#old draft from february rip

[uharuz]

[megxplryxb]

Romance is Dead, Isn't it?

Pairings: Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

Notes: Sweet and fluffy, little bit of angst. Based around Valentine’s Day because I’ve had this is in my drafts for a minute.

The smell of cheap, overused aftershave and five dollar bouquets, currently lingered throughout the aisles of Family Video. Loved up couples filling the store, holding hands, whispering sweet nothings and pressing kisses to their lovers blushing cheek as they scanned the shelves of the romance section.

Love heart decorations hung from the ceiling, pink foil curtains draped over the entrance and Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time blared from the speakers while you completed sellotaping the balloons you’d only finished inflating ten minutes ago. You weren't exactly sure why Keith was making Valentine's Day such an extravaganza this year but you were absolutely hating every second of it.

February fourteenth had never been kind to you. Not when you were ten years old and the card you thought had been from your childhood crush was actually written by your Mom. Not when you were fifteen and you went to the movies with Jackson Taylor, who made up a rumour that he had gotten to second base with you and definitely not last year, when Derek Cooper had taken you out for dinner, only to be caught by his girlfriend that he had surprisingly forgotten to mention.

Yeah, Valentine's Day could suck it.

“If one more person asks if we have another copy of Sixteeen Candles, I swear, I won't be held responsible for my actions.” You warn, jumping down from the step ladder with a loud huff.

“Yikes, what’s gotten your panties in a bunch today babe?” Robin questions with a teasing smile on her face as she serves the next customer.

“My panties are not in a bunch thank you very much. I'm just saying, what kind of moron waits until Valentines Day to rent the most sought after romcom?" You ask, taking a gulp of water in an attempt to erase the taste of rubber from your mouth.

Fake laughter echoes from the other side of the store where some girl has been flirting with Steve for the past fifteen minutes. You'd noticed her outside before she walked in, glossing her lips and pushing her boobs up just enough to get the attention she was obviously desperate for. She's annoyingly pretty, with perfect hair and sun kissed skin and when she raises her well manicured hands to rest on his bicep, you can’t help but grit your teeth at them.

"Is he planning to do any work at all today?" You point, rolling your eyes as Robin looks over at her other best friend and then back to you with a frown. She can sense the irritation in your voice and she knows why, even if you would never admit it. The signs have been there for quite some time and she wonders how much longer you can keep up the charade of not having feelings for Steve Harrington.

"Hey Dingus! A little help over here?" Robin demands, directing him to the queue of customers waiting for assistance at the counter. Steve nods his head, apologising to the girl who makes sure to write her number on his arm before waving goodbye.

“Yeah, thanks for calling me over, I've been trying to get away from her for like, the last ten minutes.” Steve breathes a sigh of relief, gesturing for the next customer to approach.

“Yeah, you really looked like you were being held against your will there, Harrington.” You scoff bitterly, stacking up a pile of returned tapes.

“Seriously, did you guys not see me trying to signal for help when she started touching me? I mean come on, desperate much?" He jeers, shaking his head.

"She did seem disgustingly eager." Robin interjects, scrunching her nose.

"Since when has that ever stopped him?" You reply, motioning towards Steve, who seems a little bit offended by your words.

"Jesus, why does it look like Cupid came all over this place?" Eddie chuckles as he enters the store, getting his jacket caught in the foil curtain, almost ripping it off of the door.

“Hey, careful Munson, don’t mess up my masterpiece!” You warn, carrying the tapes into the back as he slowly untangles himself.

"Because dear Edward, it is the day of love and romance!” Robin squeals excitedly, clapping her hands.

“Can you tell she has a date with Vickie tonight?” You tease, her cheeks turning pink at the mention of her new girlfriend.

“Alright, way to go Buckley.” Eddie high-fives the girl who couldn’t contain her happiness.

“We’re just going to the movies but I’m so nervous! Like, what if I make a total doofus of myself around her? She might not be as accepting of my clumsiness as you guys. I could fall up the steps when we’re walking to our seats or choke on the popcorn or…”

“Robin relax, you’re gonna give yourself a heart attack.” Steve interrupts, hearing the conversation from the till. His eyes meet yours, both of you sharing a disapproving look at your friend’s lack of confidence in herself. It was something you often discussed between yourselves, trying to figure out ways to help her see just how great she really was. Robin had always been good at hyping other people up, telling them how awesome or pretty they were but it was a completely different story when it came to herself.

“Steve’s right, you need to chill out. Vickie’s already heard you doing god awful karaoke, not to mention witnessing you hurl all over the bathroom floor at the Hideout and she’s still drooling over you. The girl is putty in your pretty little hands.” You jokingly reassure with a smile and it seems your light hearted words put her somewhat at ease as she takes a relieved breath.

“Hey, do you guys have a copy of that new movie with Molly Ringwald? Sixteen something?” Eddie shouts from the romance section of the store earning a scowl from you.

“Shit out of luck Munson, we’re totally sold out.” Steve replies, the curly haired metal head letting out a dramatic groan as he walked back to the counter, causing some of the other customers to flinch.

“Didn’t take you for a romcom kinda guy Eds.” You mock as he gives you a toothy grin. “Sweetheart, if it helps me get laid by the end of the night, I’ll watch anything.”

“Ew, gross Eddie, I really don’t need visions of you and Chrissy getting it on.” Robin shivers in disgust.

Although you share the same sentiment as your best friend, you can't help but think how nice it is that Eddie finally found someone that truly loves him for who he is. You couldn't remember ever seeing him so happy and a little part of you was jealous that you didn't have that with someone too.

"Harrington, did you get a tat dude?" Eddie quizzes, pointing to the digits on Steve's arm. You're taken out of your thoughts upon hearing the question directed at your coworker. Steve's eyes fall to you for a brief moment but you busy yourself with some paperwork, trying your best to pretend you're not paying attention to them.

"Oh, um no man, just a customer earlier, gave me her number." Steve brushes off with a shrug.

"Sweet, you gonna call her?" The hellfire leader interrupts and you hate yourself for wanting to know the answer too.

"God no, she was way too forward." Steve says, shaking his head, hoping that would be the end of the conversation as you relax again.

"What's wrong with forward? Come on man, it's Valentine's Day, call her, ask her out." Eddie encourages, wondering why Robin was shooting him a killer look as Steve shifts uncomfortably.

"Actually, I kind of already have a date tonight." He states, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. The relief you felt moments ago, quickly vanishing, being replaced with a gut wrenching feeling in the pit of your stomach. Steve had someone and it wasn't you. It would never be you.

“You do? Since when, why wasn’t I informed about this?” Robin quizzes suspiciously.

“I don’t have to tell you everything, Robin.” He huffs, rolling his eyes.

“Do we know her?” Eddie smirks and you wish you were anywhere else right now.

“Maybe you do, maybe you don’t.” He answers coyly before serving the next customer.

“So what about you sweetheart, who’s the lucky guy that’s taking you out tonight?” The metal head grins, raising his brows suggestively.

You see Steve and Robin turning their heads, attention on you as Eddie waits for your response. For a moment you consider lying, trying to think of a name and a place just to save face on being the only one without a date for tonight and maybe a little part of you wanted to see what Steve’s reaction would be too. But Robin already knew you had no plans, she had probably already told Steve the same.

“There isn’t one.” You answer, looking down at the ground, wanting it to swallow you whole.

“Bullshit, every time I’m in here there’s a guy asking you out.” Eddie spits, frowning at your response.

He’s right, guys do ask you out. It’s not like you were some sort of prude who never had a sex or never went on dates but lately, you just hadn’t been feeling it. Not when your heart belonged to someone who didn’t even know they had it and until you could get over Steve Harrington, it wouldn’t be fair to start something with someone else.

“Yeah, just not the one I actually want.” You reply, refusing to look Steve’s way as you walk to the back.

You figure now is a good time to take you break, needing a moment away from your friends to regain your composure. The restroom door locking behind you as you drop to the floor, tucking your knees into your chest. How had you gotten here? How had you been so stupid to fall for your friend? How had you allowed this to happen?

You secretly wondered who Steve’s date could be, knowing there was a number of viable contenders. Was it the brunette from last week who asked him to explain how The Lost Boys wasn’t a Peter Pan spin off or the blonde that always laughed at his jokes even when they weren’t even funny. Or maybe it was the raven haired girl who openly discussed her recent porno rentals with him every week.

One thing you knew for sure, it certainly wasn’t you.

The sound of footsteps brings you back to your shitty reality and the sudden knock on the bathroom door has you standing on your feet again.

“Hey, it’s just me. Are you ok?” You hear Robin ask from the other side. You straighten yourself up, wiping your clothes down before unlocking the door to face your friend.

“Yeah of course, why wouldn’t I be?” You question, doing your best to give her a reassuring smile but she sees right through you.

“I honestly didn’t know dingus had a date, I would have told you if I did.” She mutters nervously as you shake your head.

“Why? It’s not like I care what he does.” You state as Robin gives you an unconvinced glance.

“Babe, it’s me you’re talking to right now, no one else. You forget I used to be the master at hiding my feelings, so I know all the signs. You’re totally crazy about him aren’t you?” She quizzes, as you shrug your shoulders. There was no point in hiding it from her anymore, she could read you like a book.

“I’ll get over it.”

“Why don’t you just tell him how you feel?” She suggests as you let out a bitter laugh. “Did you not just hear what he said out there? He has a date, Robin.”

“Yeah but maybe if—”

“No. I’m not telling him alright? So please, just drop it.” You beg, letting out a deflated sigh.

Robin decides not to push you any further, realising you didn’t want to talk about it right now but you know this won’t be the end of it and eventually you’d have to answer the many questions you were sure she was going to have, taking a mental note to purchase alcohol before you talked about your feelings for Steve with her. But for now, you were grateful that she was leaving well enough alone so you could get back to work and pretend that everything was fine.

The remaining hours went by painfully slow, the romance section almost bare and you were counting down the minutes before you could go home to your bed and shut out the world while you waited for this shitty day to be over. Once the store got a little quieter, Steve offered to man the counter while you did Robin’s make up in the back, helping her get ready for the long awaited date before her girlfriend picked her up.

By 7:45, you were left with Steve and Keith who had been in his office doing paper work since he ordered you to decorate the store earlier. Steve had noticed you were quieter than usual, trying his best to joke and make light conversation but all he was met with was one worded answers.

“It was really cool of you to do Robin’s make up, y’know?” You hear Steve mumble as you restock the confectionery stand.

“That’s what best friends are for, right?”

“Yeah of course but you saw how nervous she was all day and I think you helping her out by making her look all pretty and stuff, just gave her the confidence boost she needed for tonight. I just thought it was really sweet of you.” He compliments, a warm look on his face that has your frosty demeanour melting.

“Alright, I’m done for the day. You two ok to lock up?” Keith asks, dousing himself in cheap cologne as Steve shoots his boss a glare knowing it was his night to close.

“No, not really. I have a date.” Steve argues as Keith grunts unsympatheticly. “You’re not the only one lover boy.”

“Online chat rooms don’t count, Keith.” Steve fires back as you try not to laugh at the expression on your boss’s face.

“You want to be out of a job, Harrington?” Keith threatens, looking less than impressed.

“No, but I really need to—”

“That settles it then, you two will lock up. Happy Valentines Day.” He smirks, throwing Steve a set of keys before exiting the store.

“What an asshole!” Steve groans, throwing the keys on the counter, putting an irritated hand through his signature hair while his plans hang in the balance.

“Now I get why he wanted me to decorate so badly.” You mutter, thinking back to how you spent the first couple of hours of your shift, blowing up balloons and getting sticky tape stuck in your hair. Keith was loved up like the rest of your friends. Cupid had gotten another one.

“Do you actually believe he has a date?” Steve asks, frustration still apparent in his voice as you nod your head, groaning.

“As much as it pains me to say yes, given that I myself don’t actually have a date, when have you ever seen him put on cologne?” You question as Steve lets out a heavy sigh.

“Good point. I hope she stands the son of a bitch up though.” He grins playfully and you can’t help but smile back at him. He was so breathtakingly beautiful and you kind of hated him for it.

“Hey, look at that, I finally got a smile out of you.” He teases, poking at your cheek as you lightly push his hand away.

“Steve, quit it.” You giggle as he shakes his head.

“Not a chance, you’re just so pretty when you smile.” He admits, cupping your face momentarily, locking his eyes with your own and your breath hitches as his warm hand rests on your face, his thumb carefully caressing your cheek and you hope to god you’re not blushing right now. Your eyes wander to his lips, pink and plump and a little chapped from the cold weather Hawkins was currently experiencing and you couldn’t help but wonder what lucky girl would get to kiss them later on.

For a moment as Steve gazed at you, you considered telling him everything. How you’ve been crazy about him since you worked at Scoops Ahoy together, falling hard for him when you saw how kind he was to the kids he watched over, knowing he wasn’t the same selfish guy you’d known in high school. Steve Harrington was selfless, brave and caring and as you looked into his caramel coloured eyes, all you wanted for him was to be happy because that’s what he deserved more than anything, even if it would never be with you.

“Steve…”

“Yeah?” He whispers, looking at you in a way that made your knees weak.

You knew this was your chance to tell him, the perfect night to admit your feelings but previous Valentine’s Day disasters prevented you from saying what you really wanted to, afraid Steve would have to let you down gently or worse, laugh in your face.

“You should go home and get ready for your date, I’ll lock up here.” You swallow hard as he finally removes his hand from your face, seemingly taking him out of his own thoughts.

“Oh, no I couldn’t ask you to do that.” He replies, shaking his head.

“You didn’t ask me, I offered.” You reassure, feeling guilty for how you had treated him all day.

“Are you sure?”

“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I wasn’t. The place is quiet now anyway and there’s only an hour left. Plus I’ve been looking forward to destroying all those damn decorations all day.” You joke, attempting to hide the sadness you were currently feeling from him, terrified that you’d break down in tears if he stuck around much longer.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” He grins as you playfully roll your eyes at him. “So I’ve been told.”

“Got any advice for a successful Valentine’s date?” He questions, grabbing his car keys as you let out a sarcastic laugh.

“You’re really not asking the right person. I don’t think I’ve ever had a good Valentine’s experience. Why are you so nervous anyway, you’ve been on hundreds of dates?”

“Yeah I know, but I really like this girl, like a lot. More than I’ve ever liked anybody and I really don’t want to mess this up.” He sighs and you wonder if he can hear your heart smashing into pieces.

“Wow, she must be really special.” You breathe as he nods his head looking like a schoolboy with a crush.

“Yeah, she is.” He admits and it’s like a fresh bullet to your chest.

“Well then I hope she knows how lucky she is. Any girl who can’t see what an amazing guy you are would have to be a complete idiot.” You reply honestly, almost certain you see a hint of pink in his cheeks.

“Thanks, honey.” He whispers, before walking towards the exit, the nickname causing your brain to short circuit. Honey.

“Steve?”

“Hmm?”

“Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day, pretty girl.” He grins, walking out the door as you feel a tear slide down your cheek watching his car pull out of the space, taking your broken heart right along with him. A heavy sigh escapes your lips, cursing under your breath, pondering if you were really doomed to face every February fourteenth in utter misery.

The last hour of your shift had gone by quicker than expected, having no customers during the final thirty minutes, giving you plenty of time to dispose of the shitty decorations that had mocked you throughout the day. When you finished vacuuming the floor, you wondered how your friends were fairing on their dates. Had Eddie gotten through a rom com without passing out? Did Robin make it up the steps of the movie theatre without falling? Was Keith really on a date with an actual woman? Had Steve already managed to get his new girl into bed?

That last thought made you want to throw up.

At 8:50 you decided to call it a night, dreaming of your warm bed and the cheese pizza you were going to order the minute you got home, wanting nothing more than to wallow in self pity. The money had been cashed up, the shelves were organised and you figured you had earned the extra ten minutes after everything you had endured today. Once you grabbed your handbag and jacket from your locker, you did a final check of the place before clocking out, switching the open sign to closed before you shut the door behind you, turning the key in the lock and pulling the shutters down, thankful you were off for the next couple of days.

As you tossed the keys into your bag, pulling on your jacket to prepare for the short walk to your apartment, you noticed a familiar maroon BMW parked up and Steve Harrington leaning against the hood, holding a bouquet of flowers.

“Steve?”

“Hey you.” He smiles, eyes sparkling in the glow of the moonlight.

“Is everything ok?” You worry, wondering if something had happened to one of the kids or your older friends.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be?” Steve reassures as you let out a sigh of relief.

“Well for starters, aren’t you supposed to be on a date right now?” You quiz, confusion apparent in your tone.

“I was just waiting for her to get off work actually, I’m picking her up here.” He smirks confidently, pushing himself off of the hood.

“You’re meeting her in the Family Video parking lot? Isn’t that a bit creepy?” You tease, raising a brow at him, trying not to focus on how good he looks in a grey sweater that you’ve never seen on him before.

“Well yeah, I guess it would be a little creepy if she didn’t work there.” He jokes, hoping he’d given you enough clues to figure out the rest for yourself. When your eyes begin to widen, mouth parting as you try to speak, he knows the penny has finally dropped.

“Steve I—”

“Happy Valentine’s Day, pretty girl.” He grins, repeating the same words he'd said earlier, handing you the prettiest bunch of daisies you’ve ever seen and it’s not until his fingers brush yours that you realise it isn’t a dream. Steve Harrington was here, waiting for you.

“These are for me?” You ask, breath catching in your throat.

“Of course they are, who else would I get them for?” He teases as you try to hold back tears.

"Steve, I…I can’t believe you got me daisies. they’re so beautiful.” You smile, suddenly feeling very dizzy.

“I know I probably should have gotten you roses but I know you hate all that traditional valentines stuff and last summer when we took the kids to the park and you made Max and El daisy chains, you said they were your favourite.”

“You remember that?” You blush looking up at him as he nods. “I remember everything about you, honey.”

Your stomach is doing somersaults now, palms sweaty and shaking with the way he’s looking at you and it takes everything in you not to kiss him silly.

“Did Robin know about this?” You quiz, wondering if you were going to have to murder your friend tomorrow for letting you go through a shift thinking Steve was going on a date with someone else.

“Are you serious? You know she can’t keep secrets. I couldn’t take the risk that she wouldn’t telll you. Plus, I was afraid she’d never let me live it down if you rejected me.” Steve jokes, flashing his pearly whites at you. How could you ever reject him?

“I don’t understand, if Robin didn’t tell you, how did you know I had feelings for you?”

“Not to sound totally arrogant but I’m not completely stupid. I see how flustered you get around me sometimes and how jealous you get when a customer tries to flirt with me, like today. But mostly I’ve seen the way you look at me and then I knew for sure—cause it’s the same way I look at you.” He whispers, his warm hand cupping your cheek.

“And how exactly do you look at me?” You challenge, swallowing hard as his lips inch closer to yours.

“Like I’m totally crazy about you.”

[creationandcalamityau]

Andrew and...Andrew??? Yeahhh

So I decided to draw Andrew Harper and his very outdated design. To differentiate the both of them, I'll call his old design Drew for now (even though Andrew also goes by Drew sometimes too uhhh just forget about that XD)

It's hard to believe these are both the same person.

More yapping under the cut!

The reason I wanted to talk more about Andrew and his origins in the early versions of this AU is that yesterday marked the 1st anniversary of when I created him (February 1, 2024, to be specific is when I created his first concept art) Happy late birthday buddy!!

So for those who don't know, Andrew Harper was originally going to be evil in the earliest drafts of the fanfic. He was a vengeful creature with violent tendencies. He was honestly almost as bad as Joey himself. Which is wild to think of now that he's changed completely. Drew (as I'll call him to avoid confusion) was inspired originally by the once-popular theory of the ink demon being Joey Drew. Though BATDR clearly disproves this theory, I like the concept. I wanted a character who was like Joey but not actually him.

So then I remembered, "Hey, memory Joey exists!" and wondered how Joey managed to actually create memory Joey. Because I am not sure if he has a soul, or even truly what he is. He's stated to be a ghost or in his own words "A Memory." so I took this idea and was like "There had to be a prototype for Memory Joey." Thus Drew exists.

Joey to me comes across as the type of guy who wants to be immortal in his own creation. This lore is actually still very much canon to Andrew's backstory, but it was also the same backstory for Drew, though he had hardly any depth at this point.

Drew's backstory goes as follows; He was a sort of "Prototype of Memory Joey." A clone basically, but a very imperfect one. He was very similar to how Twisted Alice acts in many parts of the plot, wanting to become better than Joey Drew himself. He was very selfish and terrible overall. Not a chill dude.

When I was writing him in Charlie's section of the Creation and Calamity Fanfic, things shifted from Drew being evil to being just another victim of Joey's stupidity. Which is how Andrew Harper was born.

Andrew Harper was created in a similar way to Drew but I changed a bit of his backstory, providing him more of a personality than just "Angry Employee Who Got Screwed Over By Joey Drew" which was basically all he had to him. Andrew really started to grow on me while I wrote scenes with him in them. I got attached more to him being something other than an evil creature.

The whole thing about him being a clone of Joey is kind of less explicitly there in his current design. I like to believe it's because Joey is not smart and didn't realize it wasn't going to work.

Andrew himself actually doesn't really have many features of Joey at all, in fact, he's got more features from the Ink Demon than Joey. Kind of funny how that works. If I'm being fully honest I have no clue how the process of making someone into an ink clone of yourself works so this is really vague on purpose uhhhh yeah...

Andrew like Drew was also seen as a failure by Joey Drew, however, Andrew was mostly angry about the fact his identity was ripped from him. Drew was angry because he wasn't perfect.

I prefer Andrew over Drew. Andrew is more tragic than just evil because, idk he's angry or whatever Drew had going on.

For those who actually have no clue about Andrew Harper and have not understood a thing about this post, that's okay. I can try to summarize his current lore for you (Without going into too much detail cause his prequel will do that)

Andrew Harper is my oc and a major character in the fanfic for this AU. Andrew was an animator at the studio and a cartoonist. He was a hard worker, got things done on time, overall a good guy. He met his future wife Delilah after she was hired as an animator at the studio as well and took the vacant seat beside him.

The two of them got along well and Andrew clearly was very terrible at hiding that he had a crush on Delilah. Delilah and him both got married on May 6th, 1936 and got the date engraved in their wedding rings (THIS IS AN IMPORTANT DETAIL.)

As the studio starts going downhill and the checks don't seem to come in on time anymore, Andrew gets asked by Joey Drew for a deal of sorts. Andrew is reluctant but agrees, confused as to why Joey would pick him. There wasn't really any reason for him to be chosen, Joey just sucks.

Without going into far too much detail, the next thing Andrew knows is that he's become an ink creature. He is deemed as a failure by Joey who locks him in a room for the time being.

One day Andrew hears Delilah asking Joey about her missing husband and Andrew is unable to leave the room to tell her he's still alive. Joey lies to Delilah and basically just tells her Andrew is dead (he just says he's not sure but essentially Delilah takes it as he's dead for good)

Somewhere down the line, Andrew breaks out of the rooms Joey keeps trying to put him in, and he runs off into the studio, finding his way into The Cycle. There he struggles to remember who he once was.

The majority of his prequel story I will one day write will explore what he does during this time along with how he and Delilah met and all that.

During the main events of the fanfic he serves as a friend to Sammy and Charlie and helps them escape Twisted Alice and ends up remembering his past a bit more as time goes on.

He later on reunites with Delilah who is now a Lost One and they, after the events of Wilson taking over the cycle, take over what remains of Sammy's cult of followers. (THE LOST ONE SUPPORT GROUP is what it basically is now lol)

But yeah that's him. The silly guy. Feel free to ask questions about him lol. I don't mind. I am horrible at explaining things sometimes so I hope this was clear enough.

I have no idea what this post is but I'm giving it a new tag probably "From the Archives" will be the tag. All oc yapping posts are going to be tagged this from now on.

[puckpocketed]

bonjour, i'm from vancouver but i have the worst sleep schedule ever so with onhockey dot tv by my side i'm abt to get into the aihl. who should i root for

BONSOIR!!! rip sleep schedule . I am a devout CBR Brave blog so, there’s only one answer here <3 some propaganda for you

i have personally met our starting goaltender Aleksi Toivonen and he’s a big sweetie . it was during this year’s off-season in uhhh february? and he was hanging out at our rink getting his reps in. i barely knew about the team back then so when he said he played for them i was like !!! and he let me take a very blurry photo 🫶

we’ve always been kinda good in a way that makes people a bit mad LMAO!!! won our first Goodall Cup 2018? so if you wanna root for the team where everyone’s praying for your downfall… get in here <3

on the topic of always being good; we’re so stacked that when IIHF Worlds is on, our roster gets STRIPPED because we have a lot of Australia’s best players! this year it happened and resulted in . um. a 9 game loss streak? <3 we were DEAD last in the league for a while. but the boys came back and we clawed our way to 2nd place in our conference pretty neatly

despite being so good, our rink is SHIT. i’m so serious. as a local, i’ve been to it and skated on it. god. soft, bewretched, small ice. there’s a fucking TRENCH between the boards and the ice too… like you could lose a small earring down that gap 😭 AND during intermission our zamboni does her best but often we have issues with flooding. smallest ice surface and smallest barn in the AIHL i do believe! this is because there’s been a decades-long power struggle between the owners and the government. (the streets are saying it has also historically been a pretty unfriendly place to the hockey players because the owner’s wife was a figure skater so her and her people always got preferential treatment LMAO) ANYWAY the propaganda part is . we play and practice on this ice and in this shitty old barn and we are still TORCHING the league <3 in a way i feel like we are the scrappy underdogs (we are not. but. we are to ME!!) anyway imagine what we could do with real facilities jskdjshsklff

canberra’s a small world so this team is just a bunch of brothers playing hockey together,, i’m SO serious. we got FOUR kubara brothers !! TWO miettinen brothers. and 2 Yorks !!! GONGEOUS NEPOBABIES..!!!

we just signed Austin Cangelosi and he’s boybestfriends with our guy Jake Ratcliffe and i love seeing them gossip on the ice like two girls at a slumber party. Cangelosi is 5’7 and got 🤏 this close to the NHL during a time where size was absolutely everything. i have the scouting notes from his draft year, and his overage draft years — i think if he’d come up in this era somebody would’ve taken a shot at him in like the 5th-7th round?? but alas. smash cut to now: he’s a small, fast, skilled player and has a relentless motor. if he stays with us next year he probably contends for most points in the league. he’s very good and fun and i louve heem…

i was talking shit about the Brave Cave but i love her so bad. we have new management who i deeply despise on a moral level because they’re a property development/building company, but aside from that they’ve put staff in place to make the vibes of pre/post games SO good. we’re hoping with this acquisition we will finally get the new rink we were promised in uhhhhh 2017. but who CARE!!! right now the capacity in the Cave is about 500, but it is apparently THEE most miserable place to play in as a travelling team. we’re a very rowdy crowd. we don’t boo our guys. we are deeply intimidating down to the last small child in CBR Brave facepaint.

on the topic of vibes: there are a few personalities at the rink who are pretty much fixtures. 1) the Cow Bell Guy; which is what it says on the tin. he brings a cow bell to every game and clangs it whenever something cool happens. when i say every game i mean like. i’ve seen him on monday nights when our beer league teams play godbless. (chatted to him a few times, his kid is a hockey fanatic and an ipad baby LMAO). 2) the Screamer; also what it says on the tin. Legend has it about 15 years ago she discovered hockey in an Autism Way and now she attends every home game and stands in the exact same corner. she heckles the SHIT out of the opposing team and honestly it would be kinda offputting if it was my team she was yelling at but she’s on MY side and so she’s a hero to me <3 i initially thought she was an overenthusiastic WAG or something but. no. she’s just on the hockey freak juice.

anyway. root for MY team. CBR BRAVE BEST TEAM OF ALL TIME EVER EVER EVER AND WE GOING TO THE CUP!!!!!

jokes aside please choose whatever team u like and have fun <3

[actual-changeling]

I found the first part of this in my drafts, dating back all the way to February (written right after episode 5 aired I believe), and I simply had to finish it. It's just a little ficlet for once, no title, nothing big. Just the missing scene where Ellie gets the hug she needs and Joel reaches an important understanding.

-

It's the way Ellie looks at him, Joel realizes afterward, when the bodies are buried and they're walking along overgrown rusted cars and rubble. She is a child, fourteen years old and without anyone who ever took responsibility for her. No one to raise her, protect her, give her the comfort of a parent keeping their child safe. FEDRA takes in whatever healthy children they can find (usually not even bothering with the ones that aren't) and raises them to be soldiers, to follow orders, emotional care deemed unnecessary. They're not the only ones only focusing on how to survive in a world that doesn't know a Before, only an After.

Joel remembers how it should be, though. Remembers Sarah in his arms, small and helpless, screaming for him because it was the only thing she knew how to do. He always came, every single time she cried for him he answered. There is a look of complete and unconditional trust children have for their parents, their caregivers, an acceptance of an unspoken promise.

I will take care of you.

It was the last thing he saw in Sarah's eyes before she died.

He subconsciously recognizes it in Ellie, Sam's blood spattered across the floor, her face, her clothes, and his instincts drive him to act, leaning forward to get to her without any hesitation. The same deep-seated parental fear lives on, too, it always will, and it sparks up in him again and again and again with every threat to Ellie's life. Kill the soldier, shoot the infected, keep her away from harm, get her somewhere safe. Joel would have build a new world for Sarah, brick upon brick stacked with his bare hands, but he lost her before he could try. Ellie is his second chance.

Henry stops him from getting to her, growl building in his throat, and then Henry is gone just like his brother, and Ellie's whimper echoes louder than the gun shot. Pain flares in his knees when he finally drops down next to her, arms outstretched, grasping, and she falls into him stiff with panic, eyes wide open. She is warm, alive, and Joel can feel her frantic heartbeat pounding beside his own as he cradles her against his chest. The sudden silence rings in his ears, drowned out only by the tiny, hiccuping sobs ripping through her, and Joel responds without thinking, pulling her further into his lap and gently rocking them back and forth.

Twenty years ago, he did the same covered in blood with a dead daughter in his arms, and the memory fades in and out in time with her breaths, suffocating him as a part of him expects every exhale to be her last. One of his hands comes up to cup the back of her head, fingers buried in her hair, and Joel carefully pushes her face down until it fills the space between his neck and shoulder, eyes covered and kept away from the death lingering around them. He whispers mindlessly against her scalp, less coherent words and more soothing noises, not seeking to quiet her but to provide whatever comfort he can.

They're both shaking with adrenaline and fear, and Ellie clings to him so tightly their tremors are one and the same, her fingers clawing at his shirt, nails digging into his back. His skin is wet with her tears and Joel can't help but press his lips to her temple in a desperate attempt to help her calm down, previous resistance gone. All of his walls and defenses shattered the second she screamed his name so loudly her voice broke, begging him to safe her, and no matter how much he denies it, he will always be a father at heart. Joel needs a purpose, a reason to keep going, to let a child cry in his arms because he is the only thing standing between her and the world, committed to shielding her from whatever horrors he can as long as he is alive.

Ellie trusted him and he failed her today.

In-between sobs, she quietly whimpers his name like a chant, asking him to take away a pain he knows she shouldn't have to bear, aching with the awareness that she will never be the same after all she had to endure.

Joel soothes his hand along her spine, rubbing circles up and down her back, and he makes a promise to himself, to her, to Sarah's memory on his wrist.

He won't let another daughter die.

[happytapirstudio]

February 2024 Book Log

(bold means new this month)

Bosnia: A Short History by Noel Malcolm

The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness Book 5: Oath Breaker by Michelle Paver (reread, FINISHED!!!!)

Crowded Volume 1: Soft Apocalypse by Sebela et al. (finished)

Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel José Older

Dinosaur Summer by Greg Bear

Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death, and Art by Rebecca Wragg Sykes (unfinished - due at library)

Mossflower by Brian Jacques (reread, finished)

Orochi Volume 2 by Kazou Umezz

Pride Wars 2: The Four Guardians by Matt Laney (finished)

Guess who finally finished tCoAD book 5 lmaooooooooo okay jumping ship to Pride Wars 2 what the fuck was that ending. No spoilers but. Hello?????? Felt like I was being repeatedly tossed into the air by a gorilla until I landed face-first on solid rock. I'm anticipating this to be a finite series (four books, probably), so I'm gonna save my full review until after I finish the whole thing. I just need you to know I'm not happy with like...the whole last quarter of book 2, maybe more.

Once again defeated by due date. RIP Kindred I'll check you out again soon. In the meantime I'm reading a much slimmer volume on the history of Bosnia - 99% sure this is the text Sacco was referencing when he made Goražde.

Crowded was loads of fun. I spent like an entire Sunday reading it. Orochi is my friend's book...I have a lot of books of his I need to finish (I've been "borrowing" them for about two years now smh smh smh smh smh.) I typically have a hard time following the action and dialogue in manga, but Orochi is much easier for me, and a nice change of pace overall from most of the stories I read, comic or otherwise.

Dactyl Hill Squad has been in my inventory for nearly two months, and is on the very last leg of its library loan period. I grabbed it on impulse because it had dinosaurs. (You know me.) It's young YA, like Pride Wars, so it's got the typical young-YA quirks, but I'm really enjoying the core of the story: orphans of color navigate the aftermath of the Draft Riots in New York City during the American Civil War, in a universe where humans live alongside dinosaurs.

It's such a refreshing perspective that I'm even willing to forgive it for being set in NYC lol. This is, dinosaurs aside, a very different NYC - none of the hyperactive bustle and conceit of modern NYC that inevitably poisons the blood of any book or movie set there. This is old NYC...mid-19th century old...and I dig it.

I also love what Older does with his dinos: a healthy mix of traditional and modern interpretations, creating something unique and engaging. My only issue with the story so far is that we're not given good descriptions for about half the characters. Lots of names get thrown around in the beginning with little to no associated images, descriptors, or voices, so I'm having a hard time keeping track of the cast. Other than that, an exciting story! Glad it caught my eye on the bookshelf :)

[hischiersjohnston]

Talk Hockey To Me

tagged by: @jonassiegenthighler ty for the tag &lt;3

Tell me about:

1. The thing that got you hooked on hockey

STORY TIME: i moved to canada, just outside of Hockey Capital (Toronto) when I was 9 years old (am 23 rn). so you'd think that i'd have been into hockey since i moved, right, considering that i was surrounded by leafs fans and like a good chunk of guys in my classes growing up were hockey boys?

DEAD WRONG.

all the guys ever cared about are the stats. so i wasn't too too interested in hockey. but i somehow absorb a lil too much info about hockey and the leafs in general but i never got /into/ the sport until my best friend lucy got into hockey like in february/march 2023. the irony is that lucy is from the uk and that's who got me into hockey: not any of the hockey boys I grew up having a crush on (bold of my family and friends to assume i got into hockey to impress a guy lol), not any of the hockey boys I went to high school with and was on good terms with. but my British friend (she’s a real one for it). And Tbf it’s because she talked more about the vibes first before she went into talking about the stats. im not a math person so the stats were like flying over my head. but she sends me videos of their interviews and game highlights and talks about them and i'm like... aight okay let me give this hockey thing a chance.

and here i am.

2. Your first ever fandom friend

definitely lucy (@ draisaitleons) like... she introduced me to the sport, so she's my first ever fandom friend on here.

3. The jersey you would most like to own

ngl i've been eyeing the hischier premier heritage jersey... either that or the black and white jersey one, though i'm leaning more towards the first one.

4. YOUR player (you only get ONE so choose wisely)

who else but nico hischier? tbh i can't even remember how i first heard about him. but i swear it must be all the gif sets i kept seeing when i started following more and more hockey blogs around april/may 2023? then i watched a few of his interviews and was endeared; thought he was cute and a good captain. but what REALLY sold me was when i found out that his birthday is on january 4, which is two days before mine. i was like "oh cool, a fellow capricorn" bc at that point, i'm pretty sure all the hockey players i keep seeing on my dash had birthdays in april and may, so to see a capricorn hockey player i was like... okay okay. so that's also the story behind my tag for him which is "my cap(tain) and fellow cap(ricorn) <3" if anyone was ever curious. then i read up on him; found out he was drafted first overall in 2017 and i just really liked his vibes as a captain and a player, and decided "yep, that's my guy".

5. A pairing that deserves more fic

ooh this is hard but ngl... kailer yamamoto x connor mcdavid. HEAR ME OUT: yes, i know yamo is no longer with the oilers (rip but he seems happier and less stressed out in seattle, so go have fun, king <3) but when i discovered this pairing when i was reading rpf, i was confused at first but i was VIBING! there was this fic i read on ao3 and it hasn't been updated but the premise was that kailer was a single dad, but no one on the team knows except for like one other person. and connor only finds out that kailer's got a kid when he goes into kailer's apartment to drag him to a team bonding. oof, can't wait to read more tbh. but the fic that really sold me on the pairing was connor having a crush on kailer, who had no idea connor was into men (he thought connor and lauren were dating, when they were really just besties) and i was HERE FOR IT.

tl;dr: kailer x connor will be my rarepair that needs more fics.

6. Your favourite on-ice moment

has to be when jack tackles aho back during the playoffs. this lived rent-free in my brain and i was like.... huh... maybe i should check out the new jersey devils if they got a guy who tackles people like this.

THEN

this gif set of travis konecny by lucy !! altho really, any gif sets made by lucy deserve so much more love <333

AND

... tbh i am really really proud of all the gif sets i've been making lately for the nj devils, but!! i gotta shamelessly plug in my latest gif set of my captain nico hischier scoring his first goal of the season with an assist from jack !!

tagging: @draisaitleons @luvembarrassing @toffoliravioli @hischierlovebot @skjeisy @kmercer

[revolutionary-pirate]

What all do you know about Washington’s aide William Grayson?

It has been years since i got this ask that this has been sitting in my drafts. So rather than letting it continue to sit i’m just going to publish it now as it is. I’m very busy but if i find myself with the time and energy now that i am out of grad school I will come back with a part two. But it has been So Long that my mental file cabinets full of information about the aides has rusted shut so i’ll have to go back through all of my material again to refresh myself and relern where all of my research is because past me was very very bad at organizing things for posterity rip. But it looks like i hit a good stopping point on his life when i was working on this back in the day. A quick summary: William Grayson officially joined Washington’s staff as an aide-de-camp on August 24th, 1776 [x] and served until he, like most of Washington’s staff at the time, was awarded a line command and given orders to raise one of Congress’ 16 Additional regiments in January of 1777. He would go on to become one of the first two U.S. senators from Virginia. I’ll be going in-depth below the break since this is a little bit of a monster:

William Grayson’s year of birth changes depending on the source, generally listed as being either 1736, 1740, or 1742, which places him at anywhere from 34-40 at the time of his appointment which is a pretty wide margin. When I initially made my age statistics posts, I was not fully aware of this continued discrepancy. The most commonly cited birth year was 1736 and, since I was doing a quick calculation at the time and just threw together my age statistics, I didn’t dig deeper until a couple months before you sent in this ask. The conjecture for 1736 is based on a book published in the 1850s that speculated c1736 to be about the year of his birth based on what the author could gather from the contemporary stories provided by the people who knew him and their guestimates of his age at the time of their knowing him. Since no one that had known him and was still alive at the time actually knew his age or birth year and because it was never written down anywhere or even inscribed on his coffin or grave (he’d been buried in a vault and, thus, had no tombstone) [x], it was better than any other guess out there and people stuck to it despite resurfacing evidence that started suggesting otherwise. A more recent source by Joseph Horrell (published in 1984) has presented that new evidence suggests his birth year is closer to being c1742. What led to this was the surfacing of an account kept by his older brother and guardian, Benjamin, from William’s 16th-21st years that shifted the century-old conjecture forward. The account ends in 1763 when William was 21 years old. Walk back 21 years from 1763 and it’s clear that 1742 is William’s most probable birth year. The closing of the account by February 8th suggests that he was born either sometime in January or the first week of February. [x] William Grayson was born to a well-established family in Prince William County Virginia. Some sources claim that his father was a Scottish immigrant, but records show that his branch of the family had been in the colonies for several generations. His Father, Col. Benjamin Grayson, married a widow, Susanna Monroe Tyler (Pres. James Monroe’s great aunt). The couple had four children before her death, three sons and a daughter: Benjamin Jr., Spence Monroe, William, and Susanna. His father remarried to another widow, Sarah Ball Ewell, but did not have any more children. Benjamin Grayson was a successful merchant who possessed a large estate and lived on a plantation called Belle Air. He also owned numerous other properties and buildings large and small with various purposes across Virginia. When Benjamin Sr. died in 1758, Benjamin Jr was the only one of the four children who wasn’t a minor. William, 16, inherited from their father’s will ~2,800 acres of land, 20+ slaves, a share of his father’s large estate, and ~$500 in cash. [x] Because William was only a minor and was unmarried, it was required by the court that a guardian was appointed for his care that would keep an account of his expenses. The courts were to handle his inherited estate until he was 21 years of age and could take charge of it himself. Because he was over the age of 14 (the age of discretion), he was allowed to choose his own guardian and selected his older brother, Benjamin. Spence was also old enough to choose his own guardian (William Ellzey), while their sister, who was younger than 14, got appointed her oldest brother, Benjamin, to be her guardian as well. Benjamin did a poor job of keeping William’s accounts and the other siblings’ either were never submitted or didn’t survive time. Benjamin actually failed to show up to court so that the court could record Williams’ expense account on more than one occasion, leading to them chasing him down and forcing him to appear one year. He then subsequently failed to show up again the next but was forced into showing up for the final year. This was a signal of the irresponsibility that would soon bite Benjamin in the ass. [x] It was arranged for William to attend the College of Philadelphia a few months after his father’s death, but he did not actually start attending there until the following year. In the meantime, he boarded with and was school by, probably, Charles Tyler who charged £10 to cover board, school, and clothing for a year. Benjamin pretty much let his younger brother request for and do whatever he wanted with his inherited money whenever he wanted to. Among the accounts that Benjamin was required to keep, it was recorded that William gambled £8 on horse races and in raffles, spent £36 on clothing, almost as much on horses and saddles, and £11 for a brand new sword. He left to attend the College of Philadelphia sporting his brand new sword in the latter half of 1759 but only stayed there for a single term (burning through £110 while he was there like the financially unaware 18 year old he was) before sailing to London in early 1760 and remaining there for 2 1/2 years. [x] When it comes to his time in England... we don’t really know what it was that he actually did there. Tradition states that he received a law education in England, but there were debates among historians as to whether it was at Oxford, Edinburg, or Temple. Apparently, Grayson’s name does not appear in Oxford records [x] which rules out that option, leaving Edinburg or Temple. One historian is pretty certain that it was at Temple, in London [x], Lefkowitz names Middle Temple specifically [pg. 63] and then vaguely contradicts that statement later, but Horrell states that there are no traces of him having attended Temple, either, and it likely wasn’t Edinburg. Horrell argues that rather than pursue an education, William might have gone to England as a merchant like his brother and father. He, apparently, acquired a job in a countinghouse while he was in England, which supports the theory. Otherwise, we know nothing about what he was doing there in England. [x] 1762 marks the year when the Benjamin Grayson Jr. estate collapsed. Benjamin financial downfall occurred after taking massive financial risks while trying to build himself an estate to match their father’s. He was apparently volatile in nature as well, having been taken to court multiple times for trespassing, assault, and battery which cost him his station as a justice of the peace in Virginia. His creditors started demanding payment on all of their loans to him, his safety nets collapsed, his wife had to forfeit dower rights, and his creditors threatened to seize all of his property or he would have to face prison time. He, naturally, did not balance his little brother’s accounts any better than his own and it was kinda a cluster fuck (which William would discover soon enough). Upon returning to America around his 21st birthday, William found that he was already in significant debt. He had to figure something out to make money and make money fast, and what a better career than law to make money in? After some quick thinking, he immediately started clerking at a law office and worked there for three years until he qualified to practice law himself in 1766 and thus managed to avoid ending his first year as an adult in debt. He was able to comfortably support himself and his spending habits moving forward with his law career. [x]. Grayson’s signing of the Leedstown Resolutions in protest of the Stamp Act on February 27th. 1766 was the first politically significant thing that he took part of as a new lawyer. Once he was a lawyer and practicing in Dumfries (the county seat of Prince William County), Grayson soon became good friends with George Washington, whose Mount Vernon plantation was nearby. They played cards and went fox hunting together [x x] as well as did business together [Lefkowitz, pg 63]. Grayson also became good friends with fellow lawyer and future member of Washington’s staff, Robert Hanson Harrison. Grayson would eventually name two of his future sons after the two, Robert Harrison Hanson Grayson and George Washington Grayson. Grayson was appointed as the deputy king’s attorney by the governor of Virginia in the late 1760s, but hoped to be elected to the House of Burgesses in 1772. Robert Hanson Harrison was in line to have a chance at being appointed to the office of deputy king’s attorney should Grayson have been elected to the House of Burgesses. These things, however, did not pan out so their positions remained as they were. [x]  Tensions began brewing between England and the colonies and Grayson was appointed Captain of the first militia organized in his county, The Prince William County Independent Company of Cadets, on November 11, 1774 [x]. It was a unit made up of about 40+ infantrymen [x]. Their motto was “Aut Liber, aut nullus” (“Either Freedom or nothing”) [x p. 68]. Grayson sent three men to request that George Washington take command of their company as their field officer, a request which Washington quickly granted to them and eventually to several other Independent companies as well [x]. On December 9, 1774, Grayson was appointed to the Prince William County Committee of Correspondence and Safety [x]. Pretty soon, he was also appointed Colonel of one of Virginia’s first Minutemen battalions [x]. During the Gunpowder Incident, Grayson and his Company joined with the other four Independent Companies under Washington’s command in requesting that Washington allow them to march to Williamsburg and demand the return of the gunpowder that had been taken on April 21st, 1775. [x x]. Washington evidently told them not to march and they reluctantly went back home while Patrick Henry and his men marched on to demand the return of the gunpowder themselves. Grayson and his Minutemen were stationed in Hampton starting in December of 1775 to guard the area against the British, who’d attacked it and lost in late October [x x]. He was described as having “behaved admirably well at Hampton” and to have “taken great Pains to improve himself in the Military Science” [x] since his appointment to leadership in the year prior. Grayson applied twice to obtain a commission in the Continental Army after its formation (one of which was in April of 1776), but, despite recommendations from those who knew Grayson to both Washington and Jefferson to appeal to Congress in his favor, some “false and scandalous report” about him potentially ended up standing in his way of getting an appointment at the head of a regiment. He wrote an open letter to John Pinkney on August 28th, 1775 that was published in Pinkney’s Virginia Gazette on September 7. The letter asked whoever was saying these things about him at the Virginia Convention to privately come forward with their name and home address so that he could convince them that they were wrong about him [Scribner & Tarter, pg 50-51, and x]. I haven’t come across a response or an elaboration about the things leading up to or following this issue. I really wish I could find what was said about him and if anyone responded, but nothing has come up yet. On July 22nd, 1775, Captain Andrew Snape Hamond of the British warship Roebuck with Governor Lord Dunmore following on the Dunmore came up the Potomac to restock on drinking water. On July 23rd they burned down the property of William Brent. A party of 60 militiamen under Captain John James camped out at the Brent property and drunkenly taunted the British while they worked, calling them cowards and challenging them to come ashore. Dunmore and Hamond decided to do just that, gathering together 108 men and rowing to shore while the militia slept off the alcohol. The militia fled as soon as the British started firing. Grayson swooped in with 30 of the men from his Independent Company and forced the British to retreat back to their ships and flee back out into the Chesapeake Bay. John Parke Custis wrote back to Washington about the event in early August. [x]  Potentially following that event, George Washington extended an offer to William Grayson to take a place on his staff as an aide-de-camp. Grayson was officially appointed on August 24th, 1776 [x], beginning letter work on the 25th. The staff at the time consisted of Robert Hanson Harrison (Military Secretary); Samuel Blachley Webb, Richard Cary, and George Baylor (aides-de-camp); Caleb Gibbs and George Lewis (Special Aides/Captain and Lieutenant of the Life Guard); Tench Tilghman (recently appointed Volunteer Aide); and Stephen Moylan (Quarter Master General granted continued aide-de-camp authority following his promotion and assisted at headquarters from time to time). Grayson served on staff for about four and a half months, which was about the duration of the bulk of the New York and New Jersey campaign. During that time, Richard Cary traded out for John Fitzgerald in November. Grayson, being one of the fastest riders of the staff at the time, was often selected by Washington to make quick rides back to headquarters while they were out in the field in order to draft and send time-sensitive messages. In January of 1777, Washington granted Webb, Grayson, Moylan, and Baylor the opportunity to raise and command four of the sixteen additional regiments requested by Congress. Washington officially informed Grayson, who was out of camp, of his offer to him in a letter written on January 11th, though Grayson had already heard he was going to be offered the position from Harrison in the days before [x].

Lefkowitz, Arthur S. George Washington’s Indispensable Men. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 2003 Scribner, Robert L., Tarter, Brent. Revolutionary Virginia: The Road to Independence. Vol. 4. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1978

[cultofbeatles]

beginners guide to the beatles

 made one of these a long time ago but i'm surprised by how short it was. so here we go again. doing it right this time lol. 

pov: you told a bad joke and now the beatles are judging you. 

john winston lennon. later in his life known as john winston ono lennon. 

born on october 9, 1940 

i believe in astrology bc how does john just happen to be a libra 

when john was four he started living with his aunt mimi who acted more as his mother figure 

his mother, julia, remarried and would visit him quite a bit.

it was julia who taught john how to play banjo and piano. and she bought his first guitar.

they both had a deep love for music and rock n roll 

he never really thought of her as his mother but more as a cool friend i suppose 

aunt mimi was more rough on him and did the disciplining 

his father was never really present growing up and his uncle passed away when he was young 

he thought he was a curse for the men in his family 

he had five half siblings. two of them, julia and jacqueline, he was pretty close to. the other three he barely knew. 

fashion icon.

hated school but loved art 

very early on he was insecure with himself 

teachers always shit on him and said he would go nowhere in life 

he met paul at a church fete on july 6, 1957 

paul taught him how to play guitar properly.

once told paul that he didnt know how paul carried on after his mother died bc he just didn't think he could do it 

john’s mother died from being hit by an off duty policemen. john was seventeen at the time. 

 he took her death really hard and became a bit of a recluse. 

first serious relationship was with cynthia (we stan her) 

once cynthia cut her hair short and he didn't talk to her for two days. 

hate men. kill all men. 

when he asked her to dance at a party she turned him down saying that she was engaged, and so he said “well i didn't ask you to fucking marry me, did i?” 

slapped her once bc he was drunk and another boy was talking to her.

only time her hit her.

read cynthia’s books about john pls. i beg. 

once a psychic told him that he would be shot in the states.

founder of the beatles and also came up with the name.

instruments he could play: guitar, harmonica, rhythm guitar, banjo, keyboard, piano, saxophone, bass guitar, and a little drums. 

main songwriter in the beatles along with paul.

was more open minded to change in the beatles music. 

was insecure in his relationship with paul after a while bc he thought he only needed him for songwriting. 

would bitch about paul all day long but the second anyone else said something about him he’d be on their ass. 

had a lot of issues and needed a good hug. 

suffered from eating disorders, drug addictions, depression, insecurities, and questioned his sexuality bc of the time. 

was super open minded and ahead of his time in many instances. 

once he was called “the fat beatle” and after that he stopped eating as much.

truly loved his first son, julian lennon, and would buy him presents all the time bc he was excited to see him play with them.

“your famous ex husband”

he enjoyed playing monopoly. 

he once claimed that he saw a ufo.

he had written three books but he always wanted to write a children's book.

 the last song he ever performed in front of a live audience was “i saw her standing there.” with elton john.

he was afraid of the dark. 

found out later in his life that he was dyslexic. 

was also legally blind without glasses.

never could catch a break huh.

said that his best lyric ever was “all you need is love” i agree.

the first time yoko and john met was not at her art exhibit but actually when she approached him about giving away songs for free.

wanted to write a musical with paul. 

once a friend dared him to masturbate ten times in one day and he managed to do it nine times.

would hold circle jerks with paul and a few other friends. 

just dudes being dudes. 

went on a holiday with brian epstein, who was gay, and told some people afterward that they did certain sexual things. but we will never know for sure.

yoko says that john was bisexual.

once in an interview he said that he would of married a rich man or woman if he wasn't in the beatles. 

hated his voice on records. would always ask for effects on his voice for final recordings. 

made a film with yoko where it was just his penis going from flaccid to erect for fifteen minutes in slow motion. 

only beatle not to of become a vegetarian while he was alive. 

murdered on december 8, 1980.

gave his autograph earlier in the day to the man who would murder him.

died at the age of 40.

“all my loving” was played while he was at the hospital.

and its spooky bc a lot of times in interviews he would say “when i'm 40..” 

and it’s sad bc he was finally becoming who he truly wanted to be. 

honorable john moments that i love:

“thanks for the purpler hearts” he says while receiving the silver heart 

“you are the first person from liverpool that i've ever seen” “great”

eric lennon on my mind today 

this come together performance where he messed up the lyrics lol

that interview where paul was sick and john keep checking on him 

john lennon speaking nothing but facts 

when he said that he could see the beatles going separate ways but that they'd always come back together.

SHUT UP 

“shut up while he’s talking..”

this interview breaks my heart sometimes 

and this interview is great as well 

sir james paul mccartney 

born on june 18, 1942

if you ever have spare time just check out this man’s natal chart. 

idk how he’s still alive with his chart tbh. 

he has a younger brother named mike and a step sister named ruth. 

his dad thought he was the ugliest baby he’d ever seen when he was born. 

when he was young paul would kill frogs in a way to prepare himself for the war if he ever was drafted. 

the first instrument he ever learned to play was the trumpet.

I don't even want to list every instrument this man can play but trust me when I say it’s a lot.

but for the beatles he mainly did bass, vocals, and piano. sometimes playing the guitar and the drums.

the beatles was just paul moving really, really fast. 

he lost his mother when he was 14 due to surgery for breast cancer.

never really learned how to cope well with loss of a loved one tbh. 

had the cutest chubby cheeks as a kid tbh 

met john and was accepted into his band 

sometimes they'd ditch school together and either work on music or would visit art galleries.

went to paris with john and john bought him all the banana milkshakes that he wanted.

connected over their love and admiration for music, and bc they had both lost their mothers. 

had a girlfriend’s mom who he would make comb his leg hairs. 

was an ass to his first girlfriend.

kill all men again. 

almost had to marry his girlfriend dot bc she was pregnant, but she ended up losing the baby.

was the one who introduced george harrison to john.

practically despised pete best and stuart stutcliffe bc they were bringing the group down. 

got arrested along with pete best bc they lit a condom on fire in hamburg.

still felt awful and a little guilty when stuart died suddenly. 

main force behind the beatles imo. 

without him we’d have not as much beatles music as we do. 

was dating jane asher throughout majority of the sixties. 

when they first met they talked about syrup and paul fell in love.

they broke things off after she walked in on him sleeping with another woman though.

directed magical mystery tour and it was amazing and I don't care what anyone says ok?

when john divorced cynthia he was the only one not scared of john and went against his wishes of not speaking to cynthia.

was a little controlling at times. 

has a good heart though. 

mal evans had to drive him home once after a beatles sessions bc he was crying so hard. 

was talking about getting the band back to touring when john said he was leaving the group. 

everyone kind of turned against him when the beatles were breaking up and i hate it.

he just wanted what was best for the band.

married linda and had a nice little farm. 

we love that story.

linda i'm free thursday if you want to hang out pls.

started up the whole “no meat monday” thing where you don't eat monday on mondays

food meat. not the other kind of meat.

children: james mccartney, stella mccartney, heather mccartney, mary mccartney, and beatrice mccartney. 

rip martha. 

WINGS!! 

he lost linda in 1998 due to cancer.

 cried for a whole year bc of it.

still has dreams about john and says they're nice.

wrote a sad song about john called “here today.”

really loved john. like..he truly, genuinely did. 

want someone to love me like paul does john. 

“think of me every now and then old friend.”

honorable paul moments:

his story about george’s dad 

“john? he was beautiful. very beautiful.”

humpty dumpty rap 

another story about him and george.

his google search video that I watch every week 

this 

george harrison 

born: February 24, 1943 

or at least we think 

bc he use to say that his birthday was february 25, but later started saying it february 24. 

why can't we change our birthdays its not like we picked it 

he was the youngest child.

baby of the family and of the beatles awwww

two older brothers named harry and peter. one older sister named louise.

when george’s mom was pregnant with him she’d play sitar music.

his mom was super supportive of his career choice 

when he was 16 he worked as an electricians apprentice.

his dad kind of hoped he would start a family business out of it.

george said nah

would ride the bus opposite way of his house just to spend time with paul 

headbutted a kid bc he didn't think they were worthy of paul’s friendship 

was brought into the band bc of paul insisting to john 

would follow john around like a lost puppy when he first met him 

once had an eight hour erection. don't ask me how idk he said it.

was 17 when he lost his virginity and the other band members were in the room watching and cheered him when he finished 

most sex craved beatle tbh 

once walked into a girls dressing room and asked if they could stand there so he could masturbate 

he was the first beatle to go to america 

got a black eye for defending ringo once 

would make john and paul take turns sharing rooms with ringo when he first joined the band so that he felt more welcomed 

when ringo left during the white album and then came back george decorated the studio with flowers for him 

during the beatles first recording session he told george martin that he didn't like his tie

became a vegetarian at 22 

favorite candy was jelly beans and purple was his favorite color 

used the phrase “grotty” in the hard days night movie, hated it, but everyone else picked up on the slang 

met his first wife, pattie boyd, on the set of a hard days night 

was turned down by her at first 

they married in 1966

wouldn't let her do modeling stuff and was kind of an ass 

a stylish couple but not the best image for a healthy relationship 

got into eastern religion around 1965 

during the Hamburg days he would eat chicken on stage 

had an affair with ringo’s first wife maureen 

got a divorce from pattie in 1977

in 1978 he married olivia who he stayed with until his death and had one son with. dhani.

was the first beatle to hit a number one single and album. 

was buddies with led zeppelin

inspired their “rain song” 

smashed a piece of cake on john bonham’s head and then was thrown into the pool by him 

he financed and produced films. had a production company.

tom petty said that george never shut up once you started talking to him 

but he was often referred to as “the quiet beatle”

formed another band called the traveling wilburys

he’d answer questions online in the 2000′s and it’s the cutest thing ever and his answers break my heart too.

“what do you miss most about john lennon?” “john lennon.”

in 1999 a schizophrenic person broke into his house and stabbed him 40 times 

thank god olivia was there bc she was the only braincell in the room 

had to get a part of his lung taken out 

died november 29, 2001 from lung cancer 

ashes were scattered into the ganges river 

honorable george moments:

this interview he did with ringo 

“i'm sad bc i can't play guitars with john anymore. but i did that...i know we’ll meet again some day.”

when he invented reaction videos 

“the wind was blowing.” “..blowing my girl?”

“what kind of girl do you like?” “john’s wife.”

sir richard starkey aka ringo starr 

born on july 7, 1940 

oldest member in the group 

has no siblings 

naturally was left handed but his grandma thought it was bad luck so he writes right handed, and plays drums with a right handed kit 

but does everything else left handed

when he was 6 he fell into a two month coma 

was a very sick child 

when he was 13 he was in the hosiptal for tuberculosis and formed a hospital band 

grew up poor 

loves and looked up to his stepfather a lot 

his step father bought him his first drum kit in 1957

wasn't that great in school bc he missed so much of it from being so sick 

he worked for a britain railway for a while 

also served drinks on a day boat for a job 

loves dancing 

Rory storm and the hurricanes 

got his nickname from all the rings he would wear

replaced pete best as the beatles drummer 

dealt with people hating him for a bit bc they liked pete more 

had to style his hair in a bowl cut to be in the band and i'm still mad at them for making him do that shit 

ringo i'm so sorry 

george martin didn't really like his drumming and had a session drummer come in for the first album 

in 1964 he had tonsillitis, pharyngitis, and high fever all at once and had to be in the hospital for a bit.

was worried the beatles would replace him for good 

he’s a cancer don't worry

was the first beatle to try weed 

drummers always go first huh 

married his first wife, maureen, in 1965 

she kissed paul, ringo, and george.

what a champ

honeymoon was ruined by reporters 

was really insecure in his relationship and needed a lot of reassurance 

had a great relationship with pretty much all the beatles 

but a great one with john 

john felt his most relaxed when he was with ringo

was once in a movie with roger daltrey 

divorced maureen in 1975 

his wife now is barbara bach who he married in 1981 

had alcohol problems 

once gotten so drunk that he beat barbara so badly that he thought he killed her 

put himself into rehab after that 

barbara lowkey looks like jan from the office 

children: zak, lee, and jason

zak is the drummer for the band the who 

peace and love 

but don't send me fan mail anymore 

peace and love 

ringo starr and the allstar band (starting 1981)

was the narrator for thomas the tank engine 

will play at paul’s concerts sometimes now for fun 

mad bc he came on stage during paul’s last concert show and it was on my birthday and I couldn't go to it 

honorable ringo moments:

“do you want me to come with you?”

stupid barbara walters 

talking about paul 

giving us a little dance 

[honeyopinion]

20/20 Albums of the Year

Circles by Mac Miller  |  Hip-Hop, Soul, Funk Released: January 17, 2020

Best Album For... Pouring One Out for Mac

I wrote a few different drafts of this album summary, and none of them felt like they really fit the impossibly large bill of accurately describing the posthumous importance or brilliance of this album. If you are a fan of hip-hop or soul music of any kind, try to give this piece of work a chance. I for one, used to judge Mac based on his early frat rap days in the late 2000s. But a decade later he came to leave the world with one of the most surprising and frankly impressive artistic evolutions that I’ve been able to witness in real time. RIP Mac. 

Spotify      Apple Music      YouTube      Pandora 

Start With: “Circles” or “Everybody”

Marigold by Pinegrove  |  Alternative Country and Folk Rock Released: January 17, 2020

Best Album For… Passing Through a Small Town on a Cloudy Winter Day 

Pinegrove was one of the last great concerts I got to experience before the pandemic. And it was my favorite performance of theirs from the last 6 years of seeing them play live. Is this my favorite album of theirs? Honestly, it’s not. But I still find it extremely enjoyable, and the memory of seeing these songs performed live, along with some of their classics, was enough for me to include it on this list. This is an album that marks Pinegrove’s exit from their pop punk roots. It’s still sentimental, but much more country and folk rock focused vs. anything trying to be associated with emo or punk. 

Spotify      Apple Music      YouTube      Pandora   Start With: “The Alarmist” or “No Drugs”

Watch This Liquid Pour Itself by Okay Kaya  |  Synth Pop, Art Rock, Folk Released: January 24, 2020

Best Album For… Crywanking at 3am, Bathed in The Dull Light of Your Overheating Laptop

What if Feist and Father John Misty had a secret love child? They might sound something like Okay Kaya. Self proclaimed “Singer ~ Crywanker,” Okay Kaya brings serious BDE to weirdo art pop that she seems like she could be a plant  from the mind of Nathan Fielder. Kaya delivers with such deadpan precision as she rolls out line after line of sarcastic joy, staring blankly at our dystopian reality. “Here I am, the whole world is my daddy,” “Netflix and yeast infection,” “Sex with me is mediocre,” “I just want us to do well like Jon Bon Jovi’s Rosê,” and, “My parasite and I are blushing / In the zero interaction ramen bar,” are just a few examples of some of her memorable and biting lyrics. The entire album is both a critique and nihilistic fondness for the absurdity of our lonely technological society, not quite sure how to deal with taboos like repressed female sexuality, depression, and codependency. 

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Start With: “Baby Little Tween” or “Asexual Wellbeing”

UNLOCKED by Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats  |  Hip-Hop Released: February 7, 2020

Best Album For... Nodding Your Damn Head To, Feeling Cooler Than You Actually Are

I had to double check that this was an album. Clocking in under 20 minutes, this collection of songs feels more like an EP, especially with the track titles that purposefully look like file names and placeholders. But for a short album, Denzel wastes no time, furiously zigging and zagging effortlessly over Kenny Beats’ 90s New York-indebted production (ad libs and all). Kenny pulls out samples of an array of pop culture references made by Denzel (like quotes from movies and weapon sound effects like a lightsaber) — as he rotates his flow between admirable impressions of DMX, Nas, and Joey Bada$$.

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Start With: “So.Incredible.pkg” or “DIET_”

Cardboard City by Zack Villere  |  Pop, Electronic, R&B Released: February 14, 2020

Best Album For… Pal-ing Around With Your Friends From High School, Maybe Quoting Superbad At The Same Time

The first time I watched a music video from Zack Villere, I noticed the top comment said: “how did frank ocean get trapped in mark zuckerberg.” And while that definitely gets at the heart of how Zack Villere presents himself, he is not a phenomenal singer like Frank Ocean is, nor does he come off as an asshole like Mark Zuckerberg does. I would say that he is just a slightly awkward nerdy white guy who loves hip-hop production and R&B melodies. So the better question is really, “how did drake get trapped in michael cera?” This premise should not work at all, but somehow it does. This is only Villere’s second album, but he shows some serious production and songwriting chops, plus a commitment to his delivery that comes across as genuine, charming, and unique. 

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Start With: “Grateful” or “Superhero Strength”

The Slow Rush by Tame Impala  |  Psych Rock, Synth Pop, Disco Released: February 14, 2020

Best Album For... Throwing a Silent Disco For One 

Tame Impala continues on their now 10 year streak of psych rock dominance. Along the way we’ve seen Kevin Parker master and stretch the boundaries of psychedelic production. This has resulted in his music coming as close to sounding like the best aspects of The Beatles, while also expanding into hip hop drums, R&B hooks, plus more and more electronic elements. This is an album that I was not super impressed with when it initially came out, but as we entered the pandemic and were tasked with finding small joys in staying at home all the time, I found myself going back to this album and appreciating the themes of solitude and self reflection that Parker has drawn from throughout his career.

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Start With: “Posthumous Forgiveness” or “One More Hour”

1988 by Knxwledge  |  Hip-Hop Released: March 27, 2020

Best Album For... Pumping Your Brakes and Driving Slow, Uh *Homie* Although this album is named after a year in the 80s, the sound here is a perfect portal back to 90s golden era hip-hop, with all the gospel, soul samples, and the kind of deep bass you want to feel in your chest. This is the rare, largely instrumental hip-hop album that I find myself going back to, other than works from the legendary J Dilla and MF Doom. Knxwledge is good friends and a frequent collaborator with Anderson .Paak (in the form of NxWorries). Here we get Anderson to grace us with his presence on the track “itkanbe[sonice]”, and of course it sounds just like an authentic vintage soul sample. When I hear this collection of songs it makes me wish I still had a car, so I could inevitably damage my speakers listening to this.

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Start With: “dont be afraid” or “thats allwekando.”

Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa  |  Pop, R&B, Funk, Disco Released: March 27, 2020 Best Album For... Alarming Your Pet With Your Enthusiastic Lip Syncing

This album is a pure sugar rush. Like Bruno Mars with the help of Mark Ronson, or Calvin Harris a few years ago, Dua has harnessed a nostalgia (it’s even in the title, wink) for disco, funk and R&B, and is instantly a sexy, catchy, not-so-guilty pleasure. It’s sad that the majority of these songs are all bonafide club hits that didn’t have a proper home this year … except for my living room. And hopefully yours.

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Start With: “Pretty Please” or “Future Nostalgia”

Hold Space For Me by Orion Sun  |  Alternative R&B and Hip-Hop Released: March 27, 2020

Best Album For... Wishing Frank Ocean Was Your Dad

“Alternative R&B” is a contentious term, but what else would you call one of a few R&B singers cool enough to make it onto (NYC indie darlings) Mom+Pop Records?? On one hand, she brings the vulnerable and introverted lyrics of an indie singer songwriter like Tracey Chapman, crossed with the raw presence and sweet melodic delivery of a true R&B star like Aaliyah. I’d even go far enough to refer to her as the musical stepchild of Frank Ocean and SZA.

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Start With: “Ne Me Quitte Pass (Don’t Leave Me)” or “Lightning”

You and Your Friends by Peach Pit  |  Indie Rock and Dream Pop Released: April 3, 2020

Best Album For... Going Back To Your College Town To Crash A Party

Peach Pit seem like they would be cool dudes to hang out with. You have no problem picturing them as the band playing a house show in an indie movie about college kids. And that’s because there’s a familiarity to the scenes that their songs portray, of stumbling through your 20s, either being too dumb or having too much fun to notice. It’s funny to refer to this as “Indie” rock since this is Peach Pit’s major label debut with Columbia Records. But It has all the trappings of Indie; sticky melodies, gentle reverb, an “I’m not trying that hard” vibe, and lyrics that are oddly specific enough to be interesting, but still vague enough to be relatable.

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Start With: “Feelin’ Low (Fuckboy Blues)” or “Shampoo Bottles”

Heaven To a Tortured Mind by Yves Tumor  |  Psych Rock, Indie Pop, Post-Punk, Alternative R&B, Experimental Electronic Released: April 3, 2020

Best Album For... Tearing Up The Fucking Dance Floor With Your Hot Robot Girlfriend

If Tyler the Creator, Alex G, King Krule, and Blood Orange all got into the studio together and dropped a shit ton of acid on Halloween, their recording session might sound something like Heaven To a Tortured Mind… And even then, you still might have trouble putting your finger on exactly what you’re hearing. “Dream Palette” is a good reference track for Tumor’s most wild and mesmerizing qualities. The biggest styles of the past half century of music have been loaded into this gleefully effective genre blender, with blades of dissonance slicing everything up, creating a surrealist sonic smoothie.

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Start With: “Super Stars” or “Dream Palette”

The New Abnormal by The Strokes  |  Indie Rock, Dirtbag Disco, Synth Pop Released: April 10, 2020

Best Album For... Mixing Yourself Another Drink This Saturday Night

Back from the dead, The Strokes return with their first album in 7 years to turn some heads and settle back into some old habits. The charming messy haired garage rock of the early 2000s still pops up here and there, but this is really a record where the group is mature enough to show you that they actually are trying, and are unafraid to take joyous swings for the fences. Julian Casablancas pushes his scratchy alley cat yelp of a voice into something more vulnerable, sunny, and sweet, like he asked for a piña colada (you know, with one of those little umbrellas) instead of a double shot of scotch before hopping up on stage… Or maybe he did both. But these days, everyone is looking for some sort of break from our groundhog day lives any way that we can. Sometimes that sounds like selling out, or depending on how you look at it, stepping up. This album is the result of a group of old friends who got together to make music they simply want to make for themselves. Now far removed from the 2000s New York scene where their younger selves were acting too cool and disaffected to care about having fun.

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Start With: “Eternal Summer” or “The Adults Are Talking”

The Loves of Your Life by Hamilton Leithauser  |  Indie Rock and Alternative Country Released: April 10, 2020

Best Album For... Drinking Down At The Docks, Watching The Sun Set

While I am a fan of The Walkmen, I have no idea what their frontman Hamilton Leithauser looks like or how he dresses. But hearing these songs off of his latest solo, I imagine the following: a member of Mumford and Sons if they were edgy and cooler, giving off a “cowboy rocker meets depression-era dock worker” aesthetic. That’s exactly how his music comes off to me. It’s a convincing blend of blues rock, Americana, and old timey country music. All expertly narrated by dusty country guitars and standup bass, tarnished horns and flutes, and what I imagine to be a restored saloon piano. The Loves of Your Life originally started as a collection of short stories, each about characters based on both people he knew and strangers. Leithauser then wrote the music separately, and finally came to mix and match their parts together in a surprisingly convincing fashion to create the album.

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Start With: “Wack Jack” or “Cross-Sound Ferry (Walk-On Ticket)”

What Kinda Music by Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes  |  Neo-Soul, Electronic, Hip-Hop

Released: April 24, 2020

Best Album For... Cooking For Someone You’re In Love With

Exactly what kind of music do Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes make? It’s orchestral, it’s jazz-infused, it’s hip-hop beats joined with gentle soul. It’s a little sexy, it’s a little mysterious, and you’re going to want to listen to it a whole lot. That’s it. That’s what kind of music it is! Send tweet. 

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Start With: “What Kinda Music” or “Storm Before The Calm”

Petals For Armor by Hayley Williams  |  Electronic Pop and Art Rock Released: May 8, 2020

Best Album For... Browsing Depop for Your Next 80s Normcore ‘Fit

Hayley, Hayley, Hayley. You are too good for this wretched world!! After exploring more adventurous sounds and genre hopping over the last few Paramore records, Hayley decided to go out on her own. This really frees herself from the expectations that come along with being the face and heart of a wildly popular band for the last 15+ years. Thom Yorke fans rejoice, because Hayley Williams has a clear admiration for Radiohead’s haunting indie electronic vibe, while emoting some pain and darkness atop her love for 80s pop and art rock (think Genesis, Devo, The Talking Heads). This is a promising new avenue for Hayley to explore herself and process her pain and desire completely on her own. I see this new project of hers only blooming further from here.

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Start With: “Simmer” or “Sudden Desire” 

Set My Heart On Fire Immediately by Perfume Genius  |  Indie Pop and Art Rock Released: May 15, 2020

Best Album For... Daydreaming That You Were Somewhere Else

For his 5th studio album, Perfume Genius enlists production wizard and guitar god Blake Mills, along with Grammy Award-winning arranger and multi-instrumentalist Rob Moose to create a beautiful swirling mosaic of 80s pastel pop that also packs serious classic rock grandeur. Bass guitar dances between satin smooth lines on one song to churning distorted currents on the next. Sparkling string arrangements and organs bleed together to expose a fading sunset that you’ll want to try and hold in your hands to keep it in sight. Perfume Genius is unafraid to challenge traditional masculinity, packing a 21st century queer machismo into both the quiet moments and jubilant explosions.

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Start With: “Without You” or “Describe”

græ by Moses Sumney  |  Indie Pop, Art Rock, Neo-Soul, Psychic Folk Released: May 15, 2020

Best Album For... Astral Projection 101 

I mean this in the best way possible, but I think that Moses Sumney is a witch. Or maybe a wizard? There’s no other reasonable explanation for the level of creativity and wonder that he summons. This album feels like a private concert by a waterfall (similar to one on the cover), with ethereal pleas, and heavy ideas—like meditating on what lies beyond the constraints of the physical self and reconsidering how well we can actually trust memory and the mind. Sumney layers his voice to create the effect of a ghostly choir, accented by a stark intimidating falsetto that reverberates through the ruins of an abandoned temple where Sumney is the only one in attendance.

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Start With: “Cut Me” or “Polly”

WILL THIS MAKE ME GOOD by Nick Hakim  |  Psychedelic Neo-Soul Released: May 15, 2020

Best Album For... Playing Pool in a Hazy Dive Bar

Nick Hakim is a silky smooth smokey crooner who paints with warbly piano loops, dreamy reverb-heavy guitar, boom bap beats—not to mention a falsetto that would make Smokey Robinson jealous. Clearly a fan of Motown and 60s jazz, Hakim could be considered a peer of Thunder Cat and Anderson .Paak’s to a degree. I remember seeing him perform at Music Hall of Williamsburg a few years ago. The performance ended with him falling down on stage (presumably from being under the influence of multiple substances). But while the song continued he popped back up and belted an impressive high note like it was nothing, drink in hand. And it’s that kind of messy beauty that also makes this album so engrossing. Like watching the eye of the storm get closer and closer, but unable to look away from the sheer magnetism that nature can wield.

Spotify      Apple Music      YouTube      Pandora  Start With: “All THESE CHANGES” or “ALL THESE INSTRUMENTS”

RTJ4 by Run The Jewels  |  Hip-Hop Released: June 3, 2020

Best Album For... Making Your Next Protest Sign

Run The Jewels’ fourth outing might be the most unapologetically angry rap album in the “fuck this” year of 2020. And it reminded me that I should absolutely still be furious about everything that happened during this groundbreaking yet terrifyingly familiar year: country wide protests over the continued murder of innocent black people at the hands of the police, government drone strikes and detaining kids in cages, the state of our environment worsening—and that’s not even addressing the pandemic or election. Killer Mike and El-P are here to scream from the rooftops that our current system of cutthroat capitalism and white supremacy is killing the planet and its inhabitants, and I’m glad that they’re using their platform to continue to sound the alarm.

Spotify      Apple Music      YouTube      Pandora  

Start With: “out of sight” or “ooh la la”

Your Hero Is Not Dead by Westerman  |  New Wave Revival and Indie Pop Released: June 5, 2020 Best Album For... Wanting Your Old School MTV

The cover of Westerman’s first proper album is mostly black and white, except for the title, which is scrawled out in lettering which spans the Crayola color spectrum. It’s an album that on the surface is cold and buttoned up, but when these choruses open up, the maximalist 80s power pop bursts like the bulbs of a neon sign. There’s a level of even-keeled cool and confidence in small moments on display here that makes this relatively new artist seem well beyond his years. Having seen him play at Rough Trade a few years ago (opening up for the stellar Puma Blue), the songwriting growth on display on this record is impressive. I’m only sad that there wasn’t an opportunity to have seen him play these new songs live.

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Start With: “Easy Money” or “Confirmation (SSBD)” 

Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers  |  Indie Rock and Alternative Country Released: June 18, 2020

Best Album For... Burning Incense and Breaking Out a Ouija Board to Talk to The Ghost of Your Former Self

This is without a doubt, a career defining release for Phoebe. Taking everything she’s learned from writing, performing, and touring with the likes of Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker (in boygenius), and Conor Oberst (in Better Oblivion Community Center), Bridgers levels up to become the truly prolific singer-songwriter she’s been telling us she would always be. Bridgers has explained her personal definition of “a punisher” as a well meaning person who’s, “just talking to you and they don’t realize that your eyes are glazed over and you’re trying to escape.” Vital to understanding this album and its central message is that Phoebe finds herself caught between the contradiction of falling victim to this phenomenon while also doing it herself, especially if she ever met her musical idol, Elliott Smith. Punisher serves as a warning to her audience that if you focus too much on trying to find yourself through other people (via escaping through fandom, drugs, toxic relationships), you’ll always feel lost and dissatisfied, without the proper self awareness to ever quite know why. 

Spotify      Apple Music      YouTube      Pandora  

Start With: “Garden Song” or “ICU”

Women In Music Pt. III by HAIM  |  Rock, Pop, Folk, R&B Released: June 26, 2020

Best Album For... Preparing For A Better 2021, lol 

With this album, HAIM skyrocketed to the #1 position of family bands that start with an “H.” Sorry, Hanson! But seriously, HAIM has outdone themselves on this one. If there was one album from this list that I would dub my personal AOTY, this would be it. You might wince at any tracklist longer than 10-12 songs these days (I know I usually do), but almost every song proves itself worthy, pulling at a different thread of my heart until there’s nothing left. Sunshine State Beach Pop? Check. Blues Tinged Dad Rock? Yup! Dive Bar Country? Mmhmm! No, wait, what’s that you say, Glitched-Out R&B? Yes, yes, and yes. You can have it all, sister! ‘Cause when you’re Haim, you’re family! ;) And these three “women in music” continue to prove that they are just about the best Assorted Pop Rocks(™) act in the world right now.

Spotify      Apple Music      YouTube      Pandora  

Start With: “I’ve Been Down” or “Don’t Wanna”

Lianne La Havas by Lianne La Havas  |  Neo-Soul and Indie Pop Released: July 17, 2020

Best Album For... Sipping Coffee and Journaling on a Weekend Morning

This album exudes a warm vulnerability, like a comforting hug we all needed this year. On her third album, Lianne La Havas makes the risky decision to self title it, a move that artists make when they believe that it is the piece of work that they most want most directly associated with their name. It’s one thing to name your first album after yourself if you can’t think of anything else at the time, but to make a self titled album in the middle of your career, it means that you are sure about having captured who you really are and who you want people to remember you as. “If I love myself, I know I can't be no one else,” La Havas admits on the standout track, “Paper Thin.” She knows that she will meet her destiny and reach self actualization, but only through self love. And finally, I cannot overstate how breathtaking La Havas’s voice comes across on this album. The strength and control on display in her vocal tone and vibrato is quite a spectacle. 

Spotify      Apple Music     YouTube      Pandora  

Start With: “Paper Thin” or “Sour Flower”

Limbo by Aminé  |  Hip-Hop and R&B Released: August 7, 2020

Best Album For... Trying and Get Over Kanye With

On Limbo, Aminé establishes himself as one of the torchbearers of soul-sampling, lyrics-driven hip-hop that still cares about storytelling, skits, and presenting vocals clearly. Kanye West, Drake, and J. Cole all paved the way for someone from the next generation like Aminé to keep the dream alive and avoid succumbing to the “feel good, don’t think” form of passive listening that mumble rap has made the standard for mainstream hip-hop.

Spotify      Apple Music     YouTube      Pandora  

Start With: “Pressure In My Palms” or “My Reality”

Shore by Fleet Foxes  |  Folk and Indie Rock Released: September 22, 2020

Best Album For... Running Along The Beach With Your Arms Stretched Out

It was really kind of Robin Pecknold and co. to have released an album this triumphant, calming, and awe-inspiring during the year of our Lorde 2020. On behalf of myself and anyone else who suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder, the SAD people of the world really needed this, man. And to anyone who is quick to judge these beard-o’s of being boring, you’re simply not using your ears properly. Yeah, you know those two things on either side of your head? Get the gunk out of them! That way you’ll hear the choir of angels with acoustic guitars who are here to guide us through quarantine and beyond. 

Spotify      Apple Music      YouTube      Pandora 

Start With: “Can I Believe You” or “A Long Way Past The Past” 

Listen to all of these albums together in our playlist.

[doktorpeace]

🖊 please introduce us to Erato, I know they're in a masks campaign but I have no idea what else

Oh, gosh, I feel like I talk about them too much as is but I can’t say I’m not glad to have the excuse. This is gonna be really long cause tbh I’m just gonna dump like, a bunch of their lore lmao.

Erato is my Masks: A New Generation character in a campaign being played alongside @twerkyvulture (As Amanda ‘Megafauna’ Ghorbani, The Transformed) @draayder (as Josephine ‘Rattlesnake’ Short, The Reformed) @spitblaze (as Les ‘Void’ Hawking, The Doomed) @heedra (as Enid ‘Frag Beetle’ Day, The Scion) and @skarchomp (as Parker ‘Cobalt’ Andrews, The Legacy) with @dykeceratops as our GM. The current arc features @mechanicalriddle as Zoe, The Nova as a guest member. Here’s a group shot done by @tredlocity. Clockwise from the top left: Cobalt in blue, Erato in the track suit, Les in the cloak, Zoe with the mismatched eyes, Enid’s the big robot, Amanda’s got the scales and claws, and Josephine’s got the mask and tonfa.

To get back to Erato specifically though they’re an Anti Metahuman/Metahuman Suppression Weapon created by the in universe tech group Wright Industries, founded by Ingrid Day, Enid’s mom. They’re generally stronger, faster, and more durable than humans and can copy the superpowers of others for 5-10 minutes by touching them thanks to what is basically a meta-stem cell transplant interacting with other parts of their systems. (Also, I 100% swear to god that I did not consider ‘Robot Hero Who Copies The Powers Of Others’ is literally fucking Mega Man despite loving Mega Man a ton until after I had hashed out the concept with my GM’s assistance. Only once Abby said ‘oh like mega man’ I was like ‘wait, shit’.) I’ll tell you some about them as a person before unloading their history onto you, lol. Being an android built for combat and kept in an underground research lab, kept on a rigid schedule, constantly taking tests, physical, mental, written, oral, ethical, etc. etc. etc. and under constant supervision Erato lacked for real interactive experience before the campaign started only really ever getting to takl with authority figures and their sisters. They were very passive and observational, owing in part to their power set requiring a lot of adaptation to make the most of. They’re naive and very bad at exercising discretion in decision making, sometimes they overstep boundaries when talking with people without meaning to, and they’re really emotional! They have trouble dealing with strong emotions cause they haven’t managed to discover coping mechanisms that work well for them, they tend to get angry kind of easily and need time to blow off steam. But they’re also very genuine, honest, and well meaning. They are almost never mean, rude, or snippy, they do their best to do well by others, and have a strong sense of justice paired with a deep distrust and dislike of the current legal system in universe. This is in part due to the conditions of their creation (and in part because the intent behind it was kind of right!) and in part due to Enid’s life being threatened by a representative of the state while they and their teammates were in jail after being arrested following a huge brawl with an anti-methuman terrorist group. They’re also very willing to put forth the effort to improve as a person and to mend relationship wounds, almost always apologizing first to Enid when they fight and genuinely trying to work in advice and feedback they get from others, which they often get from Les and Parker. They’re also relatively educated, from the tests of their creators, from home and public schooling, from personal research, but that doesn’t undo their naivety. They also just straight up lack some very basic and/or common sense knowledge. Like, they don’t know what a bear is. Why would you teach a battle android working in a densely populated, extremely built up city about wild animals? All in all they’re kind of inexperienced and immature and make mistakes a lot but they’re (usually) very willing to admit their mistakes and to try and improve and get better. They genuinely and truly want what’s best for others and are learning to value them self as much as their teammates. They’ve also taken it upon them self to start doing humanitarian work in their free time over the summer. In a fight Erato is adaptive and quick witted but tends to put themself in more danger than is necessary. They also sometimes use more extreme force than the others believe is called for, but after the first time they did they and Parker had a real heart to heart about it, Les helped Erato learn and practice some coping, centering, behaviors they could do even under pressure and Erato did their best to adapt. That said they Fucking Hate The Keeper So God Damned Much Because Of How Much Suffering He’s Caused Their Friends And How Much Danger He Presents And Would Kill Him With No Remorse. So they don’t intend to apologize for ripping his arms off whatsoever. They and their sisters, collectively known as The Muse Units, were made to work as a group and as a proof of concept that atomized units could replace traditional police for use against metahuman criminals and to slowly phase out The Registry, the legal department which handles general metahuman based laws. If successful the units could be mass produced and improved upon, rapidly replacing current, error prone, law enforcement. At the time of their development, between late 1999 for blueprint drafting and until mid 2002 when the project was shut down, they were the cutting edge for AI development aided in no small part by Ingrid’s technokinetic powers allowing her to make advancements few others could. (As a note Erato’s body was finished being built in early 2001 but their unique personhood didn’t really come to fruition until February 18th, 2002, so that’s what I consider their ‘birthday’.) Ultimately, however, while a few of the Muses excelled some did not perform to expectations, the project fell behind schedule, investors lost interest, and a minor scandal involving a casualty happened, resulting in the project being shut down. The Muses were placed in indefinite storage, the data gained from their short existence used on other projects such and some of the tech advancements used to inform future decisions by the company. And it would have stayed that way, if not for the fact that in 2018 Ingrid Day was revealed to be The Locust in a conflict where Enid tried to defend her against a militia group who had been hired to take her down, being shot and presumably killed in the process. As The Locust she had been terrorizing Boston for over a decade trying to take it over and being involved in the deaths of over 70 people. (Which irl btw would make her like, the 8th most prolific confirmed serial killer of all time, Yikes!) Wright Industries, desperately needing to prove their hard stance against metahuman criminals and needing a PR stunt to deflect from their connection to their former CEO re-awakened Erato. They weren’t the most powerful or best performing of the Muses, but they were above average, obedient, and had an easy enough to monitor and control power set with little risk for property damage to boot, the perfect choice. Erato then took to the streets of Boston acting basically as a vigilante, following orders, stopping minor crimes, and sometimes working alongside the police. They attracted the attention of The Viceroy, a semi-retired 56 year old hero who never registered in spite of it being compulsory legally. They both have the ability to copy the powers of others, though he can just by sight, and he has body elasticity too. These make him durable and extremely adaptable, add to that his detective skills and he’s something of a local Boston legend. He took them in as his Protégé. Though they remained distant for quite some time with Erato still coming and going between his place and Wright Industries, having promised not to reveal his assistance to the doctors who Erato reported their work to. It was this way for about a year and a half before the campaign started and Erato began living with Viceroy full time, no longer wanting to go back to Wright Industries as they began to think more independently and consider what they wanted for them self more. During this time Erato had chance encounters with each of the other characters a few times as they also did minor vigilante work, peaking with a villain who is a member of Superhuman, an extremist pro-metahuman group, attacked the school that Josephine, Les, and Amanda all attend. After that incident Erato was prompted by Viceroy to contact each of these other young potential heroes to form a team, The Upstarts. Additionally during this time Viceroy took in Enid who had been abandoned by her biological father and had been getting bounced around foster care. Over time the three of them have become kind of a weird family, living in a warehouse full of cats with a couple of bedrooms grafted on and an ultra secret basement lair underneath full of advanced stuff Viceroy makes. Though Erato and Enid have definitely had their ups and down, more recently in the story (and we’ve been doing this campaign for well over a year now) they’ve been putting in serious effort to better their relationship and be good adoptive siblings to one another. I love their relationship a lot, they’re good kids.

That gets us up to the start of the campaign but hoo boy, I’ve been writing for like, an hour now. Since then Erato’s helped take down a nazi-aligned terrorist organization, they’ve got a boyfriend in their teammate, Les, and they’ve made friends outside of their core group of teammates. They’ve also enrolled in school doing well on some classes and poorly in others, namely learning how to Code and Woodworking. Currently they’re at a sleep away summer camp for superpowered kids called Camp Justice, about 10 miles outside of Boston. They really, really hate it there. Constant supervision, being made to do tests, things scheduled out against their will, inability to leave the area? Yeah that certainly reminds them of something. The difference between it and school, which does share these features, is they wanted to go to school. They very much Did Not want to go to camp. As a result they’re finally going to have to start facing the trauma they’ve got from their origin and also actually tell the others other than Les and Amanda about their sisters. Whiiiiich...Enid saw one of them disassembled and showed off in parts at a school science fair display set up by Wright Industries to gauge interest in students. And she hasn’t mentioned this to Erato...for 4 months Uh Oh! Lastly, here’s my tag I use mostly for art I make of them, it includes some texts posts and picrew dumps too though, lol. Feel free to look!

[jordaneberle]

AWIHL/Melbourne Ice Women Primer

*this is mostly going to about the Melbourne Ice Women bc they’re my team oops. If you have any questions/want any info on where to find teams or good league info please hmu! I love this league I will talk about it for hours.

If you aren’t watching women’s hockey, do it, it’s literally so good. I’m a recent convert and it was the best hockey decision I’ve ever made. 

Also Australian leagues are really good for learning hockey rules and getting better at looking at the game with a little more depth!

The Australian Women’s Ice Hockey League (AWIHL) is Australia’s top women’s hockey league. Its season runs from October to February and there are five teams. Each team plays 12 regular season games and four teams qualify for finals. The finals consist of two semi final games and then a bronze medal and a gold medal match where they play for the Joan McKowen trophy. They play IIHF rules and play full 60 minute games (unlike the men RIP AIHL)

Imports! Teams are allowed to have a total of three imports and are not allowed to have an import goalie (unlike the men’s league. Imagine being dedicated to goalie development in Australia, couldn’t be the AIHL). Imports are players from overseas (usually Canada) who come and play for Australian teams. There are Canadians in the league who aren’t imports because they have Australian citizenship.

Streaming: All games are streamed on Youtube! They’re also at super varying times on Saturdays and Sundays so some games are European/North American friendly!

All the games are played on weekends because the players have regular jobs! It’s a semi professional league so they aren’t paid and typically have sponsors who cover some of the cost of the season. These women are MULTI FACETED!

The league is really fun because everyone supports each other a lot and its way less disastrous than the men’s league. Also the age range on teams is huge because you can start playing for the league when you’re 14 and there are some 30+ year olds on teams.

Teams:

Adelaide Rush: PERFECT for the suffering Adelaide Adrenaline fan. Currently undefeated in regulation after finishing in last place last season. An amazing comeback narrative that is perfect for the hockey fan who loves an underdog and is being disrespected by their own awful teams. Adelaide friends please get around this team, who knows when you’ll see a winning hockey team again! They also have a really good social media presence (as do their men’s team).

Perth Inferno: The newest team in the league. Haven’t done that well this season but their imports are very good and their results aren’t indicative of their overall performance imo. Another underdog team who is totally worth seeing live if you’re from Perth! Honestly I’m a full believe in their ability to turn it around and be awesome. Unfortunately they suffer from being located in Perth and therefore can’t afford to fly a full lineup to their away games. This makes them even cooler imo because they’re still competitive despite having way less players.

Brisbane Goannas: The most neglected of hockey markets in Australia, the land of nonexistent hockey markets. They don’t have a men’s team anymore so QLD fans should totally get around them! Their jerseys are super sexy and imo this is the best team name in the league. They aren’t great but deserve more attention because they’ve managed to keep a team this long! I have a feeling one of the players runs some of their social media, its very fun (especially their Instagram stories)

Sydney Sirens: This is the big scary team of the season. Also undefeated in regulation, they’re kind of like the Canberra Brave or Tampa Bay Lightning of 18/19. Their imports are sisters, one of whom played for the CWHL, and a girl who played for them. I HATE this team they’re really hard to play against and are super skilled. Melbourne v Sydney games are GREAT because the rivalry is real and it’s a rematch of last year’s gold medal game (They play again this weekend 14 and 15 of December.) Their social media presence is also really good!

Melbourne Ice Women: This is my team brace yourself. The Melbourne Ice (MIW) are affiliated with the men’s team of the same name. They’ve won the most championships in the league. I’m telling you if you live in Melbourne and haven’t come to one of these games you’re missing out. The crowd is LOUD and ENTHUSIASTIC because there is a brigade of HABS (husbands and boyfriends) who come and go HARD for the team. They’re really skilled but have probably been underperforming this season. They also have a KILLER back half of the season because they’re playing Sydney and Adelaide. Now for some player info:

Christina Julien #91 F: One of the Ice imports and also the captain. She used to play soccer for team Canada and was nominated to their Olympic squad. A badass athlete who is basically a cheat code on the ice.

Megan Eady #44 D: The other Ice import. Literally such a beast. Said once that she had no idea what she was doing on the Ice which CAN’T be true she’s so good. The HABS sing a song when she scores to the tune of Evie by Steve Wright (Eady, Eady let your hair hang down)

Georgia Moore #12 F: Was the first Australian ever drafted into the CWHL (Nathan Walker eat your heart out). Has played for the team since it joined the league.

Shona Green #10 F: THE trailblazer for women’s hockey in Victoria. She was the first woman to play in a lot of the boys’ leagues growing up and has captained the Ice and Team Australia basically a hundred times.

Jenelle Carson #1 G: Absolutely bails out the team a heap. An amazing goalie whose sister (I think) plays on the team as well. Sings a lot during warmups. Literally just watch her games against Sydney this season she’s amazing.

Marnie Pullin #18 F: She’s 16 and had four points playing against grown women on Sunday. She’s already a beast and is only getting better. It’s just a coincidence her name sounds like Marie Philip Poulin but is it really? Go and watch her goals from the weekend (on the Melbourne Ice Women’s Twitter).

The Poutine Line: A fan favourite line made up of three Canadians: #7 Sarah Dash, #77 Nicole Jones and #19 Steph Conlon. Conlon and Dash are more or less in their first seasons on the team. This line is SO GOOD and FUN. Also Meika Yeo #86 D and Eady are totally honourary members of this line because they’re also Canadian and play at the same time as Poutine a lot.

Literally every player on this team is really fun and amazing and I could probably write heaps about all of them but I’m trying to keep it as short as possible.

Most of the teams have Facebook, Twitter and Instagram so give them and the league a follow to keep up with them! Also Women’s Sports Highlights (@ Wsporthilights) on Twitter clips all the best moments of the games so give them a follow too!

[ssttitdramon]

Paper Pinwheels

Ramón Morales x Reader

Requested by @liberal-astronaut :I would like to ask for a ramon x reader story! I loved the interactions of reader and him in "something's got you", maybe something like that but with another story? 

-Wanna send in a request? Check out the rules-

Word Count: 1,926

Note: Many apologies for literally taking two months to come out with this one! I struggled with this and made so many drafts out of it- it was ridiculous. I originally wanted to write this as a regional gothic post, but that flopped so now it’s just a fic with the eerie elements of your typical gothic post, ack.

You have been driving through the large patch of woods for hours now and nearly miss the exit for the only town that was around for miles. The town’s sign is partially covered by thick vines, making Ramón stop so that you can properly read the old sign: Owen’s Coast.

Something about it feels like a warning and you want to continue driving. Glancing at Ramón’s head on the wheel, you check the map again and spot the unmarked tiny black dot on the paper.

“This place doesn’t even have a name on the map.” you nudge his shoulder and show him.

“It’s probably just a small town, we need to stop for gas anyway.”

You give him a concerned look, ready to argue, but his tired eyes quickly change your mind. You sigh and begin to fold the map, “Alright then.”

Taking the exit, you notice the fog grow thick the more you drive into the slim road, prompting Ramón to slow down. Soon, the trees to your right disappear and a field of dry grass pops up, allowing you to barely see the beach below. In the distance, the tall cross above a small church pops up from underneath the fog, leaving the rest of Owen’s Coast a mystery to you.

Passing the church, you notice a pack of kids running around in a playground. Through the cracked window, you hear three boys yell, “She’s got it! She’s got it!” as they all run from a giggling red faced girl. Somehow, as the whole swarm dodges and bumps into one another, everyone manages to avoid knocking over the standstill orange paper pinwheels sticking up from the wood chips. Not a single pinwheel is disturbed.

Three little girls run to the sidewalk when they notice you two and wave hello, your first greeting into the sleepy town.

“Think if we invited those kids to the water, they’d go?” Ramón asks, awkwardly waving back. 

“It’s chilly, we would probably get them all in trouble.” 

Ramón pulls into the gas station and the two of you hop out. As you stretch your legs, the three girls from the playground approach the car, already asking a million questions.

“Where ya from?”

“Is he your boyfriend? He’s pretty, what’s his name?”

“Can you play with us?”

“How old are you?”

“Can you guess what kind of rabbit we found?”

As you tried answering their questions, the smallest girl of the three tugs on Ramón’s sleeve and hands him one of the playground pinwheels, “Here, you can keep this. It’s for good luck, so you won’t get lost.”

He takes it and thanks her, “So this is so I won’t get lost?”

The two other girls nod, “It’s easy to get lost in the fog.” 

“At least that’s what they say-” 

“Yeah, that or it’ll show you things.”

“You can find anything.” 

“Right! Like that rabbit this morning!” 

You ask for the girl’s names and they introduce themselves from youngest to oldest: Annie, Olivia and Sammy. Before the girls ask more questions, the squeaky door to the station opens and the girls run off at the sight of the owner, a stone-faced old man with a wooden cane.

Surprisingly, the old man lets out a laugh from under his bushy mustache and shakes his head, “Curious girls, eh?”

“Are all of them from here?” Ramón nods at the playground. 

The owner glances at the playground and squints, “Ah, most of em’ are from the orphanage down the street. Think there’s about twenty of ‘em, but I stopped trying to keep track a long time ago.” he chuckles.

You look, there’s definitely more than 20 kids running around. About ten boys have broken off from the group’s game to play with a soccer ball behind an old swing set. Six girls have also quit the game and begin to walk down the middle of the street, loudly chattering about catching a new show on the tv tonight. Trailing behind them is Annie, who seems to be more preoccupied on the structure of two paper pinwheels than the group’s conversation. 

Annie stops as she struggles with the loose center of one of the orange pieces and huffs loudly. Looking up in desperation, the small girl sees you leaning against the car and waves you over in excitement. 

Turning to Ramón, you see him already deep in conversation with the old man about fishing boats and whatnot. You walk over to Annie, “Wanna go to the boardwalk with me?” she asks, her small hands still fidgeting with the pinwheels.

“Well, the beach looks pretty foggy today. I don’t wanna get lost or get you in trouble.”

Annie hands you one of the pinwheels, “It’s okay, I know the beach and if we keep these with us, we’ll be okay.” she smiles.

You smile and accept the pinwheel, “Alright, ten minutes, yeah?”

Annie nods and begins to walk towards the beach. Passing Ramón and the old man still in conversation, you quickly wave at him and point to the beach. He nods and watches you catch up to Annie standing beside the church. 

“Ready?” she asks, already walking down the grassy hill without hesitating. You follow her careful steps, nearly slipping on mud several times and look back as the church and gas station disappear into the fog behind you. 

As you get closer, you take notice of the foamy water and the lumps of dark kelp that wash onto the gritty shore below. Stepping foot into the rough grain, Annie holds her arms out as she walks delicately over the sand, imitating a circus tightrope walker. Annie’s graceful walk is interrupted when her foot meets with a plastic shovel and she picks it up. Studying the red toy closely, she turns around to present her new treasure to you, “Look at what the fog shows us now.”

“Interesting, what other things does the fog show you?” 

“A whole lot, the nuns say not everything will be a gift, or something like that. I’m not sure.” Annie answers and shrugs. She tucks the toy under her arm and begins to walk towards an old boardwalk.

As you follow Annie towards the end of the deck, you notice what seems to be clumps of paper and kelp slosh against the posts below you. Kneeling down to look at the water closely, it seems as if someone had dumped a load of papers onto the beach.

You turn around to ask Annie about the odd paper, only to be faced with the white mist and the quiet creak of the boardwalk. 

“Annie?!” you call out, looking behind you and around. No signs of her. You listen closely for a mischievous snicker and her black mary janes running on the wood. Still nothing. 

“Annie, this isn’t funny.” you begin to panic and look around, your imagination running wild with possibilities. 

Still, Annie is still nowhere to be seen. As you walk down the boardwalk, you notice her paper pinwheel and red shovel wedged between two brown slats of wood. Picking up the pinwheel and shovel, you see her pale face flash from between the gaps. 

“Annie!” you call out and kneel down by the edge, pushing away the wads of wet paper. Grabbing the corner of one paper, you rip off the top half and skim the fading letters in black ink, MISSING CHILD: Richard, age twelve, last seen February 16, 1908. The ink on half of the smiling boy’s picture slowly curls into a glare, his small gaze still somewhat trained on you as you let the wet slip fall. 

Feeling your heart race, you paw at the murky water again and move your hand underneath the boardwalk, hoping to reach Annie. Instead, you pull more and more papers to the surface, all stained with algae and tangled with the slippery kelp. Most missing reports are already torn or nearly reduced to nothing, their black ink swirling across the faces of long-lost kids. You feel nauseous as more faces, names, ages and contact numbers appear before you, but you continue to furiously rake through the debris. 

One paper sticks to your wrist and as you pull your hand up, you’re met with Annie’s smiling face printed in the middle. Letting the paper fall on the wood, you scurry away, unable to look away from the bold MISSING CHILD above her face. Your eyes dart to the date when she was last seen, June 3, 1884. 

Your heart drops, your throat tightens up and your palms grow sweaty. As you center yourself, you hear water splashing by the shoreline. “Annie?” you call out weakly, hoping she’d somehow still appear before you. 

Looking at the report in front of you again, her pale face remains there, staring back at you. You stand up and walk down the boardwalk, feeling eyes- her eyes on you. You glance back at those small eyes in the paper, eyes as shiny as they were only a few minutes ago. 

Clutching the orange pinwheels, you slowly walk down the boardwalk. Knee deep in the water appears Ramón, surrounded by paper, kelp, and several floating plastic toy soldiers. “Ramón,” you start, but he won’t look away from the missing reports in the water, “we need to get out of here.” you whisper. 

He doesn’t seem to listen; instead, his focus remains on one particular paper. “Hey,” your voice cracks, “it’s not real, look at me.” 

Ramón’s gaze continues to look over the water with tears in his eyes, still unable to listen or look at you. “Ramón, look at me.” you try again. You step down from the boardwalk and slowly walk to him. 

“Why is he on there?” Ramón finally speaks up, voice hoarse and hardly audible. He nearly drops his orange pinwheel before securing his hold on it again, remembering the girls’ words.

“I don’t know why he’s there. I don’t know what any of this is, but we both know he’s not missing.” you answer him and swat at the toy soldiers that make circles around his legs. When you touch his shoulder, his dark eyes finally tear away from the water and turn to you. Immediately, you recognize the pain in his eyes. 

It’s a different type of agony from the one that has settled in Ramón’s eyes over the past few weeks. What lays in his eyes now reminds you of the funeral. It was a windy day with a dull sky over an American flag, a closed casket and a mourning family reciting onto their rosaries. Mrs. Morales shaky Ave Maria’s still echo in your head, just as the pain in her prayers have been rattling inside Ramón’s chest since he left. 

You stand in front of him, blocking his view of his brother’s image in the water. “It’s not him, we need to get out of here.” you whisper, holding his hand. Ramón doesn’t budge, but he doesn’t pull away either. “Ramón, you know where your brother rests now.”

This small confirmation seems to be enough for him. He wraps his arms around you and pushes his face into your shoulder. “Guess they were right about finding stuff and the lost.” he mumbles and holds you closer when he realizes the double meaning in his words. 

You pull away, but you don’t dare let go of him. “We can’t let this fog lose the two of us now.” he nods at your surroundings. Agreeing with him, you gather your pinwheels and hold them between your clasped hands.

*Feedback is always appreciated!!*

[thecorpsesystem]

Found this in my drafts (Wtf was I doing lol)

Warning(s): Implied/Mention of teen pregnancy, Abuse, Neglect, Violence, Swearing, Mention of blood, Bad writing (sorry that last one's my fault)

Word count: 1562 --

"Happy seventeenth birthday," I say to myself on February 7th, in the dirty bathroom mirror on the second floor.

"PATTON HURRY UP!! YOU'VE BEEN IN THERE FOR AGES!!" My eight-year-old brother, Robin yells as he pounds on the bathroom door.

"Oh, shut up, I've been in here for less than five minutes," I say as I open the door. I only just walk out when my little brother pushes past me and slams the door.

I wake three steps down the hall when Joey, my ten-year-old brother runs into me well holding his solar system project that he's been working on for weeks. "Joseph Evergreen, watch where you're going," I scold him.

"Sorry," he says looking up from his replica of Mars.

"It's fine, just watch where you're putting your feet next time," I say ruffling his dark brown hair.

"And brush your hair!" I tell him as he runs off towards his and Robin's room at the end of the hall.

"Give it back!" Lillee yells from there triplets' room.

"NO! I'm using it!" Violet yells back.

"Both of you shut up, I'm trying to do my homework!!!" Poppie screams at her sisters.

I walk down the halls looking at some of the framed photos on the light grey walls; spasticity the ones of the triplets. They used to be so close but ever since they started going to school at Rickton, they've done nothing but fight, Lillee and Violet are still a lot closer than them and Poppie. Poppie has always prioritized school over her sisters and would rather do her work then talk to Lillee and Violet who she calls 'the two bumbling bozos'.

I push open the brown wood door. The walls are grey like the ones in the halls, except for the back wall with the only window which is a muddy light pink that was painted years ago. The hardwood floors are covered in clothes, the beds aren't made except for the top bunk belonging to Poppie. Even the master bedroom is barely big enough for a bunk bed and a twin size bed.

The blond girls with foggy grey eyes stop fighting when they see me come in.

"What's going on?" I ask no one in particular.

"Violet's using my hair straightener!" Lillee says pointing at Violet who continues to straighten her waist-length dirty blond hair. "Ok, first off, Lillee you're wearing Violets pink jumper," I say pointing at the pink and white striped jumper grandmother got for Violet, that Lillee has on.

"And secondly, Violet, you know father's rules: Hair straighteners and curling rods are only allowed to be used in the bathroom," I tell Violet gesturing for her to go into their bathroom, she walks into the bathroom, walking around the large piles of clothing.

"Oh, and Poppie, why don't you take your homework and do it on the kitchen island?" I ask turning to Poppie who's on her top bunk.

"Can't, grandma's in the kitchen cooking dinner with her music is going." She replies without looking up from her textbooks.

"Have you tried father's study?"

"It's locked,"

"Outside?"

"Way too cold," She says, finally looking up from her textbooks.

"Dinning room?"

"Grandma has already set the table so there is nowhere to put my books," She says holding up her French textbook. "Living room?" I ask. " Mums in there."

"So?"

"She's drinking, and I personally don't want to be in the same room as her when she starts ranting about how getting pregnant at fifteen was the worst thing that ever happened to her." She says pulling her long blond hair into a ponytail. Oh how I love hearing my mother go on and on about how I was the biggest regret of her life.

"I'm going over to get Natalia, I'm sure Mrs. North would let you do your work there." l say getting a little frustrated with my little sister. "I really don't want to talk to Nathen."

"Nat's little brother, he's your age isn't he?" I ask. "Yeah-"

"ohhh looks like someone has a crush," Violet teases. "No... I don't!" Poppie says as her face goes red. "Oh come on! You're fifteen and you still don't have a boyfriend!" Says Lillee putting on mascara in a dirty mirror.

"You're not seeing anyone." Violet points out, "Yeah, but I have dated before." Lillee says, now putting on nude lipstick. "Speaking of boys, how are you and Dylan?" Poppie asks Violet, obviously trying to change the subject away from her love life. "Oh we're great, hey! Don't try and change the subject!"

"Ugh, I'll just pick the lock on fathers study." Poppie says still flustered, pulling her back pack filled with textbooks and notebooks on to her shoulder. She climes down from the bunk, leaving the room.

"Where are you two going?" I ask, turning my attention on Lillee and Violet. "The movies with some friends." Violet reply's, putting gold hoop earrings into her ears. "You two better be back before dinner." I remind them. "Oh please," Lillee says, brushing me off. "We'll just blame it on the traffic." finishes Violet as she sits on the bottom bunk, lacing up black heeled boots.

"Guys! this is the third time this week!" I scold my two sisters. "Oh, it's fine. Dad's working late, mums drunk and grandma's clueless." Lillee tells me. Violet walks over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder,"Please,"

I hesitate before allowing them to go, but I made sure they promised to clean their room tomorrow morning before we leave for school.

I walk downstairs and into the kitchen the air is warm and sweet unlike everywhere else in this shit hole of a house.

"I'm leaving." I tell my grandmother "Okay dear, just be home for dinner." she reminds me as she cuts up carrots with a fast motion of her left hand. I walk back through the living room making no eye contact with my abusive mother.

I zip up my grey hoodie I wear over top of my over-sized black and white striped t-shirt. I laced up my black dirt stand doc martens, tucking  my ripped skinny jeans into my boots, I rolled up my sleeves and reached my hand out for the door.

A beer bottle shatters on the wall beside the front door, just missing my head by a few inches. "What the fuck did you did you do to your hair?" I turn around to face my mother. "I cut it last month." I say calmly to my intoxicated mother, afraid to say the wrong thing.

I look and see Violet, Lillee, Poppie,  Joey and Robin all at the top of the stairs. they all look absolutely petrified knowing that anyone of them could be next. "Why the fuck would you do that!" My mother shouts as she reaches for another beer bottle. She can hit me all she wants, as long as she's not hurting them, I think to myself.

"Because I thought it was getting to long." I answer.

"It was that North girl wasn't it!" She speaks of Natalia as if she were the gum on the bottom of my mothers shoe. "You will never see her again!" My mother yells, throwing another bottle. I block my face with my bear hands, it smashes cutting my palms and fingers a thousand times. Another bottle is thrown, this time around I run to my right. It would have been smarter to run out the door, I think, but then again she may take her anger out on the kids instead of me.

I glance over at the entrance to the kitchen, but my grandmother seems to be too engulfed in her Italian music to hear what's going on. Well I'm distracted she throws another bottle, hitting me square in the face. Warm blood runs down my face, dripping on to my sweater, and a stinging sensation comes from three places on my face. I touch one of them with the tips of my fingers, but when I look down at my hand I can't tell if the blood is from the cuts on my hand or my head.

My mother runs up to me and pushes me against the wall. "You will never see that girl again!" She yells in my face, her breath smells of red wine, vodka, and beer. She punches me in the gut then lets me fall on to my knees. I look up at my siblings, trying to be strong for them although I have never before been in so much pain.

My brothers and sisters know the drill: hide out in the triplets room until either father comes home or mother passes out. This time I can only count on Poppie because I know that the other two girls will clime out the window to see their friends. I can't blame them; honestly I would do the same if I didn't have to take care of them.

Before the bitch gets the chance to come at me again, I run out the door, slamming it shut behind me. The cold air fills my nose and leaves my cuts feeling slightly better.

[videcoeur]

I am not dead I swear

But yeah, as everyone know, I work in marketing and nov/dec/jan are the busiest months of the year for me (rip my life) Christmas is nice and all but I gotta write a lot and do a lot (gift shopping, meet up with folks irl) which keeps me insanely busy.

Please don’t send me passive aggressive asks asking me if my blog is dead or, and I quote, if I ever will reply to my rps.

If you reach a point where you are so fed up with waiting for a reply to one of our thread that you feel the need to do this, please drop the thread :) I haven’t technically deleted any of my current threads from my drafts and/or discord. Here and there I may attempt a reply, but as you noticed, I’ve been pretty quiet lately, only pumping out adopts here and there to make some spare change to afford christmas and my trip in January.

Until February, expect my activity to be at least this spotty. While I do want to reply to my threads as writing is my passion and I’d love to be rping 24/7, I work in marketing so I’m already writing a lot for my job. When the day’s over, I wish I could keep writing, but after writing anywhere between 4 to 8k words a day, I’m pretty worded out.

Which is why I can make adopts and not write. Drawing doesn’t require my brain to function much. and it’s something I enjoy and that relaxes me. So I’d really appreciate if you, whoever you are that I owe a reply to, stopped sending me messages about when I’m gonna reply and making me feel bad for posting adopts. I blocked your last two asks but I’m pretty sure they’re from the same person and you’re just using a vpn or something.

Please stop, it’s christmas for everyone, I’m a 30 years old adult with a very busy schedule and I’m trying my best :’) I don’t need to be made feeling bad because of a hobby. 

Also, as a side note, I only owe like 6 people and there’s at least 4 of them I’m convinced you’re not so if you keep this up I’mma find you and block you thanks. 

Thank u for understanding

[the-blind-assassin-12]

Passing Through

Part One: Looks Like Snow 

A/N: Well. Here I am attempting to write for Ryan Brenner. This started out as a cute little one shot for @banditthewriter ‘s trope challenge, with the prompt of “spilling coffee on a stranger” and then one thing let to another and a whole plot line the length of my arm unfurled and here we are. So. Without further ado, I invite you along on this mile high musical adventure. 

Word Count: 3,862

Warnings: none. it’s fluff. all fluff and nothin but the fluff so help me fluff. 

You’d been awake already when the first few rays of sunlight filtered through the vertical shades, reaching for you like fingers to tangle in your hair. With a sigh and a stretch you tossed the sheets aside and sat up, pinching the bridge of your nose. You’d pulled a double shift down at Jake’s yesterday, trading with Missy so you’d have off today, and you hadn’t gotten in until after 2am. As tired as you were, you knew you wouldn’t be sleeping, not through the night anyway. Too many memories running on a loop, too many songs playing in your head. It’s how it always was on this day. It’s how you knew it always would be. Absently, you ran the overstretched, frayed collar of the old tie dye tee you wore between your thumb and fingers, the soft, threadbare fabric bringing you comfort like it always did.

She’d been something of a hippie, your mom, and while you were growing up you didn’t understand why she couldn’t just make cupcakes for school bake sales or volunteer as your Girl Scout leader, why a carpool had to include sing-a-longs to songs your friends didn’t know, or why she’d show up to parent teacher meetings in ripped denim and layers of long necklaces, hair down and free and wild. But as you’d gotten older, into your college years, you started to understand her better. You appreciated her free spirit, and her encouragement of your own. Yeah sure, from time to time you’d open the fridge and there’d be nothing but a head of lettuce or some obscure ingredients she’d meant to use in a recipe she’d  gotten from her friend who’d just returned from India. Sometimes you’d come home to find her cross legged out on the back porch with a ukulele or guitar, strumming while rusty brown oak leaves fluttered down to stick in her hair, not realizing how chilly it’d gotten until you were draping a crocheted blanket around her shoulders. You’d sit on the edge of the lawn chair, thumping your thigh along with the last bars of whatever tune she was playing, and if you knew the words you’d join in, her teeth flashing in a wide smile as she sang. She was unconventional, creative and carefree. Sometimes that made things difficult, but she’d taught you far more than she’d held you back in any way, taught you far more important lessons than how to make lasagna or what setting on the dryer wouldn’t shrink your sweaters. She’d taught you how to laugh things off and when to say “fuck it”. You missed her every single day. But today you ached a little more. You raked a hand through your long unruly hair- her hair, on your head- and stood from the bed.

By 8:30am you were dressed and had slogged down a cup of coffee. It was late February, but the winter weather in Colorado was as wild and unpredictable as the landscape or the sky. “Yeah, we have all four seasons- sometimes in one day.” You’d heard some form of that phrase since you’d moved out this way. The weather, 300 days of sunshine,  had been a draw for Kevin, and part of the reason he’d chosen the destination. But he was gone and you were here and even though the sun was warm, the air was brisk, and despite the lack of clouds in the cerulean sky, you knew there was always a strong likelihood of snow. You shoved your feet into ankle high brown leather boots before lacing them up over your jeans, grabbed a chartreuse knit hat and stuffed your curls beneath it, and slung your cross-body bag over your your shoulder.

The day was yours, to spend with your thoughts and your memories, and you weren’t going to stay caged inside these empty walls. You cast your eyes over your living room; carpet slightly faded in the spot where the sofa had lived for the last four years, black wrought iron fireplace tools standing at attention next to a hearth that hadn’t been lit in ages, the hook for your keys the only thing that remained hung. You grabbed them, the little pewter elephant charm slipping between your fingers, cold from the draft that came through the front door. This hasn’t been home for a while, you thought, if it ever was at all. Strangely, the thought didn’t bother you. What bothered you was that you didn’t know where home was anymore. Pushing that thought to the back of your mind to unpack another day, you sniffed and adjusted your hat with one fingerless-gloved hand, and headed out.

You took the trail behind your apartment that ran along the South Platte River, a mile or so to the light-rail station in town. You were only one town over from the Denver city-limits, but Littleton felt as small and secluded as any tiny mountain village, and it was one of the things that you both loved and hated about where you were staying- it was too easy to get stuck here. The trail gave way to the town’s main street and you passed Jake’s Brew Bar where Missy would be opening up for you in a few hours, and inTea, the boutique tea shop, and Penzy’s the bulk spice marketplace. Nothing was open yet, storefronts all darkened and sleepy. You walked toward the rail station, the rising sun behind you throwing light at the mountains, shining in their purple majesty. It was a beautiful morning to honor the beautiful memory of your mother, and you would do so by partaking in one of her favorite hobbies- making free music for strangers and expressing your soul in the process. You boarded the light rail and rode it the 5 or so stops to the Denver Convention Center, passing beneath the giant blue bear statue, and turned toward Blake Street, heading for the 16th Street Mall and that painted piano that awaited you- after stopping in at Caribou for an obligatory second cup of java.

You got in line behind two men, one in a sleek charcoal gray suit with a thick, black wool pea coat, cell phone clutched tightly in high- end gloves,  the other carrying a guitar on his back and wearing dark, broken in denim pants and a light brown canvas coat that looked like it had seen more winters than the man who wore it. You smiled as the more casual of the two ordered his drink- a small, black coffee to go. His voice was warm, like cinnamon, and it played into the melody of his surroundings; the hiss of the espresso machine, porcelain mugs clinking together as a twenty-something with headphones on emptied the dishwasher, the bell above the door as another couple of patrons came chattering in from the bright morning. You heard the man’s charming twang as he thanked the barista with a tip of his hat and the jingling sound of a few coins dropping into the jar on the counter. He stepped over to the side of the shop where there was a station set up for milks, sweeteners and other toppings and add-ins, and you heard him humming to himself as he tore open a sugar packet and shook its contents into his coffee.

The suit was barking his order to the girl behind the counter, making sure that she knew that the last time he came to Caribou Coffeehouse, his order was wrong and that if it happened again he wouldn’t be back and he’d make a formal complaint on the corporate website because how hard can it be to follow an order and make a drink? You rolled your eyes and scoffed to yourself. As a bartender, you knew the type. Six figure salary, needs to wear at least four of those figures at all times so that everyone knows where they stand around them, and equates everyone around them to their job title because that’s how they feel about themselves. The contrast between this boardroom bozo and the kind natured music man stirring sugar into his coffee could not have been more stark. You couldn’t be sure, but you thought you caught a smirk from under the hat and behind the patchy beard of the canvas clad stranger as you showed your distaste for the rudeness the suit was showing the barista.

You were up next, the bozo back on the phone as he waited next to you for his complicated order to be filled. You ordered a simple medium coffee with room for milk, and gave the girl a wink of solidarity as you tucked a couple singles into her tip cup. She smiled appreciatively at you and punched your frequent buyers card three extra times so that your next one would be free. You told her to have a nice day, and turned towards the milk station, removing the lid from your cup. But the suit had just been handed his beverage, and he stepped in front of you cutting you off. You tried to catch yourself but you were already in motion, and you collided with the man, spilling most of your coffee on the back of his coat. You gasped and jumped back, trying to keep more of the dark brown liquid from escaping your cup, but it was too late; the damage had been done, and the man stiffened his shoulders before turning around with a scowl. “Are you kidding me?” He spat the words at you, his face going red with anger.

You immediately grabbed a fist full of napkins from the dispenser and thrust them in the direction of the man’s wildly gesturing hands. “I am so sorry, sir,” you said sincerely. He may be a rude asshole but you honestly didn’t mean to throw your coffee at him.

“You can’t watch where you’re going?” he ignored your apology, ignored your offering of white paper napkins, and continued to sneer down at you.

The barista glanced nervously over from where she was helping the two customers who had come in behind you, clearly observing that the encounter was escalating past her paygrade. You waved her off indicating that you were okay and her relieved sigh could be heard over the drip of the new pot she was brewing. “Sir, really, I am sorry. Trust me, I’m just as upset as you are,” you tried to joke with him like you might with a customer at Jake’s. “I needed that coffee a lot more than your coat did.”

“Do you even know what this coat costs?” he asked coldly, removing the jacket to inspect the spill. “More than you make in a month I’d wager.”

“Look, it’s a nice coat. I spilled coffee on it. I’m really sorry. If you’ll let me I’ll pay for the dry cleaning. Here, let me give you my number and-” you were really trying your hardest not to curse the man out, calling on your mom’s ability to kill with kindness. You’d never mastered it like she had, though, and it was taking everything in you.

He scoffed. “Even that would probably be more than you could afford,” he looked you up and down: yesterday’s jeans, mud caked boots, two cable knit sweaters layered over one another and a handmade, multicolored scarf wrapped three times around your neck that matched neither your hat nor your gloves. He wasn’t interested in an apology or an offer to amend things. He only wanted to remind you of how much higher than you he had climbed. You let out a frustrated huff and were about to try one more time, when another pair of mud caked boots appeared in your line of sight.  

“S’cuse me sir, but the lady said she was sorry,” he took a step closer to the suit, closing the lid on his cup. He brought his thumb to his lips to suck a drop of coffee from it and shrugged. “Accidents happen, y’know?” You watched his hand fall back to his side, noticing the inked lines of small tattoos on the digits between knuckles. You gave him a grateful half smile for stepping in, as the two patrons behind you took the long way around the three of you to get to the milk station.

The suit turned to the other man and directed his venom at him. “Mind your business,” he barked.

The other man’s warm spiced eyes narrowed and darkened just a touch, and your breath caught as you watched his tongue dart out of his mouth and back between his lips before he responded. “Pardon me sir, but I’m makin’ this my business. Now, she apologized, so either let her pay for your cleanin’ or move along so these nice people can get their coffee.” He wasn’t aggressive, not by any means, nor did he seem threatening. He was simply sincere, and that sincerity seemed to unsettle the suit. The bozo grumbled under his breath about how he wished his company would move to the other side of the city, away from the bums of the 16th Street Mall, but, throwing one last disgusted look at you and the sincere stranger in front of you, he left the coffeehouse and brought his negativity with him.

The barista passed you another cup of coffee, on the house, and held out a handwritten ticket for a free small coffee to the hero who rid Caribou of that obnoxious asshole, which he accepted with a shy smile, tucking it into an inner pocket of his coat. “Thank you, ma’am, I’ll be back another mornin’ then,” he nodded and the girl smiled brightly before turning back to the line of patrons, all of which had just witnessed the scene and none of whom were sympathetic to bozo’s coffee covered pea coat. He turned back to the small table that he’d been walking towards before getting involved, and you saw a small black plastic flip phone plugged into the wall behind the table. He picked it up and opened it, checking to see how much the battery had charged.

You finished pouring almond milk into your coffee, stirring it with a thin wooden stick before dropping it into the trash and turning towards where the man stood holding his phone. “Hey,” you said with a small grin. He blinked and gave you his attention as soon as the word left your lips, and you were struck by the silence in his soft eyes, by the way that they shone against his slightly tanned, slightly windburnt skin. Oh, wow. You cleared your throat and let out a little laugh. “Hey, um, thanks. That guy was a jerk,” you rolled your eyes and he nodded, smile climbing up one side of his warm face. “You didn’t have to do that. Most people wouldn’t.”

“Don’t mention it,” he answered. “And I did have to do that…” he shook his head. “People like that, they forget,” he closed the phone in his hand with a snap and reached down to unplug the cord, winding it and tucking both items into another inner pocket of his coat.

“Forget what?” you asked, unable to tear your eyes from him.

He looked back up at you as if amazed that you were still there talking to him. His mouth dropped open just a bit before his came back together in a smile. “Forget that they’re no better’n the rest of us.” He dried the spilled coffee on his hands by brushing them off on his pants. “Well,” he adjusted the straps of his guitar case on his shoulders. “You have a nice day, ma’am.”

You spoke your name without realizing it, suddenly overcome with a want to share it with him. He looked at you, eyes shining again as his top lip twitched upwards. “Ryan,” he said, extending his hand. You took it, immediately feeling the callouses and little cuts on his fingers from the abuse of the strings. “Pleasure to meet you.” He dropped your hand too soon and you squeezed it closed, trying to hold onto the feeling of his well-used fingers wrapped around yours.

“Likewise,” you didn’t usually make small talk with people you just bumped into, but something compelled you to keep opening your mouth. Your eyes fell on the neck of the guitar case sticking up over his shoulder. “So, you got a gig somewhere today?” You raised your coffee laden hand to indicate his instrument.

If his eyes shone before they sparkled now and he cast them downward, grin growing as he lifted them back to your face. “Nah, not in so many words,” he looked toward the window, out at the bright blue sky that was just visible over the tops of trees and buildings, at the way the morning light caught the flecks of silicon and metal in the sidewalk, sparkling with the magic of the mundane as people walked over it without noticing. “Just gonna go out there’n play.”

You shook your head and let out a surprised little breath. “What?” he asked, genuine curiosity in his tone.

“It’s just,” you laughed again at the serendipity of it all and heard your mom’s voice as she gushed about how much she loved that word- the stars don’t just align every day, Junebug, she’d say, using her nickname for you, her summer child, so when they do you better take note. “Just... that’s what I came down here to do today, too.” You took a sip of your coffee, the nutty aroma filling your nostrils as the piping hot liquid slid down your throat, warming you from the inside out.

“Yeah?” he asked, beaming at you. “You play?” his eyes darted around as though looking for a guitar or banjo or something that he’d missed. “What do you play?”

You winked. “Piano.”

His smile widened and his curiosity grew. “Piano? You got one in your pocket or somethin’?” He pointed in the general direction of your pockets and you laughed.

“Nah, left my pocket piano at home today,” you answered, patting down your jeans with your free hand as though looking for something that you had misplaced. He chuckled and it was one of the most joyous sounds you’d ever heard. You knew nothing about this man, but you could tell that everything he said, whatever he felt and the things he expressed, all of it was completely genuine, 100% authentic. He seemed incapable of faking a reaction or an emotion, and it was one of the most refreshing interactions you’d ever had in your life.

“Then, where…” he tilted his head and wrinkled his nose to show his confusion.

“Follow me, if you’re curious,” you headed towards the door and he followed, arm coming from behind you to hold it open for you as you stepped outside. You thanked him and he fell into step beside you. You noticed that he kept his eyes up and that they were always flitting from one thing to the next- he’d hear a bird or the beep of a horn and he’d turn in the direction of the sound, always alert and present and eager to absorb what was happening around him, a true artist. “So, you ever play on 16th Street before?” you asked, making conversation as you walked the 4 or so streets down to the garden block.

“Can’t say that I have. It’s my first time in Denver, just got in this mornin’. Heard it was a good spot for music, though.”

“It is,” you answered with an emphatic nod, and he smiled, happy that the information he’d been given had been confirmed. “So you’re not from around here then if this is your first time in Denver,” you stated.

“Nah, just passin’ through,” he said with a shrug. When he lifted his shoulders the light hit his brown hair where it was sticking out from under his cap at the right angle, showing off some golden tones that you knew came from spending so much time under the sun. “How ‘bout you, you from here?”

You thought back to your empty apartment and how you couldn’t call it home. “No,” you said, slightly distracted. “No, I guess you could say I’m passing through, too.” You were thankful to have reached the garden block, a small fenced area with concrete flower boxes that overflowed with color in the spring and summer, metal cafe tables and chairs with chess boards painted on them, and your favorite thing about 16th Street- a shabby, beaten up old upright piano that was painted with different colors and patterns every time you made it down this way. Today it was a deep red with purple swirls and black lettering that read “Denver Makes Music Happen”. You spread your arms wide as you stepped to the side so Ryan could see the piano. “Ta-da,” you announced.

He ran his hand over the top of it, feeling the layers upon layers of paint before attending to the keys. It needed tuning, like it always did, but you smiled as his fingers danced over the ivory. “So you play piano, too, huh?” you asked with a smirk. He looked over to you and nodded, and again you were dumbstruck by his eyes and the quiet calm that seemed to come from them. “Some people get all the talent,” you joked, sitting down at the piano and cracking your knuckles.

He dipped his head as he shrugged the guitar case from his back, sitting on one of the concrete flower boxes and setting the case down by his feet. “I can play the piano,” he said, unbuckling the snaps, “but this is my first love,” he opened the case and the way his eyes lit up with they fell on the shiny wooden guitar made it clear that there was nothing in the world that he loved more. He picked it up gingerly, setting it on his knee, strumming over the strings as you warmed up on the piano. “You…” he removed his hat to run a hand over his hair anxiously before pulling it back over his head. “You wanna play together for a while? I always like meetin’ musicians wherever I go… I like playin’ with people from all different places.” It was an earnest invitation, and you were eager to accept.

You looked up at the sky- still clear and empty- and then turned West, looking down the 16th Street Mall towards the mountains in the distance. Over the jagged tops of the Rockies hung a heavy shelf of cloud that made the sky look closer than it was and meant snow was undoubtedly going to make an appearance at some point, despite the warm sunshine that made you shed one of your two sweaters as you answered him. “Sure,” you started playing a folk song, one your mom used to force on you and your friends growing up that you’d learned to love. “We can play until the weather turns.” You cocked your head towards the snow cloud shelf. “Looks like snow soon.”

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  

@something-tofightfor @my-little-dumpster-fire @suchatinyinfinity @lexxierave @benbarnestongue @banditthewriter 

please let me know if you want on or off this train (ha ha)