#i’m looking at you anti-hero and mastermind

[starkskypines]

me and @moose-squirrel-wings-wings2 are really in superhell now

[cursed-man-prayers]

taylor swift lyrics i relate to as an autistic person:

I’d give you my sunshine, give you my best; but the rain is always gonna come if you’re standing with me (peace)

Before I learned civility, I used to scream ferociously anytime I wanted (seven)

How did I go from growing up to breaking down? (nothing new)

And my cheeks are growing tired from turning red and faking smiles (nothing new)

I’ve never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try (mirrorball)

I can change everything about me to fit in (mirrorball)

No one wanted to play with me as a little kid, so I’ve been scheming like a criminal ever since, to make them love me and make it seem effortless (mastermind)

Sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby, and I’m a monster on the hill (anti-hero)

I’ve been having a hard time adjusting; I had the shiniest wheels now they’re rusting (this is me trying)

I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere, fell behind all my classmates and ended up here (this is me trying)

And I cut off my nose just to spite my face, then hate my reflection for years and years (the archer)

I rewind the tape but all it does is pause on the very moment all was lost, sending signals to be double crossed (evermore)

Break my soul in two looking for you, but you’re right here. If I can’t relate to you anymore, then who am I related to? (coney island)

This dorm was once a madhouse, I made a joke, “Well, it’s made for me.” (champagne problems)

I always felt I must look better in the rearview (long story short)

To you, everything’s funny, you’ve got nothing to regret. I’d give all I have, honey, if you could stay like that) (never grow up?)

[taylor-swift-bracket]

Battle of the Bridges!

Round One

Debut Era 🦋

Tim McGraw vs. Picture to Burn

A Place In This World vs. Cold As You

Stay Beautiful vs. Should’ve Said No

Mary’s Song (Oh My My My) vs. Our Song

I’m Only Me When I’m With You vs. A Perfectly Good Heart vs. Invisible

Bea utiful Eyes vs. I Heart ?

Fearless Era✨

Fearless vs. Fifteen

Love Story vs. Hey Stephen

White Horse vs. You Belong With Me

Breathe vs. Tell Me Why

You’re Not Sorry vs. The Way I Loved You

Forever & Always vs. The Best Day

Ch ange vs. Jump Then Fall

Come In With The Rain vs. Superstar

The Other Side Of The Door vs. Today Was A Fairytale

Mr. Perfectly Fine vs. We Were Happy

That’s When vs. Don’t You vs. Bye Bye Baby

Speak Now Era 🎆

Mine vs. Sparks Fly

Dear John vs. Mean

The Story Of Us vs. Never Grow Up

Enchanted vs. Better Than Revenge

Innocent vs. Haunted

Last Kiss vs. Long Live

Ours vs. Superman

Electric Touch vs. When Emma Falls In Love

I Can See You vs. Castles Crumbling

Foolish One vs. Timeless

Red Era 🧣

State of Grace vs. Red

Treacherous vs. I Knew You Were Trouble

All Too Well vs. 22 (Taylor’s Version)

I Almost Do vs. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Stay Stay Stay vs. The Last Time

Holy Ground vs. Sad Beautiful Tragic

Everything Has Changed vs. Starlight

Come Back…Be Here vs. Girl At Home

Ronan vs. Better Man

Nothing New vs. Babe

All Too Well vs. 22 (original version)

Forever Winter vs. Run

The Very First Night vs. Safe & Sound vs. Eyes Open

1989 Era 🏙️

Welcome to New York vs. Blank Space

Style vs. Out Of The Woods

All You Had To Do Was Stay vs. Shake It Off

I Wish You Would vs. Bad Blood

This Love vs. I Know Places

Clean vs. Wonderland

You Are In Love vs. New Romantics

Slut! vs. Say Don’t Go

Now That We Don’t Talk vs. Is It Over Now? vs. Sweeter Than Fiction

Reputation Era 🐍

I Did Something Bad vs. Don’t Blame Me

Delicate vs. Look What You Made Me Do

So It Goes…vs. Gorgeous

Getaway Car vs. King Of My Heart

Dancing With Our Hands Tied vs. Dress

This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things vs. Call It What You Want vs. New Year’s Day

Lover Era 💘

I Forgot That You Existed vs. Cruel Summer

Lover vs. The Man

The Archer vs. I Think He Knows

Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince vs. Paper Rings

London Boy vs. Soon You’ll Get Better

You Need To Calm Down vs. Afterglow

ME! vs. Daylight vs. All Of The Girls You’ve Loved Before

folklore era 🌲

the 1 vs. cardigan

the last great american dynasty vs. exile

my tears ricochet vs. mirrorball

seven vs. august

this is me trying vs. illicit affairs

invisible string vs. mad woman

epiphany vs. betty

hoax vs. the lakes

evermore era 🍂

willow vs. champagne problems

‘tis the damn season vs. tolerate it

coney island vs. ivy

cowboy like me vs. long story short

marjorie vs. closure

evermore vs. right where you left me

Midnights Era 🌌

Lavender Haze vs. Maroon

Anti-Hero vs. Snow On The Beach

You’re On Your Own, Kid vs. Question…?

Vigilante Sh*t vs. Bejeweled

Karma vs. Sweet Nothing

Mastermind vs. The Great War

Bigger Than The Whole Sky vs. Paris

Glitch vs. Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve

Dear Reader vs. Hits Different vs. You’re Losing Me

The Tortured Poets Department Era ✒️

Fortnight vs. The Tortured Poets Department

My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys vs. Down Bad

So Long, London vs. But Daddy I Love Him

Fresh Out The Slammer vs. Florida!!!

Guilty As Sin? vs. Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?

I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) vs. loml

Clara Bow vs. The Black Dog

imgonnagetyouback vs. The Albatross

Chloe Or Sam Or Sophia Or Marcus vs. How Did It End?

So High School vs. I Hate It Here

thanK you aIMee vs. The Prophecy

Cassandra vs. Peter

The Bolter vs. Robin vs. The Manuscript

The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived vs. The Alchemy

Other 🎸

Carolina vs. Beautiful Ghosts

Christmas Must Be Something More vs. Christmas Tree Farm

Crazier vs. I Don’t Wanna Live Forever

Renegade vs. The Alcott

[petruchio]

PLEASE share your midnights Matty softlaunch theory, it’s such an odd and (to me at least lol) fascinating album

ok so. im going to go into insane detail track by track, but i think midnights makes sense (almost) if we read it as a journey through deciding to leave joe and we read mastermind as being a matty song — so the album is mostly her wondering if this thing she feels with matty is real or in her head, and then wondering, if it is real, if it’s worth it to make the jump. and i think she was ready to do it, and midnights would’ve been basically the matty “announcement,” but then she and joe made up and the 3am tracks are kind of damage control to confuse the narrative and make it less obvious. but we have to do a bit of digging. so let’s dive in.

(obvi we don’t know what happened for real. but it’s just fun to speculate!!!)

we open with lavender haze. and here we see taylor desperate to stay in the happy, peaceful relationship she’s in — she doesn’t WANT to get married, she doesn’t WANT to be talked about, she doesn’t WANT anything more. she just wants this. it’s enough for her. …or is it?

because immediately, we move to maroon. we go from a pastel purple color to various shades of red, changing the image and flipping back through memories. and these memories call back to a lot of 1989 era imagery — we get the wine stain from clean, the rosy cheeks from wildest dreams, new york… that’s a real fucking legacy to leave. something triggered this little trip down memory lane. maybe they hung out, or someone said something, who knows. but i think this is where the cracks in the lavender haze begin.

and so after all that she takes us to anti-hero. it’s me, hi, i’m the problem. i think this is probably the precursor to guilty as sin? — it’s saying, oh no. i’m the problem, fantasizing about my ex again (i dream of cracking locks, throwing my life to the wolves/i wake up screaming from dreaming) and acknowledges that joe is going to leave her when he finds out (one day i‘ll watch as you’re leaving)

but she can’t stop. the fantasy continues to grow in snow on the beach. this song is filled a bunch of space/sky imagery — “a few moons ago,” “stars by the pocketful,” “your eyes are flying saucers from another planet.” let’s keep track of that imagery. (we’ll return to the all space stuff in a big way in down bad, but don’t worry, it’ll reappear on midnights.)

and then there’s the realization of you’re on your own kid. that’s right — you’re on your own, and you always have been. i think this is her deciding to separate her sense of identity from joe. and the first verse brings up a lot of images we see come back on ttpd: “summer went away, still the yearning stays” -> “another summer/rolling thunder/he don’t understand me” and “it’s okay we’re the best of friends” -> “but tell me who else is gonna know you?” and “you’re smoking with your boys” -> “you needed drugs more.” it’s tempting to interpret the first verse as a retrospective on her teenage years, but it could just as easily be about falling for matty while they were “just friends” and she was still with joe. but i think in yoyok she’s still trying to convince herself it’s not real: “just to learn that you never cared.” matty doesn’t want her, she thinks. but she has her songs. maybe that’s all she ever needed?

this triggers an even larger dive into the past: midnight rain. now she’s wondering if the reason she’s so resistant to marry joe is just a repeat of old patterns, so she dives into the past looking for answers. i maintain that midnight rain is about the muse of debut and i think it’s her looking over her own past and trying to make sense of what’s happening now. am i the problem? was i always the problem? am i incapable of marriage or is it just with this guy?

so now she has to know. she has to get answers. is this fantasy about matty her just replaying old patterns of leaving when things get serious? or is this thing she feels with matty something real? basically, can i ask you a question…? we don’t even need to dive any deeper into the 1989 era of it all. this song is pretty obvious. note that we return to the space imagery though: “does it feel like everything is just like second best after that meteor strike?”

i don’t feel like talking about vigilante shit because it’s a bad song but suffice to say i think it’s just her being admitting she’s okay sometimes being the villain. other than that it’s not really relevant to the matty narrative.

so then we get bejeweled. which was strange when it came out and hasn’t gotten less strange, but it’s kind of another step in deciding to leave joe behind. she can’t marry him, because she’s not sure matty isn’t actually the one for her. “when i meet the band, they ask do you have a man, i can still say i don’t.” is the band… perhaps… the 1975? and this is when she leaves. “what’s a girl gonna do? a diamond’s gotta shine.” she sets herself free. you can try to change her mind, but you can’t. she polished up real nice.

and then we get labyrinth. which to me only makes sense as a post-joe song. “it only hurts this much right now.” “i’ll be getting over you my whole life.” “break up break free break through break down.” but what saves her? the person who comes in right at the last second: matty. he turns the plane around. remember all the space imagery? my flight was awful thanks for asking? well, here he is. uh oh, i’m falling in love again.

and actually… she loves it. it feels like karma. (or maybe destiny.) for all her work, all her struggle, all her pain, she gets the guy in the end: the years of pining and coded songs all add up to this.

but she can’t hate joe. she could never hate him. she might have wanted to leave, but it wasn’t because he treated her badly. he never wanted anything from her. just sweet nothing. i don’t think sweet nothing is a breakup song; it was probably even written as a love song. but its placement on the tracklist makes it feel like a goodbye. “they said the end is coming,” she says. but she needed someone who saw her that way. it’s an i will always love you song. it’s a thank you.

and so we close: mastermind. the planets and all the stars aligned from snow on the beach and question. we’re up in space now. she’s been planting these seeds since back in 2014… and now she has him. matty. she did it. all the wisest women had to do it this way. doesn’t that sound like fucking politics and gender roles? the liquor in the cocktails that she’s always drunk on when she’s around him? but he knew the entire time. she’s a mastermind.

okay so that’s the standard edition. the bonus track being hits different makes sense if it’s the joe breakup — “it hits different this time.” she’s left people before, but never like this. she’s SAD! she’s waiting for his key in the door but it never comes. she might have been the one that left, but it still hurt like never before.

but the 3am tracks are the last bit of the puzzle. and here’s where i think we can take taylor’s word for them as sort of “vault tracks” because they don’t fit in the narrative of midnights, but they tell a story in themselves. and that story is of her and joe getting back together after all this.

the first one she tacks on is the great war, a song about making up after a fight. so she puts that one to first, to reassure that they actually made it through. then i think we get the “cutting room floor” tracks — that is, they’re out of order but all part of the larger story. we get another heartwrenching goodbye in bigger than the whole sky, a return to the delusional lavender haze and staring at the ceiling in paris, a song about cheating in high infidelity. all thematically relevant, but not perfectly fitting into the narrative of the original record.

then we get glitch, which imo is also a matty song. “depending on what kind of situationship im in” read: if joe and i are off or on. “2190 days of our love blackout” read: six years since the 1989 era where they dated originally. “nights are so starry” brings us back to the space imagery, the glitch video on spotify glitching to the 1989 tv of wildest dreams… “it must be counterfeit” will come back too, in loml when she says “something counterfeit is dead.” but here… it’s only getting started.

would’ve could’ve should’ve again sees her examining her patterns with toxic men, and begins a lot of the religious theming we’ll see return on ttpd. and then we close with dear reader, a song about self-loathing, and begging the listener not to take her advice because she’s not really a good person. she admits it: she cheats, she lies, joe has left her alone in the house (not a home, cause nobody’s there.) “you should find another guiding light,” she tells us. but she shines so bright…

anyway yeah. that’s my extended theory. i think it was supposed to be the goodbye to joe and mastermind was introducing matty, but then when they patched it up, the narrative changed and 3am tracks got added on and changed the direction. (it makes sense if those tracks were added on late, since they weren’t available physically for a long time after the record was released. hits different, the song about breaking up with a long term partner… was.) we could deep dive into every song and analyze the lyrical parallels with 1989, folkmore, and ttpd too (don’t get me started on the 1 and cardigan) but we’ll save that for another time.

and of course, we all know what happened next. but we wouldn’t be here without the chaos that was midnights. without it, we might never have gotten an answer to that one, burning question…?

now we have the answer. the only thing that’s left… is the manuscript.

[rpmemes-galore]

taylor swift : midnights album ... sentence starters 

“Don't get sad, get even.”

“All this shit is new to me.”

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

“Oh, you don't ever say too much.”

“You've got no reason to be afraid.”

“You're talking shit for the hell of it.”

“It's me, hi. I'm the problem, it's me.”

“'Cause we lost track of time, again.”

”And it's fine to fake it 'til you make it.”

“What if I told you I'm a mastermind?“

“Lately, I've been dressin' for revenge.”

“They say looks can kill and I might try.”

“I should not be left to my own devices.”

“And to hide that would be so dishonest.”

“I've never seen someone lit from within.”

“And time can't stop me quite like you did.”

“I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this.”

“And my flight was awful, thanks for asking.”

“How the hell did we lose sight of us again?“

“What if I told you none of it was accidental?“

“Summer went away, still, the yearning stays.”

“I don't start shit, but I can tell you how it ends.”

“And you don't really read into my melancholia.”

“I didn't choose this town, I dream of getting out.”

“You're on your own, kid. You always have been.”

“This is the first time I've felt the need to confess.”

“I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say.”

“Sometimes I wonder which one'll be your last lie.”

“I'll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror.”

“To you, I can admit that I’m just too soft for all of it.”

“I find myself running home to your sweet nothings.”

“This scene feels like what I once saw on a screen.”

“You did some bad things, but I'm the worst of them.”

“You see, all the wisеst women had to do it this way.”

“All that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing.”

“All they keep asking me is if I'm gonna be your bride.”

“It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero.”

“And what's that that I heard? That you're still with her?“

“My town was a wasteland. Full of cages, full of fences.”

“I have this thing where I get older, but just never wiser.”

“You would break your back to make me break a smile.”

“Do you wish you could still touch her? It's just a question.”

“Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?”

“Have to say, by the way, I just may like some explanations.”

“'Cause we were born to be the pawn in every lover's game.”

“But one thing after another, fuckin' situations, circumstances.”

“And the first night that you saw me, I knew I wanted your body.”

“Karma's a relaxing thought. Aren't you envious that for you it's not?”

“Don't put mе in the basement whеn I want the penthouse of your heart.”

“One day, I'll watch as you're leaving, 'cause you got tired of my scheming.”

“Sobbing with your head in your hands... Ain't that the way shit always ends?”

“Ask me what I learned from all those years. Ask me what I earned from all those tears.”

“He wanted it comfortable, I wanted that pain. He wanted a bride, I was making my own name.”

“Baby love, I think I've been a little too kind. Didn't notice you walkin' all over my peace of mind.”

“You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back just like that.”

“Did all the extra credit, then got graded on a curve... I think it's time to teach some lessons.”

“When my depression works the graveyard shift, all of the people I've ghosted stand there in the room.”

“Once upon a time, the planets and the fates and all the stars aligned, you and I ended up in the same room at the same time.”

[crystalninjaphoenix]

The Vault

A JSE Fanfic

SepticHeroes AU: Part 26

First Part | Previous Part

This turned out so much longer than I expected. But I really like this chapter so I don't mind as much and I hope you guys don't either XD It's about 7500 words, though, so be prepared for a long haul. Jackie tries to figure out what to do with the tape the guys found in JJ's apartment, and Marvin stops by with something that might help. Meanwhile, JJ is in prison. Yaaaaay :( This Vault place is a lot weirder than he expected, but at least he's not alone in there. Have fun reading :)

===============

Jackie had never tried calling the police on the Red Line before. He’d never tried calling any number on the Red Line that wasn’t to someone else in the League. But Lorelai told him that police stations could identify a Red Line when it called in and would treat him like a Hero. Even so, he was nervous as he dialed the police’s non-emergency number. Maybe it was because of this new villain. They could clearly access normal phone lines. But surely they couldn’t access the Red Line as well.

Someone picked up on the other end. “Daindover Police,” they said. It sounded like a young man.

Jackie swallowed his nerves. “This is Windstorm,” he said, sounding much more confident than he actually was. “I need to speak to whoever’s in charge of the Puppeteer case.”

A long pause. “Uhhhh... one second sir,” the voice said. And then music started playing.

They put him on hold? What the hell? Jackie didn’t even know police stations could do that. Well, he could wait. This operator was probably trying to call over a supervisor to ask what to do. Which, if the police call center was anything like the call center Jackie used to work at, would take a while.

He tried to relax while the hold music played. He sat down at his computer and looked through the games on there, but nothing really appealed to him. He tried social media, but nothing appealed to him there, either. He opened up some of his comic books but found they just made him nervous. The battles between Heroes and villains in them were once exciting, but now he just thought about how different they were from the events happening right now in his life. The comics never talked about a Hero’s friend being revealed to be a villain, and then that friend’s sister being revealed to be a hero who the friend was just trying to save. 

... You know, maybe the comics were bullshit. With all he’d learned about the League recently, he wouldn’t be surprised to hear they’d taken some liberties with the fights Heroes had.

Finally, the hold music stopped. Jackie had left the Red Line on speaker so he noticed it right away, and quickly lunged over to scoop it up again. “Hello? Windstorm?” a voice was saying.

“Ace? Is that you?” Jackie asked.

“Huh, so it is you. Yep, it’s me, kid.”

“You’re in charge of the Puppeteer case?”

“Well no, but I am on the case. The guys know that you and I have a rapport, so I’m gonna be relaying whatever you said to Detective Michaelson. He’s the lead on this.” Ace paused. “So. Last I saw you, you were really hung up on the trial thing. Is this about that?”

“Kind of,” Jackie said slowly. “I think I’ve found some evidence that the Puppeteer wasn’t... That there’s more to this whole thing than just the Puppeteer.”

“You mean... an accomplice?”

“I-if anything, it points to the Puppeteer being an accomplice. There’s someone else in charge, a, uh—a mastermind behind this. And I don’t think the Puppeteer was entirely willing.”

“Huh. That sounds like some damn good evidence.” Ace was clearly impressed. “So are you calling to make some arrangements for dropping it off, or...?”

“Uh—not yet,” Jackie said slowly. “I-I want to make a backup of it first. But I needed to let you guys know that it exists. This mastermind villain—I-I think they’re called Anti-Virus—might go after it.”

“Kid, if they’re gonna go after it, you need to get it somewhere safe as soon as possible,” Ace explained. “Nowhere safer than the police station.”

“Villains have broken in there before. And Anti-Virus isn’t limited by, uh, physical space. I think—I think they’re a technopath,” Jackie whispered that last part, glancing at his phone and computer as he did so. “A-and this could be... i-it’s risky. I need to make sure there’s backups.”

Ace was silent for a while. Then he sighed. “I’ll see what I can do with what you’ve said. But until you hand this evidence over, the police aren’t gonna act. You understand that, right?”

“That’s fine,” Jackie said. “I-I just want to establish that I have it.” Then, from down the hall, Jackie heard someone knock on the apartment door. Chase shouted something, probably telling whoever it was to wait a minute. “I have to go now,” Jackie said.

“Alright. See you around, kid. Good luck.”

“You too.” And Jackie hung up.

Just in time, too. Chase shouted down the hall, “Jackie! Marvin is here!”

Jackie was surprised for a moment before he remembered that he’d given Marvin permission to come to his apartment to reach him. That was just the day before yesterday, but it seemed so long ago. “I’m coming!” Jackie shouted, putting the Red Line on the dresser and rushing down the hallway.

It was weird seeing Marvin in his apartment. He was standing there awkwardly, shifting from side to side, one gloved hand messing with the zipper on his jacket. Chase was sitting on the sofa nearby. Frosty had clearly been the one to open and close the apartment door, as he was standing next to it and wagging his tail excitedly. Chase whistled, and Frosty trotted over to him, where he received many scratches behind the ears.

“There you are,” Marvin said, eyes locking on Jackie. “I have something for you.”

“Iiiis it in that bag?” Jackie pointed at the bag Marvin had slung over his shoulder. It was gray and made of canvas, completely featureless.

“Yep.”

“Alright, put it down on the coffee table, then.”

Marvin nodded and walked over, Jackie right behind him. He set the bag down on the coffee table and took a couple things out. A black rectangular box, a plastic bag full of cables (or maybe just one?) and a cloth laptop case that clearly had a laptop inside—one of the bigger ones. “Whoa, what’s all this?” Chase asked.

“This is everything you need to copy that tape we found at JJ’s place,” Marvin explained.

“A laptop?” Jackie said doubtfully. “Uh... I thought we were trying to keep it away from digital spaces where Anti-Virus might be able to access it.”

“You’ve just decided to latch onto that name, huh?” Marvin muttered.

“Hey, it makes sense, doesn’t it? Don’t change the subject.”

“Heh.” Marvin grinned. “Don’t worry, the laptop’s been modified. I got all this from the Dismantler and her family. She personally went in and removed the camera, the microphone, and the parts it needs to access the internet. It can play and record video, but that video can’t be accessed through wireless means. The hard drive was also wiped, so there’s no chance of anything already being on there.”

“Hmm.” Jackie raised an eyebrow. “She’s very thorough. Or did you and your paranoia ask her to do all that?”

“Both. And I’ll point out that my paranoia is very well-founded.” Marvin shook his head. “I... realized recently that... Anti-Virus might know who I am. Not the identity I have now, I mean... who I used to be.”

“You mean your rogue Hero shit?” Chase asked.

“Yeah.”

“Well fuck. That’s bad.”

Marvin laughed. “Putting it lightly, yeah. But this bitch made Jameson control me. They made Jameson do a lot. And they have Timekeeper. I’m willing to risk my identity if it means... making things right for the two of them.”

Jackie wasn’t sure what to say to that. He’d never seen Spitfire Cat act so... selfless. Maybe this is closer to who he used to be. “I didn’t know you cared so much about Timekeeper,” Jackie whispered.

“I always thought he—she seemed like a real hero,” Marvin said slowly. Then he laughed. “And she clearly doesn’t like the League, so points for her in my book.”

Jackie rolled his eyes. “Okay, yeah, sure. Anyway, how do I work all this?”

“Dismantler included instructions,” Marvin said, unzipping the laptop case and reaching inside. He pulled out a folded piece of paper, just confirming that it’s there, and then put it back. “She also told me, but I don’t remember off the top of my head. I think you basically have to connect the VHS player to the computer with this special cable and then, uh... record it. And then you can... transfer it to another tape?”

“I’ll figure it out,” Jackie said. “I’m good with video software.”

“He really is, I ask him to edit my YouTube videos all the time,” Chase confirmed. “Also, uh... who’s the Dismantler? Should I know them?”

“No, uh, you guys have never met and I didn’t really talk about her,” Jackie said. “She’s a, uh... vvvvillain?” Uncertainty made that last word longer than it usually would’ve been.

“I don’t think what she and her family does counts as villainy, just crime,” Marvin said. “Besides, she’s only involved because it’s her family, so I don’t think she should count.”

“Isn’t her uncle Pathos?” Jackie asked.

Marvin started, surprised. “Don’t just say that!”

“Oh yeah, Pathos was that big villain, wasn’t he?” Chase asked.

“Yeah, til I whooped his ass and put him in prison.” Jackie grinned. “That was probably my first big battle as a hero. I mean, it was sort of easy, actually, but he had a reputation! That put Windstorm’s name out there. And all the villains I fought after that, holy shit there was a big spree that time last year.”

Marvin rolled his eyes. “There was a spree because you took out a ‘big villain’. When an organization like Pathos’s falls, two types of people appear. Those who want to be the next big thing, and those who were too scared of the local organized crime to cause chaos until it was gone.”

“...oh.” Jackie blinked.

“You seriously didn’t realize that until now?” Marvin snorted.

“Hey shut the fuck up.” Jackie put his hands on his hips. “It’s calmed down now! I handled it.”

“You did do that,” Marvin muttered reluctantly. “Anyway. Gw—the Dismantler also wanted to remind you about the Puppeteer’s mask. Do you still have that?”

“Uh... yeah,” Jackie said slowly. “I mean, after figuring out this guy was a technopath, I wrapped up the mask in a bunch of my spare clothes so they couldn’t really use the cameras or microphones in it.”

“Nice.” Marvin grinned. “Anyway. Dismantler pointed out that the mask could also be a piece of evidence. You just need to get someone else to notice the weird stuff that she did.”

“The weird stuff that pointed to it being controlled remotely?” Jackie nodded. “Yeah... I should take it back to Dr. McLoughlin for another scan.”

Marvin’s expression darkened. “You’re going to... you’re going to take it back to the guy... who messed up the scan in the first place. Even though he should have noticed it. You... you do realize how suspicious it is that he told you the mask was normal, right?”

“It could have been an honest mistake,” Jackie pointed out.

“Or it could be something else.”

“Don’t be so judgemental, bro,” Chase said, speaking up for the first time in a while. “Aren’t people innocent until proven guilty?”

“I—” Marvin was so surprised at Chase calling him out instead of Jackie that he didn’t have a comeback.

“Look, I get it, it’s weird,” Jackie said. “I agree. But I’m not going to go around being suspicious of everyone. I’ll keep it in mind that he did the scan wrong, but until I find proof that he’s... I don’t even know what you’re accusing him of—”

“I’m saying that he’s probably in cahoots with this Anti-Virus,” Marvin interrupted. “Or maybe he even is him.”

Jackie’s eyebrows shot into the air. “Ooookay. That’s a pretty serious accusation. And it’s one that I’m gonna keep in mind, but I’m not gonna jump to conclusions, okay? I’m gonna give McLoughlin a chance to explain what went wrong. He deserves a chance to do that, at least.”

“Not if he keeps tricking you,” Marvin muttered.

“I’d rather be tricked than go around doubting everyone!” Jackie snapped.

“Yeah, clearly.”

“I’m just saying there’s a line!” Jackie shouted. “I can’t think the worst of everyone, okay? If I thought the worst of everyone, we never would’ve found the tape! Because I would’ve written JJ off as secretly evil the whole time instead of talking to him! But he’s not evil, and he doesn’t deserve to be in jail! So I’m not gonna throw someone else in there based on what could’ve been a mistake!” He stopped, breathing heavily. Marvin and Chase were staring at him, gaping. Even Frosty was staring at him.

“Wow... never seen you go off like that, Jackie,” Chase said.

“I guess this whole situation is... getting to me a little,” Jackie muttered.

“That’s... fine,” Marvin said awkwardly. “Um... understandable. Y-yeah. I’m not... I’ll do my thing, you do your thing. I’m not gonna stop you. Uh... you can keep all this.” He gestured at the stuff on the coffee table. “But this is mine.” And he grabbed the bag. “I’ll... come by if anything happens.”

“Y-yeah.” Jackie nodded. “See you around, then.”

“See you.” And with that, Marvin walked over to the door and left.

Jackie sighed. The apartment seemed strangely quiet.

“Hey, uh... Jackie?” Chase said. “I get it about the JJ thing.”

“I just... I-I hope he’s okay,” Jackie said. “He’s tougher than he looks. But they sent him to the Vault. There’s a whole bunch of dangerous villains in there. That’s where they send the biggest threats. I hope he’s okay.”

Chase nodded. “Like you said, he’s tougher than he looks. I’m sure he can hold on until we’re able to get him out.”

“Yeah... yeah.” Jackie would believe that. He had to.

===============

Jameson didn’t remember much of the journey. He knew they traveled across land for a while, and then they traveled across the sea for a bit longer, but the car and boat didn’t have any windows, and so he quickly grew bored. Even though it was uncomfortable to sit straight up with tight handcuffs on, and slightly disconcerting to have people watching him, the lack of stimulation meant he soon fell asleep. 

Was he really worth all this security? He hadn’t caused any trouble while in the police station. Did he really need four different people watching his movements at all times? He thought that, but then he remembered what he’d done, and he understood their caution. A villain who controlled so many people for so long should not be given any leeway.

“Hey. Get up.” Someone shook JJ’s shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked at them. It was one of the League Safety members—people without powers, or with very minor powers, who took care of all the everyday internal threats that Heroes were too busy for. Things like protecting League facilities... or overseeing the transportation of imprisoned supervillains. The LS people wore black uniforms with yellow highlights. Said uniforms included helmets with mirrored visors, bulletproof vests, and utility belts—where their main weapon, a neutrinalin dart gun, hung. But that particular weapon wasn’t necessary. JJ had already been injected before leaving the police station.

“We’re here,” the LS person said. “Get up.”

Jameson nodded, standing up. The LS person grabbed him by the arm, guiding him out of the boat.

So. This was it. Byrthon Vault.

The Vault was situated on a man-made island in the Irish Sea. It was closer to the UK than Ireland but big enough to hold villains from both places. All supers in this part of the world knew about the Vault. They’d heard about its towers and the tall, eight-sided wall surrounding the whole compound. But it was different to see it in person. The wall was a fifty-feet tall barrier of smooth metal, and the towers within rose into the sky like pillars of black rock. Jameson felt dread just looking at it.

A concrete path led from the docks to the wall’s singular gate, sloping up a slight hill as it went. Jameson let the LS person pull him up the way. Another LS guard walked on his other side, and there were two behind him. As they approached the gate—a pair of ten-feet-tall sliding doors with red lights in the center of each—Jameson almost froze up. Actually being here was giving him doubts. The whole thing felt so final. If he walked through that gate, he knew he would never be coming out again. He’d known that the whole time, but the reality of it was hitting him all at once now.

But he didn’t really have a choice, did he? 

If you ever fail and get captured, you are not to say anything about me. You are to accept the full blame and take whatever punishment the law and the League give you. Likely, you will be sent to Byrthon Vault. If you protest this at all, I will terminate her. But if you are caught, I promise you no harm will come to her, and I will work to reverse her condition.

None of his messages with the blackmailer ever stayed on his phone for longer than an hour, but that one had been sealed in his memory from the moment he read it.

They stopped at the gate. One of the LS guards waved at a camera in the corner—or, that’s what JJ assumed that red light was. A panel slid open on the wall. The LS person pressed a keycard to it, followed up by a quick series of taps on a number pad. The camera’s red light turned green, and they went inside.

The area they walked into looked surprisingly normal after the imposing exterior. There was short gray carpet on the floor and white paint on the walls, and a woman sat behind a counter—though the counter was protected by bulletproof glass. “Hi, state your business?” she said pleasantly.

“Transfer from Daindover, Britain,” the LS person holding Jameson’s arm said.

“Right, we’ve been expecting you. Enter your access code there.” She gestured to another number pad sitting on the counter. One of the LS people walked up and tapped in another sequence. The woman typed something on a keyboard, staring at a computer screen. Jameson wondered if that computer was connected to the internet.

He wondered if they knew he was here. 

“Alright,” the woman said. “Jameson Jackson, alias, the Puppeteer?” JJ jumped a little when she said his name.

“Yes, that’s it,” the LS person said.

“Great. Wait here for a moment.”

About thirty seconds passed in awkward silence before a door slid open next to the counter. Two people walked out, wearing uniforms similar to the LS uniforms, though with blue highlights instead and missing the helmets. With them was an older man with a salt-and-pepper beard. Tha man looked at Jameson. “This is him?” he asked.

“Yes sir,” the LS person replied.

“Alrigh’ then. You, Jackson, follow us.”

Jameson hesitated, then walked over.

“Cooperative,” the man grunted. “Good. I’m Daly, I’m in charge here. I hope you’ll understan’ quickly that whatever power you had out there, it’s useless in here.”

Jameson nodded. He felt the urge to laugh for a brief moment before it was suppressed by heavy anxiety. Power? What power? 

They walked through a short hallway to a square room with nothing but two doors and a table that had a handful of items on it. One of the blue-uniformed people—prison guards, assumedly—picked something up from the table. Another neutrinalin injection gun. “Hold out your arms,” Daly commanded. Jameson did so, and the guard rolled up his sleeve and injected him right in the crook of the elbow. Made sense. His last dose had probably worn off.

The other guard picked something else up from the table. A black wand, also similar to something you’d see in an airport. The first put the neutrinalin gun down and took a set of keys from their belt, unlocking Jameson’s handcuffs. “Stand with your arms out,” Daly said. “Don’ make any sudden moves.” Jameson wasn’t planning to. He stayed perfectly still while the guard ran the wand over him.

After that was over with, the first guard picked up a bundle of cloth from the table and shoved it at Jameson. “Get changed in there.” Daly pointed to one of the doors, the one to the left. “I’m told you can’t talk, so knock on the door when you’re done and we’ll start the decontamination process. If you take longer than five minutes... well, don’t take longer than that.”

Jameson nodded. He took the cloth and headed into the other room, a space the size of a closet. He changed quickly into this new outfit—a white shirt, a pale green jumpsuit, and flimsy slip-on shoes—then knocked on the wall.

“Decontamination starting in three... two... one.”

JJ gasped, then quickly recovered when he realized that the robotic voice saying that wasn’t the same robotic voice he’d get phone calls from. But he gasped again when holes slid open in the walls of the room he was in. Jets of mist burst out, smelling vaguely medicinal, and droplets of liquid settled on his skin and clothes. Then a loud WHRRRR started as fans appeared and dried everything. Once the fans calmed down, one of the guards opened the door. “Step out,” Daly called from the room.

From there, the group headed through the room’s other door, down a long set of hallways, until they reached the main area of the prison. The cell blocks. Two of the Vault’s towers were dedicated to them, one for male and one for female. Obviously, this was the male block. It was... bigger than expected. The space was wide open, rows of cells stacked on top of each other, with catwalks reaching the higher cells. JJ counted six floors of cells. Everything was made of metal and plastic, all of it sleek and new-looking. And it was... quiet. So quiet. Pretty much the only sounds were JJ’s and the guards’ footsteps. That... must have been because it was early. Even so, the quiet made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

They took a lift up to the fifth floor and Jameson got a closer look at the cells. The walls were mostly solid metal, with the only exception being the door, which was made of a clear, bulletproof plastic. He glanced into the cells as they passed, but they were all too dark to see inside. It must’ve been lights out. But even so, was no one awake? Or curious about what was happening?

Soon, they stopped at a cell with a number plate reading 525. One of the guards took a key card from their belt and pressed it to a panel underneath that number. The door slid open. Jameson started to step inside, but Daly said, “One moment, 3117.”

Jameson tensed. Oh. Right. The jumpsuit had the number 3117 on the back and lapel. That must be him. He turned to look at Daly, tilting his head curiously. Instinctively he raised a hand to ask What is it? but then realized Daly probably didn’t know BSL.

“Hold out your hands,” Daly said. Confused, Jameson did so—and suddenly Daly snapped something around his wrists. Jameson started and pulled his hands back. These weren’t handcuffs. There was no chain connecting them. But they were two bands of metal now wrapped around his wrists, each about an inch wide but only a centimeter thick. “Congratulations,” Daly drawled. “You get some extra precautions. Those are magnetic pow-sup bracelets. When powered, that purple ligh’ across the middle will turn on, activatin’ power suppression and snappin’ the bracelets together. So don’ try anything, okay?”

Jameson nodded slowly.

“Good. Now, go on. It’s lights on soon enough, so you won’ get much time to rest before the roll call.” Daly made a dismissive go-ahead type gesture.

And with only a moment’s hesitation, Jameson turned around and stepped into the cell.

The door slid closed behind him. It was dark, but as his eyes adjusted, he could make out the cell’s features. It wasn’t too different from the holding cell back in the police station. The walls were metal. There was a single cot to sleep on, along with a toilet and sink to use. There was a small metal shelf jutting out from the wall close to the ground. Some sort of... table? To use while you’re sitting on the floor? Or was it supposed to be a chair? Maybe both?

Well... there wasn’t much to do in here. So even though Jameson had spent the whole journey here sleeping, he lied down on the cot and tried to sleep some more.

But he couldn’t. Now that he was actually here, the despair he felt was too much. This was really it, wasn’t it? Surely the others would have found the tape in his apartment by now. Surely, if it could be useful, it would have been used by now. Right? No. No, he shouldn’t think like that. Maybe the process was just slow. Everything would work out eventually. He just had to be patient.

But it was hard to hold onto optimism like that in the face of this new reality.

===============

Over the next two days, JJ got used to his new routine. The lights came on in the morning, and then about thirty minutes later there was an announcement over the intercom for roll call. They happened floor by floor, lasting five minutes each. When your floor was called, you had to hurry over to the central meeting area of your floor—which ended up being a suspended platform for floors two through six. Jameson was glad he wasn’t afraid of heights.

After your floor’s roll call, everyone there moved to breakfast. The cafeteria was in a different tower, connected to the two cell block towers by narrow hallways. The food wasn’t much to talk about. Bland, with a weird plasticky aftertaste. Forks and knives were not allowed. After eating, there was a short period where you had to either go back to your cell or go take a shower. Then a maddeningly long period of time later, it was lunch, which was almost exactly like breakfast.

But after that, you were finally allowed to go somewhere other than your cell or the cafeteria. The afternoon was a sort of free period—though it wasn’t really free at all if guards were watching your every move—where you could go to the courtyard, do chores like laundry and cleaning, or go back to your cell. Jameson wasn’t allowed to do chores, as security on him was still too high, but he could do the other two things. After the afternoon, there was another roll call, dinner, another chance to shower, and then, an hour later, lights out.

The routine didn’t bother JJ. Honestly, even the guards didn’t bother him too much. Sure, they were constantly watching him, but he was being watched all the time before this, anyway. Just through cameras instead of in person.

No, what really bothered him were the other prisoners. 

Not because they were intimidating or scary in any way. In fact... it was kind of the opposite. Byrthon Vault was home to some of the most dangerous supervillains in this part of the world. Jameson recognized a good number of them, either from hearing about them on the news or from helping her on her superhero patrols. These people were supposed to be ruthless, merciless monsters. Either lifelong criminals or people who’d done one thing so terrible that they got sent here right away.

So... why were they all so... quiet?

He’d noticed it from the start. The other prisoners barely talked. Only when answering a guard’s question or mumbling to their neighbors during meal times. And once he noticed that, he began noticing other things. They were all so pale—even paler than expected for someone trapped indoors almost all of the time. Many of them had dark circles under their eyes. And others were very thin, basically skin and bones. Some of them swayed while they stood. Some of them slumped onto the tables during meal times. All of them stared at him, but none of them talked to him.

Jameson didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but he knew he didn’t like it.

He spent the free period of the first two days in his cell, but by the third he was so confused and curious about what was going on with the other prisoners—not to mention extremely bored and tired of napping so much—that on the third day, he finally visited the courtyard.

This was a wide open space, octagonal like the walls around the Vault. A mesh net stretched over the entire top of the courtyard—presumably to deter flying villains from swooping in and rescuing prisoners. The middle of the courtyard was dedicated to various sports and exercises. Around the edges were benches and tables for people to sit at. Everything was concrete, metal, and plastic.

Jameson looked around. Like the cafeteria, the courtyard connected to both cell blocks, so some prisoners from the female block were here, too. He’d noticed that they were just as pale and lethargic as the prisoners in his block. So whatever this was, it wasn’t just affecting them.

There were some prisoners playing basketball or trying out the exercise equipment. But it was only a fraction of the people out here. Maybe a quarter of them. Or less. And even then, only a quarter of those people were really enjoying the activity. Most of them were just going through the motions. Sometimes stopping what they were doing to stand there, or even to sit down.

This was really freaking him out. His plan was to go over and ask the friendliest-looking person what the hell was going on, but he wasn’t sure they’d be able to tell him anything. Not to mention how unlikely it was that someone here would know BSL. So, overwhelmed by the strangeness of this situation, he walked over to a bench and sat down.

He was tired. He wasn’t usually this tired. Maybe something about being stuck in one place and bored all the time made him tired. Sighing, JJ tilted his head back and closed his eyes for a moment—

“Hey!”

Then he jumped and opened them again. That was the first shout he’d heard in here outside of roll call. He looked around—and saw someone approaching him. A woman with dark, wavy hair. Not a guard, as he expected. But another prisoner. She had dark circles under her eyes but was otherwise moving with more purpose than he’d seen most others move with. Slowly, he raised his hand and waved at her, unsure what to do.

The woman stopped in front of him. “You’re from Daindover, right? In Britain?”

JJ nodded.

“Did Windstorm lock you up?”

He nodded again.

The woman scowled. “That bitch. Hope someone puts him in his place one day.” She punched her palm. “So. What did you do? Did it hurt him?”

JJ hesitated. Can you understand me? he asked.

She narrowed her eyes. “What is that? Are you making fun of me?”

He hurriedly shook his head. And then he patted his throat, trying to indicate his lack of voice.

“What? What is that?!” She leaned over him, scowling.

This wasn’t working! Jameson tried to show her the scar on his neck, tracing its faint line with a finger.

“Oh, now you’re threatening me?!” The woman grabbed his wrist. “Listen, I don’t know what kind of fucking bigshot you think you are, but these mean you can’t do shit in here.” She shook his arm, indicating the cuffs on his wrists.

He shook his head hard, started to sign I’m sorry but then remembered how poorly signing had gone before and scrambled for a new idea—

“Angela.”

The woman—Angela, apparently—jerked backwards. While she’d been getting up in Jameson’s face, someone else had appeared. Another prisoner. A man this time, wearing the jacket of his jumpsuit unbuttoned and sliding off his shoulders. He had bright red hair, cut close on his right but longer on his left, and—and purple eyes. Jameson stared at them for a second, at first processing their existence and then admiring their dark shade and how it contrasted the man’s brighter hair—and then he snapped back to his senses. Who was this guy? He looked vaguely familiar. “Soren,” Angela said curtly.

“What’re you doing?” Soren asked calmly.

“This bitch was threatening me!” Angela glared at JJ.

“You mean him doing this?” Soren mimicked the motion JJ had made to indicate his scar—which, JJ is now realizing, looked like the ‘I’ll slit your throat’ gesture people made to threaten others. “I think he was trying to show you that scar of his.”

Angela looked back at JJ, staring at him closely. “Well before that he was making all sorts of hand signals! Probably being fucking rude—”

“He asked if you could understand him,” Soren interrupted.

“How do you know that?!”

“Because I know British Sign Language when I see it. I could translate for you, if you let go of his hand so he can talk.”

Angela looked at JJ... and reluctantly let go of his hand. 

“Right!” Soren said cheerfully. “So what was the conversation?”

“Asked him what he was in for,” Angela mumbled, sounding almost embarrassed.

Soren looked at JJ, who quickly started signing, I ended up taking control of a couple hundred people in my city and got them to commit various crimes. Including storming several buildings belonging to a tech company.

“Jesus, this takes forever,” Angela muttered.

Soren, meanwhile, looked intrigued. “Oh. So you’re the mind controller who came in from Daindover, huh? Is Windstorm still the hero there?” JJ nodded. “Hmm. Wonder if he’s gotten any better. He had the power, but was pretty new to it when I was there.”

Angela’s eyes widened. “Wait. Wait, he’s the—the string guy? Puppets guy?”

Jameson looked down, hiding the guilt on his face, and nodded.

“Oh. Oh, holy shit. I guess I should’ve, uh, realized. Uh—” Angela stood there for a moment, then abruptly turned around and left.

Soren watched her go, then looked back at JJ. “Don’t take it personally,” he said. “Angela isn’t dealing with this well. She’s always had a temper, and now being stuck here and feeling shitty all the time has made it worse. And I think she’s not used to feeling vulnerable. After all, Angela Lewis is the invulnerable Titanium.” He chuckled a bit, then sat down next to JJ. Now that he was closer, he could see how thin and pale he was—pale to the point of being practically paper white.

How do you two know about me? Jameson asked.

“We’re both from Daindover too. Word gets around about new arrivals, and people always listen up for their city.” Soren looked at him and smiled tiredly. “Anyway. What’s your name? Not your alias, I know that. It’s okay to spell it out.”

JJ did so, introducing himself as Jameson Jackson.

“Alliteration. Fun.” Soren held out a hand for a shake. “Soren Moizone. Nice to meet you.”

...oh.

Jameson suddenly realized why he looked familiar. He’d been on the news quite a lot. And that’s not all. A memory flashed through his head, vivid and real, of a past conversation.

I don’t get it. You could easily take down Pathos, Dahlia. Why don’t you? “Because as long as people like us keep him in line, things are better.” I still don’t get it. “If you suddenly take out the head of a big organization like that, the power vacuum can be worse than they were, y’know? See it all the time in comics about Heroes’ early careers. Everyone rises up to take their place.” So you’d rather fight him every month? “It’s not really a fight most of the time, I just show up and look intimidating and he’s like ‘pack it up, you lot, we’ve gone too far.’”

Soren Moizone. The supervillain known as Pathos. The man who’d held crime in Daindover and the surrounding area in his grip—until a year ago when Jackie defeated him.

“Ah. There’s the look.” Soren’s easy smile faded a bit. “The realization. Listen, I can’t really do much in here, unfortunately. Neither can you. Or anyone, really. I think we’re all the same in the Vault. But up to you if you want to be on speaking terms.”

JJ hesitated. Then he reached out and shook Soren’s hand.

Soren laughed. “You have balls, Jameson Jackson. Though I guess that’s evident, from what you just said you did. Daindover really has a problem with mind-controlling villains.”

It’s not really mind control, JJ said. My powers, I mean. It’s... body control.

Soren tilted his head. “Hmm? What’s the difference?”

I don’t hypnotize people, JJ explained. When the strings wrap around their wrists, I can move their bodies with my thoughts. They’re still aware. And it doesn’t just work on people. Anything shaped like a human can be controlled. I used them on dolls when I was a kid. His parents had been mildly surprised the first time they walked in on him putting on a show for his twin. But not too surprised. It ran in the family, after all.

“Fascinating. You’re right, that’s not really mind control, is it?” Soren mused. “But to be fair, mine aren’t, either.”

JJ blinked. Can’t you make people think the way you want them to?

“Common misconception. I don’t influence their thoughts, just their feelings. It’s not the same thing at all, no matter how much people on the news told you it was.” Soren chuckled.

JJ raises an eyebrow. That doesn’t make it any less dangerous. Another brief snippet of a conversation flickered in his mind.

“I swear, James, I’d never felt so scared in my fucking life before. If the feeling hadn’t stopped when I paused things I would’ve been frozen. But instead everyone else was frozen, ayyy. I suppose powers like that don’t work on me when I’m out of time.”

“Well you’re one to talk, aren’t you, Puppeteer?” Soren pointed out. “I overheard some guards chatting about what happened in Daindover. They were shocked. Though it sounds like the rumors were a bit exaggerated.”

JJ tried to laugh in agreement, but he couldn’t quite manage it. Silence fell between them. Jameson turned his attention to the rest of the courtyard and tried not to think about the fact that Pathos—a lifelong villain who she often fought—was sitting next to him. Though as he looked around, it did remind him of why he was out there. Can I ask you something?

“You can ask me, can’t promise I’ll answer.”

Everyone here is so...quiet, JJ said. And... tired. I don’t know how to describe it. But that can’t be normal, can it? Or is this just what it’s like in all prisons?

“What were you expecting?” Soren asked. “Did you think there’d be a riot every day? Like a TV drama?”

I thought there’d be conversation, at least.

“No, you’re right.” Soren’s face turned very serious. “This isn’t normal. How long have you been here, Jameson? A couple days?”

Three days, JJ said.

“So you’re going to start feeling it soon, then.” Soren leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs. “Have you noticed that weird taste in all the food? It’s a sort of... artificial taste, like someone put plastic shavings in everything. That’s neutrinalin. It can be injected or consumed. All the food for the prisoners has heavy doses of it.”

JJ nodded slowly. He’d been wondering that. Nobody had pulled him aside to give him a neutrinalin injection since he arrived. And yet, he still felt his powers out of reach when he tried to find them. Not to use them, just to see if he could.

“Now, neutrinalin is all fine for the short term,” Soren continued. “But if it’s in your system for too long, say three or four days straight, you start feeling a bit sick. Like a bad cold. And until the neut is out, that feeling will just keep getting worse.”

Dread pooled in JJ’s stomach. And yet, he still had to ask, Did you say N-E-W-T?

Soren laughed. “It does sound like that, doesn’t it? No, ‘neut’ as in short for ‘neutrinalin.’ It’s slang. Sometimes people call it ‘the muffler’ too, or ‘the League’s best friend.’ Guess you’re not in those circles, huh?”

JJ shook his head.

“Anyway. The reason why all these great and powerful villains are walking around like zombies is because they feel like shit all the time. Some of them for years straight. I think Havoc Cry has been in here the longest, you don’t see her around often cause she’s too tired to leave her cell most of the time. Which—look, I’m not gonna say she doesn’t deserve it after she basically destroyed London, but... no, I’m gonna say that. She doesn’t deserve it. She deserved to stay here for the rest of her life, just like Avalanche, Dr. Rundown, Death Angel, the Mutilator—” Soren pointed out each villain as he said their name. Jameson had heard of all of them, but he wouldn’t have recognized them like this. “—and most of the others, but the drugging is a bit much.”

Jameson covered his mouth, hiding the horror on his face. All these people... Sure, criminals and villains, the worst of them, but... he couldn’t help but feel terrible about it as he saw them all in this state. Does the League know about the side effects? he asked, looking back at Soren.

“Dunno.” Soren shrugged. “You don’t hear people discussing it, not even in the underworld. Some people in here mutter that the League made it that way on purpose, but I don’t think so. I think they just never thought about it during development. And if they know what’s happening in here, they don’t think fixing it is worth it.”

Jameson shook his head slowly. This was awful. People must not know. If they knew, they’d be horrified.

Soren looked doubtful. “Would they?”

Of course! Even the Heroes would be horrified. Or at least... Jackie would.

“Maybe.”

Jameson scowled. He made to stand up—but stumbled as a wave of dizziness overcame him. He started to fall, but Soren quickly stood up and caught him before he hit the ground. Thank you, he signed shakily.

“Don’t thank me, it’s not needed.” Soren helped him stand upright again. “Let me guess. Everything started spinning?”

That must have been one of the side effects. JJ went pale as he realized that everything was just going to get worse from here on. He nodded slowly. Why are you handling this sickness better than anyone else in here? he asked.

“That’s not something I’m keen to share.” Soren smiled, a bit of mystery to his expression. “Now. If you’re standing up, I’m guessing you’re leaving?”

JJ nodded slowly.

“Try to come to the courtyard as often as you can. Sunlight and fresh air’s good for you. Makes you feel a little better. I’m here most days. Or we could try to meet during meal times—if you want to meet, that is, but I’d love to hear from you some more. Talk about how things have changed in Daindover.”

That would be nice, JJ said. He knew he had to take this chance. Talking was a lot less boring than napping, but not many people in the Vault would be able to understand him. Soren knew BSL. And even though he was a supervillain, so was everyone else in here. So was Jameson. Soren seemed nice, at least. And... he liked the way he smiled.

“Great. I can try to find you. What floor are you on?”

Floor five, Cell 525.

Soren raised an eyebrow. “They put you up high. The higher your floor is, the more dangerous they consider you. I’m on floor three, in 316. So it sounds like I’ll have to wait for you in the cafeteria.”

I don’t know if I’m flattered or not that they think I’m so dangerous, JJ said, frowning.

“I’d be flattered. But they’ll probably move you down later if you don’t cause trouble.” Soren smiled tiredly. “In any case. Later, then?”

Later. I’ll see you around?

“Certainly. Goodbye for now.”

JJ waved a goodbye as well, then turned and left the courtyard. He hadn’t spent much time there, but he needed to be alone. He needed to think about everything that just happened. About what he found out.

He was still hoping that somehow the others outside would figure out a way to get him out of here. But that hope was starting to waver. Especially knowing what was to come with the neutrinalin side effects. But... at least he wouldn’t be alone in here.

At least there was that.

[thecrxwclub]

assigning taylor swift songs to grishaverse characters + ships because i don’t want to do my actual work!! this is about to be long as hell!!

notes: i feel like some of these will be unpopular opinions but here we are + there are two instances where ppl have the same song (long story short and you’re on your own kid) but i just think it applies to both characters really well. and idk why basically all the crows are from midnights, it’s just a soc album i guess.

ALINA STARKOV

– long story short : evermore

"Past me, I wanna tell you not to get lost in these petty things. Your nemeses will defeat themselves before you get the chance to swing…and I fell from the pedestal, right down the rabbit hole. Long story short, it was a bad time. Pushed from the precipice, climbed right back up the cliff. Long story short, I survived. Now I’m all about you, I’m all about you. Long story short, it was a bad time. Long story short, I survived.”

MAL ORETSEV

– this is me trying : folklore

“They told me all of my cages were mental. So I got wasted like all my potential. And my words shoot to kill when I’m mad. I have a lot of regrets about that…I just wanted you to know that this is me trying. At least I’m trying.”

NIKOLAI LANTSOV

– Mastermind : Midnights

"No one wanted to play with me as a little kid. So I’ve been scheming like a criminal ever since. To make them love me and make it seem effortless. This is the first time I’ve felt the need to confess. And I swear I’m only cryptic and Machiavellian ‘cause I care.”

ZOYA NAZYALENSKY

– You’re On Your Own Kid : Midnights

“You’re on your own, kid. You always have been. From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes, I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this. I hosted parties and starved my body. Like I’d be saved by a perfect kiss. The jokes weren’t funny, I took the money, my friends from home don’t know what to say. I looked around in a blood-soaked gown, and I saw something they can’t take away.”

KAZ BREKKER

– Dear Reader : Midnights

"Dear Reader, if it feels like a trap you’re already in one. Dear Reader, get out your map. Pick somewhere and just run. Dear Reader, burn all the files, desert all your past lives. And if you don’t recognize yourself that means you did it right. Never take advice from someone who’s falling apart…Dear Reader, the greatest of luxuries is your secrets. Dear Reader, when you aim at the devil make sure you don’t miss.”

INEJ GHAFA

– Karma : Midnights

“Karma is my boyfriend. Karma is a god, karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend. Karma’s a relaxing thought, aren’t you envious that for you it’s not? Sweet like honey, karma is a cat, purring in my lap ‘cause it loves me. Flexing like a goddamn acrobat. Me and karma vibe like that.”

NINA ZENIK

– Bejeweled : Midnights

“Sapphire tears on my face, sadness became my whole sky…And you can try to change my mind. But you might have to wait in line. What’s a girl gonna do? A diamond’s gotta shine. Best believe I’m still bejeweled. When I walk in a room, I can still make the whole place shimmer…Diamonds in my eyes. I polish up real, I polish up real nice.”

JESPER FAHEY

– Anti-Hero : Midnights

"I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser. Midnights become my afternoons. When my depression works the graveyard shift all of the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room…It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me. At tea time, everybody agrees. I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror. It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero.”

WYLAN VAN ECK

– You’re On Your Own Kid : Midnights

“Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned. Everything you lose is a step you take. So make the friendship bracelets, take a moment and taste it, you’ve got no reason to be afraid. You’re on your own, kid. Yeah, you can face this. You’re on your own kid, you always have been.”

MATTHIAS HELVAR

– ivy : evermore

"How’s one to know? I’d live and die for moments that we stole. On begged and borrowed time…oh, goddamn. My pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand taking mine, but it’s been promised to another. Oh, I can’t stop you putting roots in my dreamland. My house of stone, your ivy grows, and now I’m covered in you.”

GENYA SAFIN

– Clean : 1989

“Hung my head as I lost the war, and the sky turned black like a perfect storm. Rain came pouring down. When I was drowning, that’s when I could finally breathe. And by morning, gone was any trace of you, I think I am finally clean.”

DAVID KOSTYK

– Sweet Nothing : Midnights

"On the way home I wrote a poem. You say ‘what a mind’, this happens all the time. ‘Cause they said the end is coming. Everyone’s up to something. I find myself running home to your sweet nothings. Outside, they’re push and shoving. You’re in the kitchen humming. All that you ever wanted from me was nothing.”

THE DARKLING

I Did Something Bad : Reputation

"They’re burning all the witches, even if you aren’t one. They got their pitchforks and proof, their receipts and reasons. They’re burning all the witches, even if you aren’t one. So light me, go ahead and light me up. They say I did something bad. Then why’s it feel so good? They say I did something bad. But why’s it feel so good? Most fun I ever had, and I’d do it over and over and over again if I could. It just felt so good.”

TOLYA YUL-BATAAR

– epiphany : folklore

"Keep your helmet, keep your life, son. Just a flesh wound, here’s your rifle…With you I serve. With you, I fall down. Watch you breathe in, watch you breathing out. Only 20 minutes to sleep, but you dream of some epiphany. Just one single glimpse of relief, to make some sense of what you’ve seen.”

TAMAR KIR-BATAAR

– Only the Young : Featured in “Miss Americana”

“They aren’t gonna help us, too busy helping themselves. They aren’t gonna change this, we gotta do it ourselves. They think that it’s over, but it’s just begun. Only one thing can save us…Don’t say you’re too tired to fight, it’s just a matter of time. Up there’s the finish line. Only the young can run.”

HANNE BRUM

– long story short : evermore

“Fatefully, I tried to pick my battles ‘til the battle picked me. Misery. Like the war of words I shouted in my sleep. And you passed right by, I was in the alley, surrounded on all sides. The knife cuts both ways. If the shoe fits, walk in it ‘til your high heels break.”

–––––––––––––––––––––

KANEJ

– Renegade : How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?

“Are you really gonna talk about timing in times like these? And let all your damage damage me? And carry your baggage up my street and make me your future history? It’s time, you’ve come a long way. Open the blinds, let me see your face. You wouldn’t be the first renegade to need somebody. Is it insensitive for me to say ‘get your shit together so I can love you’?"

HELNIK

– Long Live : Speak Now

“Long, long live the walls we crashed through. All the kingdom lights shine, just for me and you. I was screaming, long live all the magic we made, and being on all the pretenders, I’m not afraid. Singing long live all the mountains we moved, I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you. And long, long live that look on your face. And bring on all the pretenders. One day, we will be remembered.”

WESPER

– Paper Rings : Lover

“Kiss me once ‘cause you know I had a long night. Kiss me twice ‘cause it’s gonna be alright. Three times ‘cause I’ve waited my whole life. I like shiny things, but I’d marry you with paper rings. Darling, you’re the one I want, and I hate accidents, except when we went from friends to this.”

ZOYALAI

– The Great War : Midnights

"And we will never go back to that bloodshed, crimson clover. The worst was over. My hand was the one you reached for all throughout the Great War. Always remember we’re burned for better, I vowed I would always be yours. ‘Cause we survived the Great War.”

MALINA

– invisible string : folklore

“Time, curious time. Gave me no compasses, gave me no signs. Were there clues I didn’t see? And isn’t it just so pretty to think all along there was some invisible string tying you to me?”

DARKLINA

– Dear John : Speak Now

“You are an expert at sorry and keeping lines blurry. Never impressed by me acing your tests. All the girls that you’ve run dry have tired, lifeless eyes ‘cause you burned them out. But I took your matches before fire could catch me, so don’t look now.”

DANYA

— Last Kiss : Speak Now

“But now I'll go sit on the floor wearing your clothes. All that I know is I don’t know how to be something you miss. I never thought we’d have a last kiss. Never imagined we’d end like this. Your name, forever the name on my lips.”

TAMADIA

— Lover : Lover

“My heart’s been borrowed, and yours has been blue. All’s well that ends well to end up with you…Can I go where you go? Can we always be this close, forever and ever? And I, take me out, and take me home. You’re my, my, my, my lover.”

HANNINA

— Daylight : Lover

“I’ll tell you the truth, but never goodbye. I don’t want to look at anything else now that I saw you. And I don’t want to think of anything else now that I thought of you. I’ve been sleeping so long in a 20-year dark night, but now I see daylight. I only see daylight.”

[taylorswiftandx]

Taylor Swift and Jobs

Note: huge thank you to @meandmypagancrew who assembled the lyrics for this post! A quick reminder that these type of posts can be quite subjective and we have taken a pretty broad view, but please comment if you think something has been left out.

'Taylor Swift'

(no jobs)

'Fearless (Taylor's Version)'

(no jobs)

'Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)'

Mine: You were in college working part time waiting tables

Speak Now: I hear the preacher say “Speak now or forever hold your peace”

Better Than Revenge: She’s not a saint, and she’s not what you think, she’s an actress

'Red (Taylor's Version)'

Ronan: You fought it hard like an army guy

I Bet You Think About Me: I don’t have to be your shrink to know that you’ll never be happy

All Too Well (10 Minute Version): I’m a soldier who’s returning half her weight

'1989'

Is It Over Now?: I see your profile and your smile on unsuspecting waiters

Is It Over Now?: You search in every model’s bed for something greater, baby

'reputation'

…Ready For It?: Knew I was a robber first time that he saw me

…Ready For It?: But if I’m a thief, then he can join the heist

…Ready For It?: And he can be my jailer

Look What You made Me Do: I’ll be the actress starring in your bad dreams.”

So It Goes…: All eyes on you, my magician

So It Goes…: All eyes on me, your illusionist

'Lover'

The Archer: All the king’s horses, all the king’s men

I Think He Knows: I am an architect, I’m drawing up the plans

Soon You’ll Get Better: You like the nicer nurses, you make the best of a bad deal

'folklore'

Mirrorball: When they sent home the horses and the rodeo clowns

Invisible String: Teal was the color of your shirt when you were sixteen at the yogurt shop you used to work at to make a little money

Invisible String: Bold was the waitress on our three year trip getting lunch down by the Lakes

Epiphany: Doc, I think she’s crashing out

'evermore'

Tolerate It: I greet you with a battle hero’s welcome

'Midnights'

Anti-Hero: Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism like some kind of congressman?

Karma: Karma’s on your scent like a bounty hunter

Sweet Nothing: Industry disruptors and soul deconstructors and smooth-talking hucksters out glad-handing each other

Mastermind: No one wanted to play with me as a little kid so I’ve been scheming like a criminal ever since

Other Songs written by Taylor

Eyes Open: The tricky thing is yesterday we were just children playing soldiers, just pretending

Only The Young: The game was rigged, the ref got tricked

Official Alternate Releases

(no jobs)

[wagingmywarsbehindmyface]

hi 🥰 what are your favourite and least favourite songs from each Taylor’s album and why? ✨ <- i need you to do this too!

I haven’t seen that one coming, for real! 😂 Thank you, Poppy ❤️😌

so, i’m a terribly awful Swiftie for saying this but I despise DEBUT 💚 I really am. I couldn’t decide which song is my least favourite in reverse of situation when trying to choose fave one, so i figured the track I tolerate is A Place in This World. And the rest of the album is on the other side, I’m sorry 😅

Fearless 💛 This album is much more likeable! I like: Fearless, Love Story, You Belong with Me, The Way I Love You, Untouchable, Don’t You, Mr. Perfectly Fine! Those are bops, sometimes sad nevertheless I like them a lot! See? I redeemed myself 😂 Now to the next part! I’m not the biggest fan of Superstar and White Horse 🫢 These are not clicking with me 🙁

Speak Now 💜 I must say this album grew on me a loooot, A LOT! I look at it in a different way than I used to be, and now it’s one of my faves 😄 Speak Now the song defender ok? I like all of the songs beside… Last Kiss… I know, ok, I KNOW. May I choose the date of crucification? And Ours and Superman, I feel those two were fillers of the album Taylor needed at the time 😕

RED ❤️ Alright, this one will be super tough, because it is a really, really good album and it deserves the Grammy of course! 🥹❤️ State of Grace, Red, Treacherous, ATW (10min version), The Last Time, Holy Ground, Lucky One, Sad Beautiful Tragic, IBYTAM, Nothing New and Forever Winter are the most magical part of this album for me 🤧 The least… well, I’m not that much of a supporter of Ed Sheeran’s feat. on this album, so Everything Has Changed and Run duo is a no. Also that remix of Girl At Home, no, thank you. Stay Stay Stay it’s just meh I guess? 😅😅

1989 🩵 IT’S "MY” ALBUM! and I absolutely love eeeverything about it! It’s a no skip one, I can’t choose the song I dislike. I love all of them! 🥹🩵

REPUTATION 🖤 Aaaaahh! This one, I love memories occurring when I think of days when this one was released 🥹 I definitely like Ready For It, Delicate, Don’t Blame Me, LWYMMD, IDSB, Getaway Car, I would like KoMH more if it was more rock-ish? And CIWYWI 🖤 The least: So It Goes, DWOHT, End Game, TIWWCHNT 🤓 This album is legendary, right, but now I see some cringe about it?

Lover 🩷 My fave is definitely the title track, Lover! It’s such a sweet pop ballad ✨ Next ones are: The Archer, Cruel Summer, DBTC, Paper Rings - silly cute song 😌 Cornelia Street, London Boy (shut up, Pops 😂❤️), False God, the saxophone okaaay? And Daylight! The least fave are Afterglow 🫢, Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince 😅 It’s a solid album, fun, important album in Taylor’s career and I will defend it forever ✨

FOLKLORE 🩶 I CAN’T! I DENY! I LOVE THIS ALBUM!

EVERMORE 🤎 SAME! NO SKIP! Closure defender!

Midnights 💙 Well, there are songs I adore and adore a little bit less for sure. Let’s start with first ones: Lavender Haze (I remember listening to first beats for the first time ✨🥹) Anti-Hero, YOYOK (although it took time!), Midnight Rain (same…), Maroon, SOTB but with Lana’s verse 🥴, Vigilante Shit, Karma, Labyrinth, Sweet Nothing, Mastermind, GREAT WAR!! Paris is such a fun track! High Infidelity and Dear Reader ✨ When it comes to least: BTTWS 🥹 I don’t listen to this that much. The rest of songs are great but not my favourites.

[putawayurhalo]

The Eras (Tour) Masterlist | A One-Shot series

HEY HI HELLO I’M BEING AMBITIOUS AND BECAUSE I’M POSTING THIS I HAVE TO COMMIT TO IT! Okayyyyy sooooooo, I wanted to do a series of one shots (possible two/three parters) based on Taylor’s setlist for the Eras Tour because my mind was working a million miles an hour at Opening Night when I was in that stadium watching her 🧍🏻‍♀️ Originally these were all going to be Steve Harrington x Reader fics but I’m opening it up to Ethan Landry - the other baby girl coded man of my life currently! If you guys want to send an ask with who you want to see with which song (minus the ones I already planned out) from this list you totally can I’m open to suggestions!

Also I skipped two songs - majorie because I feel like it’s too personal of a song to Taylor to write a fic based on it and Lover because everytime I listen to that song I sob thinking about my beloved Luella. OKAY I’M DONE BLABBING NOW MUAH! 😗✌️ Have this moodboard for how y’all will be feeling with a majority of these fics because I’m an angsty babe!

Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince - Ethan Landry x Reader ; Steve Harrington x Reader

Cruel Summer - Ethan Landry x Reader

The Man - Steve Harrington x Reader

The Archer - Ethan Landry x Reader

Fearless - Steve Harrington x Reader

You Belong With Me - Steve Harrington x Reader

Love Story - Steve Harrington x Reader

‘tis the damn season - Ethan Landry x Reader

no body, no crime -

willow - Ethan Landry x Reader; Steve Harrington x Reader

champagne problems - Ethan Landry x Reader

tolerate it - Ethan Landry x Reader

… Ready For It? - Ethan Landry x Reader

Delicate - Ethan Landry x Reader

Don’t Blame Me - Ethan Landry x Reader

Look What You Made Me Do - Ethan Landry x Reader

Enchanted - Ethan Landry x Reader; Steve Harrington x Reader

Long Live - Steve Harrington x reader

22 - Steve Harrington x Reader

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Steve Harrington x Reader

I Knew You Were Trouble

All Too Well - Ethan Landry x Reader

Nothing New -

invisible string - Steve Harrington x Reader

the 1 - Ethan Landry x Reader

betty - Steve Harrington x Reader

august - Steve Harrington x Reader

illicit affairs - Ethan Landry x Reader

my tears ricochet - Ethan Landry x Reader (I have a very specific plot in mind with this one)

cardigan - Ethan Landry x Reader

Style - Steve Harrington x Reader

Blank Space - Steve Harrington x Reader; Ethan Landry x Reader

Shake It Off - Steve Harrington x Reader

Wildest Dreams - Ethan Landry x Reader; Steve Harrington x Reader

Bad Blood - Ethan Landry x Reader

Lavender Haze

Anti-Hero

Midnight Rain

Bejeweled

Vigilante Shit - Ethan Landry x Reader

Mastermind

Karma

Bonus Fics - All the bonus songs Taylor plays from the different nights!

mirrorball - Ethan Landry x Reader

Tim McGraw - Steve Harrington x Reader

this is me trying - Ethan Landry x Reader

State of Grace - Ethan Landry x Reader

Our Song - Steve Harrington x Reader

Snow on the Beach - Ethan Landry x Reader

cowboy like me - Steve Harrington x Reader

White Horse - Ethan Landry x Reader

Sad Beautiful Tragic - Ethan Landry x Reader

Ours - Steve Harrington x Reader

Death By A Thousand Cuts - Ethan Landry x Reader

Clean - Steve Harrington x Reader

Jump Then Fall - Ethan Landry x Reader

The Lucky One - Steve Harrington x Reader

Speak Now - Steve Harrington x Reader

Treacherous - Ethan Landry x Reader

The Great War - Ethan Landry x Reader

You’re on Your Own, Kid - Steve Harrington x Reader - with hints of platonic!Eddie Munson x Reader and platonic!Robin Buckley x Reader

mad woman - Steve Harrington x Reader (i know this would probably fit the scream universe better but i wanna challenge myself)

Mean - Ethan Landry x Reader (trust the process)

Wonderland - Ethan Landry x Reader

You’re Not Sorry

A Place in this World

Today Was A Fairytale

Begin Again

Cold As You

The Other Side of the Door

Coney Island

High Infidelity

Gorgeous

I Bet You Think About Me

How You Get the Girl

Sparks Fly

Teardrops on my Guitar

Out of the Woods

Fifteen

Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve

Mine

gold rush

Come Back… Be Here

Forever & Always

This Love

Hey Stephen - Steve Harrington x Reader

Should’ve Said No

Better Man

Question…?

Invisible

I Think He Knows

Red

Getaway Car

Maroon

Holy Ground

False God

Welcome to New York

I Wish You Would

the lakes

You All Over Me

I Don’t Wanna Live Forever

Hits Different

The Moment I Knew

Haunted

I Almost Do

All You Had to Do Was Stay

Breathe

Mr. Perfectly Fine

The Last Time

seven

The Story of Us

Paper Rings

If This Was A Movie

Dear John

Daylight

I’m Only Me When I’m With You

evermore

ivy

* I Miss You, I’m Sorry

Call It What You Want

[bi-disaster-kit-herondale]

The Last Hours as Midnights

it’s long overdue. been in my notes for a while

lavender haze : cordelia and james

“And you don’t really read into my melancholia. I’ve been under scrutiny. You handle it beautifully. All this shit is new to me. I feel the lavender haze creeping up on me.”

maroon : anna and ariadne

“And I wake with your memory, over me. That’s a real fuckin’ legacy, to leave. The burgundy on my t-shirt when you splashed your wine into me. And how the blush rushed into my cheeks, so scarlet it was (maroon).”

anti-hero : matthew

“I should not be left to my own devices. They come with prices and vices. I end up in crises, tale as old as time. I wake up screaming from dreaming. One day I’ll watch as you’re leaving, ‘cause you got tired of my scheming.”

snow on the beach : lucie and jesse

“I can’t speak, afraid to jinx it. I don’t even dare to wish it. But your eyes are flying saucers from another planet. Now I’m all for you like Janet. Can this be a real thing, can it?”

you’re on your own kid : alastair

“I’ll run away. From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes. I called a taxi to take me there. I searched the party of better bodies, just to learn that my dreams aren’t rare. You’re on your own, kid. You always have been.”

midnight rain : grace

“My town was a wasteland. Full of cages, full of fences, pageant queens and big pretenders. But for some, it was paradise. My boy was a montage. A slow-motion, love potion, jumping off things in the ocean. I broke his heart ‘cause he was nice.”

question…? : matthew and cordelia

“Good girl, sad boy, big city, wrong choices. We had one thing goin’ on. I swear that it was somethin’. ‘Cause I don’t remember who I was before you painted all my nights, a color I’ve searched for since.”

vigilante shit : cordelia

“You did some bad things, but I’m the worst of them. Sometimes I wonder which one will be your last lie. They say looks can kill, and I might try. I don’t dress for women, I don’t dress for men, lately, I’ve been dressing for revenge.”

bejeweled : anna (& ariadne)

“And we’re dancing all night. And you can try, to change my mind, but you might have to wait in line. What’s a girl gonna do? A diamond’s gotta shine. Best believe I’m still bejeweled.”

labyrinth : alastair (& thomas)

“Lost in the labyrinth of my mind. Break up, break free, break through, break down. You would break your back to make me break a smile. You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back.”

karma : lucie

“Sweet like justice, karma is a queen. Karma takes all my friends to the summit. Karma is the guy on the screen, coming straight home to me. ‘Cause karma is my boyfriend, karma is a god. Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend.”

sweet nothing : matthew and james

“I wrote a poem. You say, ‘what a mind’, this happens all the time. Ooh… ‘Cause they said the end is coming. Everyone’s up to something. I find myself running home to your sweet nothings.”

mastermind : grace

“What if I told you none of it was accidental, and the first night that you saw me nothing was gonna stop me. I laid the groundwork, and then just like clockwork, the dominoes cascaded in a line.”

characters from @cassandraclare

lyrics by @taylorswift

stay tuned for 3am edition ;)

[hopespeak-hostclub]

Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc Taylor Swift fave songs

Im such a swiftie and also danganronpa is my life so I absolutely had to do this I’m so sorry

I tried to include reasoning, but a lot don’t have any! I just think they fit!!!

Makoto: The Best Day (Taylor’s version)

He loved his family so much and I can 1000% envision him crying to this song (same bro)

Sayaka: Me!

Literally no reason I just feel like she likes it and it’s one of my least faves just like sayaka sorry girl

Kyoko: no body, no crime (feat HAIM)

I genuinely don’t even need to say why

Byakuya: look what you made me do

This one was so hard if you have anything better lmk bc oh my god

Celeste: New Romantics (Taylor’s version)

„We're so young But we're on the road to ruin. We play dumb but we know exactly what we're doin'. We cry tears of mascara in the bathroom. Honey, life is just a classroom. 'Cause baby, I could build a castle, Out of all the bricks they threw at me And every day is like a battle. But every night with us is like a dream” idk homegirls would prob eat this song up

Chihiro: Anti-Hero

Toko: TOLERATE IT

I’m so passionate about this one TOKOS LOVE SHOULD BE CELEBRATED BUY BYAKUYA JUST TOLERATES IT GIRL DESERVES BETTER

Jack: vigilante shit

Asahina: It’s Nice to have a friend

she thinks about Sakura

Sakura: illicit affairs

I can’t explain this one but it makes so much sense to me

Kiyotaka : the last great American dynasty

Hiro: lavender haze

He thinks it’s a weed strain but we love him for that

Junko : mastermind

Duh

Leon: karma

Mukuro: I can see you (Taylor’s version) (from the vault)

I can’t explain it but girl screams this in her room

Mondo: Blank Space-I prevail cover

He’s “too cool” for Taylor but likes her music but won’t admit it

Hifumi: …ready for it?

[shining-like-fireworks13]

Top 13 Lyrics in Midnights:

-“The only kinda girl they see is a one-night or a wife” - Lavender Haze

-“Carnations you had thought were roses, that's us” - Maroon

-“Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism like some kind of congressman?”- Anti-Hero

-“I've never seen someone lit from within blurring out my periphery” - Snow On The Beach

-“I hosted parties and starved my body like I’d be saved by a perfect kiss” - You’re On You’re Own, Kid

-“'Cause he was sunshine, I was midnight rain” -Midnight Rain

-“‘Cause I don’t remember who I was before you painted all my nights a color I’ve searched for since” - Question…?

-“They say looks can kill and I might try” - Vigilante Shit

-“Sapphire tears on my face, sadness became my whole sky” - Bejeweled

-“I thought the plane was goin' down, how'd you turn it right around?” - Labyrinth

-“You're terrified to look down ‘cause if you dare, you'll see the glare of everyone you burned just to get there” - Karma

-“To you, I can admit that I’m just too soft for all of it” - Sweet Nothing

-“And I swear I’m only cryptic and Machiavellian ‘cause I care” - Mastermind

+bonus track lyric

-“Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first” -Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve

[eggplantwaffles]

Batfam as Midnights lyrics (punctuation up to interpretation)

Bruce Wayne:

“Soldier down, on that icy ground, looked up at me with honor and truth. Broken and blue.”

“One day I’ll watch as you’re leaving, ‘cause you got tired of my scheming for the last time.”

Dick Grayson:

“I made you my world. Have you heard I can reclaim the land. And I miss you, but I miss sparkling.”

“You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back.”

Barbara Gordon:

“I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser. Midnights become my afternoons.”

“The lady simply had enough. While he was doing lines, and crossing all of mine, someone told his white collar crimes to the FBI.”

“God rest my soul, I miss who I used to be. The tomb won’t close.”

Jason Todd:

“I was making my own name. Chasing that fame. He stayed the same, all of me changed like midnight.”

“If you never looked my way I would have stayed on my knees. And I’m damn sure I never would have danced with the devil at nineteen.”

“If clarity’s in death, then why won’t this die?”

Tim Drake:

“It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me.”

“I laid the groundwork, and then just like clockwork the dominos cascaded in a line. What if I told you I’m a mastermind.”

“And if you never saved me from boredom, I could have gone on as I was.”

Stephanie Brown:

“I should not be left to my own devices, they come with prices and vices, I end up in crisis.”

“Fuckin’ situations, circumstances, miscommunications and I have to say, by the way, I just may like some explanations.”

“Living for the thrill of hitting you where it hurts. Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first.”

Cassandra Cain:

“I can’t speak, afraid to jinx it. I don’t even dare to wish it.”

“And if I was a child, did it matter if you got to wash your hands.”

Damian Wayne:

“I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror. It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero.”

“If you tasted poison you could’ve spit me out at the first chance.”

Duke Thomas:

“You’ve got no reason to be afraid. You’re on your own, kid. Yeah, you can face this.”

“And I’ve got a lot to pine about, I’ve got a lot to live without.”

“If you knew where I was walking, to a house, not a home, all alone. ‘Cause nobody’s there.”

[indeliblescarspivotalmarks]

it’s midnights first birthday in the UK! happy first birthday to a beautiful example of a pop album!

Midnights was released at a time where I was really going through it and starting to struggle. I felt really alone, I was going through constant sleepless nights of anxiety and just feeling generally overwhelmed between work, life and university.

I waited up for the release, and it was the best choice ever. I streamed it religiously, as Taylor’s writing and stories she shared within these new songs really seemed to resonate with me. It became the soundtrack to me slowly picking myself back up. And I’m so grateful for that.

Lavender Haze was a dreamy start to a beautiful album. It captured that feeling of wanting to stay in that bubble of falling for someone - when love and connection are so intense you don’t want anyone else to touch it.

Maroon to me seemed like a growing up from Red. The appreciation of a love, but knowing it’s gone now. The wishing you could have held onto it. The questioning of why it was allowed to end. It was so strong and powerful that it actually became dark and full of emotion. She has such a talent for linking emotion into physical images.

Anti-Hero felt like such a deep personal look into someone’s brain, and I resonated so much with so many of the lyrics. The idea of acknowledging you’re the problem. The music video with the two Taylor’s resonated with me. The feeling you can’t escape from the bad side of yourself, because well…it’s you.

Snow on the Beach. Magical. Weird but fucking beautiful. The haunting background vocals of Lana with Taylor’s melodic talent. I found myself listening on repeat again and again.

You’re on Your Own Kid had me breaking down but feeling like it was a warm hug from an older sister telling me yes everything will be okay - I promise. Hearing the lyric “I hosted parties and starved my body” really hit me as someone who puts on this excitable personality and loves to be in the centre of attention, but who has actually been through years of struggle and eating disorder treatment. I felt like it was a hand squeeze from Taylor saying I know what it’s like, but we’re okay now.

Midnight Rain. Realising you maybe want more than what is planned. Having to hurt someone, and possibly yourself, in order to get what you should be headed for.

Question…? The experience of the what ifs. If only one thing had been able to change, or had happened. There’s always one who got away and you’re never sure what would have been. You never know unless you can ask a question. The feeling of ruminating on a situation in the middle of the night. The continuous questioning of what if it had been different.

Vigilante Shit. Iconic. Fuck Scooter Braun. Enough Said.

Bejeweled. Now this song really helped me feel like I was getting back to being myself. A reminder to us all that we ARE beautiful and sparkly and deserve to be shown off!

Labyrinth. Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out. Remember it and use it. It feels like a dreamscape with haunting vocals. To me it feels like holding onto something you thought was failing, and it turning a corner of hope. You turned the plane right around.

Karma. A classic Taylor. The true swifties understand her. Pop beauty. Because Karma IS her boyfriend and it IS a relaxing thought!!!

Sweet Nothing. To me the beginning appears like a lullaby, and I think that’s beautiful. To me, it’s a song of needing security. The need to be held when everything else is going on. The need for comfort we all feel, but we don’t want to admit.

Mastermind. This feels like a wink from Taylor to us. She is the mastermind, and we absolutely adore her for it! We love her scheming and the way she has us wrapped around her finger. As a girl who obsessively plans and overthinks, this song is really such a moment. Watching the dominos all fall in line is perfection.

[nifty13swiftie]

MIDNIGHTS INTIAL FAVORITE LINES

“Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism” - Anti-Hero

“I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror

It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero” - Anti-Hero

“And my flight was awful, thanks for asking“ - Snow on the Beach (ft Lana Del Rey)

“You're on your own, kid You always have been” - You’re On Your Own, Kid

“I looked around in a blood-soaked gown And I saw something they can't take away 'Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned” - You’re On Your Own, Kid

“I guess sometimes we all get Just what we wanted, just what we wanted And he never thinks of me Except when I'm on TV I guess sometimes we all get Some kind of haunted, some kind of haunted And I never think of him Except on midnights like this” - Midnight Rain

“ *cheering* “ - Question...?

“Well, he was doing lines And crossin' all of mine“ - Vigilante Shit

“Did all the extra credit, then got graded on curve“ - Bejeweled

“Karma's a relaxing thought Aren't you envious that for you it's not“ - Karma

“Spider boy, king of thieves Weave your little webs of opacity My pennies made your crown Trick me once, trick me twice“ - Karma

“Ask me what I earned from all those tears Ask my why so many think that I'm still here (I'm still here, I'm still here)“ - Karma

“They said the end is coming Everyone's up to something“ - Sweet Nothing

“You're in the kitchen, humming“ - Sweet Nothing

“No one wanted to play with me as a little kid So I've been scheming like a criminal ever since“ - Mastermind