#also i don't actually know what the official name of the track is yet. so let's just call it zack in sector 5 for now lol

[rocketbirdie]

i feel like i failed you.

#me? sobbing my eyes out about these two again? it's likelier than you think! #featuring an exercise in actually doing backgrounds and lighting for once! hooray!! #also i don't actually know what the official name of the track is yet. so let's just call it zack in sector 5 for now lol #gets the point across #ffvii #final fantasy vii #ffvii rebirth #zack fair #cloud strife #zakkura #my art <3 #my music <3 #phew. #this. uhh #took a while. #which is to say i started AND finished both the music and the art TODAY #do not recommend! don't be like me. take breaks lol #in my defense! i had an idea and i NEEDED to get it out of my body or else i would die. you know how it goes. #anyway uhh. enjoy!

[starberryes]

don't you (forget about me) | steve harrington x reader

“Oh, great, she’s here,” Steve says, stepping away from the door.  "First of all, Harrington," You scoff, glaring at that mop of hair with all the rage you can muster. "I have a name. Second of all, we are talking here—” Steve rolls his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever—" "You did not just roll your eyes at me—” Dustin sighs. "Here they go." (or: You've always thought Steve Harrington was a weirdo. When you find out you might be in terrible danger, he might be just what you need.)

pairing: steve harrington x fem!henderson!reader (she/her pronouns used), lots of henderson siblings bonding <3

words: 13.9k

a/n: gif by @dailysteveharrington. thank you all for being patient and i hope you all like it<3 i loved this season and i love steve so i hope you enjoy this lil enemies to lovers fic. this fic is a one shot, but let me know if you'd like a sequel once vol 2 is out bc its a bit of an open, ambiguous ending ;) also some fun facts before this fic starts: dustin's dad appears at will's funeral in s1 and there are several theories about him-- officially, he and dustin's mother are divorced in canon. i'll explore that in this fic. ST4 SPOILERS. this is set in season 4 ep 3 "the monster and the superhero" and follows vol 1 canon also sorry if this doesnt follow canon pretty well i mostly did it from memory cause the wiki still isnt fully updated 💀

disclaimer: this fic discusses the topic of an absent parent, please proceed with caution if this is hurtful to you. also warning for canon typical violence and cursing. english is not my first language so please let me know if there are any mistakes.

📼 NOW PLAYING: Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Mind

Your mother had always been slightly overbearing and fearful, but the murder of Chrissy Cunnigham you think might actually kill her. Or at least will force her to lock you in your bedroom and flush the key down the toilet.

“You can’t go anywhere without telling me,” your mother tells you over breakfast, worriedly overcooking her bacon. “You hear me? I don’t want you running around town without me knowing. Or better yet, don’t go anywhere at all!”

You glare at Dustin’s chair, where your brother is munching on toast and eggs, hoping your mother takes the hint. She does, and so she shakes her head and says, “Dustin’s different.”

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“Maybe this killer has a thing for pretty girls,” your mother shakes her head, shivering. “Chrissy Cunningham was such a nice and pretty girl, right your age.”

“You don’t know what that killer was thinking!” You groan. “Why can Dustin leave but I can’t?!”

“Dustin’s not an eighteen year old girl with an easily breakable neck.”

“He’s easier to man-handle!”

Dustin frowns, finally looking up from his breakfast. “I’m not!”

”Besides, do you even know where he was last night?” You ignore your brother’s protests, choosing to point at him as he scoffs in offense. “I bet you don’t, because he’s always sneaking out!”

“I’m not always sneaking out!”

“I try my best with you, Dusty,” she sighs, finally sitting down. “But your sister is right, you’re difficult to keep track of. You’re always running around, like those little legs have minds of their own.” She points the spoon she was using for her coffee at your face. “Don’t you throw that in my face, (Y/N).”

“Mom, you’re right,” you nod, sipping your orange juice, trying to appeal to her soft spot. “He is difficult to keep track off, and there’s a dangerous killer on the loose. How about I keep track of him? Make sure he’s not getting into any trouble, hm? I’ll make sure we’re always safe, together.”

Of course, you were planning on bolting as soon as you were out of your mom’s sight. You mom’s cat Tews meows somewhere across the room, as if he knows not to trust you. That damned furball.

“What the fuck? No!”

“Dusty! Language.”

“Mom,” Dustin says, exasperated. “I don’t need a babysitter. Much less a babysitter that’s also my annoying older sister.”

“No, you have Steve Harrington for that,” you mutter under your breath, and Dustin manages to kick you under the table. You glare at your little brother, then turn to address your mom once again. “I promise we’ll stay together. I know— no, I understand that it’s scary out there right now, but I can take care of myself. And Dustin. You have to trust me.”

“I trust you. It’s the murderer I don’t trust.”

“Mom—”

“Let me finish,” she stares pointedly at you, and you promptly shut up. “I don’t want you two sneaking out. But, it’ll make me feel better if the both of you are together.”

Dustin covers his face with his hands. “Shit.”

“Yes!” You squeal. You stick out your tongue at him, and he rolls his eyes. “Guess you’re stuck with me, Dusty.”

“Screw you.”

“Dusty, it’ll be fun. (Y/N), don’t taunt your little brother,” your mom scolds both of you into silence. “It’ll be like old times, won’t it? Aw, you two used to be thick as thieves back then.”

Dustin sighs, picking at his toast absent-mindedly. “Was there a murderer on the loose back then too?”

📼📼📼📼📼📼📼📼📼

After breakfast, you give Dustin a ride until you arrive in a neighborhood that is most definitely not Lucas Sinclair’s like he told you it would be. You turn to stare at your brother before you unlock the car’s door, confused.

“Where are we?”

Dustin looks at your shoes. “I told you. Lucas’s.”

“Okay, you might lie to me whenever you want, just not to my actual face, Dustin.” You roll your eyes, and he mirrors you. “Seriously, why did you make me come all the way down here?”

“Why do you care?”

“I know we’re doing this to get mom off our backs, but there is actually a killer on the loose,” you say. “So, excuse me if I’m also a little wary about dropping you off at unknown locations, or whatever.”

“Fine,” Dustin sighs. “I’m here to see Max and Steve.”

“Steve?”

“Harrington.”

You blink at him. “Fucking Steve Harrington?”

“See?” Dustin rolls his eyes again. “This is why I didn’t tell you! You are extremely uncool about Steve, you know.”

“I’m not!” You try not to dwell about how defensive you sound even to yourself. “I’m extremely cool about him. I’m extremely cool about the fact you hang out with that douchebag with stupid hair.”

“He’s not a douchebag! I don’t get why you hate him so much.”

Because you remember him and his friends making fun of you all throughout High School, his sneering and stupid stares. Like your brother, you’d never fit in— you never liked going to parties or drinking and you never made an effort to be liked by him and his group of popular dorks, instead you spent most of your days in the library, reading, hiding from Steve and his friends. Whatever honorable things Dustin saw in Steve Harrington you think he might have imagined them.

Now, in your last year of High School and with Steve becoming a social pariah, you don’t have to hide the fact that you still dislike Steve as much as you did back when he was still King Steve. Steve, for however much Dustin insists that he’s changed, upon first meeting you had tried to sweet talk you as if he didn’t know who you were. And you had barely kept it together enough to tell him to fuck off. Ever since then, you and Steve Harrington had hated each other’s guts. Your mutual dislike of each other is not lost on Dustin, who continues to mostly ignore it and tiptoe around it as best as he can.

“He’s not not a douchebag,” You murmur. “Why is he hanging out with two fourteen year olds during spring break? Isn’t the barf bag, like, supposed to be in college, going to frat parties, having a life of his own?”

Dustin doesn’t appreciate the way you talk about him, clearly, but he still replies, albeit unhappily. “He’s helping me with something.”

“With what?”

Before Dustin can respond, someone knocks on Dustin’s window. You jump, surprised, but it’s just Steve and Dustin’s friend redhead Max, looking bored and impatient. You groan and reach over Dustin’s seat to roll the window down.

“Do you mind?” You say to Steve. “We’re talking.”

“Oh, great, she’s here,” Steve says, stepping away from the door. 

"First of all, Harrington," You scoff, glaring at that mop of hair with all the rage you can muster. You ignore Dustin’s groan. "I have a name. Second of all, we are talking here—”

Steve rolls his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever—"

"You did not just roll your eyes at me—”

Dustin sighs. "Here they go."

“I did not roll my eyes—”

“You absolutely did!”

“There was something in my eyes.”

“That something was lies!”

“Jesus fuck,” Steve finally throws his arms up in exasperation and turns to your brother, ignoring your insults. “You done talking to your lovely sister there, Henderson? We got a counselor to see.”

“What?” You frown at Dustin, irritation immediately melting into concern. “What’s he talking about?”

“Steve, shut your mouth,” Dustin glares at Steve, who shrugs and finally steps away from the car. “Nothing, (Y/N), seriously. See you later?”

“No.” You shake your head. “What does he mean a counselor? Are you seeing Ms Kelly?”

“Nothing’s wrong, I promise. It’s—” he looks like he’s scrambling to think of an excuse, then his eyes land on Max. Something flashes across her face and she speaks next.

“It’s for me.” she says, “Chrissy died in my neighborhood.”

“She’s kind of freaking out,” Dustin says, and when you finally turn to look at Max you realize how tense she is, her shoulders square, with her lips forming a straight line.

“Oh. That sucks. Hey, Max.”

“Hey,” she greets, awkwardly. It’s part of her charm, you think.

“See?” Dustin asks. “Can I go now?”

You nod, a little shaken up for some reason. Maybe Chrissy’s murder still made you feel slightly ill, and the mention of it made you feel even worse. You couldn’t imagine what Max might be going through. It didn’t help that they had found another body this morning, either. 

“Ye— yeah. Sorry. I hope everything’s alright, Max.”

“Yeah,” she nods.

Dustin nods to the door. “Can you unlock the car, then?”

You wordlessly comply, and as your little brother steps out of your mom’s blue Ford Cortina, you talk to Max once again. “Ms Kelly is great help. I’m sure she’ll make you feel better. She really helped me this year, you know, she’s a great listener.”

“Yeah, I know,” Max says. “I’ve been thinking about seeing her for a while, a—actually. I’ve heard she’s well… you know… fine, or whatever.”

“Hey, there’s no shame in that,” you shrug. “Lots of people go to see Ms Kelly… Actually, now that you mention it, Fred Benson, the guy they found this morning, was seeing Ms Kelly too. And Chrissy Cunningham.”

Dustin pauses before closing the car door. “What do you mean?”

You blink, slightly confused as to why you’d even bring it up. “I’ve seen them in Ms Kelly’s office before. I’m not sure why I’m even mentioning it, sorry.”

“No, no, (Y/N), that’s…” Dustin says, then doesn’t finish. “You’ve been seeing Ms Kelly too?”

“Yeah,” you nod, a little ashamed. You think about telling Dustin about everything that’s been going on, the nightmares, the guilt— but then you glance at his friends looking expectantly at him and cower. So you don’t continue.

It’s Steve who breaks the silence. “Henderson, chop chop, let’s go.”

“I’ll see you at home?” Dustin says, a little softer.

“Yeah, yeah. I was gonna go to Dinah’s near Ave Park, but do you think you’ll need a ride later?”

“Steve’s got his car,” he says. “Don’t wait up, okay?”

You nod, watching him leave.

📼📼📼📼📼📼📼📼📼

It’s around eight PM, and Dinah is painting her toenails as you skim through one of her books, the soft hum of the TV in the background, entering through the open bedroom door. Her parents are watching the news, the news anchors are urging people to stay home and to lock their doors to be safe of this new serial killer.

Dinah’s house is your usual hangout spot beside your own. You don’t have many other friends, and there’s only so many times you can force Dustin to watch The Breakfast Club before he’s fighting you for the remote.

“It was all Matty could talk about,” Dinah continues to rant. “I can’t stand this murder talk any longer! I can only hear about Chrissy Cunningham’s missing eyeballs so many times, (Y/N), it’s way too fucking gruesome, but it’s all everyone in this town seems to care about.”

“It’s a pretty pressing issue,” when Dinah glares, you shrug. “I’m just saying! You know I agree with you. I don’t want to hear about it anymore.”

“Chrissy was always so nice, wasn’t she?” Dinah shakes her head, putting her nail polish back in her nightstand, then wraps her arms around her legs, hugging herself. “And Fred had a future in front of him. It’s so unfair. They had a family that loved them.”

“Dinah, I really don’t wanna talk about it,” you say, feeling yourself shiver. You don’t want to think about poor Fred or Chrissy, or the families mourning them. You try to focus on the book in your hands, but the words start blurring together, becoming harder and harder to read. 

You blink, confused, then realize Dinah is still talking.

“It’s the truth, isn’t it? I think about their dads too. Chrissy’s dad was crying so much at her wake. Do you think your dad would ever cry for you like that?”

You finally snap to look back at your friend. She’s staring at you like you’re small, like an insect she could stomp on. You’ve never seen her black eyes seem so soulless, so empty.

“Maybe they’ll be tears of joy, don’t you think? After all, weren’t you the one who made him walk away?” She tilts her head to the side, a sneer forming in her lips. “They could be a family without you.”

There’s something wrong in Dinah’s eyes. There’s something wrong about all of this, but you can’t point to what, where are you, when, why…what…?

When you blink, Dinah’s eyes look normal again. 

“(Y/N),” She asks, frowning. “Are you there?”

You shake your head. What the fuck was all that? 

“What?”

“You were staring at me like you weren’t all here,” she explains, grimacing. “Where did you go just now?”

“Sorry…” When you speak you feel a dull ache around your temple, and you lift a hand to rest against it, trying to soothe the pain aimlessly. “I think I need some painkillers or something, my head’s killing me.”

“Again?” 

“Yeah,” even before spring break you had confided in your friend about the headaches and the nightmares— you never told her why, but she at least knew you were seeing Ms Kelly. 

Dinah stands up, careful not to stain the carpet with her fresh black nail polish. “I’ll ask my dad for some Tylenol. Stay here, I’ll be back in a sec.”

Before Dinah is out the door she’s interrupted by the doorbell, which rings once, twice, three times and more. Dinah frowns, as her dad yells I’m coming, Jesus!

“Someone’s impatient…” you murmur, hand still resting on your temple.

“Hey,” Dinah, who has always had great hearing, says. “I think it’s your brother.”

You frown, and when Dinah’s father confirms it’s your brother by yelling out that It’s little Henderson!, you and Dinah head downstairs to find a heavy breathing Dustin, Max, Lucas and even Steve Harrington, looking as if they just ran a marathon.

Dustin’s eyes land on you. “(Y/N)!”

“Dustin?” you say, “What are you doing here? You need a ride ho—?”

Dustin runs to hug you by the waist, almost knocking the air out of you.

“Are you okay? Do you have a headache? Is your nose bleeding? Do you feel—?”

“Woah, Dustin,” you don’t know what to do with your hands— you and Dustin hadn’t hugged since he turned twelve and he and you both deemed it lame. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

Dustin finally lets go of your waist to grab you by the face and inspect it properly. He roughly pulls your face down and tries to pull up your nose to look at your nostrils. “No nosebleed yet?”

Steve tries to stop him. “Dustin, buddy—”

Lucas adds a sustancial, “Dude.”

“Dustin!” you push his hands off your face, feeling your cheeks heat up when you notice everyone looking at you. “What the hell are you doing?”

Your brother opens his mouth to speak, but then seems to notice Dinah behind you and seems to think better of it. “We need to talk,” he says instead, “Like, right now.”

“Right now?” You ask. “I already told Dinah’s mom I’m staying for dinner. Dustin, what the hell is going on with you?”

Dinah clears her throat. “I’m… just gonna go get that Tylenol.”

“Tylenol?” Dustin asks when she walks away. “What for?”

“I have a headache.”

“Shit,” Max says, still by the door frame with Lucas and Steve.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Dustin curses, deep in thought. “It’s already started.”

“What?” You ask as Dustin starts pacing back and forth.

“We need to find out how to stop this right fucking now,” Dustin starts pacing back and forth. “Think, everyone.”

“Maybe Robin and Nancy found something in the library,” Steve offers.

“Yeah,” Lucas nods. “C’mon, man. Let’s go find them.”

“Okay, yeah. Okay, okay.” Dustin calms himself down, manages to stop his pacing. “Let’s go wait for them at the Wheeler’s. (Y/N), let’s go.”

You throw your hands up in disbelief.  “Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?”

“(Y/N),” Dustin says, his voice unfaltering. Dustin is never serious about much, and this renders you speechless. “I need you to listen to me for once in your goddamn life, okay? We need to go. Now.”

“Okay, Jesus,” you say finally. “Dinah’s mom is making Lasagna so this better be worth it, Dustin.”

📼📼📼📼📼📼📼📼📼

On the way to Nancy Wheeler’s house, you learn two things: One, Dustin knows where a serial killer might be hiding, and two, your brother thinks you’re cursed and are going to die in, give or take, twenty four hours.

You glare at Steve Harrington in the rearview mirror. “What the fuck have you been giving him?”

“I’m serious!” Dustin yells. “I knew you wouldn’t fucking believe me.”

“I’m sorry,” you say, because he looks genuinely frustrated, but a second dimension and a supervillain? Does your brother think you’re stupid? Just how many movies has he been watching? “I just think D&D might actually be getting to your head, Dustin. There’s no way what you just told me is real.”

“Lucas and Max know it’s real too!”

Both of them nod furiously.

“Are the other two fourteen year olds your only source?”

“Steve too!”

Steve winks at you through the rearview mirror.

“Even worse,” you say.

“Listen,” Lucas tries to reason when Dustin groans in frustration, cursing under his breath at you. “I know this sounds absolutely crazy, I wouldn’t believe it either. But I promise you it’s all true, and if we don’t do something soon about it you’ll end up like Chrissy and Fred.”

An involuntary chill runs down your spine every time you think about them. 

“Guys,” you say, slowly, “I know things are scary right now, but I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for the murders besides a demon supervillain.”

“I didn’t believe it at first either,” Max shakes her head. “Not until I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Didn’t Ms Kelly’s file say the others who were cursed were also having hallucinations?” Steve asks the kids, looking for a place to park. “So, have you gotten any weird visions lately?”

Hallucinations? You think back, but can’t seem to pinpoint anything similar to that. Except tonight at Dinah’s place, before Dustin and the rest had rung the doorbell. Suddenly you grow a little paler, uncomfortable at the memory being brought back. That had been weird, but you were exhausted and knowing a serial killer, Eddie Munson, who apparently your brother knew, was out there still was making you restless.

“I wouldn’t really call them visions,” you murmur.

“Shit,” Dustin breathes, looking at you with wide eyes. “It’s spreading faster.”

“Listen, Dustin, I may be going through some shit lately, but I promise you I’m okay. I just need some painkillers for my head, seriously.”

“(Y/N)!” Your brother takes you by the shoulders and shakes you. “Your life is in imminent danger! You don’t need painkillers!”

“I do if you keep shaking me like a ragdoll!”

“Listen,” Lucas says, grabbing Dustin and prying him off you despite his protests. “Just stay with us tonight, okay? We’ll sleep at the Wheeler’s and it’ll make Dustin feel better, right? We’re all tired.”

“Dude—”

Lucas cuts Dustin off and whispers, “We’ll wait for what Nancy and Robin have to say and then figure out how to convince her later, yeah?”

Dustin sighs. “This was so much easier when El had her powers.”

“So yeah? You’ll stay the night?” Lucas asks, hopeful.

You see all three of the kids staring at you and cave in. “Yeah, yeah. Okay.” You say, at the same time Steve parks right in front of the Wheeler residence. Before you can even step out of the car another car pulls over by the garage and Nancy Wheeler and another girl you don’t know step out of it.

“Nance, Robin!” Steve exclaims as he stops the car and steps out. “Had fun at the library? I sure didn’t.”

“It went well, I think—”

“We have a situation,” Dustin is quick to interrupt, reaching over your space and popping his head out from the open window. “It’s my sister. We think Vecna cursed her.”

“Whatever that means,” you mumble, getting out of the car, Dustin trailing behind you and slamming the door shut.

“She doesn’t believe us,” Max explains.

“Well, I personally would be more weirded out if she did,” The girl you don’t know shrugs a little. You recognize her now— she worked with Steve at Scoops Ahoy last summer before the fire at Starcourt, and now works at Family Video. You’ve spoken a bit with her before.

“She’s been having visions, headaches, nosebleeds,” Dustin continues, “like Fred and Chrissy were, according to Ms Kelly’s files. I think Vecna is preying on vulnerable people, people dealing with...” he looks at you for a second, then back at the girls, settling on saying: “Some shit.”

“We found some articles about Victor Creel at the library,” Nancy says, then motions at the house with her chin. “Let’s talk inside.”

📼📼📼📼📼📼📼📼📼

Nancy and Robin turn out to be as crazy as the rest of them— they tell the story of Victor Creel, infamous in Hawkins for murdering his entire family, and about how he was supposedly possesed by the devil according to some conspiracy newspaper. They want to talk to Victor, but the problem is that he’s now a patient at Pennhurst Mental Hospital and completely unreachable to the public. They plan to go first thing in the morning and the rest of the group seems to agree. 

“We’ll need a disguise,” is Nancy’s big plan.

You never quite get that Tylenol, because the strongest thing Ms Wheeler has is green tea. You think everyone’s lost their goddamned minds.

“So what do you want me to do while all of you plan?” You ask, sitting on the couch. Nancy and Robin leave to Nancy’s room. Max and Lucas are by the desk in the corner speaking softly, Dustin is pacing around the room impatiently as he usually does when he’s this restless, while Steve is sitting on the couch beside you, playing with Dustin’s (or is it Mike’s?) walkie-talkie. “Am I allowed to eat something? Because I’m starving.”

Dustin snatches the walkie-talkie from Steve’s hand. “You’re gonna break that.”

Dustin’s, then.

“We don’t know yet,” Lucas says, walking over to where you are, holding Max’s hand gently. “We’re hoping the girls find out something from Victor. In the meantime…”

“You can eat,” Steve concludes. “... Right?”

“Right,” Max nods.

“We have to do something soon,” Dustin’s the most anxious you’ve ever seen him, even before you took him to see The Empire Strikes Back. “We don’t know how much time you even have once the visions and all the hallucinations start. We said twenty four hours but we can’t be sure.”

“If it helps, they started today. At Dinah’s.”

“You snapped out of it, right?” When you nod, Steve shrugs. “Henderson, I think we have time to order some pizza, at least.”

“And a movie?” You ask, finally relaxing into the couch. You toss away your shoes and hug them to your chest. “Does Mike have The Breakfast Club somewhere around here?”

“Not that movie again,” Dustin groans.

You throw a pillow at your brother, who manages to dodge it easily. “It’s a great movie!”

“It lost its charm after the thirteen time you forced me to watch it with you.”

“The Breakfast Club?” Steve asks aloud. “(Y/N) Henderson is obsessed with The Breakfast Club? Is that why Dustin is always renting it at Family Video?”

Dustin huffs, offended. “Why else would I want to rent that stupid movie?”

“Molly Ringwald,” Steve answers, at the same time you yell out, “It’s not stupid!”

When Nancy comes downstairs she informs you that sadly no, she doesn’t have The Breakfast Club, but that she should. She does have the soundtrack, however, and you think about asking to borrow it tomorrow before she goes back upstairs to order a pizza.

A while later it’s almost midnight, everyone around you is tired, except maybe for Dustin, but the majority wins and you all decide getting some sleep is the best option. You agree, but know that you’re probably not getting any sleep tonight, either; you’ve been having nightmares every night for the past few days and you don’t believe today is going to be any different.

When the lights go off and everyone is already starting to doze off, Dustin is quick to turn his flashlight on.

“Dude! Turn that off!” Steve moans, launching a pillow straight into his face. Dustin doesn’t dodge this one this time, much to Robin and Steve’s satisfaction, who chuckle lightly.

“C’mon, Dustin, what the hell?” Lucas groans.

“Shut up! I’m trying to see if I can find something else in Ms Kelly’s files!”

“Dude,” Max sighs, “you’ve read them each four times already.” 

“You won’t be able to find anything if you’re exhausted,” Nancy tries more softly. “Just try to sleep for a bit, okay?”

“Dustin, c’mon,” you reach for his hand— it’s a bit uncomfortable from your position on the couch and his on the floor, but you do it anyway. That seems to soothe him slightly, to see you still offering comfort, like you’re still yourself. He manages a weak nod, and he squeezes your hand slightly before turning the flashlight off.

After a few minutes, Dustin starts snoring loudly. Steve, who you’re unfortunately stuck sharing the couch with, chuckles.

“He’s a good kid,” he says.

“Yeah,” you can’t help but agree. You wouldn’t trade your dork brother for anything. “He’s great. When he was little, he used to wet his bed all time after watching scary movies with me, and he’d wake me up to change his sheets so my dad wouldn’t yell at him for ruining them.”

“Steve raises a silent eyebrow at you, sounding amused. “And you actually did that?”

“I forced him to watch them. I felt bad,” you smile at the memory. “He would offer to wash the dishes for me, though.”

“Your moral compass is stronger than mine,” he hums.

“You know, he…” you start, unsure if Dustin would be upset if you shared this, then decide it’s not as embarrassing as telling him he used to wet his bed, and continue, “he really admires you. God knows why, Harrington, but he worships the ground you walk on.”

“Henderson?” He asks, a little in disbelief. “I don’t know—”

“I’m serious, Harrington. He loves you,” You hoped you didn’t sound jealous. There had been a time where you thought Steve was almost a replacement for you as an older sibling, but as time went on you realized how important Steve was to him. 

“Well. I’m pretty loveable.”

You roll your eyes. “Sure.”

“He’s pretty loveable, too,” Steve says after a few beats of silence, more softly now. “I don’t have any siblings, did you know that? So it’s… uhm, really cool to have him around. Even if he’s kind of a little shit sometimes.”

“Such a little shit,” you agree.

The rest of the group seems to be asleep already, or maybe they don’t care about the conversation enough to join you. Steve starts telling you about the time Dustin burrowed his hair gel and almost set fire to his bathroom, and you have to cover your mouth to stifle your giggles.

It’s not long before you start to feel abnormally cold, and can’t keep your body from trembling. Steve’s gentle voice is gone. The room is dark around you, and realizing that you must’ve fallen asleep while talking with Steve at some point, you hug yourself trying to seek some warmth. You try to grab a blanket from somewhere. Jesus, it’s spring for fuck’s sake, it shouldn’t be this cold. But you realize that despite the darkness you can see, and when you look up at the ceiling, you find a grandfather clock that most definitely doesn’t belong in the Wheeler’s basement.

“(Y/N).”

The voice calling your name is unfamiliar and it makes you feel ill almost immediately, like your stomach has turned into nothing but knots. You try to speak, to ask who it is, but nothing comes out, you can barely even breathe.

“Do you think you could ever keep living with this guilt?” The voice asks, somehow you feel as if the voice is right behind you, whispering into your ear. It’s like nails scraping against chalkboard in your eardrums. “Knowing what you did to your family?”

You want to turn around and find the voice, but you can’t, you can’t, you can’t. The clock is ticking, haunting you, calling for you. You want nothing but to run away from it, but you can’t move— you’re glued in place somehow, maybe in fear, you can’t tell. Everything is uncertain, except for the clock. The clock, you know, it’s real. 

It’s counting down. You know what it’s trying to tell you. It’s coming for you and you can’t escape it. It’s only a matter of time now.

“Soon, (Y/N)...” It whispers. “Soon, I’ll come for you, and no one will be able to help you, (Y/N)... (Y/N). (Y/N)!”

You open your eyes with a gasp to find Steve’s arms around your shoulders, shaking you slightly. His eyes are wide, a little frightened. When you look around you find Lucas and Max draped all over a chair, their chests rising slowly, asleep. Dustin is in a sleeping bag on the floor, near Robin and Nancy, hugging each other tightly in their sleep. Steve is the only one awake.

“Shit,” you say, placing your hand in your heart. “Did I wake you?”

“We were talking and then you just went somewhere,” he says. “You don’t remember?”

You suddenly feel very cold. “I thought I was sleeping. I saw…” You think about telling Steve, but it seems pointless now, almost. What would you tell him? You saw a clock? “I think it was one of those hallucinations you guys keep talking about. You’re really freaking me the hell out, you know.”

“Fuck, I think Dustin’s right,” he says.

“About me being cursed by a being from another dimension? Are you kidding?”

Steve does manage to look apologetic. “I know it sounds bonkers, but that’s because it is. I’ve seen it.”

“What? This other dimension?” You were starting to think Dustin and his nanny were just trying to play an extremely elaborate joke on you.

“The Upside Down, but no,” he shakes his head, and then his eyes land somewhere around the room, focusing on one of Mike’s many posters. “The monsters.”

“Vecna?” 

“Others,” he says, then murmurs, “Haven’t had the pleasure just yet.”

“The demoger…? What was it?”

“Demogorgon, yeah,” he grumbles. “The Mind flayer too. It’s all real. I wish Will and Eleven were here to actually explain this stuff; they are the ones who actually know their stuff about this.”

You have never seen Steve actually sound so… serious, before. It’s all actually starting to freak you out, you decide, and you aren’t sure if you actually want to find out if it’s all actually real or not. You stay silent for a few moments, sleep escaping you. You figure Steve’s fallen asleep until his voice startles you again.

“You okay there, Henderson?”

No, you want to say. You can’t shake the feeling that the voice is watching you, waiting to catch you by surprise. “Yeah,” you mumble, sleepless, scared.

Steve doesn’t seem to buy your answer however, because you feel his body shifting near your side of the couch, sitting right beside you. When you give him a look (he’s so close he can actually make it out) he clicks his tongue.

“See, I don’t really believe you, Henderson. So, I’m gonna stay near you, just in case you get another vision. Or if you want to hold my hand.”

“Screw you, Steve,” You glare, turning to the other side so that your view is Harrington-less. If you do feel better with him beside you, that’s between you and maybe Vecna, if he’s actually inside your head.

In the morning, when you wake up and Nancy and Robin are both gone (probably visiting a murderer in a mental hospital) and Steve is tangled up beside you, you decide you’ve had enough. 

“So we’re just gonna wait around to see what happens?” Dustin argues, as Lucas and Max try to reason with him.

“What else can we do?” Lucas asks, frustrated.

“Literally anything else, dude! My sister might die!”

“Okay, Dustin, you need to stop and we need to go home, now,” you tell him, looking around the basement for your jacket.

“No!” he points at you. “You’re not going anywhere until we know what to do.”

“Dustin. I’m four years older than you,” you glare, placing your hands on your hips. “I’m the older sibling. I’ve entertained this enough already, but I left mom’s car at Dinah’s and we need to go get it and then get our asses home before mom loses her shit.”

“(Y/N)! Listen to me!”

“No, Dustin!” You finally snap, taking Dustin’s walkie-talkie from his hand and shoving it into your bag despite his protests. “I’ve had enough about monsters and other dimensions and whatever other nonsense Eddie Munson has been feeding you! We’re going home, now!”

“I can’t believe I’m actually trying to help you!” Dustin screams, “You suck!”

“Well, you’re stuck with me!”

“I wish I wasn’t,” he says, his eyes cold. “I wish you weren’t my sister.”

The chills return like a slap across your face, making you stumble backwards slightly. The room around you turns dark immediately, the only person left is Dustin in front of you. But it’s not him, it can’t be, his eyes have never looked this lifeless.

“You took his chance away, didn’t you?” The unfamiliar, bone chilling voice returns. “His chance of having a real family, or at least a father figure. He’s right in wishing you weren’t his sister. He deserves someone better.”

Again you want to scream, but it’s like your mouth is taped shut. Around you Mike Wheeler’s basement seems to fade away into blue, and suddenly you’re standing on your front porch, watching your dad walk away. You’re saying the hardness around your eyes, your lips drawn into a tight line. You don’t look like yourself; you look older, and tired, and disappointed, more like a woman than the girl you were when this happened, the girl you must’ve been.

“Don’t come back again,” you tell your father’s retreating form. But your voice is distorted, so far away. 

“How many times has Dustin needed his father?” The voice asks. When you blink you’re somewhere else; not Mike’s basement, not your home. There’s splinters of wood scattered by your feet, like a house just destroyed. Everywhere around you is red, like blood, like the blood in those horror movies you forced Dustin to watch because he made them less scary when he squealed. “Are you proud you broke up your family?”

“I was a kid,” you manage to say, and only now you realize you’ve been crying all along, the salty tears wetting your dry lips. “I didn’t want Dustin to know what he did. I would take it back if I knew he wouldn’t actually come back.”

“But you did it anyway. You did.”

I did, I did, I did, you think, over and over. You close your eyes, hard, ignoring how it almost hurts.

“You miss him too, don’t you? Despite everything. You’re sadder about the fact that he left you, too. He left his daughter behind.”

“Who are you?” You hiss out, through your anguish.

“I’m part of you, (Y/N). Whether you want to or not.”

You’re not alone. When you open your eyes you see him — a monster, vicious even in looks, like someone slowly peeled away his skin, and all that was left of him was muscle and meat, not even blood. Vecna. Around you there are two different bloody columns, and you’re quick to notice they’re holding Chrissy and Fred’s bodies, like morbid museum displays, tokens. He was right, Dustin was telling the truth about everything, and now you were going to die because you didn’t listen to him.

“No,” you want to say, you want to scream. But you’re not strong enough, you can’t—

Hey, hey, hey, hey

You blink through your tears. You manage to recognize that melody in this unfamiliar place. You want to run towards it, but you’re not sure your legs can even respond to your commands right now.

Vecna seems to think something’s wrong, too, because as the song progresses he grows more impatient. “You think you can escape like this?”

Tell me your troubles and doubts

Giving everything inside and out and

Love's strange, so real in the dark

Think of the tender things that we were working on

His hands— his claws are stroking your cheeks, an aborted tender gesture, like he’s trying to soothe his prey before going for the kill. It’s over, you think, there’s nothing but this certain death. But then; you think of the hundreds of times you forced Dustin to watch this movie with you; of you both playing with Tews until he scratches one of you in annoyance; driving Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Will to the movies; getting ice cream at Scoops Ahoy and guggling when Steve gets rejected once again; putting Dustin’s hair in braids and practicong makeup on him when he was younger; asking Will Byers what he was sketching at the park; Dustin and you laughing during dinner because of some stupid joke. You think about last night, sleeping beside Steve, and the way he made you laugh.

Don't you, forget about me

Don't, don't, don't, don't

Don't you, forget about me

You can’t give up. You can’t leave Dustin.

Somehow you manage to pull Vecna off you with a shove, and you run. You run, you run as fast as your legs let you, as your jeans stain with what looks like blood, as Vecna screams at you. You run like you've never run before.

And then you gasp and you’re falling.

“Shit, fuck, shit!” Someone’s arms are around you, and it takes you a second to calm down to realize it’s Steve, and that you’re in Mike Wheeler’s basement and you’re alive, somehow.

“Holy fucking shit,” Max is saying, but you can barely hear her over the rapid beating of your own heart— erratic, but unquestionably alive. 

“God, god, (Y/N),” Dustin’s voice stands out from the others, and when you look at him there are tears streaming down his eyes, and you can barely process anything before you’re trying to reach for him despite feeling like you’re not even in your own body.

“I’m okay,” you tell him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders, Steve letting go of yours. “I’m okay, I’m okay.”

“I thought you were gonna die,” he whimpers.

“I’m here,” you breathe out. “Oh my God, I’m here thanks to you.”

You realize that the song is still playing, only to notice the headphones in your ears. You see your scattered bag around the room, and the walkie-talkie that Dustin must’ve been looking for already on the floor. Don’t You (Forget About Me) slowly fades to an end before the next song on the soundtrack starts.

“I’m sorry,” Dustin says into your shirt. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice you were going through something, I should’ve noticed. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” You shake your head, holding your little brother even closer. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. And I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. Fuck, Dustin, I’m so sorry.”

You stay like that for a moment, hugging Dustin on the carpet, Max and Lucas hovering near, and Steve’s hand on your shoulder, grounding you.

📼📼📼📼📼📼📼📼📼

When you explain to Nancy what happened and what you saw once she comes back from Pennhurst she’s quick to pinpoint the house you saw when you met Vecna as Victor Creel’s house. All of you grab your things and head to that location. You try to not feel so dreadful, and Dustin forcing you to listen to Don’t You the entire car ride and holding onto your jacket sleeve helps soothe your nerves, at least a little bit.

But Victor Creel’s house is something out of a horror story, dark and abandoned as it is, and the only light source in the house seems to be the hole Robin made when she smashed the window.

“Let’s split up,” Nancy offers, and everyone seems to comply much to your dismay.

Lucas and Max leave to investigate with Dustin (reluctantly parting from your side) trailing off behind them, Nancy and Robin head upstairs and you and Steve are stuck together and instructed to stay downstairs by Nancy, the only thing illuminating your way being your flashlights.

You wander through hallways, staring at ruined wallpaper and dusty portraits. Victor and his family seemed so happy in their pictures, and you wonder why nobody, family or not, ever came to look for their things. The house seemed frozen in time, like one day the family had decided to get up and leave everything behind, the house nothing more than ghosts.

“I hate this place,” you comment, trying to hug yourself tightly to keep the cold at bay. “Thinking that people died here is…”

“Horrible,” Steve finishes for you. “Yeah… Fuck this place, man.”

When you turn to a corner, you freeze in place.

“Steve.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re seeing this, right?” You point at a clock with your flashlight, unmoving. It’s the same clock from your visions, the one you saw before meeting Vecna.

“Yeah,” Steve frowns. “Real old. Why?”

“I saw it,” you try to explain through the rapid beating of your own heart. “In my visions, I mean. This clock was in them— well, the second one, mostly. In the Wheeler’s basement last night.”

“Shit…” Eloquent as ever, Steve Harrington. “Has to mean something, right?”

“If anything it proves Nancy and Robin were right. It all started here.” You finally force yourself to look away and continue forward, ignoring the way you feel your skin crawling. You hold up your cassette before re-starting the song.  “What would happen if I suddenly got tired of this song? Will it no longer work? Does this mean Vecna will… come back for me?”

“Listen, I— I’m not a genius at this like your brother, or like Nancy, or even Robin,” Steve admits, very honestly. “But I promise we’ll find a way, even if that happens. Besides, Dustin told us how much you love this song. Seems kinda impossible you’ll ever get tired of it if you listen to it every day. And listen, I gotta ask. Breakfast club?”

“What?” You feel heat rise up to your cheeks, embarrassed. You start walking away from the clock, trying to get rid of the chills that had gotten ahold of you just a few moments before. “It’s a great movie.”

“Yeah, absolutely,” Steve says, and even though you can’t really see him in the dark, you can hear his smirk, picture his smile. He’s teasing, and you’re kind of glad for it. It helps. “I just didn’t think it would be your thing, is all.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Oh? What’s my thing then?”

“I don’t know. You seem like a Dune fan, maybe.” He wonders out loud, your flashlight lighting the way. 

“I do like the book.”

“See?” Steve points at his temple. “I knew it.”

“I think working at Family Video is finally getting to you.”

“I’m good at reading people,” he says, and you raise another silent eyebrow at him. He continues, “I’d always thought of you as a little brainiac, and that you’d liked movies that were kinda difficult. You were always reading in school. I didn’t think you’d like teen flicks and Hughes.”

“Dune is not difficult. And maybe you don’t really know me enough to know what my thing is,” you shrug. “... Or maybe every girl is a little bit in love with Judd Nelson.”

“Yeah,” Steve actually laughs. “Can’t beat that hair.”

And you can’t help yourself, you smirk. You think you might actually be dreaming, or maybe this curse made Steve seem more tolerable than usual. “You give him a good run for his money.”

“We’re still talking about hair here, right?”

Now you point your flashlight at Steve and elbow him.

“I’m just asking!”

“It was a stupid question. And just so you know, there’s nothing wrong about liking teen flicks,” you say, continuing to walk and not waiting to see if Steve follows. “Pretty in Pink is my new favorite movie and my GPA is still 3.5.”

“Oh wow. Pretty in Pink?” He whistles. “You have a soft spot for Molly Ringwald.”

“Who doesn’t?”

He hums in response.

You stay like that for a moment, walking through dusty hallways and trying to avoid spider webs. Even with the flashlights the place looks abandoned and lonely, and there’s a coldness running down your spine that you can’t shake off no matter how much you try. You focus on trying to catch the sound of Steve’s breathing to somehow ground yourself to reality. It feels like ever since meeting Vecna your grip on reality slowly fades away, like someone is unraveling the carpet from underneath you, trying to catch you by surprise. Like you’re falling into an abyss of darkness and you can’t hold onto anything— because nothing around you is truly real. And so you bite your lip to keep yourself from reaching out to Steve and holding on. You can’t think of a moment you’ve felt as uncertain as you do now; but Steve’s teasing and your bickering back and forth is normal, makes you feel like you’re not actually in immediate danger. You figure if there’s a different dimension called the Upside Down, then you can most definitely forgive Steve Harrington for being a jerk in High School. He has more than proven himself to you. 

Because the truth is that maybe Vecna will win. Maybe you will never beat this curse. And you’ll end up like Chrissy Cunningham, like Fred Benson, like Patrick McKinney; just dead bodies along the trail.

“Hey, Steve,” you call, slowing down to walk beside him. He turns to look at you, but you can’t bring yourself to look at him. “Uhm. If something… like, happened to me—”

“Woah, woah, wait,” Steve shakes his head. “Nothing will. We beat the curse, remember? With the song?”

“Yeah, but we didn’t actually beat it, did we?” Now you do turn to look at him, and his big eyes almost render you speechless. You don’t know what to call the look on his eyes, but it makes you want to look away from him; makes you want to run. “Listen, Steve, I just— I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” he says, quickly. You think he’s noticed how embarrassed you feel, and you look away, embarrassed. “You’re just scared shitless like the rest of us.”

“It’s not that,” you shake your head. “I’m sorry for being such a jerk around you and picking fights with you. You’ve— you’ve been there for Dustin when I wasn’t, and I guess you’re not actually a bad guy. So… I’m sorry I judged you. And thank you, I guess. For being there for Dustin. And… me.”

Steve doesn’t say anything for a second. You’re still looking anywhere but him, now focusing your eyes on a spider in one of the many spider webs in front of you. You feel embarrassed and stupid, but a little bit better. You know you’re doing the right thing by apologizing— you know Steve now, better than you’ve ever thought you would. You finally dare to take one look at him and his eyes are still on you, and when your eyes lock, he smiles softly.

“You’re apologizing for that?” Steve asks, and when you nod matter of factly, he tilts his head to the side. “Huh. Never thought I’d see the day Henderson’s sister apologized to me.”

“Don’t let it get to your head, Harrington,” you roll your eyes, but can’t help the small smile forming on your lips. “I’m only doing this because I might die.”

Steve chuckles, nodding. “Fair enough,” he says. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry too, Henderson. To be honest, I think I kind of deserved it. I was an asshole in High School, so… yeah. I, uh, I’m sorry it took me getting kicked off the clique to realize you’re not half bad.”

“Well,” Now it’s your turn to laugh. “It took me almost dying to realize you’re not half bad either. I think we’re even.”

Steve stops in his tracks, making you stop, too, a little confused. You turn to look at him, and you don’t think you’ve ever seen him look quite so… earnest, maybe. You can’t name the look on his face, but you can’t look away, can’t seem to be able to keep walking. You’re frozen in place.

“You’re not gonna die, Henderson,” he says, determined. “I won’t let you.”

Your mouth goes dry. All you can do in response is nod. You want to say something, but the words escape you, and so you stare at each other for a few seconds, neither of you saying anything. You wonder if Steve can hear the rapid beating of your heart, if he can make out the way your eyes drop to his lips for a slow second despite the darkness around you both.

Then you hear Dustin yell out, “Guys!” and the moment fades away.

📼📼📼📼📼📼📼📼📼

Finding Eddie at Skull Rock seems to be harder than it should be, and once you find him you’re made to follow Dustin’s apparently broken compass. You feel like you’re wandering through the desert, with no clear path in mind. Dustin is at the front, with Lucas and Max following closely behind, Eddie (who you now have a hard time believing would ever be able to kill anyone), Robin and Nancy in front of you and Steve.

You find yourself time and time again choosing to spend more time with Steve, that he seems to be the one able to actually make you feel grounded, like you’re not gonna die in the next three seconds. You feel like yourself around him; but different. Steve is different. This whole experience is making you rethink everything you’ve ever known.

You can’t help but wonder in the silence about Dustin and the others, guiding the rest of you through the night time in the forest. Despite all of them being younger than you, they don’t seem to need your help, especially Dustin, who you think is completely in his element leading the way.

After a while of walking in silence, Dustin announces that the compass seems to be going even crazier. At this, Robin pries it off his hands to confirm that it’s true. Eddie and Dustin argue for a second about following the compass and make another Lord of the Rings reference that has you smiling.

“He’s not half bad,” you comment. “Eddie, I mean.”

“I still don’t know what the hell Modor is,” Steve mumbles under his breath.

You don’t try to explain Lord of The Rings to him— you don’t think there’s even enough time. But, maybe one day, when Hawkins isn’t in imminent danger and Steve still wants to hang out with your uncool self for whatever reason.

“What do you think we’ll find wherever this stupid compass is taking us?” You ask him, trying to avoid accidentally stepping on some poison ivy. Just your luck to get cursed and also poisoned on the same week. “You know more about this than me.”

“I’m actually more like, the, uhm, action guy of the group.”

“So you’re telling me you don’t know where we’re going,” You conclude.

Steve nods. “No damn clue, Henderson.”

“Great,” you chuckle lightly. 

“All I know is that it’s probably a portal Vecna opened after killing someone.”

“A portal. To the upside down?” When Steve nods in confirmation, you sigh. “I still can’t get used to how crazy this is.”

“The third time you do this you kind of just start going with the flow of things,” Steve admits. “Russian spies, MK-Ultra, different dimensions, monsters— it all just kind of starts to sound like background noise.”

“Dustin and the kids seem to really know about all of this.”

“They do,” Steve nods. “Dustin is like, their leader. Our leader, I guess.”

“My little brother… fighting communists and monsters.” You shake your head. “Yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that. How did Nancy? With you and Mike?”

Steve stops for a second to frown at you. “With me?”

“You know, with Nancy and you dating.”

“Me and Nancy?” he asks, then shakes his head. “No, me and Nance just… we go way back, but she’s with Jonathan. That ship sailed a long time ago. We’re friends now. Besides, she’s the one killing more monsters than me.”

“Oh.”

There’s no way to ignore the way your heart skips a beat at this, or the hopeful glint in Steve’s eyes. The rest of the woods disappear and it’s only you and Steve and your rapidly beating heart. The others are lost to you, in their own little world, searching in the dark with their flashlights like fireflies.

“Yeah,” Steve scratches the back of his neck. “And, just in case, me and Robin are not a thing, either. Just friends.”

“Platonic with a capital P!” You hear Robin yell out in front of you.

You can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of you at Steve’s blush. “Yeah, yeah, think she got it, Buckley, thanks.”

“You’re welcome!”

“That’s… good to know,” you comment.

Steve raises his eyebrows at you, then scratches his chin. “Is it? Good to know?”

You nod slowly, avoiding his gaze. “Maybe.”

“Maybe. Okay. Maybe is—” he breathes out. “Maybe is cool.”

“Maybe is really cool,” you allow yourself a small smile.

“Really?” Steve inquires, and when he notices his smile he gifts you one of his own. “Okay. That’s great. Maybe is really cool. Cool. Cool beans.”

“Yeah?” You bite your lip, finally daring to look at him.

Steve follows your movement with his eyes. “Yeah,” he says, breathless.

“Hey guys,” Dustin’s voice rings out, the moment gone. “I think we found the portal!”

You both follow Dustin’s voice until you reach a lake, where Eddie explains Vecna killed Patrick when he was running away from Jason and the rest of the basketball team. 

“So the portal is… what?” Robin asks, “Underwater?”

Dustin shrugs. “Worth a shot.”

He starts climbing up the boat, and you’re quick to grab him by the sleeves of his shirt to stop him.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” You ask him.

“Looking for the portal,” Dustin says, matter-of-factly.

“You told me this portal is supposed to teleport you to another dimension, one Will Byers got stuck in,” you reply, pulling him away from the boat. “You’re not going anywhere near that portal. None of you kids are.”

“Who died and made you the boss?”

“Three people died,” you note.

“I made her the boss,” Robin quips. “Well, Nancy might technically be the boss, actually. Nance?”

Nancy blinks at Robin’s words. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”

“Nance says yes.”

Eddie frowns. “Yes to being the boss or yes to—”

“Let’s just go,” Nancy urges, gesturing at Steve to help her drag the boat offshore. Steve complies, and helps Nancy climb into the boat, followed by Robin and then Eddie.

“But what about the curse?” Dustin wonders, looking at you.

“I have this, remember?” You hold up the cassette player, and wink at your brother. “Don’t worry about me, okay? Look after Lucas and Max. Nancy might be the boss, but you’re their leader.”

“Okay, yeah,” he nods, sounding more like he’s talking to reassure himself than anything. 

“Compass, please,” you tell him, and Dustin complies unhappily. You can’t help yourself from grabbing him by the cheeks and kissing his forehead like you did when he was younger. Despite being a good leader, a fighter, he’ll always be little Dusty, who steals your waffles and makes really bad coffee. “See you soon.”

Steve offers his hand to help you climb the boat and you take it with a tiny smile.

The trip on the boat is short and dark. Even with Steve using his flashlight to try and light the way, it’s barely enough to keep you from being engulfed in the darkness of the night. When was the last time the moon shone down in Hawkins? There are almost no stars above, the view chillingly dark. You fear what you might find. Nancy stares at Dustin’s compass, trying to give any semblance of direction when the compass starts going crazy.

Steve starts pulling off his socks. 

“Steve,” Nancy says slowly, “what are you doing?”

“Somebody’s gotta go down there and check this thing out. Was one of you four Hawkin’s High’s swimming co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years?” He figures, already working on his other shoe. “It’s gotta be me, no complaints, alright?”

Eddie chuckles nervously. “Hey… I’m not complaining. I do not wanna go down there.”

You watch as Eddie takes something off his pocket and throws it on the boat’s floor. You want to stop Steve somehow, irrationally, because as far as you know Nancy, Robin and Eddie can’t dive, and you can barely float — but the words die on your throat when you look up and Steve is peeling off his shirt.

“Here,” Eddie says, and you realize now he had wrapped a plastic bag around a flashlight and is now handing it back to Steve. “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Steve says, taking it from his hands.

“Steve,” Robin rasps out before he dives, and Steve stops to look at her. “Don’t… die?”

“Gee,” he scoffs. “Thanks for the encouraging speech, Robs.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Don’t die, seriously,” you manage to tell him, wanting to reach for his hand but stopping yourself. “Or I’ll kill you.”

Steve nods. He looks like he wants to say something else, but keeps his mouth shut before diving underwater.

The silence on the boat almost kills you, as it rocks quietly, everyone holds their breath waiting for Steve to come up once again. Your heart is in your throat, Don’t You still playing softly in your eardrums, the cassette player still on, a constant to remind you you’re still here. Miraculously.

“He’s…” Eddie whistles. “He’s got balls, King Steve.”

“Yeah,” you nod, looking at the water like you’re hypnotized, waiting for his soaked head to pop up.

“Not what you’d expect,” he adds, a little quietly.

“No,” Robin says, and the way she says it— so fond, so genuine. You couldn’t agree more. Steve is so much more than what you’d expected him to be. “Not at all.”

You stay silent for a few more seconds, all of you waiting for Steve to come back. When he does he emerges with a gasp for air, startling the rest of you. Eddie screams so loud you hear it perfectly well over the music.

“Found it,” Steve claims, holding onto the edge of the boat.

“You found it?” Nancy repeats.

“It was pretty wild,” Steve explains that he seemed to have stumbled into the portal, like an open gate illuminating the bottom of the lake and tinting it red. “It was pretty damn big—”

Before he can continue, Steve is pulled into the water once again, and you jump up instinctively, trying to reach for his hand, but he escapes your grasp quickly. He emerges again and you breathe a sigh of relief— but it’s short lived, because Steve is dragged under once again and he’s not coming up.

“Steve!” you yell. “Steve!”

“What the hell was that, man?!”

Between all the screaming going on, the only thing you can think about is Steve, Steve, Steve—

And so you stand up.

“Wait, (Y/N),” Nancy starts, “What are you—”

“You’re not going in there!” Eddie screams, trying to grab you by the arm.

“I—” You start, but can’t seem to decide on what to say. You don’t know what you’re trying to do, but you know you’ll do it anyway. You have no plan, that much is certain, you’ve never fought a day in your life. “I can’t just stay here!”

“Are you insane?!”

Robin pales. “No, (Y/N), wait—”

With one last look at the rest of the guys, you dive into the water and swim. You’ve never been a good swimmer, but you find yourself swimming like you’ve never had, quickly finding the red portal Steve had mentioned before being dragged down here. What you find on the other side reminds you of when you met Vecna— when he showed you your memories, cold, distorted and dark. You briefly wonder if Vecna had managed to drag you all the way here then, but you have no time to dwell on it too much.

Steve is laying on his back, as some creatures bite at his abdomen incessantly, like leeches. They are choking him, curling their tails around his neck. You stand up and run towards him, only to notice the others have followed behind you, their wet footsteps a reassurance.

“(Y/N)!” Nancy yells, making you turn. She throws one of the boat’s paddles at you, keeping one for herself. 

You manage to catch it, God knows how. Steve is still struggling when you get to him, and the first thing you do is smack one of the things across the face, forcing it on its back and stopping it from further gnawing Steve’s abdomen. You see as Robin starts stomping on the one who has its tail curled around Steve’s neck, and Nancy takes on the other one.

“Shit,” Eddie murmurs when he looks up the sky and sees even more of them approaching.

One of them starts going after Nancy, Eddie trying to come to her rescue by grabbing Steve’s still working flashlight and smacking it as hard as he can manage. You help Robin by hitting the one she’s stomping on with the paddle, until Steve manages to bite its tail, forcing it to curl itself from his neck. 

With more coming, you are distracted enough to barely notice when Steve manages to behead it, his lips stained with pitch black blood.

“Jesus christ,” Eddie mumbles. “Jesus H Christ!”

The adrenaline pumping through your veins, your heartbeat going faster— everything seems to go for so long, when in reality it must’ve been just a few minutes.

“Steve,” you manage to rasp out, walking towards him, only looking at his wounds, unsure of what you can do to help him. “Shit, Steve, are you okay?”

“They only took about a pound of flesh,” he says, making you sigh. “But other than that… Yeah, never better.”

He stares at you when he says it, and you can’t help the way your breath catches.

“You’ll need bandages,” Nancy notes.

“Do you guys know if these bats have like, rabbies?” Robin wonders aloud. Aware that everyone’s eyes are on her, Robin starts rambling about rabies symptoms and death. You and Steve glance at each other.

Steve’s chest is still rising erratically, exhausted, when he asks, “What the hell are you talking about, Robin?”

Before Robin can go on any longer though, the sky is tinted red again, and the screeching of even more approaching creatures gets you on edge. 

“We need to get the fuck out of here,” you say, and the rest of the group seem to agree.

The five of you break into a run into the forest, as far as you can before Steve’s wounds start to appear more serious, and when Nancy deems it safe enough, you stop near a tree where Steve can lean against, still breathing rapidly. You remember that Nancy said he’d need bandages, and so you take the hem of your pants and start ripping them open.

“What are you—” Steve starts.

“Bandages,” you say. “I saw this in Indiana Jones.”

“Indiana Jones?” Steve asks with a chuckle, looking up at the sky, smiling. “Your movie choices keep surprising me, Henderson.”

You tie the cloth around his wounds as tightly as you can, hopeful that it’s a good enough job to keep him from bleeding out until you guys get out of here. The wounds don’t look too bad, but you have no idea how long you'll stay here for. Nancy, looking over your shoulders, seems to approve of your bandage work.

“Thanks,” Steve rasps out.

“Just don’t die on me,” you nod, staring at his eyes.

“I’ll try not to.”

He holds your gaze, your mouth going even more dry than it already is. “I’ll hold you to that, Harrington.”

You’re interrupted when Steve catches something behind you. It’s Eddie’s jean vest. When you turn, Eddie scrunches up his nose.

“For modesty, man.”

“We escaped now, but there’s more of those monsters than what we saw,” Nancy interrupts, walking around, trying to think. “They’ll come looking for us. We need to get out of here.”

“So,” Eddie starts, running a hand through his mouth. “What the hell do we do now? How do we get out of here, exactly?”

“We need to find another portal, right?” Robin replies. “That’s the only way to get out of here. But we can’t go back to Watergate, it’s probably full of those bats now. Those bats full of rabies!”

 “Right now, the most important thing is to defend ourselves,” Nancy says. “We don’t know what kind of monsters are down here. Maybe they’re even worse than that.”

“Hell,” Eddie breathes. “You think Vecna is here?”

“I don’t know… Maybe.”

A chill runs down your spine at the mention of Vecna’s name. Your hand flies to your ear, and only then you realize you’ve jumped in the water with your headphones on, and when you reach the player secured inside your front pocket it’s wet and broken. Through the adrenaline of the fight, you hadn’t even noticed that the song was no longer playing. 

“Shit,” Nancy breathes out, looking at your ruined headphones. “The player.”

“It’s ruined,” you lament, seeing the way it’s soaked. You toss the cassette player to the ground, near Steve’s feet, who pales even more, if it’s even possible.

“Fuck,” he says, breathless, the slight reassuring smile he’d been wearing disappears in an instant. He stands up straight despite his body clearly protesting against it. “We need to find another one before it’s too late.”

“Would it even work here?” Robin wonders. “If it’s one from the Upside Down, I mean. Things seem to be… kind of broken here, don’t they?”

“Then we need to get her out of here right now,” Steve urges, and when he starts trying to walk away it’s Eddie who stops him.

“Dude, do you want your intestines to hang out of your abdomen like some shitty Nightmare on Elm Street scene?” he asks, “Stay still! Those bats could be anywhere!”

“We need to move!”

“Steve, wait a second,” you urge after him.

“We could go to my house,” Nancy offers. “I have guns. We could use them to fend off the demo… bats, or whatever. And we need a player. We can use Mike’s, he has one he didn’t take to California.”

Eddie blinks. “You, Nancy Wheeler… have guns.”

Robin grins. “Full of surprises, isn’t she?”

Steve is already on his way despite his groans of pain, and even though the wounds had seemed pretty superficial to you when you wrapped them up, it doesn’t mean that they don’t hurt like a bitch.

“Steve, you’re just hurting yourself even more now,” Now Robin is sighing, exasperated. You briefly wonder how many times she’s had to deal with Steve like this.

“Let’s go,” he says, ignoring her.

“Steve...” you try to stop him, but he turns around quickly.

“Let’s go!” 

Robin scoffs, crossing his arms. “Where are we even going, oh great leader?”

“Nancy’s!”

You all turn to look at each other, unsure if following Steve is the best idea, but with nothing else to do and no other ideas, there’s only one thing to do.

And so you all start walking.

📼📼📼📼📼📼📼📼📼

It’s a while before you arrive at the Wheeler’s, the five of you mostly exhausted from the fight, with Steve clutching his wounds but still leading the way, right next to Nancy. You’re all on edge the entire way back, but despite the lack of music you don’t feel different yet, and you don’t encounter any more demobats, as Nancy had called them.

Nancy’s house seems haunted in this place, just as much as the rest of Hawkins seems to be. Despite housing monsters, the Upside Down looks more like a ghost town than anything. You couldn’t help but wonder how tiny Will Byers had ever survived something like this so young… Nobody ever gives that kid enough credit. 

Nancy wastes no time climbing up the stairs; she almost seems unaffected looking at her house like this, so… dead. She hovers near a door and turns to look at you.

“This is Mike’s room,” she nods at it. “His cassette player should be in there. Me, Eddie and Robin will get the guns and look for the cassette in my room.”

You agree to it, and she disappears down the hallway along with Eddie and Robin. You and Steve enter Mike’s room, start rummaging through cabinets. You work in silence. You’ve never seen Steve this quiet, this focused. You wonder if he’s mad at you— he had to be. Now besides demobats and trying to escape, he had to help you too because you’d went and done something stupid and completely irrational.

Steve clears his throat, holding up something in his hand. “Found it,” he calls. “Think it’ll work?” He wonders aloud, as you close the closet door before walking up to him.

“Here,” You say, then pull your ruined flashlight from your back pocket. You hit the back of it against the palm of your hand and the batteries come off. You’re not sure if this might work since the flashlight got wet and stopped working once you jumped into the water, but once you plug them into the cassette player it seems to come to life. Steve sighs, relieved. “Thank God that worked. Let’s get that stupid cassette and get out of here.”

“Sounds good to me,” he quips. He wets his lips, looking around. “You don’t feel any different, though, right?” When you shake your head, he seems to be able to relax a bit. “When we were on our way here, Eddie told me you didn’t waste a second to help me.”

You wait for Steve to continue, but he doesn’t.

“I’ve never been much of an adventurer when we were kids,” you say. “Dustin wanted to climb trees and go camping, and I wanted to stay home and read books. We used to fight all the time because I never wanted to play outside with him, because I was scared of bugs and dirt and I just wanted to stay inside.”

Steve doesn’t say anything to that, but he’s near you, hoving near your hand, like he knows you need the comfort, unsure if it’d be wanted from him. 

“If I don’t make it out of this stupid curse, Steve,” you breathe out, legs feeling so shaky you want to throw up, “I need you to promise me you’ll take care of Dustin.”

“He’ll kill me before I let you die,” Steve says, trying t sound lighthearted but failing.

“Steve,” you rag out. “Promise me. Please.”

Steve nods, his voice soft in the way it does when he’s trying to be gentle. “Y—yeah. Of course. You know little Henderson’s like my own little brother.”

“I know,” you acknowledge. “You’ve been a way better sibling than me. I’ve been such a shitty sister and I’m… I’m really glad Dustin has you.”

“That’s not true,” he argues, reaching for your arm in the darkness of the room— you want to flinch away. “He loves you, (Y/N). Seriously, you should hear the way he talks about you when you’re not around.”

You ignore the sting in your eyes and berate yourself for tearing up.

“It’s my fault,” you whisper.

“What?”

“It’s my fault my dad walked away,” you shake your head, tearing your arm away from Steve’s touch, feeling cold as soon as you’re away from him. But you deserve it, you deserve the cold. “I told him I hated him after I learned he cheated on mom and that he had another family, and he never came back. I told him I never wanted to see him again. I’m the reason Dustin doesn’t have a dad now. But— but I was just fifteen, I didn’t— I didn’t know what I was asking—”

“Stop, stop,” Steve interrupts, and suddenly he’s pulling you close to your chest and holding you close.

And suddenly that’s all you need to break down, tears flowing freely down your cheeks. You feel embarrased, stupid for crying about something like this when the world might be about to end, horrifyingly guilty for everything— but for the first time you feel like something has been finally lifted off your chest and you can breathe, here, with Steve holding you. You’re glad Steve stayed behind with you. In truth, you think you might just be glad for Steve.

If someone had told you a week ago you’d be crying in Steve Harrington’s arms you would’ve smacked them. Life can change really fast, huh?

“Nobody is going to die,” his voice is so soft. You’d never thought you’d think of Steve’s voice as anything other than grating, but now you hold onto it like a lifeline. “I won’t let that happen.”

You breathe into his chest. You finally manage to let go of him, thanking God the others weren’t near. You miss the warmth almost immediately, as much as you don’t want to admit it. “Shit, sorry, your bandages.”

“You need to stop doing that,” he quips.

“What?”

“Apologizing so much,” he reaches for your arm again before walking, and you thank him silently. You have to bite your tongue not to apologize again. “Let’s go get that cassette.”

When you both step into Nancy’s room, the silence is almost deafening. 

“What happened?” 

“The guns,” Nancy explains, her eyes focused on her nightstand, not looking up at either of you. “They aren’t here. But so many things that shouldn’t be are. Like— like my curtains, and these— these toys I gifted my cousin Joanna. They haven’t been here since 1983.”

“We’re stuck in time, dude,” Eddie finishes for her.

“Three years, to be exact.”

“What?” Steve asks, confused. “Three years into the past?”

“... From when Will disappeared, you mean?” You question.

Nancy nods. “Yeah, I… think so. But, (Y/N), If we’re three years in the past, it means The Breakfast Club isn’t out yet,” Nancy swallows, hard, then finally looks up to stare into your eyes. 

“What do you mean?” Steve asks, his chest rising erratically. 

You bite your lip. “She means the song doesn’t exist, either.”

Nancy closes her eyes.

“I’m sorry, (Y/N).” 

“Fuck!” Steve yells, “fuck!”

He kicks one of Nancy’s nightstands with so much force he manages to force it into the ground, Nancy’s belongings following suit, scattering around the carpet, making Nancy flinch. 

“Steve,” you whisper, trying to reach for him. “Stop.”

Steve sits on Nancy’s bed, hand covering his mouth. He lets you rest your hand on his arm, and he breathes out another curse. He almost looks frozen in place like this, and it reminds you that everything in here feels like it is— ghosts, so many ghosts. You feel like you’re stuck in hell. 

“Maybe any song will work,” Robin offers a little desperately, going through Nancy’s drawers, pulling out different cassettes and soundtracks, Duran Duran, Madonna, Elton John. “C’mon guys, one has to work.”

Eddie scratches his neck. “Doesn’t it have to be her favorite song? Isn’t that what Henderon said?”

“Screw it,” Nancy shakes her head, taking in a shaky breath. “We have to try whatever we can. This is our only option.”

“Okay,” you nod, shakily, prying your hand off of Steve’s arm, reaching to cruch own next to Robin and look through the rest of Nancy’s cassettes. “Okay, let’s— let’s try it.”

Robin holds up Total Eclipse of the Heart. “You like Bonnie Tyler?” 

“Seems as good as anything,” you nod, taking it from her hands. As the first notes of Total Eclipse start playing, you gulp nervously, praying this might work, that you have at least enough time to get out of here alive.

Steve still looks miserable, but seems a little calmer now. “We need to get out of here right now.”

“How?” Robin sighs. “How did Will ever manage to get out of this place?”

“There has to be a way,” Nancy figures, then something seems to dawn on her. “Will. Will used to talk to Joyce with the Christmas lights while he was stuck in the Upside Down.”

“The Christmas lights?” Eddie asks, incredulously. “What are you talking about?”

As she explains, you can’t help but think that Nancy Wheeler is absolutely brilliant. You can’t blame Steve for falling in love with her before. She’s interrupted by Robin rather quickly though, when she claims she can hear Dustin’s voice— soon enough, all of you start to hear him, distorted and distant, but it's there no less. Quickly Dustin communicates that he thinks there might be another portal in Eddie’s trailer and that seems to be your best shot at an escape.

Robin and Nancy leave to get some supplies for the trip— whatever they can find to use as a weapon, while Eddie wanders off behind them, with the excuse of rummaging through little Wheeler’s action figures. Steve stays with you, as you stare at Holly’s Lite Brite, unsure on what to do. 

You trust Dustin and his plan, of course you do. Dustin’s done nothing but prove himself to you these past few days. Still, the thought that everything might go incredibly wrong is almost unshakable at this point. What was it Max said to you? Something about how Vecna’s curse made people feel hopeless and lonely.

“You okay, right?” Steve wonders aloud, searching your face. “You haven’t had any visions yet?”

You haven’t felt Vecna’s pull yet, but you don’t want to be overly optimistic just yet. “I’m okay, I think. Are you?”

You glance down at his bandages, but he only nods. “Yeah, they don’t hurt anymore. I’m more worried about you.”

Warmth spreads all over your cheeks and inside your chest, but now’s really not the time for all of these feelings, and so you try to squeeze them out, to focus on something else. 

“I just hope the plan works,” you mumble. “I want to get out of here.”

“You—” Steve shakes his head, looks at you with a look you can’t name. But he sounds frustrated, exhausted. “You just jumped in after me? You didn’t even think…” he trails off. “Eddie said you just jumped. Fucking jumped. You’re unbelievable, you know that, don’t you, Henderson? Absolutely fucking unbelievable.” 

You look down at your hands.

“It was stupid, I know, I—”

“Thank you,” Steve murmurs, honesty bleeding into every word he speaks. You look up at him, surprised. “You saved my ass back there.”

The truth is you hadn’t doubted one second— you hadn’t even stopped to think about what might happen to you. Helping Steve was more important to you than anything in that moment, and you didn’t regret it, how could you regret that? 

“You saved my ass first, back at the Wheeler’s,” you smile at him. “Even later, in the woods, and at Creel’s house. I don’t know if I could have kept going without you… so thank you.”

Steve stays silent for a few seconds, unsure of how to continue. You can practically feel him grow nervous now, when he clears his throat and begins speaking. “Listen, I know we are on the brink of life and death and maybe world threatening danger, but I kinda need some motivation to get out of here.”

“Yeah?”

“So, now that you know me and Nancy aren’t really a thing, and that me and Robin are platonic with a capital P…”

“Keep going.”

“And since you know, maybe is really cool,” you nod, trying to fight off a smile. “We should, maybe, go on a date together.”

“Hm…” you place a hand on your chin. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I can go out with someone who doesn’t like Pretty in Pink.”

“I’ve never said I didn’t,” he shrugs. “I just haven’t even seen it.”

“You haven’t seen Pretty in Pink, you monster?!”

“You know, I’m actively bleeding out here,” Steve gestures at your last minute bandages, his smile almost as handsome as him, even more so after tearing off a bat monster’s head off. Even more so now that it seems you finally have a plan to get out of this goddamn place. “You’re gonna make a dying man wait?”

“You’re not dying, Harrington.” You smack him gently across the shoulders. “I won’t let you.”

Steve chuckles, his hand finding its way to yours, almost nervous, scared of rejection. 

“So? What do you say?”

“I say that if we get out of here alive, and it seems like kind of a longshot right now…” you acknowledge, holding onto his hand and squeezing. “I would really, really like that.”

“Yeah?”

You’re smiling. “Yeah.”

You both might be the people with the worst timing in the entire world— you’re cursed by a demon villain from another dimension, and Steve is bleeding out while you’re both trapped inside the Upside Down, with no clue if you’ll be able to actually escape. Not to mention this is all happening in his ex's house. And yet you can’t help but laugh when Steve tries to reach for the back of your neck and fails miserably.

“I really want to kiss you,” he says, “but my abdomen still really hurts.”

“I have to do everything,” you tease, before closing the distance between you, your lips pressing against his with a sigh. 

Steve’s lips are chapped, bloody, raw, and yours must be equally as bad, salty, open and bleeding raw. But despite everything the kiss is perfect, as imperfect and uncoordinated as it is; the way your lips fit together, the way Steve cradles your cheek, and how you hold the back of his neck while Bonnie Tyler plays in the background of it all. Now, more than anything, you feel hope.

When you break off the kiss, Steve is smiling. 

“Let’s get out of here,” he says. And you just might.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington one shot #steve harington fic #steve x reader #stranger things fic #stranger things imagine #stranger things scenario #steve harrington scenario #st4 #joe keery #female reader #dyfam #mine #stranger things

[siriuslyobsessedwithfiction]

Horcruxes as Seven Deadly Sins

This has been jabbing at my brain for a while, I need to get it out. Idk if someone has already done this.

This will only mention Christian, because I don't think I have enough knowledge about Greek, Roman or any other interpretation of the seven deadly sins.

So, Tom Riddle created seven horcruxes. (actually eight)

It is no secret that Tom Riddle was obsessed with power, because he never had anything of value and thought power was the remedy for his misfortune and a very depressing life. Splitting one's soul is already a sin itself because it's done by murdering someone. Tom Riddle Jr. (I think it's hilarious to call him that so what) created seven of them during various stages of his life. Without further ado, let's review his misdeeds chronologically.

The Diary

The first horcrux he created was by murdering Myrtle, an innocent Muggleborn Ravenclaw student. The basilisk did Tom's bidding. The diary becoming a horcrux is very interesing considering the timeline. He was in fifth or sixth year. By that time he figured out he was the descendant of Salazar Slytherin, but he did not yet know of the tragedy that brought him to life. He thought he was doing noble work by getting rid of the muggleborns and finishing what Salazar intended from the start. Years later, diary Tom talks to Harry about abandoning his filthy muggle father's name, but had Tom already visited his uncle by that time and found out about his parents? Or did Tom murder Myrtle earlier and then was told about his heritage as a diary by the actual corporal Tom? Because when he visited his uncle and found out his father was a muggle, he knocked his uncle out, went to the Riddle manor and killed his father and his grandparents. And stole the Gaunt family ring, which would also become a horcrux. Officially, the diary is considered the first horcrux, so we'll follow that. I will assign the diary the sin of wrath. Tom was angry at his muggle father, weak mother, deranged relatives who destroyed an ancient house and his childhood. However, he still holds his heritage in somewhat of a high regard because, frankly, what else he has left. He took out his wrath on regular bystanders who had no effect on his life. Teenage boy bottles his anger in his diary and holds petty grudges.

Marvolo Gaunt's Ring

Created after Tom spoke to Slughorn about splitting a soul in more than two pieces. A gaudy ring, not even a famous artifact, the last family heirloom of Gaunts. Even though his mother's side of the family was no less pathetic than his father's, Tom did not forsake it completely. He still hid his connection to them, but at least they provided him with the gift of parseltongue and magical talent. I think he was silently...grateful, for the lack of a better term. He felt no sympathy towards his mother even before he found out who she was, but he was grateful for her the way you can be grateful for someone who brought you to this world and gave you gift of magic and did nothing else for you. The ring represents the sin of pride because Tom was not honoring his family, he clung to his terrible ancestry. The word pride is not used as a bad thing in the modern context as much. You can be proud of something. That's not a bad thing, right? Well, in this case, it is. Tom was not ashamed of the things Gaunts did, he was ashamed how they ended up. If he was met with Gaunts who looked and lived like Malfoys but where ten times worse, he wouldn't hide his connection to them and would display his pride. Why else would he keep the ring if he didn't plan to use it. Sentimental reasons.

Salazar Slytherin's Locket

Envy. Tom tracked down the current owner of the locket, killed her and stole it from her. He was envious in a way of Hepzibah Smith, who lived luxuriously, was in touch of her pureblood ancestry, a descendant of Helga Hufflepuff. Meanwhile, Tom, who, in his opinion, should've been born with the same privileges, had to scramble for scraps his whole life and smile politely at others and be of service, instead of the other way around. A prince mistaken for a beggar, forced to live his life, found the crown jewel of his. And some old lady displayed it like it was her own. Technically, it was.

Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem

Now, what business did Tommy have messing around with other founders' sacred artifacts? He had acquired "his own" ones. He could stop at three horcruxes. Surely, there were risks, consequences of such extreme magic, just take the locket and leave the cup, don't even bother with the lost diadem...Greed. He sniffed around and inquired about it while he was still in Hogwarts, charmed the Grey Lady Helena Ravenclaw to find out its whereabouts and went to bloody Albania to get it.

Why shouldn't Tom take the diadem and the cup as well? Why shouldn't he take other heirlooms and make it his? He's the greatest wizard of all time in the making. What can possibly rival his power? You get the point.

Helga Hufflepuff's Cup

Gluttony. Are we even surprised at this point? He went through all that trouble to get other items, the cup was literally lying right there next to the locket at Hepzibah Smith's house. I'm getting tired, I'm sorry.

Nagini

Sloth. The snake was already unnaturally loyal to him, he was actually acting affectionate towards it. Making a horcrux out of a living being was an unheard concept, but he'd done much weirder things already. The parselmouth and a snake, very original. His easiest and laziest horcrux, one more testament to his power and "pure" blood.

Harry Potter

Lust. Harry was a horcrux he never meant to create. On a fateful night when Voldemort nearly died of his own spell (the first time around), a small piece of his soul attached itself to the only living thing it could find, a baby. All of it, really, began with lust. An ambition gone bitter. Lust for power, immortality, desire to be remembered and stand out. Driven to insanity, orchestrated his own downfall. The lust for power, the only thing he could approximate with love.

#harry potter #tom riddle #slytherin #harry potter analysis #voldemort #tom marvolo riddle #lord voldemort

[rockinracket]

It's Kind of Like...Oh, You Know!

Stepping up as Art Director when you’ve never Directed Art

By Gwen Hall - Art Director of Rockin' Racket (2023)

What's in an art style? That which we call a raccoon by any other name would look just as sweet – or so I thought, working alongside three other artists with Pop Punk Paws Productions, LLC to create Rockin’ Racket, an angst-filled, story-driven, band-management simulator (releasing this Spring, 2024! Shameless plug). As Rockin’ Racket was conceived just last September, we’ve seen the game grow from more than just humble beginnings. The project was born from a pair of designers – me, a writer and artist, and my coworker, a sound designer semi-proficient in Unity – with no other people to worry about onboarding. 

Starting strong with no thought of onboarding and the assumption that we would both jump ship, our duo scuffled through months of troubled time management and lacking project production. However, these things started to patch themselves up as we pushed through our first round of pitches presenting to fellow game designers, Indiana University faculty, and industry professionals: representatives from Herringbone Games, Freehold Games, and Mommy's Best Games. Things were looking up for Rockin’ Racket…aside from the fact that we were now looking at an additional year and a half of content creation. For a larger team with a more coordinated game plan – pun intended - less of a problem. For our team? We swiftly fell back into the weeds; back to the drawing board, I went.

2023 has been a time of development for the art team, especially in the Art Bible and Style Guide department. I grew up during the Renaissance of “Art Instagram” and Tumblr networking, where art style was EVERYTHING. Creating a set of rules for a style entirely fabricated for a game – for other people to copy, at that – was a large and exciting task. It also meant defining what I mean when I say, “2007 Fall Out Boy meets Scott Pilgrim if Scott Pilgrim was Lemonade Mouth, and also the board game Root”.

That's what our game looks like, duh. Isn't the image so profoundly clear? Of course, these things are not actual rules. During the first pass of concept art and asset production, not even I knew what *that* looked like, and it existed in my mind! Putting my nose to the grindstone, how do I define what something looks like with hard and fast rules when visuals aren't enough? What does “soft” mean? What differentiates “textured” from “grungy” from “nasty”? For the love of all things, what brush do you use???  

Working alongside the Pop Punk Paws Prod. Art Roadies (isn't that a cute team nickname), I realized a few things that would help us along the way.

Reference, Reference, Reference! Whether something is based on fantasy or reality, there are rules to how it moves. Create references for the rules of the world so we don't have anthro nudists on accident. “Don’t”s are just as helpful as “Do”s, if not moreso.

The best designers steal – I mean, take inspiration – from things they love. New things are an amalgamation of old things, making them a collage of ideas. Keep those ideas pinned somewhere safe! If not “official references”, at the very least they'll keep a team on track for the final look. Is the art channeling “2007 Fall Out Boy” yet?

Communication is key, and what better way to communicate with artists than in a visual medium? 

Paint-overs are never personal. Yes, “fixing” art is controversial because creating is a personal practice. On a project, however, it’s about the unification. It’s the same idea as proofreading; paint-overs help us all improve!

Touching base with non-artist teammates helps keep everyone in the loop, especially the teams who might never touch the art aside from implementing it.

Art Directors make art. When I entered a leadership position, I assumed my primary responsibilities as “Concept Artist” would leave in place of “Creative Director”. That’s not true! If anything, it means more art. That’s a good thing!

Art Directors mean Art Direction! Thoroughness is helpfulness in nearly every case. Deadlines, deliverable lists, critique, technical specifications, and teamwork. One can only get away with so many “bshdbsjd(2).png”’s before we start tripping over each other.

At the moment, I am not an industry veteran (YET!), so take my words with a grain of salt. It is safe to say that these notes may be obvious now, but were not as obvious to me before my experiences on an art-focused team; maybe this will help an eager artist gather their bearings while diving headfirst, onboarding-prep-free, into a project.

Check out Rockin’ Racket on Twitter (X), Instagram, and YouTube to follow our journey of getting our band to stardom!

#indiedev #indiegamedev #indie games #artists on tumblr #digital artist #art direction #art director #gamedev #dev blog #devlog #game development

[goldenteaset]

(I know I've posted this official art before but I don't care, it fits the occasion)

It's my 1 year yume-versary with Belial today! I felt like being a hopeless romantic (especially after seeing this art again), so I wound up thinking about the process of how this happened. And while it's 99% coincidences that make me happy, when put together like this they do form a love story...

While I got into GBF because of him, the actual act of falling for him "as myself" (for lack of a better way to put it) was a lot longer. Four years, in fact! It was half "I just like him with Djeeta and Lyria better" and half "Nah, he wouldn't like *me*, I'd be too shy".

Cue 2022. XD;

By which I mean, I'm not sure when in summer it started, but all of a sudden he kept showing up in my dreams (as Oribe, his semi-canon school AU self). "Oh cool, that hasn't happened before", I thought, thinking nothing of it. It seemed a good reason to write him and Djeeta in a similar setting; I'd take it.

And then I started noticing that Djeeta wasn't involved. "Well, maybe she's there but I'm seeing things from her POV this time"... ^^;

Months before the Oribe dreams, I kept dreaming about Summer Belial months before we got the Summon, which is funny anyway, but those were still focused on Djeeta. My subconscious really wanted me to have fun with Oribe/Belial, and it was going to bludgeon me until I did. At the same time, two things happened:

A particularly powerful dream about Oribe!Belial where he really wanted to take a selfie with me and kept insisting "I want to see your face, don't hide~"

The "Belial advice column for GBFest" appeared

The former was A Lot, but the latter was easily compartmentalized: "Just write the letter as if you're part of GBF's world". It took a few tries, because I had to remember kafabe (i.e. these letters were being sent to "Belial", not the devs), but I did it!

I burbled about how he'd always gotten me out of writer's block, because of course, and made absolutely sure not to overthink my heart racing while imagining sending it in canon. It was in English, down to the pen name "Shy Writer", and knew it probably wouldn't get picked for the GBFest segment.

"Just the fantasy is enough," I thought, forgetting what "yume" meant.

Fast forward to Jan 2023!

GBFest is here, it's fun whether you're there in person or not...and I'm catching up on Day 1's stream after falling asleep. ^^; I found the "Belial answers fanmail" segment and was just enjoying the spectacle. Here's a video of it separate from the massive stream one:

Someone had sent in something about being shy/nervous about who they liked, very likely him. (Also they called him "Beli-chan", which is adorable.) Belial read it normally, but his response (at 4:13, yes I've kept track of it)...well...

He let out probably the deepest, sultriest chuckle we've heard from him yet, which is saying a lot, and then added "'Shy'? How cute (kawaii ne)~."

Again: it's all coincidence, of course. Just a lot of convenient circumstances that eventually lined up into a fantasy narrative that makes me happy.

But boy did it not matter in that moment, when I felt like a tsundere who'd been found out after a whole season of UST. XD

It felt like there wasn't any need to deny it anymore. Nor to make excuses that were never going to hold up, as long as I kept denying that sense of fun to my own detriment. Or, to be extra sappy about it--it was as if Belial had been seducing me throughout '22 to the beginning of '23 and had now finally gotten the point across to my very dense self-insert/OC.

I've been enjoying myself a lot since then--going out more, trying new hobbies, just being happier in general. Could that have happened without this as a push? Maybe. But it didn't happen until I "had food at home", so to speak, which feels telling.

I think we as a species need space in our heads for imagination and play, and that varies from person to person. Along with writing, mine just happens to be (day)dreaming about the Primarch of Cunning acting like a bird of paradise and/or seducing me and my self-insert OC into semi-reasonable sleep schedules.

So, yeah. Happy anniversary, Belial. May there be many more!

#F/O: Look Into The Abyss of His Heart #yumejoshi #proship selfship #Sadly I don't have precise anniversary dates for the other two but I can figure out something I'm sure #It's tempting to be cynical about it all and wave it off as “patterns that aren't there yada yada” #But you know what? I *did* that nonsense in my teens and wound up worse for it #So here we are. Improving by embracing the fantasy XD #Youtube

[exit-path]

Tumblr Post Compilation: A Masterpost

First of all, let me tell you what you're about to see.

This is a list of 118 "funny tumblr posts" taken from YouTube compilations in 2016. I tracked down all these posts on tumblr myself in Nov 2021. The post is broken up into two parts, and is available under the cut. Each of the links is named after a snippet from the actual post (effectively the "punchline"), and clicking on it brings up the full post, which you can reblog and interact with.

These posts are nostalgic to me because I watched these YouTube compilations before I came to tumblr. I recommend you scroll through these posts, as they bring up a form of humor that's rarely seen today which, I think, has almost been lost to time. Also, if you want to learn how to do this, there's some insight as to how I did this at the end of the post.

(This masterpost is a revision of this post, necessitated because the hyperlinks don't work anymore.)

1. outrageously angry man returning a lawnmower and it was our dad

2. Italian exchange student said “Look, the compressed horse.”

3. “im eminem!” “and I’m skittles?”

4. I JUST MISTOOK ANOTHER STUDENT FOR A TRASH CAN

5. he ate the reeses cup then stabbed himself with the epipen

6. “GODDAMMIT, MR. NOODLE.”

7. school on lockdown because someone put weed in the vents

8. Can’t cheat with those big ass galaxy phones

9. weirdly self-conscious about wiper blade speed

10. My brother told me not to slam the door and yell “Guess who’s home, motherfuckers”

11. drove by traffic camera 6 times thinking it was funny

12. drill sergeant made kid carry around potted plant to replace the oxygen he wasted

13. A list of things that do not offend people:

14. kid grabbed seagull out of air, all his friends were like “again tyrone?? really??”

15. “LOWERCASE LETTERS ARE FOR THE LOWER CLASS”

16. drunk man proposes to tree, gets rejected

17. “i’m on my way, the traffic is just slow, i’m coming” “mom i called the house phone”

18. a kid’s phone started siri, TEACHER STARTED EXPLAINING IT AGAIN

19. “watch my stuff” what if someone comes and actually tries to steal it

20. our goats think that now whenever they pee they get a treat

21. “it’s for your own good”, mom deleted the internet explorer icon from my desktop

22. a girl called me a lying slut because I was with her bf a lot. we’re siblings

23. I watched an old couple set off their car alarm and drive away… now that i think about it-

24. Rules to learning English: their our know rules

25. a kid got expelled for pretending to be russian for 8 months

26. a girl said she had two moms and a boy started crying, he said it wasn’t fair she had two

27. when a girl changes her clothes in front of you, she hasn’t spotted you in the tree yet

28. my mom is telling me “get a good job” but my heart is telling me “marry rich”

29. my parents split after they made me. i am a volcano. follow for more geological humour

30. I’m saying “excuse me” but I really mean “why the fu-”

31. nun goes “I’m allowed to look at the menu I just can’t order”

32. Hospitals are so weird

33. handed their BLIND SON a menu and he’s like “ah… thank you… I’ll just… read this”

34. on April Fool’s his mom called to say she was in labour, dad laughed and hung up on her

35. “why do I fear bears? because Chester Zoo is 30 miles away and bears can smell fear”

36. dropped her ipad but held tight to her pizza

37. her parents faked a british accent in front of her until she was 7

38. really religious girl who told people off if they swore, gets sworn at

39. he took her to the supermarket to watch the lobsters fighting in the lobster tank

40. so i was the official shia labeouf myspace but i was in fact a 12 yr old canadian kid

41. subway thief told suitcase has “a bunch of laptops” ends up stealing a dead dog

42. “I guess working in fast food just wasn’t my cup of tea”

43. I waited until the professor handed back the papers and angrily asked where mine was

44. so i started trying to kill classmates with my mind

45. my favorite thing is ask 14/15 year old kids on dates if they want a kids menu

46. I blacked out in Disney World, woke up with Mickey Mouse putting a cold towel on me

47. “wanna date me? yes: smile no: backflip” and she did a backflip

48. “do you wanna kiss” “excuse me” he pulled out a bag of hershey’s kisses

49. when beyoncé asked all the single ladies to put their hands up I looked at my bf and

50. 7th grade, his world of warcraft friends threw him a virtual birthday party

51. “she’s the bro and y’all bitches are the hoes”

#exit talks #tumblr culture

[backupherewego]

72 HOURS IN BUDAPEST WITH JAMES VOWLES

Date: 2022/7/27 Source: 404 (Sorry)

James Vowles, a key figure on the Formula One race circuit, quite literally breezes through Budapest as the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team strives to be named the World Constructors’ Champion for the eighth year in a row. As one of the team members responsible for navigating the road to the top of the podium, however, he does manage to sneak in some local sights and a decadent dinner at The Ritz-Carlton, Budapest. Read on to discover his secrets to race-day success and learn about the culinary competition on this year's itinerary.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT AT THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX?

“Mine actually stems back to 2006 [when I was working with Honda]. We'd had some successful races and been on the podium a few times, but we hadn't won anything up to that point. Budapest is a track that is very difficult to master. I know it looks simple because it's small and there aren’t that many corners, but it's incredibly difficult to get right for the drivers and engineers. You also have rain that comes in and out. 2006 was my first-ever win as an engineer, as well as the team's first win. It's something that means a huge amount to me because we had to fight for it. It wasn't given to us on a plate. We really had to make the right decisions at the right time. A number of cars had a number of incidents, and we came through the field and did the right thing, so Budapest rests strongly in my mind as a result of that.

The second was with Mercedes in 2013, which was Lewis Hamilton’s first year with us. It was at that point we realized how special he was in Budapest. We didn't have the fastest car—Red Bull was by far the leader that year—yet Lewis was able to win that race fair and square. He did it because [Budapest] is just where he feels comfortable. It's a track he loves, so it holds a strong place in my heart because of that.”

"So often in life, you celebrate on your little podium and then bam, you're straight onto the next thing ... Whether the result is good or bad, we always pull together as a team."

DO YOU HAVE ANY PRE-RACE RITUALS?

“I do. I have to have socks for the current year. For example, the Tommy Hilfiger socks [that are part of the official Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 2021 uniform], they have to be of that year. They have to be Tommy and they can't be anything different, which I know sounds strange, but that's me!

I also always go out to the pit wall with my water bottle, take it back, empty some water out and put in a Berocca, which is a vitamin pill. It’s something I've always done and always will do. Then, I'll go to the grid. There's a specific time when I set my IWC watch to the exact time of the day. It's just something I've always done to make sure that everything is in sequence. These are odd things to be admitting, but I always make sure I walk through the same side of the garage. Normally, it's Valtteri Bottas’ side, but I don't mix and match. They're all strange things I do out of habit, but they've worked!”

WHAT FUELS YOU ON RACE DAY?

“I'm really particular on what goes into my body. I’m generally on the pit wall for qualifying and the race, which is about two hours. You have to hydrate to the right level. If you over-hydrate, you're just desperate to go to the loo in the middle of the race, which is the most distracting feeling in the world! So, step one is actually controlled hydration throughout the day. Step two is I always have a banana and an apple straight after qualifying and the race. There is a tremendous amount of adrenaline that goes through your body and you have to put food in to absorb it to a certain extent.”

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE WAY TO CELEBRATE POST-RACE IF YOU WIN?

"The trackside team that you see at every race spends more time together than they do with their respective families. We use celebratory occasions to pull together as a team, to strengthen the team, and to create a bond. After Silverstone, we all went across to the motorhome, every single engineer, and we took five minutes to breathe, relax, and enjoy the moment. So often in life, you celebrate on your little podium and then bam, you're straight onto the next thing ... Whether the result is good or bad, we always pull together as a team.”

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT VISITING BUDAPEST?

“There are two things that not just myself, but a number of us like. First, there is a dedicated running track along the Danube. Then, you can run around Margaret Island in the middle of it. Everyone is there exercising, which I love because you miss that in a lot of other city centers. The second is that there are literally hundreds of restaurants that I would recommend, be it in the old town or the city center. I've never really had a bad meal in Budapest.”

ARE THERE ANY MUST-SEE SIGHTS?

“You can’t go wrong cycling or driving from the city center [where The Ritz-Carlton, Budapest is located] to Heroes’ Square. You’ll see some of the most incredible parliamentary buildings and hotels along the way.”

IF YOU HAD ONE DAY OFF IN BUDAPEST, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

“I'd go to the water park. I've never been there, but it looks amazing! I often find myself sitting outside in 34°C [93°F] heat looking up at the hills and all you see is people amusing themselves in splashing water.”

WHAT IS THE BEST MEAL YOU' VE EVER HAD IN BUDAPEST?

“The best meal would be the one that I had with The Ritz-Carlton. I was fortunate enough to be invited to a dinner that they hosted and you can't really compare—it’s just the highest level of quality that you could possibly have. After that, there's a steak restaurant called La Pampa. It's covered in cowhide and it’s truly amazing as well. You get the choice of either Hungarian, Argentinian, or U.S. beef. For what it's worth, the Hungarian beef is my favorite. I’ve been there enough times that I've tried everything! I also had dinner on a boat while sailing up and down the Danube, which was quite a unique experience. Nothing, however, tops a chef looking after you for the night at The Ritz-Carlton, Budapest.”

IS THERE A TRADITIONAL HUNGARIAN DISH OR BEVERAGE THAT YOU’D LIKE TO TRY?

“There are a lot of Hungarian dishes, goulash being the most well-known, but I haven't really tried any of them in depth. I find that the cuisine in Budapest is quite international. I've had curries there—our team has a fascination with curries. This year, there's an engineer's curry-off that's going to take place in Hungary. If things go wrong, we’ve got a few weeks to recover in August!”

#interview #james vowles

[buttsnorkeler69420]

HI HOWS THE ALBUM (← insane)

you know how when l(glu) was released april said this:

[image ID: a screenshot of text from a page on the song lyric website genius. it reads, "underscores said, 'Everything was too sad. I wanted to have some fun.' the text is white on a dull grey background.]

i underestimated it and i am having a TIME. um so i wrote up some thoughts i had on every song (i don't really know how to properly talk about music but i really like underscores so i am going to say things anyway haha)

(SPOILERS FOR WALLSOCKET BY UNDERSCORES BEYOND THIS POINT. content warnings for songs discussing grooming, war, suicidal ideation and transphobia.)

track 1: Cops & Robbers

i remember mentally exploding when i saw the thumbnail for this pop up on youtube. every time i hear the beginning guitar section my brain chemistry just is like... YEAHHHHHH ITS WALLSOCKET TIME!!!!!! this song just feels so so fun—the "haha gotcha" tone of it, and the speed and energy, and the part where it's like "and its full of all of your money / yEAHHH!!!"—i looped this thing so much until the other singles came out (and then i looped those. a lot.)

i love love love the bridge of this song and it gets stuck in my head all the time

track 2: Locals (Girls Like Us)

it's another underscores and gabby start banger!!!!!!! i love the songs both of these artists make and this one is no exception. immediately when the intro started i was like YEAHHH!!!! and then when the spoken "good luck" suddenly turned into that loud sample "Good Luck!" i was honestly startled enough to jump the first time i listened to it.

this is one of the songs where i don't really get the full symbolism behind everything yet (the whole horse section in the gabby part... basically gabby's entire part actually because i am not sure what the things they mention symbolize)

i really like how the repeating words mantra extends basically throughout the whole song in different ways, and the chorus is so so catchy

track 3: Duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

i really enjoy the wordplay underscores uses in her lyrics a lot... like how she describes a fishing lure to play into the "taking the bait" theme in the chorus (at first i was like "huh??? what colorful piece of plastic?" and then i was like OHHHHH!!!!) and how she indirectly alludes to things ("the name of my illness/is just one letter short of my own" - S*nny is five letters and i think this song is about S*nny's queer identity so the four letter word being referenced here might be LGBT??? not sure / and the "my favorite animal is engraved on the sides of my ribs" which i currently don't know the meaning of, but the person on Genius who suggested it was a reference to the creation of Eve makes a really cool point)

the transition in this song to the Patented Louder Ending Section is just soooooo soooo pretty... it gets me every time...

shoutout to this "OH" in particular.

track 4: You Don't Even Know Who I Am

originally when this song came out (both unofficially in "The Story of S*nny", then its official release), it honestly was not my favorite, but now it gets stuck in my head a lot and i don't mind at all! the singing and effects pair really well together. I also really like the intermittent beeping sounds that occasionally show up.

edit: i was lucky enough 2 be able to go to a live show and OH MY GOD was this song SOOOO cool in it. the freaking lightbulb effect is so cool when i realized what was going on with it i screamed

originally when i first started listening to this song i really liked the last loud bit but now i'm not really sure why but it's kind of off to me now? i dont know maybe something about the notes is a little weird to my ears but i still enjoy

track 5: Johnny johnny johnny

oh my god. OHHHHHHHH MY GODDDDD. this song has been stuck in my head since my first listen and will probably stay that way for the next month or so. this song is so amazing. IMMEDIATELY i was extremely intrigued by the way it opened (i had never heard of the Johnny, Johnny hand game thing before, and upon looking it up i was like OH MAN you KNOW the song is going to be mind blowing when it has LAYERS like this).

i think my first impression with this song was that it kind of reminds me a lot of underscores's MARINA covers?? like in a really good way, since i think underscores has mentioned marina as an inspiration and it's so cool seeing how many kinds of music she can make

i also love how like... expressive underscores's voice is, even in ad-libs and effects like the repeated "whoops!" in this song... it adds so much to the atmosphere and the um. growing dread as you realize what this song is about and are more and more aware of the juxtaposition between its topic and its tone. (the "johnny's gonna be the one who finally makes me real" line gets me every time in particular.... aaaaaaa)

this song's climax near the end is also just so so cool... i love how it takes a ton of elements that showed up earlier in the song and suddenly puts them all together (the "johnny johnny johnny johnny whoops" chant suddenly appearing alongside the chorus and transforming as the two are played at the same time)

track 6: Shoot to kill, kill your darlings

HIP, HIP... HOORAY!!! ough. this song. man. MAN. i am so crazy about how well this song tells a detailed story while still being catchy and fun to listen to (same with pretty much the rest of the album too haha) because that is such an impressive feat. the repeating gun sound impacts between verses are so crunchy i love them.

the line where it's like "he doesn't like what she chooses to do with her body / but he's given over his body as well / you'd think he'd get it more than anyone else"... OUGH...

this song is originally written in a very like... mostly conversational tone, but it's just so so fitting when at the end, OMB just accepts that her friend is going to go to war anyway, and to reflect this mood change, underscores just. drops all the fancy lingo and straight up repeats "I just don't want you to die" as the instrumental deteriorates. OUGH$$$))

track 7: Horror movie soundtrack

for some reason i was not expecting the banjo? guitar? notes that played in the album trailer to actually be a part of one of the songs in the actual album itself, and when that familiar tune started up, i immediately got chills and was like "OH SO WE'RE DOING THIS NOW".

god. the "you won't get away with this" being introduced as a calmer line that is mostly said like a quiet vengeful promise to becoming a big part of the crescendo is so so cool.

track 8: Old money bitch

i think this song was definitely my favorite of the singles when it came out because i could NOT stop listening to it and thinking about it when i wasn't listening to it. it is so so catchy. i didn't know where this sound would be in the album because i didn't have the tracklist memorized and it was such a gutpunch to hear it RIGHT after Horror Movie Soundtrack; we listeners just got to peek at OMB's current state of mind--her fears of losing her friend and her bitterness towards everyone except her friends and maybe "the girls"?--and then we IMMEDIATELY see that mara is bashing her on TOP of that. bonus points if mara happens to be included in "the girls"--I think this song does imply that OMB and mara were originally on good terms before their "first big fight" at a birthday party.

track 9: Geez Louise

i was NOT expecting to hear a rock/metal song from this album and i was smiling so hard when this came on. honestly surprised that i WASN'T expecting this because she makes so many different things but omg.

during my first time listening to the album, i'd remembered there was a song with a 7 minute timestamp in the trailer, but i forgot what song it was and by the time the album was over i was still waiting for the seven minute song. this song really does not feel longer than an average song to me somehow and it still feels only like three minutes every time i come back to listen to it.

i just... MAN. this song first being loud and angry and resentful, then bitter and dismissive with the "we don't have to talk about it", then suddenly transitioning into a feeling of like... an epiphany about identity in henhouse!'s part, is so so cool. the repeating "we don't have to talk about it" suddenly becomes like... an admittance of a sudden unspoken kinship. it's so... augh...

i had never heard about henhouse! before this song and after i was done with the album i immediately went searching and was shocked to only find one song... i am so excited to see more from henhouse! in the future though

track 10: Seventyseven dog years

hold on... is that the scream sample brakence uses in hypochondriac????? (maybe it just sounds similar haha)

the "do do ee oo ee oo oh oh"s in the background fading in and out are so pleasant and the crunchy texture of the drums in this one are so nice and i really like how the song transitions very nicely in and out of busy-ish loud and quiet sections

it's a little hard to hear the vocals during the louder parts but still a very cool experience!

i don't really know what the significance of dogs in this album is yet but i am curious because they've popped up a couple times (this song, the whole "ilovemydog77" password, arg and song thing)... i wonder if it has something to do with "dog" being an anagram for "god"

track 11: Uncanny long arms

ohhhhhh my god oh my god. i already knew this song was gonna be crazy because JANE REMOVER but man. i got interrupted in my first listen during the first verse of this song but i was so bewitched by the vocals that i had the chorus stuck in my head until i kept listening. another AWESOME example of how much vocals have been growing and evolving since the past albums... all the singing in here is so good and this song is just captivating.

the echoey louder part of the chorus ("and i saw that my hands were in a different place than before"/"and i woke up and felt my hands all on the carpet") transitioning into that ADDICTIVE "i can touch my toes/without bending over") is just so so pretty.

AND THEN THAT PART WHERE IN JANE'S SECTION IT DROPS OFF FROM THOSE VOCALS INTO A CRAZY EFFECTS ZONE. when the vocals suddenly break off and stutter and you suddenly honestly feel a little scared at where the song is going and then it fades gently into strings and more echoey vocals. GAH..... this album and its ability to play with my feelings...

(currently talking about this song while taking into account the current theories on genius that it is about mara realizing she has stalked S*nny so much that now she is talking to her, she has realized that she has overstretched and done something wrong (the metaphor being "waking up with long arms"), then deciding to withdraw ("getting an arm reduction").

the inlaws callback actually blew my mind when it showed up. i guess it kinda is a bit of irony in terms of the Lore... originally the lyrics of kinko's DO fit mara because she doesn't necessarily have real struggles (but yearns for S*nny's tough upbringing and struggles), but NOW she is just realizing what she has done by inserting herself into S*nny's issues and realizing she could affect them and have a huge impact for better or worse... ough...

track 12: Good luck final girl

this song feels both really cozy and mournful,,, especially the tune of the chorus and its tone... i can't decide whether "i hope you get what you deserve/that's not how this thing works" is more bitter or hopeful, but i think that's kinda the point because the description of this song says it's about the main characters realizing how they should grow up

considering there are 3 verses for our 3 main characters... i thiiink that the middle verse is most likely S*nny's (it talks about a girl down the block offering to help her, but she rejects the offer and says she doesn't need "people like that" anymore; likely referring to mara, "the girl next door" whose interactions with her were um. yeah.)

i am not sure which in the top and bottom match with old money bitch and mara... i think the last verse is OMB mostly because of the "ive postponed my suicide indefinitely" line, and also because of the sudden tone shift of the song (no more guitar, ambient noises in the background giving the feeling of being around people but feeling alone, the repeating of a final line over and over at the very end until it fades away like in Shoot to kill, kill your darlings)

um yeah. good album. good luck. wall sock er 👍

#music #underscores #wallsocket #wallsocket underscores #text post #ask #musicposting

[krsonmar]

Okay you know what I don't have Spotify and I haven't found a way to post fan playlists with annotations that I like yet so guess what here this is in a text post with links like how we used to roll on Ye Olde LiveJournal

This is my OFMD S1 playlist. Loosely follows the season plot. Here we go:

1.) Come Sail Away by Styx

Because duh like why have they not used this in official promos yet but also very call-to-adventure and with vibes of midlife angst

2.) Fraud by Jonathan Coulton

Every playlist needs some JoCo because there's JoCo for every occasion. Fans debate about what this song is about--I think it's very plainly about imposter syndrome as it relates to the creative process--but here I'm applying it more generally to the feeling that everyone can tell you're faking it. In other words, very early-season Stede.

3.) Royals by Lorde

INTRODUCING BLACKBEARD

(Also I did not know until looking this link up just now that Lorde is also a Kiwi! I am out of touch.) 4.) We're Going to Be Friends by The White Stripes

This song always breaks my heart (in a good way) with its sweet tale about childhood innocence and ease of making fast friends. When I was making this playlist, this track made me think of Ed and Stede's ease of "falling into friendship"...because making a new friend who gets you really can be another kind of falling, just like romantic love, can't it?

5.) My Favorite Things by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

Pirates like nice things, and they don't ask for what they want...they TAKE IT!!! This is a cover of the Sound of Music song, but made appropriate for the anarchy of a raid by this aptly-named punk rock band.

6.) You're My Best Friend by Queen

I had to get some Queen in here, and this song has always hinted at a slightly-more-than-just-two-friends dynamic to me. The French talk about all kinds of relationships as involving some type of seduction, not just sexual or romantic ones, and for me this track evokes Ed and Stede falling deeper for each other.

7.) Heathens by Twenty-One Pilots OR the cover by Boston Manor

I realized when I was constructing this list to put on my MP3 player (yes, I still have one, can't you tell by now that I'm old-school) that I don't actually own a copy of Heathens by the original band (and yes, I still buy and…ahem…otherwise own copies of the music I like). I did have access to the metal cover off of Punk Goes Pop vol 7, and I think the rawness of that version fits Ed's moment to Stede of "You were always going to find out what I am" quite well. Whichever you, the listener, prefer, I think this is an appropriate spot in the playlist for Stede to be reminded that Ed does have a history, and they are all, after all, pirates.

8.) The Ship Song by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

I love how we all, as a fandom, seem to have discovered this song independently of each other but because of this fandom. And what a fantastic, devastating song it is! It's not just about a relationship that crashes and burns, it's about your own ideals, dearly-held illusions, and self-respect going right along with it. And how it grows to be predictable. I don't really understand the concept of "a good cry", but if I did, I think this song would do it for me.

9.) I Crush Everything by Jonathan Coulton

The second requisite JoCo song of the playlist. This one is literally about a giant squid that hates itself, but I defy you not to be smacked viciously about the head with the Kraken vibes of it.

10.) You've Got To Hide Your Love Away by The Beatles

We've all been there. The fake-it-til-you-make-it "I definitely am doing better now :'-)" phase of a heartbreak. This is Ed's floral nightgown being hidden away and replaced by black eyeliner and kohl; this is Stede's determination to grit his teeth and return to the life he hated and now no longer can even fake his way through. The Beatles always knew what they were doing. (That said, as a note, this is about to be four kinda downer songs in a row on this playlist, and the order does matter, so since the next and last heart-wringer is about to roll up, if the tear-jerkers are getting to be too much for you by this point of the playlist, I suggest omitting this one. The Fab Four will understand.)

11.) Samson by Matthew Luke Sandoval

This is a cover I found on YouTube of the Regina Spektor song, sung with such beauty, emotionality, and earnestness by a male vocalist with an angelic voice. The cover is over 10 years old at this point, and it looks like this guy suffered an apartment fire a little while after uploading this video and ended up not getting his singing career off the ground like he would have if this world knew any sense of justice. I tracked a copy of this song down to a mostly-defunct MySpace page and if my Google-fu is accurate, Mr. Sandoval still lives in NYC and is now an accountant or CPA of some type. I hope he hasn't truly given up on his singing dreams, but sometimes doing so makes life more liveable, so I get it if he has.

That said, this song about the bittersweet regret of knowing a relationship just wasn't going to work although it was magic while it lasted seemed appropriate, especially those famous, poetic lines about "the history books forgot about us". Apply that to a fictional reimagining of a man who history knows more as legend than as flesh-and-blood fact, and his protegee, a starry-eyed would-be adventurer, and how they both went down in flames along with a golden age of rebellion against a vicious status quo, and this tender dirge for a love that couldn't be, sung with a masculine vulnerability, gains a new layer.

Yes, I am very proud of this selection.

12.) Beyond The Sea by Bobby Darin

Okay, time to scrape you up off the floor and wipe your nose. Here's a blanket and a cup of something warm. This is, AFAIK, the original version in English of this song (although it was originally written in French), and it has the right musical and lyrical cautious optimism to not only ease you up out of that Pit Of Despair I just put you in, but also to suggest the wistful hopefulness of knowing you'll see your lover again soon, it's just a matter of waiting until the tides and currents and the sea winds align to bring you back to each other. I compiled this playlist earlier this year, and as of this writing we are 10 days away from season 2 premiering, so I am of course conjecturing and self-soothing somewhat here. That said, it's a romance, we know they'll get back together!!

13.) My Favorite Things by Sarah Vaughan

I call this The "Maybe The Nice Things We Wanted Were Actually Feelings and Relationships All Along" Reprise. Another gentle healing song, one that makes me think of cautious but eager reunions and teary-eyed reconciliations.

14.) Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix

This show loves to use purple imagery to show when Ed is falling more in love with Stede, and while the show creators have said they're thinking more along the lines of Prince (and I declare, right now, before all maybe four of you reading this, that I want to bet actual real-world student-loan-paying money on Blackbonnet's canon reunion scene being set to Purple Rain, you saw it here, mark my words, etc.) if the very last scene of the show doesn't have our boys sailing off into the sunset set to the most famous misheard lyric in rock history, what are we all even doing here?

*****

Would love your thoughts or reactions, I haven't shared a fan playlist before, so I'd love any and all thoughts including things like YOU HEARTLESS BITCH NOW I HAVE TO REAPPLY MY MASCARA or anything else you please! :-) ❤

#ofmd #ofmd fan playlist #fan playlist #ofmd s1 #blackbonnet #gentlebeard #playlists #ofmd playlist #ofmd season 1 #our flag means death

[marinerainbow]

Tagging: @slashingdisneypasta

I've mentioned it once or twice here and there, but I haven't really gotten in detail about it before.

I headcannon that Smartass was married once, but then was divorced before the events of the movie. But I haven't talked about how this came to be, who his spouse was, and how Smartass is taking the separation now. So, I'm gonna talk about that today.

(That gif should be in reverse. I'm sorry)

Alright, the first big question. Who did Smartass marry and how did they meet?

I don't plan on giving her a name or backstory. I kind of want others to fill that in if they want to (that and I already have way too many OC's as is). But she and Smarty met while he was in law school. She was a waitress in a diner he found himself frequenting during his studies. She found him charming, even if he was distant, and he started to warm up to her. Even if he was hesitant to admit it, he liked her company.

Eventually, she decided to ask him if he wanted to pick up dinner with her. Mostly because he wound up losing track of time and stayed in the diner after her shift ended, and had only ordered coffee the whole time. But also because she wanted to see what he was like. Don't ask me how, but she managed to convince him to go with her, and that became their first date.

They actually didn't take that long to get married. Only dating for a year before Smartass decided to pop the question. She was his first official relationship, so he thought that this was the time he had to propose. She accepted, and they had a nice but quick wedding. Neither of them really had family to invite to the wedding, except Smartass' brother Stupid and his friend Greasy, and a couple of her own friends, so the wedding wasn't too big either.

However, after that, it wasn't too long before the marriage became strained. They both were young, and had just assumed they were ready for the married life. But they did try to make it work; they still loved each other at the time. However, things came to a head when the school found out about Smartass' criminal life style.

The whole gang wasn't present at that point. At that point in time, it was just him and Greasy, and Stupid was starting to join the gang too. They didn't commit too big of crimes yet, and Smarty didn't have as much power back then as he does now, but they were still wanted by the police. Smartass had gotten into law school under a different name, thinking he could find a way to use the law to protect them if he got the license to be a lawyer. And his wife wasn't too happy when she found this out.

It wasn't just his double life that made her want to leave him, there were other factors too. He didn't treat her wrong or anything, but they just weren't ready for marriage and the stress of it all was getting to both of them. But finding out she didn't know her husband as well as she thought she did was the final nail in the coffin for her to tell him she wanted a divorce.

I think at first he may have been heartbroken. Like I said, they still loved each other. But he also would have realized at that point that A) he can't force her to stay with him. You can't really blame a gal if she doesn't want to be tied to the crime life. And B) the relationship had run its course by now. So, he gave her what she wanted. They split their assets evenly, and they never saw each other again. And by far, he hasn't remarried again.

Now. Does Smartass miss her? Well... It's complicated.

Once they separated, he could fully see that there were too many forces against them for them to last long. So, in a way, he's kind of glad that they ended on good terms instead of growing to resent each other like his own parents did (long story).

But some days, when he's feeling down and sentimental, he does miss what they did have. And sometimes, he looks back and wonders what their lives would be like today if they hadn't gotten divorced. That and, Stupid does miss his former sister-in-law. That's an extra twist to the heart.

But, the dice have been rolled now. They can't go back to the way things were. Even if Smartass wanted to pursue her again years later, she's no doubt heard of the big name he and his pack of weasels have made for themselves by now; the chances of her changing her mind on having a crime boss as a spouse is pretty slim.

They both have their own, separate lives now. And they both agree that it's just better to keep it that way.

Well, I hope you guys liked this serving of angst today. Any questions you guys have I'll be happy to answer ^^

#WFRR #Who Framed Roger Rabbit #Toon Patrol #Smartass Weasel #Stupid Weasel #Greasy Weasel #Disney #Disney Villains #my own headcannons #holy shit did i just give a whole angsty marriage backstory to a funny weasel in a suit? #(ive given all the weasels their own angst though so he aint alone) #this is what happens when i unnecessarily obsess over characters

[thenwethrowitonthefire]

hi, this is not ask but opposite! it's me talking and is about Pacific standard time, now Im not as good as you in turn my thoughts on words but; you know how some songs only hit you when it is the time?

the other day because of the heavy snow I couldn't go back home, trapped in small twon, on sunday was standing in corner of yard at 12pm, noticed the silence, time hadn't stopped but landing smoothly on my black winter coat with the snow flecks, and there I thought of this song. this song had a melody I enjoyed yet it didn't much make me think of it, often skipped it,

Clouds may be moving in People may be too thin Traffic may be a crawl

Seasons, there’s none at all

there looking at cloudy sky coating sun deep into background I fell into the time of small twon world, thinking of  how time passes differently, we all live on one earth but thousands of world runs by many more clocks yet there are moments times of worlds crashes into one another causing near-divin experience by living in time of unfamiliar world!

In Pacific Standard Time Mine is yours and yours is mine In Pacific Standard Time Everything is near-divine!

also I read the answer to last ask. and I thought it would be fun if I be the one who explain it this time around (:

Yes!!! Do please share your thoughts on songs! I love reading your thoughts and interpretations! I absolutely know how some songs only hit you once it's time (or intensify when the time is right).

I love how it made you think of all the worlds and the different clocks that all exist at the same time, that must have been a truly beautiful experience :) I love that so much! It's wonderful how their lyrics can contain so many thoughts and ideas at the same time. Thank you for adding another angle to a song I already love so much.

Honestly, it's one of my absolute favourite tracks on that album. I remember first listening to the album so vividly, and that song was one of the especially memorable ones. At its core, there's two things I hope for when listening a new Sparks album/song (without confining them to be a certain way because what I love foremost is for them to do whatever the hell they want and for them to blow me away with some good surprises). But for me it's all about: 1) Ron's writing, wit and piano playing, 2) Russell's voice being the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. This song is quite possibly THE song on the album when it comes to Russell's voice. Every time I hear it I'm just floating into another plane of existence (especially the falsetto parts). I don't have the words to describe how much I love his falsetto.

(My Sparks roots may be showing - I first saw them live during their Two Hands One Mouth tour, which as the name suggests was just the two of them on the stage. It was all about the things I love the most: them at their core and just the two of them carrying the entire show. It was theatrical, intimate and absolutely transcendental. I love the way Russell moves and how the audience became like a third instrument. It completely changed my life. I don't think I've ever heard Russell's voice be more beautiful, in part because you can obviously hear it so clearly when it's just them on the stage. I wanted to share a snippet of the live performance of Metaphor from that tour because I think you might like that one, but the sound quality of those videos does not do his voice enough justice when reaching the falsetto part. ...So instead I'll add a bad quality video of Good Morning, one of my favourite songs. A lot of this song was completely sung in falsetto. (And here's a link to an official live audio recording of Metaphor, in case you are interested to hear his voice in actual good quality.))

(You can count on me to always bring up more stuff when it comes to Sparks, and to talk about Two Hands One Mouth at any given opportunity.)

#i want to add way more but I'm getting so sidetracked 😂 I'll just go lie on the floor with my feelings instead. #thank you for sharing your thoughts! please keep doing so - I really enjoy it! #ask #anon #sparks #Russell Mael #Ron Mael #pacific standard time #Two Hands One Mouth #(... if you think that's a double entendre - well yeah that's because it is 😂 this is Sparks.) #(forever cracks me up. 'what shall we call this up close and intimate tour?' 'oh I know!') #(ok time to lie on the floor and scream into the void - I love these guys a normal amount.)

[styrmwb]

Favorite Final Fantasy Music (FFXIV - Endwalker)

This was a hard list. This might be the hardest list out of all of them, actually. This is the (currently) most recent expansion of FFXIV, meaning it's the last part of my XIV favorite song lists. I love the Endwalker OST. I think overall, it has the highest number of tracks I absolutely love. The base game, the raids, the side content, it's all so strong, and I firmly believe there is not a single bad track in the entire list, only songs that I don't personally vibe with, and even then it's like, not even that much lmao.

The hardest part of this list was thinking what I didn't feel right including; a part of me as I'm writing this is thinking "fuck it dude top 20 let's do it", but I'm gonna hold strong and say: I love Pandaemonium. I love the remixes, I love the medleys and covers. I want to make this list a little varied! So I'm trying not to go too ham. (also there's no official youtube uploads of these yet so let's hope square doesn't kill these links!)

5. Finality This right here? This spot was the reason this list was so hard. The next 4 songs were locks, but I was like "what song hit me enough that it lands right above honorable mentions?" And after several listenings of every song you see on this page, this was the guy that did it. This is the final dungeon boss theme for this expansion, and that intro? Sold me. I know whenever I hear this song, I am getting ready for a fight for the literal end of the world. This song SOUNDS like the apocalypse. I love the heavy hits, especially the use of bass drum (like the opening bass drum roll??? fuck dude). I love how sorrowful the orchestra sounds, yet still loud to give you that sense of intensity. Not to mention, the choir version of Footfalls? My god man, this is a banger, but less in the sense that you're dancing along to it, and more to the sense that it gets you pumped the fuck up every time you hear it.

4. With Hearts Aligned I couldn't not put something from the final trial. It's an amazing fight. But I felt bad choosing The Final Day, cause, while glorious, it is ultimately a medley of songs from past expansions (which to be fair, is why it fucks).

This, is Endwalker specific. And not only is this Endwalker specific, this is generally considered to not be The Endsinger's final boss theme, but your final boss theme. Your friends all praying for you, the guitar shredding like the intro cutscene, the strings rising the song further, and to top it all off in the intro? The Maker's Ruin. The Theme From Phase 1 Of The Ultima Weapon. You're hyped at this point. You're powerful, you're undefeatable, your friends are giving the coolest fucking power of friendship speech you've ever fucking heard, and then the vocals come in. Everyone's favorite part of Footfalls finally shows its head of "yeah, this is the main song this is from." Singing about our song of hope, which, as far as I'm concerned? Is you. On wings of hope, you rise up through the night, higher (oh higher!), carrying our song, cradled fast within your arms, that it's chorus might ring for all (side note: this is also all the achievement names for the msq). This song is hype incarnate. This song is you conquering over despair, and bringing light to the entire universe. This. Is. Your. Song.

3. Flow Together Before any of the patch content came out, this was my favorite song. If this didn't exist, The Ewer Brimmeth would be right here, but this is my absolute favorite version of this melody. This is the fight against Venat (Hydaelyn), but also the final credits song. It's honestly beautiful. The vocals give it that elegance perfect for the person who's Basically your mom, but the band gives it a roughness befitting a sparring match between two Azems. My absolute favorite part starts after the song gets a little heavier, beginning at "Deep dark, far away~". The lyrics here are so meaningful, the guitar is beautiful, and the melody itself brings me to tears; it goes into this wonderful electric/acoustic type solo, and then doubles down. It takes all the same strengths as the part before it, and increases it (I know there's an official music term for this but I can't think of it and I'm too busy tearing up to google it!!!). Listening to the lyrics itself, which applies to normal Flow (same song with no band), it means so much for the meeting between you and Hydaelyn, or Venat in this case. She's talking to you. She's asking you what your journey's been like. She's telling you she's watched and listened to you all this time, and saying how you can rest. And I'm sure this meaning can be turned into anything, but that's what I get out of it, and it's what hits me the hardest (I am literally choking up writing this; the chokehold this goddamned song has on me I swear to god).

2. White Stone Black We're exiting the emotional Styrm-won't-stop-crying corner, and entering the realm of hell and demons, the castle of bangers. Pandaemonium has my favorite soundtrack out of any one section in the entire game. Literally every song in this raid fucks (even Scream and I don't even really care for that song!), and if I didn't have self restraint this whole list would have been Top 5 Pandaemonium Songs.

Anyways, to this one specifically: not enough people get to experience this wonder, because it is locked behind savage content, being Phase 2 of the final boss in the second set of fights. The phase begins with a horrific transformation, and the song itself is this intense droning synth on top of these heavy guitars, adding onto the creepiness and intensity, the main Shadows Withal melody previously used in Embers and generally associated with Lahabrea (cause it was his facility) turning into this terrifying chanting chorus (Silence.... holding us to violence. Violence... swearing us to silence.); Then the bop starts. The percussion ramps up, there's this really cool trancy noise in the background (that low key reminds me of super monkey ball), and the song gets heavier and more chaotic with all of the instruments and layers happening at once. The main meat of the lyrics also start at this point, with that heavily filtered screaming creating another layer of intensity and terror. This whole song represents this fight perfectly with the horror vibe and chaotic instrumentation (did you know a synonym for chaos is pandaemonium (did you know this bit also works for FFI and II)). There's also the peak of the song, when the less demonic voices take up the lyrics, and this is really where the dance floor energy creates itself (if you look up the Fortnite dance Infectious, I am always doing that in my mind to this song). it's an earworm, it's a head banger, it's creepy and terrifying, it's an absolutely beautiful mess of a song and I am so glad it's getting a Primals cover.

1. Hic Svnt Leones What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk, have at you!

I'll start this by talking about the main Pandaemonium motif. I was originally disappointed it wasn't the classic tune used in II and IX, but it has really grown on me, especially because this raid series is its own entity. XIV doesn't always have to be a theme park (although I do love when it is don't get me wrong). It's normally creepy, ghostly, and very befitting of the horror gothic death castle that is this raid. Love the arrangement, and the notes hit JUST right. You enter the raid, you do the first 3 fights, and you're expecting this really heavy classical (is it baroque? is that the genre?) vibe for the entire raid series cause that's the vibe it gives off!

Then you get to surf rock Dracula. And you remember "Oh yeah I'm playing Final Fantasy XIV!". Hic Svnt Leones is my absolute favorite version of the Pandaemonium motif (but believe me, Ancient Shackles and Athena are CLOSE FUCKING SECONDS), and my favorite song in Endwalker period. Taking that amazing melody, with the amazing combination of guitar and organ creating this classical/modern fusion that exemplifies what makes XIV's soundtrack so unique and awesome. The lyrics with the filter and again, the melody, are addicting, and extremely fun to sing alongside to. And then you realize what you're singing along to? It's talking about death, violence, murder, demonic creatures and rats and rot and blood and all sorts of horrific topics, about how you're gonna lose your mind and break your soul and your bones are gonna burn AND IT ALL SETS THE ATMOSPHERE FUCKING PERFECTLY! YOU'RE FIGHTING ANCIENT TERRORS DRACULA IN THE DEMON CREATION CASTLE OF COURSE IT'S GONNA BE SINGING DEATH AT YOU! The lyrics go so raw: "Here in the valley your death casts no shadow"? God Fucking Damn. The "ooooo ooo" in the chorus is super strange, but I also love it? Continuing that really weird surf rock vibe this song has for some reason?? But then also going right into the haunts of the damned with the really deep choir, and then the raspy, rotten, creepy voice whispering about how it's gonna open you up and reveal the black inside and it's just. Fuck man. This song fucks. The melody is amazing, the atmosphere is perfectly horrifying, the lyrics go hard, and I could honestly listen to this song, not to mention this entire raid, for hours.

Honorable mentions go to the entire soundtrack, but more specifically: Footfalls, The Ewer Brimmeth, The Labyrinth, Divine Words, Vibrant Voices, On Blade's Edge, Home Beyond the Horizon, Garlemald Express, As The Sky Burns, Sky Unsundered, Miracle Works, Your Answer, Close in the Distance, The Final Day, Carrots of Happiness, Where Daemons Abide, Ancient Shackles, One Among Wonders, Radiance, In The Balance, Hippo Ridin', Embers, Rhythm of the Realm, Dedicated to Moonlight, Dreamwalker, One Amongst The Weary, Fleeting Moment; Athena, The Tireless One; Myths of the Realm, and finally, all of the remixes and covers: The Day Will Come, Tower of Zot, Welcome to Our Town!, Troian Beauty, Battle 2, Battle With The Four Fiends, Forged in Crimson, Voidcast Savior, Ultima's Perfection, Crimson Rise, The Final Battle (FFIV), and The Red Wings.

i really did try to keep that list reasonable but jesus fuck the music team was on some shit this expansion

#final fantasy #final fantasy xiv #textpost #jared's final fantasy music opinions

[melancholia34]

Exta's first boyfriend-

While his official design is still in development, here's Exta's first love, Billion. (yes Billion like the number 😑 Exta (Benedict) calls him Billy) This is the Billy from his past that he actually likes! The other one is some jackass that makes fun of his teeth.

Anyway-

⎈ Billion might not be his official name, but it's what Imma call him in this rant. Ok so-

Billion is Benny's boss. He's in charge of a bar where Benny finds a job as a sort of comedian/singer. He also runs a drug cartel because I said so. Toons are still in hiding during this time, but more and more are sprouting, so the people in the town are starting to get used to it. However, they aren't very comfortable with having them walking around in the streets like nothing. Billion's bar therefore only opens at night (when most non-humans come out) for them to enjoy.

Benny starts as a doorman, but later asks for a way to advance. He gets it cuz yes. The boy needed money to help his dads. (Apparently eating fish is no longer sexy so Barley's out of the job and Charlie is too sick to go to work)

No, Billion is not from this town. He's actually from the city but moved to escape the cops. Mf took a cab and told the driver to go as far from the city as 5 dollars could get him and he wounded up in Benny's town. (i still don't know what to name this town. I'm not sure i want to give it the name of an actual town in Brooklyn cuz i don't want to find out later that it was a fucked up place or some shit idk) ((also you could get pretty far with 5 bucks back then so shhh))

Not much is known about his past, and that's mainly due to me being a lazy shit that doesn't want to give hot papis a personality and story. Let them just be hot guys that spawn into a place where there just so happens to be a very confused little gay dude who has a thing for big scary mysterious- ok i'm not making sense anymore

(i'll probably write his backstory later idk maybe give suggestions-)

Billion doesn't go by a big title like the older gang leaders of the 30s. he simply goes by 'Bill' or 'BIllion'. People call him arrogant because of his name and I like that.

All I really know about this guy is that he's the reason Charlie and Barley's home is burned. Benny and him become rather close. By that you already know what i mean (there is literally a picture above showing them getting cuddly🙄) The employees and customers start a rumor that many believe and, without actual proof cuz bitches don't care about proof they just want an excuse to act a fool, they track down Billion and assassinate him in his home.

-I was initially going to have one of the employees shoot him while he and Benny are together, but that's kinda 😬 ehhhhh (i read too many fanfics. the dramatic novela shit getting to my head)

-Afterwards, yes, they try to go after Benny, but he's already on his way home. He was going to come visit with the month's money (keep in mind he doesn't know Charlie has died yet) when he sees the house on fire and the crowd. Imma go ahead and not tell you what happens when he sees it cuz i'm mean anyway-

Yeah...everything is fucked up. Benny now has no family and no house. No boyfriend and no job. AND there's a whole town trying to kill him.

ok imma stop this is taking too long-

#extasis #mel's art #my art #doodle #suggestive i guess #batim #batim au #batim oc #NEW OC #Billedict #yes that's the current ship name #anyway yeah warning! long ass rant!

[4fahy]

How I Farm Primogems

Daily commissions and Events are BASIC, do them everyday. There's no other option.

Use your resin!!! Follow a tutorial on how to build characters. Even if you can't 36 star the abyss, it's important that you try. I believe you should start building them one-by-one, start with the Healer, DPS, Sub DPS/Support/Utility/Etc.

Do the Battlepass!!! It gives you Acquainted Fates, which can be recycled for Intertwined fates on Paimon's Bargain

Same thing with leveling up characters.

Adventure's Guide

Web events!!!!!!

Make sure you already have the Treasure Chest Compass of Each Region. You can get it by finishing your quests, bounties, requests and so on. Go to the Reputation thing on each city. Use it all the time while exploring and doing quests and whatever else.

Use the Teyvat Interactive Map to help you find stuff!!!!! It's Hoyoverse's Official Map, so it's always updated.

Don't forget the daily login!!!!

Talk to Neko on Seirai Island everyday for 20 extra primogems.

Feed the Foxes on Dragonspine so they give you a chest

Do these other things in order so you won't get lost on what you've done or not yet.

Level up Mond statue to 10.

The Stamina will help you A LOT on the exploration.

Mondstadt quests!!!

Archon quest -> Story quests -> World quests

Most of them give either primogems or achievements. Make sure to finish them all.

Dragonspine tree!!

Be brave and complete Dragonspine. I trust you. You can do it.

Completing that TCG book also gives you primogems.

Any Mondstadt puzzle you might have missed

You can always search on YouTube what puzzles and secret chests are there to help you grind.

Kill the Lawachurls on Dragonspine.

Liyue Statues to 10!!!

Other than stamina, it also opens the 9 Pillars of Peace quest, so you need to do it.

The Luminous Chasm Stone I Forgot The Name

Again it can be done as you explore the chasm but I'd recommend doing it before the chasm quests because it helps a lot with exploring.

Liyue quests!!!

Archon quest -> Story quests -> World quests

This include the chasm and every quest you might have not finished. There's a lot of them.

Level up your teapot!!

Liyue puzzles and secret chests you might have missed

Inazuma Quests!!

You need the Archon Quest and some World Quests to do things and go places in peace. Do them first.

Inazuma Statues

They actually give primogems!!!!

The Narukami Tree

It gives you fates every X levels, I don't remember how many tho.

Enkanomiya quests, sigils and puzzles

Any other chest you might have missed

Sumeru Quests

Sumeru Aranara Tree

I don't actually know if it's a tree, but you out dendro sigils there.

Sumeru statues

I don't think they can be completed yet, might be wrong.

Sumeru chests and puzzles.

Achievement hunting

Some of those you might be able to do simultaneously, but keep track of your progress.

The begining is slower but helps making the other stages easier, and sometimes you don't even have to go that far. I'm still doing the Narukami Tree, and got various characters just doing the despair method.

#genshin impact #primogem farming

[shwoo]

The last couple of episodes of Fionna and Cake were pretty good! Although I liked the second-last batch better. Still not sure what to think about the way Simon and Betty's relationship was handled, but I'm not good with understanding metaphors right away. I wish they'd spoken more directly.

What was with that weird shared dream Fionna and Cake had when they went back into their world? They weren't unconscious when they first came out of Simon's head, so maybe they hadn't actually reached their world yet, and it was something else in Simon's head? I don't know what it would mean for that scene to really be Simon's dream, though. Seemed to more be about what Fionna was worried about.

I thought the author's name on the book in the future might be in a runic alphabet, but it doesn't look like it. The letters don't seem to correspond to specific runes in any alphabet, but they're in the same style.

The world you see in Jerry is canonically called Jerryworld! (Based on the soundtrack) I knew it! Or it was already used in some other official material and I picked it up from there. I don't remember. Also, GOLBetty actually got used in-show. Wasn't expecting to hear that.

Wait, why does the soundtrack track art say "SEASON ONE" on it? Was that a typo for volume one?

#Adventure Time #Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake #Simon Petrikov #Fionna and Cake spoilers #Not cutting this one because it's so vague #Just tagging

[mmushroomwriter]

ONE YEAR OF PFTET

(sorry for this mess of a post, I promise I'll put out something better/more about the actual project soon, I just wanted to put out this more personal message first. I know the formatting is dodgy and it may not all entirely make sense, but it comes straight from the heart/sleep-deprived mind. I might take this down and re-write it tomorrow later today it's the early hours of the morning when I inevitably re-read it and cringe, but for now, here it is)

So turns out I missed the one-year anniversary (January 14th), so well done me...

It's wild to think that I've now officially been working on pftet for over a year now. My life has changed so wildly and drastically over the 12-month span that it's almost hard to imagine where I was when I started it.

I haven't done as much in that time as I would've hoped at the beginning, but to be fair to myself, I don't think I could've imagined what an utterly chaotic mess 2022 ended up becoming for me. I've mentioned a few different things on here (the mess that moving flat became, getting covid, breaking my arm, etc.) but on top of those and just the impact they had on my life, there was a bit more behind the scenes, as well as uni and work (gross). Especially now as where I live is going through a cost-of-living crisis, it's not only been stressful as fuck, but I've had to start working even more frequently than before (both a blessing and a curse, as it means less time to write in general, but also I'm pretty sure all of my best moments of inspiration have come to me on my commute).

That's not to say I'm not still working on pftet, because I am. And even when I'm not actively writing, I'm constantly thinking about the characters and the world. I love this project, and I promise I'm not abandoning it - no matter how long I go between randomly popping up to answer questions that have been in my ask box for several months. The unfortunate truth is just that, at least at the moment, I need to prioritise some other stuff - namely work and my health (although, touch wood, my health hasn't had any major blows since my arm in May).

However, I do promise that in 2023 I will (at least try my best to) be more active than last year. At the very least, assuming there aren't any wild unforeseen circumstances, I promise not to disappear without a trace for basically three months! Who knows? Maybe the fact that I've had to deal with all this wild shite in 2022 means I'll be able to handle it better in 2023.

Anyway, this has been long and I've said a lot of nothing, I just thought that my spotty appearances necessitated some sort of explanation. You guys deserve that.



The main thing, though, is that I want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who's ever shown any interest in the dumb things my brain spouted one day and spiralled into this weird story about growing up and feeling as though the world is ending (and realising that it actually might be!) I don't think I'll ever be able to properly express my gratitude. Every single notification I get makes me grin stupidly, and I'm still mind-blown every time someone sends in an ask. I'm going to do a proper post more about thanking you all soon, maybe include a contest of some sort, I'm not entirely sure yet, but keep an eye out.



TLDR:

2022 was a shit show, but I'm hoping to get (at least a little bit) more on track and be active far more frequently. Thank you all so much for caring about pftet so far, and here's to the future!

#love you all and thank you <3 #make sure to take care of yourselves!!! #mushsaysthings #behind the scenes #2023 #pftet #playlistsfortheendtimes