#gotta have Only on a mr. robot playlist

[frida--y]

I can't move, just stand still: A Mr. Robot Playlist

The Illest Villains // Madvillain The Man Who Sold the World // Midge Ure Mt. // Super Furry Animals People Are Strange // The Doors Run Boy Run // Woodkid The Rest is Noise // Jamie xx Keep Me There // Nicolas Jarr Fields of Coral // Vangelis I Am // Blunted Beats Mind Flowers // Ultimate Spinach  Whatever // Gnarls Barkley Only // Nine Inch Nails Day ‘N’ Nite // Kid Cudi Shadows of Tomorrow // Madvillain Apple of Sodom // Marilyn Manson Ritual Spirit // Massive Attack Disparate Youth // Santigold Everybody Wants to Rule the World // Tears For Fears Another Brick in the Wall // Pink Floyd Hallelujah Money // Gorillaz

[neshabeingchildish]

League of Extraordinary Geniuses || Chapter 8

@verified-dumbass @just-a-j-reallly @kiddangers @poppyville

I hope that everybody has been doing well. This chapter isn’t as long as the previous, but that’s mostly because these have been running together, and I’ve been trying to find stopping points for them. I wanted to fully get through this emotional journey that Charlotte is taking the guys on while she figures some things out and after I have the chance to do that, we’ll get back to the action and premise. This was a little bit of a fun break from some of that, even though it is very much so a Max stress chapter, Max is a person that doesn’t wear his upset on his sleeve.Let me know what you’re thinking. I’ve still got notes, but I’m running out of them. Lol. 

The Way I Danced with You

This was possibly the best tea that Chase had ever tasted in his life. Max didn’t order tea. He ordered a smoothie and added in a bunch of things that like… why didn’t he just get dessert? All of the sugar content couldn’t be good for him, plus… He mentioned planning on drinking later. How was he able to keep that physique and excel in hero duties with all of the sweets and alcohol he partook in? Chase didn’t do stuff like that. He made sure that his body was as immaculate as humanly possible. But tea would often be one of his guilty pleasures… Not that tea wasn’t healthy, but he ordered for taste and aroma, not so much the medical or spiritual purposes that Charlotte usually adhered to. He wondered how she was doing with “her guys.” He wondered if their presence at the cottage had made the difference that Max once hoped for with those guys. He wondered what it would be like whenever they reunited…

“Okay, so, we gotta go shopping. Gotta get some Dystopia clothes to wear and some supplies for the robot research. Then, it’s to the library, because there’s an entry way into Charlotte’s lab there and that’s the closest and easiest one to access. I’ve gotta look over the potential genius pool results for minions and get them started on one of my side projects, while I have the down time. Gonna swing through Maxtropolis and check in with Marx and Dougie - you can stay in the car if you need to…”

“I’ll be fine,” Chase said, but even thinking about it made him tense. 

Max brushed it off and continued, “Probably will be around lunchtime. So, gonna do that at The Bionic Brothel…”

“Brothel???” Chase repeated, clearly horrified.

“Relax! It’s a soup saloon.” His eyes grew misty as he stared into the distance, “There’s nothing else in the world like their soup selection.” Chase glanced towards where Max was staring off into the distance and this brought him back to the conversation, “And, they’ve got cool soup selections and other stuff too, so even though it’s hot outside, you could still enjoy something. One of the biokids Char plucked from your dad’s island opened it up about a year ago. It’s a bionic owned business with a bionic staff, with the exception of a few regular servers. Hostess is an android… Or was. I don’t know the status of the ones that were living life before this hellstorm…” 

Now, it was on both their minds again, but Max found his voice to say, “And after that, check in with Charlotte to see if she needs anything, and if not, head back to the Super Stay to wash up and get ready to go to Dance Off Revolution.”

“What… what is Dance Off Revolution?” 

“You really have got to get to Dystopia more often!”

“Something that 16 year old me never could have imagined anyone would ever say…”

“Dance Off Revolution is an underground club where dance crews have battles and soloists try out for crews.”

“Are you suggesting that we try to join a dance crew?” Chase asked, a little bit more excited than he intended to sound, but Max froze and looked at him with equal excitement.

“I wasn’t, but the tone in your question tells me that I was wrong! Hell yeah, we’ll try out for a dance crew!”

Chase smiled, cheerfully, then collected his thoughts, “Wait a minute, we can’t try out for a dance crew. We don’t have time to join a dance crew! We’re only here for a few days or so.”

“You don’t do things JUST TO SAY that you did it?” Max asked incredulously.

“I mean…” Chase smiled brightly again and gushed, “YES!”

“Oh man, I am gonna destroy you on that dance floor!”

Chase furrowed his eyebrows. For some reason, in his mind, they were about to do a thing together, not face off. But at merely the suggestion that Max could defeat him didn’t sour his mood. It made him competitive, “In your dreams Super Kid.”

Max’s eyes grew wide, “It is SO on!” He started mumbling something about, “Thinks he can defeat me in a dance battle? This boy don’t even know Beyonce’s catalog and thinks he can beat me in a…”

“What does Beyonce have to do with dancing?” Chase asked. 

Max almost crashed the car, then came to a screeching halt. People were honking their horns as he collected himself. “Tell me… that you just did NOT…”

“We are in the middle of the street…” Chase said, nervously, and mouthed apologies to angrily passing vehicles. 

“That’s like asking what Usher has to do with dancing!” Chase narrowed his eyes, not wanting to ask it out loud, but Max read his face, clenched both of his fists and yelled, “YOU’RE WONDERING WHAT USHER HAS TO DO WITH DANCING, AREN’T YOU???” Max shook his head and started driving again, making a very illegal U turn. “Plans are cancelled until further notice. You have to be schooled in the Church of Usher.”

“Is that another Dystopia landmark that the tourists don’t usually hear about.”

Through his teeth, Max chimed, “It is a lifestyle choice.” He turned on an Usher playlist and headed for his friend’s house.

.

Simone was giggling about Max Thunderman being in her dance studio, in front of the mirrored walls, showing Chase Davenport Usher choreography. It was extremely unexpected and cute. She loved this so much. AND they gave her permission to put any of the clips she recorded on her stories for the Kickbutt Dance Studios Company page. By the time they finished, Chase knew every Usher song with the choreography and was in the best mood that Max had ever seen the guy in. He took a call from Mr. Davenport while Simone and Max talked.

“So… This your new romance prospect?” She wondered.

Max furrowed his eyebrows, “What? Are you joking?”

Simone looked confused, “You asked me to open my studio for you to share Usher with him and danced for hours. You put together a routine for Dance Off Revolution! …If that isn’t a date, then I don’t know what is. Anyways, you like teacup people with bright eyes.”

“SHUT UP! I do not!” He did, but. He already had a teacup person with bright eyes. Charlotte.

Simone laughed and shrugged her shoulders, “I guess…” She looked towards Chase, then said in a lower voice to Max, “Just, be careful around the bionics. I don’t know. He seems nice and all, but they’re… they’ve brought a lot of controversy and contempt into our world.”

Max didn’t expect to defend Chase, but it flowed out naturally. It wasn’t even because he felt connected to him or that they had bonded over dance. He just knew that the things that people thought about Chase were probably misconstrued, after having spent some time with him.  “I know that, but he isn’t like that.”

“Kaz seemed to think so,” she said.

“Do you ALL know each other???” Chase asked, coming back over.

“Pretty much,” they both said. 

Chase fussed, “And why is Kaz ALWAYS talking to someone about me? Jeesh.”

Simone wasn’t EVEN going to get on that subject. “Look… I know you did a lot for the supers whenever the war started, and as someone who could’ve potentially been slaughtered, that definitely means a lot. I just still take issue with the fact that bionics are comfortable with taking the credit for supers’ successes.”

“The supers have told us that they don’t want your world uncovered,” Chase said. “I guess your buddy Kaz leaves that part out when he’s keeping a personal journal about my life.”

“That was years ago, my dude. People know that we’re here now, and yet bionics are still seen as heroes while we’re seen as freaks. The difference being because you guys are just nonsupes with technology and we were born this way. You can’t remove our abilities and that makes nonsupes dehumanize and demonize us. As someone who knows and works with us and even fought alongside of us, I would think you’d be more vocal about exposing the truth. No other bionic person has the platform that you do.” She shrugged her shoulders and said, “Just something to think about. Personally, I never really wanted to be a hero. I love being stationed in Dystopia. The Defenders do most of the work and I was able to open my own dance studio! So, I’m not insulted on behalf of heroes. I just watched my mom bust her buns to be a hero and never get to let the world know, and now that the world is evolving and slowly making room for supers, I think it’s important that our importance in history and in today’s formation is esteemed, as well.” She shrugged her shoulders. 

Chase nodded his head, until Max tried to answer for him. “Well, it’s not really his platform, so he can’t just start making statements about supers.”

“Who’s platform is it?”

“His dad’s.”

“I don’t know his dad.”

“His dad’s in charge. He’s just the poster boy.”

“Wait a minute!” Chase interrupted.

“Say no more. I know how that is. I was the Super President’s daughter coming up. No platform of my own to be found.”

“I have a platform!” Chase insisted.

Max smirked, “Yeah, that Daddy controls. Excuse me, Mr. Davenport…”

“I can put whatever I choose on my platform!” Chase fussed.

“Okay,” Max said, rolling his eyes, then laughed when Chase pouted about things.  A few more minutes, and they were finally off to do the things that Max intended to do before. Chase remained pouting. Max drowned out his sighs and groans with more Usher. Chase tried to resist moving along to the music. He couldn’t, but he definitely was able to hold his glare.

By the time they were shopping, he lightened up, but the implication that he couldn’t speak for himself because he represented Davenport Industries would continue to bother him. He picked up the tab, because he knew he had more money than Max did and he did feel like he owed him for being pretty generous with stuff like cooking breakfast and offering beverages and stuff. They would be working together and he had to get used to treating him like a person that he was considerate of. Super Stay was a hotel that supers tended to stay in, though there was other clientele. 

They were in the Maximus Suite, and the place had a bionic chamber. Chase was impressed with it. It wasn’t like the one that Charlotte kept for him, but it was pretty good for a hotel. Dystopia was extremely accommodating, now that he was visiting. He didn’t want to tell Max that he had quarters in the city, because Max was pretty comfortable with this arrangement of them being in the same suite and he didn’t want to seem ungrateful or rude. 

Once they were cleaned up and changed, they met in the common area of the suite and Max announced, “Sure you’re gonna be alright seeing Marx?”

“I’m not a baby, Max.”

“Okay. Well… it’s closer than the library now, so there first, maybe get soup with Dougie and then the library. He’ll probably wanna look over Char’s robot stuff anyways,” Max said.

As they headed out, Chase wondered, “Are you two like… really close?” 

Max thought for a moment, then said, “Well… I think so. Something that my family never really realized about my villainous days was that I was missing something.  I thought that there was no way that I could ever be as good a hero as my sister and I had a pet villain to motivate me in other directions. My parents never supported me unless I did something they approved of and well… I felt like I found what I was looking for in Dr. Colosso… and I mean, I ultimately made the right decision but I was so close to the darkness. Douglas went into the darkness and when he came out, he'd lost his family. Sure, he was able to get back in, but he still missed out on so much and can't fix what he's done. I empathize. I didn't go as far as he did, and if I had, who knows? My family might not trust me. It could have gone so much worse. Dougie helps me to remember to be grateful and I help him to have a connection with a son like figure that he can relate to. There's mutual understanding and appreciation that we haven't exactly been able to get from our loved ones that have never did the dance in the darkness that we've done."

Chase didn't want to talk about why he didn't trust Douglas fully or the tension and resentment he still felt, after years of work and trying, but, one thing was still true, "I'm glad he's got someone like that."

“He would trade me for one of his own in a heartbeat,” Max said, with a shrug, though the thought of Douglas ever turning on him shook him deeply. He was around when Colosso died… And honestly… he was the only person who was at all helpful. He�� wanted to reanimate him as an android bunny, which no… I didn’t want to do, but I sure appreciated his desire to help me cope.”

“Bunny?” Chase repeated.

“I’ll explain later. Anyway, yeah… Dougie and I are close. He’s basically me, if I was old and lonely.”

“Lonely? With you, Charlotte, and Charlotte’s weird little friend?” Chase asked.

“Wow. You’re just gonna disrespect Schwoz that way? Yes. Even with a few friends, Douglas is still lonely. He doesn’t even get to be fun uncle to Naomi.”

“More and more, it’s sounding like you just hang out with him because you feel bad for him. Scared that you’ll turn out that way?” Chase joked. Now, it was Max’s turn to frown.

“Maybe,” he muttered. Probably, he couldn’t get himself to admit out loud.

.

“So, you ready to help me to create a whole new Dystopia?”

“I’m ready to watch your back while YOU create a whole new Dystopia.” 

“That works!” 

Thunderstrike smiled at Charlotte, his mask hiding half of his face, but not the eyes - old school style, as was the case with the heroes of his bloodline. That and a cape. He was ready to be the hero that she needed to do whatever it was she had to do. 

Charlotte was it for Max. He’d made that up in his mind before he ever met her. Sure, he’d done this before (with Cheyanne), but with Charlotte, it was different. First off - he apparently was drawn to her, because he admired her in each form she had, not even knowing she was the same person. And then, they became friends, and then he relocated to Dystopia during the height of its crime and then… he felt validation. 

She finally was starting to see him for who he was and he’d hoped, for who he could be to her. At that time, she’d been away for over a year and doing a lot. He could tell that she wasn’t as connected to her former partners as before. He could tell that she cared for him, maybe not as much, but enough for it to matter to her… enough for him to matter, for THEM to MATTER! 

The Super Stay wasn’t around yet, so he had a cabin on the campsite of the shelter he used to bring supplies for (Henry and Jasper’s shelter), and it was cozy and had every amenity needed, but sometimes, he wanted a bath. It was hard to get used to not soaking before he showered, and Charlotte was staying in the fancy place that Mr. Davenport provided, so whenever he’d mentioned this particular inconvenience, she suggested that he could do that at her place. Most of the time, she was either at work or at Henry and Jasper’s (which she was still calling “home” at the time), so she gave him the extra key and told him to make himself comfortable. 

He wasn’t going to impose. He just wanted to soak and think before he showered. Nothing else. Only, whenever he came over to do so, Charlotte was always there, despite having claimed that she was never really there. “Guess I just have bad timing,” he joked.

“Or good timing,” she said, with a bright smile and went to retrieve a pair of pants. She was just wearing panties and a crop top sweatshirt, with her locs tied up in a scarf. She didn’t seem uncomfortable with him seeing her that way, or maybe she presumed that he’d turn his head when he realized that she wasn’t decent… Or maybe, and he didn’t want to presume, but couldn’t help it, maybe she’d wanted him to see her like this. She pulled on the tight fighting, snug leisure pants and headed into her bathroom… where HE was about to go. “So, this is where the towels are,” she told him and he followed her voice, gasped when he saw how wondrous the bathroom looked, before even making it to the walk in linen closet, which was full, not only with towels, but soaps, skin products, dental hygiene supplies, etc, and had a little computer on the side. “This is Madame. If you’ve ever seen the episode of Fly Homes with the Dom, that computer system that he calls Eddy, this is like that, but for here and she isn’t obnoxious. She’ll help you with anything you need to set the tone. Oatmeal, honey, milk, tea, whatever you wanna add to the bath. The pressure of the rinse… All the details. You can program your preferences under your name.” She started showing him how.

It was dope. He stayed for a while, laying in the tub, not realizing how much he’d needed this and also hating the fact that he didn’t have such a fancy set up in his house. He’d have to change that at some point… But, that night, he simply rested and soaked, then showered and whenever he came out, ready to go home, Charlotte was closing her laptop, having just finished all of her assignments, and she smiled at him. “Nightcap?” She wondered. 

Of course he wasn’t going to leave. He didn’t plan on staying all night, but as it turned out, back then, it took less liquor to make her worry about him driving. So, after a few drinks and long conversations about their current projects and stuff, she let him sleep on the couch and she went to bed. 

They had so many nights like that, the first time that he showed up and she in fact wasn’t there, he was sorely disappointed. He went into the bath, put on an eye mask and soaked, steam coming off of everything. 

It was a while before he felt like he heard something and sensed someone there. He pulled off the mask and Charlotte was standing in the doorway, trying to quietly back out. She laughed at herself and shook her head, “Sorry. I didn’t realize that you were in here. I was gonna try to leave unnoticed.”

“No, no… This is your bathroom. Do what ya gotta do.” He put the mask back on and rested against the bath pillow. She bit her lip, but came into the room and sat on the toilet. She turned on some music because, maybe it’d be better if he couldn’t hear her peeing. She noticed his hand tapping the side of the tub to the beat of the music and was relieved when he didn’t react to her extremely loud piss. Like… she was only aware right now how loud it was. Was it ALWAYS that loud? She hugged herself, sighed and let out some gas. She groaned and quickly said, “I am so sorry.” She said it almost under her breath, because finding her voice in the midst of that shame was difficult.

“For being a human with bodily functions?” He asked, from beneath the mask, and then added, “In your own house?”

Usually she’d remind him that this isn’t her house and that whenever her stay here was over the Dom was gonna use it for something else, but that night, she just laughed at herself, cleaned off with the bidet and left the bathroom. 

The next time that they were both there, she was now more comfortable with stepping in on him, since she knew that he didn’t care, and she really wanted to do what she needed to do and get out of there. They bumbled around each other for a while, trying to be polite, but also to hurry. Max had an early morning and had to get to sleep. Charlotte had a date for the first time “in ages” with Henry and Jasper. It was controlled chaos and they laughed their way through it, and moved along.

Only… Charlotte spent the majority of her date thinking about Max and what was happening with them. How comfortable she was getting with someone who wasn’t Henry or Jasper… how… attached she was feeling. Max spent the entire night awake in bed, willing her to be somewhere thinking of him too. That wasn’t to say he believed that could happen, but the possibility of him being the only one who’s night was overtaken by emotions and thoughts just didn’t sit well with him. 

After that… they were solid. Neither of them mentioned it for a time, but Charlotte began to stay home more (calling her Davenport property home, by this time) and he began to stay over a lot. 

Jasper was upset. He didn’t feel like it was appropriate. “This friendship of yours is going too far,” he’d complained. Only to be overruled by Charlotte’s iconic, “You think that’s the farthest that I, of all people, can go?” and Henry quickly smoothed things over with, “I think it’d be cute. One of these days one of us was bound to like somebody else and want to explore. It’s Charlotte, so the most sensible of us and the one with the most moral fiber. That’s a good start for a relationship soft open.”

Soft open. She didn’t know if she liked that description, but further conversation led them to a conversation about opening up their relationship, but only with open communication about it. 

At 21, she didn’t have all of the answers. Even people who lived poly lifestyles and people in open relationships all had their own ways of doing it and she didn’t know which way was right. She was still learning herself at that time and to learn yet ANOTHER man seemed excessive, but it was Max. She knew that things were mutual. She knew that she could do this and she believed that she would enjoy it.

Whenever she next came in to find him in the bath, listening to something vibey - Jhene or Sza or something - eyes shut and head leaned back, she removed what she had on and joined. He stirred, but didn’t visibly panic whenever her toes touched the water. His eyes opened and seeing her settle in, her stared, but didn’t want to ruin whatever was happening, so he didn’t question her and he didn’t say anything. She sorta wished he did, even though she had no explanation for her bold actions. All she did was shift around through the bubbles and find her way to his chest. She laid on him and felt his arms move to wrap her up. He kissed her forehead and they didn’t say anything about it.

When they got out of the bath and he started the shower, she began her skin and hair routine. He got out, teeth were brushed, bodies moisturized, etc. Finally, the silence was broken, when he pointed his thumb and wondered, “Should I go to the couch?” She shook her head, took his hand, and guided him into the bedroom. That was the FIRST night that he slept in her bed.

“I don’t think you’ll end up that way,” Chase broke into his thoughts. “You’re someone who cares about others at this point in your life… I don’t know that I can say Douglas was that way at your age. You turned things around sooner, and made a good difference earlier in life. You’ve got similar feelings about your adolescent stages, but everything else, save maybe poor taste in fashion, is all different. You won’t end up like Douglas. You even have people who love you,” Chase said. He slapped a hand awkwardly on Max’s shoulder, and patted him stiffly. 

“Are you trying to open up to me about your true feelings, Bionic Boy?” 

Chase scoffed and removed his hand, “As if! I wasn’t even entirely genuine! You’re a lot like Douglas and both of you have terrible wardrobe. And feelings? For you? Gross!” Chase’s flustered stammering made Max laugh. But also, Chase was right. The first time. He wouldn’t end up with work friends and a few flings. He’d be happy someday with somebody who loved him and wanted him. Unfortunately, for Max… Charlotte was it.

[evitcani-writes]

Don’t Believe the TV: Chapter 2 Draft

Okay, so as it happens, I found an ABSOLUTE jam, so I managed to get through chapter 2. 

[Part 1]

Tentatively calling it, "Pretend Like Way Back When". Check out the last post for the playlist. ;p 

Hope you enjoy it!

--

Taako glared at Kravitz’s reflection in the mirror. “You swear on your life this is temporary, right?”

“Yes,” Kravitz laughed and began brushing bright turquoise into Taako’s wet hair. “It’ll wash out when you take a shower tonight. I’ll wash it out for you if you want.”

“Mm,” Taako hummed, starting on his makeup while Kravitz worked. “Let's call it a date.”

Kravitz snorted and shook his head, smiling genuinely. “I took care of the social media side of things,” he said, finishing with the color. “You’re sick so we’re going to cuddle by the fire with orange juice as far as anyone is concerned.”

That sounds nice, Taako thought as he did his eyes. “Damn it,” he swore, missing the swipe.

“Here,” Kravitz said and took the pencil from him. He smudged at the misplaced swipe and did it perfectly on his first try.

Taako blinked at his reflection. “I thought you had a whole team to do your face. When did they teach you to do makeup?”

“They didn’t,” Kravitz said and did not extrapolate.

Rolling his eyes, Taako finished with his lipstick. He thought it was too heavy a look for a backyard wedding, but Kravitz had insisted it would be fine. Kravitz leaned in to do his own makeup. It was only then that he realized Kravitz’s hair had changed. “Hey, what’s—? Where’d you get long hair from?”

Kravitz huffed a laugh and tied it back in a messy bun. The sides were shaved. “This is my natural hair, Taako,” he told him and then started to unscrew his left hand. He set the prosthetic aside and took another one from his bag.

Taako prodded the one on the hotel vanity, strangely fascinated at how realistic it was. “I wondered this the last time, but you—Why don’t you wear this one all the time? It looks real.”

“It’s stiff,” Kravitz grunted and adjusted the robotic fingers of the prosthetic from his bag. “I only wear it for work.” Taako could hear the joints clicking as they moved, not as quiet as newer models were. He added an upgrade to his mental list of Candlenights presents.

After another flex of his fingers, Kravitz seemed satisfied with it. He stepped back and offered his hand to Taako. Taako took a moment to appreciate how different Kravitz was in beaten dark jeans, a black button up. His prosthetic hand glowed through the seams at the joints and the end of his hair was dyed to match. Even his duffel bag matched his phone case more than the person Taako had come to know.

This was going to be an entirely new experience.

Taako took Kravitz’s hand and slung his purse over his shoulder. He peeked out and made sure the hallway was clear before they made their escape. They hurried away to the elevators. Even with sunglasses and a style unlike the one he normally wore, Taako still feared recognition.

Once they were in the lobby, they easily disappeared to the taxis waiting outside. Kravitz gave the address and then turned to fuss with Taako’s hair as it dried. Taako sighed and let Kravitz do whatever he was doing. “How long’s the drive?” He asked.

“Maybe fifteen minutes,” Kravitz nodded, gesturing to the open fields. “Mama lives in the country. Not far, like I said.” He paused and presented Taako with a pair of fake glasses from his bag.

Taako donned them with a flourish and tilted his head this way and that at Kravitz. “How do I look?”

“Like a wannabe groupie for a boy band,” Kravitz laughed and sat back. “It’s not a bad style,” he added at Taako’s reproachful look. He smiled as he looked Taako over. “Kind of cute.”

At least he didn’t look like Taako, which was the important part. “Well,” he said, gesturing to himself. “Greg here has an image to maintain.”

“You’re going by Greg?” Kravitz scoffed and covered his mouth. Taako recognized this as something only Kravitz did, to bite back his laughter when something delighted him. Keats was not given to laughter.

“Gregory C. Toff,” he said primly, now with the goal of making Kravitz laugh again. He’d been so free with it today. “You gotta problem with my name, handsome?”

“No, no,” Kravitz grinned, mouth still hidden behind his palm. “What, pray tell, is your occupation, Mr. Toff?”

Taako thought for a moment, finger dancing in the air as if he was about to tell Kravitz off. “Chef,” he finally said, poking Kravitz in the chest. “A chef on local access television. ‘Oh, don’t you know who I am? Gregory, you know, from TV?’” Kravitz laughed despite himself and Taako felt satisfied. He wished things could be like this all the time; like it had been when they were kids. He missed everyone they could have been back then. “Hey,” he said, not really sure what he was doing. “Remember when I asked you what your name was? In Mr. Davenport’s class right before lunch?”

“I told you that you already knew it,” Kravitz said, his expression dimming, but only from laughter to something Taako wanted to pretend was affection. “I pretended to be offended you’d forgotten.”

“It was the first time I realized you and him weren’t the same person,” Taako laughed and took out his phone. “You do such a good job at it, pretending,” he said while flipping through old pictures. “Better than the other boys.” There it was, the old picture he’d made Mr. Merle and Mr. Davenport promise to tell no one about. The two old teachers stood in the background, incriminating themselves as much as the others. Lup, Barry, Lucretia, Magnus, Julia, and on either of Taako’s arms, Keats and Kravitz. Keats—cool and collected with his perfect princely smile—and Kravitz—his face half-hidden in laughter in Taako’s hair—both an almost-perfect imitation of the other.

He shoved his phone at Kravitz. “You know, I’ve always wondered—Did you have a name before I asked?” He zoomed in on the collection of albums behind them on Mr. Davenport’s shelf. ‘Greatest Hits of Lenny Kravitz’ stood out among them.

Kravitz tapped the photo so it showed the whole picture again, all of them together and happy. “Does it matter?”

“It matters to me,” Taako said and smiled down at all of those people they could have been. The screen dimmed to black and he looked up at Kravitz. “Doesn’t it matter to you?”

For one, tense moment, he thought Kravitz would pull away again, go cold and disappear under his mask. Instead, he lay his hand over Taako’s. “I’m Kravitz,” he said softly, “and you’re Greg, a chef, my plus-one. Are you a friend or—?” He met Taako’s eyes.

“Lover,” Taako laughed, letting go of the question Kravitz wasn’t ready to answer. “I don’t want anyone trying to play matchmaker with me tonight, my guy.”

“Got it,” Kravitz said and let go of Taako’s hand. His warmth lingered on Taako’s knuckles. “If anyone asks, I’m a musician.”

“You’re a, a what now?” Taako stared at him, too surprised to do more than laugh. “I’ve heard you sing, you’re—”

Terrible, awful, will crack all the champagne glasses, he thought to himself and wondered how Kravitz ever passed off that lie.

Kravitz grinned, putting one finger under Taako’s chin to close his mouth. “Just go with it,” he winked as the taxi rolled to a stop. He opened the door and pulled Taako through, his prosthetic hand cold and inviting. Once they were out, Kravitz turned to pay the driver. They stood at the end of a long, long dirt road on cracked pavement that hadn’t seen repair in at least a decade. He was glad, now, that Kravitz had insisted he wear sneakers and not heels.

Ahead of them was a little house in the middle of rolling fields of wildflowers in colors Taako had never seen. White balloons clung to the old, rusted mailbox and a thousand cars had parked in the field before the driveway. Clouds threatened to douse them all, but it was otherwise more breathtaking than he’d expected.

A little backyard wedding, Taako thought, watching the distant people milling around the front. He’d never been to something so quaint.

He was looking forward to Kravitz guiding him through it.

“Come on, we’ll be late if we don’t get moving,” Kravitz said and took his hand. “You’ll have to meet my uncle. He’d love to talk to you about magic.” Taako held out his hand and let the tips of wheat and flower brush the of his hand. He wondered how they knew not to grow where they wouldn’t hurt them. “Don’t drink the moonshine. It’ll knock you flat on your ass, T—Greg.” He looked up, watching a stray balloon escape into the only tree. It had a tire attached to its most sturdy branch. A tractor rusted against a broken shell of a barn. “Watch what you say around Angus. He’ll see straight through you. Too smart for his own good.”

Had this been where Kravitz went on vacations, on holiday? Was this what Kravitz meant when he said home?

Before he could get too distracted, a crowd of children ran at them, pulling Kravitz away in a cacophony of delighted shrieks. Taako followed along, refusing to help free Kravitz even when Kravitz cast a backwards glance of put-upon misery at him. He grinned the rest of the way down the drive. From there, he was introduced to who Taako thought might be the entire McDonald family and never caught one name.

He’s Kravitz McDonald, he thought to himself. He’d never known Kravitz’s last name.

He managed to find a spot to sit with a gaggle of aunts who asked all the questions that Taako had come to believe aunts would ask. Taako didn’t see Kravitz again until the music started. Mama Kravitz on a piano, under a tent and Kravitz with a violin beside her, playing with his left-hand.

He’s left-handed, he thought to himself.

His new friends in the aunts said, “He’s so talented, that Kravitz.”

“Luckiest man in the world,” Taako dared to say, “Like a dream.” He did not know why he said it except that it was all make-believe; like the proposal the day before.

All went quiet and their eyes turned to the backdoor of the house, to the ivy clinging to its brick and the screen door held aloft by a boy in a bowtie no older than ten.

Sloane McDonald was beautiful. She looked nothing like Kravitz and too much like him all the same. She lifted her dress as the promised rain began to pour. Under the white ruffles were tattered boots and she stepped fearlessly into the beginnings of mud. Her dress soaked the rain to blue, but the sun still shone above her in a halo. Her pin straight hair fell from its delicate bun and she laughed, shaking it and turning to two little girls trying to run under the eaves to hide from the rain. They ran out again and picked up her heavy dress, using it like an umbrella. Together, they bustled down the aisle to Sloane’s soon-to-be-wife.

Taako hadn’t caught the name of the other bride, but liked her just by the way she watched Sloane.

And all through the rain and ceremony, Kravitz and his mother played melodies so sweet that Taako’s heart ached. He remembered that Kravitz had almost missed this, almost missed playing a duet for his sister and all the people who did not need to wipe their eyes for the rain. He, too, had almost Kravitz and not needing to wipe his eyes for the rain.

When the vows had been exchanged, each guest picked up their chair and set it aside. Cousins, aunts, uncles all took out cheap plastic tables and helped rearrange the seating. The rain stopped and Taako took off his shoes like the other guests. Music was changed to a little speaker with a phone nearby.

Kravitz found him at his table of aunts.

“You should have brought him earlier,” they scolded Kravitz, “He could have helped with dinner!”

“If I would have brought him earlier, you all would have kept him busy answering your nosy questions instead of cooking,” he laughed and took Taako’s hand. Taako noticed he was barefoot, too. “I hope they weren’t too much for you to handle, love.”

“They are perfect ladies,” Taako grinned and let himself be taken to wine, to the dance floor. Both of them had been trained to dance, but they didn’t need to. Kravitz put one hand on his shoulder and Taako one arm around Kravitz. They swayed with their wine, watching the other guests. Kravitz told him from their vantage point who everyone was, pointing them out with subtle tips of his glass.

When they ran out of wine and the children had been put to bed in a big room of mattresses, they put their glasses aside and stopped letting everyone tease them about boring. Kravitz twirled him, both of them a little drunk. It started raining again and their feet were covered in mud and grass. He sang along with the song, a soft baritone Taako had never heard before, “We could pretend, like Romeo and Juliet.” His breath smelled like the wine, warm under his ear where his lips kissed Taako’s neck on each word. “We could make some noise, bother the neighbors with the headboard.”

And it was good, the best song Taako had ever heard.

Keats couldn’t sing, but Kravitz could.

It was sure doing some things to Taako he knew it shouldn’t have. “You could take my time, like I’ve been hopin’,” Taako sang, soft and unsure of himself, whispered just for Kravitz.

Kravitz led him off to the barn between knowing looks. He pressed Taako against the side and kissed him senseless, hands down the back of Taako’s jeans. It was no more than kissing, lips and mood buzzing pleasantly. Taako ran his hands through Kravitz’s soft, soft hair. “I’m not fuckin’ you in a barn,” he warned Kravitz with a laugh before going in for another greedy kiss.

“But you want to,” Kravitz said between little kisses.

“Mhm,” Taako said, no hint of shame. Singing wasn’t the only wonderful thing Kravitz could do with his tongue.

Somehow, they ended up in Kravitz’s old room. The taxis refused to come out so far, so late. They’d have to stay until morning. They were both too drunk and tired to do more than messily fit themselves into the single bed, muddy feet staining the sheets.

Taako woke up in the middle of the night, Kravitz’s hot breath against his collarbone and whispered, “Shit,” to the ceiling.

This Kravitz McDonald who could sing and still had a room in his mama’s house and a beautiful sister with a beautiful wife and a family who liked Taako because Kravitz did would be the death of him. He may have, just a little bit, have fallen in love with the heart he could feel in a steady rhythm against his side. Maybe, maybe a little, he’d always loved the arms wrapped around him. Possibly, probably, he was only just realizing he’d been waiting for Kravitz to fall in love with him first.

And he hadn’t.

Taako squeezed his eyes shut. “Idiot,” he told himself.

[lamptracker]

FIC: Counting Down the Days, part 2

FIC: Counting Down the Days, part 2

Pairing: Peter Parker/Female Reader

Inspo: “Cancer” by My Chemical Romance

Summary:  While visiting a children’s hospital as his alter ego Spider-Man, Peter meets a girl his age. She’s sweet, she’s smart, she’s funny… and she’s dying of cancer. When she laments the fact that she probably won’t get to live long enough to have the typical teenage experiences of prom and a boyfriend, Peter offers to fill those roles for her.

Part summary: Peter tells the reader what it felt like when he got Snapped. 

Warnings: Talk of death. The usual cursing (he is from Queens). Endgame spoiler. Making fun of soccer moms who want to talk to the manager.

Tagged: @flokidottir-imagines-br  @babyplutoszx2   @musiclover1263   @judemoos   @drxgxnslxyer   @hollanderheart   @thequeensardine   @ive-got-some-lies-to-tell   @captainbuckyy   @xxtomxo   @deleteidentity   @yessterekthings   @itsyaspacemom   @parrkerspeters   @starksparker

Part 1

**

“Alrighty,” Peter said, webbing (y/n)’s hospital room door shut and peeling off his mask. “One cinnamon chai latte for you, one white chocolate mocha for me.”

“Ew, white chocolate?”

“You’re judging me. This is supposed to be a judgment-free zone, (y/n).”

“Please, Peter. This is a hospital, not Planet Fitness.”

Peter just shook his head and laughed as he handed (y/n) her latte. They’d been texting back and forth over the last couple of days, getting to know each other a little better. She asked to see pictures of his friends; he happily obliged (after telling them what he was up to - sort of, in most cases).

“That’s my best friend Ned,” Peter said, pointing at the pictures he was projecting on the wall from his suit. “He knows I’m Spider-Man too, him and MJ.  He’s in Robotics Club and Academic Decathlon with me. That’s his girlfriend Betty, she’s on Student Council and she reads the announcements every morning. This is Michelle, also known as the aforementioned MJ. She’s on Academic Decathlon too. There’s Abe, and that’s Brad, and… oh, good, I see Flash found the phone that’s not built into my suit today.”

“Wow, that is exceptionally rude,” (y/n) said, squinting.

“Karen,” Peter muttered, “delete that.”

“Deleting,” Karen said as the photo disappeared; (y/n) laughed loudly.

“So wait, you’re friends with a dude named Flash?”

Peter scoffed loudly. “Not friends,” he muttered, “he’s been bullying me since the third grade. Did you know, (y/n), that he gave himself that nickname because his real name is Eugene?”

(Y/n) cracked up laughing. “Eugene?!” she exclaimed. “Well, fun fact, I went to school with a kid named Elmer. Heir to the McCormick spice fortune, and about as smart as a container of Italian seasoning too.”

Peter just shook his head. “Elmer,” he muttered as he and (y/n) started to sip their coffees.

“Wow,” (y/n) said. “I can’t remember the last time I had a good cup of coffee. The stuff here tastes like it was brewed with dish soap.”

Peter made a face. “We have a coffee pot, but I never drink coffee at home. I love my aunt May, I really do, but cooking is not her forte. And, unfortunately, that includes coffee. I’ve taught myself how to cook some things. Make a pretty mean chocolate chip cookie.”

“Well, I may have to try one of those sometime.” (Y/n) sipped her latte. “This almost feels like a real coffee date, y’know?”

Peter smiled. “Karen, open Spotify and play my Coffeehouse Favorites playlist, please?”

“Sure, Peter.” The air was soon filled with soft, jazzy music.

“Very nice!” (y/n) exclaimed. “Now we just need the middle-aged suburban mom with her may-I-speak-to-the-manager haircut complaining that her cappuccino isn’t foamy enough.”

“Well, I can’t reproduce that, but I can try.” Peter cleared his throat, next speaking in a weird sort of high-pitched voice. “I asked for light foam, does this look light to you??”

(y/n) giggled. “And there are 47 bubbles, I asked for 49. How hard is it to put 49 bubbles in my cappuccino foam?”

And then, in unison, they said: “Where is your manager?”

They both burst into laughter.

“I gotta tell you,” (y/n) said, “that I’ve only known you for, what, three days? And I’ve laughed more in this three days than I have in the last three years. You’re just… you’re so fun to be around. You come here to cheer people up, right? Guess what, Pete… it’s working.”

Peter smiled warmly at her. “Good, I’m glad.”

“Part of me wishes I’d met you earlier,” (y/n) said wistfully. “You know, before I got sick this last time. We could have had so much more time together. But… but I’m almost glad I met you when I did. Being faced with your own mortality really sucks, it’s nice to have a friend.”

“You know the Snap?” Peter said; (y/n) nodded. “I was one of the ones that got snapped.”

“Honestly? When it happened, I wish I’d been snapped. But… then everyone came back. So either way, I’d have to deal with this.” She gestured vaguely at the wires hooked up to various parts of her body. “But the nice part about that was, you didn’t know it was coming. You know? Like it just… happened. You didn’t have to suffer through it.”

“I knew.”

(y/n)’s eyes widened in shock. “You what?”

Peter swallowed thickly. “I knew what was happening. Because of my powers, my senses are, just, super heightened. I feel everything differently than everyone else. So yeah, for everyone else that got snapped, it was quick and painless but for me? I felt everything.”

(y/n)’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, God. What… what was that like? I mean, if you want to talk about it, if not I totally get it.”

Peter sighed. He knew one day he’d have to talk about it. He was kind of hoping he’d never have to. But, if it would help (y/n) feel better, he was willing to push his fear aside.

“Terrifying,” he finally replied. “I was terrified. I felt helpless, alone. Mr. Stark was right there, that helped me feel less alone. Physically it was weird, I could feel myself disintegrating. It wasn’t unbearably painful, but it was pretty uncomfortable. And then my soul just got… I don’t know, transported? Maybe? Sure, transported to the soul world. And it was five years, but it felt like five hours, it was really weird. But then… then I came back. I guess that’s the difference, though, I got to come back.”

(y/n) smiled. “Wow,” she said. “It’s nice to finally meet someone that knows what I’m going through. I’ve been faced with death over half my life and it scares me. I’ve felt so alone. But… now I don’t feel so alone anymore.” She reached over, gently grasping his still-gloved hand.

Peter gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Glad to help.” He smiled at her again. “Um, that latte is getting cold. I don’t want to have to go get the manager.”

“Young man!” (y/n) exclaimed, in her fake customer voice. “This went down to 102 degrees, it needs to be at least 115!”

They burst into laughter yet again.

“What was it like, in the soul world?” (Y/n) asked softly.

Peter shrugged. “Wasn’t so bad. I didn’t feel anything physically. But internally, I felt very at peace. I… I got to see my parents and my Uncle Ben again. But they didn’t get to come back, that’s how the quantum thing worked. If you were dead before the Snap, you stayed dead. You know? But they got to tell me they were proud of me, that made me feel a lot better. I had this overwhelming, just… what was I so afraid of? This isn’t so bad. Then I realized that the thing I was scared of was the uncertainty. What’s happening to me? Where am I going to end up? That’s the part that got me. But once I got there… it was okay.”

“That makes me feel a lot better. Thanks, Peter.” She squeezed his hand again. “So what do I do now?”

“I… I don’t really know. What do you think you should do?”

“I think I should make the most of the time I have left,” (y/n) answered. “Not dwell on the dying part so much, focus on the living part. I know that sounds like all the schlocky bullshit they spout out in movies and whatnot but… but maybe there’s some good advice hidden in that.”

Peter just nodded solemnly.

“So,” (y/n) said, gulping down the last of her latte, “any plans this weekend?”

“I… oh, maybe. Karen, what’s my schedule this weekend?”

“You have an Academic Decathlon competition in Albany this weekend, be at the school by 5pm packed and ready to get on the bus. Estimated return time is 8pm Saturday.”

“And I’m co-captain with MJ this year,” Peter said, “so my presence is definitely required. I’ll get you a postcard or something though. And then I should probably do my rounds after I get home, and then I think I’m free Sunday.”

“New event added to calendar by Bruce Banner,” Karen said, “meeting at Avengers Tower at 2pm on Sunday.”

Peter chuckled. “...and I’ll try to stop by after that. If not, I will for sure Monday. But I’ll text you whenever I can, okay?”

“Sounds good.” (y/n) smiled. “Hey, thank you, by the way.”

“For what?”

“Everyone that comes in here thinks they need to walk on eggshells around me, not bring up the D word or whatever, you know? Thank you for not doing that. Thank you for treating me like I’m just an average everyday kid, and not an average everyday kid that happens to be walking around with a commuted sentence.”

Peter grinned at her. “Hey, anytime.”

“In a weird way,” (y/n) continued, “I’m almost glad I got sick.”

“Why’s that?” Peter asked, nose scrunched in confusion.

She smiled softly at him. “It brought me you.”

Peter could feel a blush creep over his cheeks as he searched for something to say. He settled for squeezing her hand again and replying, “I’m glad I met you too. Sucks it wasn’t sooner, but… better late than never, y’know?”

“Better late than never.” She grinned at him before releasing his hand. “Talk to you soon?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

[mel-is-sanonymous1994]

Exploit Found.

A/N: this is my first time writing a story based around this show that I’ve seen all the way through twice. So will there be technical errors? Yes. Will it break from canon? Definitely. But nonetheless this starts right after the end of season 3 maybe a couple weeks later.

Part 1 Part 2

PART 1

Nova’s POV

“I just don’t understand why you had to go so far away?” My mom asked. I had officially lived in New York for 24 hours and my mother was already freaking out.

“Mom. I'm fine. I have a job that I start tomorrow, a beautiful apartment. I’m good.” I said looking around my apartment, it was far from beautiful, not to mention the neighborhood is just as bad.

“What about me? My only child moves a million miles away and leaves me all alone.” She says overdramatically.

“Mom you have 2 other children and it isn’t quite a million miles, you’ll be fine, i’ll visit as soon as I can.” I offered. She scoffed.

“Fine! I’ll just have to smuggle your brother and sister with too much love while you are gone. I love you.” She said.

“Love you too, give dad a hug for me.” I said.

“I will, he’s busy installing security at the moment.” Mom whispered.

“James again?” I paled. Feeling sorry they have to deal with my problems.

“Yeah but don’t worry about it hun, Dad’s got it covered, he may be retired but 30 years in the police force doesn’t just go away.” She assured me. I took a couple deep breaths. I heard the apartment door next to me open and close. I peeked through the peephole. A man was standing in front of my door.

“Hey mom I gotta go.” I said hanging up. I pulled my door open startling the man in a black hoodie.

“Hello, can I help you with something?” I asked him politely.

“The door was closed.” He says almost too quiet to hear.

“Uh huh.” I said trying not to judge this man.

“I’m sorry.” He said as his eyes refused to meet mine.

“No problem, I'm your new neighbor, my friends call me Nova.” I introduced myself.

“Elliot.” He said. I noticed from his body language that he wasn’t going to remove his hands from his hoodie pockets so I didn’t offer him my hand.

“Well it’s nice to meet you Elliot, I guess I'll see you around.” I said. He nodded and walked away. I shrugged and closed my door. I remembered my landlord talking about the woman who used to live here, and how she died. Once I remembered that I understood Elliot’s behavior, he must’ve known her. I pressed play on my playlist and began unpacking.

5:00 P.M

I decided a dinner break was necessary. I pulled up a pizza delivery app ordered my pizza and waited. About 30-45 minutes later there was a knock at my door. I opened the door.

“Good evening, order for November Peterson?” The young lady said.

“Yep that’s me, thank you.” I said handing her the money and a sizeable tip because i’ve been a delivery driver and it isn’t pleasant.

“Have a nice night.” She said walking away.

ELLIOT’S POV 5:00 P.M.

I had just gotten home from my new job when I heard the volume coming from Shayla’s old apartment die down. I sat at my computer and tried to hack Nova. I promised myself that I wouldn’t but my curiosity got the best of me. After 5 minutes my computer dinged.

*No results*

I tried again and got the same message. This isn’t possible, My program never fails. I tried to remember a couple songs I heard when I first got home, typed them in and again got nothing.

“Leave it alone kid.” Mr Robot urged me.

“There has to be something I'm missing.” I said standing and pacing.

“The only way you are going to get the information you need is by talking to her again and we both know you don’t want to.” Mr Robot said. I paced some more when i heard a knock on her door. I stood in front of mine listening.

“Order for November Peterson?” The lady asked.

“You didn’t think just Nova would get you in did you?” Mr Robot asked. I rushed back to my computer and typed in the new information and my program figured out her password in seconds. It was Fondy1131287, her hometown and followed by the month number of her name and her birthdate. Her socials were dormant, hasn’t used them in about a month. A man named James has been messaging her threatening messages everyday for almost two months now with the most recent one being an hour ago.

Him: You're stupid dad think installing security is gonna stop me, and changing your number again, I figured it out the last two times, you can’t hide.

I gritted my teeth, she has a stalking problem.

“Why do you care? You have bigger fish to fry.” Mr Robot questioned.

“I don’t care.” I lied.

“C’mon kid, I know you are lying.” he said before going away. Maybe I did care but I have no idea why and it scares me.

[exo-trashbean]

In Honor of the Summer Ending

I heard some pretty wacky stuff while working at my summer job as an intern in an I.T. Department. Here is a some banter I recorded.

Sidenote - there are two Brians in my office (”Brian”, or “B″ is my boss, respectively, and “Other Brian″ is the jackass that stops over to roast me and the other intern), as well as two Dereks ("Derek " (”D”) is the other intern, and "Other Derek" is the one that sits a cube over -- all of the stuff he says is always heard from over the wall). [Also, when I refer to a “cube” it means a group cubicle with 4 people in it]

The chats/quotes separated by return spaces are all from different conversations, to clarify.

Enjoy!

"That is a lovely Shade of booger" "Try again" beep. beep. *beeps get more impatient* beepbeepbeep “Ok stOP-”

loud bang heard from across the department. “Are You having fun yet?” “Nope”

“I- I can’t” “What is it?” “A sandwich with no bread”

Clinking of change. “It’s crazy that there are 50 year-old quarters... just chillin”

“Think fast.” *Sound of can hitting the ground* *Deep sigh*

“I support equal robot rights”

Brian: *making whistle noises like bombs dropping whilst pelting interns w/root beer barrels*

Not exactly a quote, but I stand up to stretch in the morning and on the board in the cube next to me says “Cheese life! Go Cheese!”

[Testing workflow website for company] Wes: Just make sure when you comment something, you submit an attachment. It can be anything. Brian + me: Anything? *Wes nods* *Entire cube goes onto DevHumor for memes*

Ezra sneezes. Brian sneezes 2 seconds later, but with the Dad Sneeze™. Brian turns to me [2 hrs after learning what “boneless” means]: “See, his sneeze was boneless, mine was not.”

Brian: Do you know what the use of a GoTo() [Statement] is? *leans forward* THERE IS NONE Coworker walking by: GoTo the unemployment line Brian: If I find a GoTo() statement in your code, there is gonna be a coffee mug-shaped dent in your forehead

[Cube next to me after debugging] Other Derek: Thanks for solving the mystery Lucas. do you want to be part of the scooby doo club? Thomas: *offhandedly* The mystery gang? Lucas: What kind of snacks do you got? Other Derek: uh, combos- *Sound of footsteps fading away*

[Other Cube] “Is that jam?” “Yeah it’s Derek’s” “Do you want some? You can have some only if you eat all of it right now” “You’re nuts!” “No I have Jam”

Derek: We got state fair corn dogs and my brother eats like 2 or 3 for breakfast- Brian: He eats 3 corn dogs for breakfast?! Other Brian: My kinda guy

“I don’t eat things I can’t pronounce”

“Password is DonutsRgood”

“I’m trying to separate it into two columns [on ms word] but it keeps wrapping weird” “Then tell it you don’t want to listen to its music” “The exit door is right there Derek”

[Derek making checklist for supervisor on dry erase board] “NOT GARISH” written @ bottom Me: you know what you gotta do is *starts to point* Derek: YES DIFFERENT COLORS *grabs all the markers*

D: ah ye scallywag B: what D: nabbed me pen ye did B: Ah, ye see it looks a bit like mine D: it’s fine I already got another one B: arrr D: thief of the seas

Me: did you play clue or clue junior? Derek: uh... I have *giggles* no clue

Kathy, older woman that could kick anybody’s ass, total savage, etc. goes to open door - all I hear is a thud as she kicks it(?) and an “OW”: *Walking back to cubicle* “well I WAS having a good day”

“your positive attitude just sucks”

B: *Messes something up* Nergh [Unknown from other cube]: argh B: ugh

B: did you just call Dairy Queen unhealthy? D: Blasphemy. They have salads.

[Talking about hot pockets Brian made] me: why’d you put swiss cheese on it? B: swiss cheese has no lactose- D: does it at least have feet? because it lacks toes? Other Derek, from over the cube wall, before I can even sigh: Is that why swiss cheese has holes? B: oh so when HE makes the joke-

Other Derek: I need new friends. A guy I know is listening to a spotify playlist called “White Trash Bash”

[other cube mocking a caller that had a webpage problem] Zach: I REfrEsHEd Other Derek: you refreshed? I want a refresh *sound of repeated banging on keyboard* is it working?

D: it smells like pickles over here *gesturing to fridge* B: *goes over to fridge to inspect* That’s Wes’s Pickle (Referring to Wes’s lunch). *giggles* B: *turns to me and holds up 4 fingers* I’m this many.

Ezra: *Excitedly* I did a thing. There’s code! *waving arms at computer*

Nicole: [to Brian] “I’m supposed to ask if you could be any dog what you would be” Other Derek [from over the wall]: Hot dog. Say Hot Dog.

Ezra, who sits 5 whole feet away from me: *messages me over skype* “How are you holding up? :)”

“Do you know what day it is?” “No I wanna go to lunch, you guys stink” “do you know what day it is?” “... it’s hump day?”

[other cube after returning from lunch] Thomas: Yee, and I cannot stress this enough, HAW

B: don’t buy a house you can afford childless. *Very seriously* because childs happen. Me + Derek: childs happen??

Brian, my 46 y/o boss: *Opens 2 cheese sticks and sticks them in his mouth like a walrus*

[Cube over] “Could you sip your tea any louder man?” *sound of obnoxious tea sipping* *sound of choking on hot water*

“It’s not that you broke it, it’s that I had it not-fixed in the first place”

D:*cups hands over mouth to amplify sound* I WILL CONSUME YOUR DATA

5 minute conversation about pronunciation of “Worcestershire”

Aavery, the other intern besides Derek: “Teaspoons you use to stir tea. Table spoons you use to stir tables”

[talking about Spanish] B: I can order a cold beer, count to 10, and say “socks”. I can older a cold pair of socks!

Kathy: I can’t wait to retire so I can smoke weed.

[about testing] D: Aavery and Autumn did some testing for the help desk and broke a bunch of stuff [sidenote: breaking stuff is a good thing when it comes to testing] Me: I only broke like one thing, Aavery did the rest D: Well, one thing is... *trailing off* better than... none things...

Brian tells Derek to answer the phone if Mr. Duemann (one of the managers in the plant) calls. [Derek & I talking about how to answer the phone] D: *hewwo rp voice* Misteww Doowman, Bwian says to come heyuw :3

B: $1400 worth of cheese Me: jeez B: no, CHEESE

Derek, proudly after testing: There will no be bug. [yes, that’s typed correctly]

Other Derek, from over cube [talking to somebody else]: I knew it! you always smell like Jumbalaya B: WHAT

[backlog refinement, which is basically planning work stuff] B: we’re gonna have to give Autumn the password to the Service Account, and *turns to me* you’re gonna swear to use all your brain cells that day

“INventory stuf on servers” written as the title of a scheduled work task

[heard from across the office] “It’s NOT a dad joke, I thought it was cool!”

“The person that IS an alcoholic isn’t here today”

[free nacho day] Ezra: “if you taste each individual item you’re not using enough cheese”

[doyouhearthunder]

tagged by @the44thpilot

Rules: Set your entire playlist to shuffle and then write first 10 songs that pop out.  (this is from my YouTube music playlist which is...a bit of a dumping ground lol)

Fleet Foxes - He Doesn’t Know Why:  This is a really lovely song, all the elements combining and flowing in a very pleasing way.  Some really cool stuff in here, structurally and sound-wise.  Plus, it’s one of my go-to Marble Hornets songs.  (Favorite lyrics: In the gentle light as the morning nears / you don’t say a single word of the last two years)

Josh Pyke - Variations:  Josh Pyke is one of those dreamy indie singer types that someone I knew turned me onto a long time ago.  He’s got some good stuff, but my favorites are this one and Tapping On a Secret.  (Favorite lyrics: And in later conversations / we’ll never mention car rides)

I Monster - Daydream in Blue:  Weird, surreal electronic fever dream of a song.  Sounds like the inside of a mind which is threatening to fall apart, which is probably why I first heard it on Mr. Robot.  (Favorite lyrics: Daydream / I fell asleep among the flowers / for a couple of hours / on a beautiful day)

Poets of the Fall - War: Grand, sweeping and epic (if a little angsty).  I made a Lord of the Rings music video with this.  (Favorite lyrics: And then we're caught up in the arms race / An involuntary addiction / And we're shedding every value our mothers taught)

The Mountain Goats - Rain in Soho:  This doesn’t really sound like most Mountain Goats songs, but damn, what a sound.  Stormy, portentous and evocative.  (Favorite lyrics: No town more barren than our town / No haven safer than the one they tore down / No greater love than to lay my life down for a friend / No sweeter pleasure than to see the credits clear through to the end)

Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son:  Setting all well-worn Supernatural connotations aside, this really is quite a song, the kind that hits the ground running and doesn’t let up.  Cheesy, to be sure, but you’ve gotta admire that momentum.  (Favorite lyrics: Masquerading as a man with a reason / My charade is the event of the season)

The Blow - True Affection: A calm, mellow song for when you’re chilling with a small group of pleasantly tipsy friends on a cold, snowy winter’s night.  (Favorite lyrics: I was out of your league / And you were 20,000 underneath the sea / Waiving affections)

Of Monsters and Men - Your Bones: This song is, in a word, beautiful.  It’s basically perfect??  10/10, no complaints (I made a Firefly music video with this one - can you see a recurring trend developing here with these?). (Favorite lyrics:  Awakened by the sound / Of a screaming owl / Chasing leaves in the wind / Going where we've never been)

The Shins - It’s Only Life:  This is a very lovely, calming song.  Just real smooth, soothing vibes.  (Favorite lyrics: I've been down the very road you're walking now / It doesn't have to be so dark and lonesome / It takes a while but we can figure this thing out / And turn it back around)

Toh Kay - With Any Sort of Certainty: I absolutely adore every second of this song.  Wistful, melancholy lyrics set to jaunty rhythms, like an existential wail showing through the brave face of daily routine.  Sad and soft and sweet.  Great video, too.  (Favorite lyrics: Oh my god, I will hold my tongue / And I'll breathe easily / If anyone can say with any sort of certainty / that there is something to believe)

Tagging @channelcherry, @futureboy, @filmelf and @teacupheroine if they would like to share some music too!

[eichy815]

Fall Fusion 2019 (NBC)

In another month, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and The CW are slated to unveil their primetime rosters for the 2019-20 network television season.  Adding an unprecedented complication, this year, is the unresolved standoff between the WGA (Writers Guild of America) and ATA (Association of Talent Agents).

NBC and Fox announce their fall schedules on May 13, followed by ABC on May 14 and CBS on May 15.  Bringing up the rear will be The CW on May 16.

The “bubble shows” for this season, which most likely won’t know their fates until May:  Blindspot, The Village, The Enemy Within, Manifest, A.P. Bio, and I Feel Bad on NBC; For The People, Whiskey Cavalier, The Fix, Single Parents, and The Kids Are Alright on ABC; Madame Secretary, Bull, Ransom, Instinct, Life in Pieces, Murphy Brown, FAM, and Happy Together on CBS; The 100, All-American, Roswell New Mexico, and In the Dark on The CW; and Lethal Weapon, The Gifted, The Orville, The Passage, Proven Innocent, and REL on Fox.

So, as I’ve been doing for the past several years, here is the roster I have dreamed up for the broadcast networks when the Big Five trot out their autumn slates in a few weeks.   I also include potential backup plans for the spring months, depending on which TV series fail or succeed.

When a show is picked up for the fall, it usually gets a 13-episode order – which can then be extended (usually via a “Back-Nine” order), if the show performs well enough.  Some freshmen series fall short of receiving a full 22 episodes (usually with an 16- or 18-episode order).  If the show stays far enough above the network’s average in terms of ratings and demos (the estimated number of viewers between the ages of 18-49, who are coveted by advertisers), it will most likely return for the following season.

As for the series that are held over to be midseason replacements:  they usually get 13-episode orders, as well.  Sometimes, a program that looks like more of a gamble might only get picked up for 6, 8, or 10 episodes instead.  If those shows attain a significant audience when they step in to fill gaps anytime between November and May, they may also find themselves on the next fall schedule.  

There are yet other TV series that are intended to be “limited series” or an “event series” – airing for a finite period of time during one predetermined juncture of the year – similar to many original cable television shows intentionally designed with shorter runs.  Fox and The CW have gradually transitioned to more of a year-round format for their programming, and ABC, CBS, and NBC should follow suit over the next two or three years. For this reason, we may see more of the broadcast networks “time-sharing” different programs within the same time slots as they transition from winter to spring to summer and back to autumn.

After all, there are a limited number of available time slots on the primetime schedule.  With the frequency of limited-run “event programming,” we should expect to see less of the traditional model where one solitary series occupies one specific time slot for nine months of original programming (followed by three months of reruns).

Sunday

7:00 – Sunday Night Football / Dateline NBC (Mar.-May)

8:00 – Sunday Night Football / World of Dance (Mar.-May)

9:00 – Sunday Night Football / World of Dance (Mar-May)

10:00 – Sunday Night Football / Council of Dads (Mar-May)

After football and award show season are done, World of Dance would be a cost-effective counterprogramming option on Sundays.  Receiving the lead-out from World of Dance could be Council of Dads, a family drama which boasts Clive Standen (Vikings) and Sarah Wayne Callies (The Walking Dead) amongst its ensemble.  Once Council of Dads airs its finale, the already-renewed third season of Good Girls would arrive just in time for another 10-episode summer run.

Monday

8:00 – The Voice (fall/spring) / Ellen’s Game of Games (winter)

10:00 – Zoe’s Extraordinary Playlist (with possible Back-Nine) / Emergence (spring)

Zoe’s Extraordinary Playlist – a much-anticipated musical dramedy headlined by Suburgatory’s Jane Levy – would seem to be a no-brainer to place behind The Voice in the fall.  When The Voice takes its standard winter hiatus, Ellen’s Game of Games (or another competition-based reality show, such as Songland or The Titan Games) can fill in until The Voice returns.  For the spring, the Alison Tolman / Donald Faison thriller Emergence would replace Zoe’s Extraordinary Playlist in that post-Voice time slot.

Tuesday

8:00 – The Voice (fall/spring) / Hollywood Game Night (Jan.-Feb.)

9:00 – This is Us (Sep./March) / Perfect Harmony (spring)

9:30 – This is Us (Sep./March) / Brooklyn Nine-Nine (spring)

10:00 – New Amsterdam (Sep/March) / The Gilded Age (spring)

Tuesdays would remain unchanged for the fall, with The Voice, This is Us, and New Amsterdam working together in synchronicity.  However, with Hollywood Game Night subbing in for The Voice’s results show between cycles, This is Us can turn over its mid-evening time slot in March to a pair of sitcoms:  Perfect Harmony, a musical comedy starring Bradley Whitford and Anna Camp, along with the seventh season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.  Similarly, once New Amsterdam completes its second season, “event series” The Gilded Age would take over leading out the night.

Wednesday

8:00 – Chicago Fire

9:00 – Chicago Med

10:00 – Chicago PD

Last season, NBC finally utilized my longtime suggestion of establishing a three-hour all-Chicago bloc on Wednesdays.  There’s no reason to believe they will abandon that format.

Thursday

8:00 – Superstore

8:30 – The Good Place (fall) / The Kenan Show (spring)

9:00 – Will & Grace (Sep.-Apr.) (spring) / Sunnyside (spring)

9:30 – Abby’s (with possible Back-Nine) / Friends-in-Law (spring)

10:00 – Manifest (Sep.-March) / The Enemy Within (spring)

As with Tuesdays and Wednesdays on The Peacock Network, the Thursday night trio of Superstore, The Good Place, and Will & Grace have worked well together.  Newcomer Abby’s has been more of a mixed bag in terms of its ratings, this spring; NBC might want to give it a tentative 13-episode order to see how it would perform in the fall.  Since it’s unlikely that Manifest will retain its Monday night time slot, Thursdays would be a much less risky new home than Fridays would for the supernatural mystery.

Midseason, Kenan Thompson’s self-titled comedy outing would pick up the slack where The Good Place ends its standard limited run.  In that same spirit, the Kal Penn-led single-camera comedy Sunnyside could assume the torch if Will & Grace ends its season before mid-April; in the event that Abby’s can't justify receiving a back-order, the spicy ensemble Friends-in-Law can receive the Will & Grace lead-in come January or February.  Assuming that The Enemy Within doesn’t dip any lower this year, it can return for another limited run when Manifest wraps its sophomore season.

Friday

8:00 – The Blacklist

9:00 – Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

10:00 – Dateline NBC

The Blacklist has officially been renewed for a seventh season, and it’s holding up on Fridays fairly well.  Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, likely nearing the end of its own run, could join the James Spader crime thriller here.

MIDSEASON:  Hollywood Game Night (16 episodes), World of Dance (13 episodes), Friends-in-Law (13 episodes), The Kenan Show (13 episodes), Sunnyside (10 episodes), Perfect Harmony (13 episodes), Good Girls (10 episodes), The Gilded Age (10 episodes), Emergence (13 episodes), Council of Dads (13 episodes), Lincoln (13 episodes)

LATER THIS MONTH (APRIL 2019)

The Amazing Race (CBS)

Life in Pieces (CBS)

The 100 (The CW)

Bosch (Netflix)

The Son (AMC)

Cuckoo (Netflix)

Tales (BET)

Cobra Kai (YouTube Premium)

Top Gear (BBC America)

The Protector (Netflix)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix)

Deep State (Epix)

MAY 2019

The Bachelorette (ABC)

Animal Kingdom (TNT)

Elementary (CBS)

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC)

iZombie (The CW)

Lucifer (Netflix)

Sneaky Pete (Amazon Prime)

What Would You Do? (ABC)

Beat Shazam (Fox)

Archer (FX)

Good Witch (Hallmark)

MasterChef (Fox)

American Ninja Warrior (NBC)

America’s Got Talent (NBC)

Bill Nye Saves the World (Neflix)

Chrisley Knows Best (USA)

Our Cartoon President (Showtime)

Southern Charm (Bravo)

Good Bones (HGTV)

Fleabag (Amazon Prime)

The Rain (Netflix)

Secrets of the Zoo (National Geographic WILD)

She’s Gotta Have It (Netflix)

Vida (Starz)

Pure (WGN America)

Property Brothers (HGTV)

JUNE 2019

Instinct (CBS)

Fear the Walking Dead (AMC)

Big Brother (CBS)

The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Celebrity Family Feud (ABC)

Pose (FX)

The $100,000 Pyramid (ABC)

The Wall (NBC)

Claws (TNT)

Masters of Illusion (The CW)

Match Game (ABC)

So You Think You Can Dance? (Fox)

Whose Line is it Anyway? (The CW)

Queen of the South (USA)

Good Trouble (Freeform)

The Affair (Showtime)

Younger (TV Land)

Food Network Star (Food Network)

Orange is the New Black (Netflix)

GLOW (Netflix)

Big Little Lies (HBO)

Queen Sugar (OWN)

Luther (BBC America)

Abstentia (Amazon Prime)

Yellowstone (Paramount)

Riviera (Sundance)

Rosehaven (Sundance)

JULY 2019

Bachelor in Paradise (ABC)

Stranger Things (Netflix)

The Terror (AMC)

Lodge 49 (AMC)

Hollywood Game Night (NBC)

The Wall (NBC)

Dateline NBC (NBC)

Power (Starz)

Suits (USA)

Killjoys (SyFy Channel)

13 Reasons Why (Netflix)

Harlots (Hulu)

AUGUST 2019

Preacher (AMC)

Insecure (HBO)

Ballers (HBO)

The Sinner (USA)

Shahs of Sunset (Bravo)

SEPTEMBER 2019

American Horror Story (FX)

BoJack Horseman (Netflix)

The Deuce (HBO)

OCTOBER 2019

The Walking Dead (AMC)

Below Deck (Bravo)

Ray Donovan (Showtime)

Van Helsing (SyFy)

Mr. Robot (USA)

Andi Mack (Disney Channel)

Shameless (Showtime)

The Man in the High Castle (Amazon)

NOVEMBER 2019

Outlander (Starz)

DECEMBER 2019

Running Wild with Bear Grylls (National Geographic)

Fuller House (Netflix)

Alexa & Katie (Netflix)

Marvel’s Runaways (Hulu)

Homeland (Showtime)

Impractical Jokers (TruTV)

JANUARY 2020

Future Man (Hulu)

Star Trek: Discovery (CBS All Access)

Baskets (FX)

Grownish (Freeform)

Grace and Frankie (Netflix)

High Maintenance (HBO)

Schitt’s Creek (CBC)

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2020

Good Girls (NBC)

Silicon Valley (HBO)

Scream (MTV)

Barry (HBO)

APRIL 2020

Brockmire (IFC)

Killing Eve (BBC America)

[wellamarke]

ULTIMATE PLAYLIST: 2016 EDITION

Woops, it got to be March without me posting these. Here’s a little thing I’ve been doing since 2010, where I make a playlist of my favourite songs from the year. The 2016 list is very Lenka/Ingrid Michaelson heavy, for various reasons (but a big one being that Ingrid’s newest album ‘It Doesn’t Have to Make Sense.’ is one of my favourite albums of all time. The entire record features on this list - that’s never happened before.)

Putting the track listing under a cut because I tend to ramble on!

1. Blue Skies - Lenka “It's gonna be blue skies for you and I, we'll step out of the shadows and walk into the light” In some ways this song doesn’t feel very Lenka-y, being a little bit techno-y with echoes and such, but in all the ways that matter it’s a classic piece of Lenka goodness, uplifting and cutely cutely cute. 

2. Somewhere Out There - Danny Pudi and Donald Glover “And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby, it helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky!” So, if you’ve been following me for any amount of time you probably know that I became utter trash for the show Community this year (like, we’re talking, top 2 TV shows of all time level of trash, I love it so much, I don’t know how or why I lived before it) and especially Troy and Abed and their friendship. They sing this song as a duet to their rat in season 1 episode 10, aka the episode where my soul was finally consumed into Community hell never to return. The whole end section of that episode is a true gift, and it’s overlaid with this song. Which then becomes HORRIFICALLY APPROPRIATE for the two characters later in the show, leading to me just wanting to cry and/or die every time I hear it. So y’know. Top quality stuff. 

3. Another Life - Ingrid Michaelson “It's in the galaxies and all the history books - I think we shared another life, don't you?” A beautiful song to start off the torrential downpour of tracks from this album (I’m not joking, every multiple of 3 on this list is from ‘It Doesn’t Have to Make Sense’. This is serious obsessive business.) 

4. Get Together - Lenka  “Now we're all together and I hope it lasts forever, got my people here tonight” Listen, show me a song that somehow alludes to a group of friends who love each other, and I’ll show you my new favourite song. I can’t. Get. Enough. (If you were wondering what appeals to me about the aforementioned Community, I’ll, er, give you 3 guesses?) 

5. Ampersand - Bittereinder  “Daar’s iets primitief in ’n stem en ’n beat, dis die eerste musiek, dis die voete om ’n vuur” I think this is the first year that Afrikaans has made it as the only extra language (not an Italian track in sight, woops) and this is prooobably the first song that’s ever got on one of these lists that could properly be called a rap, haha. I don’t know what it is about Bittereinder...I don’t usually like anything like this....but... it’s Bittereinder. They own me. 

6. Celebrate - Ingrid Michaelson “This is my throwback song, it’s just like the ones, the ones that we used to know” My my, is this a nostalgia song? Welcome to my favourite songs ever, you rose-tinted bag o’ wistful feelings! 

7. No Harm Tonight - Lenka  “Nothing will harm you tonight, all of your darkness will turn into light”  This song is sooooo beautiful, lyrically and musically and gaaaaah, it’s just so adorable. In a year when I have become even less emotionally demonstrative than ever (I know, but yeah apparently there was room to go further) I have compensated by collecting some of the mushiest songs going. Ya gotta reroute it to somewhere, I guess.

8. Toe Vind Ek Jou - Francois Van Coke (with Karen Zoid) “Ek het genoeg gegee, ek het genoeg geskree, ek het lankal terug geleer, maar nog steeds het ek probeer” AAAAH this song maaan. So good. If you’ve ever read one of these lists or just in general seen me talking about music, you may know I have a bIG weakness for duets, and particularly male/female duets, so, with the added bonus of it being Francois, this was always going to be a winner for me. Such a good song UGH. 

9. Drink You Gone - Ingrid Michaelson “Like a sinking ship while the band plays on, when I dream you're there, I can't even sleep you gone” This song is honestly so painful. Aaah the emotion in the chorus is just, that shouldn’t be allowed in mp3 format. No, Ingrid, stop. (By which I mean never stop.) A deliberate misinterpretation of this song makes it an EXCELLENT and DEVASTATING Karen/Pete song (Humans ship of sadness). She can’t drink him gone, she can’t smoke him out... she can’t eat away the way that he ate her heart out.... because she’s a robot... ha .... geddit.

10. Joni Was Right - Marit Larsen  “Time just sent me off to bed, love was just a word we said, I thought someone would always keep me safe” For obvious title-based reasons, I would have loved this song even if it was three hours of a duck trying to play a harmonica, but as it turns out, it’s my favourite kind of nostalgia-laden, bittersweet lyric and it’s so, so beautiful. Like, Marit Larsen didn’t even have to try to win me here but she still brought this masterpiece. Amazing. (More on the ridiculous levels of coincidence surrounding this album later in the list.) 

11. Grow - Frances  “You know I'm here holding on, tying up your loose ends and your drifting esteem” I can’t remember how I came across this song now... was it a fanvid for something?... but I’m glad I did, because it’s beautiful. You know how my writing is so often in a kind of wannabe hurt/comfort genre? Yeah, my music isn’t all that different. Supportive friendship is such a great concept! The application is... ew.... but the theory’s great. 

12. Hell No - Ingrid Michaelson  “Stop crying, stop crawling, can’t you see that I have stopped falling?” This sooooong has the kind of attitude I strive for, I LOVE it. As much as it’s a rage anthem, it has a positive message about self-reliance and is SO FUN TO SING. That’s an important ingredient for me. (Also, there are lines in it - like the ones quoted - that are scary relatable.) 

13. Roll With the Punches - Lenka “When life tries to knock all the wind out of you, you've got to roll, roll, roll with the punches” Now THIS is the Lenka I have known and loved for so long - she made my first Ultimate Playlist and she’ll probably make my last. But for so long I had only ever heard ‘The Show’, the album I was obsessed with in 2010. This year I discovered, like, 3 other Lenka albums, which was a joy, and this song....SO FUN. SO CUTE. SO SINGABLE. SO LENKA. I can’t say enough good things about it. 

14. Fools - Lauren Aquilina  “I don't want you to go but I want you so, so tell me what we choose” I kind of wish this song had come to me earlier, because it really caught me on the very tail end of its relevance to my life, but then, these things often do. I like having a concise way to look back on things, though, so this works just as well in hindsight as it might have in realtime :D 

15. I Remember Her - Ingrid Michaelson  “Things they fade, things turn to grey. As much as I try to save them, they turn to grey.” Just. I cannot. This song is sooo sad. It might be the saddest one ever to make it to one of these lists, unless I had ‘Song for Josh’ last year, which I think I did, so call it the joint saddest. I mean I guess both subjectively and objectively 2016 was a pretty sad year, so it makes sense. Damn it, Ingrid!

16. Kwaad Naas - Bittereinder “I grew up in the Moot, but my Afrikaans is limited to net ‘n paar woorde” Another awesome bilingual raptastic track from Bittereinder, my loves. This lyric especially illustrates why I love it so much, for I too communicate sometimes in a mixture of Afrikaans and English (usually when trying to Afrikaans and forgetting half the words. Dis ‘n curse, ek kan nie help dit.) 

17. Sad Song - Lenka “Everyone's compelled to look into the mirror when they're crying, but just because your tears are pretty doesn't mean they'll get you by” Oh Lenka, you sound so happy but you talk so wise. I love this song so much, it doesn’t sound like it’s gonna be deep when you hear the general sound of it, but then it is. That’s kinda Lenka’s thing, I guess. The chorus especially is IMMENSELY singable. 

18. Light Me Up - Ingrid Michaelson “Well you’re not what I was looking for, but your arms were open at my door” There are a whole bunch of repetitive lyrics towards the end but my oh my, what a beautiful sound. Just gorgeous. 

19. Morgan, I Might - Marit Larsen “I might have been guilty of thinking one day I'd find myself waking up with you.” Listen, Marit Larsen has always had a timeshare on my brain. I just accept that now. That’s the only way it makes sense that she can write things so exactly right. But she used to be subtle with it, you know? She used to leave the names out, so that I could sleep at night able to tell myself that it might just be a coincidence, that she can’t have actually stolen my diary. But this year? All of that went out of the window. She wrote the sequel to the first song that ever made me go, “damn, somebody gets it”, she splashed that name all over this song, and then she splashed my name all over the album title. Honestly, woman, was it so hard leaving room for reasonable doubt? (At least she had the decency to get the timing a little off, because this isn’t how this is anymore, but it so, so, so was.) 

20. Mr Brightside - The Killers “Jealousy, turning saints into the sea, turning through sick lullabies, choking on your alibis” This song is such a classic but it became much more meaningful to me this past year, mainly because it featured on our group’s roadtrip playlist for Scotland in May, and...yeah, it’s just a #quality song and finally its time has come.  21. Miss America - Ingrid Michaelson  “I am the one who is always singing, louder than the rest, louder than the others” Songs that mention singing are the best songs, okay? I don’t make the rules. However, I wish I could get out of the habit of singing ‘I wanna be Miss America’ instead of the actual lyric, which is ‘I’ll never be Miss America’. I mean, there’s basically no way to get the song’s ethos more wrong. Shame on my tongue’s faulty muscle memory. 

22. When It Comes to Us - Frances (& Ritual) “You and I, we're one too many worlds apart, it really shouldn't work, but it does” Oh what have we here? It’s another male/female duet. Which is a shame, really, because if it was a female/female duet, it would be a really great Nistrid song. But anyway. Beautiful track with beautiful words, yes please stay with me forever thank you.

23. The End of the World - Lenka  “At the end of the world, we will kiss for the last time, and we won't feel the earth collapse into a mess of flood and fire” Listen up, The 100 and other angst-fest post-apocalyptic nightmare shows. This is how you do this. Cheesy and cute and with lots of “aahhh-aahhs”. Get on it. (No, but this song is adorable, truly.) 

24. Old Days - Ingrid Michaelson “Heaven help the ones who fly away, heaven help the ones who have to stay and place the blame” Honestlyyyy, what a haunting and beautiful song. All of the lyrics are just so... atmospheric? Like, in an almost eery way but still so pleasing to listen to. I dunno what it is, but this is a damn fine song from my main girl Ingrid. 

25. Quicksand - Tom Chaplin “Love's gonna leave you broken, time's gonna work you over; you get up, you get up, you keep rolling on” Awww, it’s Keane’s voice but without the rest of Keane! I love this guy, what a pro. Considering that a massive part of my early music life was taken up by Keane, I really haven’t grown out of my love for his voice. Aaanyway. This is actually thematically quite similar to Roll With the Punches. Was it really that hard of a year?! Ha. 

26. Unique - Lenka “No, I don't really make sense, but I know that you know what I mean” Hehe, such a cute song. I want to be Lenka if I grow up.

27. Still the One - Ingrid Michaelson  "We dance in the living room, and we dance to the beating of our blood” Aaaah this song is so great, so singable. This was one of the first ones I fell for before hurtling deep into the abyss of adoration for this album. 

28. No - Marit Larsen “You could give up, I won’t give in, ‘cause where you end is where I begin.” Another beauty from my girl Marit. A little lighter on the coincidences in this one, thank goodness, because I don’t know if I could take another hit, but still solid gold. 

29. We Are Powerful - Lenka “We fell in love on the same dark night, when the moon was high and the stars were bright” Another adorable song, another catchy, catchy tune. Lenka, my love, never stop with your beautifully singable tunes. (When I say singable, I mean both fun to sing and not vocally challenging enough to make me have to swap octaves halfway or sit out the middle 8 because the tune is too crazy. Aka the best kind of music.)  

30. Whole Lot of Heart - Ingrid Michaelson  “I said, "Let's rule this kingdom now, let's live and love and tear it down, to build it up"” Well, when I listen to this playlist in order, I will fittingly be left with the achingly catchy notes of this last Ingrid track in my head once it’s over. By faaar the catchiest of the bunch, this kind of addictive pulsating sound I can’t get enough of. I think this is might be my favourite from IDHTMS, but that changes regularly, so I won’t commit. Suffice to say it’s a fitting song for the end spot, down to the very last ebbing notes. 

.....

Well, that’s it!

I haven’t done the math for every year, but I think this is the most female my playlist has ever been. Only 1/5 of the songs have male lead vocals, compared to the copious amounts of Frank Turner etc that have dominated previous years. GIRL POWER! 

If you’ve actually read this post, I applaud you, and I also worry about your apportioning of time. What should you have been doing instead?!

As always, if you make your own one of these lists, please tag me for the sake of my ego and to give me new songs to listen to, because if we’ve learnt one thing from 2016′s list, it’s that I could do with some variety! ;D 

[sirgyrodegearloose-archive]

Really Long Character Survey

Rules: Repost, don’t reblog. Tag 10! Good luck!

Tagged by @themisfitmouse

Tagging: @genius-vondrake, @amadeus-aerinstat, @alphagearloose, @unclescrooge, @askflintheartglomgold, @thesmallestarchitect, @tempest-loupnoir, @the-queen-needs-us ...I can’t really think of two more people to tag who haven’t already been tagged by somebody else.

((Hoooo boy there's gonna be so many headcanons in this.))

BASICS.

FULL  NAME : Gyro Percival Gearloose

NICKNAME : Gyro, G

AGE : 28

BIRTHDAY : September 18th

ETHNIC  GROUP : Uh... chicken? I guess I kinda headcanon that he's got some Italian in him, but other than that, idek man.

NATIONALITY :  American

LANGUAGE / S : English (possibly others, but that's woefully all the mun is fluent in)

SEXUAL  ORIENTATION : Bi

ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION : Also bi 

RELATIONSHIP  STATUS : Single

CLASS : Uh... upper-middle, I guess? I mean, he's gotta afford all those parts somehow.

HOME  TOWN / AREA : Duckburg, Calisota

CURRENT  HOME : A workshop/barn on the south side of Duckburg, near the river

PROFESSION : Inventor/Repairman

PHYSICAL.

HAIR : It has never been consistent. Like... in DuckTales and the related comics, it's orange. In some of the old comics, it's light brown. In the Italian comics, it's bright blonde. I just... I have no idea, my dudes. Gyro's addicted to hair dye or something.

EYES : Blue

NOSE : He's a bird. He has a beak.

FACE : Uh... round? Covered in feathers?

LIPS : Again, he is a bird.

COMPLEXION : Pristine white feathers.

BLEMISHES : ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

SCARS : He's got a good few nicks on his hands, and probably a couple of other random scars from miscellaneous lab accidents, but nothing major. Plus, it's not as if you could see most of them anyway.

TATTOOS : None. 

HEIGHT : 5'5"

WEIGHT : Uh... I dunno, probably around 130-140? Gotta take into account that his bones are probably hollow.

BUILD : It varies. In some comics he's kind of plump, and in others, he's like a scarecrow. I'm gonna tentatively put him at athletic, with a little bit of a paunch? 

FEATURES : Big blue eyes, (usually) bright orange hair, slightly curved beak, glasses.

ALLERGIES : Blueberries, but he doesn't bring it up unless he has to.

USUAL  HAIR  STYLE : He basically just rolls out of bed and runs his fingers through it a couple times.

USUAL  FACE  LOOK : Lost in thought

USUAL  CLOTHING : Hat (with chin strap), button up shirt (usually pink, red, blue, or yellow), open black vest, jeans or khakis, work boots.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR / S : Failure, mostly.

ASPIRATION / S : He wants to discover as much as he can, for discovery's sake. To do things before believed to be impossible just to say he did.

POSITIVE  TRAITS : Generally cheerful, independent thinker, kind, clever, creative

NEGATIVE  TRAITS : Easily frustrated, bottles his feelings until he explodes, tends to run from his problems, occasionally forgets to take care of himself

MBTI : ENFP, but only just barely (x)

ZODIAC : Virgo

TEMPERAMENT : Sanguine (x)

SOUL  TYPE / S : Creator (no surprise there), followed closely by Educator and Helper (x)

ANIMALS : Apparently he's a Zebra (x), which is not necessarily something I would have chosen but I guess it fits? (x)

VICE  HABIT / S : Can be kind of lazy sometimes, major sweet tooth

FAITH : "The Powers that Be"

GHOSTS ? : Skeptical, but willing to be convinced

AFTERLIFE ? : Who knows?

REINCARNATION ? : He wouldn't discredit it.

ALIENS ? : YEs

POLITICAL  ALIGNMENT : He doesn't really bother himself with politics.

ECONOMIC  PREFERENCE : ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

SOCIOPOLITICAL  POSITION : Everyone deserves to be treated with basic decency. Beyond that, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

EDUCATION  LEVEL : I'm gonna go ahead and say he's got a Master's in engineering, and then a bunch of random courses he thought would be interesting but don't actually add up to any kind of extra degree.

FAMILY.

FATHER : Fulton Gearloose

MOTHER : ??? Gearloose (Until I find a canon name, I've called her Tallulah)

SIBLINGS : It's implied he has at least one sibling, since he's got a nephew in some of the comics, but I don't think they've ever actually been seen

EXTENDED  FAMILY : Ratchet Gearloose (Grandfather), Copernicus Gearloose (Great-grandfather), Descartes Gearloose (Great-uncle), Newton Gearloose (Nephew)

NAME  MEANING / S : Gyro, as in gyroscope or gyrosphere. Gearloose, as in a literal loose gear.

HISTORICAL  CONNECTION ? : His great-grandfather assisted a gentleman thief in the 1920s. Long standing family ties to Scrooge McDuck. Gyro himself is a knight of the kingdom of Quackalot thanks to time travel shenanigans.

FAVOURITES.

BOOK : Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

MOVIE : Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

5  SONGS : 

Why Does the Sun Shine? by They Might Be Giants 

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds by The Beatles

Poison by Alice Cooper (kind of a guilty pleasure)

Don't Stop Me Now by Queen

DEITY : ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

HOLIDAY : New Years

MONTH : I don't think he really has a favorite month.

SEASON : Spring

PLACE : His workshop

WEATHER : Partly cloudy, 68F, low humidity, light breeze

SOUND : Clocks ticking, birds singing, keyboard clatter, that wobbly sound that laminated paper makes

SCENT / S : Freshly cut grass, sunscreen, baked goods

TASTE / S : Fresh fruit, anything sweet

FEEL / S : The weight of a wrench or a hammer, the texture of blueprint paper, working outdoors in the sunshine (or by a window), laying in a hammock

ANIMAL / S : Dogs, bees, butterflies, songbirds

NUMBER : 42

COLOUR : Orange

EXTRA.

TALENTS : Not sure if you'd really call it a talent, but he's canonically ambidextrous. 

BAD  AT : Cooking, singing

TURN  ONS : Not getting into that here.

TURN  OFFS : Not getting into this either.

HOBBIES : Baseball, soccer, fishing, bug catching

TROPES : Cloudcuckoolander, Gadgeteer Genius, Mr. Fixit, Identical Grandson,  and probably a whole lot more that I can't be bothered to keep looking for.

AESTHETIC  TAGS : Tools, metalworking, robotics, clockwork, spring and summer landscapes, baseball, soccer, orange, circuitry, beaches, Arthurian legends, medieval weaponry, castles, old sci-fi, space, cyberpunk, steampunk, science labs, dragons

GPOY  QUOTES : ??

FC INFO.

MAIN  FC / S : Rick Moranis

ALT  FC / S : Don't have one

OLDER  FC / S : ...Older Rick Moranis?

YOUNGER  FC / S : ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

VOICE  CLAIM / S : Well, his last voice actor was Chris Edgerly in the remastered game, but I don't think it's been confirmed yet who his new VA will be.

GENDERBENT  FC / S : Don't have one

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 : If  you  could  write  your  character  your  way  in  their  own  movie ,   what  would  it  be  called ,  what  style  would  it  be  filmed  in ,  and  what  would  it  be  about ?

A1 : I have no idea. It would probably be a campy, 80's style sci-fi though, like Honey I Shrunk The Kids or Weird Science.

Q2 : What  would  their  soundtrack / score  sound  like ?          

A2 : Lighthearted, but with a sense of wonder. It would make occasional use of odd instruments.

Q3 : Why  did  you  start  writing  this  character ?          

A3 : I had just rediscovered DuckTales and Tumblr RP blogs were starting to become this big thing that everyone did so I just sort of jumped on the bandwagon.

Q4 : What  first  attracted  you  to  this  character ?          

A4 : I've always loved nerdy, quirky characters. Being a ginger doesn't hurt either.

Q5 : Describe  the  biggest  thing  you  dislike  about  your  muse.          

A5 : He is usually portrayed as having human-like feet, which makes no gotdang sense. The ducks have duck feet. Cats and dogs have paws. Other chickens have chicken feet. BUT LET'S MAKE GYRO A WEIRD MUTANT, MWAHAHAHAHAHA! ...How about no? I'm just... completely disregarding that as canon unless there's an explanation for it. I'll even take a one off, throwaway comment. Otherwise, y'all can fight me.

Q6 : What  do  you  have  in  common  with  your  muse ?          

A6 :  A tendency to get way too invested in a project and forget to do things like sleeping or eating a reasonable meal.

Q7 : How  does  your  muse  feel  about  you ?          

A7 : He doesn't know I'm there, and I intend to keep it that way for now.

Q8 : What  characters  does  your  muse  have  interesting  interactions  with ?        

A8 : He has had some truly memorable relationships and interactions with other muses throughout my time playing him, and I don't think I could adequately cover all of them in just a little survey post.

Q9 : What  gives  you  inspiration  to  write  your  muse ?         

A9 : I've got a playlist of songs that remind me of him that I listen to sometimes. Other than that, I find inspiration for Gyro in some of the weirdest places, like my history textbook the other day, or a particularly scientifically inaccurate episode of Danger Mouse I watched the other day.

Q10 : How  long  did  this  take  you  to  complete ?         

A10 : About two hours.

[violentxviolet]

Aislinn- 3, 7, 32, 58

3) things you said too quietly

"God, I so do not want to be here,” Violet muttered out of the side of her mouth. Apparently every graduating class had to have a ball in their honour to celebrate them having passed training or some bullshit reason like that. Whatever reason it was left a bad taste in her mouth.

“And do you really think that I do?” Aislinn whispered back, her lips hardly moving as she spoke.

“I can’t tell, that smile you’re wearing looks pretty real to me and you know that I generally have no fucking clue what you’re thinking. Plus, you’re lips barely do anything when you speak, like seriously are you a ventri-”

“Ah, Mrs Whyte,” Aislinn cut off Violet with grace as the current head of their department approached them, “might I introduce Miss Violet Hughes, one of our most promising new Aurors and one who I would personally recommend without reservations.”

“That is high praise indeed, Miss Hughes. I do hope that you can live up to these expectations.” It was clear that the older lady was trying to smile but there was something oddly stiff and robotic behind her movements.

“I would like to surpass them one day, ma’am. But honestly, I would be nothing without Ais- Miss Brennan’s guidance. I owe basically everything to her.” The sentiment behind the words was true but they came out in an awkward and uncomfortable way, one which Violet would very much hope to be rid of.”

“Ambitious and grateful, I like that. I look forward to hearing of your future exploits. Have a good rest of your evening ladies.”

“See, now I can definitely imagine her being your dummy-” Violet whispered.

“Did you say something, my dear?” Mrs Whyte asked.

“Absolutely not, ma’am. Have a good evening.”

7) things you said while we were driving (yes this is an au, don’t ask me what bc idk fam)

For once in her life Violet had actually been sensible with her money, saving as much as she could for some reason. If you had asked her it probably would have been because she was an Adult now and needed to be responsible but her dad telling her to grow up recently had definitely been more of an impact than she would like to admit. But a bottle of wine and a night long Wowcher binge later and any hope of sustained budgeting had quickly disappeared.

The next Friday, Violet left work early for reasons she adamantly refused to say. She returned a few hours later, driving a pale blue ‘66 Ford Thunderbird convertible, an infectious smile plastered right across her face. A familiar brunette was just walking down the steps towards the street so she called out, “Hey! Pretty lady! You want a ride?” Violet revved the engine as she shouted, doing everything that she could to catch Aislinn’s attention.

“Violet, what are you doing?” she sighed, not always understanding the younger girl’s spontaneous nature.

“Thelma and Louise,” Violet answered as if that explained things perfectly. “Although hopefully with less crime than the film. Don’t really wanna end this weekend with a record.”

“You want me to get in a car with you? For a weekend? And do what?”

“I don’t know, drive, drink, just have some fun for a couple of days. Look, don’t ask me to give you a plan, I don’t have one and never have. Just get in the car, we can stop by your place so you can pack and no I will not be taking no for an answer. You need to learn how to loosen up, Ais.”

Aislinn stood there for a while, weighing up her options as well as she could. “Fine,” she tried to sound annoyed but there was a smile on her face as she got in the car. “I don’t know why I let you talk me into things like this.”

“It’s because you think I’m adorable,” Violet giggled as she drove off with a lot of confidence, despite her somewhat lacking skill. “Also, if you don’t wanna see any joints don’t look in the glove box.”

Halfway to Devon and the night was drawing in. The sun had almost set over the horizon and the wind rushing past the women had their hair flying out behind them like shadows trying to escape their body. “God, I just wanted to get away from it all, y’know?” Violet was wearing her favourite pair of aviators as she raced along, not having paid attention to a single speed limit she hadn’t had to.

“Hmm?” Aislinn had been lost in her own thoughts; she was comfortable with not talking and Violet had let the radio fill the silence. Making playlists was all well and good but roadtrips needed the radio to make them just right.

“You asked me what I was doing. I’m getting away, I guess. That’s what this is all about, escaping . . . something. I don’t know, I wanted to leave before I went crazy and this just felt right. Sometimes you just gotta indulge yourself, fuck what anyone else says.”

32) things you said I wouldn’t understand

“Violet? What’s the matter?” Aislinn’s accent came through stronger when she spoke in a softer tone of voice.

“What? I’m- I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong.” Violet never had any skill at lying convincingly.

“Violet.” Her tone was harsher now but it was only because she cared, that was what Violet told herself, anyway. Of course, it would be hard for someone not to be concerned about her in this red eyed and distraught looking state.

Violet took a deep breath in then let it go slowly. Holding back anger was far too similar to trying not to cry. “You won’t understand.”

“This is about Briony, isn’t it?” The way the younger girl looked away was all the confirmation that she needed. “How many times do I have to tell you, she ended this between you. Keeping up these feelings for her will only continue to hurt you in the future, it makes much more sense to refuse to give into them.”

“Like I said,” Violet mumbled as she brushed past her, “you wouldn’t get it.”

58) things you were afraid to say

Violet glanced down at her watch. 3:17 it read. God it was late but she didn’t want to go home, not just yet, anyway. This whole night had dragged on into infinity and yet it felt like they had only had their first drink ten minutes ago. Time could be weird like that for her.

Maybe it was because she had been spending so much time with Aislinn lately that she could open up or it was just all those empty glasses she had left but there were words she had to say and something told her that they wouldn’t come out the next time they were together.

“I’m fucking terrified, Ais.” She tore up a straw as she spoke as if letting its individual parts go free would somehow her free her from all of this shit she was feeling. “Like, there’s just so much happening all at once that I’m struggling to keep myself up. But it’s not just me I’ve got to worry about; there’s family, friends and basically everyone else I’ve ever met. And I can’t stop just caring about them, I don’t wanna. But I know I can’t keep on living like this, it just never stops for me. I’m always trying to save someone and like . . . I don’t know but there’s so much going on. I can’t save the world on my own but somedays it feels like I’m the only one who’s trying and I feel so alone. And I hate it. And I don’t wanna be the only one who cares. I don’t wanna be alone. Please don’t let me be alone.”

@aislinnxbrennan​