#alternatively patrick is The fall out boy that's why it's just patrick fall out and not patrick fall out boy

[castletemprwine]

patrick fall out

[viccharine]

dance dance! we’re falling apart to halftime!

(reblogs greatly appreciated!!!!)

EDIT: this is now available as a print in my ko-fi shop! link here [x]

alternate versions and commentary under the cut!

about the piece: this is my first time ever attempting to draw a back—and LET ME TELL YOU. I STRUGGLED. took me a solid 2 hours to figure it out—even then I had to go physically put down the iPad and go on a walk three separate times because I was so frustrated. the things I do to make fob fanart. if you’re confused by the pose, I originally meant for the figure to be laying down, but now it’s more intended to be as though the figure is leaning on something (most likely the headboard of a bed????)—although, the pose was kind of an afterthought as I really just needed to make a lot of space to add in the text (which, as always, is hand lettered except for the “dance dance, fall out boy”)

about the song: dance dance is one of my favorite fall out boy songs, if not my favorite fob song, but I think it’s important to acknowledge the slightly misogynistic undertones of the song. im not saying that the song is misogynistic, nor that fall out boy is misogynistic, but rather that the song was released in 2005 and as a society, we’ve grown in terms of how we speak about women in pop culture. a lot of media, specifically songs from the 2000s (ESPECIALLY emo songs, im looking at you “I write sins”) had this kind of borderline misogynistic tone that is not in any way okay (Im not trying to justify it!!) but was unfortunately normalized.

as an afab person, I love this song, I love this LINE specifically (“why don’t you show me the little bit of spine you’ve been saving for his mattress, love?” goes SO HARD for me), and I think my immense enjoyment of the song doesn’t prevent me from talking about how it fits into misogynistic culture (esp of the 2000s) and it does not mean i accept it

(but also, I don’t really listen to the lyrics of the song anyway—everyone say thank you to Patrick Stump’s enunciation)

anyway that’s it k byeeeeeee (and go stream fall out boy!)

p.s. I forgot to add my watermark so for the sake of me not wanting to go back and edit it in pls don’t repost with credit please and thank yew ?????

[loveinhawkins]

I never know what to put for these made-up fanfic titles, but! how's "boy that's never been" sound? (or girl, which is the original line, or child, which has its own flavor)

oh boy that’s never been is perfect. Congratulations/commiserations, you’ve let me unleash probably the most tragic thing I’ve ever thought of.

warning: the first section of this will have a major character death. it’ll then be followed up by an alternative take where the character is initially believed to be dead but survives, so feel free to read both or one or neither. ❤️

-

It starts with laughter, with Dustin and Eddie jumping up and down, clinging to each other, riding the high of the most metal concert in the history of the world.

Eddie drapes the guitar pick around Dustin’s neck, like giving a medal to an Olympian. “Souvenir,” he says, grinning, and Dustin’s about to speak, to probably just reiterate just how fucking cool Eddie’s playing was, but then they hear the bats come through the vents, and the words fly out of his head.

They barricade the door, and Eddie is screaming at him to, “—go! Let’s go!”, and Dustin starts to hurry up the rope. He can hear the distant crackle of his walkie, Lucas’s voice shaking with relief, “It worked, it worked, he’s out of her head.”

Dustin looks back instinctively, because by all rights, Eddie should be right behind him.

But he isn’t. He’s just standing there, watching Dustin climb, and he’s got this look on his face, and Dustin suddenly thinks oh, don’t you fucking dare.

“What the hell are you doing?” Eddie says, just as Dustin’s about to ask the very same thing. “Go!”

“Not without you.”

Eddie shakes his head. And then his eyes widen; he looks up, somewhere beyond, and Dustin doesn’t know what it is that he’s seen, but his face goes white. 

“Dustin, hurry!”

The world trembles; Dustin loses his grip on the rope, hears Eddie say, “Shit!” right before he falls, ankle giving way beneath him, and he lands flat on his back, aching and winded—

He opens his eyes. The Gate on the ceiling has knit itself shut.

“Oh, Christ, oh, Christ,” Eddie’s whispering, over and over, and he’s pulling Dustin up, “are you—”

Dustin whacks him on the shoulder. “What the fuck was that? You’re not getting left behind, asshole.”

And while he’s still so angry, Eddie must hear how his voice shakes with fear, teetering into anticipatory grief.

“Okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

The swarm of bats are still scratching at the door; the wood’s splintering.

“We’ve gotta get out of…” Eddie trails off, eyes darting in thought. He glances down at Dustin’s foot. “Fuck, you can’t run.”

A chorus of demonic screeching, far too close.

“Okay, c’mon, I’ve got you,” Eddie says, and he’s bearing Dustin’s weight, half-carrying him outside. Dustin hears him curse as he slams his shield against the few bats that still remain, scaling the wired fence. He makes short work of them.

He leaves Dustin on the porch, runs for the bike.

As Dustin waits, he feels a new sharp pain in his ankle—looking down, he sees one of the bats that Eddie thought he’d killed, still weakly crawling on the ground, teeth sunk deep into his skin.

He kicks, stomps on it until it lets go. There’s a trail of blood seeping down from the skin around the fibula, and he’s a little light-headed, but he thinks that’s mostly because he’s looking at it, so he simply doesn’t anymore.

Eddie comes into view, pushing the bike with a frenzied energy. He’s muttering under his breath, “Where do we go, where do we go?”

Maybe it’s down to Eddie being so panicked—suddenly Dustin has no trouble at all focusing on a solution.

“I think it worked,” he says calmly. “They’ve killed him. That’s why…”

Eddie nods, face still so pale. “Are you saying we’re stuck down—god, there’s gotta be something we can—”

“Yeah, it’s sealing up,” Dustin says hurriedly, “but I—maybe not all at once. Maybe it’s in the order of the—”

“So. Chrissy,” Eddie says shakily, “then Fred, th-then Patrick.”

“We’ve gotta go to Lover’s Lake.”

Eddie breathes out, “God, you fucking genius.”

He sits forward on the seat of the bike, so Dustin’s got enough room to sit behind him. Dustin grips onto his jacket, presses the side of his face against his back.

“Hold on tight, Henderson,” Eddie yells, and then he’s off, pedalling for their lives.

Dustin can only pray that Nancy, Steve and Robin have come to the same conclusion—his heart leaps when he sees them running across the rocky bed, to the still open Gate.

They all dive through it as quickly as they can. The only pause comes when Dustin insists Eddie go in front of him, and Eddie looks ready to fight him on it; “No time,” Steve interjects, and he gives Eddie that same kind of nod he’d given before he left the trailer park. “I’ve got him.”

“Deep breath,” Steve instructs, voice deliberately even. “Good, that’s it.” He grabs onto Dustin’s hand. “I won’t let go.”

It’s a vow; Dustin knows it.

The two of them make up the rear. Swimming through the depths of the lake is hardly scary at all, not when Dustin can see Robin and Nancy break through the surface, Eddie right behind them.

Steve’s trying to make him go in front; he can tell from the way Steve’s urging him along—but his strong kicks mean he’s always slightly ahead, no matter how hard he tries.

Dustin’s still bleeding. He can feel it. He’s kind of glad that it’s dark, honestly; he doesn’t know what Steve would do if he could see it.

They emerge up above, gasping, and they’re almost at the boat, almost home, when Dustin feels the vine wrap around his ankle.

The first tug doesn’t pull him under. But Steve’s still holding his hand, so when it happens, he feels it, too.

His head turns in alarm, and his expression is scarily similar to Eddie’s as he watched Dustin climb up the rope; and Dustin knows that Steve will never let go, not even if it kills him.

So he does.

He wrenches out of Steve’s grip. He doesn’t have time to say I’m sorry, I love you, before he’s being dragged down, and just as he’s submerged, he hears Eddie scream his name.

He tries. But he keeps sinking no matter how hard he kicks, and then, even though it’s completely illogical, even though he knows it will kill him, he simply has to breathe in.

He swallows water. It burns.

And then the burning goes away, and it doesn’t hurt at all; he just feels so, so sleepy.

The faintest impression of arms around him. And even though it doesn’t make sense, it shouldn’t be possible, he still feels a final comforting warmth at the touch.

It’s Steve, Dustin thinks for the last time. He’s got me.

-

Steve emerges with Dustin in his arms. He barely registers the screams from the boat, just yells, “Someone grab him,” and lifts him onboard.

Robin gets Dustin by the legs, and Nancy gently lowers his head. As Steve climbs aboard too, he knows he cannot even look in Eddie’s direction for fear of the expression he’ll see on his face.

“Nance, count for me,” he says.

He starts chest compressions. She counts.

Two breaths.

Compressions.

Two breaths.

“C’mon, bud,” he says, “you’ve gotta breathe, you’ve gotta cough it all up, you hear me, Dustin? Come on.”

He keeps going. He keeps going even when Nancy finally stops counting.

“Come on,” he says. His voice breaks. “Come on, kid, come on.”

“Steve,” Robin whispers.

“Don’t,” he says, because there’s something in the shattered way she says it that snaps him out of it—that makes him see Dustin, so small and so still, and his hair is so wet, and he’d usually be so pissy about that, but he’s not, he’s not saying anything.

It’s Eddie who stops him. A shaking hand on his forearm.

“Steve,” Eddie says. He’s crying. “You can—you can stop now. He’s gone. He’s gone.”

“No,” Steve says flatly.

“He’s dead,” Eddie says. His fingers dig into Steve’s skin; he chokes on his words. On a sob. “God. He’s dead, sweetheart.”

A grief-stricken keen. Later, Steve realises that it comes from him: his mouth, his throat, his heart. He pulls Dustin close, in a desperate hug that can’t be returned, as if he could somehow shield him from a fate that’s already been given.

…

Or, in a world that’s perhaps a little bit kinder:

Steve is just a fraction quicker, keeps his grip on Dustin’s hand so they’re both yanked down, down…

Steve tries his hardest; he strains and pulls as they reach the Gate, and his last sight of Dustin is his wide, fearful eyes before he slips out of his grasp. He surges forward instantly, reaches for him, but then, like a sudden tidal wave, is pushed back, back—

The Gate’s closed. Gone.

Steve frantically searches the bed of the lake, cuts his hands on perfectly ordinary rocks until his lungs burn, and he has no choice but to kick for the surface.

Eddie’s in the water too; Steve almost hits his head on his dangling feet as he comes up for air.

“Jesus Christ,” Eddie shouts. He treads water erratically, and for barely a second, he goes absolutely still. “Oh my god. Oh my god, where is he?”

“The Gate—” Steve says, and then can’t go on.

Eddie’s lips tremble, move soundlessly. “This can’t be—this isn’t happening,” he whispers. He dives under not a second later.

For a wild moment, Steve almost follows him, even though he still can’t catch his breath. Nancy pulls him onto the boat before he can try.

Eddie resurfaces, barely draws breath before speaking. “So, what’s the plan? How are we gonna—”

“Eddie,” Robin says, reaching for him. “Get out of the water.”

He acts like he can’t hear her.

“Am I not fucking speaking English or s-something? Tell me what we’re—”

“It’s over, Eddie,” Nancy says quietly. “Vecna’s dead. The Gates are closed. We… we won.”

Eddie’s shaking his head. “No, no, this isn’t—just tell me what to do! I’ll do anything, I’ll—”

“What am I gonna tell his mom?” Steve says helplessly.

He doesn’t mean to say it. But Eddie definitely hears it, because his mouth twists in grief; Robin’s finally able to pull him up onto the boat. He rests his forehead against her arm and shudders.

Nancy waits for a long while before she starts to row them back, like she’s waiting on a miracle. But the water remains eerily still.

When the boat starts to move towards the shore, the awful reality of it all finally seems to sink in for Eddie. He moves out of Robin’s arms and his hand finds Steve’s knee, squeezes tightly.

“I’m sorry,” he breathes. “S-Steve, I’m so fucking sorry, I should’ve—”

“Stop it,” Steve says. “You—you got him through—I was supposed to—”

I trusted you, and I was right; you brought him back to me.

“I let go,” Steve says through a wave of self-hatred. “I—I had him, and I let go.”

“Steve,” Eddie says, but Steve doesn’t deserve to hear the disagreement in his voice; there is nothing Eddie could say to ease this all-consuming guilt.

“I should’ve—he was my—”

Steve’s voice fails him, which is just as well. He doesn’t know how to finish that thought without it destroying him.

“I’m coming with you,” Nancy says, when they’re on dry land.

“What?” Steve says, exhausted.

“His—his mom. You’re not doing it alone.”

-

They might’ve won, but that doesn’t mean the town remained unscathed as each Gate shut. Violent tremors were felt all over; there’s a shortage of beds in the hospital, and there’s yet more people missing.

It helps Claudia accept it, at least. She’s not the only parent waiting in vain for a body to be recovered.

Nancy keeps her word, leading the explanation, but Steve forces himself to speak at the end, underlines that her son cannot come home—because he had seen how hope had destroyed the Hollands.

She nods silently.

You should hate me, Steve thinks. Hate me.

But the only emotion in her eyes is love—love and pain.

“I’m sorry,” Steve says. “I wasn’t quick enough.”

“No,” Eddie says suddenly.

He’s kept quiet up until now, hovering in a corner. Steve had tried to tell him that he didn’t have to come, that it could be dangerous for him to be seen. But even before Nancy started talking, Claudia had never once threatened to call the police.

“It was my fault,” Eddie continues. “I—”

“That’s not true,” Steve says. “Claudia, don’t listen to him, he’s—”

But Claudia is just staring at Eddie.

“You didn’t kill that poor girl,” she says.

“No,” he says, voice hoarse. “No, ma’am.”

“Dustin.” Claudia takes a deep breath. “He was protecting you.”

Eddie’s face crumples. “Yes.”

Claudia smiles sadly. Steve doesn’t know how she’s doing it, how she’s still standing—the strength it must take, for her not to scream.

“You must’ve been worth it,” she tells Eddie.

He has to leave the room, a hand covering his face.

-

There isn’t a funeral.

Claudia insists on putting up missing posters, even though it’s clear from the dullness in her eyes that she understood perfectly well what Nancy meant when she said, we lost him.

“I know it’s—” Claudia breaks off as Steve helps her make more copies. “I just—I just thought. Joyce, she…”

Steve puts up the posters around town. He can’t stand the thought of bystanders pitying the hope of a grieving mother. Not again.

-

Claudia calls, tells him to come over to the house. She says she’s got some of Dustin’s things in a box, not a lot, but just in case—just in case…

“He’d want you to have them,” she says.

Steve has to stand with the phone in his hand long after she’s hung up, breathing heavily. Then he does the round of calls. Nancy, Robin, Eddie.

He needs someone there, he knows it, otherwise he’ll never go back in the house.

He can’t face the kids. Can’t face the fact that he’s failed them.

“I—I can’t, man,” Eddie tells him over the phone, voice brittle. “I can’t go back there. I’m sorry.”

Steve doesn’t blame him.

-

Nancy gets the hint and accompanies Steve as they head into Dustin’s bedroom. Steve tries not to look at the bed, the pillows still rumpled from when Dustin last—

He picks up the small cardboard box left on the floor. He scans the top of it. It’s small things. A book on Morse Code. An almost empty can of Farrah Fawcett spray.

Nancy’s hand’s on his back, not doing anything, just resting there. She reaches into the box and picks up the can.

“You did his hair, right? For the Snow Ball?”

Steve nods. “Yeah.”

She’s smiling. “He looked so—so sweet.” She blinks rapidly, still smiling. Eyes growing wet. “I don’t know if—if he mentioned it, but. I danced with—”

“Are you kidding me?” Steve laughs, and it gets close to dangerous, to the grief spilling out, before he pulls it back at the last second. “Mentioned it? When I picked him up, it’s all he talked about. Nance, you made him feel like the coolest kid in school.”

-

Robin sits in the passenger seat, puts the box in between her knees so the things aren’t rattling about while Steve drives.

And she laughs too, except it fades off into a sob. “I forgot.”

He puts a hand out, and she takes it. “What?”

“He’d taken my library card,” she says. “So he could, um, check—” She clears her throat. “Check out more books.”

Steve’s knuckles turn white as he holds onto her. She never complains.

-

Eddie… drifts.

In some sense, Spring Break feels like a bad dream. The trailer’s back to normal, no gaping hole to another dimension in the ceiling, and the police tape gets removed so quickly that it’s almost laughable. He doesn’t care that the suspicion around him has dropped in the wake of a ‘natural disaster.’

He doesn’t really care about anything.

He keeps in touch just enough to know that Claudia is staying with her sister for a little while, left Steve the keys for watering the houseplants, probably.

And then Steve calls him from the Henderson’s house phone.

“I’m—I’m sorry, no—no-one else was picking up,” he says. “It’s—it’s his cat, I can’t—”

“Missing?” Eddie assumes, because Steve sounds one breath away from a panic attack. “Hurt?”

“No, no, just—please, can you come? Please.”

So Eddie does.

He hates every moment of the drive, but he does it.

He finds Steve in the bedroom, and fuck, it still looks so lived-in, like Dustin’s just stepped out for a moment, the room filled with nerdy teen clutter. Eddie’s sure that if he looked closely, he’d find notes from old campaigns littering the desk, but there’s no way he can remotely handle that, so he doesn’t.

There’s currently a more pressing sight, anyway.

Because Steve’s standing by Dustin’s bed, and he’s not looking at Eddie, because there’s a little Siamese cat blinking up at him.

“He’s gone,” Steve is saying.

The cat mews plaintively.

“He’s gone, okay?” Steve’s words get harsher. “What do you want me to—? He’s gone.”

Eddie steps forward, scoops up the cat—doesn’t flinch when its claws dig into him. “Come on, sweetheart, let’s get you some food.”

He goes to shut the door behind him, but not quick enough.

Steve’s not once cried throughout all of this—not anywhere that Eddie could see, at least.

He’s crying now. Silent, trembling—sinking down to the bed, a fist clenched around the sheets.

Eddie closes the door.

He gently lets the cat go when he’s in the kitchen, finds a can of wet food soon enough, in a cupboard underneath the sink.

That’s where he finds the notepad, too.

And too late, he realises it’s Dustin’s handwriting, that this was a log he’d made of each time he’d fed his cat, making sure to not repeat the same food twice in a row. ‘TUNA’ he’d scrawled in an obvious rush, like he was heading off somewhere, and then Eddie sees the date.

March 22nd.

He doesn’t know that he’s crying until Steve comes up behind him, puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Sorry,” Eddie gasps, “sorry, I’m sorry, I’m…”

Because this isn’t about him. Shouldn’t be about him.

Steve pulls him close.

I’m sorry, Eddie thinks. He was yours. I’m sorry.

“It’s okay,” Steve whispers. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

It sounds like, You loved him, too. It’s okay.

-

Steve spends the night at the trailer.

It’s late when Eddie wakes up to an empty side of the bed. He gets up, walks slowly, slowly until he can just barely squint into the living room.

Steve doesn’t notice him. He’s standing on a chair, arm outstretched. Fingertips brushing the ceiling.

“Are you there?” he murmurs.

Eddie’s heart sinks like a stone.

Steve waits in the silence. His hand shakes.

“I’m here,” he says. “I’m here.”

-

They both know what it means—the nights together, sleeping so closely, skin to skin.

One of them will find the other lying awake, and a chaste kiss will be pressed against a shoulder, shh, shh. They don’t talk about it, don’t initiate anything more.

Their world is too heavy for it.

Steve wants to tell Dustin anyway. Wants him to give them both so much shit for it, let his goddamn horrendous ego run wild.

Tell me again, Eddie whispers at two in the morning.

Steve breathes in, out. Starts the story with a ridiculous kid tugging red roses out of his hand.

-

“Come over,” Steve says. It’s nine o’clock at night. His voice is jagged. “My place.”

Eddie finds him just standing in the hall.

“Nancy called,” he says, too matter-of-fact. “‘Bout an hour ago, Holly’s Lite-Brite lit up, almost burned her. The power went off.”

Eddie tries to temper his voice, but when he says, “Steve,” he almost cringes at the pity in it.

“Don’t,” Steve says. “I know. I know. But.” He jerks his head upstairs. “I need you. I need you to—to tell me what I’m looking at.”

The bedside lamp is on in Steve’s room. There’s a book on translating Morse Code left open on the floor.

The light is blinking.

Steve searches Eddie’s face desperately. “That’s the—that’s what you did, right? SOS?”

Eddie picks up the book. Sits on the bed, knees weak.

“Yes,” he says.

Steve closes his eyes, exhales in a shudder. “Oh my god, you can see it. Okay, okay.”

He opens his eyes, and it looks like he’s fighting with himself, caught between wanting to say more and destroying the fragile hope he has.

So Eddie says it for him.

“Dustin?”

YES.

After Eddie translates, Steve stares at the lamp. His hand reaches out. Fingers curl around thin air.

“How do we know?” he asks. “How do we know it’s—”

DUMBASS.

Steve starts to laugh. A tear falls down his cheek.

“I can hear him,” he says. “Jesus Christ, I can hear him.”

And then Eddie can, too—so, so faintly. The tiniest giggle.

He sounds exhausted.

WATERGATE. TEAR. NOT STRONG ENOUGH.

“The—the tear?” Eddie says.

ME.

“We’re coming,” Steve says. His fingertips graze the lightbulb. “We’re coming, Dustin.”

HURRY.

-

They don’t tell anyone. Steve puts his phone off the hook before they leave, because Nancy is bound to call repeatedly.

They get into the boat and push off into Lover’s Lake without a word. It’s an unspoken agreement: they’ll get him back or die trying.

They dive together. Search the river bed, stones slipping through their fingers until…

A smooth ridge of plastic. Eddie’s guitar pick.

They pull.

The gap is small, but they make it—and when they emerge into The Upside Down, there’s no particles floating around, but the air is thin.

The landscape is disappearing. Dying.

Just next to the Gate lies Dustin. His hand is outstretched, like he’d fallen while reaching towards home.

“He’s not breathing,” Eddie says, hushed and terrified.

“Tilt his head back,” Steve says, already on his knees. They don’t have time to panic. “Lift his chin.”

“Okay, okay.”

“You’re gonna do the breaths, okay? One second, then—”

“I know, I know what to—”

“You got him?”

“Y-yeah.”

Steve starts compressions. Shouts, “Now!” to Eddie when it’s time.

One second. Pause. One second.

Repeat.

“Come on, Dustin, you’ve gotta breathe,” Eddie pleads through Steve’s counting. “We’re here, we’re here, you’ve gotta—”

Steve slams on his chest. Once.

“—breathe, we love you so fucking much, just—”

Twice.

“—breathe!”

Dustin launches upwards, into Steve’s arms, coughing, coughing.

Breathing.

“That’s it,” Eddie sobs, “oh my God, that’s it.”

-

They leave when Dustin communicates through shaky hand gestures that he can hold his breath. It’s far from ideal—Steve doesn’t like it at all, but there’s no way they can linger; the hole they’d made to break through the Gate is already threatening to close.

Besides, with both him and Eddie pulling Dustin up, it’s the quickest swim of their lives.

The Gate shuts behind them, as if it had never been.

-

Up to the surface. Clinging to Dustin, hearing him gasp, splutter.

“You with me? Hey, hey, you with me?”

Dustin nods; Steve pulls him on board, Eddie right behind in case he falls.

Silence. Breathing. Dustin up against his chest, shaking.

Eddie mutters, “Here, here,” passing over the towels that they’d brought with what had felt like foolish optimism.

“You—you d-didn’t bring a ch-change of clothes?” Dustin says, with biting, wonderful sarcasm. His teeth chatter, and Eddie wraps him in another towel. “D-do I do all the th-thinking around here?”

Steve’s answering laugh turns into weeping—he runs a towel over Dustin’s hair, sobs through a smile when Dustin whines out a petulant complaint.

“I’ve got you,” Steve says. He kisses his forehead. “I’ve got you.”

“I know,” Dustin says. He shuffles closer, cuddles further into Steve’s chest even though they’re all soaking wet. “Knew… knew you’d come.” His hand reaches to the side, fumbling for Eddie. “Sorry. Think I broke your… your pick.”

Eddie just shakes his head, tearful, a hand covering his mouth.

“Yeah,” Steve says, “I really don’t think he cares, bud.”

“My mom’s gonna freak,” Dustin mumbles. His head is nodding tiredly as he says it.

“Yeah,” Steve echoes. He swallows. “She—she will.”

Eddie picks up the oar. Dustin sighs, lax with sleep. Steve can feel him breathing.

And he’ll have changed in some ways—they all have, it’s inevitable. It would be naive to think otherwise.

But the glimmer of him is still there, in his voice.

He’s back.

Steve holds Dustin tight—keeps him as warm as he can as Eddie rows, taking them home, home, home.

[cboffshore]

I believe you're a Cyren fan so... Any thoughts about her?

Short answer: If Skybound is the missed opportunities/fridge horror capital of the world, Cyren isn't necessarily the most popular tourist spot - she's more like the little hole in the wall cafe you encounter by accident after you get separated from your tour group, and then you have the single best latte of your life there, but you can't find the place the next time you're in town. That is to say: yes, I do think about her, a lot, and I think she is criminally underappreciated, but I'm not too sure how to articulate it.

I'll try, though.

Long answer:

My knee-jerk reaction to someone mentioning Cyren is to think, oh, she was so cool! she had a kickass power and it's so sad we never got to see her use it. This, naturally, then reminds me of how she got that power, and then whoops! There we go down that whole mental rabbit hole.

A decent chunk of why I like Skybound so much is because what it doesn't directly say is frequently just as (if not more!) important as what it shows us directly, but only when those two work in tandem. I think Cyren is the single best - and most tragic - example of that.

Anon, I assume you know Cyren's backstory, but for anyone else seeing this who may need a refresher: Cyren's a Sky Pirate whose wish was to become a great singer. Nadakhan grants this by enchanting her voice to send listeners into a trance (and forgive me but I can't remember if it's just when she's singing or if it includes speech, but to be fair, it's not like they ever clarified it onscreen so I presume it's both), which is apparently a useful tool for making raids very easy... but, as you might guess, not great for performance reasons. Imagine showing up to see Fall Out Boy and passing out before Patrick can even finish asking if he's more than you bargained for yet.

Here's the problem: We never find this out in Skybound itself. Cyren does not have a Tall Tale, and if she did, it would be about as useful as the others anyway. Cyren never even speaks or has her name spoken. This information comes only from one of those old profile flavor text entries on the LEGO website at the time (which someone turned into the opening chunk of her history page on the wiki but I can no longer find in its original form). Later on I think it shows up in a few character dictionary type places, but that's a tangent - point is, this is another example of the secondary material doing wild shit to the main stuff.

A couple of things about this:

I can absolutely understand why they didn't show this off in the show - that's a game breaking power. You wouldn't have much of a fight scene to animate if you could just enforce nap time on everyone who forgot earplugs.

I would LOVE to know the order of operations here. Cyren's named on the set boxes, so I suppose they got pretty far into the process of establishing her, but... when did they scrap her? Did they ever scrap her? Was she even supposed to have that backstory, or did a web designer have a creative writing itch to scratch and a better understanding of the season's themes than the Hagemans seemed to? Was she ever supposed to do anything in the script?

Alternative to number 2, and my preferred option even though I always have to remind myself of it: why is this whole situation so much cooler with her silence?

The it girl weapon of Skybound is not the sword of souls; it's speech, and how you can use it to get what you want. Nadakhan's our entry-level example here - he tries to get his victims to say things he can reinterpret and aim back in their faces - and we see it with Jay and Nya, too. To put it very simply, Jay wants to be able to say the right thing to make Nya like him again; Nya wants to be able to say the right thing to get the world to listen to her and accept her for who she is and what she's trying to say. With those three, the key thing is that they're all able to determine what they want (even if they don't get it, of course) and tailor their speech to fit as best they can. (Obviously, this does not always work - but that starting option remains open all the time.)

Cyren does not get that. Cyren, if she speaks at all, automatically renders the listener unable to listen by sending them into a trance. The effect of her speech - no matter what she says or songs - is that she will be ignored. She's got the inverse of our leading trio: a guarantee that she will be heard long enough to influence the other party, but not the ability to choose what the influence is.

That's what makes Cyren the most gut-wrenching example of a weaponized wish in the season, at least in my eyes. She was able to use her voice to express this personal desire of hers - but it was the listener who held all the power, and heard her just long enough to pull the threads he could use, never mind what she actually meant. The end result is pretty much the exact opposite of what she asked for: a guarantee that her voice is no longer hers to use freely. To wish to be heard and appreciated and then to have your voice made so beautiful that it becomes the ultimate anesthetic.... ouch. OUCH.

In that way, I do think it's darkly, ironically perfect that Cyren never gets to speak, or climb all that far past the role of background Sky Pirate except for in the supplementary material. Again: absolutely devastating power. We wouldn't have any obstacles if they'd had it on the writer's table as an option, and without obstacles we wouldn't have had a story. She's a showstopper, literally, and it kind of fits that her power is too strong to actually be useful in the season. It's like showing up to a knife fight with a lawnmower.

And yet: we see her in action. We see Cyren a lot. Next time you watch Skybound, take a moment and count the background models in any given pirate crowd: there will only be one Cyren at a time (ETA: unless it's the Scrap n Tap scene, which plagues me for multiple reasons, including breaking my tidy absolutes in this ask) . There's a handful of repeating character models that show up a lot, often multiple times in the same small group, but Cyren is a standout. The most important appearance of hers I can name right now is during the end of 62 when she helps drag Nya out of the hidden basement - but even then, she's working with another bland background pirate.

That balance is so, so bittersweet to me - clearly there was something in the seasonal map keeping Cyren alive. She gets named on the set boxes and her own character profile, but she doesn't get a voice; she's seldom duplicated (ETA: again, except for the Scrap n Tap crowd) but never shown at full strength.

I don't know. I don't have a great way to end this. Something something actions speak louder than words, maybe? Something something secondary text?

In short: I love Cyren. I even love that she got shorted, because it makes her seem so much deeper, somehow, and it shouldn't work - but I'll take what I can get.

[likefolksongs]

fall out boy on absolute radio listening party 3.26.23

[link]

the host asks about the parentheses around for in the album title - pete says it's "a double or triple entendre, everyone's trying to be someone and have their moment but that doesn't fill you up" but "there's something to be said about so much stardust." talks about how we're all just carbon, stardust and still can't get it together. he also just love parentheses!

talking about the album as an art form - patrick says they absolutely consider that and sequencing is important. there are a "few songs" which only made the record because of how well they told the story of the album. also love from the other side was conceptualized as an album opener because patrick felt none of the other songs felt like an opener!

the intro to lftos is patrick playing the same piano part at four different speeds, starting in sync and then falling out of sync as it continues - he says it feels representative of the whole album for him

with hold me like a grudge, pete says when patrick first played it for him the verses sounded like 2000s alternative radio hits but the chorus sounded "distinctly patrick" which was an "interesting blend." patrick: hm. thank you. i think. pete: yeah that was a compliment!

hold me like a grudge was the last song they wrote for the record! pete was second guessing other lyrics and sent patrick new lyrics to possibly replace the ones he was feeling unsure about. patrick read them before driving to the studio and by the time he got there the song was basically written in full.

pete makes a comment about how that's at least two songs "that people really like" that patrick's written in the car (referencing lotro); patrick says he's written a lot of songs in the car and pete jokes they should just toss him the keys

pete says it's the worst when you think of something in the car and are sure you'll remember it but you don't. says now when he thinks of something in the car when he's with bronx he'll tell him to write down words to trigger the whole phrase "but they don't make any sense together. i'll be like write this down and he'll be like '...okay." andy: like dad shut up [giggles]

fake out didn't come together until joe heard it! patrick had most of the lead guitar down but none of the rhythm guitar but "joe came in, gave it one listen, and picked up this acoustic. none of us had really thought about acoustic, he just went into the booth and we pressed record and he did it in one take... that became kinda the whole song."

patrick talks about soul punk briefly, says the most surprising thing about making it was that it was very unsurprising, because all the ideas were already in his head. part of why he enjoys working with the band so much is that they have ideas he never would've thought of.

they discuss changing sound - pete says the first time he had that feeling of like "oh i don't know if this is too different" he was scared of it but he's learned that it's a good thing and that there's always going to be so much of the band's dna on it that it Will sound like a fall out boy song

andy: i think a band can not just be a city it can be a continent. writing these different things is building the map to what the bigger picture is

they bring up queen and bowie as examples of artists that kept changing but now when you hear their songs you just think "oh that's queen" or "oh that's bowie." the host mentions he used to hide liking queen from his friends and patrick says he had to hide liking ska from the band. andy says he's had a really big reggae and ska phase recently and loves being able to talk to patrick about it because "he's a fountain of knowledge."

heaven, iowa is one of andy's favorite on the record and he loved it from the start! patrick reiterates a comment from another interview about how he didn't like it that much at first but knew everyone else did, kept asking joe for any and all ideas because he didn't like how much "space" there was and how naked his vocals felt. andy says he thinks space in music can be magical.

they talk about track sequencing again - patrick says he and pete moved "the meat of the album" around many, many times.

pete talks about the pink seashell interlude and being obsessed with mortality. patrick talks about the process of scoring it and how joe added guitar to the string lines which he thinks brought it all together.

they didn't start out thinking they necessarily had a record - patrick says "we went in with neal for a week to see if we had something and by the end of the week we had half the record.”

patrick's been asking people to tell him fan reactions to the record since he doesn't have social media 🥺 "i know i've been driving everyone nuts... i've been asking everyone 'do people like it? what do people think?'" reiterates the dinner for your family line to explain why this record means so much to him.

pete says making an album is kind of like being a climber standing at the bottom of a rock face trying to find a route up; when you get up the route might seem like it was obvious the whole time but it wasn't. patrick chimes in to agree and add that it feels like the song that was the centerpoint of the album shifted many times.

the host mentions that he really likes and relates to the title of "i am my own muse." pete talks about looking at his four year old and thinking about how "at that age, you Are your own muse. you're like 'i just color, i do what i want, i'm not trying to conform to your idea of my creativity' and welcoming some of that back into your life as an adult or an artist is great.'"

the host mentions that his nine year old son's favorite song ever is "centuries" and the band are appropriately flattered (though patrick does say sorry when the host says he's probably heard it more than any other song ever ajfioenaj).

going back to the discussion of different songs being the centerpoint of the album, patrick says flu game was "one of the first songs to have that spot."

patrick talks about not being the most confident guy but that he's learned to share all of his demos; he thinks he might not have played flu game in the past. pete chimes in to say in the past patrick has tried to throw out some of his best ideas.

patrick says flu game "kind of started the record" because it was the favorite out of the first five songs they made with neal. "this was the one that convinced neal i think." pete notes "this would've been an insane record if [flu game] was the lynchpin."

flu game was originally the lead single! pete: you know how we always talk about how if we were gonna fly in a helicopter that i would have to knock you out like b.a. baracus? patrick, instantly: yes. pete: if we had made this the first single you guys would've had to b.a. baracus me. patrick, protesting: that wasn't my choice!

pete says baby annihilation felt like an authentic way to pay homage to his past spoken word bits and he trusted neal to be able to make it work.

they have a discussion about the distinctions between emo/pop punk/straightedge hardcore and pete talks about how arbitrary the labels that are assigned to musicians often are. pete talks about how fall out boy started as kind of a break from the more hardcore stuff for him that he was doing for fun which allowed it to be more freeing. patrick agrees, talks about how andy and pete were in "real bands" so no one was taking fall out boy completely seriously which allowed them to be looser.

kintsugi kid was one of the songs patrick was mentioning earlier that was almost cut from the record but made it because of the track sequencing. patrick says he always felt very strongly about it and believed in it so was very glad when it made its way back on to the record. pete calls it the little song that could.

the host asks about their songwriting process and pete talks about how the best songs are the ones where he and patrick "clash" just the right amount; songs where one of them dominates over the other don't connect as well.

they discuss the different producers they've worked with; pete says every producer they've worked with has felt like the right person for the job. patrick talks about how working with so many different producers is part of why he wanted to go back to neal.

patrick talks about how important it was for this album to be a single producer album; with mania they had so many different producers and he wanted to get back to just being in a routine with the same person. andy: it's the difference between microwaving and actually cooking. patrick: yeah, i agree with that! andy, jokingly: thanks, i'm gonna leave.

patrick calls what a time to be alive his baby. says every time he played it for someone they would say "really?" pete: patrick was really determined to get this song on the record. i felt like gamora like "is it done? what did it cost you?" pete and patrick in unison: everything [laughter]

patrick says he and pete struck a bargain (pete: i don't remember this). patrick didn't want so good right now to be on the record (he wasn't going to name the song but pete told him to go for it) but pete was really advocating for it. patrick said that if pete let him have what a time to be alive he would green light so good right now.

pete talks about how art only really becomes art when it connects with its audience which is part of why they wanted to do those small shows and host listening parties, to see how people reacted

the host asks how their relationship with fame has changed; pete says they had a year or two where they were super famous "and it was not a great life;" talks about how he looks at kpop groups and boy bands and thinks "god bless that it wasn't that long for us." he says he made a point to rearrange his life to be less famous and prioritize his family and the band. also pete makes a star wars reference and patrick does a yoda impression 😭

the hour wraps up with pete asking the host if he still wants a video for his son and they do a quick video for him 🥺

[bigfatmusicblog]

DRUG CHURCH - PRUDE ALBUM REVIEW

If you grew up being really into music like I was there’s a strong possibility you went through a Beatles phase. Mine personally lasted for a long ass time, all starting with my dad giving me and my brother a mix cd with a big old sun as the cover with the words ‘Beatles Hits’ typed across the front. My dad would go on to claim that he “wasn’t really into the Beatles,” so he’s “not too sure why [he] made [us] that CD in the first place.” Wild, considering how much they ended up meaning to me, that there’s an alternative universe where that just didn’t happen, and I’m probably a lot cooler in that universe. I’ve done a lot of reading about the Beatles, which is helped by the fact that there are so many fucking books about them, and one story always stuck with me. It’s the story of the song “Twist-N-Shout” and how they recorded it last after a long day of recording. John’s voice was shot by the time they got to it so he just decided to yell the whole thing - resulting in the product we have today where your throat just can’t help but to itch as you listen to “musical genius” John Lennon screech over the rock-n-roll beat. 

I don’t know that that anecdote, or the sound of Lennon’s voice, necessarily did anything to inspire Drug Church. But it’s hard not to have a similar throat itch feeling as the album starts, the vocals gritty and half yelled just as they were on TNS. Except this time… it’s less painful, more relatable, not so much a throat itch now but a throat tickle - a tickle that just takes one solid “ahem” to go away. You understand why his voice is like that, feel the pain he feels - it’s not some dude screeching over a stolen R&B song - but an empath putting the weight of the world on his proverbial shoulders. Alright, that’s the end of the Beatles comparisons, psychotic for me to even compare the two when one band is a staple of rock and roll and the other band is The Beatles!    

Kidding.

Drug Church is a “post-hardcore” band from Albany, NY - also home of their screeching counterparts Prince Daddy & the Hyena (what the fuck is in that water??). I say post-hardcore in quotations because that doesn’t accurately describe the sound, at least not for their 2024 release PRUDE. I don’t know, maybe it is post-hardcore, if I had to categorize it I’d maybe say it’s pop-punk, or put it under the monotonously repeated moniker of “emo,” who cares though? Genres are bullshit. Drug has been releasing music under that name since 2012, it’s worth checking out just to feel the damage touring and, one has to assume, cigarettes have done to Patrick Kindlon (lead vocalist) over the years. In their 12 year run they never spent more than 3 years between releases, which isn’t Beatles numbers but in an age where every band is taking hiatuses for years, it’s that consistency fans crave.

PRUDE is a fast album, the longest song being their last one Peer Review which moves at a snail’s pace of three minutes and forty-three seconds. This causes their songs to be more condensed, less meandering, more purposeful in instrumentation and lyricism. Starting off with an excellent pace creator in Mad Care - a song about a sociopath hellbent on destroying his life, not realizing the people he brings along with him are affected by his actions too. Myopic, the lead single off this album, starts off with one of the best pop-punk riffs I’ve heard in recent times. This shit is straight off of Infinity on High by Fall Out Boy, except you aren’t presented with lyrics of heartache sung sweetly, but a personal song about a shit head kid we can only assume is the author of the story. You can still see that shit head kid come out every so often, no matter how hard you try to forget it it keeps coming back. “Don’t make me remember if I don’t have to,” he yells as the bridge comes to an end into a big swell of a breakdown. Also, best hook on the album hands down. 

Next is Hey Listen, the first song on the album where we start to feel the sympathy this singer can have for others. The lyrics of Drug Church usually take on a darker, more nihilistic form, nothing fucking matters! This is a nice change in pace - despite its more upsetting subject matter of a missing kid society has just forgotten about. Hey Listen, quiets things down a little bit before going into the heavy ass riff at the start of Demolition Man, their second single off the album. The lyrics are serotonin boosting, with images of dogs doing jobs dogs would do, all the while talking about how fucked man is, and it’s all of our collective fault for giving ourselves too much to do. It’s about the constant pursuit of happiness, whereas other animals have found that in simplicity. 

Business Ethics ushers in a low point of the album, this song uses tired rhymes (anytime someone rhymes work with jerk earnestly it’s like… c’mon) and it’s incredibly on the nose for an album that has been fairly on the nose already. Concept is fun, execution leaves a lot to be desired. Slide 2 Me starts off with another fantastic pop punk riff (forreal these riffs are so good and nostalgic ahhhh, so good) after that I feel like it’s almost too loud. Not stopping at any point or breaking it down, it can be hard to understand and grasp what’s going on. It’s probably my second least favorite of the album, but there’s a great distance between this and the aforementioned Business Ethics. 

Chow plays on familiar themes about not caring what everyone thinks about you, keeping your circle of friends small, and knowing there’s nothing you can do to change your past, so there’s no real reason to be scared. After that is The Bitters, probably my favorite song on the album, or at the very least the first one to really peak my interest on the first listen. Just the hook of “Wishing failure, on a stranger/eat shit until you choke/even parasites have the foresight/not to kill their hosts” speaks volumes on the type of person they’re trying to convey in the whole song. This recurring character of a sociopathic shit head. Yankee Trails continues the feeling of a flawed protagonist. Being told they keep making the same mistakes, they need to learn from them and “find new trouble” new mistakes for them to learn from - shaping them into an overall better human.

Finishing the album is the LONG ONE, Peer Review is an incredibly relatable song about thinking you are better than the folks you are in the same situation as. With the hook ending with the solid line of “can’t they see I’m nothing like them?” Not much more I want to really write about the song, go listen to it for yourself, it’s a great song.

Overall: This album isn’t a selfish album. Instead of being insular it talks about the experiences of others, while still relating it to their sense of self. It’s refreshing hearing an album that sounds like this musically, with lyrics that go beyond the shallowness of “fuck my bitch ex gf” that has taken over the genre as a whole since it’s inception. I was never a huge Drug Church fan, until now, maybe someday I’ll make a “Drug Church Hits” cd for my son, what a fucked up world that would be.

Grade: A-

Favorite Songs: The Bitters and Peer Review

(honestly didn't watch this before writing this article, watch as I'm wrong about everything lmao)

[real-artemis]

my canon divergent street feeling fanfiction

street feeling 2: the downward spiral/alternate universe

after saving all of coventry from evil vampires churches was living it large. no weird dorks or bitchy goth vampires in his ear about “consumerism” and “time travel” no more. the guy was doing great. after getting promoted at the government he had nothing to do but be rich and sit in his mansion so he had taken up alcoholism as a honby.

he took a swig from his alchemized (he has an alchemiter like in homestuck) simpsons branded liquor. man…. this must be what it feel like to be a vampire… he thought to himself, letting the booze consume him rather than tonconsume the booze. you could say,the consumer, the vampire was really him all along.

on his super awesome rich boy couch, staring off into the void of alcoholism, churches is consumed by unimaginable horror. he is alone. frick. lanky was fine i guess but that’s his associate you gotta have some boys to hang out with you know no gang no life. no ska. no synthesizer. fucking damn it.

i should call carp, he thought.. oh wait he cannot. maybe i shouldnt have turned carp into the evil meat eater police where they would be converted into a hippie stoner for life, a punishment worse than death. the fact that theyre dead isn’t why he cant call them its that he cant bare to face the terror he created. or maybe it was the meat eater police. either way he is complacent and shameful as across every timeline.

i should call them, he said out loud despite the sentence not being in quotation marks, disregarding the previous train of thought becauuse that is alchohlohlism for you (see: roxy lalonde of homestuck fame) and he picked up his garfield telephone and dialed those fateful digits

“suhhh mane i havent heard from yew in weeeeks mane”

fuck. he forgot they turned them canadian too. this is gonna be hard.

“carp. the alcohol has turned me to a life of platonic celibacy. why hasn’t frankie called me in three weeks”

“dont swet it mane they heard about the vampire thing and fled the country mane sory”

FUCK. “but i didnt turn them in”

“yeaaaaa but they went to merica where theres more meat.” yes, he thought, because americans are obese. why hadn’t he thought of this sooner? he has to go to texas. he will find some boys there. he will find gang. there will be synthesizers of all shapes and colors.

“i have to go carp”

“what mane but we just started talking mane”

“i hate you canadian carp. i hate you so much. do you know what it means to hate? i didn’t. i thought i did. i thought i did when i rid coventry of vampires. i thought i did when i changed my name. i thought i did five minutes ago before i called you. but i didnt. i never have, not until now, not until now have i known what it means to hate. i hate you. hate. hate. i hate y”

they hung up. damn. couldnt even ask them which way texas is. from coventry its probably like diagonal left, but due to being shit face slammed out on alcohol churches does not know his left from right. but what he does know is what he must do. he must go.

churches makes a beeline out the window. FOR TEXAS, he thinks, heading straight for canada. he doesnt make it very far before falling into the river and drowning. thus was the life of churches patrick rothschild. god bless and amen. rest in peace those damn vampires rest in peace all of them. the end

i love this so much new pinned post there are tears in my eyes this is the most awesome shit ive ever read i love churches roxy lalonde alchoholism texas garfield phone i love canadian hippie stoner carp i love texas frankie i love rich boy associate lanky

[uh-velkommen]

I love Bastille for such a peculiar reason 

They make such smooth, easy listening music that I just feel happy listening to them. Like there’s not a single stressor in the world that could bother me with Dan’s voice in my headphones. It’s strange because Fall Out Boy is my favorite band for many reasons; their instrumentals hit all the marks when I was searching for emo bands to get into, the talent is there, the lyrics are so raw and relatable, their concepts are creative with the pop culture references and the soulful influences, not to mention the years of drama and history that followed that band leaving plenty of new things for me to discover over the years. Bastille, I couldn’t even tell you the names of the other members yet every time one of their songs pop up in my playlist, my brain goes “Omg my favorite band!” Now that I think of it, my discovering Bastille and Fall Out Boy almost happened in the same way. I heard the song for a second (Pompeii and My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark) and without hesitation went, “Who sings this I need to look into them” But when it happened with Fall Out Boy, I had the means to actually look into them. When it happened with Bastille (and I love telling people this story) the most I could do was turn my radio on every day at 3 p.m. exactly to catch the stations “Top ten hits” play Bastille until Pompeii was no longer a top ten hit. And just like that, they left my brain. Years later I got a job and with my first paycheck I didn’t go “Finally, I can get Fall Out Boy merch!” No, I bought a Bastille Album. It was Wild World and I love that album to death but still not more than Fall Out Boy...

As I write this post, I had finally listened to their new song (two months old now because it had been sitting in my “Watch Later” since it came out) Shut Off The Lights and it nearly had me in tears by the end. I wish I could tell you why. It’s such a simple song and Dan doesn’t do anything particularly amazing with his voice. But I was so happy that it was so good. I think I had started to fall off the band wagon when the album Doom Days came out. I thought, “Man I spent money on this band and now all their music is starting to sound the same.” I’ve only found one band that was able to switch up their sound but still sound like them and that was Pierce The Veil. Where each album feels fresh, new, and exciting but doesn’t feel like a part two to their previous album or an entirely different band (which Fall Out Boy had admittedly, fallen subject to). However, Pierce The Veil isn’t even in my top 3 favorite bands. But Doom Days man, I can’t remember if every song sounded way too similar to the next or if the album as a whole had reused too many sounds from their previous ones. It was such a let down and then the Goosebumps EP came out and by then I gave up my loyalty. I mean I really hate that EP. I’m really disappointed that they drifted away from that experimental indie-alternative band sound to songs that follow such a boring poppy song structure. Also, if a band pumps out a bunch of music too quickly (which is an issue I’ve found with Dance Gavin Dance whose music is also starting to sound all too similar) or consecutively bad music over the course of a long period (because imagine waiting years for new music just to be disappointed over and over again) then I get frustrated and eventually lose interest. 3 strikes. Now as I sit here listening to Give Me The Future for the first time, I’m not impressed. 

First of all, is the amount of auto tune a stylistic choice? My favorite Bastille songs have been the ones with minimal music, Two Evils, Four Walls, even the orchestra version of Warmth because Dan’s voice is that good. That’s also why I hate Novocain by Fall Out Boy. I absolutely love Patrick Stump’s voice and the effects on top of it completely take me out of the experience. Don’t get me wrong, I like that some of the songs have a clear 80s influence (that’s a trope I’ll never get tired of) but that doesn’t automatically make the song good. So why is it that I got to Shut Off The Lights and I’m immediately made happy again. Is it the looming melancholic vibes of the instrumentals? The romantic lyrics? The passion you can actually hear in Dan’s voice? The clear harmonies or the easy bobbing of my head to the beat? What is this formula that Bastille is so good at achieving yet only does 50 percent of the time? Why is it that I always forget how much I like them until I play Wild World and immediately become enamored? How can they be so close to my favorite when I don’t even like half of their discography? I just don’t get it.

[teiasviago]

Trying

Rated T | Alternate Universe | @today-in-fic

As I sense is becoming a theme, Jake and Amy from Brooklyn Nine-Nine are the inspiration for this MSR fic. This conversation was the catalyst; the scenes in this fic are taken heavily from B99’s “Trying” (7.06) and “Casecation” (6.12), as well as TXF’s “Per Manum” flashbacks. This fic is set in an alternate universe.

—

They’ve been trying for exactly nine months, now. Mulder knows this because Scully keeps detailed calendars marking the specifics of it all and on the fifth day of the month nine months ago, they agreed to start trying to have a baby.

He’s bouncing his leg, waiting for Scully to get back from the bathroom with the latest test result. He heard a flush a few minutes ago, so any second now... The door to their bathroom—one that has two sinks, a bath, and a shower because she insisted—opens with a creak.

Mulder watches as she stands completely still in the doorway, looking down at the stick. “It didn’t take, did it?” he inquires, but he already knows the answer.

Scully sniffles, her face starting to crumble, and he immediately makes his way over to her, bringing her into his embrace. She wraps her arms around him, burying her face in his chest as she tries to stop herself from crying.

“It feels like it’s too much to hope for, Mulder,” she says, clutching at him amidst her sea of tears.

“Hey, hey, it’s only been nine tries, honey. Sometimes—sometimes it takes a while. We knew that going in.” Mulder strokes the back of her head, pressing a kiss to the crown.

“Yeah, but... I feel like everyone else in my life has kids, and—and I—I can’t even get pregnant with one. What am I supposed to do with my life if I’m not a mother?”

“Oh, Scully, don’t say that. You’d still be my wife... You’d still be an award-winning neurosurgeon... Even if we don’t get pregnant the old-fashioned naked-pretzel way...” He trails off as she lets out a choked laugh. “...we can try IVF, or adoption. So you’re going to be a mother no matter what, Scully. It doesn’t define you as a person, either, whether or not we conceive. You’re amazing, all day every day.”

She sniffles again and leans away from Mulder, a tremulous smile on her lips. “I know. I just...really want this. I mean, I’ve spent my whole life knowing that I was going to have kids one day, and it’s just sort of hitting now that it’s been—”

“—nine months since we started trying,” he says with her. “And if it worked the first time, we would be nearly full term.”

Scully loses a battle and the tremulous little smile falls from her face as she nods and steps away to grab some tissues. “I can’t help but wonder if there’s something wrong with me, you know? Not—not physically, but... Is this some sort of punishment from God? Is he telling me that I’m not good enough to be a mother?” Another tear streaks down her cheek.

“Dana, look at me,” Mulder implores, cupping her cheeks and forcing her to look up at him. “You’ve done nothing wrong. You’re not being punished for any perceived sins, it’s just science.”

“Science,” she repeats, glancing between his eyes.

“Yes. Science. And science says that, since we’re both healthy thirty-somethings, we’re bound to get pregnant eventually.”

Scully nods and lets him enfold her in his arms again. “I don’t know if I want to keep trying,” she whispers, nuzzling her face further into his chest.

“What?”

“I can’t keep doing this, Mulder. Even if it’s not some sort of punishment and it’s just science, I...I can’t keep looking at the negative results on these tests.” She starts to cry again, muffling her sobs against Mulder’s shirt. “I just want a baby... Is that so much to ask for?”

“No... No, it’s not.”

—

One Year Ago.

“You must be the Mulders, Dana and Fox!” Mark greets, just as handsome as Ellen had described to Scully over the phone. “Welcome, welcome. Congratulations.” He leads them into the spacious living area in his and Ellen’s new house, where a handful of people are lounging. Mulder and Scully sit down on one of the couches and wave as Mark introduces them. “We heard that you’re newlyweds. Where’d you honeymoon?”

Scully, painfully aware of Mulder’s hand possessively resting on her hip, tells a little bit of their trip to his family’s beach house, the name of which she can never pronounce. She gets cut off when her godson rushes into the room and over to Mark, whispering into his step-father’s ear.

“Alright,” Mark says, before turning him around to face Mulder and Scully. “Go say hi to Dana and Fox and then ask Mommy in the kitchen.”

“Hi, Auntie Dana. Hi, Mr. Fox.” The young boy waves and bolts off to the kitchen.

“Ah, kids. Gotta love ‘em,” Mark sighs with a smile. “Are you two planning on having any of your own?”

“Uh, yeah,” Scully answers. “We’re gonna start trying soon. I’m so glad I’ve found the perfect person to make children with.”

She smiles bashfully at Mulder and a split second later, he reciprocates.

“Dinner’s ready!” Ellen calls from the kitchen, and everyone files into the dining room.

On the way there, he catches Scully by the wrist and pulls her aside. “What was that back there?” he hisses at her, leaning so close to her face that she’s sure his back is going to hurt later.

“What do you mean?” she asks, looking up at him incredulously.

“You just lied to Mark!”

“What!? No I didn’t! What the hell are you talking about?”

He tilts his head and raises his brows. “You don’t—? Scully, you told him that we’re going to try to get pregnant soon!”

“Of course I did! I told him the truth! Why are you acting like we didn’t decide this already!?”

“We didn’t!” Mulder hisses.

“What!? You don’t remember!? I showed you a picture of Matthew swimming in the Pacific on his birthday a few months ago and I said, ‘We should do this,’ and you said, ‘Definitely, I’ll set aside some money!’”

“I was talking about a trip to San Diego! You were talking about having a baby!?”

“Yes!”

“Oh my God.”

Scully groans softly and rubs her temples. “This isn’t the place. Let’s talk about this later.”

“Yeah...”

—

The drive home is tense and silent. Not a word is spoken until they shed their coats and sit down on Mulder’s transplanted leather couch. “You don’t want children,” Scully states, hands folded primly in her lap.

He sighs and rubs his hands over his face. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? Well, I do. And I can’t just sit around and wait until you do know.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Scully. Am I getting in the way? Why don’t you just get up and leave if I’m of no use to you, then? God knows everyone else has.”

“Mulder—” she started, voice much softer.

“I’m sorry that I can’t give you what you want.”

“Mulder...”

“I’m sorry that I have no idea how to be a father.”

“Mulder, stop!” Scully insisted, looking distressed, and they finally made eye contact. “Is that what you’re worried about? Whether or not you’d be a good father?”

Mulder is silent for a moment before he sighs and nods. “Yeah,” he admits, averting his eyes.

“Oh, honey... You’d be a great father. I wouldn’t want to have kids with you if I thought otherwise.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Well, um... I don’t think having a baby is out of the question. I just...I don’t know if I’m ready, yet. It’s all so sudden, you know? Can we wait a few months? And then we can talk about trying. I—I need to get used to the idea of being a dad.”

“Yeah, of course.” Scully rubs his back with a small smile on her face, and it grows wider when Mulder turns his head to look at her.

“We can start looking at baby names, if you want. We’ll have to come up with something cooler than ‘Fox’, though.”

They both laugh at that, leaning into each other’s embraces.

—

Present Day.

“Scully, I think that we need to take a break from trying for a while,” Mulder says, getting situated behind her in bed. “Focus on ourselves, okay?” She nods. “Remember how we met?”

Scully smiles, entwining her fingers with his over her abdomen. “Yeah. You, the rugged child psychologist; me, the savvy pediatric neurosurgeon.”

“We argued our way through Christine’s treatment.” Mulder nuzzles the side of her face, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“It worked, didn’t it?”

“That it did.”

They’re both silent for a while. “Mulder?”

“Yes?”

“I want...” Scully swallows heavily. “Can we have sex tonight? For us.”

He slides his hand lower, crowding his body against hers. “Of course.”

—

Ten Months Earlier.

His wife’s been short-tempered all day with him, only talking to him about their intersecting patient, Patrick. Mulder finally corners Scully in her office as she’s packing up.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” he asks, leaning against the door with his arms crossed.

“I’m fine,” she says sharply, and he sighs heavily.

“Are you really pulling that shit again? To me, of all people?”

Scully’s facing away from him, parsing through the filing cabinets behind her desk; she stops at his words, sliding the drawer shut before leaning her forehead against the metal storage unit. That’s when he hears her start to cry.

“Oh, Scully, honey... C’mere.” Mulder walks around her desk and wraps an arm around her, giving her a nudge to accept his embrace. She does, wrapping her arms around his neck as she starts sobbing in earnest. “Did something happen to one of your patients? What’s wrong?”

Scully shakes her head and continues to cry for a few minutes. When the tears have slowed down, she sniffs and pulls away to grab some tissues and blow her nose. “No. I mean, I’ve been handling a high-intensity patient all week, as you know, so there’s that. But I—” She has to stop and blow her nose again. She meets his gaze afterwards. “I think I might be pregnant. My period’s late—I was supposed to get it a week ago. And we agreed to wait a few months so I’m scared that if I am pregnant that you won’t be ready and that everything will go to shit and I love you too much for that and—”

Mulder cups her cheeks and runs the pads of his thumbs over her lips. “It’s okay,” he tells her, voice impossibly soft. “It’s okay.”

She sniffles. “Really?”

He smiles tremulously. “Really.” She sighs heavily and pulls him in for a long hug. “Come on, let’s go home. We can stop by a store and buy some tests. Whether or not you’re pregnant, we’ll be okay.”

“Okay,” she sighs.

—

The test comes back negative so Scully musters a smile and tosses the stick away as she walks to the kitchen. “What do you want for dinner?”

They don’t talk about it until they’re getting ready for bed and she won’t meet Mulder’s eyes.

“Scully?” he starts over the sound of her electric toothbrush.

“Hm.”

“Can I tell you something?”

She leans over and spits, turning off the toothbrush before wiping her face clean. “Of course,” Scully replies, placing the brush in its stand.

“I, uh...” Mulder fumbles, and she looks up at him. “I...I was a little bit—well, actually, a lot a bit—disappointed that the test came back negative.” He’s gazing at his wife’s flyaway baby hairs instead of her eyes.

“You were?”

“Yeah.”

Scully takes his hand and leads him to sit on the edge of the bed together. “Is it safe to assume you know that I was, too?”

He nods with a small laugh, entwining their fingers when it fades. “Do...do you want to start trying? I think I’m ready now.”

She lets out a soft gasp, her eyes filling with tears. “You mean it?”

“Yeah,” Mulder replies, voice impossibly soft. “I’m ready.” He brings his hand to her lips with a smile that lights up his eyes.

Scully lets out a tearful laugh before cupping his cheeks and pulling him in for a kiss.

—

Present Day, 5 Weeks Later.

Mulder jogs through the halls of the hospital until he finds Scully’s room number and bursts inside, breathless. “Scully, baby, what happened? You collapsed—you had a nosebleed? Are you alright?”

She nods, a smile on her face. Scully doesn’t look as sick as he’d feared, he notices, smoothing her hair back and tucking it behind her ears. “Does this have anything to do with how you’ve been feeling these past couple of weeks?” Mulder cautiously asks, sitting down in the chair behind him.

He moves it closer to her bedside as Scully’s smile turns into a grin. “I’m pregnant, Mulder.”

“Oh—my God, you are?” She nods. “You are! Oh, Scully...” He starts to cry as he gathers his wife into his arms as much as possible, and Scully does the same.

“We did it, Mulder,” she says, pressing a kiss to his head. “We did it.”

“Oh, I was so worried,” Mulder admits, sniffling as he lets her go and adjusts in the chair. “What did the doctors say?”

“Prenatal vitamins and a less strenuous workload. I have to drop my patient load from seven to five, and go from there. I’ll have to hand off a couple kids but I know just who to ask.”

“I’m glad.” Mulder clasps her hand and brings it to his lips. “I’m ready for this, Scully. Well, as ready as anyone can be.”

“Me, too, Mulder. Me, too.”

[toraashi]

ahem. i present to you: zuzu's song rec list.

trivia love - bts (i had a whole character arc through this song, okay.)

the kids aren't alright - fall out boy (idk why this song brings me so much peace but it does)

chicken wings - samm henshaw (i got a thing for horns, i guess? fuckin' love samm's music though, please do explore his discography!)

freezing - bren joy (MEWWWWZIKKKK, DO YOU HEAR ME)

死ぬのがいいわ - fuiji kaze (smth about this one.. yeah)

heaven is a place in my head - bad suns (so much serotonin, not enough time)

cemetery - coin (these songs in this album remind me of the modern!xiao i conjured in my head.. ugh <3)

okay i'll stop, i'm annoying enough as is 🧍🏽

- zuzu('s love language is music, sorry)

ZUZU okay okay don't even apologize you could never be annoying and i love sharing music like this and i just ascend when people send me music recs so lemme take some time to go through these

it’s kinda long so like... hopefully i wasn’t the one being annoying this time 😭 i love music so much too so i just kinda went all in

1.    okay i love this song so much. i heard it when it came out but it's probably my favorite of the "trivia" solos the rap line did in that era 😭. the piano has a death grip on my heart it's just so romantic and so like happy ugh i will be throwing myself at namjoon's feet

2.    i was obsessed with fall out boy and this entire album when i was 15, but this song has just been so timeless to me especially as an adult now. I love the pre-chorus and the bridge so fucking much especially the line "i just wanna sit around and gaze at my shoes, and let your dirty sadness fill me up just like a balloon," patrick stump just goes in on that line and it just ends me everytime

3.    okay first impression i love the fullness of the singer's voice and the dynamics in the song! like you can hear tires skidding and then that break between the verse and chorus with the dialogue -- it just has so much character and is so easy to listen to like i have a whole image in my mind about the setting and the colors- ugh this is def going into one of my (89) playlists

4.    okay so i haven't heard this song before, but i am listening to it now, and i am obsessed with the vocals + the lyrics. the extended metaphor with the water is just *chef's kiss*. it's so peppy but in such a catchy way! i love the piano from the beginning hiding in the background of the song too. thank you for giving me a gem to listen to on the way to work!

5.    I’m absolutely seeing a theme with the piano base with r&b vibes and i’m loving it so much and i’m loving that i can see what type of music you’ve been listening to lately through these songs. My favorite part after the beat is just the vocal inflections like it’s just so intricate and melodic i love it! there’s also this one repeating part where it just like starts low and goes up (i don’t know enough about singing to tell you exactly which part 😭) but it’s sooo addictive!

6.    i only know a few songs by bad suns (my fav is maybe we’re meant to be alone), but i’ve always loved the like super high energy peppy rock/pop mix. it’s hard to describe but the vocals are very reminiscent of 80s rock and i love that trend in 10s alternative music. This songs gives me just an image of driving down a super flat road in the summer just like sun on your skin, breeze in your hair like just laughing and happiness. but overall i love it and the concept makes me want to write about wonderfully bittersweet things LMAO

7.    okay so i listened to this a few times and i’m obsessed with the bridge i love the melody of it. i don’t know a ton of coin songs, but the ones i do know would literally be so cute with modern!xiao (who i’m obsessed with like xiao actually being able to be happy just 🥺🥺 i want to squish him and make him laugh) but anyway i really enjoyed how this song sounded a little more minimalistic compared to the other coin songs i’ve heard and i liked the concept of the song. existentialism in music is just always so good lmaoo

ANYWAY i hope that wasn’t too much 😭💕 i loved your music but my favorite from the ones i hadn’t heard was probably the chicken wings one! i usually listen to music that’s a little more chill/easy listening and i just liked how dynamic and individualistic that song felt especially with all the spontaneous noises that really created the imagery in my head idk! send more music recs whenever you want i love them 😭💕 

[thisaintascenereviews]

State Champs - Kings Of The New Age Some albums or genres of music are made for specific seasons. I’ve always associated folk music with the wintertime, simply because folk music, like the wintertime, is quiet, sparse, darker (usually in its tone or overall presentation), and it’s not as huge, bright, or as loud as other times of year or other styles of music. I think another part of that is because I got into folk and indie music during the winter, especially when albums from bands like Mumford & Sons, Of Monsters & Men came out, as well as all of those types of bands when they were huge in the mid-00s and early 2010s, so I associate that kind of music with that time of year. The same thing can be said for pop-punk; I got into pop-puhk the spring / summer of 2012, and I remember it well; it had been around a year after I got out of high school, and I was looking into new kinds of music, as I had been into metalcore and deathcore throughout my high school years (I had also liked a lot of classic rock, but when I discovered metalcore, deathcore, and Hot Topic, everything changed), and I found pop-punk. I got into the genre at a really good time, because bands like The Wonder Years, Citizen, Real Friends, The Story So Far, and State Champs (who is the subject of this review) were popping up. I remember that I ordered copies I Call Fives and With The Punches’ new albums for my birthday, and I was really excited about them, because they were two really underrated bands in the scene at the time. Over the last ten years, though, my feelings on pop-punk have become very complicated. I wrote a review that was almost a breakup letter to pop-punk when I reviewed one of the last State Champs albums, and I don’t remember what I said in the review, although I’m sure I could look it up, I just remember talking about how boring that album was, and how generic, boring, and uninteresting it’s become, because every band started doing the same things that The Wonder Years, Citizen, Real Friends, and Man Overboard were doing, and it was just so lifeless. I’d say that my feelings have changed since then, because a lot of pop-punk bands have been moving into a more alt-rock / pop-rock direction, all the while still retaining their pop-punk sound. Bands like All Time Low, Neck Deep, and even State Champs aren’t really pop-punk anymore, but they seem to be doing just well within the genre. I’ve always liked pop-punk bands that place more emphasis on the “pop” than the punk, and bands like Broadside, State Champs, I Call Fives, and Stand Atlantic (stay tuned for a review on their new album, too, and I cannot wait to talk about that one) really caught my attention, but not many bands like that exist anymore, unfortunately. I don’t listen to too much pop-punk anymore, but there are a few bands I still listen to. We Were Sharks, Settle Your Scores, Belmont (they dropped a really cool album earlier this year), Four Year Strong (they aren’t new, I just really like them; they’ve always been one of my favorite pop-punk / easycore bands), and Sincere Engineer are some newer bands that I’ve gotten heavily into over the last few years, but State Champs is one of those bands I like to check in on whenever they release a new record. They were one of the original bands that really caught my interest in the whole “pop” over punk thing, because their vocalist, Derek Discanio, has a voice that’s very well-suited for alternative and pop-rock, versus pop-punk. He reminds me a lot of Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, and I think one big reason why I like pop-punk bands like this is because I love Fall Out Boy, and Stump’s vocals always stood out to me, because he can, well, sing. My big issue with pop-punk is that a lot of vocalists in the scene can’t sing. They do this really whiny yelp, or they just sound extremely flat and lifeless. That works for a majority of the bands in the genre, but it doesn’t mean that it’s anything more than “good,” not necessarily great. I digress, though, let’s talk about State Champs and their new album, Kings Of The New Age. I wasn’t originally interested in this record, even though I enjoyed their last album, 2018′s Living Proof, because it showed them going into that pop-rock direction, and it was really catchy, slick, and a lot of fun, despite not being anything of substance. I listened to the singles of this new album, and for the most part, it was exactly the same kind of thing -- catchy, fun, but devoid of any real substance. To be fair, though, is that what I’m looking for when it comes to pop-punk? Not necessarily, especially when this kind of music is perfect for this time of year. It’s either warming up where you live, or if you live in the south, which I do, it’s already summer, so pop-punk is great. I’ve spent the last week with this album, and I plan on spending more time with it, but I really enjoy this record. Kings Of The New Age isn’t necessarily the best album of the year, but I’ll be damned if it’s not one of the most fun albums of the year. Don’t get me wrong, Kings Of The New Age doesn’t do anything differently that Living Proof didn’t do, but if anything, it honed on what it did well. This band has always had a knack with catchy songwriting and really good hooks, and man, this album delivers. Songs like “Everybody But You,” featuring Ben Barlow of Neck Deep, “Fake It,” and “Outta My Head,” among others, are insanely catchy songs that I get excited about whenever I listen to them. It helps a lot that this album is only 35 minutes, like most pop-punk albums are, so it’s very quick and to the point. The album never meanders, nothing ever feels like it’s too long, and it just does what it sets out to do. That’s not a bad thing at all, and I commend the album for that, but it does lack any real substance. The most you’ll get, lyrically speaking, are songs about summertime, or songs about girls and relationships, but these are songs typical for pop-punk. There’s nothing worthwhile in the lyrics here, but they’re just fine for the genre. What is interesting, though, are the features on this album, and I already mentioned Ben Barlow of Neck Deep, but Four Year Strong appears on “Sundress” (which is kind of weird, but oh well; it’s not like it’s an easycore song), singer Chrissy Costanza of the band Against The Current is featured on “Half-Empty” (I just looked her up, because I had no idea who she was, but that makes sense), and the weirdest feature is country singer Mitchell Tenpenny on the song “Act Like That,” and his feature is really good, even if it’s extremely brief. None of these features add anything to the album, despite being all good, it’s just these artists come and go real quick without contributing much. I’m sorry this review ended up being really long, I didn’t intend for that, but it’s been awhile since I’ve written a very long review. I have a lot of things to say about this record, but nothing surprisingly negative. This album is great, and it took me a few listens to really sink my teeth into it, but I couldn’t blame someone that didn’t really care for this. I wouldn’t say this album is worse than their older material, and I think it’s better, but they are more of a pop-rock band at this point, so I could see the pretentious and annoying pop-punk fans that think any band that either gets bigger or moves into a sound like this as “selling out,” even though they got a lot of flack for that on Living Proof. I just have a lot of history with this band, because it’s been ten years since I’ve been a fan of them. I remember hearing their first EP back in 2011 or 2012, and really enjoying it, so it’s cool to see them going a decade later, and they’re still one of the biggest bands of the underground pop-punk scene. If you are a fan of these guys, I’d check it out, and if you enjoy some catchy, fun, and well-written pop-rock / pop-punk, you might enjoy this one. Like I said earlier, it might not be super high on my yearend list, and it’s not one of the greatest albums of the year, but it’s still going to be there in some capacity. I’ve had a lot of fun with this record, especially in a way that I haven’t had fun with an album in a long time, but I think it’s because this record came out at the perfect time. This is the perfect album for summertime, so I can see myself playing this a lot during the next few months, and I won’t be complaining whatsoever.

[petewentzisblack1312]

What got you into fob? I've seen your posts a lot and I always wonder how some peeps found the boys

ok so we have to start when i was about 6 ish years old, 2006 thereabout, when some show comes on and i see some dude on the screen who has like. eyeliner and straight black bangs and i dont know why but this freaks little me the fuck out and i knew 1 thing and it was that this dude was like an example of a cliche rock and roll guy so i decided right then and there i would NEVER get into alternative music because i did not under any circumstances want to look like that.

so fast forward almost a decade, i have just learnt albums are a thing that exist with maroon 5s overexposed (this is so sad alexa press f) and my best friends and i go to the movies to watch big hero 6 bc i thought itd be fun, and i realised Holy Shit I Love This Movie And Also Want To Be An Engineer, and then the scene plays (you know the scene) and my friend and i turn to each other and agree, this song? a banger. hard as hell. love this shit. and i left the theatre and i couldnt get the song or the movie out of my head so i subsequently watched big hero 6 like 2 more times (very major for me, a person who doesnt really watch movies) and listened to immortals by playing the music video (i use the term loosely) on loop for like 2 days. and then i realised, boy. i sure do like this song and i think its my favourite song and i cant even parse the lyrics. i should listen to some other stuff. so i listened to other stuff off ab/ap, on shuffle, and i loved it a lot and i realised immortals wasnt even my favourite song anymore. so i was like dang, if thats the case i should listen to another album by them (because rememver id just learned albums exist) so i listened to save rock and roll, again on shuffle (because it didnt really occur to me that order mattered yet, one foot in the door) and i realised again, liked this even more than what i last listened to. so then i went to folie a deux, and im not sure if i hit shuffle, because the first thing that played was disloyal order. and i thought for a moment something was wrong, because it was quiet, but then there was the click of what i now know to be billiards balls, and the organs, and patricks voice, and i think i met a god when i heard that. i think that did something to me.

from then on i was hooked. im still hooked, mind you, but i have the benefit of not being 14 now. so everything i did had to be related to fall out boy. hell i could play the 7 degrees of fall out boy if anyone would humour me. i was obsessed. so then, a few months later, my art teacher gave us an assignment to draw facial details, but i didnt feel comfortable asking my friends because i wasnt used to having good ones yet so i thought theyd say no, so i decided, hey. google pictures of fall out boy. so i did, i opened google and searched 'pete wentz' and was looking for good pictures to use as a reference and then i came across the exact picture of him that scared me into avoiding alternative music for my entire life up until that point. i honestly dont know which one it is anymore (i THINK it was him in the full band portrait from ioh?) but i still think that its fucking hilarious that seeing pete wentz kept me from realising im a fan of pete wentz. 6 year old dils would hate my style so much til i explain that ironically our exact philosophy is entailed by those scary rock and roll type people. like to a T i was straight up an anarchist (and kind of a communist too?) without even really understanding what that means. its hilarious.

anyway thats how i became a fall out boy fan.

[oblivi-ace97]

Marissa’s 31 Nights of Halloween

Today’s movie: Phantom of the Opera

Ok so I know I did like a whole “live blogging” for this movie last year but I’m gonna do it again cause why not. I apologize in advance for repeating anything from last year.

The overture is an absolute banger! Like say what you will about Andrew Lloyd Webber but he did not have to go that hard on this overture but I’m so glad he did. Like wow 10000/10

I also love seeing the opera house be restored to its former glory! It’s very satisfying.

Is Patrick Wilson wearing a wig in this movie? Or is his hair just naturally that bright and silky?

It’s not a legit theatre company if there isn’t a dramatic bitch like Carlotta.

The phantom really just straight up tries to kill Carlotta because he doesn’t like her singing.

I love how Madame Giry is the only one speaking with a French accent.

How can you not have an understudy??????

I know Emmy Rossum is wearing a wig but god I wish my hair looked that good. Like that’s how I think my hair looks all the time but I usually look like a witch that lives in the woods.

Is it actually possible for the phantom of hear Christine all the way down in the bowels of the theatre????

RAOUL YOU ARE SO FUCKING RUDE GETTING IP AND LEAVING IN THE MIDDLE OF A PERFORMANCE

Don’t be like Raoul kids. Leaving in the middle of a performance is poor theatre etiquette (unless you are dying but even then just quietly die in your seat as to not disrupt the show) this has been PSA.

RAMIN!!!! I always forget he’s in the movie for like .2 seconds

God Emmy Rossum is so pretty! I wish I looked like her when I was 16!

Madame Giry you can’t just watch the phantom lock Christine in her dressing room and do nothing that’s not ok

If I saw a man appear in my mirror I would run so fast

The title song is such a bop

2 gates and a curtain as the entrance to your home…you are so extra phantom

All those candles are a fire hazard! Like how did the opera house not burn down sooner with the collection of candles that phantom has

AND HE LEAVES MOST OF THEM LIT WHEN HES NOT HOME!!! DUDE YOUR BLATANT DISREGARD FOR BASIC FIRE SAFETY IS CONCERNING

Has anyone ever thought about the phantom being a vampire???? Cause like the dude hates sunlight. He lives in the basement of an opera house. We never see the man eat. He has a flair for the dramatic. He likes to wear a cape. The evidence is stacking up.

Also I think him being a vampire would explain all the candles.

Although now that I think about it he can see his reflection…I don’t care I still think he’s a vampire

I think if the phantom weren’t a creepy stalker I would fall for him. Like I can excuse murder but I drawn the line at stalking and being possessive.

If he weren’t a stalker he would just be a dramatic goth boy that is a music prodigy…well and murderer I guess but you could argue that he murdered people because he was a stalker so…

DISCLAIMER: I am fully aware that the phantom is a bad person and super toxic I’m just saying in an alternate universe where he wasn’t I think I would love him.

The man has curtains around his bed…that’s so dramatic…I love it

Christine you can’t just take off people’s masks without permission…it’s rude

How long was Christine missing? I don’t think I’ve ever known

If they ever made a modern version of phantom of the the opera would the phantom send emails to everyone instead of letters? The idea of that makes me giggle

I fucking love Prima Donna! I feel like it gets slept on.

I love how the phantom goes up to the top of the theatre to deliver his ominous message. Like did he go around the theatre a decided that that spot had the best acoustics

If was sitting in box 5 I would be shitting a brick. I would be like I’m so sorry I’ll move here’s your box mr theatre ghost

How did Bouquet not fucking scream when he turned and the phantom was directly behind him? I would have let out a full on shriek

With all the dramatic cape twirls the phantom does he’s got to be at least half vampire???

I feel like going to the roof wasn’t the smartest idea if the objective was to get away from the phantom. Why not I don’t know LEAVE THE OPERA HOUSE!

It’s been a year and I still don’t have someone singing me a love ballad on a rooftop in the snow…it’s just not fair

AND NO ONE’S KISSING ME AND SPINNING ME AROUND ON A ROOFTOP IN THE SNOW…this should be illegal

Every time I see the phantom’s face after Christine and Raoul kiss I just think of that Simpsons meme the one that’s like “you can pinpoint the exact moment his heart breaks”

Bitch she didn’t betray you! When did she tell you that she was gonna be with you? She didn’t so she didn’t betray you dude

I think the reason I don’t really care for the costumes in the masquerade scene is because they’re all the same color scheme. Like let’s have some variety.

If the engagement is supposed to be secret than why do you have the ring on a necklace for everyone to see? Like get a longer chain so you can hide it in your chest.

And then you’re making out in the middle of the ballroom. Christine I don’t think you understand the concept of a secret

The phantom does know how to make an entrance

The fucking candleholder costumes get me every time

The red death costume in the musical is much more dramatic I think movie phantom was going for sexy over dramatic but he makes up for it by bringing a sword

The way Raoul comes back he looks like he went to the bathroom and is like oh shit what did I miss

And that’s how you exit a fucking party!

Raoul you can’t guard someone if you’re a heavy sleeper. Cause what happens is the person you are protecting decides to get up early and go to the cemetery to visit her dad’s grave and you sleep through it

Did I talk about all the puffy white shirts and black pants that are in this movie last year cause there’s quite a few and just…it’s such a look. Everyone looks good in a puffy white shirt and black pants.

I wish they would have given Christine a similar style dress for Wishing like she has in the musical.

Phantom hangs out in cemeteries…that’s some vampire shit right there

I’ve said once and I’ll say it again…a sword fight is the one thing the musical is missing.

Do you think the audience was just like…why are the police here?????

I feel so bad for Christine. She’s under so much pressure.

Cue the horrified looks on the audience faces while they’re watching Don Juan

I’m sorry but mr phantom…that is the worst disguise in history and that’s including Clark Kent

I love that the phantom basically decided that if he was going to make his opera debut he was going to do it in the sexiest possible show and if that doesn’t scream dramatic ass vampire I don’t know what does

Making the chandelier crash causing the opera house to go up in flames…dramatic as fuck

And now we’ve reached the scene that to this day gives me anxiety…the scene where Raoul almost drowns

“It’s in your soul where the true distortion lies” you need some aloe for that burn phantom

Keeps an extra noose in the lake for emergencies…ok

Sometimes I wish Christine had hit the phantom over the head with a frying Pan or better yet set him on fire with all the FUCKING CANDLES THAT ARE ALL OVER THE FUCKING LAIR…that would have been a dramatic way to go out so I’m sure the phantom would have approved

You’re telling me the phantom left through some tunnel that was behind a mirror and no one found it…did they even look???? Like it wouldn’t have been that hard to find…it was just behind a curtain

Well my take away from this year’s viewing is that the phantom is a vampire and none of you can change my mind

[ivedescoveredheathsjoker]

Adrenaline

L!Joker/Patrick/Eric Draven/reader

Warnings: mentions of death

Note: this wasn't edited i just wrote it and bam posted. This was an idea given to me by @whoslaughingnow-comic while talking about Eric and my two other boys.

(Not my gif)

You had been dating Eric for about 2 years when he was brutality murdered in his apartment on Devil's night.

His death hit you like nothing else had. You felt terribly lonely and missed his loveing embrace. You had a few of his belongings which he had left in your appartment the night before; his guitar, a pic and one of his shirts.

In the weeks of his absence you had turned the pic into a necklace and wore it everywhere. Eventually it became apart of you, never taking it off.

As you tried to move on, you couldn't. Everywhere you went you were reminded of him. The old club you went to to see his band play, the coffee shop where you had your first date, the record shop where you met and eneded up going to every week.

Then there was your apartment. You had everything in boxes, seeing as you were to move in together that week. Too lazy were you to take everything out, yet it hurt to see the boxes piled high.

2 months went by when you decided to move to the other side of Gotham. A nicer area, a bit farther from the dangers of the mob. You eventually settled into the area falling into a routine, enjoying the local pub, going to cafe, and working at the record shop.

One night while you were at the pub you meet a young man named Patrick Verona. He wasn't hitting on you or trying to get your attention, no. He had asked you about the band on your shirt. The two of you talked for a while about music, movies and city life. Eventually he asked you to dance while Plainsong played in the background.

You couldn't help but smile as you danced with him. How could you not? He had the biggest smile you had ever seen!

As the night drew to a close Patrick insisted on walking you home, "It's the right thing to do." All along the way you didn't stop smiling, though in the back of your mind you worried if it was a trap. Ignoring that thought you enjoyed his company until you got to your apartment. That night you gave him your number and agreed to a first date.

As you entered your apartment smiling you frowned when you saw the gutar next to the sofa. "What would Eric think?" You wondered, "would he want me to move on?" That night for the first time in 5 months you desided not to sleep with his shirt. That night you desided to move on.

After sleeping over one night Patrick asked you about the necklace.

"Is it a lucky charm?"

"Yes...and no... It was given to me by somone I loved."

"I see," he smiled and kissed you. "Did they give you the guitar too?" You nodded.

As time went by you and Patrick were a happy couple. Though the guilt of Eric hit you at times; somtimes it was the guilt of hiding him from Patrick, other times it was the guilt you felt for loving Patrick. Those were the times you would take out his shirt and hold it tight. How it still meant so much to you with almost a year having gone by.

By the aniverseray of Eric's death, you still hadn't told Patrick about Eric. You decided that you would have them meet.

You were nervous about it. "What if Pat dosent understand...what if he gets upset." It was the day before your trip when you tell him. At first he's shocked and asks you why you hadn't told him. You explain that you were afraid he would leave you,that it would scare him away. As you told Patrick more, you can't help but cry. He held you close to him, as he rubbed your back. He had lost a few people close to him as well, but he couldn't imagine losing a partner. He could hear the love as you talked about Eric. Patric could also tell that you loved him the same way.

As you went to bed Patrick held you close to him and kissed your head.

The next day you both headed to the subway, making your way towards the east side of Gotham. Once you both arrived you showed Patrick around the area where you used to live. It was so strange being there with Patrick. You were over come with emotions as you passed the boarded up apartment building Eric used to live in. You held Patrick's hand as tightly as you could, holding back tears. Once you arrive at the graveyard, Patrick tells you to go in first and have a moment alone. Greatfully, you head towards his grave only to find an empty pit and a headstone with a crow sitting upon it.

Fearfully you call out to Patrick who comes running over to you. Both staring at the grave you both stand there dumb founded. All you can hear is the quiet echo of the city and the soft piter pater of rain.

A voice in a whisper breaks the silence. "Y/n?" You heard it and turned to see Eric. Seeing you move Patrick turns to see him. The three of you stand there staring at one another for what feels like an hour.

"E-eric? Your-your dead....ho-how...?" You say as you approach him, ever so slowly. "Y/n..." He said as he quickly aproached you huging you for the first time in a year. As he sees the tears in your eyes he wipes them away.

"I don't know what I am. All I know is that I'm back here." Is the response you receive from your previous question.

You slowly break away from the hug, sadly, as you look over to Patrick. "Th-This is Patrick. He's-he's my uh, boyfriend." Patrick nods shakily walking over to you. "Nice to uh, meet you mate." He says shaking his hand.

Eric lead you both to his apartment explaining what he knows. He wants revenge on those who killed him and tore him from his love. You gave a sad smile as you walked into the scorched apartment, seeing a few salvageable items.

You were quick to pick up a polaroid of the two of you cuddleing close. Patrick couldn't help but smile at it when he looked over your shoulder. Eric smiled as well, knowing which picture you were looking at.

You lead Patrick towards a singed black sofa and sat down listening to more of what Eric had to say. He had yet to meet a man by the name of Joker. A man who played by his own rules and was stealing money from the mob. A rumor was going around that he had offered to kill Batman for the mob.

Patrick frowned, he didn't like the idea of revenge, no matter how horrible those people were. Patrick didn't like how violent vigilantes could be, and by the sounds of it, Eric was rather violent. Especially as he heard the tale of how the gangster T-Bird died.

You on the other hand agreed. You felt that justice was finnaly being served. You were glad that your Eric was being a hero and helping to remove the scum of Gotham.

Slowly the conversation went from dark to light as Eric began to ask both of you questions. Eric had originally been taken aback when he saw Patrick with you, but was starting to warm up to him seeing that he truly did love you. As Eric asked more questions Patrick did too. Both men were curious of the other, and were quickly trusting one another.

It made you smile so brightly to see them getting to know one another without any sort of malice.

As night began to approach Patrick was the one who had to tell you that you needed to head home before it got too dark. When you began to protest Eric was quick to agree with Patrick telling you that it wouldn't be the last time you saw him. Despite how badly you wanted to stay, you began to follow Patrick out and started making your way home.

Halfway you began to notice a single black crow following the two of you. When you told Patrick he smiled telling you it must be a sign from Eric, to keep the two of you safe.

Later that night when you your arrived home you found a record from his band on the counter. Neither of you knew how it got there, but you were happy to have it.

After that day the two of you often found small presents from Eric. You also would receive random visits from Eric which slowly began to fall into a routine. Though his visits slowly became became longer and longer.

Eventually he started staying with the two of you. When he wasn't hunting out the evils of Gotham, he was sleeping on the sofa, often without either of you knowing.

When Patrick finds out he suggests that he alternates nights. At first Eric opposes this idea, not wanting to leave either of you unprotected. Though he ended up agreeing to alternate with Pat to sleep in bed. On the nights Pat slept on the sofa, Eric's crow would watch over him; allowing Eric to feel at ease with his decision.

One night you and Pat awoke to a loud thud. Thinking it was Eric coming home from his work, you told Patrick to go back to sleep, and you headed towards the kitchen.

Upon entering the kitchen you can't help but laugh at the color of his hair and coat. Unlike his ussual black attire he was wearing a purple trench coat and had his hair died green. At the sound of your laughter Eric stood up from the fridge abd as he turned you stoped laughing.

The man before you was not Eric, but rather a stranger. White, black, and red grease paint covered his face making him look even more menicing. Not to mention the feirce scars that created a permanent smile, did little to keep you calm.

"Boo." Was all he said to have you running and screaming for Patrick and Eric.

Eric arrived just in time to see you running into the bedroom and to hear the laughing in the kitchen. Eric steadily headed towards the kitchen. He frowned as he saw the clown before him.

"J..."

"Now I know why you said Boo!" J said in between bursts of laughter.

"I told you not to scare them."

Patrick of course hearing all the commotion, walked in with you trembling in his arms.

"Whose this? Howd-"

"This is the one I told you about. This is Joker. He's helping me with the mob."

Patrick looked up at him. "How? I heard he was robbing banks."

"Not just any banks, koala, but the mob's banks." Joker said as his laughing finnially died down. "It's a pleasure to meet you both." He said smiling like a toddler.

Eric gave you a hug. "He's all bark and no bite around us. He won't hurt you."

He had you and Patrick return to bed while he and J stayed up and talked about the mob.

By morning the Joker was gone and you hadn't seen him until the next week, when he jumped out from behind the door and scared you.

Though as time went by you slowly began to get used to his jump scares. His vists to your apartment slowly became more frequent. Patrick, who still felt rather uneasy around him, was beginning to become used to his presence. For Patrick the clown reminded him of a crazier version of Eric.

Eric and Patrick had become rather close in the last few months. Both of whom began to get used to the idea of napping together.

Soon J followed suit, squishing Eric in the middle of the sofa.

For you, those moments were sweet, when your boys were together peacefully. No worries. No fighting. No plans. Just peace amongst them. Somthing that neither of them tended to bring to the table.

Over this time, you too, began to have a closer bond with the crazed clown. He had even began to call you Bunny, thanks to your first encounter.

With his help though, you began to learn how to throw knives, shoot guns, and build a bomb (not that it was needed). On the other hand Patrick didn't quiet agree with J on these leasons, why should anyone know how to build a bomb. Often you and Eric would break up the bickering between the two.

As more time went by the four of you began to fall into a strange relationship. One that was rather unconventional. But then again none of you were conventional.

[stark-tony]

most recent bookmarks (6/18/21)

mcu

you game? cake time? by iron_spider (3k, T, pepperony) Peter stares at him.“I’d like your help,” Tony says, gesturing towards the ton of cakes. “Your refined palette.”Peter snorts. He can’t lie, excitement is rising in his throat and in his stomach, and he barely ate at lunch today because he was trying to finish up the book report before sixth period. “Does Miss Potts know you picked me?”“You can call her Pepper.”Peter cocks his head. “Does Pepper know you picked me to help you?”

The Dangers of Sleeping on the Upside of the Bed by Honorable_mention (1.1k, G, gen, quarantine) Midtown High School’s Academic Decathlon team had moved online. Once a week, even during the summer, everyone would log on and chat for a few minutes before trying to beat each other on Protobowl while hurling barely school appropriate threats at each other. It was really quite a lot of fun.Through these online meetings Cindy Moon had gotten the opportunity to intimately learn about her teammates in a way she hadn’t been able to when they were in-person. A person’s room and the way they talked to their family told you a lot about them.In which the members of the Academic Decathlon team get the chance to meet Peter's roommates

something bright coming his way by iron_spider (6.5k, T, gen, hurt peter) “Pete,” Tony’s voice says. “I’m heading to your location.”Peter narrows his eyes. Karen’s colors turn from dark red to a softer blue, which he takes as her celebrating Tony’s imminent arrival. How imminent? What?“What?” Peter says again. Like an idiot.“Your numbers aren’t what I like to see and you stopped moving and I was in the area, anyway. You know. Doing Iron Man things. You okay?”Peter blinks. He sees some more lights out ahead of him that he thinks are headlights, and he feels like Karen is trying to even out his vision by changing how things come across on the HUD. She’s failing, but he won’t say that. Can she read his brainwaves? No. Definitely not. Maybe. Either way he doesn’t wanna be mean to her, so he stops thinking.Ugh, his side hurts.

Of All the Nurses’ Offices in All the High Schools... by sahiya (7k, T, gen, outsiders pov, identity reveal, hurt peter) Peter Parker has his own gravitational orbit, and it tends to suck in the people around him. Including burned out school nurses who were just minding their own business.Or: Patrick Carmichael meets Spider-Man (and Tony Stark), adopts a cat, and gets just a little bit better.

a first time for everything by crowkag (7.7k, pepperony, sick peter)  “Why are you whispering?” Pepper was asking, and the other noises were receding away behind the creak of a door and click of a lock.“Because I’m hosting a vigilante super-teen with enhanced hearing this weekend.” He slumped back into the couch cushions. “Or did you forget?”There was a sharp intake of breath.“Peter? Oh god, what did you—”“Nothing,” Tony rushed out, scrambling. “He’s fine. The kid’s fine, honey.”A beat of silence.“Okay, well, he’s not fine, but—”“Tony Stark—”

Is he or Is he not? by Omenthia_Arc (43.2k, G, pepperony, 5 + 1, people think peter is tony’s kid) Five times someone thought that Peter was Tony's biological son and one time everyone thought it.

hp

The Moon Looks Lovely Tonight by Omi_Ohmy (35.7k, M, drarry, post-hogwarts, domestic) When Harry moves into the damp and empty Black house, it doesn’t quite feel like home. And then the first owl moves in. After that, it’s a steep slope leading to bed-sharing, more owls, assorted housemates, strange potions experiments, and terrible cooking. And a bit of waltzing, too.

The Wrong Sort by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle (289.5k, T, drarry, romione, gryffindor draco, canon divergence, torture)  In which Draco Malfoy is sorted into Gryffindor and everything kind of goes to Hell from there… but hey. At least there’s a chance he won’t grow up to be an awful person. Alternatively titled ‘Draco Malfoy and the Worst Goddamn Seven Years of His Life’

The Mirror of Ecidyrue by starbrigid (998.6k, E, drarry, wolfstar, romione, neville/ luna, grindeldore, lockhart/snape, time travel, fix it, abuse) All it takes is one look in a mirror and an ill-advised attempt to shatter it, before an embittered Draco Malfoy fresh out of Azkaban is sent back into his body on the day he gets his Hogwarts letter.Suddenly, Draco has an unwanted second chance, with a Sorting Hat that doesn't know what to do with him, a certain Muggleborn who won't leave his study table alone, and green eyes he just can't get out of his head. And then there's his new wand, whose choice of him could just mark him as every bit as dark a wizard as his name means he should be.

more than getting by by sarewolf (34.4k, M, wolfstar, wolfstar raises harry) “What do you want me to do?” Remus says, tiredly. All he wants is to curl up on his bed. Smoke a pack of cigarettes. Get drunk. He can’t stop looking at Harry.“Remus...” Dumbledore is gentle. Remus hates when he has that tone. Hates that he knows it will hurt. “There is no one else left.”A bitter laugh escapes him. “So you’ll curse the poor thing with a werewolf for a guardian?”

How Like Home by waitingondaisies (63.5k, T, jily, dimension travel) When Sirius falls through the veil, Harry chases after him, determined to find him on the other side. Instead, he finds nothing at all. When he wakes up, he is informed by Unspeakables that he is from an alternate universe.Thanks to his uncanny resemblance to his counterpart, Harry is readily recognized as a duplicate of Harry Potter, a normal fifteen year old boy, and is entrusted to the care of Lily and James Potter. From them, Harry discovers that Voldemort is not, and never was, a threat in this universe.Now, Harry must adapt to life with loving parents in a peaceful world.

Professor Black by Haunted_Frost (29k, T, wolfstar, professor regulus black) Kreacher's unending loyalty has allowed Regulus to survive the Inferi. In order to destroy the horcrux and ensure Voldemort's death, he goes back to Hogwarts, this time as a Potions professor. Years at this position give him new insights, even as the papers rave about how both the Blacks were traitors to their sides.When Sirius gets loose from Azkaban, Regulus knows one thing: he is not going to let his lunatic brother hurt his students.Inspired entirely by this tumblr post.

atla

(let me be) there for you by lesmiserablol (8.5k, T, zukka, post-war, bodyguard sokka, friends to lovers, idiots to lovers) Sokka pulls out a clean piece of parchment and starts to write:Reasons Why Sokka Would Be A Great Bodyguard for Lord ZukoHe smiles in satisfaction at the title. Seeing it in writing only makes him feel more confident in this brilliant, two-minute-old idea of his. Zuko is one of his closest friends, and Sokka is a great fighter, he would be the perfect bodyguard! He has the entirety of his trip in the Fire Nation to prove it to Zuko. This is going to be a piece of cake.(or, Sokka mistakes his crush for just a strong desire to be a guard for Zuko, and Suki is amused)

boy problems by burnt_oranges (22.2k, zukka, mailee, friends to lover, post-war, arranged marriage) “I accidentally signed off on an arranged marriage to Sokka,” Zuko says faintly. He sits up so fast he almost falls out of his chair. “I signed off on an arranged marriage to Sokka, and he agreed."In which Zuko suffers in a variety of ways, including but not limited to: close and constant proximity to the object of his affections, assassination attempts, and irreparable injuries to his dignity.

we really should google these things first by Bundibird (3k, G, gen, modern) Sokka's aloe vera plant is in need of a good pruning, and what's Sokka gonna do, just throw out all the pruned leaves? When instead he can make aloe vera juice? Come on. (Only - maybe he should have googled this beforehand. Because it turns out there's an edible kind of aloe, and a toxic kind. Guess what kind Sokka has. Go on, guess.)(Or: the modern AU based on the time I nearly poisoned myself with a non-edible succulent.)

spn

Checked Out by whelvenwings (27.1k, G, destiel, dreamhunter, library au, librarian castiel, writer dean, openly bi dean, misunderstandings)  Castiel Novak can think of many writers who would not be welcome under the roof of Heaven’s Gate library, where he is the librarian: Ayn Rand ranks highly (no explanation needed), as does Charles Dickens (he hasn’t forgiven Charles for the month he lost to The Pickwick Papers). And, of course, Dean Winchester. Dean Winchester, local author and obvious a-hole, who is entirely too handsome to be true and who is clearly totally lacking in profundity, intelligence, sincerity, and self-awareness. Unfortunately, though, Dean’s been invited to do a book signing at Heaven’s Gate - and Castiel’s about to be confronted by some unexpected feelings when he finally meets Dean for the first time.

Aim and Ignite by wincechesters (10.3k, M, destiel, cas in the bunker)  After the angels fall and Cas loses his grace, and with Sam still recovering from the toll taken on his body by the trials, Dean starts a prank war as a way to lighten the mood in the bunker and alleviate his boredom. It might just have some unexpected consequences. --- A post-S8 canon AU.

bnha

Izuku plays video games with the League of Villains (among other things) by ADyingFlower (54.2k, T, gen, quirkless midoriya, villain deku) Izuku plays video games with the League of Villains, denies being a villain, has his beloved animal crossing file threatened, kicks ass with a shotgun, is proposed to, learns to deal with his depression, and accidentally kidnaps the son of the number two hero. In that order.Or: Five times Izuku played online with his friends, and one time he played with them in personThen Himiko screams.“CAPTAIN!” “Y-yeah?” Tomura asks almost hesitantly. “LOOK!!” All four of them spin around, right as a cannonball comes soaring inches from Izuku’s head from the Galleon less than a three feet away from them. They scream. “OH FUCK NO NO NO NO! NO!” Dabi yells, running to load the cannons. “DUDE WE HAVE SO MUCH SHIT! NO! HOLY FUCKING SHIT!”“Hey guys, guys! Hey, chill!” Izuku shrieks frantically, right as one of the players boards their ship and starts shooting. “CHILL THE FUCK OUT!”

our trust shot full of holes by nolov (louscr) (25.9k, T, gen) When he's twelve, Izuku meets his best friend. Neither of them are especially good at having friends, but they make do.The other shoe drops less than a week into his first year at U.A.

Are You Valued? by cyber_phobia (9.2k, T, dad for one)  "What are you drawing, Izuku?" Hisashi asks with adoration dripping in his voice. "It's Uncle!" Izuku shouts, smacking his dad's arm for daring to ask once more. All the air leaves Hisashi's lungs in one fell swoop.

To Spark A Smile by awefull (1.1k, G, gen, dadzawa) A six-year-old. Aizawa was the guardian of a six-year-old. Aizawa, a pro-hero, who had poor eating habits, and no sleep schedule, was in charge of raising a little girl.He, reasonably, had some concerns.

Long Night in the Valley by Marsalias (53.7k, T, gen, suspected traitor, dad might, dad for one) On paper, the Hero Commission's plan to investigate Midoriya Izuku under the guise of a training course for combating mental quirks is solid, almost foolproof, even. If Midoriya turns out to be innocent, they can pass everything off as part of the training exercise, assuming he even remembered any of it. Otherwise, they could beg forgiveness after the traitor was securely imprisoned in Tartarus.The paper plan failed to take into account the feral ghosts living in Midoriya Izuku's head, or his equally feral living friends.Time to bring on the chaos.

i gave the voices in my head a megaphone by hannahbal (17.3k, todoroki/midoriya/shinsou) ...and they started singing Megan Thee Stallion.(Hitoshi, like any good friend, brainwashes Izuku’s anxiety away for a day so he can know some peace. The problem? Izuku has no fear of god or consequences.Izuku also has no goddamn filter.)

Nothing Could Be More Worthwhile by Krisington (3.5k, G, gen, dad might) Toshinori Yagi wouldn’t say he had let his guard down in retirement, not exactly. It was more accurate to say that he had let his guard down in his true form. He didn’t notice others, and others didn’t notice him. It had become a small pleasure, he realized, one he was reluctant to let go.He should have known better.The man managed to reach All Might’s forehead a split second before All Might grabbed the man’s arm. But a second was just enough.A villain showed All Might a vision of Izuku. Bloodied. Broken. Fading. Was that some future that would come to pass? Toshinori needed to do everything in his power to make sure it wasn't.

everything i wanted by raindrops_0 (9k, T, gen, 5 + 1) Izuku turns to face Hitoshi and flashes a bright smile, eyes folding into crescent moons.Bright like the afternoon sun swallowing Hitoshi whole, bright like All Might’s fucking perfect grin, bright like he’s already a hero.Bright like everything Hitoshi has ever wanted and then more.(Hitoshi can’t help it, but he hates. Of course Izuku can smile as if the whole world is in his hands. He’s never had to fight for every little thing and be hated for it.)Or 5 times Hitoshi misjudged the golden boy of UA, and 1 time he finally understood.

hp/bnha 

Bend Before You Break by orkestrations (16.2k, T, gen) When Izuku set out for his morning run, the last thing he was expecting was to be plucked from his own world by magic and thrown into another universe entirely.Removed from his own conflict and with no way back, he sets himself to figuring out this world and its own incipient war while searching for a way to possibly reverse the spell that brought him here.It's just his luck that the year he arrives is the same year the government decides it's a great idea to bring back the potentially-deadly tournament.

[lilhawkeye3]

Hawk’s Movie Rec List🦅🎬🍿

Okay y’know what I’m actually just gonna put together a movie rec list because why not😂 This list will include my summary, a list of starring actors that you’ll recognize in the film, and where to (legally) watch it.

What We Do In The Shadows

Hawk’s summary: a mockumentary about a quartet of vampires living in New Zealand. Also has a spin off show focusing on a group of vampires from Staten Island, NYC. Hilarious and also like... just some great supernatural content. You can watch the show without seeing the movie and tbh it’s just as amazing, if not better.

Starring: Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement, Jonathan Brugh

Streaming on: Hulu (tv show), rental on Prime (movie)

Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl

Hawk’s summary: look all the characters are great, the plot is great, zombie skeletons pirates are great, idk what else to tell you. It’s just a fun time.

Starring: Johnny Depp, Kiera Knightly, Orlando Bloom, and that cute monkey lmao. Also the dog with the keys.

Streaming on: Disney+

Young Frankenstein

Hawk’s summary: this film is a comedy and parody of classical horror films and yet manages to be the most accurate Frankenstein film to the original novel in terms of understanding the theme of man vs maker etc. And it’s Mel Brooks, the king of comedy tbh.

Starring: Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn

Streaming on: Starz/Hulu/Prime, but... you can find the full film for free very easily.

Blazing Saddles

Hawk’s Summary: another Mel Brooks comedy, this time parodying old westerns! Watch if you’re tired of racist characterizations and in need of some no barred laughs. Fair warning: they use the N word a LOT, but like... to show the absurdity of racists. Idk I saw it first when I was 8 (questionable parenting move lmao) but it’s one of my all time favorites.

Starring: Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, and Mel Brooks still making fun of Nazis like he does best 🤩

Streaming on: rental on Prime and YouTube currently

Undercover Brother

Hawk’s summary: a parody of the spy genre and blaxploitation films. Follows Undercover Brother as he joins a secret Black organization that fights The Man, an unknown white dude who wants to erase the effect of Black culture on white America.

Starring: Dave Chappelle, Neil Patrick Harris, Denise Richards, Billy Dee Williams, Cris Kataan, and a great cameo by James Brown

Streaming on: Starz/Hulu/Prime

RED and RED 2

Hawk’s summary: watch a bunch of retired secret agents who are “past their prime” be total badasses. Lots of humor, some excellent and fun action scenes. Doesn’t take itself too seriously and is really just about having a good time.

Starring: Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovitch, Brian Cox, Marie-Louise Parker

Streaming on: Amazon Prime & Showtime

The Man from U.N.C.L.E

Hawk’s summary: loosely based on a 60’s tv show about an American CIA and Russian KGB agent who are partners, but this time with a spunky German mechanic thrown into the mix as they look to stop nuclear launch codes from falling into the wrong hands. Guy Ritchie has a lot of fun with this OT3. Fun spy movie, great chemistry between the three leads, great action and humor!

Starring: Henry Cavill, Alicia Vikander, Armie Hammer, Elizabeth Debicki, Hugh Grant, and that one white guy who’s always some sus dude (Jared Harris! Lmao)

Streaming on: rental on Prime or Youtube.

Sherlock Holmes & SH: Game of Shadows

Hawk’s summary: another fun series by Guy Ritchie (imo the first is much better though). RDJ and Jude Law have a great time playing off each other, and I love Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler. Jared Harris is in these too so I think he’s friend with Ritchie lmao but he does a fabulous job being manipulative. And the MUSIC!! Love it.

Staring: RDJ, Rachel McAdams, Jude Law, Mark Strong, Jared Harris

Streaming on: HBO Max

Get Out

Hawk’s summary: okay tbh I see this more as a psychological thriller than horror but I think it just really depends based on your own life experiences. “I would’ve voted for Obama a third time” lmaooo yeah that boy should’ve turned his ass around the second he hit that deer. Jordan Peele really did a great job with this film and it’s always an interesting watch.

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield (he was AMAZING), Bradley Whitfield, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Caleb Landry Jones

Streaming on: another current rental (how obvious is it that I use alternate sources lmao)

[no gif for this one bc I know the movie does freak some people out]

Knives Out

Hawk’s summary: this movie really lived up to the hype. A fun mystery film with a few really good twists! Tbh idk who let Daniel Craig do the accent but it just works for the movie lmao. Also a good movie for the family bc each age group can relate really well to a group of characters.

Starring: Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer, that girl from Netflix, and Lakeith Stanfeild is there too!!

Stream on: Amazon Prime

Galaxy Quest

Hawk’s summary: if you’ve ever watched Star Trek or been to a Comic Con... yeah you need to watch this movie. Good gracious it’s hilarious. A bunch of actors from an ended Star Trek show are abducted by aliens who took their episodes to be historical records... and they actually have to play their parts in real life to save the day.

Starring: Sigorney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tim Allen, Sam Rockwell, Tony Shalhoub, Missi Pyle

Streaming on: HBO Max

Let me know if y’all want a part 2! Stopping here for the night bc I hit the gif limit 😂