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interdimensionalspaceworm · 2 years

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A short musical analysis of ISWM from someone who knows nothing about music

so i'm going through iswm again but specifically listening to the music this time, because i've been watching videos about movie music lately, so despite me knowing absolutely nothing about music i'm trying to pretend i do. ANYWAY.

preliminary findings: Yes, Space Is So Cool is EVERYWHERE. it's in the main theme, it's in the scene at the beginning where the crew give you a toast, it's in the noir world, variations of it pop up in almost all the alternate universes in part 2. at the very end, while the first ships are departing for the new planet, you can even hear a subtle version of the 'millions and billions of stars' part of it, which i had never heard before, and thought was really cool. but it's not the only thing going on.

i've been trying to find musical cues for the crew and... i don't know... i want to say there aren't any, because the musical choices are so all over the place, but there definitely are at least one or two. there is for certain a military-style snare drum thing going on for gunther (go to his introduction in 'wake the crew', when he's talking about going 'rat hunting' in 'call an emergency meeting', and his mutiny) and a cymbals effect used pretty often with burt, though this might just be coincidental (again, in his part in 'wake the crew' and a few times in 'call an emergency meeting'). I can't find much for celci, except for a different, 'techier' version of a track we hear a few times as she appears in 'wake the crew'. I'd argue that 'Space Is So Cool' is Mark's cue, and not only for our Mark but EVERY Mark, since not only does (multiple versions of) Mark deliver its reprise, but we also only ever hear it (afaik) when some version of Mark is with us or near us.

theme music is mostly reserved for important moments, with the rest having subtle or no music at all. it's honestly really inconsistent. there is, however, a definite musical language. the warp core has its own music that plays when we are in 'warp core space' when we get the crystal and again when we meet a dying Lady. the scenes on the invincible often utilize similar sounds and musical style to each other, which i realized as i was writing this is variations of the iswm theme that plays in the credits before the last goodbye. the alternate universes are tied together by the familiar, yet different sounds of the 'Space Is So Cool' variants just as they are thematically tied together by the familiar, yet different variants of Mark in them. Even the false 'good' ending in part 1, where we become paranoid and seal the colony away, has the same music as when we emerge and check on the crew at the real ending in part 2. In the true ending, however, the music eventually turns into a more hopeful piece of music as you realize that everything's genuinely okay.

i could go into how i think the background music also acts as a kind of indicator of the Captain's emotions when they are alone and their hands and movements aren't enough to portray how they feel but that's a post for another day and this one's long and rambly enough as it is.

anyway uh yeah. another layer to an already complex project. look for yourself if you don't believe me... maybe you'll find something i missed!

#iswm #iswm theory #markiplier #iswm analysis

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stardestroyer81 · 2 years

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Hi everyone! I'm back yet again with another lengthy design deep-dive post, this time having to do with Override! It's been a short while since I've discussed anything Override related, and since I've been wanting to talk about it and its cast of characters again for quite some time, I settled on the perfect topic: how its main character designs have evolved over the course of two years!

Since I first unveiled Override as a concept to my tumblr (Which you can find linked in the paragraph above), a good few touch-ups have been made to all four protagonists— including a complete redesign of Casey! Check it out!

I find that the differences in design are most prevalent with Casey, though effectively, the remaining three have also had pixel-perfect alterations made to their sprites. I'm also just now realizing that this is the first time my followers are getting to see their default sprites, something I'm very much acquainted to by this point.

Below, you will find not only explanations as to what's changed for each character's design, but also their full design timelines (And developmental names!) which includes sprites I made for Casey and Lauren back in 2019! Without further adieu, let's get into it, because we're in for a long ride!

As I've mentioned in Override's two year anniversary post, Override was once a completely different concept entirely compared to what it is today, and given this, each member of the chosen four have had quite a rollercoaster ride in just about every aspect of their design, be it their looks, name, or personality.

And who better to start with than Casey?

Casey was originally going to be named either 'Weston' or 'Colton' early on in back when the project was called MOTHER: Into the Unknown, but 'Casey' was settled to be his final name once I drew him for the first time.

As you can see above, the tried and true Earthbound 'striped shirt and shorts protagonist' combo in Casey's design was used to its fullest since day one. At first, I wanted him to have a red shirt with orange stripes, but after noticing this made him look too similar to Lucas, it was changed to a blue shirt with cyan stripes.

Fun fact: Casey's dull brown hair color and the color scheme of his shirt for a while were in direct reference to one of Lucas' Smash Bros. alternate palettes, which was where I got the inspiration from (Plus, blue is my favorite color)! He was going to have red shorts as well, but that was much too on the nose.

Casey's scarf also went through a few color changes! I think the reason it was white in the first design was just for placeholder reasons, though I recall it being red for a little while before I switched into yellow for two reasons: one, the color yellow is associated with both optimism and cowardice (Both being big personality traits of Casey's), and two... well... this guy.

Lastly, let's touch on Casey's most recent design. Because Override is now its own entity separate from the Earthbound continuity, I wanted to opt for a design that was... more of my own, if that makes sense. I ended up giving him a long sleeved light cyan shirt with blue sleeves, referencing his previous design, as well as completely redrawing his hair so that it wouldn't be too spherical.

Now, how would you react if I told you that Casey's design timeline has the least number of sprites?

Enter Lauren, who I've given the distinction of having the second most changed design since her first version! My original vision of Lauren was to have her be more of a 'girly girl' type (Look where that ended up lol), and while she had several preliminary names, the only ones I distinctly remember are 'Madison' and 'Hannah'.

Because I didn't bring it up in Casey's section, you might notice that Lauren's sprite style changes drastically by the third design, opting for a bigger sprite with room for more detail. Early on in, this visual style lined up with Oddity's quite a bit, and became its own thing soon enough (Plus, Override's character sprites have four pixel tall eyes. Big difference.).

For like a very brief while, Lauren's color of choice was a mint green, though that was swapped out for a shade of orange quite fast. I also wanted Lauren to have a bow, kind of like what Paula wears in Earthbound, and I also wanted her to wear a dress... before long, I realized I had just designed another Paula.

So, the dress aspect of the design had to be changed, but I first wanted to see if I could hammer out a good hairstyle for her, which doesn't come into full effect until the third-to-last sprite. Lauren eventually began to sport her trademark ruby red color, and instantaneously after that change, she switched out the dress for something marginally less lady-like; a t-shirt and overall combo.

By now, Lauren's 'nine-year-old tyrant' personality was beginning to take shape, and while her overall design was her final design for a while, I then remembered that Override takes place early on in the year, so it might make a little more sense to have her dress in something warmer (Like how Casey gained a sweater)!

Thus, Lauren was given her standard jacket, as well as keeping the pink shirt aspect of the previous design! I find that Lauren had the smallest amount of changes between the Override reveal post and this one, as all I did were give her the little hood pullies and a hood for her jacket.

And that's a wrap for Lauren! You know how I said that Lauren had the second most changes to her design since her initial concept? Well, do you want to know who couldn't keep a consistent design for the live of him for the longest time?

Bradley.

With a whopping eleven different design sprites, it took me an extremely long time to settle on how I wanted Bradley to look, as well as who Bradley is as a character. Named 'Oliver' originally, his design didn't start making the rounds until I had started to round out the designs for Casey and Lauren.

Initially, I envisioned Bradley as more of a 'social outcast' type (Much more so than his present version, funnily), though I also wanted him to be kind of a nerd type who plays video games a lot and does well in class, but I also wanted him to be a 'cool guy' character who would skateboard everywhere... oh, boy, this wasn't going to be easy.

Bradley, for a while, wore glasses, as a subtle nod to the glasses Jeff wears in Earthbound: the only difference being that you could actually see Bradley's eyes. Jeff was a big inspiration for Bradley's character, too, seeing as both were blonde (At one point), had glasses (At one point, again), wore green (At some point) and didn't use magic.

It was when I did away with his glasses that his current design began to form. I briefly brought back the hoodie his first design has before giving him a red dress shirt with a black overshirt jacket (Though the hoodie was repurposed for his best friend's design, who ended up looking a lot more like how I first wanted Bradley to).

I then tested out a different palette for his new outfit by making the overshirt jacket green and trying out a long-sleeved black shirt underneath, and since that design change, Bradley was pretty much finished, save for small changes from then on (Such as his military dog tag necklace).

His current design changes two things from his previous design: one, I finally got his hair how I wanted it to look— noticed best by his bangs and the addition of a cowlick— and two, he now sports an undershirt like this, which I find has a particular 'late 90s/early 2000s' feel to it.

As for Bradley's character, it was eventually decided he would be a mix of the personalities I wanted to give him: he's mostly known as an unassuming and awkward teenager, but also likes skateboarding and playing video games. With perhaps the most design-intensive character out of the way, let's move on to our last but certainly not least team member...

MacKenzie! Oddly enough, I'm pretty sure MacKenzie was like the second character I began to think of ideas for. In the Into the Unknown days, my basic idea was for her to be the standard 'early 2000s gothic girl' without going too overboard in terms of the usual dark and complex clothing.

She was named 'Destiny' at the start, but I then changed her name to 'Kenzie', as it better fit the era Override takes place in... but then I felt like Kenzie was too feminine of a name for the type of character I was aiming for, so she was promptly renamed to MacKenzie thereafter.

MacKenzie is noteworthy for having her first design line up pretty closely to her current design, though plenty of changes were made in-between. She started out with an extremely basic, placeholder look: a jean jacket, deep red shirt, black pants... boom. MacKenzie. However, for a while, MacKenzie had two things the current MacKenzie does not: a hair bow, which has a crescent moon in the middle, and bright pink wrist sleeve braces.

Most of her early sprites were focused primarily of detailing her first sprite, while experimenting some with color choices. Somewhere down the line, though, a humorous idea came to mind— what if she carried an entire stop sign for a weapon? I had wanted MacKenzie to be more of a masculine type of girl, similar to MOTHER 3's Kumatora, so it was a perfect addition to her design!

For a little while, the sprite where she first has the stop sign was her current design, before I tried out giving her the black jeans I had initially drawn her with. I liked the design, though I felt that it was a little lacking, like it was missing something... maybe if I gave her different headwear?

Her crescent moon bow was replaced with a black snapback with a purple brim (That's why MacKenzie is always represented with a purple color, by the way!), and I saturated her jean jacket a bit so it wouldn't be so flat. She also now wears a black wrist sleeve brace (Though it could also be a Psiometer... up to interpretation!) on one of her arms, as a nice callback to her starting design.

Thus, MacKenzie's design was complete! ... or, so I thought. It was when my good friend @minxxikuo took a huge liking to MacKenzie and began to draw her that I found that I really like how he portrayed her. Knives' portrayal of MacKenzie featured a shorter hairstyle that juts out to the side a bit, as well as giving her all kind of earrings.

We ended up agreeing that this interpretation was now canon, and the only other addition I made that you can find in her latest sprite— which is an extremely easily missed detail, mind you— is the addition of two little pins to the front of her jean jacket. Oh, also, her stop sign has a dent in it now, implying... previous melee use.

Well, I think that's about everything! This post ended up being much longer than I expected it to be, but knowing a good few of my followers do like when I get lengthier insights to whatever I make, I'm not sweating it too much! I hope that you've enjoyed this deep dive of the Override cast's designs— these four have come a long way!

#Override #Casey Treverton #Lauren Henley #Bradley Snider #MacKenzie Connors #Sprite Art #Character Design #Concept Art #Deep Dives with Star #Coolness #Cool-NESS?#(It is even FUNNIER a third time!)#This straight-up might be one of if not my longest post yet #Local Star goes off about his OCs #I think it's absolutely evident that Override's been around for two years with everything that's in this post #The Override quartet is without question a few of my absolute favorite characters I've ever designed #So it's nice to finally be able to say that they're just about finalized in terms of their designs!#I still have one other faux Override screenshot to post though I have to fix a few things in it before I do #Namely how Casey looks since it was drawn prior to his redesign as well as some color fixes #Said screenshot is like... one of my most tileset-intensive sprite works yet though. Really excited to post it!

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uncloseted · 3 years

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Is it true that the vaccines in America don't work against the Delta variant? I'm so annoyed, every country (even Israel) has cases going up and I decided to go back to school in fall because I thought it was safe. People on twitter and reddit are saying Cali will probably go on lockdown again since it's getting worse. I'm so frustrated and I don't want to get covid, I really trusted that the vaccines worked tbh.

No. Or at least, the situation doesn't seem to be as dire as that.

The vaccines are incredibly effective at preventing the spread and serious illness of the original strain of COVID; about 96% effective for the Pfizer vaccine, 94.1%-96% effective for Moderna, 92% effective for Oxford-AstraZeneca (which we don't have here in the States) and about 66% for Johnson and Johnson. This makes sense, because they were designed to protect against the first type of COVID that was identified. Since then, the vaccines have held up well to the variants that have mutated over the last year and a half.

The Delta variant has mutated in such a way that our current vaccines aren't as effective as they are for other strains of COVID. That said, the vaccines do still offer protection.

The information we have about how well our current vaccines work against the Delta variant is still relatively preliminary. However, per the Wall Street Journal as of today (July 15), the vaccines are still between 79% and 87% effective at preventing symptomatic infection with the Delta variant. Per Angela Rasmussen, a virologist and research scientist with the Georgetown Center for Global Health Science and Security, “all the data shows that people who are fully vaccinated still enjoy robust protection against Delta and every other variant described so far....Delta remains a threat primarily to unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people.”

This checks out in the data as well. A reported 99% of hospitalizations for COVID are amongst unvaccinated people, and the average age of those infected has shifted downwards (so are more likely to have mild symptoms). The people who have been vaccinated but still were infected with the Delta variant are mostly people who were exposed to large amounts of the virus, such as healthcare workers and taxi/bus drivers.

In terms of California going into lockdown again, as someone who lives here I would say that it seems unlikely. I can only speak for my city, but while LA County is requiring masks be worn inside again, we're also getting close to herd immunity. About 69.4% of all people in LA over the age of 16 having gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, and 61% are fully vaccinated. We're predicted to hit 80% vaccinated sometime in August. San Fransisco is also nearing herd immunity (if it hasn't already reached it- herd immunity can be defined as anywhere from 70-80% fully vaccinated); 83% of San Franciscans over 12 have received at least one dose, and 76% have gotten both. Statewide, almost 61% of Californians are fully vaccinated and 71.1% are at least partially vaccinated. In LA County, our cases have gone down from a peak of almost 20,000 new cases in one day to about 1300 new cases today, and a peak of 930 deaths in one day to 10 deaths today.

That said, California is doing better than a lot of other states; it's the 19th most vaccinated (in case you were curious, Vermont is #1 at 66.6% fully vaccinated). Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas are going to fare much worse against the Delta variant than California will, since they're the least vaccinated states. Counties that voted for Trump and ones that skew Conservative are, on average, less vaccinated than those who voted Biden or are Democratic leaning.

There's definitely a reason for concern here. Delta is the most contagious version of the coronavirus yet, and it accounts for more than half of new COVID infections in the US. But I would argue that the answer is to vaccinate more quickly with the goal of reaching herd immunity to prevent further hospitalizations and mutations of the virus, as well as wearing masks to slow the spread in the meantime. Extra doses of the vaccine or booster shots of the vaccine that are more effective at treating mutations may also be necessary in the future (kind of similar to how every year we get a different flu vaccine), but we're not there yet. If you've only gotten one vaccine, it's crucial that you get the second, as it provides significantly more protection against the Delta variant than one shot alone.

Most importantly, we need to fight disinformation about the vaccine and "vaccine skepticism", because it is very literally a matter of life and death. I know it can be tempting (and hypocritical, given what I'm about to say), but please try not to get your information from Twitter, Reddit, TikTok, and other social media sites. They're rampant with misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and uncited or poorly cited claims. News outlets such as the AP, Reuters, NPR, BBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Guardian, Al Jazeera are generally reliable, as well as governmental sources like the CDC and scientific journals such as Nature.

That said, if you do have any questions about the COVID vaccines (or COVID in general), the process through which the vaccines were made, how they work, how to get one, things you've heard about them, literally anything at all... please feel free to ask them here. I promise to be upfront about what we know and don't know, provide only the facts as I understand them, and cite my sources so you can evaluate them yourself.

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thinger-strang · 4 years

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Singing in the Shower and Other Sins (aka three times Steve was caught singing and the one time he wasn't)

@gideongrace this is for you 😚

(link to the version on ao3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/21394876 )

Steve sings all the time. Loud and off key in a goofy sort of lovable way. He jams with Dustin on their way to school, dances around Scoops and Family Video when it's slow, uses anything and everything as a mic.

Which made it so weird when Robin walked into work to find Steve singing like, good.

He had his back to her with an armful of tapes. His voice was soft and he was gently bopping (so he didn't drop all the videos). But his voice was so good!

Robin leaned against the wall and just observed Steve for a moment. It was weird, almost wrong, to hear the correct sound notes come from him.

"Having fun there, Springsteen?"

She shouldn't have scared him, she knows that. But his face was so funny when spun around, barely holding onto his stack of tapes.

"Jesus, warn a guy, Buckley!" He snapped, running his free hand through his hair.

"You can sing."

"What?"

"You always sing bad when I'm around, but you can like actually sing! Like sing really good!"

"Oh, no I wasn't singing? That was...that was definitely just the radio, I can't sing for shit, you know that--"

"Nuh uh Harrington, I know your dirty little secret now! You've got pipes!"

Steve rolled his eyes.

"Rob." He started putting stuff away again. "You of all people know I can't sing to save my life."

"I just heard you, don't know why you're denying it."

"Whatever, go get your vest before Keith gets here." Steve nodded towards the break room door but smiled at her knowingly.

"Fucking knew it!" She shouted as she went to put her vest on. "Why are you trying to hide this magnificent gift God herself has bestowed upon you?"

Steve shrugged and handed her half his stack once she got back.

"Don't tell anyone, don't need you messing up what little cred I have left."

She flipped him off.

He stuck his tongue out at her.

Life went on.

ii.

Steve made the mistake of telling Dustin where the spare key to his front door was. Under the ceramic frog in the planter left of the door. But the kid was basically his little brother and he'd shown Steve where his spare key was the week before. So they were even now.

So Dustin let himself and the rest of the party into Steve's house for an impromptu hang out sesh. Mike, Lucas, and Max made a beeline for the kitchen to drop off the arm fulls of snack they had while Dustin showed Will and Jane around.

Jane had started going by "Jane" full time since the Hopper-Byers move and the party was supportive as always. And since their move, the party had had three? maybe four hang outs at Steve's. So a tour was necessary since they missed the preliminary Casa de Harrington party.

"Holy shit do you guys hear that?" Will whispered once they got to the second floor's landing.

The other two stopped and listened. They heard a shower running and a radio going. Nothing special. Dustin strained his ears.

"No way."

"'No way' what?" Lucas asked as he, Max, and Mike joined them.

"That's Steve singing in the shower!"

"What's so bad about him singing in the shower?" Jane asked.

"Steve can't sing to save his life!" Mike said, incredulously.

"He's not that bad guys," Max tried to defend him.

"Okay, I love the guy like a brother but he drives me to school everyday and no, he cannot sing." Dustin explained as they crept closer to the bathroom door.

The shower shut off and his voice became clearer. The party continued bickering until the door swung open. Steam billowed out and Steve sang a line until he noticed the gaggle of teenagers in his hallway.

"What the fuck guys."

"What the fuck yourself Steven!" Mike shot back.

"Yeah, are you serious? For like, almost a year I've had to listen to you screech along to the radio when you've had the voice of an angel this whole time?! That's just plain rude." Dustin crossed his arms dramatically.

"Angelic's a little generous, Henderson."

"Your voice is really pretty," Jane said in awe.

Steve blushed and wrapped his arms around his torso.

"Thanks kid. Hey, how's Missouri treating you guys?" Steve pulled his shirt from the floor and put it on.

"Pretty good, the school has a huge library and Will joined an art club!" Jane said excitedly.

Will nodded along with her, putting his hands into his hoodie.

"Oh that's awesome! Glad you guys like it up there--"

"Can we get back to the whole 'Steve can actually sing' thing? Because that's still blowing my mind," Lucas interjected, flailing his arms a little.

"Yeah, can you sing Whitney? Because those were some pretty high notes if my ears don't decieve me." Max grinned evilly.

"No, I can't sing Whitney, I can barely sing, remember?" Steve sounded like he was talking to toddlers.

"Dude, none of use are deaf, we all heard." Mike gave him an unimpressed look.

"Yeah, and that was Queen and you definitely hit all those high notes. You can totally sing Whitney!" Max laughed and nudged Will when he stifled a giggle.

"I can't believe I'm being mocked by a bunch of 10 year olds!"

"We're fifteen, Harrington," Dustin said sarcastically.

Steve rolled his eyes.

"Okay, can you shits get out of my room so I can get dressed? Don't feel like spending the day in a towel while you make fun of my singing abilities."

He started to herd them towards the stairs as they protested, claiming they weren't making fun, just confused as to why he would torture them with a fake awful voice.

When Steve came downstairs, Max pushed play on the tape player in the living room. "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" started playing and Steve turned red.

"This isn't fucking karaoke night you dweebs!"

But he started laughing when they all started throwing popcorn at him and he proceeded to dump snacks onto everyone else, starting an epic pre-movie night food fight.

iii.

Robin's parents were going to be out of town for the first time in a thousand years so, naturally, she was throwing a party.

It wasn't a typical high school rager, more like a get together between friends and absolutely no children, Steve!

So really it was just Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, Barb, and Billy.

Steve and Billy came over early to help make food. Which translated to Steve making food while Billy sat on the couch and read, using the "I died for you bitches" excuse for the millionth time.

And ever since Robin had caught him singing at work, he became more and more comfortable singing around her. She didn't ask about him singing around Billy. So here he was, singing while mixing something together in a bowl. Like a goddamn housewife.

"If my parents were here they'd be so pleased I found a nice boy who knows what he's doing in the kitchen." She said as she measured some milk out for the brownies.

She could hear Billy snort from the living room over the "knowing what he's doing in the kitchen" comment.

Steve laughed and kicked at her shins.

Wham! came on and Steve's face lit up. And it was the yo-yo song, the best freaking one. And Robin was in band so her inntonation wasn't like awful, she definitely had the lungs for singing.

So they were singing along to George Michael in the Buckley's colorful kitchen while making brownies when the other three showed up.

"You can sing?" Barb asked with big eyes.

"You act like I've never sung in front you you before." Steve replied while hunching over, self conscious.

"Yeah but normally it's more...pitchy," Nancy offered.

"We're not judging your anything man, you've got a great voice," Jonathan filled in quickly. "Didn't really believe Will when he said Steve could sing."

He said that last part mostly to Nancy, but everyone heard it.

And Robin was kind of done. Because Steve told her, one time when they were hotboxing his car, that he sang bad on purpose because his dad thought it was "faggy" to be able sing that well. That he sounded like Freddie and George and Bowie in the worst way. And she knew he was bi, knew he got embarrassed when people started talking about him singing because of what his dad said.

She was about to call them out when Billy flipping Hargrove beat her to it.

"Leave him alone, you're just jealous your pipes aren't as good," Billy said in a monotone voice from the couch.

"It's fine, Billy, they're--"

"No he's right, lay off."

Nancy and Jonathan at least had the decency to look embarrassed. Barb walked into the kitchen to help out.

"Your voice really is good. Didn't mean to sound so shocked before. You were just...really good. And I totally remember you singing into a hairbrush that one time? And your voice cracked all over the place?" Barb bumped her hip into Steve's, wiggling her eyebrow.

"Oh my god, I almost lost my voice from that! God, that was forever ago, cannot believe you remember that."

"Yeah that's what made me realize 'King Steve" was like an actual human boy, not this entity the entire school and Nancy made you out to be."

Billy migrated from the couch to the counter when he heard the words "King Steve" and put his book on the counter top.

"When was this?" And thank god for Billy because Robin wanted to ask so bad what they were talking about.

"Oh Steve threw a little party back in junior year to woo Nancy and he was a little buzzed and was trying to make her laugh by singing along to, what was it?" Barb turned to smirk at Steve.

"ABBA, it's was ABBA."

Billy rolled his eyes and mumbled "of course" as Robin cackled.

"Very on brand, dingus."

"Yeah but he overexaggerated the awfulness and his voice cracked, like, painfully. Like, I felt it, it was so bad!"

Steve scrunched up his nose at the memory and laughed. Robin and Billy started laughing too and Barb continued telling embarrassing stories about Steve that the other two had never heard before.

+i.

Steve jolted awake to a loud clattering sound coming from the other end of his room.

"How many times do I have to tell you to clear off your fucking desk, Harrington," Billy stage whispered angrily.

"How many times do I have to tell you to use the fucking front door, Hargrove."

Steve hopped out of bed to meet Billy by the window. He scanned his face for bruises which made Billy rolls his eyes.

"Can't a guy just visit his boyfriend in the middle of the night without anything being wrong?"

"Yeah but you only sneak in through my window when you've had a bad night, you dramatic fuck." Steve cupped Billy's face with one hand and let him lean into it.

Comfortable silence enveloped them before Billy broke it.

"Couldn't sleep," he mumbled.

"Okay." Steve let Billy drop his head into his shoulder. " Do you wanna talk about it or go to bed?"

Because "couldn't sleep" is generally code for nightmares.

Billy shrugged, shoulder bumping Steve's chin a little, and Steve nodded, tugging him towards the bed.

He helped Billy get down to just his boxers and a tee before getting under the covers. Steve positioned them so that Billy was half laying in Steve with his ear over his heart and their legs tangled. Because Steve liked the pressure and Billy liked listening to the steady thrum of his heartbeat.

They laid like that for a minute, getting comfortable and used to each other's warmth.

And Billy had told him, a long time ago, that his mom used to sing to him when he couldn't sleep. And that was before Billy knew Steve could actually sing. That was what made Steve sing for real in front of him.

So, on nights like this, Steve sang.

He started humming the intro to "Going to California", moving his fingers in time up and down Billy's back. Billy let out a sigh and pressed himself closer into Steve's chest.

So Steve sang into the dark of his bedroom, chasing away monsters; the kind that live in your house and the kind that live underground, until Billy drifted off and pulled Steve with him into a warm and deep sleep that only comes when wrapped around someone you love.

#harringrove #fic #my writings #HOLY SHIT #guys pls read this i spent three hours frantically writing this thx #harringrove fanfic #this is kind of mean to nancy and jonathan but i dont like them so suck it #and theres backstory on ao3 but hopper survives and lives with the Byers and therefore moves with them and barb is here bc i said so #its a happy boys and supportive lesbians fic fight me

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kickuptheband · 7 years

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Have you seen the show? If you have - would you mind writing down what happens like the full thing with spoilers, please? I'm really curious about it but I can't seem to understand all that happens from the Papermill audio I have.

i’ll do my best! firstly — there have been quite a few changes between paper mill and broadway, but i’m going to talk about the broadway version since it’s the most current. i’m not going to go into huge detail on every scene, mostly because that would get really long, but i’ll try to explain (my interpretation of) the main story as best i can.

behind a cut because of all the spoilers. super spoilery. you have been warned!

act one.it starts with a prologue, flashing back to the war, an echo of the story donny tells julia about michael’s death in act 2. and then it’s 1945, cleveland, donny is coming home from the war, and everyone is saying that life will be just like it was before, except he can’t sleep, he drinks, he has terrible memories—and despite all of his talent, he can’t get a decent gig, not even at the clubs he was playing in his teens. but he hears about a “tribute to the troops” swing band radio contest hosted by nbc/mgm, where the winners will get to be in a movie. because it’s about the troops, and he’s a veteran, he decides to put together a band of other vets: jimmy (sax; navy, his ship exploded and he was in the water with his dead friends), davy (bass; army, liberated dachau and is an alcoholic because of it), nick (trumpet; was a pow and has huge anger issues), wayne (trombone; marines, has mental health issues/probably ocd), and johnny (drums; was hit by a shell leaving him with severe amnesia, chronic pain, and cognitive problems).

donny also promised michael that he’d look in on his wife if anything happened to him, so he finally works up the courage to visit julia, who invites him for dinner so they can look at some photos of michael from the war. he hears julia sing in church and invites her to sing with the band — first as a guest appearance, then as backup/duets (because she’s a gold star widow, it doesn’t ruin his all-vets gimmick). julia shows donny some poems she wrote in the time after michael’s death, and donny sets one of them to music, love will come and find me again. she agrees to let this be their song for the state-wide contest, which is being held in cleveland.

they win the contest for ohio, which should guarantee them a spot in the new york final. however, it’s not as easy as that; not only will they be forced to participate in ANOTHER preliminary in new york, they have to pay for everything themselves, and call nbc in advance to tell them they’ll be there — because nbc care more about selling the product they’re sponsored by than the contestants. obviously, this is very upsetting for donny & the band, they get pissed off, and the act 1 finale, right this way, is donny deciding that this isn’t going to stop them, they’ve been through too much, and they’re going to find a way to raise the money so they can go first class, because they deserve it after everything.

act two.the first part of act 2 is primarily taken up with them trying to raise enough money to go to new york first class, and stay at a fancy hotel; they’re playing gigs almost constantly, donny and julia come up with a song about cleveland, i got a theory, to raise more, and they’re still nowhere near their total, but donny refuses to let them go any other way than first class, because it’d be letting them & michael down. julia finally grows tired of waiting and pushes donny into telling her how michael died — it was a friendly fire incident, where the conditions were awful, donny accidentally dropped a grenade, told michael to get out of the trench, and the grenade went off; he thought michael had gotten out, but he hadn’t. julia is (understandably) upset by this and doesn’t show up for a gig, leaving the guys to perform alone and them all to wonder if new york is even gonna happen now.

but julia forgives donny, writing a poem about how the war has affected all the guys in the band. donny sets this to music, but it’s so personal and real that they can’t perform it, so she rewrites it into the first welcome home, about a guy returning home from war to his girl. during this time, all the cleveland clubs have been raising money for the band (i assume one of the owners overheard the guys talking about money, though i’m not sure), and have bought them first class train tickets and rooms at the astor, so they can go to new york in style. after a night out in nyc, donny and julia have what would traditionally be the “kiss” moment, except they talk about the fact that this is life, not a movie, so they don’t kiss.

at the studios, they pass the prelim so they can perform on the main show, but jimmy (who is studying law) reads the contracts and discovers at the last minute that nbc/mgm are trying to screw them over. like, literally the last minute; they’re on in 2 more numbers. if they perform love will come and find me again, mgm will own the song outright, they’re only obligated to use the band as walk-ons, and if the band ever wants to perform the song again, they have to pay mgm royalties. for their own song. yep. so the band is upset, and in the end donny decides that they need to slap the contest people in the face: perform a song they’d never dare to put on the big screen, to show everybody listening what it’s really like to be a veteran (that it’s not just like it was before). there’s a this is life reprise here, which talks about how this will take guts but it’s worth it, and also where donny tells julia that he’s madly in love with her, and then they have their Big Kiss moment.

so the band perform the original welcome home, the painful one about what each of the guys goes through every goddamn day, and obviously they don’t win the contest — which is a good thing too because the film sucks, and the end of the show is basically the band talking about how bad the movie is, and then there’s a finale which wasn’t in paper mill, a reprise of nobody. the band now has a “newest record”, which implies they’ve got a record deal, they’re on an international tour, and they still play a lot of gigs at home in cleveland.

#Anonymous #answer #summary #i hope this is what you were looking for anon!!

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