s important and that it needs to be addressed.”

As Dr. Alexei looked at you he felt a sense of worry and anticipation build in his gut. Were you going to tell him that you felt something between you two? What would he do if you did? He honestly didn’t know. You looked at him and continued,

“I know I’m doing poorly in class and was wondering if you could give me some extra tutoring?”

“Oh.” is all that came out of his mouth.

You started to backtrack, thinking he didn’t want to do that.

“If that’s not okay it’s fine but I just wanted to ask and all-”

“No, no. It is okay. I can help. Monday after class next week we start.” Dr. Alexei interjected

“Oh good. Well, I’ll be heading out then.” You replied

“Will you be okay to walk?” He asked

“I think so,” you answered

“I will come with you to be safe.” He stated

Grabbing your backpack you walked out of Dr. Alexei’s office and towards the front of the building. It was an awkwardly silent walk but you got the front of the building you saw a car you recognized. A Ferrari 250 GT California. The car that Steve’s dad kept in the garage and never used. And who was there leaning on top of the car? Why the man himself, Steve. He approached you and Dr. Alexei asking,

“So you ready to go?”

“What are you doing here?” you questioned him

“I was at the desk when I saw you run past the video store this morning. Though you might need a ride.” He jokes

You hit him on the arm and playfully yelled,

“Jerk!”

“Wait. Is that my shirt?” Steve asks

“What?? No.....” you said exaggerated

“You thief. You stole that from my closet. I thought I lost it.” Steve says in a fake-angry tone

When you turn to look away from Steve you see your professor looking back and forth between you and him, visibly confused.

‘Oh! How rude of me. Steve this is my physics professor Dr. Alexei. Dr. Alexei this is a longtime friend of mine, Steve.” you introduce

Steve extends his hand and Dr. Alexei takes it. They shake and then Steve puts an arm around your shoulders. He looks at Dr. Alexei and comments,

“I’m sorry she’s doing so poorly in your class. I’ve been trying to help her study, but she’s just not that good at science. Never has been.”

“Hey!” you say to Steve “Just so you know I took your advice and I will be getting some tutoring starting Monday next week. Correct?”

Dr. Alexei turns his attention to you and answers,

“Correct. Monday after class is our date.”

“Date?” Steve asks you with confusion

“He means like an appointment, I told you he’s still getting the hang of English. It’s a very complicated language.” You answer

“Oh woo. That’s good.” He says while wiping his forehead with the back of his hand “I thought you got a boyfriend and didn’t tell your best pal Steve.”

“Oh my.” you laugh

You look at your professor and say,

“Well, I guess I’ll be going. See you on Wednesday for lab professor.”

Dr. Alexei nods his head but does not say anything. As you and Steve start to leave, his arm still around your shoulders, he comments to your professor,

“Nice to meet you.”

Alexei watches as you two walk to the bright red car. He sees how Steve opens the door for you and the cocky way he slides across the hood. He notices how you laugh at his actions and how your eyes focus on him. He lets out a deep breath and promptly turns around to return to his office. To everyone else, you might be just one of his students but to him, you were much more. He had no clue what to do but he knew he had to do something.

Tags: @hazeofeleven

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peachbibi · 6 years ago

Text

Mr. Perfect // slow burn

Part I

Summary: Steve Harrington was the coolest guy at school and now he’s working with you at the rental store. Very complicated story about complicated feelings.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader

Word count: 1.7k

Warning: language, very slow burn

A/N: I’m pretty sure I’ll write smut later.

On the second month of summer you decided you need a job. You really wanted to buy a car and your parents said you’re old enough to earn money by yourself. By the way, most of your friends had already worked somewhere. Fortunately, your uncle had some connections with the film rental store manager so you got a job without any troubles. Also, you were glad you didn’t have an interview.

You were standing in front of an old building with the sign ‘Family video’, waiting for a miracle. There were a couple of cars in the parking lot with a fat red cat lying on the top of the black one and an old lady smoking near the entrance. It didn’t look like a place for your dream job but you had no choice. You walked into the shop and came to the girl in a uniform standing near a movie stand.

“Hey. Umm.. I’m Y/N. It’s my first day and your boss told me you can show me everything here” It was awkward. The blue-eyed girl looked at you for a second and then shook your hand.

“Right, I’m Robin. Come with me I’ll give you your form. It’s just a blue t-shirt, actually”

She led you to a small storage room. There were a tiny yellow table, two chairs, shelves with shirts and old tapes and four lockers. Robin stood up on a chair, took a t-shirt and threw it to you.

“You can change here. We usually have lunch in this room while having a break. You’ll have two or three breaks during the day. Depends on how many hours you work. This is the key from your locker” Robin handed you a key from the small box on a shelf. “It’s number 3, leave your clothes in it. I need to get back to work. Find me when you’re done here”

You took your shirt off putting on the blue one but turned out it was too small for you. You looked at the size and yeah it was ‘S’. Fuck. Okay, you just took it off and stood up on the chair looking for the right size on a shelf.

“L, XL, L, XXL...” You murmured while looking through the stacks of t-shirts.

“Nice view” There was a male voice behind you, you shivered. You turned around quickly then you understood you were standing without shirt just in your bra and turned again screaming.

“GET OUT” You closed your eyes because of shame. Your cheeks were burning red and you screamed again. “OUT!”

“Jeeesus. Okay, okay, fine. I closed my eyes. Let me just put my bag over here and I’ll leave”

You turned your head and saw Steve Harrington trying to put his bag on the table with closed eyes. No, Lord, why him? Out of all the people in the town...why Harrington? It’s not like you hated him. You just knew he’s an asshole. He annoyed you since the beginning of your high school days. He bullied Jonathan and sometimes other “weirdos”. Every girl had a crush on him except you of course. Mr. Perfect, Mr. Cool, the King...Just a douchebag.

When you woke up from your thoughts he was already gone. And you were out of time so you decided to wear ‘L’ size and get back to Robin. You actually liked wearing oversize shirts. You felt more...confident? Steve smiled at you from the counter as you walked passed him. He does work here. You found blu-eyed girl near the thriller movie stand and she told you about you work hours and shifts.

“Today you are working with me and the dingus” she told you while placing a pack of new films on a shelf.

“Dingus? You mean Steve?”

“Yeah, but i call him ‘dingus’” she smiled with a corner of her mouth and glanced at him. “I know he might look cool and mean and all that but he’s not”

“I know he’s not cool” it came out a bit harsh and you just looked away from Robin. You felt tensed today.

“He’s not that bad” she said after a minute. You looked at Steve flirting with a girl while brushing his hair with a hand. The girl smiled... and she definitely gave him her number. “Your task for today is just to sort all the movies from the boxes. If you have any questions you can ask me”

You picked up a big box full of horrors, romcoms, thrillers and... God it’s heavy. Right, so you were taking some films from the box and putting them on the right shelves. It was...well, boring but you noted some films you wanted to watch. ‘Jawls’, ‘Sixteen candles’ maybe. Robin and Steve were talking and laughing, they seemed like good friends. You were a little bit jealous. You wished you had some real friends. The one you could watch films with. You picked the last tape from the first box and tried to put it on the top shelf but you weren’t tall enough. You couldn’t reach it.

“Hey, need some help?” Steve’s voice behind you. Again. He was leaning on the wall with crossed hands and the smile you couldn’t stand.

“No” you didn’t even look at him, just kept trying and jumping as high as you can. A minute later he just grabbed the movie from your hand and placed it by himself. “I don’t need your help, Harrington”

“Yeah, you’re welcome”

“No, Steve, you don’t get it. I don’t need your help. I don’t wanna talk to you or interact with you in any possible way. I don’t like you. I know you enough and I don’t want to get to know you better. So, please, let’s pretend we don’t exist in each other’s universes. There’s no Steve Harrington in mine and no Y/N Y/L/N in yours, okay?” You breathed out as you looked at his concerned face and a sudden compassion hit you with a wave.

“Um.. okay. In case of emergency call Robin. I’ll be... you know.. in my universe” He rubbed his back awkwardly and walked away.

You`d finished the last three boxes walking down the hall with a chair in your hand. Robin said you can take a break after you`ve done with the assignment. You were tired and hungry and felt like shit. It`s probably because of Steve. Even though you have your reasons to push him away he wouldn`t known them. He obviously didn`t remember you from the high school. Why would he? Because you`d been standing close to her when they broke up? Because when she`d slapped him and left you were the one who stayed to pick her bag from the ground? And you`d seen him smiling as his gaze was fixed on her moving silhouette. You were mad at him because of the girl in the past. She was a bitch too though. Those memories surfaced in your mind and you felt goose bumps. Past is in the past you reminded yourself. He should just stay away from you.

You carried the chair back to the storage room, grabbed a can of coke and a sandwich from your bag and sat at the table. Robin came in and looked at you with a face your mom gives you when you leave too many mugs in your room. Yeah, and now you have to have this conversation. You put your food away and prepared yourself.

“We need to talk” Of course we do. “It`s about Steve” What a surprise.

“What`s wrong with him?”

“There`s nothing wrong him. I know you don`t like him. I`m sure he did something bad to you but he changed. And he is my best friend so.. I care about him” Your eyes went down when she sat in front of you. “Listen, I like you here. For a whole month it was just me, dingus and Kieth. And I`ve started having suicidal thoughts. I want you to stay but you have to keep it cool. You either talk to him about what happened or you just forget about it”

“Okay. I…uh..I won`t hurt his feelings again?” She chuckled. “It`s just-

“ROBIN! There`s a mad customer and I need you” Steve flew into the room with a check in his hand. “Remember that old lady from yesterday who said she really enjoyed the turtles documentary? She`s actually watched a porn”

“What!?”

“Yeah, and now there`s a guy screaming about turtles out there”

“What the fuck?! Okay, come on, dingus. We need to fix it” she handed you a piece of paper. “This is your shift schedule with my number. I think you can go home now. AND we haven`t finished yet. So-

“ROBIN!”

“CAll me tonight and we will talk about it. SEE YA!”

They ran away slamming the door. You packed your stuff, changed your clothes and walked out. It was fresh outside. Summer wind in your hair and you shivered. Maybe you should talk to someone about that accident.

#steve x reader #steve harrington #steve #steve harrington x reader #imagine #imagine steve #imagine steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #slowburn #stranger things #stranger thing imagine #imagine stranger things #robin #joe #joe keery #slow burn

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cashmereminter · 6 years ago

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I Think I’m Going To Puke (Simon Minter)

requested: Yes! Thank you! Requests are open Hi, there love! Can I get Simon & number 11 xx 11.“I think I’m going to puke…”

who: Simon Minter (Miniminter)

word count: 1,980

This is edited but poorly and also maybe this is a part one? I’m willing to do a part two of this if someone is interested in me writing that!

I’m not sure how I feel about this lmao. ________

You stared at the plastic stick in your hand in shock. You couldn't move. The only thing you could do was hold the stick in your hand. Even breathing seemed harder than it should be. You took the test as a joke. You were hanging out with Freya and Kirsty, Kirsty had a scare, and after buying about ten tests (and only using two to make sure she definitely wasn't pregnant (just late)), both you and Freya thought it would be jokes to take a pregnancy test. There was no way either of you could be pregnant. Of course not, you were safe, on the pill, and always made sure Simon was protected as well. You weren't dumb. But apparently, you had messed up somewhere because the little test in your hand said, in big bold letters, pregnant.

"Y/n! What's it say!" Freya called through the door, laughing with Kirsty in the background. The blonde was joking, but she didn't know your test didn't read out a big N O. You snapped from your thoughts and tossed the test in the trash can and left the bathroom hastily. The two girls looked up at you with bright eyes, ready to laugh and joke about how yours was negative too, and Kirsty was simply overreacting about being two days late. "Well?" Freya asked jokingly, raising one of her perfectly done eyebrows at you.

"I-I'm feeling ill. I think I should really just go home." You said, reaching to grab your bag. The two girls just looked at you with confused glances, but you just shook it off, grabbing your bag and your phone and leaving Freya's apartment without another word. You didn't bother getting an Uber home, as you just wanted to be alone with your thoughts for a while. You were nowhere near ready to be a mother and you were almost certain Simon felt nowhere near ready enough to become a father. You were both young and had only been together for about a year and a half. Sure, you loved him dearly, but children didn't have a place in your five-year plan. He was going to continue working with the Sidemen and making videos on his own. It was what he loved and you didn't mind. Even though sometimes there would be times where you couldn't see each other for a while, that was just apart of being in a relationship with Simon. As for you, you wanted to work on your career and just be young. You wanted to go out with friends and get drunk. You wanted to do the things a young person should be able to do. And now you were being tied down by something growing inside of you. You didn't notice the tears in your eyes until you stopped to look at yourself in a shop window. It was then that you decided you should just get a taxi home. You were way too tired to be walking anymore, and your apartment was quite a ways away. You don't know what you were thinking when you started walking in the first place.

Once you made it to your apartment, you walked inside and dropped your keys on the counter, sliding down against the wall and running your hand through your hair. How were you even supposed to tell Simon? 'Hey! We're having a baby even though we've never discussed this and our futures really don't have space to put a baby.' It sounded almost like a joke to you. Then a thought hit, maybe it was just a defective test. You pulled out your phone and did the only logical thing you could do at the time. Opened your Postmates app and postmated five other tests to your door. You locked your phone afterward so you couldn't rethink your decision. About fifteen minutes later there was a knock at your door. You opened the door to see a poor guy holding the bag nervously. You paid hastily and grabbed the back, shutting the door in the kids face so you could hurry into your bathroom.

With shaky hands, you waited for all the tests to be finished. The toilet seat was extremely uncomfortable, but so was the sinking feeling that you may be a mother. Soon, the timer went off o your phone signaling you to look at the rest of the plastic sticks. Tapping your fingers against your thigh, you bit your lip and finally stood up, deciding it was better to get it done and over with. Sure enough, all five tests read prominent plus signs, two lines, and just straight forward, the word pregnant. You sniffed but nodded your head. You just had to let it sink in. You needed to figure out what you needed to do. Who to tell. What to do. Just as panic was starting to set in, another knock was at your door. This time you had no idea who it could be since you hadn't ordered anything else and you definitely didn't invite anyone else over in your state of mind (though the idea of Freya coming over sounded lovely. She could always calm you down). You walked out of the bathroom, sticks in hand, and to the front door, not bothering to look through the peephole before throwing the door open, ready to curse out whoever it was.

The sight of your boyfriend at the door made your heart, stomach, and confidence drop to the floor. He stood with a bag of his own, but you could see it held flowers, candies, and a movie rental. He must've stopped at the store. You slowly looked up at him, noticing the concerned smile on his lips, and how his hair was messy. He probably was editing before he decided to come over. He looked tired, meaning he probably hasn't slept yet and wanted to fall asleep on you. That's what he always did. Overall, Simon looked like the boyfriend you were in love with, and that somehow made your heartbreak.

"Y/n?" Simon spoke. You shook yourself from your thoughts and looked up at him properly, realizing he must have been sleeping to you. "Freya said you weren't feeling well, but you didn't text me or call me. I was worried." He said, making his way into your home and closing the door behind him. You simply shuffled back, gripping the necklace you had on tightly, trying to swallow all your fear. "Are you okay? You look really pale?" He asked again, stepping closer to you this time. That's when he noticed the tests poking out of your grip. "A-are those pregnancy tests?" He asked, dropping the bags on the counter.

"I think I'm going to puke." You said, avoiding all the questions, dropping the tests onto the ground and then running to the bathroom for the second time. Simon followed after you, walking into the bathroom and grabbing your hair to hold back whilst you threw everything you ate lately back into the toilet. He rubbed your back softly, at least tried too. You noticed how shaky his hands actually were at the moment. You finished, flushed the toilet and then sat on the ground, not looking up at him until you felt him move to sit beside you. "I'm sorry." You whispered.

"There's no reason to be sorry Y/n, it takes two people to do this. We both should have been more careful." Simon said quietly. He was nervously tugging at his hair now. You hadn't even said the words, yet you both knew what the situation was. You were pregnant, with his child, and you didn't know what to think.

"This isn't how this was supposed to go." You whispered back, turning your head to look at him. The rims of his eyes were red as if he wanted to cry, and you didn't blame him for that. He reached over your lap and grabbed your hand, rubbing the back of it softly with his thumb as he brought it over to his lap. His hands were huge compared to your own, which was always something the two of you liked to joke about, and now the only thing you could think of was the fact that a babies hand would look much tinier in his hand. You were shaken from your thoughts as you felt his lips touch your knuckles. He looked into your eyes now, trying to read what you were thinking, but even you weren't sure. With everything racing around in your head it made you dizzy.

"You're right, it's not how it's supposed to go, but we can figure it out." He breathed out. "Things can't always work out perfectly, and sure our story is going to be out of order to some, but this is just how it was meant to go for us." He said. He wasn't sure if he was convincing you or himself, but somehow it was working. His hand dropped yours into his lap, letting you grip the edge of his shirt nervously as if you were holding him down so he couldn't run away from you. His fingers trailed up your arm and then down to your stomach where they danced around a moment and then he stopped and laid his palm flat against your belly. The movements made you tense, but the feeling of his warm hand against you made you melt almost. It was calming to feel him touch you in this stressful time. You were not far along at all, not even showing at this point, so Simon wasn't going to feel anything, but it was a warm sight to see.

"Parents." You said out loud after a moment of him just touching your belly. He nodded in response, looking away from your torso and up to your face. "Can we do that Simon. I don't want to stop you from pursuing your career. I don't want to change things. I love you, I don't want you to leave." You rambled nervously. Simon furrowed his eyebrows and shushed you silently. He moved his hand from your belly now, instead of placing it on your cheek to make you look up him me. When you looked up, his lips caught yours, making your heartbeat return to its normal pace.

"The only thing this is going to change is the fact that there's going to be more to love." He said, nodding slowly. "I mean, I'm sure other things are going to change, but I'm still going to be with the boys and filming. It's my job, I can't stop that. And you're going to continue with school and work." He said. It amazed you how easily he was taking this. He was obviously trying to be calm for the two of you and somehow it was working. He was good at this though. He really grounded you and helped when things got to be too much. "It's going to take some getting used to. And we have some things to talk about and discuss but we can do this Y/n. I promise you." He said confidently. Instead of answering you simply pressed your lips to his once more, wrapping your arms around his neck in an embrace. Once you pulled away he rested his forehead against yours and caressed your cheek with his thumb. After another moment of silence Simon pulled away and looked down at your stomach again, placing his large hand over your belly button (a habit he caught onto almost instantly after finding out).

"Family channels are banging right now actually." He said, trying to lighten the mood. His famous smirk rested on his lips making you giggle. You smacked his arm and scowled, shaking your head instantly.

"Simon Minter I am not exploiting our unborn child for views."

"Worth a shot."

#sidemen #sidemen imagines #sidemen imagine #sidemen one shot #sidemen concept #sidemen writing #fan fiction #miniminter #simon minter #mm7 #youtube #youtube imagines #youtube imagine #the ultimate sidemen #the sidemen #miniminter imagines #miniminter imagine #simon minter imagines

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itsblosseybitch · 5 years ago

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The Reel Dunne (Griffin Dunne interview from INTERVIEW magazine, October 1988

Hollywood Wunderkind Griffin Dunne eloped at 18, produced a movie at 23, and has been acting all along. Victoria Hamburg stopped by to catch up.

When Griffin Dunne was 23 and managing a concession stand at Radio City Music Hall, he followed the cultural cues of his native L.A. and, with a couple of close friends, optioned a story for a movie. Nothing terribly out of the ordinary for a Hollywood-wise L.A. youth. What was not ordinary, however, was that the story--Ann Beattie’s novel Chilly Scenes of Winter--was actually made into a film, starring John Heard, and released by United Artists.

Chilly Scenes of Winter marked the emergence of the young Griffin Dunne as an actor and leading producer of American films. Son of writer Dominick Dunne (and brother of the tragically murdered Dominique Dunne), Griffin moved to Manhattan after high school to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Over the years, his film credits have grown to include An American Werewolf in London, Johnny Dangerously, Almost You, After Hours, and Who’s That Girl, and in his role as a producer, he has been equally canny. Along with his longtime partner, Amy Robinson, he has produced John Sayles’ Baby It’s You and co-produced Martin Scorsese’s After Hours.

This season, Dunne’s dual career is in full swing. He produced Sidney Lumet’s Running on Empty, which was released in September, and is currently producing Lasse Hallstrom’s (My Life As A Dog) first American film, Once Around. He stars in Dorris Dorrie’s controversial second film, Me and Him, playing the part of a middle-aged man with two problems--a midlife crisis and a penis that talks (distributors have decided the film is too controversial for America, and it is being released in Europe this month). Dunne will also appear in the HBO movie Lip Service alongside Paul Dooley.

Dunne is as funny and charming off-screen as he is on. Dark, intense, and boyishly handsome, he is a natural storyteller, whose enthusiasm is contagious. Victoria Hamburg found him at home, in his West Village penthouse overlooking the Hudson. The apartment is airy and sunlit, with oversize windows, a fireplace for the winter, and a terrace with real grass for the summer. It is the perfect refuge from the hustle of the city streets and the madness of the entertainment world on which Griffin Dunne clearly thrives.

VICTORIA HAMBURG: I’ve been having my own private Griffin Dunne Film Festival. I looked at After Hours, An American Werewolf in London, Almost You, and Who’s That Girl. The movies that you’ve produced have more social commentary and a greater basis in reality than the movies you star in. The ones you act in are more like myths or fables about the dilemmas of modern man.

GRIFFIN DUNNE: It’s funny--as a producer, you think about material for material’s sake. You look for really rich characters and movies that have something to say. It’s much easier for me to find movies to produce than to act in. You have more control over material, and there are wider choices.

VH: What’s this film you were doing in Boston?

GD: It’s called Lip Service. It was just a great piece of writing by a guy named Howard Porter. He wrote Boy’s Life. It was on Broadway a while ago. David Mamet executive-produced this film and asked me if I’d be in it with Paul Dooley. William H. Macy, who’s an actor, directed it. [OP NOTE: There’s a misprint in this article, where’s he’s referred to as W.C. Macy. Or maybe Griffin was trying to be funny and make a reference to W.C. Fields]. It’s his first film. He did an incredible job, and it was great to work with a director who was an actor. It’s about these two talk-show hosts on one of those morning shows like Hey, Wake Up, L.A. It’s called Sunny Side Up. It’s been run for ten years by a kind of boring, staid broadcaster who’s like a Walter Cronkite of the morning circuit. They want to spruce up the ratings, so they bring in a sort of Regis Philbin type, and that’s me. It’s Regis and Walter on this morning show, and they’re two very different people. I idolize him, but he hates me. I’m always trying to get him to be my friend. There’s something very touching about it. It’s also very sad, because the public taste being what it is, I blow him out of the water. I’m so filled with energy and kooky ideas. I’m always looking for the lowest common denominator in human behavior, and people love it. They just lap it up. Dooley’s character gets fired.

Anyway, in this movie, for the first time I play a guy who is completely happy. He has a vicious mean streak, and then it’s gone, and he’s the happiest person on earth. I had a great time, because I usually play people with a tremendous number of problems. This guy hasn’t a clue of the problems he has, because he never listens. He never hears a word he’s saying. Somebody will be talking to him and he’ll interrupt them to ask, “How’s my hair? Do you think I’m attractive?” or some terribly vain question.

VH: Do you think that it takes being oblivious like that to be a happy guy?

GD: Yeah, basically, I mean, to not have a clue about anybody else’s suffering or even what color shirt they’re wearing is a different version of happiness. I’ve seen people without any sort of self-doubt. They just amaze me.

VH: When you were talking earlier, I was thinking you sound like somebody who doesn’t suffer from self-doubt.

GD: Who doesn’t have self-doubt at some point?

VH: Well, I know, but it doesn’t seem to paralyze you in any way.

GD: No, it doesn’t paralyze me. It’s a fleeting thought, but it was nice to play somebody so completely confident and ebullient in everything that he’s doing. The guy I played just had no problem offending somebody, because he had no idea he was offending them. Terrible hurt would cross someone’s face and he would just go right on talking. It was endlessly interesting.

VH: It seems as if we’ve reached a point where there’s a new Hollywood. There are people who are our age, in their late twenties, mid-thirties, who are now in a position of making decisions in the studios. Are they doing it differently? Is something going to happen that’s different from the way that people have been making movies in the past?

GD: Probably not. Even though movies are making more money than ever, they are still based on the star system. And the star system is getting stronger and stronger. Having name value is becoming more and more important. People are taking fewer and fewer chances. What I’ve noticed is that it’s getting to be taken for granted that this is the way to go. Even the smaller outfits have now figured out ways to hire major stars with name value. I think part of the problem with film is that the good movies--with interesting stories and actors--are not huge weekend movies. They’re competing against star vehicles with rotten scripts and one charismatic star that make the big kill for two or three weekends and then gradually dwindle away. The movies that don’t fall into that category are racing quicker than ever for the video stores. All this means that they’ve yet to figure out long-run releases. And the attitude is getting to be more and more--even among my peers--”I’ll wait for it on cable.” People look at small or interesting or intimate movies as the kind they’d prefer to see at home on their television sets rather than at a theater. Movies are considered failures much sooner than ever before. The failure rate has really sped up, and the success rate is much further down the line because now you have to look at the videocassette sales and rentals.

VH: I think it’s incredibly frustrating for all the people who go out and kill themselves for six years to get a project to finally happen, who risk everything they’ve got and go out on a limb for it, and then, even if it’s reasonably successful, it’ll probably run for only two or three weeks and end up in the video store, and who’s ever going to look at it then?

GD: It’s extremely frustrating. It’s like they spend six years to make the videocassette.

VH: Right. Whereas if you’re writing a book, even if nobody buys it, it will still be there somehow in a more lasting way.

GD: You notice how books and videocassettes are almost the same size...

VH: How did you feel when you were making Who’s That Girl and people kept calling it “the Madonna movie”?

GD: I assumed they would. She is an extraordinarily huge star, and a great deal of commotion happens around her when she’s out in public.

VH: How did the filming go?

GD: It was pretty wild. I guess I didn’t really expect it to be. I remember there was a marathon race on a Sunday. We were shooting in Manhattan. Here are these people who are nearing the end of a twenty-six-mile run. They could have placed respectably, but they pulled over to the side to watch the shooting and let the other runners go on. By the time they got to where we were shooting on Fifth Avenue, they had been running twenty miles. They took a breather to watch the shooting, to watch Madonna getting in and out of a cab. They just threw it all away to watch this. Everybody had a camera when we were working on that picture. Cabs would drive by, and little old ladies would pull out lenses longer than their entire frames and just whack off a few pictures. It was a bit of a carnival atmosphere.

VH: Which do you prefer, acting or producing?

GD: I don’t know. Acting is what I originally wanted to do. That’s really what I’m supposed to be doing. Unfortunately, the business of being an actor is a lot more disheartening than the business of being a producer. As an actor, you’re beholden to the material and the taste of other people who are developing projects that you may or may not get in. As a producer, you come up with the idea. Everything that my partner, Amy Robinson, and I have done, we’ve thought of and developed. The script for After Hours came from a student at Columbia University.

VH: You get offered a lot of roles that you turn down--if you kept getting parts that you wanted to do, would you end up acting instead of producing?

GD: It depends how far along I am in the producing. I’ve lately had a painful decision to make. I’ve turned down work because I’ve been too far into producing a picture. It wasn’t easy to do.

VH: Do you feel you naturally lean toward acting?

GD: I’ve always leaned toward acting. I’m very good at working on stories, casting, and crewing up, but when the movie’s being shot, there’s always the frustration I feel watching other actors working. That goes away once the film’s finished shooting. It’s almost the reverse of what I feel as an actor. There’s a certain relief that, once I’ve finished shooting, I can be in the editing room or in the screening room, watching the rough cuts develop and watching the picture just get better and better.

VH: Have you ever wanted to direct?

GD: Yeah, I think about that more and more.

VH: The relationships between an actor and a director and between a producer and a director are very different.

GD: The relationship between an actor and a producer is, in fact, one of total opposites. As producer--particularly during shooting--your job is to worry and to predict what horrible things will happen. You worry about time, scheduling, and logistics. You have to fall into a certain logic that does not come to me naturally.

VH: I always think it’s a combination of being the baby sitter, the whip-cracker, and the pacifier. In a way, all the things that you do make you feel like you have no control. On the other hand, you realize that ultimately you do have the control.

GD: What you’re doing is watching other people create and have a fantastic time. Amy and I have always worked with directors who have respected our opinion and relied on us heavily for story development, casting, and the creative part. But once the movie is going, it’s just this big monster rolling along that you have to keep in check. It’s much less creative. I mean, you can look at dailies and say, “Gee, it looks a little dark in that scene” and “Why does she have that expression on her face?” but it’s pretty much out of your control, with the exception of the ultimate ability to slow down or speed up the process. And sometimes even that’s questionable. But as an actor, your entire job is not to worry. Your job is to help others, create an atmosphere where you can be totally spontaneous, get lost in the part, and develop intense relationships with people. When I’m acting and things are going well, I have an extremely good time.

VH: It sounds like the acting and producing provide a perfect balance for you.

GD: Yes. Absolutely. I remember when I produced my first movie, Chilly Scenes of Winter. I was a desperately hungry actor who lived and died by my last audition and what people thought of me as I walked out of an office. That’s what most people think when they’re starting out. It’s an unnatural environment when you go in and read and show your personality to someone and they say yes or no. It takes awhile to get the hang of that. I was not good at it. I would clam up and freeze at auditions. I could not be free. So producing a movie was entirely liberating. There I was, in a casting room, auditioning actors whom I not only admired but envied, wishing I was in their position. I was 23 at the time, and I remember being in this office in Los Angeles, in Culver City, pre-screening the actors before the director, Joan Micklin Silver, met them. Bringing in all these actors I’ve admired my whole life and interviewing them, I thought, This is crazy. They thought it was pretty crazy, too. They thought, How old is he? But I did see how the audition process worked, and I thought, This is not so threatening.

VH: I’ve always thought of you as the boy wonder. I mean, there you were, producing a feature film. That’s not easy, but you were at the point where you and Amy could convince somebody to give you the money to do it. How did you manage that?

GD: We also had a third partner, Mark Metcalf. All three of us were actors. Mark was probably the most successful of the three of us, because he had produced Animal House [He also played Niedermeyer in the film]. We had a really good book by Ann Beattie, and people wanted it.

VH: How did you convince Joan that she should let you guys do it?

GD: She came to us. She wanted to make the movie.

VH: But you didn’t know anything about line-producing, right?

GD: No. For a year before we actually got it off the ground, we interviewed everyone. We called people right up out of the DGA [Directors’ Guild of America] book and said, “We’re doing this movie. Would you talk to us? Will you tell us about line-producing? Will you tell us what this means? Will you tell us what gross and net are?” We knew nothing, but we found that complete strangers were willing to share their knowledge and expertise with us. So we learned a certain amount the year before we actually met Joan. All we knew was that we wanted to make this movie, and we had the material. Several times, people said, “We’ll make this movie, but you three have to go.” And we said, “No, we come with it and you’ll have to go.” We pulled it off, and they let us do it. We had a production manager, a man named Paul Helmick, who was close to 70 years old [laughs]; he was Howard Hawks’ first assistant director, and he had incredible stories about the movie business. We learned a lot from him. We were the producers, but he knew the nuts and bolts--who to get on the crew and what the hourly wages were and all that.

VH: What would you say was the most important thing that you learned from doing the movie?

GD: Well, because I was so young, I sort of learned how the world works. I learned how decisions were made and business was run. The business section of the newspaper became interesting to me: why people were fired and hired. Just the decision-making process, and people taking responsibility for their decisions.

VH: You grew up in Los Angeles, didn’t you?

GD: Yes.

VH: So you must have had some sense of how it all worked. Your father was in the business.

GD: Yeah. I knew my movies. I loved movies. But I didn’t know anything about the details of making a movie. Casting was an instinctual process to me. Amy and Mark weren’t from the movie business. They grew up loving movies, and that’s what the three of us had in common. Being from Los Angeles and having parents in the business was not really helpful. I could talk to my father about what I was doing and the problems I was having, and he would understand what I was saying, but he wasn’t in production then. He was extremely supportive of me, just as Amy’s and Mark’s parents were supportive of them.

VH: Did you ever have moments where you were totally terrified because you didn’t know what you were doing?

GD: You know, I really didn’t. I was having such a good time. Nobody ever once said, “You’re a fraud. You’re 23 years old. Who are you to tell me this?” I knew the material. I knew I had a tremendous love and conviction for this book and for the script that Joan wrote and for Joan as a director. I didn’t really have any doubt in my ability.

VH: You and Amy have been producing together for such a long time. How does that work? Is there a role that she plays and a role that you play?

GD: I guess so. We bounce off each other very well. Whoever calls us knows they’re going to get both of us on the phone, and we’ve figured out how to talk without talking at the same time, so that we build on each other’s thoughts. We finish each other’s sentences.

VH: Do you do good cop/bad cop?

GD: Yeah. It depends who the person is. There are certain people she gets along better with and others I get along better with. People get treated well, so there hasn’t been any real tension on our sets coming from the production. Basically we’re both good cops. But we use that good cop/bad cop routine.

VH: How does she feel when you go off to be in a movie? Does she produce things without you?

GD: The day-to-day stuff is a lot of phone work, you know. Producing is all about talking on the phone. When I’m off acting, Amy is doing the day-to-day work in the office. We talk every day. It’s like I’m in foreign land, acting with complete strangers. I’ll call her, and she’ll fill me in on what’s going on. Then, if I have a few hours left in me, I’ll knock off about eight or nine phone calls. So I’m still doing my work. I never fall out of contact.

VH: You sound driven.

GD: Well, it is a driven thing. Amy is a very driven person, and sometimes I have to work hard to catch up with her if I’m doing two jobs. It’s a lot of work. I’m getting tired just talking about it. [laughs]

VH: I’m always interested in people who are able to make movies in New York. Do you and Amy feel pressure to do something in L.A.? Sometimes L.A. seems like a private club to me: you have to do time there or you have to have been a member.

GD: No, I don’t think so. I mean, the reason we’re doing well is because of the material. We choose to live in New York. We have to go to Los Angeles an awful lot for any number of reasons--to meet writers or talk to the studio about financing--but there’s been no pressure on us to move to Los Angeles. In fact, I think it would be a little stifling, because we could fall into that club atmosphere you’re talking about. A good deal of the time there is spent talking about “Have you read this script that was just submitted that all the agencies are reading? Did you get on top of this? Did you get on top of that?” And it’s a cyclical effect. You start buying something based on word of mouth and who’s attached to it--basically for all the wrong reasons. I think this distance gives us a little perspective on what the story is.

VH: How did you find the script for Running on Empty?

GD: Amy and I had been interested in radicals--the real hardened ones, the ones who had been living underground and thought that they were still fighting a revolution, who surfaced only to kill a bunch of people for a political idea that grew out of the ‘60s and had somehow gone terribly wrong. I had absolutely no sympathy for them. I understood where their politics originated, but I felt that they were in a complete dream world. They were the same criminals that sell drugs, or blow away cops to rob a bank, for no political reason. The idea that they thought there would be some kind of public uprising over killing a couple of security guards was delusion at its highest. We talked about making a movie on this subject, and then we came across an article about the custody procedure involving kids whose parents were radicals--two boys, 11 and 9. They were younger than the characters in our movie. Their parents were found with a cache of weapons, fighting to overthrow the government so that we would all be free. They were a lot harder than the characters in our film, but we were struck by the family aspect of the story. We went to Naomi Phoner [author of Running on Empty] with the article and talked about the origins of the parents and their political beliefs. We concentrated on the case of blowing up a napalm plant in the early ‘70s. Their pictures were plastered in every post office in the United States and they were on the Ten Most Wanted list. What effect would that have on their children?

VH: When I read articles about these people, there’s always something about them that makes you feel as if they could have been friends of yours in college. There’s something very ordinary about the people who did those things.

GD: Yes, but living on the run for so long, living underground where there’s a network of people that can help you--that’s got to warp your idea of society, because you have ostensibly left society to lead this kind of life. The society you’re trying to overthrow is very different from the one you have in mind once you’ve been underground for a few years.

VH: Did you actually try to contact people who were underground?

GD: Yeah, we spoke to a few people--they were hardly on anyone’s Ten Most Wanted list, but they had a lot to hide from. Naomi had some friends from college, in fact--former SDS [Students for a Democratic Society] higher-ups who were no longer wanted by the law.

VH: How did Sidney Lumet become the director?

GD: He read the script. We were at Lorimar, and Sidney had a contract at Lorimar. We had thought of Sidney quite a bit before we seriously approached directors. He read it and contacted us and told us how much he loved it.

VH: It seems like a good time to make a movie like Running On Empty. Here we are, with the Presidential elections before us...[laughs]

GD: When we were testing Running on Empty, we would show it to college kids. Researchers would ask them about their knowledge of ‘60s radicals, and they would talk about Jane Fonda. I guess they thought she was an SDS student or something and that she lived in the underground. There was very little awareness about the people who were trying to end the Vietnam War.

VH: How much does giving people something to think about have to do with your decisions about what movies you produce?

GD: We assume that other people will be interested in thinking about what we think about. What initially attracted us to Running On Empty was not so much making a political statement. What really drew us to the story were the family and the conflicts in the family. The movie is a sort of extreme exaggeration of what happens to boys or girls when they hit a certain age, when they look at their parents and they’re not parents anymore. They’re human beings with a lot of problems, and they become aware of what it took to raise them. It’s the first feeling that a kid might have of compassion toward his parents, of a sense of even feeling wiser somehow. That’s what attracted me to Running On Empty. It’s that story of looking at your parents and feeling in a funny way stronger than them. You suddenly have this knowledge that the decisions you make can hurt them. If you don’t want to hurt them, you make the proper adjustments. The alternative is to grow up and hurt them because you’ve got to live your own life. This movie is about all the complexities that go on in a family. Maybe there will be disappointment for a lot of politically minded people who think they might find an answer in this movie. It comes out in a much more family-oriented way.

VH: Your parents are remarkable people. I remember reading the story that your father wrote about your sister’s death and the murder trial that followed it. I particularly remember the description of your mother. I’ve always thought that she was unbelievably courageous.

GD: My mother’s an extraordinary person. She’s the strongest person I know.

[Ellen Griffin Dunne founded Justice for Homicide Victims in 1984 to support victims of homicide with legal and financial assistance, as well as counseling and referrals. In 1989, a year after this interview was conducted, Ellen was recognized for her advocacy work by then-President George H.W. Bush. Ellen also suffered from multiple sclerosis starting in the early ‘80s. She passed away in 1997. Justice for Homicide Victims is still operating today.]

VH: Do you think being raised by people like that allows you to try things that other people wouldn’t ordinarily try?

GD: It sure helps. I grew up in a very supportive environment. My parents were not easily shocked by the decisions I made. I was sort of a handful; I got into a lot of trouble when I was growing up. They never succumbed to total despair when I fucked up. I think that’s an important lesson for parents. I grew up with the confidence of knowing that my parents always thought I was going to come out O.K. They always thought I was going to make it, whatever I did.

VH: Did you have any heroes?

GD: I grew up idolizing people all the time. It’s harder and harder to find idols, but for as long as I can remember, I was always a worshiper of other people.

VH: Who?

GD: I was only 9 years old, but I had this obsession with John F. Kennedy. I was convinced I would someday know this guy and we’d become really good friends. [laughs] I called his wife Mrs. Kennedy, and I’d call him Mr. Kennedy whenever I talked about him. I used to write him letters--nothing very political, just to tell him that it was my birthday last week, and my brother did this, and that things kind of stank around the house but that I’d work it out. I would get letters back from his secretary saying that Mr. Kennedy had received my letter, and that was perfectly fine. I remember we used to go to church every Sunday, one day I just put my foot down and refused to go. I just said “I’m not going.” Big fights. They went to church and left me locked in my room. When they came back, my brother and sister and the whole family were glowing. John F. Kennedy and his wife had gone to church that day, and they sat right behind my parents!

VH: Don’t you think they made it up?

GD: Well, even as I’m telling you, I find it just incredible.

VH: Were you a gullible child?

GD: I was always gullible. But I can’t believe they’d be that cruel. I used to lie for years afterward--with the conviction of a total liar who believed it--about the time I went to church and John and Jackie were sitting behind me. Even telling you this, the lie seems true. I turned around, saying, “Hi, Mr. Kennedy, I’m Griffin Dunne. I wrote you these letters.” “Oh yes, Griffin. Oh yes, I got your letters. Just wait until after the service. We’ll talk.” And then as soon as the service was over, he tapped me on the shoulder, and I climbed over the pew. I’m between him and Jackie, and he says, “Have you met my wife?” “Oh, hi, Mrs. Kennedy. Nice to meet you.” He says, “Go on, about those letters.” And we were talking as we were walking outside, and we became friends in that moment. Anyway, he was my major hero. It’s been downhill ever since.

VH: Were you raised a Catholic?

GD: Yes.

VH: Has that had any lasting effect on you?

GD: Well, I think there’s something very Catholic about that fantasy. I was raised a Catholic, and it helped me in being an actor in plenty of ways. I hated church. I always thought those priests gave rather weak performances. I think that’s sort of how I became an actor--an early fantasy was if I were a priest, I’d do a much better job. When I became an altar boy, I became the church-clown altar boy and would bring the priest the wrong vestments.

VH: On purpose?

GD: No, it just worked out that way, but I got laughs.

VH: I’m half Catholic and half Jewish. I think that what I get from being Catholic is that I’m always guilty about something I did that I shouldn’t have done. And what I get from being Jewish is that I’m always guilty about something I should have done that I didn’t do. I heard the other day that the movie you were in that Doris Dorrie directed was banned in this country. I have a feeling this isn’t true, but this movie has a controversial reputation. What’s going on here?

GD: Well, I think it’s probably a “European” movie in that it’s going to open in Europe.

VH: What’s this movie about?

GD: It’s a sensitive tale. It’s about this guy whose penis starts talking to him and it just totally freaks him out. You never see it, so I don’t know why it’s banned. It’s based on a book called Two by Alberto Moravia. It’s a very typical tale, about this guy who’s an architect. He’s at the brink of having some kind of boredom breakdown--he’s married and he has a kid and feels trapped. His penis starts talking to him, screaming at him to wake up and enjoy life. You never see it. It’s all in his mind. It’s basically me talking to myself the whole movie and talking to women and the people in my office. I’m a very ambitious guy in the movie who starts to get ahead through the power of the seduction. He’s a philanderer, very Italian, both cocky and confused at the same time. He has all these desires of getting ahead and finding the perfect woman. I thought the part had a certain kind of charm to it. It might be banned because the movie turns out to look like one of those Ralph Steadman drawings with the back of people’s heads blown out, you know, like a shotgun went off in their mouth. Everybody’s totally distorted, and weird shit is coming out of their mouths. Everybody is very unattractive in a funny way. It’s not as funny as people thought it would be. It’s a much harder movie.

[This last part is interesting to read, because as someone who has watched Me and Him, there’s no animation in the movie whatsoever. I wonder if that was the original plan for the film but it got scrapped for the final product for whatever reason, probably due to budget constraints. I know there’s a ‘70s film based on Moravia’s book as well. My friends over at The Projection Booth did a podcast on this movie, and Doris Dorrie was interviewed and I don’t remember a word being breathed about any animation sequences, so this is the first I’ve heard about this. Griffin is not a big fan of this movie (neither am I) so he hasn’t talked much about it since, and he said he didn’t want to be interviewed about it for the podcast.]

VH: Her other movie, Men, seemed to be about how people of the opposite sex don’t really like each other.

GD: Yeah. I hadn’t thought that at the time, but I definitely think that now. It’s a battle of the sexes, but it’s a battle over which is the uglier sex. There’s nothing terribly crude about it, sexually. Emotionally, it’s very crude. But being directed by a woman on something as intimate as this is a little like playing the part of a dog and being directed by a cat about how you’d feel about being a fire hydrant. You know, the dog’s going to look at this cat and go, “What the fuck do you know about a fire hydrant?” How would you know how I’d feel about sex? Both of us sort of drew a blank. We had no idea what the other was talking about. It was a totally non-communicative experience. I did my job and she did her job. There really weren’t many ways we could help each other out.

VH: Do you think that people genuinely believe that the sexes basically don’t like each other?

GD: No, I think they do like each other, and I think that was what we disagreed on. As much as we would verbalize it and have many discussions, it always boiled down to the point that cruelty between the sexes was different. We disagreed on that. The movie is about how the two sexes dislike each other intensely, which was not, I felt, in the script.

VH: What are you doing next?

GD: Starting a movie with Lasse Hallstrom, who did My Life As A Dog. Amy and I are going to produce a movie. I’m going to be in it. Small part. Nice part. It’s a story, set in Massachusetts, about an Italian-American from a big, close family, whose sisters have all been married. She’s the eldest and the last one to get married. Everybody’s encouraging her to finally get married to this guy she’s been with for six years, and this guy turns out to be a real wimp. He finally admits to her, “I’m never going to marry you.” She’s devastated, and she goes off.

VH: That’s not you, is it?

GD: Hell, no. That is a wimp. So she goes off, and she meets a man who’s close to her father’s age. He’s a very outgoing, tough businessman, who is rich. He sort of tries to buy his way into the family emotionally and financially. While they’re happy for the daughter, the family doesn’t like the man. It’s a battle of the patriarchs and how the man gets caught in the middle. The family never can quite let the husband into their hearts. It’s very painful and it’s very funny. It’s a brilliant script. It’s written from the heart by a woman named Malia Scotch Marmont [This is a misprint. Her name is Malia Scotch Marmo, and she’s also been credited as a writer for Hook and Madeline], who was at a Columbia student. We found the script through the Sundance Institute.

VH: What do you play?

GD: I play the brother-in-law. He’s a guy who is heavily influenced by this very outgoing businessman and starts to take on his mannerisms, much to the discomfort of his wife, who dislikes him. I’m the only one who thinks he’s a pretty good guy. It’s going to be a great movie. I’ve been in Boston with Lasse. He’s from Sweden. I’m showing him the difference between Italian-Americans from Massachusetts and Italian-Americans from New York.

[The movie that Dunne is talking about would be released as Once Around in 1991, starring Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfuss as the leads. Interestingly enough, Dunne would end up playing that very wimp boyfriend in the movie. The brother-in-law would be played by Tim Guinee].

VH: What’s the difference?

GD: Well, as far as I can tell, the Italian-Americans from Massachusetts are more Yankee at heart. They really are closer to the family, the Mayflower, and they sort of cling to that. They feel a little more American than the New York Italians, like they got there first. The dialects are obviously very different. But we’re trying to make those differences clear to Lasse.

VH: This is his first movie in English?

GD: Yeah. It’s set in a very particular region of the United States. We can help him with the research and the regional differences, but when it comes to the matter of the heart, that’s his job and that’s where he will shine.

VH: If you could do anything you want, what would you do?

GD: I would have the kind of life where I could bury myself in work for an intense period of a year and then leave work for six months and travel somewhere, maybe live in a completely different area of the world and soak up whatever differences and experiences I might gather there and revitalize myself, then do it all over again. I’d have the kind of control of being able to walk away from something I’ve created that will be there when I get back.

VH: When we were talking about family and relationships, I wondered how come you’ve never been married.

GD: Oh, I have been. I have been. I’ve never mentioned it. Everybody who knows me knows that I’ve been married, but I’ve never talked about it before. It hardly deserves this sort of melancholy face I have on right now.

VH: You’re smiling. [laughs]

GD: Yeah. That kind of melancholy. I was married, when I was 18, to a girl who was maybe 19, whom I had met in high school. She was the daughter of the--at the time--head of a film studio. She was very, very beautiful and probably still is. I have no idea. I haven’t seen her since.

VH: Since you married her?

GD: Yeah, I married her and then I never saw her again. [laughs] Didn’t work out. We got married in Tijuana sort of on a dare. When I was 17 we crossed the border to go to Tijuana, and the highway patrol pulled us over, and they knew for some reason we were going to get married. They brought us into the office and tried to talk us out of it. It was a humiliating experience because she was older and the highway patrol cop was sort of hitting on her. I mean, she was really gorgeous--there was just something about her; she exuded a real intense sexuality. I was madly in love with her, as anyone who ever laid eyes on her was. So the highway patrolman is hitting on my wife-to-be, and the other guy has got me in a room, telling me that I should hold off and not marry that piece in the other room for a couple of years, until I know what I’m doing. I was in such a rage that when I turned 18--on my birthday--we got in a car and went right back to Tijuana and got married.

VH: And how long were you married?

GD: A whopping one year. I came back to--we were going to keep it a secret--the apartment we had gotten. I carried her across the threshold of this apartment that had no furniture in it and the phone was ringing, so I dropped her on the wood floor and got the phone--

VH: What a guy.

GD: Well, you see, she was voluptuous, so she weighed a ton. I got the phone, and it was my father, and he was saying “So, how are you?” I said, “Fine.” “Anything new?” I went, “No, no.” He said, “I just came back from the most beautiful wedding I think I’ve ever been in my whole life. This boy--Oh, God, he must have been your age, maybe a little older. But he and that bride, my God. You know the parents--very dear old friends. Your mother and I, when you get married, that’s how we want to do it. Everything was done just right.” And I thought, Why is he telling me this? Why did he happen to go to this beautiful wedding of a peer of mine, and why is he telling me about it? He must know. This is a sign. So I just murmured, “Well, it’s a little late for that.” He said, “What?” I said, “We just married this afternoon in Tijuana.” He roared with laughter. And I was silent. And he said, “Now wait a minute.” He had this kind of chilly tone. “I can’t tell if you’re joking with me now or what.” I said, “No, no. We really did.” And he said, in the coolest voice I have ever heard, “I think you had better come over here right now.” We went over, and both he and my mother were freaked out. I finally got a divorce--not because of that but because it didn’t work out.

VH: Did she get remarried to an aluminum-siding salesman and have six kids and end up living in Kansas?

GD: No, actually she is married to Fabian. I haven’t been married since then. It will happen. But when it does, the highway patrol won’t be involved. It will be a simple, private family affair.

[All evidence indicates that Griffin’s first wife was Kate Netter Forte. I actually read about this on the website whodatedwho but since that website is a dubious source, I mentally filed that under the ‘Unsubstantiated’ category and didn’t look into it any further. Kate’s father was producer Douglas Netter, and it’s reported that she met the former teen idol Fabian on the set of the film Disco Fever, where she played a character named Jill. She’s in about the halfway point of the film. Forte was married to Fabian from 1980 to 1990. She was the president of Harpo films for 18 years before being let go in 2013. Some of the films she helped produce include Tuesdays with Morrie and The Great Debaters.]

[Victoria Hamburg is a producer who helped produce the Keanu Reeves film Johnny Mnemonic (1995), directed by Robert Longo]

#griffin dunne #long read #long reads #interview magazine #1980s #vintage magazine #victoria hamburg #an american werewolf in london #after hours 1985 #this is us #chilly scenes of winter #baby it's you #running on empty

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allonsy-yesiwill · 6 years ago

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What a dick

Read X Jared, Jenson and SPN members

WC: 2732 ish

Summary: Headed to a supernatural convention for the first time.

A/N: So when I watched the DCcon video there are some things that happen and I just feel like the boys would be super nice like this.

Warning: Angst, lack of self-worth, breakup, cheating, mostly fluffy goodness.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe we are doing this,” you said to your boyfriend of the past 2 years.

“I know we should have done it earlier,” Mark your boyfriend responded

It was your first ever Supernatural convention. You two had been planning it for the last year, and you couldn’t believe it. In all honesty, you couldn’t believe that you found someone that loved Supernatural as much as you did and in your hometown.

You two drove to Vegas, making the most out fo the trip you got into town on a Wednesday. You were both super excited until you saw her. Your boyfriend's ex. It had been an issue for the last 6 months, she was coming around and just causing trouble. Well, at least that’s what you were told. The moment you see her in Vegas, you start to question things. Start to question him. Things are adding up. You barely sleep Wednesday night.

Thursday morning there is convention stuff to do, it was like J2M stuff but you were still excited to see and do it all. Letting yesterday be pushed aside till later. As the day moves on Mark says he’s not feeling well and he wants to go lay down. The only person left is Tahmoh Penikett, so you don’t even question it.

That is until it’s too late.

Walking back to your room, you do your girlfriend good deed, stopping to get some soup for your sick man. “Hey love, I brought you so,” your words just stop with what you’re eyes are taking in.

“See, Y/N I knew you couldn’t ever properly satisfy him,” she says clearly still sitting on his dick.

You don’t run. You don’t move. You don’t speak. You do hear Mark speaking, some bullshit about sorry, it’s not what you think. What the fuck do you mean it’s what you think, she’s fucking sitting on your dick.

“Out now, take all of your shit and go,” your voice is calm and does not waver.

“How are you going to get home,” Mark asks.

“That’s not your issue.”

Once you are the only one in the room you pull out your phone, calling your bestie who is still at home. “Look, Amanda, I know this is crazy but can you just change the locks and my place and set all of Mark’s things on fire.”

She doesn’t question anything you say, just says yes. She is your ride or die. Before you get off the phone you do tell her the story, she suggests going to the hotel and asking if you can get another room. It’s a good idea, you don’t want him coming back and sitting outside your room. You pack up your stuff and head down to the lobby, just hoping everything works out.

It’s getting late by the time you make it down and it kinda looks like the hotel is full, but you still try. Walking up the hotel gatekeeper you say, “So ah can I get another room.”

“Is there something wrong with yours?”

Is there something wrong, yeah there is but it’s not their fault. You do your very best to make things up, the best not great, it smells. Nothing he’s not buying what you are selling. Fuck. You know you’re going to have to tell him.

“Okay look, I came here with my boyfriend and less than well 4 hours ago I walking into our room and he was fuck is ex. So I just need a new room, please,” the truth slips out with a few tears to follow.

“Fuck let me see what, just, I am sorry.”

“Yup me too.”

“So yeah, um well here it is. We only have a suite left. Sorry, the convention it’s, we are full because of it.” As the words leave his mouth a pit in your stomach opens and your face falls into your hands but he continues, “ Look I know it’s not the best but we have cleaning people, I can call them and they can clean it for you. I know it’s not the best but it’s better than nothing right.”

You don’t move, you can’t move. The tears running down your face, you’re a hot mess, you don't wanna show your face. It’s all kinda making sense now, why he left. Why he did this. You are a trainwreck, all aboard next stop crazy town.

“Hey sorry I couldn’t help but kind of hear everything. I am pretty sure I can help.”

Wait you know that voice, soft, kind of childlike. No fucking way it can’t be. You look up while your mascara falls down. No FUCKING way.

“Would it be possible for me to pay for me to put the suite on my bill,” Jared asks.

“Of course Mr. Padalaicki.”

“Hi I am Jared, you are?”

“Oh um hi, Y/N. Um, I am pretty sure you don’t have to do this. I mean I am not your problem.”

“Well Y/N, I know I don’t have to do this. I want to, besides I have too much money and I would love for you to help me with the problem. Gen would totally be grateful as well.”

You can’t help but laugh, “ That’s my kind of problem.”

Jared fills out all of the paperwork, little did you know he also talked them into refunding your room rental but this will be a pleasant surprise for later. Your new room is right next to Jared’s and he lets you know the Jensen is just down the hall. While you are making the trek to your room Jared asks what happened and you told him. Jared being Jared just hugs you, when you finish the story in the elevator, you can’t help but cray just a bit more.

“Fuck him,” Jared offers up, “ I mean you seem pretty awesome, so he’s totally missing out.”

“Thanks, yeah he’s not that smart.” Jared chuckles at your joke. “I don’t know I think the worst part is he has all of his passes still. What if he just like comes and sits next to me tomorrow night, I don’t know if I could handle that.”

“Funny thing, I know some people that work there let me see what I can do.”

“Are you going to get him blacklisted, oh my god can you do that. I mean you know if that’s a thing. Put up a big picture of him and say not allowed.”

Jared laughs, “ I don’t think that is a thing but let me see.”

He walks you to your room and makes sure it fits your needs. It does, it’s the nicest room you have ever stayed in, in all of your years. Before he leaves he gives you another big hug and tells you his door is open if you need anything during your stay. You only reassure him that you will be fine, you are only going to shower and then crawl into bed for the night.

The next morning you wake up at an ungodly hour of 5:30, not being able to go back to sleep you slip into your workout clothes and head to the hotel gym at 6 am. Putting your headphones on you climb onto the treadmill and just run. Finishing your workout and thinking you were the only person crazy enough to be in a hotel gym on a Friday morning. As it turns out you were wrong, climbing off the treadmill, you jump when you see Jared, landing on the ground you take off your headphones.

“Hey Y/N, are you okay. Sorry about that. I called your name out but I figured your music was too loud,” Jared offers to help you up off the ground.

“Oh my god, I just gave myself a heart-attack, Jesus fucking Christ.”

“You don’t need to call me my by formal name, Jared works just fine.”

“Stop,” you can’t help but laugh.

Jared and you chat for a bit, he lets you know he’s going to go to the convention today cause Gen and the kids aren’t going to make the trip as the boys are sick. You two agree to meet in the lobby at a set time to walk over, Jared telling you that he’s got possible problem corse corrected.

The day was amazing, Jared fixed the issue by getting you backstage. If there was a heave this would be it. Jared didn’t need to be there on Friday so he had no set plans he did whatever you wanted to do. You got to meet everyone….every fucking one. Not only that but Jared was so nice, you guys talked about everything. Where you were from, growing up, Jared even offered up the store about him and Gen and how he knew. He was clearly making a point that Mark probably wasn’t your human. You even got to facetime with Gen a bit, you weren’t sure how this was your life but it was.

You had dinner with everyone and everyone cared. There were so many hugs, you were overwhelmed. You had never felt more valued in your entire life. When you and Jared walk back to your rooms you stop him outside before going in.

“Hey, so I know this is going to sound weird and all but thank you. For everything. I am not sure I really knew what love was before this. Like I just really appreciate you and everyone, everyone just made me feel so good about me being me and like I was valuable,” you let out softly.

“You don’t have to thank me for being a human,” Jared hugs you. “And I am sorry no one made you feel this way before today. Mark was clearly a dick.”

“Yeah, he was,” you laugh.

Saturday you were pretty much on your own. However you still your backstage pass and Jared made sure you had someone to ask questions and get you the very best of everything. Everyone was going to the bar after the concert and you couldn’t say no.

“Everything okay Y/N, “ Brianna asks.

“Yeah it’s just my ex is here,” you let out.

“Oh Jared told us about him, what a dick,” Kim says.

“We should do something,” Brianna lets out.

By do something Brianna met you weren’t going to sign all of you up to sing karaoke. Not really your thing but with these two amazing people by your side you weren’t going to say no. And your glad you didn’t it was amazing, you could feel Mark watching you. Then you remember the people that were around you. The fucking cast of supernatural, you two had talked about it so many times. How awesome it would be to hang out with them and it was so much more than that.

Once you returned to your table you saw Mark trying to walk over, but he was stopped by Mischa. You two had met earlier in the day and after finding out you were also a gisher he promised you that one of the items on this year's hunt would be Mark’s dead body. As the night came to a close, Mark was still in the bar so no one would let you leave alone. Finally setting up Misha puts his arm around you and walks you out of the bar. The look on Mark’s face was priceless. Misha stops outside the bar and says, “ We should document this for science, can I see your phone. “ Not even questioning it you hand your phone over and Misha take a selfie of you two, in the background you can see Mark and the look of anger on his face. You can’t help but smile. Before walking back to the hotel you turn around and call out “Thanks Mark, for everything.”

“What was that for,” Misha asks.

“Well, honestly he didn’t make the choice that he made I would be here. I wouldn’t have known that what we were doing wasn’t love. So I really felt like I should thank him for that.”

“I am proud of you.” Oh my mother fucking god, Misha is proud of you.

Misha walks you to your room and bids you a good night. Walking into your room you notice a piece of paper on the floor, so you pick it up.

Hey Y/N,

Coffee 7 am, lobby, see you there.

Jared.

Would it be weird if I frame this, you think to yourself.

Heading down to the lobby well before 7, you sit in one of the sofas and just think about everything. You are a bit hungover but nothing too bad. Coffee will definitely help.

You hear a voice from behind you, “So I hear we are going to break someone face today, Y/N.” You turn and around to see green eyes smiling at you.

“Oh yeah, I have a whole list. I mean there’s just one name on it but it’s still a list.”

“Nice to meet you Y/N, Jared just messaged me he will be down in a minute.”

You spend the next 15 minutes talking to Jensen mother fucking Ackles and surprisingly you weren’t awkward. Jared had told him your story and some other things, you were a bit taken back by the fact that J2 had a conversation about you. Jared finally comes down and hands you a party patch, “here I heard you had a good night last night.”

“Dude don’t give her that, you’re going to make her smell too.”

“It doesn’t smell, calm down”

“It does smell,” Jensen sniffs Jared, “ You fucking smell.”

“Whatever, let’s get coffee.”

The boys went to do their thing leaving you backstage to watch on the TV. You were still in shock at what was happening, it was amazing you were hanging out with all of these people that you had dreamt, even pretended to be friends with. As the day finishes up the boys ask you what’s next for you. The honest truth is you didn’t know. You didn’t even know how you were going to get back home, probably purchase an airline ticket.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I guess I stay one more night and see if I can catch a flight out tomorrow. I took this whole week off of work because I was planning on driving back.” you say.

“Let’s see what we can do about that,” Jensen says.

As it turns out, Jensen was able to get you a flight out on Wednesday afternoon, he even used if miles to get you upgraded. You handed him your credit card number to type on his phone but what you didn’t know yet is that he was paying for it.

“Thanks again guys, this is just the best weekend of my life. I don’t think I could ever repay you guys.”

“Please, it was nothing. I had a really good time getting to know you, your a great person and I am very thankful that I was standing by you in the lobby Thursday night,” Jared let out.

“I think your next vacation should be to Texas, maybe next year,” Jensen asks.

“Really, like, really.”

“Yeah, I know you would get along great with our girls and Baby’s going to be at the brewery once the filming is done. I think I know someone so you could probably even sit in her,” Jensen says.

You agree to make a trip to Texas next year and you trade contact info, you aren’t on twitter much but they do find you and Jensen Ackles even follows you on Instagram. Jared lets you know that your room is paid for till you leave Wednesday, he follows it up with a happy birthday. Knowing full well that it’s not your birthday, however, you get what he is doing.

Both of them are leaving tonight, so the last set of hugs is shared and you wish them well. You can’t believe that this is your life. Walking up to your room you look at your phone and the new contacts

J One

J Two

You chuckle remembering how Jensen was unhappy with being thing 2. Walking into your room you dial Amanda’s number. When she answers the phone you let out, “So you’re not going to believe what happened this week…”

Get Tagged Here Read More Here

#rpf #Jensen Ackles #Jared Padalecki #jared padalecki x reader #jensen xreader #SPN #spn fanfiction #spn fanfic #spn fic #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural #supernatural fic

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placetobenation · 5 years ago

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Back in June 2013 the Place to Be Nation invaded the information super-highway with the launch of the website you are visiting just now. Since then a back catalogue has grown to include thousands of podcasts and written pieces, some of which you might have missed and it is my arduous task pleasure to go through the archives and bring you some of the highlights of PTBN through the years.

This weeks podcast is an audio anniversary for Jennifer and Mirandia as Geek & Sassy #1 hit the PTBN POP feed in this week in 2016. In this episode our wonderful hosts give a brief introduction to their new audience and how they developed their geekiness, followed by about their favourite TV shows, and how they think some were cancelled far too early. To find out where they rank Doctor Who and Harry Potter in their Top 5 Fandom discussion, or to see who they picked as their Nerd Eye Candy of the Moment, click here to listen.

And while you’re listening to Geek & Sassy #1, take a trip down memory lane with JT Rozerro and Chris Jordan as they bring us Part 1 of their look at wrestling video games in We Miss The 90s. Together they discuss the good, the bad, and the King of the Ring of video games from both the WWF and WCW in the first part of the decade and give their rankings on their favourites.

JT: Hey Jen… I mean Andy… Or Cowboy? Wait who the hell are you? Regardless you look like someone that played a lot of wrestling video games in the early 90s, so you want to hang around and chat it up with me?

Chris: Who the hell am I? Let me introduce myself.

Chris.

Now that introductions are out of the way, I would be glad to hang out and talk about wrestling games. It’s probably the only genre of gaming that I’m familiar with. It wasn’t uncommon to find a young me, unshowered and surrounded by empty containers of Cup O’Noodles, trying to land a Macho Man elbow on an evil, beaten Hulk Hogan. I can’t recall how many games I played back in the day. It probably goes back to the Nintendo era.

JT: Hey Chris! Unshowered is the best way to game, I would assume. That’s what I am told anyway.

I certainly dove into wrestling video games through Nintendo first and foremost. I have one game we we will start with and then I am going to pull one out the NAHSTALGIA BIN in a moment.

First up… WrestleMania Challenge! I remember this game very vividly. I remember renting it and sitting in my basement and playing on a very old, barely working TV. But I remember loving it.

It had some great theme music, a solid roster and… Rick Rude with short hair! It also had my personal favorite of the day, Brutus Beefcake. The game was interesting because it was centered mainly around the Ultimate Warrior instead of Hulk Hogan (1990, natch).

You remember this gem? Was it a gem?

Chris: A gem?? WrestleMania Challenge? I don’t think so, dude. I will admit, though, that it was a step up from the previous WrestleMania game. The roster was pretty stacked with eight whole Superstars. Guys like Hogan, Warrior, Boss Man, Andre the Giant, Jim Duggan, Brutus Beefcake, Randy Savage and Rick Rude.

However, I remember being disappointed in some aspects of this game. The theme music was there, but it was more like 8-bit versions of elevator renditions of their theme music.

JT: Yes it was terrible. I lied.

But… I was a theme music junkie and it wasn’t as readily available then as it is now, so you took whatever you could get. I loved theme songs so much that I made my mother call WWF headquarters to see if they would sell a cassette of them for me. She did. They didn’t. I was crestfallen. Crest. Fallen.

However… Let us switch promotions briefly to discuss WORLD. CHAMPIONSHIP. WRESTLING.

My favorite game of the very early part of the decade. It was unique and had some different stuff from what the WWF games offered, mainly that you chose your moveset before every match. Plus the roster was loaded… Sting! Flair! Steamboat! Rick Steiner! Road Warriors! THE GAMESMASTER!

I rented this one over and over and over…

Ever have the experience here? If not what was next in your canon?

Chris: I remember the WCW game very well. I also rented the hell out of that one. Not only could you select the wrestlers’ moveset, but they also had finishers, which was the first time I played a game that grasped that concept. The WWF games at that point, from what I remember, didn’t really incorporate finishers and yes the roster was also pretty cool at the time. DR. DEATH(!!), Eddie Gilbert. It had Rick Steiner, but not Scott Steiner which I found disappointing at the time, because I was hoping to pull off a Frankensteiner, the coolest move in wrestling back then.

Interesting thing is that the Road Warriors were on the cover, but they were on the WWF roster by the time I got my hands on this one.

I used to bring this back to the video store where I rented it, and then re-rent it. It got me in trouble with this one older kid at the store one time because I re-rented it in front of him, and he threatened to roll me for it and not return it, jacking up my mom’s rental account with bogus late fees.

JT: Ha! That is an awesome story. And it is a legit threat! That would have sucked man. Did you back down? I hope not…

Yes that was a mindfuck for sure, especially since I didn’t really watch NWA/WCW until 1992, so I was playing with a roster I didn’t have great knowledge of at all. The theme music of the game itself was pretty pimp though.

So, Genesis comes out and with it we get Super WrestleMania. I stayed loyal to NES but my good buddy Jim had it so I got to sample this game but don’t remember much about it. Eventually it came out for SNES too, but I was behind the curve on that. Did you ever dabble into the land of Sega?

Chris: I actually invited the kid back to my place to give it a whirl, then we ducked into a Woolworths where I ditched him and ran home before he knew what was up. He didn’t know where I lived and I didn’t really want him over anyway.

Yeah, Sega Genesis was awesome. I tried Super WrestleMania for Genesis, and the first thing I noticed was that the wrestlers had finishers, whereas the SNES version did not. One of the reasons why I picked up a Genesis, really. My favorite Genesis wrestling game, however, was Royal Rumble. The theme music was all there, the roster was stacked with guys like Hogan, Savage, Undertaker, IRS, Rick Martel, Razor Ramon, Jim Duggan, Crush. By the time I acquired this game, I was of legal drinking age (19 in Canada). My friend, Craig, and I would get into some beers and play video games on the weekends.

One time we teamed up with myself as Savage and Craig as Hogan, and we would go into tag tournament mode. I found myself knocked out on the mat, with one of the opponents also knocked down next to me. Craig, as Hogan, went to hit a legdrop on the opponent, and he nailed ME with it instead! We have no idea how that happened. Needless to say, as marks, we turned it into an angle and would fight each other the next match. Good times!

JT: Woolworths! We need to do 90s malls and department stores in a future installment of this for sure. And good, screw him. It is your right to renew!

I did like Genesis but I was Nintendo through and through and couldn’t be swayed. Royal Rumble was really awesome and Josh Richer and I would have some real battles. Rumble matches felt like they could go on for hours in that game. It was also frustrating that Genesis and SNES had slightly different rosters:

Genesis had Martel, IRS, Duggan, Shango and Hogan!

SNES had Flair, Perfect, DiBiase, Yokozuna and Tatanka!

I liked having Flair and Perfect but I really wanted Hogan and Shango… Papa Fucking Shango in a video game! Baller. Plus the Model’s theme sounded great in that game.

Also frustrating was that on the box for SNES, Mr. Perfect had on his black tights from Survivor Series 1992 but I could never figure out how to get them to appear in the game. Drove me nuts.

I want to circle back to NES and Steel Cage Challenge. The graphics seemed to take a step back but the cage match gimmick was neat plus it featured The Mountie’s theme in MIDI form. I have a good story about renting this game, but first… Any memories of it?

Chris: About the different rosters for SNES/Genesis Royal Rumble: I was a little miffed that the Genesis version never had Mr. Perfect, as he was my #1 guy at the time. My friend, the aforementioned Craig, had both a SNES and a Sega Genesis because he let his pimp hand do the talking like that. I also enjoyed the Royal Rumble match feature that you, as a player, could come back as another guy if you were eliminated…except when you came back as Duggan.

Anyway, on to Steel Cage Challenge. Yes, I remember this game also. I rented this for the NES console many time in my quest to be champ. One note about my gaming skills: I’m not skilled. Where it would take someone a couple hours to beat a game, there were games that I could never beat. Choosing Bret Hart, I would struggle to barely beat guys after the third match in championship mode. One guy that always beat me was The Undertaker. This was the first WWF game to feature a cage match, so i was pretty stoked for it.

You’re right on The Mountie theme. Classic mark out music.

JT: Yes being able to re-enter the Rumble was pretty clutch. To me that was the first game with a ton of replayability (that a word?) and I squeezed every ounce out of it.

I was so psyched for Steel Cage Challenge when it came out. Having that generation of stars in a game was neat and the cage just added to it all.

The day it came out, as soon as I got to my grandparents’ house after school, I called The Movie Center to ask if it was in stock. When the girl answered she said “The Movie Center, Phoenix”. After she confirmed I asked my mother to stop at the Movie Center on the way home to pick it up. Well, we get there and they don’t have it. Apparently there were two Movie Centers and the one I had called was in the Phoenix section of town. I thought Phoenix was that girl’s name. Of course, being 12 and desperately wanting to play this game, I lost my shit and my poor mom drove back across town so I could get it. And I played the shit out of it and eventually bought it. It was a lot of fun, even if IRS’ theme music was just a typewriter clicking and clacking over and over during the match. Looking back, I know the game sucked hard but whatever it was great the time.

Before we go fully into the next generation games for SNES and Genesis, I wanted to toss two more rare ones out there to see if you ever experienced them:

King of the Ring for NES Rage in the Cage for Sega CD

CJ: Your mom was pretty cool to drag you to the other side of town for a wrestling game. I come from a small town and my mom would have made me walk or take my bike. She was NOT cool. And Phoenix is a good name for a girl. It limits her career choices down to stripper or porn star, so it should be easier to decide what to do with her life.

King of the Ring for NES is one that I can remember playing. Rage in the Cage for Sega CD however…I have to hearken back to my friend Craig again. This guy had all the cool stuff back then. He had Sega CD and Rage in the Cage was one I can remember playing at his house. I thought it was cool immediately with the Fink doing intros and short videos. Any game with Kamala in it was kick-ass. That loading time, though. I can remember the game freezing a few times. One time, Craig was one win away from the championship and it froze on him. He started going all Ric Flair on us, dropping elbows like a lunatic.

JT: King of the Ring came out very late in 1993 and got lost in the shuffle because most people had moved on to the next generation consoles. It had a cool roster though: Hogan, Savage, Bret Hart, Undertaker, Michaels, Ramon, Bigelow, Yokozuna, Perfect, Luger (as Narcissist!) and YOU! That is right, our first, albeit very rudimentary, CAW! Plus you could do a tournament, which was cool. My buddy Jim had it and I played it out of pity when I went over his house but eventually he stepped up to Genesis and that was that.

I can’t believe you played Rage in the Cage! We would stare at that magazine ad with jealous eyes, unable to process that such an awesome looking game was just impossible for us to ever play. Kamala! The Nasty Boys! CAGES! CDs? Mind blowing.

OK, we can now dive fully into SNES. We need to talk about Raw, which was a kick ass Christmas gift in 1994, but first… did you ever play WCW SuperBrawl? The KB Toys in the Warwick Mall had it in the discount bin for all eternity and I would always stare at it but never pulled the trigger on the $15 or so it would cost to bring it home. You ever get to play that one? And did you have Raw for SNES? Or were you solely Genesis?

Chris: You know something? I cannot recall the SuperBrawl game, which is weird because my friends and I were HUGE wrestling geeks and how this one got past us, I don’t know. I wasn’t too big on SNES, as I was Genesis-centric. You know another genre of game I was fond of was baseball, and I had the Genesis for another reason: World Series Baseball. But aside from the original NES, Genesis was the only other system I owned.

Now Raw was a game that I played. Again, Friday nights at Craig’s were filled with nothing but wrestling games, wrestling tapes, and backyard wrestling. Our mutual friend Leon tried to make me submit with his figure-four leglock, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Anyway, Raw was a kick-ass game, with my favorite character being Doink, because he had that top rope Whoopee Cushion. But this game also had The 1-2-3 Kid, Razor Ramon, Shawn Michaels, Diesel and the late, great Owen Hart! Again, Royal Rumble mode was the best for me, as I had no skill to beat anybody, but could also sneak someone over the top rope if I needed to. That was me: the cheap shot artist.

Did you have a favorite character?

JT: I bet SuperBrawl is still in that bin in front of KB in Heaven.

Yeah Raw had a loaded roster for sure and again the ability to park on the character pages and listen to the themes was big for me. I would dub the themes to cassette and use them for entrance music for my Hasbro figures or my wrestling buddy matches.

The game also had a nice array of finishing moves and stood out for including Luna Vachon, who I believe was the first female competitor involved in one of these games. Was it weird that they had male vs. female violence in a kids’ game in 1994? Doesn’t really fit the profile. Are they saying she isn’t a woman? Michaels and Diesel were my jam in 94, so I definitely favored using them.

Apparently there was a Genesis MegaDrive version that had Gorilla Monsoon (!) and Stephanie Wiand (!!) doing commentary instead of McMahon and Lawler. How bizarre.

A year later we radically take a left turn and are gifted WrestleMania: The Arcade Game. With games like NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat all the rage, WMTAG was much more in your face and…zany? I guess zany. There were exaggerated movements and crazy finishers (Doink’s hand buzzer says hi!) and Vince McMahon screaming (THAT’S GOTTA HURT!) and… it was surprisingly a ton of fun to play. The moves were crisp and the action was non stop. Plus the graphics were pretty great and the details were super sharp. Even though it had a limited roster and even less match options it had great playability and I wasted many hours on it. Did you enjoy this game as much as I did? Or am I in a silo here?

Chris: Recording the themes from the video game for your action figures just shows proof of your hardcore wrestling love. That sounds awesome **coughnerdcough** Oh, who am I kidding? I used to put on weekly shows and PPV cards with my younger brother’s action figures all he time.

Now that you mention it, I totally forgot about the inclusion of Luna in the Raw game. Of course, I would never pick her because I was sexist. I had no issue with hitting her over the head with a weapon, with equal rights and all that. That was definitely the first selectable female character, however. Also, this was the first game where some characters could win with a roll-up. No recollection of a rival’s theme music playing just before said roll-up, though. While we’re on it, I seem to remember that the Sega 32X version included Kwang. I only remember this because my hardcore console-collecting friend Craig informed me of this over the phone one day, which made me do a spit take, literally. YooHoo everywhere. Never got a visual confirmation of that Kwang, however (he really was).

Now Wrestlemanial The Arcade Game is legendary among me and my friends because I ABSOLUTELY HATED IT!! I refused to play it. It had taken my love of wrestling and turned it into an over-the-top, cartoonish display of comic proportions. It was still real to me, dammit, before that was even a phrase to coin! You had Doink pull out a HUGE mallet to hit over the opponent’s head, Bam Bam Bigelow’s fists actually WERE fists of fire! I couldn’t stand it because I wanted realism out of my fake sport. Was that too much to ask for?

JT: Kwang is such a random inclusion. There was nobody else left on the 1994 roster they could have swapped in? Jeff Jarrett even? Sparky Plugg? Bob Backlund! Weird.

It breaks my heart that you hate WMTAG so much! It was nutty but super fun and those graphics? Straight fire.

Ok, so I am thinking we can draw the line in the sand here and spin off a second part that covers the back end of the decade and the next gen consoles like PlayStation and Nintendo 64. Before we go, I have two asks:

– Give me your closing thoughts on the first half of the decade in wrestling video games – Rank all the ones we discussed based on your love and memories, not based on their actual quality as a game

And… one more… who was your favorite character to be out of all these games?

Chris: So for me, looking back at the early part of the 90s, I can say that the games for the most part were not that great, but they were AT THE TIME! It was easy to get stoked for certain wrestlers appearing in the games, the gradual improvement of the theme music and the improvement of the graphics with each console. The downside early on basically came down to moveset and the lack of finishers. We tend to get nostalgic, but really, would any of us go back and play them now on any kind of serious gaming level?

Ranking the games, for me, begins with my #1: Royal Rumble for Sega Genesis.

2. WWF Raw for Sega Genesis 3. WCW Wrestling for NES 4. WWF Steel Cage Challenge for NES 5. WWF Rage in the Cage for Sega CD 6. WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game

This is just the games I played and my enjoyment level of them. My favorite character was Randy Savage all the way. I just wish that Mr. Perfect was in the Genesis version of Royal Rumble, or I would have gone in that direction.

JT: Agreed. Looking back, these games were sort of a hot mess, but at the time they were so cutting edge and amazing to play. The themes and variety of characters are what always sucked me in. They really did make the leap with those next gen games, especially Royal Rumble.

My list is as follows, and is pretty similar to yours:

1) WWF Royal Rumble for SNES 2) WWF Raw for SNES 3) WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game for SNES 4) WCW Wrestling for NES 5) WWF Super WrestleMania for SNES 6) WWF WrestleMania Challenge for NES 7) WWF Steel Cage Challenge for NES (TAKE THAT MOM!)

Looks like Royal Rumble reigns supreme!

OK, we shall part ways for now and soon return to look at the new wave of games for the next set of consoles. We will be back even sooner with a whole new topic. Until then…REJECTED! THAT’S GOTTA HURT! PIN HIM! PIN HIM! PIN HIM! YOU HAVE TO GIVE CREDIT TO… CHRIS JORDAN!

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

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palidoozy-art · 6 years ago

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Man, this might be a little depressing. But I guess I just wanna ramble and get this off my chest. It doesn’t help that we had a big discussion about the Madden Shooter at EA the other day, and I and others legit cried over it.

This is a long, winding rant. So before I launch into it, I want to post three confirmed gofundme’s for the victims of the Jacksonville/Madden shooting.

Madden Community Fallen Angels

#GamersGiveBackGLHF

GoFundMe for Taylor Robertson

I get there might be other issues that are more important to you. There’s a lot of shit happening right now in the world. Time and money are finite for us. Take care of yourselves first, and don’t feel guilted or obligated to donate (don’t even feel obligated to read this). Just.. man, I dunno. Pretend I said something meaningful here. You do you.

Anyway.

When I was a kid, I remember the thing that inspired me to draw and get into the games industry was at this video rental store. I was 4 years old. I was bumbling through the aisles, and I saw this big ol’ cardboard cutout of Sonic the Hedgehog. And I remember thinking to myself, “wow! I could draw that for a living!”

And that’s what set it off. I didn’t know the proper terms for what a game artist would be, so I’d just simply tell people “I’m gonna be a cartoonist!” despite the fact that pretty much no artist in games refers to themselves as such. And even though I was a kid determined to go into the ever-dreaded arts field, my parents told me they always respected my stubbornness.

(My stepfather tried a last-ditch effort to get me to go into medical illustration, but came to accept it. A few years ago I showed him my work, and he said to me, “Em, I don’t understand what you do or how you get paid for it. But I’m proud of you.”)

I’m rambling, I’m sorry. My point is, I remember all of this. I was warned of the risks of being an artist -- it’s a competitive field, most people don’t make it, you’ll be working at Starbucks the rest of your life. And then once I was in college, the risks of being in the games industry itself -- it’s a competitive field, most people don’t make it, the pay is shit, you’ll be working long hours, sexism is still a big issue. And being my stubborn, idiot self, I went “FUCK IT” and did it anyway.

The thing that disturbs me is that never once in the 26 years I went from seeing that dumb Sonic standee to where I am right now did I consider I’d ever be tenuously connected to a mass shooting event -- or in the future, potentially threatened by one.

This is not to say “pity me, I gotta fear for my life everyday!” because truth be told, I don’t. I don’t think any of us do. The chance is infinitely small, and we all have a far greater risk of dying in a car crash or a heart attack. But none of us expected this, you know? Nobody anticipated a guy getting so upset over losing a goddamn video game that he’d kill members of his community over it. Maybe that’s an issue with death threats kind of being normalized in the gaming community, both against devs and other gamers. Nobody knows who the fuck is serious anymore.

There was a guy I read the other day who was justifying death threats against EA employees. And his justification -- or one of them, at least -- was that “maybe if we make them fear for their lives, they’ll quit EA. EA will run out of devs and be forced to close!” And my first thought was to laugh. Because I mean -- that’s a pretty ridiculous thing to say, you know? EA’s got some 9000 employees, and not all of them are active and open on social media to be threatened.

But then it’s kind of like... there are clearly people out there who are passionate about games. The vast majority of them aren’t bad people. Fuck, I’m pretty passionate about games myself. There’s also a subset of people who are convinced certain devs and people are ruining their lives -- which are mostly or partially consumed by gaming. And there’s an even smaller subset of those people who think threats and intimidation will save their passion.

... If the threats don’t work, what’s the subset of people that decide there’s no other option but to kill? Honestly, it’s probably really goddamn tiny.

But it only takes one.

Again, I’m sorry. This is pretty disorganized. And again, don’t pity me -- my connection to the tragedy is tenuous at best. I considered not talking about this because I feel like it might sound like I’m all “wow some people got shot, anyway how can I make this about me.” I’m sorry if it does. But it’s kind of weighing on me, and I guess I just wanted somewhere to vent.

It’s just... a little creepy. Still remembering strongly those feelings of awe and wonder, seeing that dumb blue hedgehog for the first time. And now I’m here, 26 years later, looking around my office and going “huh. There’s nowhere to hide in here, is there?”

#palidoozy rambles #negative #again i'm really sorry #like #i know fear of being shot is a reality for many folks and has been for ages #and so it feels a little tone deaf for me to be all #oh no i'm so privileged i work in video games and have to be reminded someone could shoot me #and that's kind of shitty #you know?#i'm privileged and this feels more like a first world problem #so having a huge boo-hoo rant about it feels like it's trivializing the very real systemic issues other people face #and i'm sorry for that #i just need to take a moment to vent to an anonymous audience #i'll probably #delete later #also #obligated i do not represent or speak for ea in any way #my views are my own

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bubble-tea-bunny · 7 years ago

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swimming with the sharks

[billy hargrove x reader]

author’s note: here’s part 2 to “my type”! i started writing this super late. now it’s 2:30 am and i’m delusional but i finished this in one sitting cuz i love y’all

word count: 2,848

part one: x

Steve’s bedroom door is wide open, and you take a brief detour on your walk to your own room, leaning in the doorframe with crossed arms and a small smile on your face. There’s papers scattered on his bed and he’s cross-legged in the midst of the mess, heavy sighs leaving his lips as he tries to make sense of it all. It seems he hasn’t noticed you, and you don’t think he actually will if you stay quiet.

“You guys get everything done?”

At this, your brother finally glances up and you can see the stress in his eyes. Though you’re not sure if that’s due to the work or Billy Hargrove being Billy Hargrove—which is to say, giving Steve a hard time. “I think so? I hope so. Because Christ, if I have to see that son of a bitch again over break—”

“Hey,” you interrupt gently. You’re not defending Billy in the least bit, heavens no. It’s true that Steve never speaks so aggressively about many people, something you’ve always been so proud of him for, and you’re hoping one bump in the road doesn’t change that. Also, you don’t want him getting too passionate about his distaste for his project partner when your parents might overhear the curses spewing from his mouth. You can hear your dad now—“There will be no swearing in this house!”

Steve doesn’t need you to explain why you cut him off. He looks apologetic as he continues, calmer this time. “I really hope we’re finished. Seeing Billy can most definitely wait until next week.” He murmurs to himself that he’d prefer never seeing Billy again period but you can still hear it from across the room, and it makes you chuckle.

“I’ve never seen you this riled up about anyone.” You walk over to him, glancing over all the papers. You don’t take a seat because there’s no space, but you’re fine with standing to the side. There’s two different types of handwriting present amongst the notes, though most of them is in what you recognize to be Steve’s. He probably took it upon himself to do much of the writing, since it would help keep things more organized.

“He almost makes it too easy.” Steve scoffs. “Hey, you answered the door when he came by. What’d you think of him?”

You take a moment to consider the query, lips pursed in thought. You’re genuinely not sure what to make of Billy. You thought you had him pinned down until he’d promptly thrown all your expectations out the window. Every attempt to shut him down had just resulted in you screwing yourself over. He was a step ahead, pushing you into a corner until you had nowhere else to run.

“He’s… really bold,” you decide to say, shrugging as you do so. “Really flirty.”

“Did he say something to you?” Steve’s eyes are watching you closely, face a mixture of concern for you and anger toward Billy for even trying anything with you.

“Not anything that crossed the line,” you reassure, smiling and hoping that he believes you. Had Billy crossed a line? Crossing a line would mean you’d find something offensive, but… you’d found nothing he said offensive. In contrast, a part of you did kind of like it. No guy has ever been so forward and confident with you and you hate to admit that it had been a refreshing change of pace. But Jesus, why did it have to be someone still in high school, and why did it have to be the one person your brother hates the most? You feel like you’re betraying him by entertaining the thought of Billy in this way.

Steve doesn’t respond right away, trying to figure out if you’re lying, but when he comes to the conclusion you aren’t, he sighs. “I mean I doubt you’ll be seeing him again while you’re here, but if you do, just… stay away from him, okay?”

You nod and smile. “Okay.” You think that Steve telling you this will help keep your resolve strong, that the excitement that bubbles in you at the prospect of seeing Billy again will start to dissipate as you repeat what he’s said to you—stay away from him. At least you hope it will.

———

Of course it should follow that you do run into Billy Hargrove again while you’re in Hawkins. Maybe it’s because this place is tiny and it’s easy to run into people. Maybe it’s because the issue you and Steve should’ve been more worried about is whether Billy could stay away from you.

You’re at the general store, paying for an array of snacks for tonight’s movie marathon with your brother. This was a weekly occurrence when you were still in high school, but now it’s tradition for whenever you’re home from college. It’s Steve who goes to the video rental store to get the movies, a bunch of VHS tapes in his arms as he barely maneuvers the door open before kicking it closed with his foot. He always rents the maximum amount even if you never get through them all, but you try awfully hard to. He’s there so often that the guy working there knows him, and when Steve’s trips there became less frequent, that’s how the clerk (David you think his name is) learns Steve has a sister who’s now in college and that’s why he’s not around often anymore. And that’s also how David knows whenever you’re in town—Steve pops in to rent some movies.

“Hey, what do you know—it’s Steve’s sister.”

While the cashier is getting your change you grit your teeth, debating between ignoring the statement or glancing over your shoulder at the one who had said it. After you tuck away the cash in your wallet and stuff your wallet into your purse, you twist around, plastic bag in hand, to see Billy Hargrove standing there, hands tucked into his jacket pockets just like the first time you’d seen him, and the same deceptively sweet smile on his face.

You sigh as you walk over (not to him, you tell yourself. The exit is just in that direction). “Steve’s sister has a name. Or have you forgotten it in the slough of names of other girls you talk to?” Well, it seems like you won’t be ignoring him after all. Nice one, [Name]. Why couldn’t you just keep your mouth shut? You don’t foresee this going very well.

Billy chuckles, the look of satisfaction in his eyes apparent now that he’s got you roped into a conversation. “I could never forget your name, [Name]. No need to get jealous.”

“I’m not jealous,” you snap, brows furrowed.

“Uh huh.” Billy’s doing his best not to smile. He’s not convinced in the least bit and it makes you irritated. “And I guess the next thing you’re going to say is you don’t like talking to me.”

“You’re right: I don’t like talking to you.” You skirt around him, hoping that to be the end of it. But apparently whatever he had come here for isn’t as important as continuing his conversation with you, because he trails behind you, catching the door before it slides back into place and following you outside.

“If you didn’t like talking to me you would’ve ignored me.” Shit. You seem to be chock full of bad decisions lately, and they are all bad decisions Billy Hargrove is pouncing on like a predator to its prey. Then you realize this is a second out—you could stay silent this time and walk away, over to your car a short ways down the block. But you come to a stop at this comment, and the moment you do, there is no turning back. So you twist around to face him. Fuck it.

“What’s your deal?” you ask. Honestly, you’re pretty sure you already know the answer, and the prospect of being correct in your assumption makes your heart beat a little harder.

Billy raises a brow and shrugs. “To make a friend?”

You see straight past this. “That’s not your game.”

He doesn’t put up much of a fight trying to defend his response. In fact, he doesn’t put up a fight at all. “True.” That same easy smirk is back on his face and he speaks quieter now so no one walking by can overhear. “Okay, you wanna know my deal? You’re a nice girl home from college for the week. I bet you’re stressed from the workload, so you’re looking to blow off some steam. And I’d be more than happy to help you with that.”

You swallow hard, not answering immediately. You had been stressed from your classes and were looking forward to unwinding, but you’d planned to do that by spending time with your brother, not by hooking up with anyone, much less a high school senior. But every word that leaves his mouth is cracking that resolve you thought would be solid stone, even as you repeat stay away from him over and over. It doesn’t matter how many times you do because your fingers are twitching with the urge to reach out, to dig your nails into the muscles of his back and leave little red crescent moons as he fucks you.

It’s official—your sexual frustration is rearing its head, and it overpowers the notion that you should turn him down and forget this ever happened and just spend the rest of your break unwinding the way you meant to originally.

“Just one time,” Billy continues, since you haven’t said anything. He can see the cogs spinning in your head as you try to make a decision, but he’s already certain of the way this is going to go. “And then you never have to speak to me again since, well, apparently you don’t like talking to me.” He laughs a little.

You can hear your heartbeat in your ears like thunder and your breaths are shortening from anticipation and the intensity of his gaze. He hasn’t even touched you yet. You wonder what will happen when—yes, when—he does.

It doesn’t take you much longer to find out. You can’t quite remember what it is you say, something to the extent of okay, and then he’s guiding you to his car and pulling out of the parking spot before he speeds down the street. He drives so fast you’re practically glued to your seat, unable to move from the sheer force. Buildings give way to trees as you come to the outskirts of town, the forest extending in either direction of the two-lane road. He pulls off to the side, so far out there’s no chance of anyone driving by.

A turn of the key and the engine dies, and just as it does, Billy’s reaching over to pull you to him, and you let him. You straddle him, grinding down hard on his crotch just as he engulfs your lips in a kiss. You whimper at the friction, and his hands find your waist, trailing down to your hips and then around to grab a handful of your ass. He guides you back and forth over his clothed erection and you pull away to be able to moan more freely, head thrown back. He takes the opportunity to nip and suck at the exposed column of your throat. Luckily you still have the presence of mind to tangle your fingers in his hair, gripping tightly as a warning. It only makes him groan.

“No marks,” you breathe out. He only hums against your skin and you can’t tell if that’s supposed to be him saying okay. You’re a little preoccupied staring up at the ceiling of the car through half-lidded, hazy eyes.

At some point you’ve shed your clothes, all of them thrown away haphazardly. Billy’s shirt is off but the most he does in the ways of his jeans is unbutton them so he can pull his boxers down enough to free his dick. You wrap your hand around his shaft and he hisses, head dropping back against the headrest, which makes you chuckle, swollen lips upturned in a small smirk. You run your thumb over the crown, catching the pre-cum leaking from his slit. With your eyes still on his, you bring your hand up to stick your thumb in your mouth, sucking at it generously as your tongue licks at the salty substance.

“Jesus Christ,” Billy forces out. He squeezes your hips and pulls you toward him, and when your clit slides against his dick, you squeal. This makes him smirk and, now the one in control, he repeats the motion, causing you to pant at the slightest pressure to your increasingly sensitive clit. You thought you’d be able to tease him more and get him back for that but you’re already on the verge of cumming and he’s not even inside you yet.

You lift your hips and position him at your entrance, and you moan as you sink down onto him. It doesn’t take you very long to start moving, aching for more friction. Billy keeps his hands on your hips as you bounce, eyes drinking you in—the way your hair cascades down your back, brushing against your bare skin; the way your chest heaves; the way your stomach tenses as you try to hold back your orgasm, wanting just a little bit more. He dips his head to run his lips over your breasts.

When your breaths start to quicken he knows you’re right at the edge, so he wraps his arms around your waist to keep you steady before he bucks his hips, thrusting into you harder. Your eyes clench shut as you fall forward against him, screaming at the force of your climax which has you seeing stars. Even as you start to come down from it, he’s still thrusting, chasing after his own orgasm, and the only noises to leave your mouth are a series of pants and whimpers, your oversensitive pussy clenching around him. That’s what pushes him over, and he cums with a drawn out groan.

The two of you stay that way for a few minutes, trying to regain your breaths. Eventually Billy lifts you gently to slide you off him, and you whine quietly at the sensation. Another few minutes goes by and then you’re dressing yourselves again. It takes you a bit longer since you need to put everything back on. You have to search the interior for everything except your panties, which had landed on the dashboard and were easy to spot. As you slide your bra on, you glance down to find purple marks littered across your breasts. You sigh and only half-playfully shove at Billy’s shoulder. He furrow his brows in confusion as he buttons his jeans but when he sees the darkening marks, he smirks.

“I said no marks,” you state.

He shrugs. “Heat of the moment. Besides, they’re not visible.”

You’re too tired to argue.

———

Billy drives you back into town, pulling in right next to your car. You grab the plastic bag of snacks and your purse from the back before opening the door and getting out. When you open the driver’s side to your car, you toss the bags over to the passenger seat.

“Nice talk,” Billy speaks up so you can hear him. You look back at him and that cheeky smile and with a small smile of your own, you flip him off. He laughs, and your bruised lips curve up a little more at the sound.

———

It takes a while to decide what movie to watch first. You and Steve spend a bit of time arguing, claiming that your choices were better for one reason or another. The debate ends with a coin-flip: Steve’s choice of film wins.

You settle back on the couch, delighting in the soft cushions. You’re only half-paying attention to the previews, and Steve glances over at you, noting how tired you are. “You look tired. What’d you get up to today?”

You look over at your brother and wonder if he might know, if he’s just asking to see if you would tell the truth. And you’re worried for the briefest of moments because if he finds out, he’ll go ballistic on Billy, and while you don’t like him all that much either, he certainly doesn’t deserve that when you had wanted it just as much as he did. But there’s nothing in Steve’s eyes which indicates he’s even remotely suspicious—just genuinely curious about how your day has gone. So you sigh and shrug noncommittally, looking back at the television screen. “I’ve been running on low sleep all day. And errand running is hard, okay?”

Steve chuckles and shakes his head, and you can’t help but giggle a little too. You both settle down when the movie starts, munching away at your snacks. This is looking to be a great spring break.

#billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove imagine #billy hargrove #stranger things #stranger things imagine #bubble-tea-bunny

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canaryatlaw · 7 years ago

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alright, well today was fine. Basically the plan was since I didn’t have any assignments for the day because it was a holiday, I wanted to take the time to catch up on the “overdue” assignments which are all the analysis videos going over the questions on the practice MBE by subject matter. So I set my alarm for 11 since I’m trying to be a bit better about sleeping in so much (I mean, I know that’s still very late, but it’s better than 1 at least) and laid in bed for a bit before showering and getting dressed. I did my best to get the red white and blue thing going on, even though I probably wasn’t leaving my apartment, lol, but it ended up just mostly red and blue. oh well. So I got to working, and ended up being able to get through 4 of those lectures, so I only have two left and they’re both only like an hour or so so that’s good to hear. But yeah, that was pretty much all I did. I tried to have some of the cheesy chicken and rice I made last week for dinner but once again I was repulsed by eating the chicken and ended up throwing most of it out, as I do with most of the meals I make these days....the idea is always to make a recipe with like 4-6 servings and eat the leftovers throughout the week, but while I might have been able to stomach it the first time around, by the time it’s leftovers I really cannot make myself eat it. Sigh. I wish I knew what was going on here because I really haven’t the foggiest clue. After finishing the 4th video around 8:20 I started accumulating my NY bar books, because I needed to return them as they just shipped me the Illinois books, and they’re always on a somewhat rental basis, meaning you’re supposed to return them at the end of the studying period, even when they’re super marked up (which doesn’t make any sense to me, but whatever). The books that just came had a inventory sheet indicating everything in it and how to return them at the end, but of course I didn’t have the sheet for New York, so I had to improvise and write my own letter explaining the situation and listing everything in the box. Two of the books were identical to the ones in the new box, but I had already done everything there was to do in those books and it had notes and practice questions and such, so I told them I was just sending them back the new versions because I’d rather keep the marked up ones at this point. I then followed it up with some language about getting the deposit back, which I’m not sure will happen at this point, so I gave the info and was then like “Or if you don’t want to refund me because this situation is weird I guess that’s cool too” because I didn’t really have anything else I could write. So that package is all sealed up and ready to go, I’m gonna take it to the UPS store (which also has USPS, so I’ll use whatever’s cheapest) it’s super heavy (the tag the original books came from said 26 pounds) so I know it’s going to cost a small fortune to send them, but they’re only going to Michigan so hopefully it won’t be that bad. Once I did all of that I watched the rest of Luke Cage season 2. The ending was weird, honestly. There wasn’t like an actual climax? Like what happened with bushmaster, the guy who’s been the main villain this entire season? He had nothing to do with the resolution? Like I get that Mariah dying was a big deal, but that’s not a typical climax for an action filled superhero show, so I don’t know how I feel about that. Oh well. When I was finished with that I started “Nailed It” on netflix based on the recommendation of GC friends, and it did not disappoint. I’ve been saying for literal years that they should make an amateur version of Chopped where they have novice chefs come in and they throw all these crazy ingredients at them, then just watch as they crash and burn. This show seems to take more of that approach at least more than any show up to this point has, lol, so I can appreciate that. Some of it was really funny but I can see myself getting tired of it, so we’ll see how long I last watching it. That was about it for my day, but I feel like giving some musings about the 4th of July now. My grandpa was the youngest of 8 children, and his family emigrated from Sicily to the US shortly before he was born. The first American born (last name), and fittingly, he was born on the 4th of July. 18 4th of July’s have passed since he died. I was very young, but I loved him dearly and have many loving memories with him. Looking back now, I see how he was so much the epitome of the American Dream, coming here with two dollars in your pocket and making a life for yourselves. My dad still grew up in abject poverty, but they got by, and he’s been able to become a very successful lawyer who probably falls in the 95% income bracket. My family, our current situation, is the American Dream. What I don’t understand is why anyone could think their ancestors were entitled to that dream simply because they came here a century ago, not today, even when they are fleeing from violence and other dangerous situations, when many European immigrants came to America for lesser reasons than that. Given the situation at the border happening right now, it’s hard for me to say that I’m honestly proud of my country at the moment. Treating children this way is, as I’ve said many times by now, legally unconscionable, and gives me pause to entrust the welfare of any child to a government who thinks it’s okay to treat children this way. I am very pro-calling CPS if there is abuse or neglect going on, but this has given me reason to worry about those children even more. And as I’ve said many times now, the fact that I’m stuck studying for the bar and not able to help this crisis of children- the exact field I want to go into, and not able to do anything because I’m not licensed yet, and they so badly need volunteers. If I was licensed, believe me, I would’ve been down there weeks ago. But I’m stuck here instead, and that makes it really hard for me. So I’m really not feeling very patriotic on this 4th of July. Or at least the traditional interpretation of patriotic, but I do believe dissent is patriotism and by airing our grievances we work towards a better country. Alright, that’s enough of a rant, my eyes want to close very bad right now (probably because it’s past 1:30 am) so I’m going to do that. Goodnight dears. Hope you had a lovely 4th of July, or if you’re not in the US, a lovely Wednesday.

#daily journal #July 2018

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ragehappysecretsanta · 7 years ago

Text

The Not-So-Easy Road to Parenthood

Author: http://boulevard-of-broken-yeets.tumblr.com

Recipient: http://canadiantardis.tumblr.com

Summary: Being in a six-way polyamorous relationship has its ups and downs, and who knew that adopting a kid would be the bumpiest ride of them all?

Warnings: n/a

WordCount: 3,402

“I’m just saying, maybe we should think about this more?” Jack asked one of her partners, “I mean, we had to pull teeth just to get married. Should we go straight into getting a kid so soon?”

“Jack, I know you mean well, but shut the hell up,” Geoff chuckled, slicing a cucumber and putting it in a pot. “We all agreed that we wanted to adopt a kid. You don’t have to worry, we’ll figure it all out.”

“I just worry, Geoff. What with our... pasts...” She trailed off.

“Hey, we left Los Santos years ago. We’re in an entirely different country; no one from our past is going to come for us. We’re safe.”

“I don’t know, Geoff. There’s just a lot of uncertainty.”

“I swear on my life that things will work out. Have I ever led you astray before?”

“How long do you want to sit here?” Jack joked. Geoff turned and playfully glared at her.

“Watch it, Pattillo. I used to be the leader of the strongest crew in Los Santos.” He smirked at her, and she rolled her eyes back at him.

“And it was me who saved your ass on many occasions.”

“Really? I don’t recall.”

“Do you need me to make a list? I don’t think there’s enough paper in the world for that.”

“Shut up and help me peel these potatoes.”

Jack laughed and walked over to her husband, helping him with dinner.

It had been 5 years since they lived as the Fake AH Crew, 5 years since they faked their own deaths and moved to France. Jack, Geoff, Ryan, Michael, Jeremy, and Gavin all managed to fall in love during their time together, and they wanted out of the gang life so that they could live long, happy lives with each other. Geoff spent years using his connections to get them all legally married, and now they were moving on to the next step: adopting a kid.

“When are Ryan and the lads getting back from the store?” Geoff asked just as the door to their cottage opened. The four men came inside, holding an ungodly amount of bags.

“Sorry we’re late, Jeremy here got sidetracked at a pet store, and We had to stop him from adopting two of the cats.” Ryan chuckled.

“They were so cute! Can you blame me?”

“You know Gav’s allergic to cats, Jer. Wouldn’t have worked out.” Jack laughed, rushing over and grabbing some of the bags and helping to put things away.

“As soon as I find a good sphinx cat, that shit is mine. I’m getting a god damn cat, especially since we’re getting a kid. They gotta have something to play with.”

“Did we decide if we were going to adopt locally or go back to the states?” Michael asked.

“Actually,” Geoff started, “I was thinking that we could go adopt a kid from Los Santos.”

Everyone stared at him in silence, all with varying expressions on their faces. It was Jack who spoke up first.

“Geoff, adopting from Los Santos may be the most dangerous thing we could possibly do. According to almost anyone there, we’re dead.”

“Exactly, which is why we won’t be going as ourselves.” Geoff explained. “I’ve pulled some strings at the orphanage in Los Santos, and we’ll be able to safely go and get our new little one. They don’t know it’s actually us, but I... requested that this be on the down low. Money buys a lot of things, you know.”

“So, we’ll be disguised?” Gavin asked. Geoff nodded.

“Disguised in every sense of the word, other than physically. We won’t be there for more than two days; I figured that would be enough time to find a kid. We’re booked at a hotel about an hour from the city, so don’t worry about that.”

“So when are we leaving?” Jeremy asked.

“Tomorrow morning.”

—

“I have a horrible feeling about this, honey.” Jack muttered into Geoff’s ear as they all piled into a rental car.

“Relax, Jackie. It’s going to be fine. You know where the orphanage is, Haywood?”

“Yep, should be there in about 15 minutes.” Ryan responded. Geoff nodded and grabbed Jacks hand.

“I know you’re worried for our safety, Jack, and I understand. But please know that I took every precaution known to man to ensure that we all leave safely with our new son or daughter. Nothing is going to happen.”

They all sat in silence the rest of the way, all of them praying to every deity known to mankind that Geoff didn’t just jinx them. As they pulled up to the orphanage, Jack immediately recognized the area and harshly slapped Geoff on the arm.

“Geoff! This is like 2 blocks from the penthouse!” She cried out. Jeremy, Michael, Gavin, and Ryan all looked around in alarm. It was true; they could see their old home from where they were parked.

“Listen, it’s fine. Nothing is going to go wrong. Now, let’s all quickly but calmly walk into the orphanage and get our new kid, and then we’re getting the fuck out of here.”

They all did as Geoff said, and rushed into the orphanage. They were decently shocked at who they saw when they walked in.

“Mica?!” Jack yelped, rushing up and giving her a hug.

“Holy shit, you’re back! You’re actually back!” Mica said excitedly, returning the hug.

“Just for a few days at most, Mica.” Geoff clarified. “Also, why do you work at an orphanage?”

“Hey, we gotta make a living somehow since you guys ‘died’.” She stated, putting quotation marks around the died. “Holy shit, Kdin! get in here!” She called out.

“What have I told you about cursing in front of the little ones?” Kdin scolded as she walked into the room. She widened her eyes and ran straight for Jack. “You’re back!”

“Hey, Kdin, how are you?” Jack giggled, hugging her friend tightly. After around 15 minutes of Kdin and Mica asking every possible question known to mankind, Geoff finally got everyone talking about why they were there.

“We want to adopt a kid, and I thought that if we could save even one kid from this shithole, we should.” He explained. Mica clapped happily.

“Of course! Come on in and meet the little ones! Oh, Geoff, theres a little girl that you’ll just love...”

The fakes wondered around the large home, meeting each and every kid they could. Jack, not surprisingly, bonded easily with the little ones. She played with as many as she could as she made her way through the house. Michael and Gavin bonded easily with a specific kid who had an affinity for fighting anyone in his line of sight (Gavin would never admit it, but the kid had a pretty good hit). Ryan and Jeremy stood awkwardly to the side, watching kids run around them. Neither of them really knew what to do. One kid, a little girl, walked up to Jeremy.

“You’re short.” She pointed out. Jeremy grumbled in response. The kid shrugged her shoulders and ran away, chasing after her friend.

Mica led Geoff upstairs to the nursery, where there were three infants, all asleep.

“Their parents left them on our doorstep. Issac and Jamie had notes, but this little one didn’t.” Mica said sadly, bringing Geoff to the small crib. The child was probably only a few weeks old at most, maybe a month, but she looked pretty healthy for her small size.

“What’s her name?”

“Erica.” A voice said from behind them. Geoff turned to see a little boy, around 9 or 10 years old.

“Erica?” Mica asked, perplexed. “How do you know her name is Erica? I’m not even too sure we gave her a name yet...”

“Because that’s what she smiles at when I play with her.” The boy said quietly. Geoff turned and squatted down to get on eye level with the boy.

“Hey, I’m Geoff. What’s you’re name?” He asked, giving the boy a warm smile.

“I’m Sean. Are you gonna adopt Erica? ‘Cause if you are, you gotta know all the things she likes, and I’m the only person who knows what those are.” Sean told him. Geoff sat down on the floor, confusing Mica a bit.

“Well, what does she like?” Geoff asked. Sean looked shocked, like he wasn’t actually expecting to be asked.

Sean told him all the little things that Erica liked, such as toys and funny faces. Mica quickly left the room to get the others so that they all could meet Sean, already seeing a bond forming.

“Wow, you got a huge family. Erica is gonna love it. She loves bein’ with people.” Sean told them with wide eyes as the Fakes all piled into the room. “I’m Sean, by the way. You guys better be nice to Erica, ‘cause she’s the only family I got, ‘ven if we aren’t really brother and sister.”

“What do you like to do, Sean?” Jack asked him kindly. Sean looked taken aback.

“Oh, uh, I really like to draw things. Sometimes Ms. Kdin’ll sneak me some drawin’ stuff so that the other kids won’t mess with it.”

“You like any video games?” Michael asked him.

“I’ve don’t really get to play ‘em myself, but when I was on the streets I’d see some people in the arcade playin different things. One time, someone had a game with a guy in a green dress on it, and I really liked that one.”

“Legend of Zelda?” Michael perked up a bit. Sean nodded.

“Yeah! I wanna play it myself someday, it looked like a lot of fun”

“Hey Sean, why don’t you go get some of your art to show us, hm? I’d love to see it.” Geoff asked. Sean nodded excitedly and ran out to get his drawings. “Alright, so I think Sean and Erica are our kids.”

“Geoff, we’ve been here for 10 minutes-“ Jack started, but Geoff interrupted her.

“I know, but you guys have to have felt the connection. That is the sweetest little boy, and Erica is the sweetest little girl. We can’t take one without the other, because that would just be cruel. I really think Sean and Erica are our kids.”

“I agree.” Michael spoke up. “Sean’s got a fire in him. He’d be perfect for us.”

“I like the kid. I think he likes us, too. I say we go for it.” Jeremy added. Ryan and Gavin nodded in agreement. They all then turned their attention to Jack.

“Well?” Geoff asked, hopeful. It didn’t take long for Jack to respond.

“I guess we have two kids to adopt, then.” She smiled.

“Why don’t some of you take Sean out, get him a burger or something? He doesn’t get to leave here much, and I’m sure he’d love to see some of the city.”

Jack was just about to protest before Ryan spoke up. “I’ll take the kid. No one in this city has ever seen my face and lived to tell the tale, so there’s no way I’ll be recognized.”

“You sure?” Jack asked hesitantly. Ryan nodded in response, and soon found himself holding the kids hand as they walked around the city, looking for something to do.

“Y’know, it’s pretty mean to take me out like this without adopting me.” Sean said as they were walking into an ice cream shop. Ryan looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh? How so?” He questioned, curious.

“You’re just gonna give me hope before pickin’ someone else. It’s happened before.” Sean mumbled, walking up to the counter. “What am I allowed to get?”

“Anything you want, kid.” Ryan responded. Sean turned and looked at him with wide eyes.

“Really? Usually the people who take me out only let me get the borin’ stuff. Thank you Mr. Ryan!” Sean said brightly. Ryan simply smiled as the boy ordered, but his smile soon fell as he heard a familier voice in the shop.

“No, you moron, they’re dead. Of course they aren’t in the city.” Burnie Burn’s voice rang clear as day. Ryan stiffened, but didn’t dare look around.

“I got a sundae!” Sean cheered.

“Nice choice. Why don’t we head on back now? It is starting to get late...” Ryan trailed off, not even waiting to hear a response. He felt bad hearing Sean’s sad groans of protest, but he kept them moving. If someone saw them, they needed to leave. Quickly.

“Ryan, you were gon for like 20 minutes. What’s the problem?” Geoff asked as the two came back inside the building.

“Someone saw us. I heard Burns while we were getting ice cream; he doesn’t believe we’re alive, but someone did see us. We need to leave tonight.” Ryan said quietly, though loud enough so both Mica and Geoff could hear. Mica nodded and immediately turned her attention to Sean.

“Go pack up your things, Sean, you and Erica are going home today.” She smiled at Sean’s wide eyes.

“You... you don’t mean...” He trailed off, looking at Geoff with hopeful eyes, who smiled back at him.

“You’re coming home with us.” She said gently, full of love. Sean all hit squealed as he rushed upstairs to pack, ready to move in with his new family.

After a bit of rushing and hasty goodbyes, the former-fakes found themselves on a plane again, getting the hell away from Los Santos, with two extra passengers.

“I ain’t ever been on a plane before.” Sean said excitedly to Jack, who was sat next to him. “We’re so high up!”

“You really are the perfect kid for us. How’d we get so lucky?” Jack thought out loud, causing Sean to blush. He turned around to look at Jeremy, who had headphones in. Sean snapped to get his attention, and Jeremy looked up.

“So where’re we goin’ anyway?” He asked. Jeremy popped his headphones out.

“France, little guy. The six of us have a nice house on the countryside.”

“France? Where’s that?” Sean asked.

“Europe. It’s across the whole ocean; i’ll be sure to point it out to you once we get to the ocean.” Jeremy smiled and Sean smiled back. He then turned around, announced very loudly that he was going to the bathroom, and walked away as those around him chuckled.

“He really is a good kid.” Geoff murmured, holding Erica close to his chest. She wouldn’t stop crying unless he held her, and he was more than happy to oblige.

“You you think he understands that he has 5 dads and a mom now?” Michael asked.

“Probably not. We an explain it once we get back.” Jack responded.

“What’s he gonna call all of us?” Gavin questioned. Everyone looked at him.

“What?” Ryan said, tilting his head in confusion.

“Well, he’s got 5 dads and a mom. Who’s going to be dad, papa, that shit.”

“I... I honestly never thought of that.” Jack admitted. “I guess I really wouldn’t, since I’m the only mom.”

“Well I’m obviously dad.” Geoff announced.

“Well why do you get to be dad?” Ryan asked, crossing his arms.

“Because I’m the leader! Who else would be dad?”

“I have spent the most time with him so far...” Ryan mumbled.

“I connected with him by talkin’ about video games.” Michael pointed out.

The five of them quietly argued about that for a few minutes before they saw Sean returning. They didn’t want to have that conversation with him before returning home, so they all shut up about it.

Sean was more than excited to see the ocean, and then a whole new continent while he was on the plane. The 6 of them soon found themselves back in familier territory, and we’re more than happy to show it off to Sean and Erica.

“Welcome to your new home, little ones!” Jeremy cheered, swinging the door to their cottage open.

“Woah.” Sean said quietly, his eyes full of awe.

“You like it, little guy?” Ryan asked, ruffling his hair. Sean nodded.

“I do! It’s so big! Can I see my room?”

“Sure can! Michael, why don’t you and Gav show him his new room while we all make dinner?” Geoff asked. Michael nodded, and he and Gavin both picked up Sean, the three of them giggling wildly as the sprinted upstairs.

“He really is going to fit in here, isn’t he?” Ryan chuckled, bringing in the last of the bags.

“If he isn’t too weirded out by having 6 parents, he will.” Jack said nervously.

“Jackie, it’ll be okay. He’s a good kid. He’ll understand. Now, let’s make some lasagne; Mica said that’s his favorite.”

Meanwhile, Sean was ecstatic to find that his room was full of different video game things, all centered around The Legend if Zelda. There were Zelda posters, a Link bedset, and the walls were painted a nice green.

“How’d you manage to pull this off?!” Sean squealed in delight.

“We made some calls before leaving and had this all done before we arrived. You like it?” Gavin asked, smiled at the small kid.

“I love it! This is so cool!”

“Oh, just you wait, Seanie Boy. Let’s go to the best room in the whole house.” Michael smirked as he sprinted out of the room, hearing Sean and Gavin laugh as they chased after him. He came to a sudden stop, and Sean barreled into his legs at full speed, causing him to fall.

“Oh, sorry, Mikey!” Sean giggled. Michael felt his heart warm at the name.

“This,” Michael started as he got up, “is the game room.” He opened the door, and Sean’s mouth dropped.

“It’s like an arcade in here!” He squealed in delight.

“Once we finish dinner and everything, we can come play some games. You can start playing Legend of Zelda.” Michael told him.

“Are you two gonna play with me?” Sean asked. “I really want you guys to play with me, you’re fun!”

“Of course, we’d love to.” Gavin answered, smiling. Michael nodded in agreement.

The three of them hung out for awhile before dinner was ready. After they all ate, the 8 of them sat down in the living room.

“Okay, Sean, we need to talk to you about something.” Jack started.

“You wanted to tell me about how the 6 of you are dating or married or something and that you’re all my parents?” Sean stated bluntly. Jack nearly fell off of the couch.

“How’d you know?” She squeaked.

“You guys are really loud; I heard ya all the way from the bathroom on the plane! You got quieter after a bit, but I get that you guys are all my parents. I think it’s cool! I went from no parents to 6. How many people get that lucky?”

“Did you also hear us... arguing...” Geoff trailed off, and Sean rolled his eyes.

“About what to call you guys? Yeah, and you guys really overthink things, you know that? I already know what to call all of you, if you’ll let me...” He trailed off.

“You can call us whatever you’d like. It can be a variation on dad, or it can be our names. Whatever is most comfortable for you.” Geoff said quickly.

“Well, Jack’s either momma or Jackie, because both fit her really well.” Sean started, causing Jack to blush. “Michael’s Mikey, Gavin’s Gavvy, and Jeremy is JJ. Ryan, you’re papa, and Geoff, you’re dad.” Sean finished. “It just feels the most natural.”

“Oh come here, you little rascal!” Geoff said happily, picking up Sean and spinning him around as they both laughed. “I’m dad! I’m dad!”

“Mikey is the best name, I coulda never thought of that.” Michael smiled.

“Gavvy is so cute!” Gavin told him.

“So’s JJ.” Jeremy added.

Sean let out a big yawn as they continued talked, signaling his jet lag.

“Ready for bed, Sean?” Jack asked gently. Sean simply nodded in response, his eyes closed and already falling asleep. She picked him up and took him to his room, tucking him in to bed and planting a light kiss on his forehead.

“Goodnight, Sean. We’ll see you in e morning.” She said quietly.

“Goodnight, Jackie. Thank you for bringing me and Erica into the bestest family in the entire world. I think things are gonna be really great from now on.”

Jack, as well as the others, couldn’t have agreed more.

#Ragehappy #AH OT6 #boulevardofbrokenyeets #canadiantardis #rhss17

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