#anyway I miss cheesy 00s tv shows

[kr-yoongi]

I wish I was as cool as Cooper Day !!

[zaffrenotes]

[TRR x ES] Viewing Party

Book: The Royal Romance & Endless Summer Pairings: Liam x MC (Katrina Bailey), Drake x OC (Alyssa Devereaux), Jake x MC (Laurel) Rating/Warnings: G; mild innuendo Author’s Note: * All main characters belong to Pixelberry, I’m just borrowing them * Katrina Bailey & Laurel are the MCs I use when writing fanfic for TRR and ES, respectively; Alyssa Devereaux belongs to birthday girl @burnsoslow​ * This is my submission for @wackydrabbles​​ Prompt 80: Stop looking at me like that. * Author’s Note 2: * This is a birthday gift for my cheesy, potato loving homegirl Burnsie, who requested her very first Endless Summer/Jake fic, despite having never read any ES fic until now 🙈 for the sole reason being that she and Jake McKenzie are almost birthday twins, and my favorite pilot turns 30 this year. If you’re unfamiliar with canon ES trivia, Jake can hold his breath for 9 minutes, and Estela can hold her breath for an astonishing 14. This isn’t entirely what I had in mind when I set out to write an ES/Jake birthday fic, but I wasn’t about to miss your day because I’ve hit a whole ass writer’s wall, Burnsie! I hope you have an AMAZING day and I’m sending you so many hugs! You’re one of the sweetest ladies here, and I am so very thankful that I can call you a friend 🥰 also my real, real gift to you is coming at a later date, as I still have to work on it 😬 * and yes, that’s DDT in the moodboard - just for Burnsie, again - since I use Barnes as Drake’s FC in my TRR fics, lol * Word Count: 2000 on the dot!

It was nearly 10:00 PM on Friday evening, when Burns arranged things around the comfiest chair in her living room. The rest of her family already retired for the evening, after a small but wonderful birthday celebration in her honor at home. Within easy reach, she’d arranged drinks and snacks next to her laptop - a glass of water, a hot mug of tea, a slice of homemade birthday cake to take care of any sugar cravings, and a small platter of cheese and crackers for something more savory. She grinned softly at the newest addition to her mug collection, watching the steam rise from the contents within. 

The lavender mug arrived in the mail earlier that day from one of her friends, emblazoned with a quote from David Rose. Burns took a sip of the warm beverage before setting it down on the small side table and situated herself in the chair. She flipped open the laptop and pulled up a browser window, smiling at a gift from another friend - there was a sticker next to the trackpad with a drawing of a wedge of Swiss, quoting another memorable line from Schitt’s Creek, reminding her to “fold in the cheese.” Burns glanced to the time on the screen and logged in to her Netflix account, clicking until she arrived at the viewing party, and began typing to join the group chat. 

She was greeted with jubilant messages from Donna, Ella, Brandy, Anitah, and half a dozen other friends, wishing her a happy birthday before the show started. They’d formed an ever-growing viewing party for a new series titled Stranded in the Orchard, which was an odd amalgamation of Survivor and Gilligan’s Island. Taking a cue from reality tv competitions, there were hidden cameras all over the island to monitor everyone and reduce production crew intervention, and in a nod to Hunger Games, there was an omnipresent host that would drop messages to signal when challenges were about to take place. After four episodes, the ladies in the watching party started picking their favorites from the two teams. 

Team Ruby consisted of a group that appeared to have been shipwrecked onto the island. Leo was dubbed The Rogue; his brother Liam was The CEO; Katrina was The Attorney; Alyssa was The Teacher; Drake was The Cowboy; Olivia was The Weapons Expert; Bertrand was The Grump; Madeleine was The Whiner; Maxwell was Bertrand’s brother and The Jester; Hana was The Jill of All Trades. Bertrand and Madeleine had already been voted off when Ruby lost two events. 

Team Catalyst consisted of a group of mostly college students. Jake was The Pilot; Laurel was The Mystery Girl; Sean was The Coach; Michelle was The Doctor, even though she was only pre-med; Craig was The Muscle; Zahra was The Engineer; Aleister was The Slick One; Grace was The Brain; Diego was The Entertainer; Estela was The Huntress. Catalyst lost the last two events, which sent Aleister and Grace packing. 

Everyone settled in to watch the opening credits as they recapped last week’s episode, where Ruby won the immunity challenge and fishing gear by building a makeshift stretcher to rescue and carry Katrina from a jungle crash site to a first aid station on the beach; Catalyst voted Grace out. Burns popped a cheese cube into her mouth as she and her friends watched the two groups deal with day-to-day chores in their respective camps on Day 14 of the show. They chatted about the team members and how much Burns wanted to see Drake take off his shirt to go in the water, despite the knowledge that there were clips of him cuddling with Alyssa; Donna, Ella, and Anitah would keysmash in the group chat any time Liam appeared on the screen, even though he and Katrina were clearly sweet on each other, while Brandy and Alyssa Lauren would ask what was happening or who someone was from the Catalyst team.

—

“Pillows and blankets are nice, but what we could really use is food,” Maxwell said, drawing an octopus in the sand with a piece of driftwood. “I don’t know how much longer I can last on coconuts and rice.” 

“Liam and Drake took the raft out this morning to try fishing with the gear, maybe they’ll get lucky,” Katrina suggested, stirring the pot of rice in the fire. She set the lid on top and stood up from her kimchi squat position, dusting some errant sand off her leg. They both looked out towards the water, as dawn stretched out across the ocean, making out shadowy forms of their friends as they bobbed in the water, just before one of them went under the surface. Behind them, the rest of their friends began to stir awake from the scent of rice cooking. 

Back at the Catalyst camp, Jake sat by the campfire with Estela; they were working on making their own fishing gear from bamboo and camp supplies after losing the previous challenge. Jake fed a length of twine through a handmade fishing pole while Estela sharpened tips on one end of a pile of branches she’d gathered. “Whatcha whittlin’, Katniss?” 

Estela glanced at Jake sideways. “Stakes. Hand over some of that twine, I need it to bind these to make spears.” With a begrudging huff, Jake unfurled the twine and ran it against the edge of the makeshift bench he was sitting on to cut it, before tossing the rest at Estela. 

“How fast can you tie those off? We’re losin’ daylight for a morning catch, if you wanna ride on the raft with me.” 

“Five minutes,” she answered, already working nimbly around a branch to secure the whittled spikes. 

The screen cut back to Ruby’s camp, where Liam and Drake stepped ashore, smiles brighter than the sunrise as Drake held up a fish trap with small rays flapping against one another. 

—

“kjsdhfksjhfksjhfks,” Burns smashed into her keyboard. “Look at my man! With the sea bounty!” 

“mevmnbvmnxb,” Ella smashed back.

“How do you know Drake did all the work? Liam’s just as wet, hahaha,” Donna chortled in response.

—

After killing their catch as humanely as possible - with Alyssa turning her face to Drake’s chest to avoid witnessing it - Leo and Olivia gutted and cleaned the rays before setting them on top of their makeshift grill to cook. Liam and Drake regaled the group with their morning under the water, as they took turns fishing. 

While Team Ruby enjoyed some protein with their rice that morning, members of the Catalyst team glumly spooned rice into their mouths as they sat around the campfire while Jake and Estela dried off; their morning fishing trip had been unsuccessful. 

Later that day, both teams received messages from the host to gather for a reward challenge. Each team made their way to a small lagoon, where they saw a structure floating in the water. A booming voice overhead instructed them to swim out to the structure and await further instructions. Once everyone from both teams had done so, a blue holographic image of the host appeared in the center to explain the rules. “The challenge is simple,” she narrated. “We want to see who can hold their breath the longest. There’s a bar you can use to keep yourself from floating up if you need it. Last one standing earns the prize for the whole team — an overnight trip at the Celestial Hotel, where our rotating film crew goes to rest. You’ll be treated to clean sheets and towels, hot showers, along with a decadent dinner and breakfast menu the next morning, before having to return to your camp.” 

Everyone’s eyes lit up at the incentive of a night away from sleeping on the beach, away from mosquitos, rodents, and the threat of being waterlogged by passing storms. Stomachs gurgled at the thought of hot meals that didn’t consist of rice, and the possibility of cocktails or wine. “Oh, we got this,” Jake murmured quietly to Laurel. “Bet I can hold my breath longer’n any of those Ruby kids.” 

“Is that so?” Leo taunted, overhearing Jake’s comment.

“Just call me Poseidon,” Jake smirked. 

“We’ll see about that,” Leo replied. “You know most of us are from an island, right? We’re basically merpeople.” 

—

“Bets! Bets on who wins this!” Brandy typed into the chat window.

“Sticking with Drake,” Burns typed. “Maybe Hana. She could have another random talent up her sleeve.” 

“My money’s on Liam. Look how broad his chest is,” Anya replied. “He’s got to have massive lungs to match.”

“That makes no sense,” Ella typed, adding a laughing emoji. “But I’m Team Liam anyway.”

“Don’t hate me,” Donna began. “Something tells me Jake isn’t boasting right now.” 

From her screen at home, Alyssa Lauren used Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe to choose Zahra. The rest of the group picked their favorites as the castaways donned goggles and got into the water. 

—

“Ready? Set! Go!” 

Sixteen heads dipped under the water’s surface, with contestants pinching their noses and puffing out their cheeks as an underwater camera filmed them. A handful of them - Olivia, Alyssa, Maxwell, Diego, and Michelle - tapped out under a minute. As the sand settled, thirty seconds passed before Katrina, Laurel, Sean, and Drake headed to the surface. Just after the two minute mark, Hana, Craig, and Zahra gave up, leaving Jake, Liam, Estela, and Leo under the water. 

Jake looked positively peaceful, sandy brown hair swaying with ease in the water. Estela tapped her fingers lightly across the bamboo rod, counting each second as it passed. Liam glanced over to his brother, who’d begun to turn pink. Half a minute later, Leo popped up to the surface, muttering to himself out of frustration. 

Three minutes in, Liam surfaced, gasping for air, leaving Jake and Estela to battle it out between themselves. Even though the hologram host blasted a horn to signal the end of the challenge, neither Catalyst member surfaced. Liam ducked down to check on them, and Jake and Estela both signaled that they were fine. Everyone continued to wait as the pair spent minute after minute under the water.

—

“Seriously? They’re on the same team!” Anitah typed. “They won already!” 

“They’ve been underwater for a scary length of time,” Brandy added. “What are they, Navy SEALs or something?” 

“I think Jake mentioned he was actually in the Navy before,” Alyssa Lauren replied. 

—

A digital clock appeared in the corner of the screen as the two Catalyst members continued to hold their breath underwater. With each passing minute, members from both groups began to worry. After eight minutes passed, the host’s voice rang out, advising them to pull Jake and Estela up from the water to end the challenge. Laurel and Craig ducked down, eventually pulling their teammates up. “Congratulations to The Catalysts!” the host exclaimed. “A boat will be waiting at your camp to take you to the hotel.” 

Laurel swatted Jake’s arm as they made their way to the shore. “What’s wrong with you!? You were underwater for nearly ten minutes! Who does that!?” 

Jake looked over his shoulder to her with a grin, mischievous sparkle in his bright blue eyes. “Ten would be a new record, my best is nine.” He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Imagine nine uninterrupted minutes of me holding my breath, Princess. My birthday is tomorrow, and I know exactly how I wanna celebrate,” he winked.  

Laurel’s cheeks flushed at the suggestion. “Stop looking at me like that, Top Gun.”

—

That evening at the hotel, after a sumptuous feast of lobster, crab, and an endless supply of beer and wine, the Catalyst members eventually went to bed. Much later into the night, Jake was seen sneaking into Laurel’s room. 

—

“I KNEW IT!” Burns typed. She laughed as her friends typed in responses full of lemon, fire, pepper, and eggplant emojis. She popped another cheese cube into her mouth and smiled, watching the rest of the episode play out.

[imo-chan-imagines]

『 Haikyuu!! Week 2020 | Day 6 』

· Sept. 30th → We Don’t Need Things Like Memories ·

Characters: female!reader, Sawamura Daichi, Sugawara Koushi, Kuroo Testurou, Ushijima Wakatoshi, Oikawa Tooru

Prompts: B. beginnings and endings

Tags/warnings: Haikyuu!! (anime), PG, fluff, some serious angst, beginnings and endings, headcanons, HaikyuuWeek2020

A/N: I thought I'd just go ahead and rip my own heart out by writing these headcanons about what some of the Haikyuu boys are like when the relationship starts out (beginnings) and what they're like when you break up (endings). I mean, why not? Fluff, angst, emotional pain and suffering? I may as well 🙃

All of my Haikyuu Week 2020 posts are SFW, but I write NSFW stuff on my blog too *wiggles eyebrows* Feel free to take a look! Thanks for reading 🙏 Please enjoy ♡

Haikyuu × reader / beginnings and endings

☆ Sawamura Daichi ☆

Beginnings

You probably confess to him first

He's a bit dense when it comes to picking up on the signs. He tends to get his hopes up and then brush it off as friendliness

'She just likes you as a friend, Daichi. Stop reading into it' *entire theatre of people smack their foreheads in unison*

He's dumbfounded for a second or two, processing what you just told him

Then he asks you out. No hesitation, no shyness, no awkwardness. Just pure, confident Daichi

He's literally living on cloud nine for the next few weeks because, holy shit, he's dating you

Has the biggest smile on his face whenever you're out together

And he's very protective, but not in an overbearing way

Sometimes, he places his hand on your thigh while he's driving and slowly strokes this thumb over the soft skin

And he gets all adorably bashful when he has to keep introducing you to people as his girlfriend!!

There's literally nothing he wouldn't do for you, and that's coming from a cop

Endings

When you tell him you want to break up, he hears it over and over in his head like a broken record

He keeps asking himself how this happened, and he wants to beg you to change your mind

But he respects your decision. He won't keep an immature grudge or start yelling. He just regrets

With a small, fake smile, he says he's actually been thinking the same recently

l i a r

All because he doesn't want you to feel bad or awkward about leaving him behind

Daichi's civil when you come to collect your things from his place, and when he sees you out with some other guy, even though his heart is literally cracking inside his chest

He blames himself, of course. He should have done more to keep you. He should have made more time for you. He should have stayed as loving and attentive as he was at the beginning

But he got comfortable. Complacent. And he started taking you for granted

Oh, the stinging irony of hindsight

☆ Sugawara Koushi ☆

Beginnings

He approached you at a café with a bashful smile and a hesitant hand behind his head, and asked you for your number

A few weeks of texting, sexting, and casual encounters later, you went official

He couldn't be a better boyfriend. He's always so kind, and attentive, and loving, and cute

He covers the bed in rose petals on special occasions like an absolute sweetheart

He loves buying couple's items: shirts, bracelets, mugs, necklaces – you name it. He's old-school cringy like that

He showers you with kisses, praises the hell out of you, and can't stop asking how he got so damn lucky to be with you

He gives the softest hugs, the most sensual kisses

When he snaps a new photo of you, he sets it to his lockscreen so he can stare at you even when you're not there

He innocently kisses your nose in public, only to grab a handful of your ass for a second or two, below the level of everyone's eyes

You always loved it when he did that

Endings

There's a pit in his stomach when the words pass your lips, and a voice in the back of his head telling him 'Oh. Right. Of course. You knew this would happen. You were never really good enough for her, anyway'

He has to fight back the tears because he refuses to cry in front of you

It's a painful, stinging acceptance that laces his mind and tongue. It never really would have worked. Would it?

When you leave, Suga attempts to go about his regualr routine. To be fine

But his hand is shaking uncontrollably and he drops the mug in his hand, and watches as it smashes into pieces on the kitchen floor

You bought him that mug. And that, of all things, is the one to break him

The tears come over him in weak, silent sobs as he doubles-over the sink, his throat too constricted to allow any sound to escape

He cries so hard that he throws up in the sink

The weeks pass, melt away into months, and he's doing better. Doing well

Until he comes across an old shirt you left behind and never came back for, and the memories all come flooding back

That night, he cries himself hoarse, until he can't feel his face

No matter how hard he tries, he can't forget you. Your nails are dug into him even now, holding him down in his misery

☆ Kuroo Testurou ☆

Beginnings

He asked you out with some cheesy pickup line, something that made you groan and grin at the same time

He couldn't believe his luck when it worked

He tries to take things slowly, be reasonable. But all that caves in when you melt him with that smile of yours

You quickly become the centre of his world

He sends you flowers and chocolates to your work, just so you know he's thinking about you

He'll kiss your hands when you're cuddling together on the sofa, like an old married couple

He constantly texts you to make sure you're okay, sometimes sexting you to demonstrate just how much he's thinking about you

He takes his time and explains things about science that you don't get, just so you don't feel left out

When a guy's been looking at you too much, he grabs you by the waist and pulls you in for a messy kiss, his hands working their way down to your ass

For your sixth month anniversary, he surprises you with a cockapoo to raise together, and suggests the name Furby, for some reason it sticks

He somehow always makes time to walk through the park and look at the cherry blossoms with you, even though he's really busy

He dances with you down the vegetable aisle at the grocery store just because, and couldn't care less about the people watching

He's constantly trying to make you laugh with the dorkiest things, because he thinks that's when you're at your prettiest

He would do anything to keep seeing that smile every day

Endings

You tell him he's moving too fast

He's in denial. He tells you he understands, but he doesn't

You leave the dog with him. And he knows it's unfair, but Furby reminds him of you

But he's lucky he still has the dog, because it's the only thing that keeps him going normally

As the weeks pass, he tries to leave you be and give you your space like he promised, but he just can't. His heart won't let him

It's 11:00 pm and he's knocking on your door, begging for you to open up and talk to him. To give him a another chance. To reconsider

He can hear you quietly sobbing on the other side of the door, and he knows you're second-guessing your decision, maybe even regretting it

It gives him hope that, if he doesn't give up, you'll come back to him, because it hasn't been the same without you

He hears your favourite song on the radio and has to sit down on the floor of the vegetable aisle at the supermarket before his legs give out

He sees your favourite restaurant and he can't pass without ordering a meal and crying into his food

He goes looking for fights with assholes at the gas station so he can let off some steam, and doesn't care if he spends the night in a cell with a black eye and bleeding knuckles

He hasn't been thinking straight, he doesn't care what happens to him anymore

And the crazy thing is, he'd still do anything for you, because you're the first real love of his life, and he can't forget you

He won't give up on you. It isn't in his blood

☆ Ushijima Wakatoshi ☆

Beginnings

Ushijima never really knew what to do when you expressed an interest in him

You only started going out because Tendou read between the lines and made things happen

So now that you're finally together, he never really does anything that differently

It's just business as usual...plus you

If you want something from him, you have to ask specifically, or he won't pick up on it, so you have to be proactive in the Netflix and chill department

He actually thinks you just want to watch TV and relax

He's painfully blunt, but without any hidden agenda or meanness about him

And he cannot deny the small, warm glow he feels when you're there for him at his games

But he does try to make you happy

He shares his food whenever you ask, he lets you wear his clothes and thinks it's adorable how they dwarf you, he pats your head when you've done well, and holds you when you're feeling sad

And slowly but surely, he gets accustomed to you being there for him at every turn

And you're happy together, as honest best friends and close lovers

Endings

At first, he doesn't feel anything. It's what you want, so it's fine, right?

He got on just fine before you came along, and he'll do just fine with you gone. And it isn't spiteful, he genuinely believes it

He goes about his regular business, and everything's okay, just the same as it was before you

But as the days pass, it creeps up on him. He doesn't even know what it is as first, this dull, painful ache settling in the middle of his chest

He even Googles the symptoms when the pain gets too strong

It takes seeing you laughing in the arms of another man for him to realise that it's heartache

Crippling, agonising heartache, because he misses you

For the first time in his life, his legs go so weak underneath him that he can barely stand. He has to leave. He can't watch any more

He sits alone in his room, staring at the wall opposite, trying to get his head around it. To try and understand

Because he doesn't. He was fine before you came along. So why now? What had changed?

Ushijima comes to the conclusion that he's changed. And that you changed him

You showed him something he never thought he'd understand, reconstructed the fibres of his nature, made it so he couldn't live without you

And now you're gone

☆ Oikawa Tooru ☆

Beginnings

He was hesitant. He doesn't just let people in. But he can trust you, that's what he keeps telling himself

He hopes it doesn't feel condescending that he chose you over every other girl, and tries desperately to make it apparent just how much he loves you

He makes an effort to show that he cares. He prioritises you, over everyone and everything

Your wish is his command. He wants to be that Prince Charming. That knight in shining armour

He's softer, more fragile, on the inside than you thought he'd be

He needs a lot of reassurance, and loves it when you gently stroke his hair

You share your deepest, darkest secrets, and you realise what a broken, vulnerable boy is in front of you, offering you his heart

But he sure knows how to laugh. His dates are the best. He always knows just where to take you

Those nights when you end up tangled together on the sofa, just listening to each other's heartbeats, are like Elysium to you

Endings

He can't believe what he's hearing. You promised you'd never hurt him

Disbelief, doubt, realisation, confusion anger, sadness – he gets mental whiplash as it all washes over him in a matter of seconds

Tooru punches the wall, leaving a crumbling hole the shape of his fist in the drywall

"YOU PROMISED," he shouts, red hot tears threatening to spilling over his eyes and down his cheeks. "You...promised..." he repeats weakly, sinking to the floor

You go to touch his shoulder, but he shakes you off and tells you to get out

Once you're gone, he breaks down in a sobbing heap on the floor, angry at himself, angry at you, angry at world for making him think he actually had a chance at happiness

He burns whatever you left at his place. He can't stand the sight of it

He tries to get over you by going to party after party, downing bottle after bottle, hooking up with girl after girl – but it's hollow. Empty. Meaningless. Because none of them are you

He convinces himself that that's a good thing, as he stares at the hole in the wall that he refuses to fix

Because if they're not you, they can't hurt him

© imo-chan-imagines 2020

[fandomoblivion]

And There She Was (Part 1)

Fandom: Stranger Things

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader

Request: can u do a cute steve harrington x henderson ! reader? idrc what it is im just in the mood for something steve lol

Summary: (Y/N) Henderson has lived all her life pining after Steve Harrington. Steve Harrington: the athlete. Steve Harrington: the King of Hawkins. Steve Harrington: the player. Steve Harrington: the boyfriend of her best friend. But the thing is, when they’re forced to be together while fighting other-worldly creatures… stuff goes down. But hey, you know what they say. Shit happens.

Warnings: Swearing, violence

Word Count: 1,951

Notes: Hmu to be added to the new tag list!

prologue

“Son of a bitch… son of a bitch!” Dustin yelled as he ran into the living room, flipping up cushions on the other side of the couch that you were sitting on.

“Dustin, what the hell are you doing?” You groaned, pushing your glasses up on your nose with the base of your palm. You and your mom were watching the news, as another police chase had happened, following the same group of people. Yes, it was in another state, but it was still interesting to you.

“Another stupid penny…” Dustin grumbled as he threw the penny across the living room.

“Dusty, watch it! You almost hit Mews.” Mom said as your cat meowed in her arms.

“Can I please check under your cushions?” Dustin asked the two of you.

You looked at your position on the couch. You had been comfy sitting here for about a half hour and you did not want to move. Your legs were pulled up under you and you were leaning on an armrest.

“Uh, no, Dude. I’m sitting here.”

“(Y/N).” Your mom said.

“Mom!” You replied.

“Mom, please? It’s an emergency!”

“What qualifies as an emergency to you? Did your Lucas’s little sister glue his ass to his chair again?”

“C’mon, (Y/N)!”

You groaned and stood up as your mom did the same, and Dustin checked under the cushions and found what you assumed he had been looking for: two quarters. “Dude, if you just wanted quarters, you could have asked me. I’ve made a buttload of money teaching those little kids how to dance.”

“What? Really?!” Dustin smiled widely, showing off his new(ish) front teeth.

“I mean, pay me back eventually, but yeah.” You said, walking into your room. You heard him trailing behind you, which made you smile slightly. You took out your piggy bank--you and Nancy have had matching ones since you saved up to buy them in fourth grade (which was hard with no piggy bank to put your savings in)--and you poured the coins onto your bed. “Take the quarters. Just pay me back when you can.”

Dustin scrambled to grab as many quarters as he could. “Thanks, (Y/N), you’re the best! Love you!” He said hurriedly, then he rushed into his room. You heard him turn on his walkie-talkie and start talking to Lucas about the money. From this, you knew he was going straight to the arcade.

“(Y/N),” your mom said as you sat back down on the couch.

“Yeah?” You asked, chewing on your fingernail as you watched the television.

“Would you please drive Dusty to the arcade?”

You scowled, your eyes still trained on the tv. “Why? He has a bike.”

“Well yes, but I don’t want him biking home too late.”

You rolled your eyes and got up from the couch. “Fine. May as well stay out there instead of coming back then going out again. Hey, Little Dude,” you said, stopping Dustin who was running down the hall. “I’m driving you. Wait a minute while I get dress.”

Dustin groaned loudly and dramatically and fell back onto the couch as he waited for you. You changed into a pair of jeans and a yellow sweater. You pulled on your blue suede Adidas (popularized into women’s fashion by Billie Jean King in 1976), tucked your necklace from Steve under your sweater, and tied your hair up in a scrunchie.

“(Y/N)!! It’s been more than a minute! Come on!” Dustin yelled from outside your door. You laughed, grabbed your keys, and left your room. Dustin held up your cross-body bag for you, you took it, and he said, “Wow, you’re welcome.”

You laughed. “And you’re welcome for driving you to and from the arcade today.”

Dustin grinned widely as the two of you got into the car. “(Y/N), do you love me?” He asked sweetly.

You rolled your eyes. “What else do you want?”

“Can you drive Mike and maybe Will home today?”

You laughed. “You know I usually take home Mike. And yeah, sure, I’ll bring Will home, too.”

Dustin cheered and punched the air. “Thanks, (Y/N)!”

You huffed and pulled into the arcade parking lot. “No prob, Little Dude. Now, uh, remember:”

Dustin rolled his eyes as he spoke the next few words with you in unison. “Don’t talk to anyone creepy, especially that dude Keith. Don’t die or let any of your friends die. I love you, Little Dude.”

You laughed, knowing he had heard your spiel one too many times. “Ciao, Kid.” You watched as Dustin excitedly joined his friends in the arcade, and you started your car back up and drove to the movie theater, which was a few blocks away. Seeing the new movie, Terminator, was playing, you bought yourself a ticket and wasted time--okay, not wasted, Terminator was a fucking good movie--while waiting to pick up Dustin.

The next morning, you got ready for school. Dustin was talking the entire ride to the Byers’ house, and to the Wheelers’ house, and home, about somebody named MadMax who had beaten his score on… PacMan? No… Thayer’s Quest? No, it was Dig Dug. Yeah, Dig Dug. Anyway, you didn’t really care about the conversation, since you knew Dustin would find a way to somehow, someday, beat that MadMax. Even if it meant helping him yourself.

You pulled up to school, sitting in your car for a few minutes, making sure you had everything with you. You picked a piece of lint off your stripey sweater, one that Nancy had given you when she outgrew it (somehow, you managed to fit into it years after she gave it to you). You looked over at the car next to you and saw a dude smoking in his car. You scowled, hating smoking because it reminded you of your father. You got out of your car and immediately his eyes trained themselves on… your fucking chest. Really, dude?

“Hey, you know smoking isn’t allowed on campus, right?” You said to him once he took notice of you.

The dude smirked and let out a puff of smoke before flicking his cigarette onto the ground. “Sorry, Sweet Pea. I’m new in town. Don’t really know the ropes for your dumbass school yet. Maybe you can teach me?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

You scoffed. “You’re pretty cocky. I’m sure they’ll find someone to show you around. But…” You paused and sighed. “If they don’t, come find me at lunch. I usually sit near the window.”

He chucked. “Thanks, Sweet Pea.”

You scrunched up your nose as you walked away. “Don’t call me Sweet Pea,” you said under your breath.

You quietly cursed under your breath as the guy from the morning walked up to you while you were at your locker getting your lunch.

“So listen, Sweet Pea-”

“Please don’t call me that.” You said with a sarcastic smile, but he just kept talking.

“After school today you’re gonna tell me all the shit that I should know about your school. How’s 7:30?”

“I can’t, I go straight from school to dance. I don’t get off until 6:30 each night.”

He chucked and leaned in. “I don’t think you heard me. 7:30. I’ll pick you up.”

“Like a date?” You asked unenthusiastically. He just smirked. You hung your head down and took a breath, before looking back up at him with a fake ass smile. “7:30. Here’s my address.” You said, before writing your address on the back of his hand. “Don’t be late.” You said, then turning around, your whipping around your face, and heading to the cafeteria.

You knew it was stupid to say yes. You knew it was a bad idea. And yet…

It would get your mind off Steve.

At least for a bit.

After lunch, you, Nancy, and Jonathan exited the cafeteria, only to be greeted with none other than Tina Cline handing out flyers for her Halloween party. She handed Nancy and you one, and you immediately crumpled it up and threw it at your feet, kicking it along the linoleum floor as Nancy asked Tina for two more.

“You two are going to this!” Nancy said, before pushing the two flyers into your and Jonathan’s chests. You started to crumple yours up again, but Nancy shot you her famous “don’t-fucking-do-it-or-I’ll-crazy-murder-you” look. You smiled sheepishly and flattened it out against the book you were holding.

“‘Come and get sheet-faced.’ No, I’m not going.” Jonathan said, laughing.

“No, I can’t let the two of you sit home alone all Halloween. That’s just not acceptable!”

“Well, you can relax. We won’t be alone,” you said, pushing your glasses up your nose. “We’re going with the kids while they trick-or-treat.”

“All night?” Nancy asked.

Jonathan nodded. “Yeah…?”

“No, no way. You two are gonna be home by 8:00, Jonathan, you’re going to be listening to the Talking Heads and reading Vonnegut or something. (Y/N), you’re going to be watching some cheesy horror movie, eating ice cream out of its container and clutching your cat all night.”

Jonathan shrugged. “Sounds like a night night.” You laughed and agreed.

“Guys! Just come! I mean, who knows? You might even, like, meet someone.” Nancy said, opening her locker. Just then, Steve rounded the corner and picked up Nancy, making her shriek/squeal/make some weird, high-pitched noise that made you and Jonathan look at each other uncomfortably.

Steve set Nancy down, laughing, and Nancy hit his arm. “Oh, my God! Take those stupid things off.” She said, referencing his sunglasses.

He kept laughing and hugged her close to him, saying, “I missed you.”

“It’s been, like, an hour!” Nancy laughed.

“Tell me about it.” Steve said before pulling Nancy in for a kiss.

When they kept kissing, you turned to Jonathan and said, “So… how about the weather? Interesting, isnt’t it?” Which made Jonathan laugh and the two who were kissing separate. “C’mon.” You mumbled to Jonathan. The two of you walked down the hall together, leaving Nancy and Steve alone.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.” You said to him. You were the only one who knew about his huge crush on Nancy.

He sighed. “It’s fine. I… it just sucks, you know?” You nodded. “You’re lucky you don’t have to deal with that.”

You noticed the two of you were about to walk by Mrs. Armstrong’s history class, and you knew she had the next period free and wouldn’t be in her classroom. You tapped Jonathan on his shoulder and pulled him into the classroom.

“Okay, I might be absolutely insane for telling you this, but I’m gonna tell you anyway.”

Jonathan furrowed his eyebrows in concern. “You okay?” He asked.

You took a deep breath. “Not exactly. See, I’ve kinda had a teensy-weensy crush on Steve for a little while now. Okay, not so teensy-weensy. More like hugesy-wugesy. And it hasn’t been for a little while. I’ve liked him since middle school. It’s just like… every time I see him, I feel lightheaded and I get butterflies in my stomach and I can’t form words properly and when I do I sound like an asshole and… and… and I’m in love with my best friend’s boyfriend.” You felt your face grow hot as you put your feelings for Steve into words

As you were saying this, Jonathan’s eyes widened. “Really? Oh… shit. Well, I, uh… I guess we’re in the same boat, then, huh? Except I have a crush on my best friend, and you have a crush on your best friend’s boyfriend… but, essentially, we’re in this together, huh?” He said with a sad smile.

You nodded. “Yeah. We’re in this together.”

Tag List 

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[theaterdisneynerdsunite]

Tony Awards Thoughts

So it looks like, at least for now, the CBS website lets you watch it for free (at least in the US). Here are my thoughts using those time stamps (be warned I have a long running commentary)

0:23 Oh is this going to be a parody of her playing the piano on last year’s Tony’s

1:05 How has neither one of them won anything? I mean I get if they said neither one of them one a Tony cause I mean, they both did shows that one time…but anything?

1:18 Is there anything more Broadway than saying the same rehearsed thing at the same time and pretending it was just part of the banter? Oh theater tropes I love you

1:36 That’s always been something that bothered me, people assume that just because something didn’t win the Tony doesn’t mean its not a great show, and the show that wins might not even be the best one that season (you know who you are). I love the Tony’s but its an award show, people don’t stop watching tv shows and movies or listening to artists that didn’t win or weren’t nominated, it makes me sad that so many shows close post Tony’s just because they weren’t the big winner. Anyways…

1:53 THEY CELEBRATED THE LOSERS LIKE ME, these A list celebrities that are totally not losers are soooo relatable ;)

2:40 A few years ago Something Rotten did what I thought was a brilliant advertising campaign listing amazing shows that lost the Tonys like them, so the fact that it was put into song gave me a fond flashback. See? SEE??? Oh it feels so good to be vindicated on tv

3:49 “If you make art at all your a part of the cure” :)

4:10 THEY HAD THE ENSEMBLE MEMBERS BE THE ONES IN THE OPENING NUMBER RATHER THAN THE LEADS THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY. If only my high school self could have seen this she would have felt so much better

6:42 I didn’t see any of the plays this year but I heard the most about Angels in America this season so not surprised. Looks interesting

7:45 Happy Pride Month

8:40 Bake a cake for everyone who wants a cake to be baked would actually be a pretty good diction warmup

14:10 Kinda surprised that they didn’t pick Rather Be Me or Apex Predator considering those are the really marketed songs. “Where We Belong” seems a lot like “Status Quo” from High School Musical. I mean you’ll get that about high school clicks in the lunch room with a blond queen bee but like, even the dance moves felt similar, and the lunch tray dancing, even the giant cat decal. But like, it's not as catchy? I didn’t expect them to win anything tonight but I really don’t think they’ll win anything now? Is that mean? Just cause it feels like it was supposed to be a high energy number and it didn’t have that energy I thought it would. Also come on, just cause you want the girls to be shallow and dumb doesn’t mean the lyrics have to be that cringey. This feels like a less good version of if Legally Blonde and High School Musical had a baby (I absolutely love Legally Blonde that was not intended to be an insult to either show).

15:00 Is it me or did Amy Schumer look like she wanted to say something but Rachel Bloom kept talking. But it didn’t really have any joke setup or serve as a good segway for commentary, what could she have wanted to say?

15:35 Later on I’m going to see if I can find the award speeches that didn’t get televised. most of the world doesn’t get broadway they get regional theater, I wanted to hear what they had to say

15:45 Nick Scandalious feels like a cartoon name you’d see in an Onion article about the Me Too movement. His face even looks like the generic celebrity that had a TMZ scandal five years ago. I thought I read it wrong at first lol

16:40 I was cracking up they know their brand so well. The air quotes on emotional, perfect!

17:10 Mini Sara and Josh are so cute!

17:50 Ok I missed the reference, what is the giant bird lady from?

18:10 oh

20:57 celebrity child picture counter: #3 Amy Schumer. Also guess which year the musical described as “a comedy about class and sexism” is from? Yup it’s My Fair Lady, the audience laughed like I did in that sort of this is funny but also sad kinda way

26:00 This was so overacted and hammy and one day I aspire to that level of loud printed robes. Coincidentally my name is also spelled like Eliza but my voice is not nearly that good. Also does it count as drag if they are clearly men in dresses with some comical makeup or is there another name for it when they aren’t actually trying to look feminine?

26:18 The twitter usernames were too small to see on my screen who were the twitter pictures of?

26:30 See above comment

27:00 What show did Billy Joel work on? Also Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, and Josh Groban maybe my mom will finally enjoy theater

29:12 Oh my gosh that picture of Titus Burgess is amazing as is that suit. And that intro is so Titus its great

30:07 Renee Fleming we’ve got the Opera world here too? It’s so many famous musicians from outside broadway on broadway, think of all the crossovers

32:50: Yes spongebob get Josh Groban to sing more thank you for your service. Ok I’m not a huge fan of spongebob but they have to win for sound design that guy is on overload

33:27 Lol it explains so much why the songs sound disjointed cause they got a billion people to write them. Also lol I was waiting for that joke

33:50 Also what I thought would happen would be a medley that way Spongebob who really is the driving energy of the show and Squidward played by the Broadway darling would both have a song. This wasn’t how I expected them to do it, but I was sort of right so I’ll count it. I’m not really a fan of Spongebob the musical (I’ve listened to it twice once when it first came out and once during Tony Season. I’m not one of the people who hate it off the sheer premise and won’t give it a chance, but I just thought it was meh and not worth having the most nominations.) But Squidward’s song is very me, not in terms of melody cause that is I find most of the melodies to be rather generic but the lyrics are 100% me trying to convince myself. Also all I will be thinking about for the rest of the will be what tap dancing must feel like its gotta feel weird how long do you think he spent practicing it with and without the extra legs. Or it might be nightmare fuel with the sea anemone contributing to it, who knows? Probably both,

38:07 still don’t know whose handles those are

38:28 ^^^

38:40 Ok when I saw the outfits I was expecting a Chorus Line Parody, but this Sia parody fits this every genre but musical theater theme of this Broadway season

39:20 Eight times a week, and all the subsequent puns

40:28 Can I just say I love this return to singing interludes over awkward award show banter?

41:44 I saw the Bands Visit a few month’s back and I still don’t know how to describe it. Normally I would guess it would be the second fiddle of the Tony’s but considering the “purists” it’ll probably win most of the awards

44:16 With all the previous reaction shots you knew it had to be Nathan Lane. I always forget how well spoken he is because of his typical roles but he is really well spoken and sincere rather than trying to wise crack and it was so sweet. It made me smile

47:43 His face saying “blow high” has got to be a gif right?

51:45 The entirety of the Carousel number was me thinking if I had a higher sex drive this would totally make me thirsty. They also used very creative ways to physically embody the shape and workings of a ship but then again I’m admittedly biased. Listen to that number you know their vocal prowess was not why they picked it

52:12 I mean, I know that crew gets less attention than cast and plays less attention than musicals but I would watch the full version stop cutting out the speeches. C’mon I love costumes

53:04 I know your joking but that hurts

53:19 yes #4 famous kid photo Uzo Aduba

55:49 Ari'el Stachel’s speech is made all the more poignant when you realize everyone else in his category were white. Despite this season’s commerciality you actually do have shows and casts with Asian leads and African American leads and Latin American leads and Middle Eastern leads somewhere between the sea of shows like Spongebob and Frozen. Show these shows some love, prove that Hamilton wasn’t the anomaly but the rule

56:55 They brought the Parkland teacher for the theater education award! Fitting 65 students into a high school teacher’s office for hours to protect them is not easy, she saved lives that day

58:17 I thought #5 Matthew Morrison was a girl in his child pic

58:40 They went to Parkland?!

59:35 OMG they’re performing!?!

1:00:10 Seasons of Love is the Perfect song for this, they sound so good too!

1:01:18 Girl has an amazing voice! Dang to get up there in front of all of these famous performers on live TV after the media has already hounded them and putting yourself out there is courageous

1:02:45 I can’t see the handles

1:03:11 Will they be able to top NPH’s Tony magic trick though??? Probably not but let’s see

1:03:31 So cheesy but tbh if I had a Harry Potter wand I’d be even cheesier

1:03:46 Was that line improved or was the tech delay intentional?

1:04:22 C’mon Squidward already pulled the same “trick” you have ensemble block the audience pov while someone enters from the back. Didn’t even come close to topping NPH

1:04:43 Little Patti Lupone I can’t believe she allowed them to include her picture of lil’ Patti

1:05:04 I just wanted to include Patti’s line about a “deep appreciation for outspoken women” cause I actually said “you go girl” out loud

1:05:35 Yeah, fun fact, Tony wasn’t a man but was actually short for Antoinette. They referenced it multiple times before, including earlier tonight, but it was stated most explicitly here

1:06:35 Is that a young or modern Claire Danes, I can’t tell

1:07:39 Also it’s really cool that an older woman won something, I feel like the stage gives more roles for older woman that other acting industries, also if people argue that she was political she served political office. Also how cool is it that apparently people were there from every recognized country?

1:09:27 so that’s how they do Sven, I knew Olaf was supposed to be an Avenue Q style puppet but the way they move Sven is really cool (it’s the technique they used on things like War Horse, I don’t know if it’s considered costuming or puppetry or what the official name is)

1:10:20 Anna looks exactly as I pictured her, and they changed a few minor lyrics for it to fit the stage

1:10:44 There are so many quick changes tonight

1:11:22 Elsa did not look like what I imagined her to be, but the costumes are on point

1:12:00 The chorus versions of these songs have beautiful harmony, but Olaf shouldn’t be there yet right? Isn’t he “born” in Let it Go

1:12:47 Alright I’ve been waiting to see how they’ll do the snow effects!

1:14:00 They got out of building the castle by already having it built at the beginning of the song, which is smart technically but I wanted to see how they do it, unless it’s one of those things that’s a surprise for when you see it live.

1:14:25 Never call it “Daddy’s Day” ever again. Never.

1:14:46 I can’t see the handles

1:14:59 How could you not show Chita Rivera’s lifetime achievement? I’ve been lucky enough to see her in more than one show and she is incredible.

1:15:13 And you also cut out Andrew Lloyd Webber’s?? You made the wrong cuts Broadway

1:15:25 It looks like they’re going to show a tribute I’m excited!!!

1:17:42 Two things: Andrew Lloyd Webber has written a weird collection of musicals, like when you see clips of them back to back you realize just how weird of a collection it is, and Josh Groban needs to be the next Phantom

1:18:08 That exchange was so physically awkward they haven’t even started talking yet and I feel the cringe

1:19:18 Is “I swore I’d never do something like that” shade against the La La Land debacle? In 2018? Or am I reading too much into it

1:19:21 I saw the Band’s Visit but I also saw Once on this Island and I thought that one would win Direction for sure but I guess I was wrong

1:22:36 I read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, it’s a weird read, but I haven’t seen it live so maybe it’s directed brilliantly, who knows? Who else thinks its a weird read?

1:23:56 He’s getting the Tony audience to sing his boyfriend "Happy Birthday" instead of giving a speech and that is both adorably sweet and such a power move. Also a rare occasion of Happy Birthday being sung on key

1:25:10 They’re having DEH perform? You cut out people who actually were awarded tonight for people who already were featured on the Tony’s last year? And that song is a weird choice for a In Memoriam considering that show doesn’t really…respect the deceased. Weird

1:28:17 Give the tech more time in the limelight! You cut out Chita and Webber’s speeches for a weird tribute and you have weird stunts with tech like the magic thing yet cut out all their stage time. I know this is standard Tony procedure but it is something I will comment on every year until it changes

1:29:20 That move for “work hard for the money mom” line was uncomfortable

1:30:30 They really do sound like the original singer

1:31:53 So that’s how the performers follow the conductor. They have a huge teleprompter-like screen in the back of the audience

1:32:52 This cast seems specifically tailored to gather different subsections of internet geeks and I will not tell you which categories I fall into

1:33:18 I never knew “the Jimmy’s” were a thing when I was in high school

1:34:54 THOSE are the great themes of Harry Potter? Really?

1:36:10 Aww look at little Cinderella

1:36:34 How are they going to build that stage for the Tonys? They built a river inside the theater for it before!

1:37:00 Well it makes sense that they’d only include part of the set, you can’t really recreate an entire building. Yes I’m so glad they included Mama Will Provide. That song is like the definition of a Tony performance song. Why did they include the Daniel bit, that was so awkward and broke up the flow

1:40:40 If anyone would be chill with the goat it’s Nathan Lane. Yup, there a live goat at the Tony Awards

1:41:21 Don’t joke about that

1:41:41 Are you going to cut out every technical award

1:42:32 Too relatable

1:43:16 Is this that song from Chorus Line in real life

1:44:10 English Major life

1:46:03 The angel from Angels in America is so Extra TM

1:46:54 That Tony Kushner line was forced

1:47:18 Awkward segway but REMEMBER TO VOTE

1:47:38 That Judy Garland line ties in perfectly with the Happy Birthday to the gay couple

1:48:04 That reaction to the word “money” is me. And also is a gif right?

Am I so much of a Tony nerd that I both knew and was shocked that the accountants weren’t the normal ones from Ernst and Young but instead were from Grant Thorton. Why do I remember what company normally tallies the Tony votes? Why did they change companies? Why do I care so much? But seriously what happened

1:49:00 That phrase just sounded so odd, just the way it was said “my television Daddy-O Tony Shalhoub”

1:53:15 I don’t have the accent and I’m about as white as white can be, but I really want to perform this song somewhere at some point. I have family in this area even though I don’t look like I would but and I just connect to it. The melody is gorgeous and the chorus reminds me of the lullabies of when I was very little.

1:54:15 Every time the young photos come up it puts a small smile on my face

1:54:37 Good on them for putting their money where their mouth is. They actually helped fund arts programs in places where they were cut

1:55:05 I wonder what the rest of the scenic guy’s speech for Spongebob was because this tiny clip seemed so passionate (and just has such an interesting aesthetic). Gosh darn it Tonys stop pretending the only backstage people that count are the directors and producers, you have all these other people who put in so much hard work yet you consistently ignore them. Even orchestrations, choreography and score?? Orchestrations, choreography and score are crucial for musicals to exist as unique entities from plays. You make jokes about people sitting through 5 hour plays but I would gladly sit through a five hour award show if you just included the technical awards.

1:57:10 me trying to open anything ever

1:57:14 Yes! I was so worried they would go with the super old school ones that get constant revivals. I mean, they picked the show that had “1000 pounds of sand, a 100 gallons of water, a goat and 2 chickens into his theater” when you have safer, more conventional bets. Everyone kept sleeping on Once on this Island this Tony season to talk about their feelings about the Spongebob’s and Mean Girl’s of the world but this is such a good show. Maybe this’ll get this show the love it deserves.

1:59:30 what did Robert DeNiro say on the recording the sound cut out. Did the mic cut out did he say something inappropriate, I’ve been avoiding Tony news what happened?

1:59:55 It’s got more than just a big cast, dancing, and a history lesson. You know that applies to, idk like 60% of famous Broadway musicals lol

2:00:06 when someone gives that pregnant of a pause you gotta wonder what the story is there

2:00:27 Truth

2:00:40 “Jersey Boy” that’s such a good one liner, actually, it might sound sarcastic online but that was a funny one liner in context

2:03:00 Is Bruce Springsteen really going to just do spoken word poetry the whole time? Also I don’t know why but this makes me think of Fun Home

2:06:05 Oh he’s going to sing after all. Though that story is about as Americana Fourth of July as anything I’ve ever heard on the Tony Awards ever and that’s saying something

2:07:39: who are these people?

2:08:00 Didn’t Kristin Chenowitz and Alan Cumming do this exact same shtick when they hosted, what 2 years ago? And there’s was much bigger I mean really go big like that Glinda the Good dress or go home.

2:08:23 Was there really no punch line? Also aww baby Kelli O’Hara is precious

2:09:07 The actor’s name sounds like his character’s name and I enjoy that

2:09:39 Well these actors are very different from each other

2:11:28 I am a sucker for genuine sincerity and that combined with some of the earlier moments like the Parkland moment brought me close to tears

2:12:45 Look at this award shows actual diversity, and not just using one show for diversity and nominating a bunch of actors you have 3 out of 6 female leads be people of color and none of them are a “token” and they all support each other. Hailey Kilgore is so young and such a good actress and I wanted her to win so much but she seemed so excited for the person who did win and they all seem happy at the result you don’t have any of that polite loser face they are all genuinely supportive and this makes me happy. I’m happy, look at those smiles I’m smiling, I love it when they show women supporting each other.

12:14:06 “my stupid little heart with so much joy” is me watching these people tonight.

12:14:27 Still can’t identify these people

12:15:00 Josh Groban’s reaction to Bernadette Peter’s name is me. Honestly Josh Groban is killing the potential gif game tonight

I’m sorry I just can’t take this description of them as “empowering stories” seriously when half of your nominations are Spongebob and Mean Girls

2:16:10 Tonight the Band’s Visit really swept. Honestly some seasons shows don’t win any awards that deserved it and other seasons shows that (while still deserving) probably wouldn’t have won win and it’s all kind of arbitrary, but I’m glad out of this batch it won, it was really the only show out of the four that would have gotten the Tony Award ticket sales boost and it got it.

2:17:35 “Music gives people hope and makes borders disappear”

2:19:08 yes another Josh Groan duet!

2:19:25 I love Miss Peters too

2:20:44 This number made me smile, this whole night made me smile. I was worried I would get frustrated by the night with Spongebob and Frozen and Mean Girls and all the potential for it to be a cynical snark fest or a capitalist money grabber spectacular. There are about 10 billion ways I saw myself not liking this year’s Tony Awards before it started and not only am I relieved that I was wrong about the mood of the night but I am elated. I love me some deadpan humor and some snark but you rarely see one of these nights just wholly be genuine and not tongue and cheek and it was such a breath of fresh air. Even the hokey bits like the stupid magic jokes and banter or weaker songs like that Mean Girls number, because everything was in such a kindhearted atmosphere, didn’t feel as bad as they otherwise would have.

[aion-rsa]

The Tenth Girl Exclusive Trailer Reveal & Author Interview

https://ift.tt/2Zv6bD8

Get a sneak peek at The Tenth Girl, a gothic psychological horror debut teeming with originality.

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Out on September 24th, The Tenth Girl is the perfect read for the fall season and beyond. The story follows Mavi, an Argentine teen who flees 1970s Buenos Aires and the military regime that took her mother for a remote girls boarding school located on a remote cliff in Patagonia, at the very southern tip of South America where she has been hired to teach English to the school's elite pupils.

Spooky context? Vaccaro School is haunted, supposedly cursed by the indigenous people whose land the European colonizers stole and built the school on. When Mavi realizes one of her students, the tenth girl, is missing, and students and staff begin to behave like they are possessed, Mavi must solve the mystery of what's happening at Vaccaro before it is too late.

The Tenth Girl is one part Jane Eyre, one part The Haunting of Hill House, and all parts original, with a twist that you will not see coming. It is deeply inspired by Gothic horror fiction that has come before and by debut author Sara Faring's own family history, but is something entirely new. We are so pleased to be able to debut exclusively the trailer for The Tenth Girl, which hopefully gives you an idea of just how perfect this book is for the upcoming Halloween season...

Den of Geek also had the chance to talk to Faring about creating this vivid, immersive, and utterly original world for The Tenth Girl. Here's what she told us...

There are so many vividly-realized elements to this book. I'm curious if there was a very clear place where it started, for example a character, setting, or idea?

You know, actually I, this book sort of came to me when I was on a trip with all of the female relatives in my family on the Argentine side. We went to Paris of all places to celebrate my grandmother's 85th birthday. One of my cousins is a psychotherapist, which is, in Argentina it's the country with the most psychotherapists per capita. Anyway, fun fact!

And so, one night, she led us in this hypnotherapy group session, which sounds so strange and it was, kind of. It felt like a seance. And we started to share stories from our families' spoken history, I guess you'd say. And I started to hear about the stories I'd never heard from Argentina in the 70s and the era of the military regime there. And, after that, I became obsessed with learning everything I could about this time period, about my family's experience in Argentina for the past century or so. And this book blossomed out of that.

How long ago was that?

It was five years ago because this October we're celebrating my grandmother's 90th birthday.

Oh, that's so cool.

She's one of those people who, even though she's turning 90, will dance until 6:00 am and get angry at anyone who doesn't. 

Wow. She sounds amazing.

Yeah, she's pretty incredible.

So besides that, I did have an idea of the twists in my head when I started writing. So I wanted to explore what it meant to be human, which sounds really over the top, but the reason I love speculative books is because I love books that help me view life with a fresh astonishment, you know? That will make me re-examine the human experience with mind-bending thoughts. I think writing is a great way for me to honor my family history in Argentina and also explore these themes that I love reading about and watching [in TV shows].

This is a YA book, but I feel like it is on the cusp of it being an adult book. I'm curious why you wanted to make it a YA book or where that decision came from.

Yeah, no, good question. I do think that when I was writing this book, I gave some thought to why I wanted to write in general and, when I was younger, books just, they, it sounds cheesy and it is, but they completely changed my life. They were my best friends. They were a way for me to explore my place in the world, to learn, to discover new corners inside myself.

So I knew that I wanted to have a younger protagonist, a teenage protagonist who was coming to terms with who she was and what it meant to be an independent person now that she's no longer with her mother and is kind of going off into the world on her own. That's always just been a really compelling stage for me and I'm sure as I get older that'll change.

But I love exploring that, the mindset of someone who is 17, 18 and I loved reading about that when I was even younger than 17, 18. I think, even when I was like 14, I loved reading about protagonists who were kind of on that cusp, you know, that stage of their life. For me, books made me feel like I wasn't alone when I was teenager. And I just knew I wanted to write for people that age.

And I do think you're right, this book hopefully will appeal to younger people and older people, but I couldn't be happier that it's coming out as a young adult book for many reasons. I'm sure you also know just how passionate and engaged YA readers are which is just unbelievable. I mean it's extraordinary. Yesterday, a blogger posted a photo of how she'd painted my cover on her leg. It was beautiful. It was more beautiful than my cover. 

You have two main perspective characters in this book and I'm curious if one of them came first and why you felt it was important to have both Mavi and Angel's points of view and telling this story?

Yeah, so I would say I knew I always needed to have both because, frankly, when I read books, I love for there to be reveals happening throughout. I love to feel like I'm being led into some secret, and I wanted there to be this tension between the two points of view and the information we're getting from each side. And I also just always thought it would be a lot of fun to see Vaccaro School from both perspectives: the perspective of a teacher who's brand new and views it as one thing and the perspective of a... I don't even know how to speak about Angel in an interview. It gets juicy really fast. From the perspective of someone who is working through pain with humor and is using the house in a very different way, I would say.

And it, to be honest, it was also really fun to write a book in two very different voices. And I know I always wanted Mavi's to feel like a nod to the traditional Gothic works of fiction and then we could have Angel's voice—which would be completely disorienting—have these bits of dark humor and pop culture references and feel sometimes goofy and bizarre.

For me, when you're exploring dark themes, it is just such a breath of fresh air to have injections of humor throughout. So, yeah, they both came about at the same time. I did rewrite Angel's part many times because I wanted to get the tone right because it was easy to fall into a sort of melancholy spiral, if you will, [with that character].

Well you did such a good job distinguishing their voices. I definitely got the Gothic themes from Mavi. From the very beginning, I was like, 'This reminds me of Jane Eyre and other classics,' and then to also have Angel just like dropping like Harry Potter references... They felt very distinct and that is so important I think especially when you see the same events more than once from different perspectives. It can be very hard to do in a way that doesn't feel redundant, but you do a really good job of making that interesting.

Oh my gosh, I am so delighted to hear that, I'm so thrilled. Yeah. I ... because that's something I kind of privately nerd out over, you know, the multi-perspective. But you're right, it can, it can drag, so, you never know.

Obviously, this book was so inspired by your mother's side of the family and you've mentioned also that your grandmother is still alive and very engaged with things. I'm curious if they've had a chance to read the book and also if they gave you specific like feedback or details on, you know, the 1970s Argentinian setting because  they were there so that's obviously a great resource.

No, it's funny you say that because, so almost all of them read an early draft and I was getting feedback from my grandmother and from my mother saying, 'Oh, you know, actually like this one sensory detail of this one story you inserted, that to anyone else would have been like...' OK, we don't need to get in the weeds on that. They were like, no, this is wrong. Like the pavement smelled like this...

Anyway, so I received a lot of that or like the detail of... there's a story in the book, an anecdote about a young man who has a molar filled with poison that he bites down on and that's a real story of a family friend. So I wanted to make sure that, even though the context is fictional, it honored their memory of the situation.

And, beyond that, I'm very proud to report that... Even though, especially with the twist, it was not necessarily all of my family members ideal genre if that makes sense—not that I like to ascribe genre labels to anything, but I think with the twist, you know, you, it definitely appeals to a certain kind of reader and may be slightly jarring, hopefully in an interesting way to another type of reader—they loved it.

But they also saw how much I layered in from all of our lives. It's actually kind of funny when family members read books. I did get a few reactions where they're like, 'Oh, you're just this character, right?' And I'm like, no, that's not how it works.

So you do such a wonderful job constructing the setting of the school. And I'm curious if there were either real world buildings and or fictional buildings that served as inspiration for the school?

There is a building in Buenos Aires, in Recoleta, which is like this posh neighborhood, and it is an abandoned mansion. It's just... it's ridiculous. This building is amazing and there's just nothing being done with it and it's falling into disrepair and it's totally derelict. And it's on a really busy, posh street. So that did inspire some of the aesthetic.

But I just love building Gothic atmosphere. It's one of my favorite things in anything I write: the gloomy, the spooky, the grand, the forgotten, the abandoned. I love that. So that was always sort of simmering in my brain and my imagination for years. But, in Patagonia, I'll be honest, I haven't found a building like Vaccaro School.

Yet.

Yet. Yeah, I went last October again, looked for one, couldn't find one, but I'm going to try again. I'm going to try again this year, so...

And you'll have lots of readers to help out soon.

Yeah, I hope so. Right? I've already gotten some cool photos that people have sent me. Like, 'Oh, is this like Vaccaro School in this country?' Including a cliff mansion in Slovenia, which was pretty amazing.

Do you think about how readers in Argentina will respond to this book perhaps differently from readers in other places who don't know as much about the setting and the time period? 

Well, I didn't grow up in Argentina. I went very often, my family, you know, half my family lives there. But, while I was writing this, I was very aware of the fact that not only did I not grow up there, but I didn't live through this time period. So I'm relying on my family members' very specific perspective on it. And I tried to deepen that and also to explore other perspectives on it by interviewing other people down there, doing a lot of research.

But, ultimately, I wasn't looking to obviously create any kind of, I'm not going to say exhaustive, but any detailed reflection of what that time period was like. I really just wanted to draw, especially for young adults, younger American audiences' attention to this period of time there, especially because with so much going on now, we can forget history, especially outside of the States. And there are many interesting parallels, at least to me, in what's happened in Argentina and other parts of the world and what's happening right now.

Without going further down that path, I just really wanted to draw attention to this time period, which even as someone growing up in California with Argentine parents and family, I knew not enough about. And it's been really exciting for me to see this book go out into the world and also to see other books of friends, especially other Latinx authors, who are putting out books about periods of history in their countries and their family's country that younger readers don't necessarily know that much about.

So I think it's a good way to, through an ideally compulsively-readable plot and characters you're invested in, pique interest in a time period that's not touched on very much in curriculums.

Yeah, well I definitely learned a lot and had a lot of fun, like stopping and Googling things to learn more about them.

Yay! Oh my gosh.

Yeah. So it's definitely not just a young person thing, obviously.

We've alluded to the big twist in this book, but there's a certain degree of mystery throughout. How did you decide on the pacing for when you would reveal certain things, especially the big plot twist?

Yes. Well, for me, it came down to rhythm and while, at first, I tried to use a more traditional structure, like a three-act structure. I tried at first to kind of loosely follow those kinds of structures, but I realized I had so much information and so many twists to handle because that's just how I like to read. So I wanted to write something that followed the same constant reveal structure. I went by rhythm, just intuitively.

Obviously, with a book of this length [editor's note: the book is 464 pages], you want to have enough [to keep people reading]. I think, even within the book, there are different kinds of twists and different kinds of reveals. So I had to be aware of the fact that what a kind of twist that was compelling for one reader, it might not for another and kind of lay them out so that there would be enough for each kind of reader. Because when you have something that, in my mind, does genre bend, you want to make sure that there's enough to appeal to different kinds of readers.

Yeah, definitely. And I think you're right with the length. I think you have to get a little bit more creative in terms of structure or like at least not following that traditional three act structure, which people like, you know, use and don't use in different ways.

Yeah. And it's almost fun to know how the structure works and then tried to subvert it. But it's funny because people, readers grow to expect those beats sometimes. And, yeah, it's an interesting thing to think about because, for the most part, I'm writing just what I enjoy to write, which was a privilege to do and have it still sell, but I feel like, on some level, it's also interesting to be conscious of reader expectations when it comes to hitting beats when readers expect them. It's something I'm still thinking about. I do it in my second book. 

And I think you're right about, you know, reader expectation. I think story consumers today are more literate than ever in storytelling. So that is something to think about, definitely.

Also, I've been interested recently in how, as TV becomes, I mean I guess it's cheesy, but like golden age of TV and as people are watching such incredible television, which has a very different structure in my mind over the course of a season to films or to books, how you can kind of use that as an author. And, sometimes, I feel like I'm writing books more as someone who loves TV than someone who loves movies, if that makes sense?

Yeah. I think I read books like that so I totally understand. Because I also think that this golden age of television is marked by a break in structure and a creativity in structure. So that is a cool inspiration to take from that medium and bring into another.

Yeah, I think that some of the books I'm most excited about now do that as well. So yeah, I think we're on the cusp of something special or maybe we're well in it and I'm just not, you know, well read.

Yeah. It's hard to tell from the inside.

Yeah, exactly.

This book is such a good fall release. And was that like a discussion with your publisher and figuring out when the best release date would be for The Tenth Girl?

Yeah, it's funny because my editor knew immediately. Let me figure out when we like had our handshake deal... it was two years ago, basically. So she knew this was going to be the season, this is going to be the year. She immediately thought like the atmosphere is just the perfect thing for someone to curl up with on a stormy fall night. And I'm inclined to agree.

It's funny because the advance copies of this book had been going out over the summer and occasionally people will ask, 'Oh, you know, I received it. Should I read it on my beach vacation?' I'm like, 'Absolutely! Read it whenever you can.' But is it more fun to read on a stormy night? Yes. But, hopefully—I don't know where you're based—but, when it's a day like today, and it is so hot that you wish you could peel off your skin, it might be nice to retreat into a book where there's fog and storms and chills in the air.

I always like to ask people what stories they're really into right now, whether it's a book, a TV show, a movie, a comic book, whatever. What stories are you excited about as a fan?

I just blew through Euphoria on HBO. Which was really interesting to me and I'm still kind of working out my feelings about it, but I thought it was really kind of spectacular.

I haven't watched it yet, but it's definitely on my list.

It's, I'd be so curious. I'm curious to hear everyone's reaction to it, because. Let's see what else. Yeah, the structure is interesting how at the beginning of each episode it kind of gives you a little short and sweet or not sweet, I should say, but backstory on each of the characters you've been following and then it goes back into the kind of main narrative, which is interesting.

Besides that, I'm reading this book called The Need by Helen Philips. It's very difficult to describe. Basically it opens on this, on this mother who, I don't know if that's a spoiler or not, on this mother who like sees an intruder in her house and the intruder ends up being her. But from a different universe, kind of. And then at the same time, she's a paleobotanist. And she finds a Bible with she as the God pronoun, yeah. Anyway. Clearly it's almost impossible to describe, but it's very bizarre and unsettling and different and we'll see where it goes. 

And then beside that a book I love, which you might've had on your list, but I don't know, is The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante. It's A YA book, basically about if human beings can physically take on another's grief, it's so much more than that. That's just like the speculative hook, I guess. And it packs a punch.

Yeah. That's pretty much what I have going. Besides that, I watch a disgusting amount of reality TV right now because I'm trying to get my brain off of everything.

Yeah, I do that too. I'm just like, I can't write about this for work, so I'm just going to watch this thing.

Exactly.

Well thank you so much for chatting with me today. This was so much fun.

Thank you. This was such a treat. 

The Tenth Girl will be published on September 24th and is now available to pre-order via Macmillan. You can follow Sara Faring on Instagram and Twitter.

Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.

Read and download the Den of Geek SDCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Interview Kayti Burt

Aug 26, 2019

Horror

from Books https://ift.tt/30Dc0eS

[visariga-blog]

Supernova 2017: Live and In Person

By now, it's perfectly clear to anyone who's been reading this blog for a while that I'm an unabashed, unapologetic fan of Supernova, Latvia's yearly contest show that selects the country's entry into the Eurovision song contest. Created in 2015 in order to end six straight years of Latvia failing to qualify for the Eurovision “grand final,” the show's winners so far have found success on the continental stage with a 6th place finish in 2015 and a 15th place finish in 2016. 2017's winner will be chosen out of eight semifinalists that were selected from two quarterfinal rounds that were broadcast on February 5th and February 12th.

This year, it was time to take my fandom to the next level. Instead of simply writing another blog post about this year's competition, I set my mind on getting into the live studio audience for one of the show's four broadcasts. Thankfully one of my high school students who is connected with Latvia's music community showed me how to acquire tickets, and suddenly I found myself with two passes to the February 12th quarterfinal episode. So yeah, that's me you see in the grey shirt in the top right of the first photo.

Līga doesn't quite share my level of enthusiasm for cheesy TV song contests, plus she was probably worried that I would do something stupid to get on TV (a perfectly justified fear on her part). Luckily, her sister Vita agreed to go with me, who you can see with purple hair to my right in that first picture. Since she was coming from Jelgava, we agreed to meet at Centrala Stacija (Central Station) at 20:00 in order to make it to the studio for 20:30 when doors were supposed to open. I was excited to finally have an excuse to take the mysterious #20 trolleybus for the first time in my life.

We were joined by only six other passengers, all of who were headed precisely where we were. The journey took just over ten minutes, bringing us across Salu tilts (Island Bridge) to the towering LTV headquarters on Zaķusala (Rabbit Island).

Built between 1979 and 1986, the 22-story building stands impressively in the middle of the Daugava and is visible from much of Rīga's southern and central regions. I was excited to finally have a reason to visit the city's 17th tallest structure I had admired so much from afar, and now we were just in front of it. Unfortunately, my sub-standard phone camera wasn't able to take an acceptable picture of the building at night, so here's one I took during the day a few years ago for you to get an idea of what it looks like:

We followed a group of fans to the main entrance in the back. Inside, fans and contestants alike sat in funky chairs and sofas chatting and, of course, watching LTV as we all waited for the doors to the studio to open. A Russian-speaking journalist enthusiastically buzzed around asking audience members about their favorite participants, although I didn't recognize the logo on his microphone. A few people were also enjoying drinks and food from a fancy-looking café just next to the studio entrance.

At just about 20:50, thirty minutes before the show was to begin, the doors opened and people began to file upstairs to the studio. Some men just outside the studio checked our bags and took our tickets just as they would at a concert or festival, and then we were able to walk right on in.

I have to give Vita a lot of credit for not immediately bailing on me as soon as we walked in, as I probably seemed a bit too overly enthusiastic. This was my first time inside a TV studio, let alone for a show that I actually regularly watched, so it was a bit overwhelming at first. About ten minutes before the broadcast began, Rīgas Bebrs (beaver), Latvia's Eurovision mascot, came onstage and politely told us to stand in place while the show was live and to cheer enthusiastically after each song. While this may seem like a no-brainer, Latvian audiences have a reputation for being overly polite and quiet.

Although we were simply trying to find the spot with the best view, as it turned out we stood in the perfect position behind the judges to be quite visible on TV every time they commented after a song. This week the celebrity jury included Prāta Vētra drummer Kaspars Roga, former Eurovision contestant Intars Busulis, DJ Rudd from Latvijas Radio 5, and songwriter Guntars Račs.

Unfortunately, I was under the incorrect impression that we were not allowed to take photos or videos while the broadcast was in progress, so I don't have any cool behind-the-scenes pictures of the performances themselves. That might be all for the better though, because I wasn't there to watch the performances through a small screen and there's no way my phone camera would have captured anything revelatory.

The night was kicked off by Katrina Lukin's upbeat ballad Silhouette, which was pleasant but not memorable enough to make it to the next round. This was followed by poor Markus Riva's third consecutive attempt to make it to the final round, “Dynamite.” Markus Riva is a complete mystery to me: he is massively popular in Latvia and had by far the most enthusiastic fanbase in the studio, but he consistently fails to make it to the final round in a vote-by-SMS popularity contest. Līga was telling me that there's a saying in Latvian going around on Facebook along the lines of “on a scale from one to Markus Riva, how persistent are you?” At least that's something to show for all that effort...

After a commercial break during which we were entertained by Rigas Bebrs' attempt at creating poetry, Toms Kalderauskis and his group continued with the Imagine Dragons-esque anthem, “We Won't Back Down,” before things got weird with Up's Kill Bill-inspired “One By One” in which she stood still for three minutes threatening to kill people as interpretive dancers pranced sensually across the stage. Although the performance went over like a lead balloon with the audience and judges, I thought it was one of the more memorable songs from this year. In fact, I was a bit disappointed by 2017 in general that there really wasn't anything as over-the-top ridiculous as Electrofolk's corny “Miracle Drums” or refreshingly different like Catalepsia's pop metal “Damnation” from 2016 aside from last week's off-the-wall Bjork meets the xx “Escape” by Crime Sea. While there were much higher highs and lower lows in 2016, this year there was mostly a sea of pleasant but forgettable cuts, such as Miks Galanovskis' funky “Runaway” which led us into the second commercial break.

After being taught how to create paper fans by the beaver, the contest continued with the Russian-language “Taju ot Lubvi” by The HiQ, an epic, saxophone-tinged Indie folk song that wasn't quite able to make it to the next round. Then the completely previously unknown Santa Daņeļeviča proceeded to blow the audience's socks off with her amazing pipes, becoming the first musician of the night to make it to the semi-finals. The video doesn't quite capture just how powerful and impressive her voice was in person; it permeated every corner of the room. I wasn't surprised to learn later that she made it to the second round, and I fully expect to see her in the finals.

Next up were Laura Lo and graduate from the school I teach at in Jelgava Chris Oak with the cutesy "Little Weird,” a performance that wasn't quite enough to qualify for round two. After a commercial break in which the ever-instructive beaver taught us how to make an actually-sort-of-nice-looking elephant mask from a cardboard box, we were back to the final three songs, all of which qualified for the semi-finals. I don't know what it is about going at the end, but last year's first place “Heartbeat” by Justs was also the final song of his round. Maybe since it's at the end it's easy for voters to remember? Maybe the producers save the best for last? Anyway, up first were Supernova veterans MyRadiantU who bounced back from last year's final four performance “We Will Be Stars” with the indie pop rocker “All I Know.”

Next up was 16-year-old student The Ludvig's slinky electro ballad “I'm In Love With You.” The judges and audience alike were impressed by the teenager's voice, and I'm sure that regardless of how he does in the competition that this isn't the last we'll be hearing from him.

Unfortunately we had to leave the studio before the final song, so we missed Triana Park's colorful pop banger “Line.” The band is pretty popular and has a well-established fanbase, so it wasn't much of a surprise that they made it to the second round. I didn't think it particularly stood out among the other songs this week though, so I will be surprised if it goes much further than the semi-finals.

And that was it for us! Luckily public transit was still fully running when we left (around 11:45) and it was no problem getting home. I tried taking one last picture of the view from the island of the night skyline, but of course my phone camera was not up to the task.

All in all, watching Supernova live and in person was a fantastic experience that I will definitely do again next year. Maybe next time I can even convince Līga to go with me! In the meantime, you can catch the semi-finals next Sunday at 21:25 (I know it's a weird starting time) either on LTV1 or as a live webcast here. Alone with the four songs chosen at the episode Vita and I went to, another four from last week will compete as well: Mīks Dukurs with “Spiritual Priest,” Lauris Valters with “Magic Years,” Franco Franco with “Up,” and  Linda Leen with “Who's In Charge?” Take care!

[womanwithleftbeef]

Take a wild rambling trip with me into the 90s

I miss the late 90s and the early 2000s that was such a good time for me. We lived in a blue 3 bedroom house with a finished basement. When I got my own room in the basement I remember being pissed off about going to bed at 7:00 pm when it was still light out. I used to sneak out of my room as my parents would watch movies that I was too young to see or my cousins would watch dragon ball z. You know that hair salon chain fantastic sam's? Well Sam would come over to our house and cut our hair which I hated and threw a fit because I liked it long. My dad had a beat up old white and blue pick up that he ended up painting red. He would come back from hunting trips and bring me rattlers from rattle snakes. We would sit in the living room together a lot and watch tv. My parents would watch E! News and my dad would feed my mom cheesy pick up lines that made her cringe. Or we would all watch the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights. We would get up early to see my dad leave for work. I can't remember what we watched in the mornings but when my dad came back at lunch time we would be watching In Between the Lions or Bob Ross or Arthur. I was so fucking happy and I loved playing outside. My legs had giant scabs all over them from falling. Family would always be over there and my mom would throw me huge birthday parties with bouncy castles. Me and my friend Katie Johnson would put on shows in the drive way where we would sing pop songs from Disney movies. Katie Johnson had a really evil sister that would get mad at her for no reason and she would drag her out of the street. She had really pretty friends who were our neighbors one of whom was named Isis but they were assholes too and made fun of us for being babies. We lived near teenage guys that I always thought were weird/slash interesting. I used to ride my bike really fast by them and they made fun of me. They were skaters because they had one of those flame stickers on their car and one of them ended up being a delivery dude for a Chinese restaurant at one point and he delivered to our neighborhood. Our next door neighbors who were teenagers. Carrie was the sister I really liked her and she had brothers who would play with me a lot. One of them was named Paul I can't remember the other one's name but Paul was creepy. He taught me how to kiss and told me "it was like pulling down my underwear at night." We lived next to three different cops. Jeremy, Steve, and Kevin. Lololol. I remember Kevin and his wife being really fun and nice but you know cops. They had a lot of barbecues. I thought Steve was cool and he smoked a pipe and that's always a nice smell from my childhood. Moving on. Lmao. I remember having a friend who had this really cool room!!! It was this totally teenage 90s girl room with like *NSYNC posters and stuff. One time me and my friend snuck into their back yard to swing when they weren't home and they were horrrrifffieeed. I remember the dad coming stomping towards us and yelling and we ran away. Hahaha. I remember Paul and Carrie's family and the 90s girl moving around houses in the same cul de sac like literally they would move a couple houses down it wasn't a big cul de sac. MY COUSIN'S GIRLFRIEND WAS SO PRETTY. She had the total 90s girl white blonde hair with loose curls from the curling iron. Butterfly clips. Crop top polo shirts with light wash jeans. Platform sketchers flip flops. She was so fucking pretty. I wish I enjoyed her and wasn't jealous. Her and my cousin would have sleep overs and I'm pretty sure she had a Victoria's Secret track suit and she enjoyed movies like America's Sweethearts. He turned out to be a shitty boyfriend because all he would do was play video games. THEY WERE TOGETHER UNTIL THEY WERE LIKE 20 YEARS OLD FOR 5 YEARS!!!! When they broke up he got super super depressed for a long time and he wouldn't even let my aunt mention her name in his presence. I think she lives in Oregon now and she is married with kids. I am glad. I loved my cousin so much he would play with us a lot and drag us around my aunt and uncle's house until we got rug burns. I used to wait up for him when he would go out at nite. He was very sweet to me and he would kiss me on the cheek and call me honey. I remember once we were all watching cheaper by the dozen and I was in this siiiiiiq moon chair that my aunt and uncle gave me. It was pink and velvety. Anyway I would look up at him and he would smile and mess up my hair. When he would scrunch up his nose at me and smirk when my grandma would say something cheesy. I am his parents' favorite because i'm the only non male child in our family. And well cuz I'm pretty cool and I love being the favorite. THEY LOVE ME SO MUCH and when I go there I feel so loved and I get cuddles and junk food and movies and being lazy. When I was little i was naked except for some white cotton fruit of the loom underwear and I played in the mud slide in front of their house and that's how I got the name mud queen. My brother is Willzer and the other one is Sgt Benjamin. My dad used to call me catelousky I forgot about that I miss it. :( My uncle wrote me a really sweet letter on my 19th birthday after I graduated high school where he talked about how proud he was of me. I hope they come up here next month to see me perform. Camping trips in glendo wyoming. Inside jokes with my brother when we were supposed to be sleeping. Working on my grandparent's farm. A Roma family lived on their property and in exchange they would work for my grandparents sometimes. This dude worked on their roof and he would sit up their strum a guitar and sing on the road again. He bought me and my other cousin Kallie Minute Maid lemonade and mini To go cups of Oreos or nutter butters. I hated two babysitters who were bitchy and wouldn't let me do things like look at the newspaper or the mail. BUT I HAD TWO REALLY COOL BABYSITTERS WHO LIVED DOWNTOWN BY THE ARMADILLO WHO GAVE ME A WOODY DOLL. They were a couple. We had a mail man named Mel who would bring us dum dum pops. He loved us so much. TRIPS TO BLOCKBUSTER WITH MY DAD. DAIRY QUEEN. At the end of the school year my mom would take us to eat ice cream for dinner in the mall. Yep that's my life it's pretty special.

[m1kev1tarswife]

Literally I am him

I wish I was as cool as Cooper Day !!