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bettyfrommars · 4 months

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Dirty Metal Summer

a Dirty Dancing au

Part 1: Big Girls Don't Cry

Eddie x fem!Reader

MASTERLIST PLAYLIST

It's 1987, the same year the movie Dirty Dancing was originally released. 21-year-old reader is spending the summer with her dad and aunt at an all-inclusive resort in Indiana while she figures out what she wants to do with her life. After that summer, nothing will never be the same. Eddie is in his late 20’s and works as maintenance staff, he is also the frontman for the house band, begrudgingly delivering top 40 hits for the guests, and a secret third thing. When work is over, there is a completely different scene happening at a place the employees call The Hideout. Wayne is the head maintenance man, Chrissy is a metalhead, and a few other surprises. Bonus: Steve as a sexy, tattooed musician because I can't help myself.

my blog is always 18+only, MDNI please. The only warnings for the first chapter have to do with mention of a death of a parent, mention of grief, allusions to depression, a tiny bit of aggression, and alcohol consumption. But please read chapter warnings as the story progresses, because there will be angst, hurt/comfort, violence (fighting), and smut. Reader is called Bird as a nickname.

A/N: this is a rewrite of an OC fic I wrote over a year ago, and damn, I really needed to change a lot because my writing has evolved so much. I know I posted a snippet last week, but it's all been changed. Thank you to those who have been excited about this, I know Dirty Dancing is a cherished film, so I am treating this retelling with reverence, while adding some creative spins, and I truly hope you enjoy. The ST characters in this fic do not know each other in the same way they did in the show. For instance, Eddie, Steve, and Chrissy all grew up together, but I do my best to stick with their original character traits. This first part lines up very close with the film, but after that, it diverges and becomes a bit different. Same story line, but also not.

Part 1: Big Girls Don't Cry

word count: 6.3k

The soft murmur of a talk radio station hummed in the cement gray Mercedes-Benz 560, with your dad behind the wheel and his sister, your aunt Kim, in the passenger seat. From the backseat, you stared out the window with your headphones on, wishing for rain. The scenery was what you would expect from a place on earth that everyone considered idyllic, but you’d been exposed to so much lush greenery with that bright blue, theater backdrop of a sky for the last hour that you were starting to get a headache.

You pushed your wayfarer sunglasses up to rub the bridge of your nose, and then flipped the tape over in your Walkman before clicking it shut to press play. You were listening to a mixtape you’d made especially for the trip, the spine even said “road trip from hell”, but the first one on side b was Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac, and you closed your eyes for the next several songs. You were doing your best not to think about how you’d be trapped in BFE Indiana for a whole month.

You were also doing your best not to think about how your mother would not be home when you got back, or worse yet, the fact that you would never see her again. Never feel her generous hugs in those Laura Ashley dresses, smelling of Shalimar; never hear her voice at the other end of the line reminding you to eat something.

Your aunt said your name and your eyes snapped open. It was perfect timing because tears were beginning to form at your lash line. She had turned around in her seat and was trying to get your attention.

You pulled your headphones down around your neck. “Sorry?”

“The lake,” the expression on her face harbored more excitement than you’d ever felt in your entire life. “Isn’t it gorgeous? We’re going to get pedicures at the spa tomorrow, I already booked it.”

You glanced at your father’s stoic profile and then back to Kim. You felt bad for your aunt, getting stuck on a trip with two sad, mopey fucks who were too depressed to get excited about the things that thrilled normal people. You were the walking wounded.

“Pedicures, great,” your smile did not reach your eyes, but she didn’t seem to notice, as her enthusiasm doggedly refused to wane.

It had been almost four months since you lost her, and the world was still too…bright. Everyone was so talkative and alive and you couldn’t relate.

You looked out over the smooth expanse of lake that was nestled perfectly in the trees like you were in some type of miniature scale model rebuild of a town. Your aunt asked your dad, Owen, if he was still listening to the news, and when he shook his head, she changed the radio station to a golden oldies station and was satisfied with the tune Big Girls Don’t Cry by Frankie Vallie.

“You’ll love this cabin, Bird,” your dad said to you as the Mercedes crested the hill and began to maneuver down to your destination on a narrow, two-lane highway flanked with towering trees. A big green and white sign welcomed them to Hawkins Landing. “There’s a whole top floor where you can set up for your lessons.”

You turned away, back to the window, hiding the way your nose wrinkled. You thought maybe a perk of this getaway would be to have a break from practicing the cello you’d been tied to for over a decade, but no luck. He’d been forced to give up his dream of being a musician, and now you were expected to carry the torch for him.

You tried to come up with one thing you did in life that was not to please someone else, or boost some idea they had about you, and couldn’t come up with squat.

Besides reading. And taking long walks with music to clear your head. Those two were yours, and they could only be taken from your cold, dead, hands.

From the Hawkins Landing brochure your aunt had given you, it was clear that the property was enormous. Some 30 or 40 guest cabins scattered around, a main house that functioned as a hotel but also housed two different restaurants. A golf course, boat rentals, tennis courts, an outdoor theater, and a third restaurant situated on the water. Along with the full service spa, there were indoor and outdoor swimming pools, plus any class you could imagine wanting to take, from salsa dancing and water skiing, to chess and crochet.

Hawkins Landing was like a camp for adults who enjoyed alcoholic beverages.

There was a security checkpoint at the main entrance with two guards inside. The taller one with the neatly trimmed red beard recognized your father from the jacket cover on one of his many books. Thrillers mostly, horror if you squint. He nervously asked for an autograph, but Owen was very polite, adjusting his tortoise shell glass as he took the black marker that the guard was offering him.

After the checkpoint, it wasn’t long before the road opened into an expansive rose garden with a large fountain dead center, and the big main house with its wrap-around porch just to the right. You pushed your sunglasses up to get a look at the people mingling around, getting the idea that the median age there was 45, and it was mostly families.

The guards had given your dad a foldout map of the property and told him to check in at the main house to get the keys to the cabin they were staying in. The car moved at a crawl at the roundabout, and then came to park where a sign announced new guest check-ins.

Your dad told you to sit tight while he went in to grab the keys, and your attention trailed off to a black golf cart with a white awning that wheeled in like a racecar and took position in front of the Mercedes. It sat there close to the curb, idling. You could see there was a woman behind the wheel, and she was looking straight ahead, giving you her profile. Chin length, dark gold hair, just long enough for a ponytail, and the words “Hawkins Landing Staff” written in yellow cursive on the back of her navy blue jacket. Where her sleeve was pushed up at her elbow, you noticed some type of tattooed lettering there, and her fingernails were painted black.

Up ahead, you caught sight of someone strolling down the sidewalk toward the car with a hand in his pocket. It was a guy with honey tipped chocolate hair styled in a pompadour with a curl that bounced at his forehead, wearing tan chinos and a maroon, button down short sleeve with the square bulge of a pack of smokes in his front pocket. A tattoo peeked out from the V of his shirt, and there was another design on his bicep. He wore a pinky ring on one hand and rolled a toothpick around in his mouth as he sidled up to the golf cart to say something to the woman driving it. They bumped knuckles and talked for a bit like they were very familiar, him with one foot up on the running board of the cart.

“Steve, there you are,” from the open window, your attention bounced to a short, dark haired woman who’d just come out of the building and stood alongside your dad on the sidewalk. A closer look told you that her name tag said Joyce.

The guy with the toothpick in his mouth straightened, smoothing the front of his shirt with his hand. “Hey Joyce, I was just—”

Apparently uninterested in what he was about to say, she took him by the crook of the arm. She introduced you all by your family name, and let him know that you were “her special guests”, and you assumed that had to do with your dad being a famous author, or maybe she said that about every new family. While you chose to not do much else than offer a small wave from the back seat like you had no autonomy, Kim got out to greet them properly.

“This is Steve,” Joyce gestured to him with a Vanna White hand. “If you ever want to take guitar lessons this summer, he’s one of our best.”

“Or, if you just want to have some fun,” Steve’s eyes seemed to be searching Kim’s face, and then he shrugged. “I mean, I run the boats on the dock too, so if you want to ski or—”

Kim got flustered and tried to find her words, fussing with the lapel of her corduroy jacket in a way you’d never witnessed before. “I’m…I mean, sure, who wouldn’t want to be on the lake at a place like this?”

Kim hated boats and got seasick very easily, so you found her new interest amusing.

Joyce politely waved Steve off and he went, albeit reluctantly, backing up with slow steps to wave farewell. The smile stretching across his face grew wider the longer Kim couldn’t take her eyes off of him. When he was finally jogging up the sidewalk to get to where he needed to be, Joyce continued to try and sell Kim and your dad on the resort, even though you were already booked for the month.

“Sunday night is Bingo night. There’s karaoke in The Antler Room on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and you need to check out our house band if you can. They’re playing tonight on the back patio, and the rhythm guitar is sensational. She used to perform with Vixen and Lita Ford,” she handed over the necessary keys and pointed the way to get to the cabin on the map.

“Just follow us,” Joyce said, hopping into the golf cart next to the girl with the forearm tattoo.

They led the way down a long, winding stretch with lush lawn and manicured hedges on either side, littered with people coming up from the pool in their bathing suits. There appeared to be a Tai Chi lesson happening on the lawn near the rose garden, and some type of painting class going on just above them on a balcony.

Made you wonder why summer people always had to stay so busy.

The cabin you’d be staying in was down a side road, tucked at the end of a private driveway with a view of the lake. It had five bedrooms, which was more than enough, but one of them would immediately turn into Owen’s writing room so that he could work on his latest novel.

You were careful to tuck your Walkman into your bag as the Mercedes coasted into its parking spot. Squinting up at the place, you were somewhat distracted by how much you liked the creepy, old feel of the whitewashed cabin, and you underestimated how far from the curb you were when you stepped out, stumbling to the side.

The girl with the forearm tattoo caught you in both arms, preventing you from putting all of your weight on your twisted ankle.

“Whoa,” she moved her supportive grip from your waist to your elbow as you righted yourself. “You okay?”

Your heart shot into your throat, and then you coughed a laugh, covering your face. “What a way to start the summer.”

She said her name was Robin, and there was a polite handshake exchange. She tripped over her words a bit. “It’s not every day that someone falls for me.”

“Well, I’m pretty clumsy, you might need to stay close,” and the two of you shared a self-conscious laugh as you led the way to the trunk full of baggage.

When you reached in to grab your suitcase, Robin teased, “hey, that’s my job,” before leaning further in to take the oddly shaped black hard case, the satin of her jacket skimming your arm. She struggled with it at first, but then held it up by the handle and gave you a sideways look.

“This yours?” She asked, cocking one eyebrow up. “You’re a musician?”

“No, well, yes I am but no I, I play the cello,” you stammered, not sure why it was hard to get the words out. “But here, I can carry that. It’s big and heavy and—”

Robin winked. “I got it,” and then she snatched another suitcase with the other hand and shuffled by you to make her way up to the porch.

Once you were all settled inside and Joyce had explained all of the amenities, you and Kim pushed back the curtains and watched the two go from the living room window. Just before they took off in the cart, Robin sent you a wave.

“She looks like a nice girl,” Kim had her arms folded over her chest. “Maybe the two of you could—”

“I know you’re worried about me, okay, but I don’t need to make any friends this summer,” you were holding the case for your cello in front of you with both hands, using it as a metaphorical barrier. “I like being alone.”

By the time you put your stuff away in the bedroom you’d be staying in, your dad was already typing away in his writing room, you could hear the keys of his Selectric click-clacking.

“I’ll be back in a bit,” you called across the rustic but spacious cabin living room. “I’m going to look around the main house.”

Kim barely caught your words as she was struggling with her glasses to read an ingredient label as she put some dry goods away in the kitchen. “Mhmm sounds good, have fun. Be back in time for dinner, we have reservations at…whatever that place is called. Your dad knows.”

You tapped the Swatch on your wrist and gave an absent wave over your shoulder.

With your headphones on, you made your way down to the main sidewalk that split off in two directions, bordering either side of the swimming pool and tennis courts. You found the bike path that wound down along the lake to the boat dock, and then up into a lush pocket of dense forest. Two teenage girls on rollerblades almost crashed into you as they bolted around the bend, giggling. Trying to decide if you wanted to go toward the water or into the woods, you watched a staff member veer off onto an uneven stone pathway and your curiosity was piqued.

Creeping along in their wake, you marched up a hill for what felt like forever, with Bring on the Dancing Horses by Echo and the Bunnymen playing in your ears, until you realized with a start that you’d already arrived at the main building. It loomed up ahead like a mansion from some old gothic romance novel.

You continued to plod your way along the trunks of trees, until you spotted a group having a chat on the wide porch, and took a few steps back.

They were all leaning against the railing in a semicircle, facing each other, so that you could see the Hawkins Landing Staff on the back of a few of their navy jackets.

One of them was Steve from earlier, next to him was a girl with a blonde ponytail, and then two others.

“I met that author guy today,” Steve took a drag and then blew the smoke up in the air, away from everyone’s face. “The one who wrote Darkness on the Hill, that one they made into a movie.”

You realized that it was your dad he was talking about.

Not looking where you were stepping, you caught your toe on a tree root and your arms windmilled before you were able to find your balance, floundering to duck behind another tree. Your mouth opened in a silent scream, trying not to gasp at the pain in your foot. Grimacing, you turned the volume down on the headphones that were around your neck to better hear what they were saying.

“That actor from that one show about law and order is staying in cabin 8,” the girl with the ponytail said. “Housekeeping says he finishes a bottle of whiskey a night.”

But then, there was another voice. “Now that sounds like a great fucking vacation to me,” followed by the heavy footfalls of boots on wood as a new person approached the group.

The sight of the new arrival made you feel like your brain was wiped clean—-the whole world came to a screeching halt.

Swallowing hard, all of your attention tunneled on him; his long dark hair with bangs that crowded his eyes, a thin but muscular build, tattoos scattered over his exposed arms, and a leather jacket hooked over his shoulder with one finger. He combed a hand through his hair as he walked, chunky metal rings catching the light, and headed over to the blonde girl. You took note of every movement as she passed him her half-smoked cig and he gave her a quick kiss on the temple.

Was that his girlfriend?

He stepped back to introduce the younger guy he had with him. “This Jamie, my new maintenance trainee,” he used the hand holding his smoke to point to each one on the balcony individually. You really didn’t pay attention until he got to the blonde one. “...that one there is the lovely Chrissy, and the moody one with the hairy chest is Steve. They’re the other musicians I told you about.”

Jamie had short black, curly hair and a hoop piercing in one ear. He lit his own smoke while the metalhead started in with a story about a pump exploding at the pool house, complete with wild hand gestures.

“Hey, there the fuck you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you losers.”

Another voice, another person making their way down the long stretch of squeaky wood planks from the front of the building. You stepped closer, snapping a twig under your foot, eliciting a worried lip bite.

Everyone stayed right where they were, but for Eddie who moved in front of Jamie in a protective way. The guy approaching at a stroll had very nondescript good looks with his wheat blonde hair in a tight cut that looked freshly trimmed. While the others were dressed more casually, this one wore a white dress shirt and tie with black trousers, as if he had some fancy place to be.

“You talking to me?” The metalhead flicked his cigarette ash and stepped forward to meet the new guy before he could come any closer to the group. “Cause, if so, you might want to change your tone, precious.”

“Eddie, don’t,” Chrissy said, and then she stood up, addressing the guy in the suit. “Jason, what the fuck do you want?”

Eddie, you moved your lips, whispering the name to yourself. His name was Eddie.

Jason put his hands up in mock surrender. “Why so hostile?” He turned to Eddie. “Joyce has been trying to find you for an hour. There’s a toilet backed up in one of the cabins, and trash that needs to go to the dump. Sounds to me like you’re having a hard time doing your job, Munson.”

You scuttled like a crab, moving to a spot where you could see their faces instead of the backs of their heads.

So that you could see Eddie’s face.

Steve checked his watch and pushed off of the railing to snub his cig out on the bottom of his shoe. “I gotta run. See you bastards at the show tonight,” he said in passing, shoving both hands into his trouser pockets. He walked right into Jason, shoulder checking him, before casually going on his way. Jason shot him an evil look.

“Well,” Eddie took a deep breath. “Tell Joyce I got the message,” and then he motioned for Jamie to follow him.

“Too bad we can’t take you out with the rest of the trash, freak,” Jason mumbled, loud enough for you to hear every word, and a tension crackled in the air.

The metalhead stopped dead in his tracks and drew his shoulders back.

When he finally turned on his heel, he wore a satisfied smirk, inclining his head, as if he’d been waiting for Jason to say something all along.

Chrissy moved as if she were about to go over and break up whatever was about to happen, but one of the others put a handout and stopped her.

“Just keep sending your laundry home to mommy, baby boy, and leave the real work to me,” Eddie said, and then he flicked the butt of his cigarette at Jason’s face.

Jason moved his head just in time so that the hot cherry missed his cheek by a hair and bounced off the wall behind him, spraying sparks. Chrissy and the others snickered at how beet red Jason’s face got, but he didn’t say another word, he just waited for Eddie and Jamie to be far enough away before he went back around to the front entrance.

When the coast was clear, you stood and made your way to the path again. With a curse you realized you were going to be late for that dinner reservation, and picked up speed to a slow, sad jog.

You found yourself thinking that maybe being trapped at Hawkins Landing for the summer wouldn’t be so bad after all.

—----

Your aunt Kim gave you an exasperated look when you all finally sat down for dinner, being that you’d made everyone 20 minutes late for the reservation. There didn’t appear to be a single open table when you arrived, but Joyce had made sure to keep the one by the window facing the gardens open for your party. She came around to introduce the guy who was to be your waiter, and you sat up a little straighter in your seat when you realized it was Jason from earlier. The way he’d been dressed out on the porch made sense now, as his uniform was the same as all of the other waitstaff.

Near the end of the meal, Joyce returned to the table in her black pencil skirt and fitted jacket, but this time, she was with a guy who you could tell wanted to look like Don Johnson in Miami Vice, but it came off more as Gary from Weird Science.

“I'd like you to meet Troy, he’s the son of Mr. Brenner, the owner of the resort,” there was a reluctance about her, as if she’d been forced at gunpoint to introduce him.

Troy stared at you with an uncomfortable intensity, making your attention fall to your plate.

“I’m in charge when my father isn’t around,” Troy said with a smug grin, putting his hands in his white trouser pockets, and you spotted some type of metal retainer on his teeth.

Joyce cleared her throat, annoyed that his statement was far from true. But she recognized that it was part of her job to indulge the little shit.

“I just graduated with a business degree from Georgetown,” he gloated, giving you a wink. “This place will all be mine one day.”

Your father exchanged a look with your aunt over his chocolate mousse.

“Well, it’s nice to know someone else your age here, isn’t it, Bird? Maybe you two kids should go have some fun tonight,” Kim chirped.

If your aunt wasn’t so far away, you would’ve kicked her under the table.

Troy bent at the waist so that his face wasn’t far from yours. “I’d love to show you around after dinner, if you’re interested in a tour?”

Before you could issue a vague excuse like, “sorry I can’t, I have a headache,” Kim spoke for you again.

“I think that’s a great idea,” she even clapped her hands, applauding it.

In the end, you went with him to make Kim happy, to get her off your back, hopefully for the rest of the trip.

An hour or two with a pretentious prick wouldn’t hurt you.

—-------

Troy wasn’t bad company, but he was quite full of himself. He had interesting stories about his extensive travels, but then he also told awkward stories that were possibly fibs about how many models he’d dated, and expanded on how he wanted to be married with two kids by the time he was 30.

You, on the other hand, couldn’t imagine thinking that far ahead, and he wouldn’t let you get a word in edgewise.

You followed close behind through the huge, busy kitchen of the restaurant you’d just dined in, and he tried to hold your hand when he introduced you to the head chef, but you were sly, and pulled it away to cross your arms over your chest. He gave you a tour of the ballroom and took a stroll through the other restaurant on the opposite end of the building that had a much more relaxed feel, low lighting, red carpet, and a bar at the center.

You went down to the boat docks and walked along the pier. The stars were breathtaking, but Troy didn’t notice, he was too busy trying to convince you to go out on his boat with him. You declined, taking a page from Kim’s book to mention a freshly born curse of violent seasickness.

You had your elbows on the railing at the pier, enjoying the velvet reflection of the crescent moon in the lake, and you could feel your jaw grow tense under the weight of Troy’s stare.

On the verge of telling him you were ready to head back to your cabin, the sound of music drifted down from somewhere on the property.

Yes, no mistaking, it was Take Me Home Tonight by Eddie Money, but it was being executed with someone else’s voice, and whoever that person was had some serious pipes.

And then there was the distinct sound of a feminine voice chiming in with the parts from the song Be My Baby Now by the Ronettes in the chorus.

"Is that a live band?" You turned away from him to try and find the source of the music. It wasn’t coming from the restaurant on the water or any of the cabins to your right.

"There's a cover band every Friday out behind the main house. You want to check it out?" He held the crook of his arm out to you and hesitated before you took it. His ego sufficiently stroked now that you wanted to spend more time with him.

Around the side of the building, overlooking the golf course, was a huge, fenced in back patio garden area with a private hot tub and pool for hotel guests. Troy led you through a white arbor wound with ivy to find that there were plenty of people mingling, drinking, and dancing. The area was mostly manicured lawn, with stone pathways meandering around from a concrete floor that was right in front of the small riser that was meant to be a stage. You imagined that a million weddings had taken place there.

At the door was a bar, and Troy got you a flute of champagne, which you downed with abandon and asked for another. While he was getting your second glass, you made your way along under several boughs of white string lights to get a view of the stage and who was performing the top tier Eddie Money cover.

Just as you stepped into the crowd of people shuffling to the beat, you stopped dead in your tracks.

There he was at the mic: Eddie the metalhead.

Guitar slug low at his hips, wearing a tuxedo with light blue cummerbund and bow tie, his hair neatly combed back and fixed into a knot at the back of his head so that you could really see the curves of his face. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think he was performing the song against his will.

The rest of the band were dressed similarly, and you instantly knew the one strumming the bass guitar as Steve, and the woman on backup vocals rocking on the rhythm was Chrissy, who wore a conservative skirt and flats. There was also a keyboardist and a drummer, both of whom you did not recognize.

“What’s your major?” Troy asked, breaking your reverie to pass you the glass of champagne. “In college?”

You were confused for a second but then, “oh, I took the year off to…figure some things out.” The full truth of it was that you had dropped out completely and had no intention of going back.

“I spent a summer in Greece my freshman year,” he offered, unprovoked. “The women there are, wow, so smoking hot.”

The song finished and Eddie took his tuxedo jacket off, rolling up his shirt sleeves to his elbows, exposing the scattered tattoos you’d noticed earlier. He leaned over to whisper something to Chrissy, motioned at the drummer, and then stepped back into place, brushing a loose wisp of hair off his cheek.

“Find someone special for this next one,” he told the crowd, and was answered with a rush of murmurs.

The first notes to In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel, a slow song, lit up the space, and your stomach tightened, fearing that Troy would ask you to dance. As he escorted you to the floor, you tried to keep your head down and stay to the back of the crowd, but Troy kept maneuvering you closer to the stage.

I get so lost, sometimes

Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart

When I want to run away

I drive off in my car

But whichever way I go

I come back to the place you are

You watched the performance from over Troy’s shoulder and followed his lead, shifting from foot to foot. You were mesmerized by the muscles in Eddie’s hands as he played each note, and the way Chrissy came in like an angel on the chorus.

He’d captured the attention of everyone in the garden at that moment, and there was a group of women watching him from the sidelines, whispering to each other, possibly about how they wanted to eat him alive.

They were all thinking the same thing you were: Eddie was magic.

He liked to close his eyes when he sang, so you weren’t expecting him to be staring right at you when he opened them again.

All my instincts, they return

And the grand facade, so soon will burn

Without a noise, without my pride

I reach out from the inside

He wouldn’t break eye contact, so you eventually had to; the intensity of it was giving you butterflies.

Troy stepped back and tried to get your attention. “Did you hear anything I just said?”

You nodded, but your gaze only drifted back to Eddie. Troy followed your line of sight and then dropped both of his hands with a frustrated cluck of his tongue.

"What the hell is he doing up there?" He hissed to himself when it dawned on him that Eddie had been behind the mic that whole time. "That's our goddamn maintenance guy. He shouldn't be up there."

In a huff, Troy pushed through the crowd and headed over to one of the other staff members against the fence. Bird could see him shouting and pointing over at the stage. Whatever the staff guy said did not seem to cheer him up a bit, and he came back to your side, shrugging his shoulders.

"I guess our normal front man Drew has the flu," he reported back. "It's just so hard to find reliable help these days."

Eddie was making the song his own, and that was what you liked about it.

“Let’s get out of here,” Troy put his hand on your lower back to escort you out. “The music sucks.”

—--

It was 9:30 when you made it back to the main foyer, standing in the middle of the lobby next to an obnoxious floral arrangement, when Troy tried to get you to go back to his cabin and watch a movie, only to get respectfully declined.

“Don’t worry about your parents,” Troy said, brushing his finger over your chin. “They know you’re with me, so they’re probably the happiest parents at Hawkins Landing.”

The guy had quite an ego on him, you had to give him that. It was unsurpassed by most.

In the end, you got away, and as soon as your Mary Jane’s hit the cobblestones outside the front door, you could feel yourself trotting at a quicker pace, eager to put some distance between you and Troy and everyone else, for that matter. You didn’t stop until you were far enough away from the main hotel to be able to check over your shoulder and not see it through the trees.

It was then that you realized that you had a free chunk of time, and you could do with it whatever you wished. Your dad would think you were still with Troy, and as long as you made it back to the cabin before midnight, they wouldn’t worry.

As much as it was the dead of summer, Indiana by the water had very cool nights, and you buttoned up the jean jacket you were wearing just as you noticed a yellow sign on a lamppost to the right that said: Staff Quarters, No Guests Allowed Beyond This Point

And that made you want to venture in even more.

You checked around to make sure there was no one there to notice that you blatantly ignored the sign, and just kept going. The path at your feet changed from stone to a well-worn dirt path through the grass, and it wasn’t long before you could hear the sound of music erupting in the distance.

You passed by staff quarters, a few weathered red cabins with white trim, lined close together, and there were some people hanging out on their porches who gave you curious looks, but didn’t seem too concerned with your presence.

Following the source of the music, you descended down into unknown, poorly lit territory that no longer looked like it was part of the Hawkins Landing property.

(song playing in the distance is Dangerous Meeting by Mercyful Fate)

It was then that you noticed a pale yellow light coming from the windows of a building up ahead. Just as the dirt path turned to gravel, you identified the music you were hearing as heavy metal, and it was bolstered by distinct shouts and cheers, even a high-pitched scream or two.

“Hey,” a voice startled you from out of the dark and you jumped. “What are you going out here?”

Heart racing, you spun around to find out it was Robin.

She was struggling to carry several things in her arms as she walked and you rushed over to her.

“Where did you come from?” You asked, grinning ear to ear at how glad you were to see someone familiar.

“My cabin is right over there,” she bucked her chin in a direction behind you.

She had a crossbody bag over her shoulder, an amp in one hand, and she was juggling two guitar cases, one of which she fumbled, and you managed to catch it before it hit the ground. You wrapped your arms around the hard case with the Scorpions sticker on it, silently offering to carry it the rest of the way.

“You don’t have to—” Robin started, adjusting the bag over her shoulder.

“I want to,” you looked back up at the house where the music was coming from, assuming that was where she was headed. “I carry that big cello around all the time, remember? I’m used to it.”

Robin moved her jaw from side to side and she looked conflicted. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

Your eyes were still locked on the house hidden in the trees. “What is that place?”

“Listen,” she gave you an imploring look. “I will get in so much trouble if they find out you came out here. Your dad won’t want you here, trust me.”

Her warning did nothing to squelch your curiosity. “I’m a big girl, I go wherever I want. Plus, I won’t tell anyone.”

“Besides,” she gave you a knowing look, raising her eyebrow. “If your boyfriend Troy finds out you were here, Brenner will fire all of us.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” you snapped. But then, softer, you added, “I barely just met him tonight.”

Robin wasn’t in the mood to try and rip the guitar out of your hands, and so, with a heavy sigh, she caved.

“Fine,” she sighed. “But stay close to me, okay? You’re not at the resort anymore, sweetheart.”

You nodded, waiting for her to lead the way.

She took a step forward and then stopped and turned on her heel to point at the instrument in your arms.

“Be extra careful with that, it’s Eddie’s baby. He’ll grow horns if anything happens to it.”

----

Hi! If you are familiar with the movie Dirty Dancing, you have an idea about what scene is coming up next. I've really enjoyed lining up certain events with the movie, but things will obviously be different in this because I want it to have some surprises in store for you.

Every chapter from here on out will start with a list of the songs, ones that will give hints for what to expect. I wanted to make music a big part of this fic, because it was a huge deal in the movie, and the original soundtrack is still dear to me.

as always, thank you so much for reading and interacting with this story! Comments and reblogs are deeply appreciated. or send me an ask and let me know what you think ❤️

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taglist: @tlclick73 @micheledawn1975 @kurdtbean @katethetank @elvendria @spookysqaush86 @somethingvicked @stylesxmunson @laurenlokirby @sapphire4082

#Dirty Metal Summer #dirty dancing au #Eddie Munson series #Eddie Munson #Eddie Munson fic #Eddie Munson smut #Stranger Things fic #Steve Harrington #robin buckley

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 4 months

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Am I the asshole for watching a movie as a family without including my dad? Writing it out, I think I know the answer, but this has still been bugging me.

Around Thanksgiving I (30s) visited home. It was also a trip to see for my mom (late 60s) for her birthday, so I was there for a few days longer than a Thanksgiving trip would normally account for. My brother (30s) and his wife (30s) visited for her birthday too. My dad (early 70s) was there as well. They've been married over 30 years. Originally I'd planned to take everybody out to see a movie as a birthday present for my mom...but it turned out there was literally nothing at the theater that my mom was interested in at all. The town is pretty small, and the options were limited. So instead, we started out with a nice dinner, and family board game run-through of a trivia game we all thought we'd have some fun with. My mom ended up winning, which is rare and was not deliberate, and it wrapped the game up way faster than we'd anticipated.

My dad immediately went back into the living room after the game ended, openly a little annoyed that mom had won a trivia game based on something he considers himself the family expert in. He watches old reruns of the show he's seen a million times on a loop every day, and it can be pulling teeth to get him to do anything else. It was just a fluke, but something the rest of us considered a pleasant surprise since none of us had expected she'd win. But he was annoyed. Given that it was still early, Mom suggested we find a movie to watch online, so we could all wind down before bed with something the whole family could enjoy.

Dad said no. Now this feels like important context: I...have a lot of problems with my dad. I love him, but he can be extremely emotionally immature. Downright verbally abusive at times. And very petty. I'm in therapy in no small part due to some of the insecurities he instilled in me over the years. I've worked hard to set basic boundaries with him. He also has multiple medical issues, and I'm pretty sure he has untreated depression and other mental health problems he refuses to acknowledge that contribute to him flying off the handle at a moment's notice. That, combined with the fact that my mom will 100% never, ever leave him, because she was raised in a very specific mindset that she's never been fully able to shake...means my brother and I usually have to grit our teeth when he starts ranting/yelling/complaining during a visit, or we'd just end up ruining the day for our mom. She's done so much for us, and we just wanted her to have a good visit. So, that's what I did for most of the trip. I breathed deep when my dad openly mocked my stutter, and refused to get in a fight about it. I stopped myself from getting visibly upset when he tried to feed my cat table scraps even when I told him the cat needs a special diet. On other days I tried to watch his old shows with him, and ignored the sexist comments he'd make about the female leads, all for the sake of keeping the peace.

But, it was Mom's birthday. And she wanted to watch a movie.

And Dad said no.

He refused to give up his marathon of old westerns from 60 years ago to watch a new movie with his family on the big tv in the living room.

My mom seemed disappointed, so I suggested we watch one on my laptop in the kitchen instead. Without my dad, if he really wanted to watch his show instead. She agreed, and my brother, his wife, my mom and I filed into the kitchen, sat in less-than-comfy chairs, and watched a fantasy heist film that I'd thought they would all enjoy. And they did. My brother was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the movie (I'd already vouched for it being good, none of the others had seen it previously) His wife kept making notes for her dnd campaign. My mom found it hilarious, and liked that some actors from another show she liked were in it.

My dad stayed in the living room, watching his marathon.

Partway through the movie, he came in and asked us what we were watching. We told him, and he passed through the kitchen for something he needed, then said that we were being too loud. More context: the kitchen is right next to the living room, but my dad turns the tv up so loud in there it can get physically painful to be in the room with him. He refuses to get hearing aides, and only recently relented on subtitles. He also has a habit of screaming at anyone who tries to talk for a long time when his shows are on and they're in earshot, even if they're in a different room. We thought he couldn't hear it over his tv, and so when he said something we said sorry and that we'd try to keep it down, but we could already barely hear it through the laptop speakers. We already had subtitles turned on to make sure we didn't miss anything. When we told him that, he got even more annoyed. He asked how we'd like it if he turned the tv up so loud we couldn't understand anything, then proceeded to go into the living room and do just that, just as I was trying to figure out how much more we could lower the volume without losing our whole experience. We called in that we were already turning it down, and he finally turned his volume back down as well. We finished our movie, turning the volume down during action scenes and up during speaking scenes so we could actually hear the dialog. We enjoyed the rest of the film, and then people started getting ready for bed, and my mom went to check on my dad. She told me a few minutes later that he was hurt that we'd watched the movie without him. That he felt left out. I told her that he'd had multiple opportunities to join us, and that is was his choice not to watch with us. And honestly, the fact that he wouldn't give up the real tv for a couple hours so she could have a birthday movie was really upsetting to me.

She still seemed to feel bad that he was left out, and I'm a little worried that he might've sulked for days afterwards, leaving my mom in an even more stressful environment after I left. Am I the asshole for insisting my mom get to watch a movie on her birthday? And would I be the asshole if I told my dad off for what I consider to be extremely selfish behavior?

Also before anyone asks, no, I'm not cutting him off. It's literally impossible to do that without pretty much cutting off my mom as well, and she absolutely doesn't deserve that. And yes, I've offered up my apartment as a place she can stay if she ever needs to. Repeatedly. She hasn't taken me up on it yet.

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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doctorprofessorsong · 1 year

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carving deep blue ripples by dothraki_shieldmaiden @dothwrites (Explicit, 85k)

I am a sucker for Stanford Era Dean and a creature Cas fic, so this one feels tailormade to my interests.

Dean finds himself hunting alone after his Dad sends him away with the Impala. It was bad enough when Sammy walked out the door, but now his own Dad has sent him away. But Dean’s a hunter, so that's what he's gonna do. A chance encounter with Cas, another hunter, evolves into a partnership and, perhaps, if Dean can just let go, something more. But Cas has a secret that threatens to tear them apart.

This one has great mythology, top tier monsters and so much delicious pining. Dothraki_shieldmaiden manages to incorporate so much delicious canon into this adjacent fic that you will be gnawing at the walls. Seriously buckle up. It's a great ride.

Heavyweight by valleydean (emmbrancsxx0) @valleydean (Explicit, 206k)

Look, Mallory has the unique ability to write versions of Dean and Cas that crawl into your brain and set up residence, but these particular ones are just *chef's kiss* perfection. Deeply unwell over each other, off-putting and sometimes objectively terrible and yet I love them to my bones.

Set in the 1920s against the backdrop of the golden age of boxing, Dean is a light heavyweight champion looking to make his name in the heavyweights. But the reappearance of his secret ex, Cas, threatens everything. Cas left town under the cloud of a scandal. Left DEAN. And now he's back to try and restore his name.

The pining. The push and pull. There were times where I thought a happy ending was impossible but she did it. She really really did. There’s horny sparring. There are suits and fancy prohibition Era parties. There are VIBES. Seriously this one is just so freaking good.

When I Knew You by FriendofCarlotta and xfancyfranart @friendofcarlotta , @xfancyfranart (Explicit, 54k)

Time travel love stories are tricky and sometimes they hit for me (as you can probably guess from my name) while sometimes the don't. This one was an absolute homerun. Dean and Cas are both so deeply lonely and there is this sense of desperate intensity that is woven through the story that will male you feral.

Dean's working to try to put together the cracked pieces of his life after the one two punch of losing his dad and his business. But he's off to a rocky start when he learns that the prior owner of his new house died suddenly.

Even stranger, a shimmering light appears in his living room and suddenly he finds himself face to face with the guy, somehow having traveled to the past. In stolen moments, they discover that maybe happiness isn't as elusive as it felt. But the time is ticking. Can Dean save Cas from his fate, and if so, what will happen to them?

Dean Winchester and the Stolen Tupperware by MalMuses @malmuses (Explicit, 35k)

It's been a hot minute since this one came out and you may have already heard about it as a result, but this fic is just a fluffy, pure delight.

Cas is a single, nerdy professor whose idea of a wild Saturday night is watching dashing Dean Winchester, a real life Indiana Jones type adventurer archeologist, on YouTube. Dean is looking for some stability and just hoping to find a place to establish a career that doesn't involve constantly traveling. Sparks and awkward cuteness fly when they meet.

This one is perfect for a low angst love story. Also, Dean and Cas will make you deeply fond (and Meg in this fic can step on me).

Night at the Impala Theater by Speary @spearywritesstuff (Explicit, 52k)

It's difficult to explain what is so great about this fic without revealing more than I want to about the plot because there are some delightful and twisty bits. Suffice to say, it's a fun ride not just because of Dean and Cas, but the really fun side characters (Especially Rowena, my beloved, who is amazing and witchy).

The story revolves around Dean, a lonely guy running the family business - a historic movie theater he inherited from his Dad. But his life is changed when he finds a mysterious film series on his doorstep. The film noir flick follows a smoldering PI named Castiel. For some reason Dean can't get enough of the movies. And yet, all attempts to track down any information about the series is frustratingly bare. Where will his obsession lead? Not telling. Go read it. :)

torture is your name on my lips by theseancequeen @theseancequeen (Explicit, 4.6k)

This fun little one-shot smutty yet emotional fic explores a world where Demon Dean summons Cas after years of separation and they hook up while both lying about the depth of their feelings. It's a magnificent blend of angst, softness and need that ends on a deeply satisfying and surprisingly hopeful note.

Scorched Earth by AmberXBoone @amberxboone (Explicit, 155k)

Distraught over confirmation that his father intentionally started the fire that killed Mary Winchester (and nearly Dean and Sam), and then used his position as a police officer in a corrupt system to cover it up, Dean decides to give John a taste of justice by burning him in his home. He's a murderer and he fully expects to pay. But a chance meeting with burnt out DA Castiel Novak changes both of their loves forever and suddenly they have something to fight for. Can they take down the corrupt system or will Dean be locked away?

The plot of this fic alone is a ride. But what really brings this one home is the impeccable use of canon characters. I love these versions of them all so much. And it's truly a delight to see everyone join together to fight the corruption and save Dean (whether he deserves it or not cause he definitely doesn't think he deserves to be saved). The fic is also broken up into short chapters which makes it super readable if you are the type who picks things up for one scene and then puts it back down (could never be me I binged it like i was on fire myself but I admire it).

The premise is dark, but it's the light moments that make this fic really shine.

Check out my other fic recs at @riversrecs

#destiel #deancas #destiel fic rec #destiel fic recs #deancas fic rec #deancas fic recs #spn fic rec #supernatural #spn

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aestheticaltcow · 4 months

Text

Married Life

Steve Harrington x Reader (technically self-insert but like barely lol)

Just a little fluff starring my favorite Hawkins resident.

Meeting you in college was the best accident Steve had ever made. He’d gotten lost in the main building while looking for his actual class. You sat in the front row of the lecture hall, nose in a book, waiting for class to start. You hadn’t noticed Steve until he sat beside you; you shot him a grin and returned to your book. He casually glanced in your direction throughout the specialized sociology elective. He was enthralled and knew you’d be the next Mrs. Harrington from the moment he saw you.

Your relationship started like any classmate dynamic; he’d asked to borrow a pen or if you knew the time. He’d ask to copy your notes or borrow a piece of paper. By mid-terms, he’d worked up the courage to talk to you about anything other than sociology. “Hey, Y/N, do you wanna study together sometime?” Steve suppressed his overwhelming urge to squeal when you'd agreed to it.

The two of you sat in the library, reviewing notes for approximately 10 minutes before diving into more interesting topics. He took mental notes of everything you’d said you enjoyed; he’d causally start bringing you coffee or snacks. There was something about Steve you found intriguing and after months of friendship and a string of bad dates on your end. Steve gathered the courage to ask you on a real date. You agreed Steve was a nice guy and wasn’t ugly- or weird. It was a simple first date; the two of you went to the movie theater on campus, and then he walked you back to your dorm. After that, you were hooked.

The two of you seemed to do everything together. He’d walk you to class and drop you off at work. He was always willing to spend time with you even if it was 'inconvenient' for him.

He challenged your point of view, and you challenged him as well. He didn’t understand why you’d chosen to major in sociology but loved how you lit up when you spoke about it.

Going to Hawkins for the first time was interesting. You hadn’t known about Steve’s high school reputation but were thoroughly amused at Robin’s retelling of embarrassing story after embarrassing story. His parents adored you fresh out of the gate; you saw his Dad pull him aside on your last night. While you hadn’t heard what he told the young man, you noticed how his face had lit up. As you were getting ready to return to school the next day, you had to find out, “He told me to marry you because a woman like you is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.”

After graduation, you and Steve finally rented a small apartment together. You had both landed jobs you loved, and everything was perfect except for one thing. Your last name…

Steve wanted to plan the perfect proposal. He spent months looking for the perfect ring and asked every woman in his life for their opinion. After buying what he hoped would be your engagement ring, he had to figure out how to ask you. A romantic weekend away? A simple but elegant dinner date? At the beach? Or at a park? He thought he had a perfect plan, but one day, you two were walking through a parking structure trying to find his car, and it was the moment. Steve stopped and fished the ring box out of his jacket pocket. You turned around when you realized Steve wasn’t beside you anymore.

“So this wasn’t what I planned on doing, but, Y/N, will you marry me? I know we're in the middle of a fuckin’ parking lot, but this is what I want. I want to be with you forever; this may be the least romantic or special way to propose to the woman of your dreams, but it feels right.” you laughed at first, but as he got down on one knee, you realized he was serious. “Yes, Steve, I would love to be your wife.”

#stranger things #stranger things fan fiction #stranger things one shot #stranger things imagine #steve harrington headcannon #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington one shot

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kushblazer666 · 25 days

Text

My wife and I have been talking about cancelling Netflix because of all the issues with one of their recent movies. We are doing our homework to be well informed about our decision but I ran across this very timely story which seems to put it in a very sobering perspective!

Some years ago when I was a pastor, I walked into my church office after a Sunday morning service to find a little brown bag on my desk containing three chocolate brownies. Some thoughtful and anonymous saint who knew my love for chocolate had placed them there, along with a piece of paper that had a short story written on it. I immediately sat down and began eating the first brownie as I read the following story:

Two teenagers asked their father if they could go to the theater to watch a movie that all their friends had seen. After reading some reviews about the movie on the internet, he denied their request.

“Aw dad, why not?” they complained. “It’s rated PG-13, and we’re both older than thirteen!”

Dad replied: “Because that movie contains nudity and portrays immorality—which is something that God hates—as being normal and acceptable behavior.”

“But dad, those are just very small parts of the movie! That’s what our friends who’ve seen it have told us. The movie is two hours long and those scenes are just a few minutes of the total film! It’s based on a true story, and good triumphs over evil, and there are other redeeming themes like courage and self-sacrifice. Even the Christian movie review websites say that!”

“My answer is ‘no,’ and that is my final answer. You are welcome to stay home tonight, invite some of your friends over, and watch one of the good videos we have in our home collection. But you will not go and watch that film. End of discussion.”

The two teenagers walked dejectedly into the family room and slumped down on the couch. As they sulked, they were surprised to hear the sounds of their father preparing something in the kitchen. They soon recognized the wonderful aroma of brownies baking in the oven, and one of the teenagers said to the other, “Dad must be feeling guilty, and now he’s going to try to make it up to us with some fresh brownies. Maybe we can soften him with lots of praise when he brings them out to us and persuade him to let us go to that movie after all.”

About that time I began eating the second brownie from the little brown bag and wondered if there was some connection to the brownies I was eating and the brownies in the story. I kept reading…

The teens were not disappointed. Soon their father appeared with a plate of warm brownies which he offered to his kids. They each took one. Then their father said, “Before you eat, I want to tell you something: I love you both so very much.”

The teenagers smiled at each other with knowing glances. Dad was softening.

“That is why I’ve made these brownies with the very best ingredients. I’ve made them from scratch. Most of the ingredients are even organic. The best organic flour. The best free-range eggs. The best organic sugar. Premium vanilla and chocolate.”

The brownies looked mouth-watering, and the teens began to become a little impatient with their dad’s long speech.

“But I want to be perfectly honest with you. There is one ingredient I added that is not usually found in brownies. I got that ingredient from our own back yard. But you needn’t worry, because I only added the tiniest bit of that ingredient to your brownies. The amount of the portion is practically insignificant. So go ahead, take a bite and let me know what you think.”

“Dad, would you mind telling us what that mystery ingredient is before we eat?”

“Why? The portion I added was so small. Just a teaspoonful. You won’t even taste it.”

“Come on, dad, just tell us what that ingredient is.”

“Don’t worry! It’s organic, just like the other ingredients.”

“Dad!”

“Well, OK, if you insist. That secret ingredient is organic…dog poop.”

I immediately stopped chewing that second brownie and I spit it out into the waste basket by my desk. I continued reading, now fearful of the paragraphs that still remained.

Both teens instantly dropped their brownies back on the plate and began inspecting their fingers with horror.

“DAD! Why did you do that? You’ve tortured us by making us smell those brownies cooking for the last half hour, and now you tell us that you added dog poop! We can’t eat these brownies!”

“Why not? The amount of dog poop is very small compared to the rest of the ingredients. It won’t hurt you. It’s been cooked right along with the other ingredients. You won’t even taste it. It has the same consistency as the brownies. Go ahead and eat!”

“No, Dad…NEVER!”

“And that is the same reason I won’t allow you to go watch that movie. You won’t tolerate a little dog poop in your brownies, so why should you tolerate a little immorality in your movies? We pray that God will not lead us unto temptation, so how can we in good conscience entertain ourselves with something that will imprint a sinful image in our minds that will lead us into temptation long after we first see it?”

I discarded what remained of the second brownie as well as the entire untouched third brownie. What had been irresistible a minute ago had become detestable. And only because of the very slim chance that what I was eating was slightly polluted. (Surely it wasn’t…but I couldn’t convince myself.)

What a good lesson about purity! Why do we tolerate any sin? On the day of the Passover, the Israelites were commanded to remove every bit of leaven from their homes. Sin is like leaven—a little bit leavens the whole lump (1 Cor. 5:6). Jesus, “our Passover” (1 Cor. 5:7), and sin, don’t mix.

Help us, Lord, to “cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).

Hate evil, you who love the Lord (Ps. 97:10)

This was shared by a gentleman named Randy Hicks.

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winter-spark · 25 days

Text

Citron's Love and Limited Self Value Disguised as Coldness & Selfishness!

Okay! So, I said I had thoughts back in December about Citron's coldness & 'selfishness' so let me actually share them now. (I was starting to doubt doing this but one of my mutuals said I should share my thoughts on a3! things and that they'd like to hear them, and this is one I really wanted to share so here I go!)

Intro/Too long; didn't read:

There are three things that I feel are true about Citron:

He loves and values everyone so much.

For the longest time, he saw himself as a title

These things combined into him making decisions that on the surface come off as cold and or selfish but underneath are dripping in love and care.

Table of contents

Paragraphs 1 -3: Fleeing Zafra Paragraphs 4 -6: Joining & Leaving Mankai Paragraphs 7-9: Leaving Guy & Lies Paragraphs 10-14: Citron vs Tangerine and their Dad Paragraphs 15-16: Good now right? Paragraphs 17-22: Tangerine in Citron's Past Role {additional thoughts on this: here.} Paragraphs 23-24: Conclusion

Let's begin with the reason he even fled Zafra in the first place. Citron was being targetted, by those who thought his brothers were better fit to rule than he. And he was aware of this being the reason strange things were happening. At least, seeing as Guy had the suspicion/knew, I don't see why Citron wouldn't have.

Instead of voicing what was going on or raising any suspicions, he just left. He couldn't let them win win because his only value is his role, he's the Crown Prince. It's all he is. But he loves his people and he loves his brothers. He's not going to cause them any problems. They want him gone. Alright, he'll leave, silently without a word to anyone. Is it selfish to leave those who care deeply about you with a word? Well, some people might say, "obviously" but Citron loves so much and refuses to stop existing in the only way he knows, so he couldn't say a word.

What was he supposed to do? Say goodbye to Tangerine and cause him to worry and rouse suspicion on others? Tangerine is very headstrong, he would've wanted to get to the bottom of it(pin on that). Similar thing with Guy, if Citron told him he wanted to leave, Guy likely would have suggested that he say something, if Guy didn't just follow him. He can't really go undercover with Guy around, and maybe he wanted Guy to have a break from being at his beck and call(more on that later). If he announced anything of this to his father, his father would have gotten to the bottom of it. Citron selfishly chose to leave, without a word. But when you think about his motives he wasn't just being selfish, he was trying to protect people because he cares so much.

Then he gets to Japan and ends up finding a struggling theater that just needs a few more hands. He's not gonna stay for long. He can't stay forever. But what's the harm in lending a hand? Afterall, he's always loved the arts.

But then something strange happens. He acts completely different than who he is, completely different than whats expected of him. And they value him anyway. It's beyond just needing another person for the play. They care about him as a person. It's not yet addressed not fully, not really but it's there. And he cares about them. So he pours his heart into them but keeps a distance as best he can, he can't stay he knows this. They can't learn more, they can't care more, they can't be sad about his departure.

Of course, they were gonna be, and of course, Guy was gonna find him. He knew his time was coming to a close when Tsuzuru brought that souvenir. So when Guy arrived, it wasn't the time to dwell on it. On his desires, on his wants. He wasn't allowed to have those. He's the Crown Prince. He must go ascend to the throne lest Orange do. As is his role. As is who he is. As is what he's good for. It's what he's meant to do. He didn't want to leave but he has to and it's going to be sad and hurt. And he loves Mankai, Spring Troupe so much, he doesn't want them to be too sad about his departure. So he creates a list of tasks--a distraction--one for each of them, he can't pretend he's not leaving but he can make it fun and silly for them. Itaru pays for a buffet, Tsuzuru joins him in Manzai, Masumi lets him have some time with Izumi. They're small things to prepare for the goodbye but they can't have an actual goodbye, it'd be too sad. So he gives Sakuya the task of performing with Mankai, something he never plans to do but is something nice for Sakuya to look forward to he doesn't realize the hope he's planting, the hint he's leaving of his own desires, but he does. I believe it's called a Freudian Slip. And that's what he does by putting Sakuya last, with Chikage's Vanishing Citron act before it.

But! Before we move on we can't leave out his love for Guy. Leaving Mankai, Spring Troupe without a real goodbye is harsh, it's selfish, it's unfair, they weren't ready, he left too fast. It was sudden, no one really got any sort of closure. But leaving Guy behind(again) and telling the people of Zafra that Guy held him hostage against his will in Japan, that's cold, that's vicious, that's confusing. That's Citron's love.

When Citron was a little tiny child, he looked at that messed up soldier in training and decided that was his person. And overtime found out just how messed up he was, and Citron wanted to help. He wanted to prove to Guy he wasn't an android, wanted to get him in touch with his emotions to some extent, wanted to get him to be able to do things for himself. Here's where we continue on the "more on that later" point, Citron understands how much Guy has devoted himself to Citron and Citron specifically, and he wanted Guy to be able to be his own person, to have a freedom Citron couldn't have. I like to believe part of the reason he didn't take Guy along with him in the first place was to sort of start that divide, to let him exist on his own, as his own person. We know that goes into him leaving him in Japan with 0 way to return to Zafra. Citron wanted so much for Guy to find his own personhood, and connect with himself, his roots, and he knew Mankai was a great source of support for Guy, because Citron vetted them. Citron loved Guy so much he'd rather be without him than let Guy continue without his own sense of self, his own purpose. His freedom was ending but he wanted to gift Guy with it.

Was it one of the ugliest ways to do it? Oh absolutely, but Citron's quick and analytical. He knew if he just said he intended on leaving without Guy, Guy would have probably followed anyway. So he asked himself how can he ensure Guy's not going to follow him and has a way to remember his past, so he leaves Guy's charm with Izumi and he returns home lying that Guy was at fault for his absence. Guy can't come in, and even though Guy's been cast out of Zafra, Citron can see this as reassurance, he knows Guy is somewhere nice and he knows, in theory, Guy's not coming back to Zafra. Did Citron really never want to see Guy again? Of course not! Like Mankai, Citron loves Guy a lot, but Citron doesn't want to doom people to sorrowful fates.

Take his brothers for example. If Tangerine hadn't been apart of the rescue plot whatsoever, Citron would have done his best to still not rat out Orange and Navel. Citron been knew they wanted him out of the picture. He knew. But he doesn't want them to have to suffer. Even if they were never close like he'd have liked, even if they hated him, even if they were trying to steal the one thing he was allowed to exist as, even if they were trying to kill him. Citron loved his brothers and valued their well-being. He didn't want them to be in trouble surely not behind him and he would've kept that secret to his grave because of that.

But things can't always go how you want them or to your plan. Tangerine (unpinning that earlier point), is very headstrong and he sees things a little more equally. His brothers are all people, and two of them were apart of a plot to kidnap and murder his other brother. He was supposed to keep quiet about that? Lots of people were nearly injured in the event. Of course, he was going to tell his father what happened. Brothers or not that wasn't okay.

And the King, very much like Tangerine, sees things more equally. The King like Citron has a role he must fulfill but he doesn't seem to have the same problem as Citron where it's all he sees in himself(I think, he's seemed to spend very little time with his kids as they grew up so that up for debate), he loves but he can put that aside and think about what's fair for all parties.

It's not fair, for Orange and Navel to simply just be scolded because they are his sons, this was a serious offense, he must treat it as such. It's not fair, for Citron to lie to the people, to lie on his retainer who has done nothing wrong. There are many things to consider. Is him allowing Citron to be an ambassador(was that the word? Idr) of the arts being a little soft on him? Honestly, I don't know, maybe, but he loves his son and he understands that he must have been struggling and in fear of running away because he was being plotted against, not saying anything because he has a big heart. And he just nearly died. He can't let someone so willing to lie over being upfront and stopping issues early on because of feelings be the next in charge, but he knows Citron is very capable and he sees the warmth of Spring Troupe, Mankai with Citron. He understands that where the Palace lacked for Citron, Mankai picked up for it. Citron had a home away from home but also wanted to serve his country. The King, his father, didn't really want to take either away from him. So he gave him a new role, a way he can have both. [How did this become a meta about his dad? lol] This scene, Citron goes through likely a lot of emotions.

Being stripped of his role, the one thing he's lived for, his one purpose in life, the thing he's fought for jeopardizing his relationship with his brothers, his sense of value. That mess is heartwrenching, it's scary. He just failed to protect his brothers from punishment and he lost the one thing he refused to ever actually give up. Now what?

Now, his father gives him a gift. A gift truly of freedom, decorated in a nice bow of still being valuable to his country but also showing him that his value wasn't just his title. He didn't have to be Crown Prince to be worth something. Could he have left the title sooner? Who can say? But right now, his father is basically saying "I love you and I value your happiness" and what more could Citron really ask for? Things are starting to look up for Citron, Guy was able to start healing from his past, Citron gets to return to Mankai and exist and have value and above all be loved. Everything is great.

Except then there's Tangerine.

Many of Citron's problems growing up were tied to him being the Crown Prince, it's restricting, it expects a lot of you, and it's a sad existence. That's how Citron views the title of Crown Prince, even if subconsciously, it's a bad thing to be thrown upon someone. It's something that destroys your sense of worth. How could Citron do that to someone he loves so dearly? He ran off, to be happy, to have a sense of worth outside of the title of Crown Prince, he left his precious little brother for dead, and what kind of person is he to do that? His suspicions "confirmed", when Tangerine shows up unannounced after running away from home.

Citron is so used to seeing himself as "the Crown Prince" he doesn't even consider that Tangerine just missed his brother, or wanted to ask for some sort of comfort or advice or anything like that. Because Citron was the former Crown Prince and Tangerine is the current one. That's where is mind is at. Citron is reliving all those years mentally and worrying that Tangerine is living like he was. Why else would Tangerine run away and come see Citron, who was once in his position? So his love for Tangerine and his pain from only seeing himself as a title combine into guilt, and that guilt turns him cold.

He can't rub salt in Tangerine's wounds by showing how happy he is without the burdens of the crown staring him down. He can't flaunt his freedom. He can't bare seeing Tangerine suffer the way he did. So he frowns and he gets serious. There are expectations of the Crown Prince, too. And Citron has those embedded into his very being. And he tries to somewhat of what you'd expect someone to be after having prepared for a role for years to someone now in their role. And he tries to get Tangerine to go back as quickly as possible. And it's selfish to send someone away because of your own feelings and not what they've done but it's also so complicated for Citron.

He's not mad at Tangerine, he's sad for him and mad at himself and every second Tangerine's there is a reminder of all of that and a show of Citron being a bad influence probably. Citron's used to falling in line and fulfilling duties so as he becomes somewhat of what you'd expect of a serious mentor, it makes sense that he's falling back into that mentally, the proving oneself to the right/expected thing to do. A good older brother/mentor wouldn't let his brother who needs to be preparing for a big event miss practice and possibly the event. A good older brother doesn't brag about how good he has it now that the younger one has it worse.

Of course, thanks to Masumi's patience with Tangerine and Spring Troupe's patience with Citron, he was able to turn his love warm again. But it was a bit rough getting there. Like the other events before.

Honestly, there's so much more that can be focused on about Citron and a part of me wants to go on a tangent about the little slips he has like the wish he'd given Sakuya and how his emotions slip through in other ways like how he got kidnapped and stuff like that. But I should probably reread things again before/if I do that. The important part here is just that I'm so fascinated by how Citron is just so full of love but for so long lack a full sense of self outside of the Crown, (not to say he didn't have interests and desires but more in the sense that nothing he had interest in or desired fully mattered in the long run because it was insignificant to the role he was meant to play, in case I haven't made that clear) and how those things combine into actions that are cold and or selfish but also so layered and so full of care.

Citron is so !!! my heart! Idk how to put it quite into words but I haven't really seen people like full-on analyze him really (outside of some analyzing in fanfictions really funnily enough) and I wanted to just give him a bit of focus. Honestly, it was long over due with how much I talk about his brothers. I didn't even say everything I thought but that's okay. Just means more opportunity for me to talk about him again later.

#a3!#act addict actors #Citron a3 #<- me using real tags. whoa!#long post #Citron & his brothers #The Zafran Princes #I want this to appear when people are looking at my posts about the others even though I brush over Orange and Navel in this post #(See I told you Citron was my favorite)#also I hope this doesn't get less strong as it goes on #and that none of the points fall flat #I often like to pull direct examples and evidence but I didn't for this one #but it's got me thinking I should totally try again to write that ship essay

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chloecherrysip · 1 year

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This is probably starting to get annoying, but here are a few more scattered, silly thoughts about the mario movie. :)

(Did I go see the movie again for the 4th time in theaters last night? YES. Is that an excessive amount of times? YES. Have I spent a ridiculous amount of money at this point? YES. Do I have any regrets? NOT EVEN THE TINIEST BIT, NO.)

Trust me, I would be totally honest if I was starting to get bored, but I'm really, really not??? I had a really tough, busy week and I just wanted to be able to relax and have a good time and it was delightful as always!!! I left feeling so much happier. I'm already thinking about going to see it next week again! No one and nothing can stop me!!!! Other than possibly my bank account, LOL.

Obviously the reunion hug takes the lion's share of the focus, but I just want to express my undying love that Luigi and Mario share MULTIPLE hugs before we even get there, and that's not even counting moments at the beginning and the end where they have an arm around each other in kind of a half-hug! They are wonderfully, unabashedly affectionate and it's the best thing in the world!!!

As much as the family is teasing Mario & Luigi about their commercial, I DO appreciate that after their dad's insensitive comment and Mario leaves the table, all the adults genuinely look a little taken aback and stare at the dad (except the grandpa who is in his own little world lol) as if to say Wow, Not Cool. Like, it seems like saying something like that would even be a step too far for the uncles! I just like that there's subtlety and layers to the family stuff, and no one is portrayed as being 100% a jerk (even if some of them have some jerk-ish qualities like the guy stealing food from poor Luigi XD)

ALSO: in fanworks, I've seen several people allude to the bedroom Mario's shown in as being only his bedroom - I was watching those scenes closely this time just to confirm to myself (because I'm annoying about being as accurate as possible, haha), and it's DEFINITELY both his and Luigi's room! It goes by quick, but you can see another bed with green sheets in the far corner of the room clearly in at least one shot, both in the Brooklyn version and in the Mushroom Kingdom version. For some reason, it just tickles me that it's SUCH a small little inclusion and not really necessary, they could have just left it ambiguous whether they actually share a room or not, but nope, that detail is there if you are looking for it! :)

Y'know, even when Mario is dragging Luigi into a dangerous situation and jumping down through what is essentially a WHIRLPOOL into the sewers, he STILL stands at the bottom and waits/watches to see that Luigi makes it down safely after him before moving forward. OVERALL A SILLY THING TO DO but, as he always does when it comes to Luigi, Mario has those extra moments of care and attention. :)

Peach going on and on about how small Mario is will always just make me smile, I'm sorry XD IT'S TRUE (and I love how he's just like "yeah, yeah, make fun of me if you want" and moves on to the important stuff without actually getting mad, it's clear he's heard it all before)

I JUST LOVE MARIO IN GENERAL. I LOVE HIM IN THIS MOVIE???? I LOVE HIM, ALL HIS LITTLE MOVEMENTS AND MANNERISMS. HE IS JUST THE SWEETEST, BRAVEST LITTLE MAN AND HE DESERVES MORE APPRECIATION

I might make a separate appreciation post but here is a shortlist of little things I love: his little "I don't want to eat this" wiggle-dance when first trying to eat the mushroom, the bashful way he kicks up his feet and holds his hands behind him when he's standing next to Peach in the Flower Fields, the way he just cutely, awkwardly WAVES HELLO at everyone wherever he goes (in Toad Town, through the crowd as they're leaving the castle, even to the Kong Guards), how he's genuinely excited to see Donkey Kong's kart for a split second before DK's "I hate you" comment, how he saves DK in the water with NO hesitation at the risk of his own life because he is just a deeply good person, etc etc etc.

As much as I deeply wish that this movie had an actual scene where Mario gets to talk more about Luigi to his new friends and the dialogue wasn't always operating at Maximum Efficiency, I DO appreciate that there are still those couple of beats where you are explicitly reminded that Mario is doing this, ALL of this, for Luigi's sake and only that. The one that got to me this time is when Peach and him have that sidebar before the DK fight where she's like "this is a REALLY bad idea" and his retort is: "well, do you have another way to save my brother!?" And then you see him go on a little face journey where he's calculating things before agreeing to the fight and proclaiming that yes, he WILL win. BECAUSE HE WILL DO ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING FOR HIS BROTHER AND IF THE ONLY WAY TO REACH HIM IS TO FIGHT AND WIN, EVEN IF NO ONE BELIEVES IN HIS ABILITY TO DO SO, THEN BY GOD, HE'S DOING IT. ANOTHER REASON THAT I LOVE HIM!!

The aesthetic of the shattered Rainbow Road pieces glowing in the ocean around DK and Mario (and then inside the eel) is genuinely very beautiful and I always love the effect of it!

I'M SORRY, I CAN ALSO BE VERY CRITICAL OF THIS MOVIE IF I WANT TO, BUT HOW COULD ANYONE - ANYONE - WATCH MARIO AND LUIGI WREAK ABSOLUTE HAVOC AND DESTROY BOWSER IN PERFECT, EFFORTLESS UNISON WITH THE SUPERSTARS MUSIC PLAYING AND NOT FEEL ABSOLUTE JOY??? That sequence is actually perfect, and the music is even MORE perfect. Every time, I hear it, I feel exhilarated and light as air and like anything is possible! HOW COULD YOU NOT THINK IT'S MAGICAL??? HOW??? [STANDS ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN AND YELLS] HOW????????

Something that I have never noticed until this last rewatch and caught me genuinely offguard is that when Bowser's in the jar and Mario makes the "told ya I'd get you a turtle!" comment to Peach, if you're paying attention to Bowser, he actually does a "hardy-har-har VERY FUNNY" fake laugh as he's being all pouty, and I laughed outloud at that.

ALSO IN GENERAL, I AM SO PROUD OF THIS VERSION OF THE CHARACTERS AND THEIR WILLINGNESS TO PUT BOWSER IN ACTUAL JAIL!!!! HE DESERVES JAIL!!!! Like, I get that we're all very sweet and forgiving here and he's usually allowed to just slink away in most of the games, but seriously, HE COMMITTED VARIOUS WAR CRIMES FOR INCREDIBLY STUPID REASONS, THANK U FOR PUTTING HIM IN JAIL

The last scene with Luigi and Mario doing their handshake and then Luigi just full-on playfully poking Mario in the belly before running off is the CUTEST thing and also has the most Younger Sibling Energy of basically anything in the movie, lol. He also does it to him in the opening scene! I loveeeee ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

#mario movie #mario movie spoilers #super mario bros movie #this movie has clearly become a comfort film for me. it just makes me happy!#will i make another post like this? WHO KNOWS but i'm sorry if you're sick of it lol #cherrysip hc's & rambling

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doobnnoob-tf2 · 1 year

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HELLO DANIEL, how ya doing today? i’ve been reading your mercs headcanons for the last, uh, two days and they ARE SO SWEET, SO AMAZING, I’M COMING BACK TO MY TF2 BRAINROT BECAUSE OF YOU 😭

anyway, i'll get right to the point: i was watching the episode of bluey where bingo and bluey go to the cinema with their dad, and i was thinking, "how would each merc act on the cinema?". you'll get it if you watch the episode, but how does each class act in the movies? if you are unable to respond right now, please do not worry. i just wanted to express my admiration for you. alright, i’m leaving 😭🙏🏻

Scout: he either is the worst person to watch a movie with, or the others completely forget he's there because he was so quiet the whole time. there is no in between. if it's not something that catches and holds his attention, he'll be that obnoxious person people complain about the whole time. but if it does, he's glued to the screen. he constantly says horror movies don't bother him but the others see he leaves his lights on at night after seeing one

Soldier: he's banned from the local movie theater after receiving too many noise complaints. it doesn't stop him from showing up however. and every time he's reminded he can't enter, he goes on a long speech to the poor worker while they direct the line to just go around and ignore him. he just doesn't stop shouting at the characters about how poor their decision making skills are

Pyro: snacks galore. it's almost as if they just cleared out the entire concession stand. they always make sure they have one of the seats next to them as well to put all of their snacks.. that they won't be eating until they get back to the base and to their room

Demoman: he's super picky about seats. he wants fourth row and center seat. if he can't, he may be a bit grumpy during the whole movie. don't ask him why he's that serious about his seating, it always ends with him going on a rant about how he's tested every section of the theater and that's just the best

Heavy: he loves going to the movies, for any kind of genre. he has things he likes and dislikes about each. he mostly prefers going with at least one other on the team rather than by himself, but he will if he can't find anyone to go with him. he's usually the only one who can consistently get Scout to shut up and sit still during a movie

Engineer: he prefers hosting movie nights on the base rather than going out to a theater. it feels more like a group activity that way, rather than a stressful outing where they have to pay way too much for snacks and then everyone sits all around the theater rather than in a group anyway. he hosts weekly movie nights during the summer and they rotate who gets to pick what movie each week

Medic: he frequently gets invited to - and agrees to - going to see movies with the others. mostly Sniper to go see horror movies together because he wants to hear about how bad the gore is from a medical standpoint. the problem is, he forgets every single time and then busies himself and can't go. the only time he watches movies is when the whole team gets together to watch things on the projector together

Sniper: he frequently goes to the movies by himself. however, he always plans it on days where he knows there won't be that many people. both so he can happily prop his feet up on the seat in front of him, and so he can avoid dealing with people other than the concession staff. he isn't afraid to pelt the back of someone's head with popcorn kernels if they won't shut up during a movie

Spy: he prefers watching movies on the base. that way it can be paused and he can go step outside to smoke, or he can open and window and do the same while he keeps watching. if he really wants to go to a theater, there's always a point where he gets up and leaves for a few minutes. the others assume it's to have a smoke break, which is only partly true. the real truth is he's buying himself one of those jumbo bags of popcorn to take to his car and hide in the trunk for later

I feel so bad it took me forever to get to this I'm so sorry. I really appreciate that you enjoy (enjoyed? lol) the blog so much!

Admittedly, I'd just had a huge stint of hyperfocusing on my sideblog, @ask-the-tf2-mercs lol. It got a lot of attention all at once and I was getting a fuckton of asks over there so I neglected this blog to focus on keeping up with asks there. C':

But seriously, thank you and everyone who still enjoys this blog for enjoying it! It makes me happy that people like my goofy lil headcanons.

#tf2 #team fortress 2 #tf2 headcanons #tf2 scout #tf2 soldier #tf2 pyro #tf2 demoman #tf2 heavy #tf2 engineer #tf2 medic #tf2 sniper #tf2 spy #sharing one braincell

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yourkimjaejin · 7 months

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NCT 127: The Lost Boys - Moxy's Cut

Italics - animation, song lyrics | Indentation - In person interview | Bold - English

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Over clips of Moxy at practice and backstage, here's some of the things the members said about her.

"She's like the heartbeat of 127" ~ Johnny "Moxy is always willing to help. She's been there for me more times than I can count" ~ Doyoung "I say this proudly- Moxy's my twin. We share a lot of similarities. We always end up staying up late and talking about anything and everything" ~ Mark "She's my precious noona." ~ Haechan "Every time I see her perform I'm in awe." ~ Jaehyun "They're aren't many people I consider born to perform. But Moxy is one of them like Mark and Taeyong. She was born to be on stage." ~ Yuta "I don't say stuff like this often but Moxy is truly the cutest member of 127." ~ Taeil "I'm really close with Moxy. We were put in similar situations when joining 127. She let me cling to her until I felt comfortable standing on my own two feet" ~ Jungwoo

The sound of a ticking clock rang out as the ten moved around the circle riser. One member made her way to the empty seat at the top when she stumbled. Moxy looked on shocked. When she turned around, her members were far away from where she stood. A vision in the distance

A finger tapped her forearm. She looked down to see a young face that looked like her. Bouncy curls and all.

"What are you doing here?" The tiny human pointed to the empty chair, "Your seats over there." Mini Moxy grabs Moxys hand. "Why don't we walk together." Hand in hand the two girls take a couple steps forward.

"You didn't have to take this path right?"

"No....No I didn't"

I had options before I chose to become an idol. I could have been on Broadway. I could have been a cheerleader or a dancer. Hell I could have started gymnastics but something about this....seemed right.

Before I even got to Korea I was in a children's theater troop and singing lessons, all taught by the same woman. Dancing didn't really enter my life until later. My family and I went to my dads alma mater to seeing the first football game of the season. My cousin was attending the school and this game was her first performance with the bands dancers. The proper term is majorettes. My mom helped me find her when they entered the field. Once the performance started I was hooked. I knew I wanted to dance too. I wanted to perform in front of a crowd just like my cousin. It was actually her who suggested cheerleading to my mom.

When I got scouted, apparently my mom refused to let me go. She didn't want her only daughter in a forgiven country no matter how much family was there. I really think she just didn't want me to be so far away from her. The day I left, we both didn't cry at all. We were joking and laughing. She gave me a hand written book of Korean phrases I would need.

"According to my dad, my mom burst into burst into tears once I disappeared through security. I never told her but as soon as the plane took off, I started sobbing. It was like reality set in."

Moxy and her Mini me kept walking forward

"When's the first time you wanted to quit." They both stopped. The lights shut off then flash back on. In front of them a younger, yet older Moxy stood in front of a group of girls dressed like Red Velvet doing the dance for Happiness. Teenager Moxy looks on disgusted.

My teachers gave me a nickname during my training. They called me 상어, or shark in Korean. They gave me that name because of the way I progressed in dance training. They said I was like a shark on a feeding frenzy. I attacked anything put in front of me.

I was a cheerleader for year so I was used to learning choreographies fast. While other trainees took weeks to learn a dance. It took me days. Obviously you start at the beginning classes but within...four months, my teachers knew I could move up to a more advanced class. But whoever signs off on those class changes wouldn't let me. They didn't like that a foreigner was out performing the others. but my favorite teacher did the next best thing.

They gave me hard choreos to learn. Made me dance while singing. Made me create dances to songs as an extra assignment for monthly evaluations. My favorite teacher, Lee seongsaengnim, told me if i kept going I would be on the level of 5+ year trainees.

News travels fast when you're a trainee. A rumor started spreading that SM's new group would be a girl group and I......was not excited. The landscape of girl group concepts was changing but not quickly. What we have now for girl groups in the idol industry was not the norm when I was a trainee.

I felt like everything I was learning, what I was doing would have been....wasted in a girl group. Everyone knew how good I was. All the trainees did. They all thought I was a joining Red Velvet's lineup and I hated that. I went to my halmeoni and told her I was thinking about quitting and why.

Teenage Moxy sat at a table with her grandmother looking at her. Moxy and Mini Moxy were standing off to the side watching the scene.

"What did she say?" Mini Moxy asked, eyed glued to the two figures sitting at the table

Moxy chucked, "She said I was an idiot. That I didn't have a good reason to quit. She told me, to my face, if they put you in a group like that. Then show them what you can do. Show them that girls don't always have to be girly. They can be strong and powerful. while still being cute.

the two Moxy's walk away from the table where Teenage!Moxy and her grandmother are hugging

"What happened the second time?" Mini Moxy asked. Suddenly, the members of 127 stood in front of them dressed in outfit identical to the blue ones they wore during Limitless promotions. Everyone was performing smoothly until Moxy tripped up.

"I messed up."

Out of all of us, Moxy-noona had it the hardest ~ Haechan She was added to a group of people who had grown up together ~ Jaehyun None of us were particularly welcoming ~ Mark At first I think all of us used the "we're akward around girls" excuse until the excuse just gave us reason to not get to know her in the beginning ~ Yuta

"Was it hard joining the group." (question from the director) Absolutely (she laughs) I don't have the type of personality where I open up to people as soon as I meet them. I'm quiet and observant. during my first practices with the guys I could tell none of knew how to interact with me so I stayed to myself. Only talking to Johnny and Doyoung-oppa when everyone else wasn't present. I felt....un..wanted.

I used to stay extra late to practice Limitless. Nobody was willing to help me except for the mangers so I practiced until the early hours of the morning until I had the dance down. I was super nervous going into out first performance. I was so focused on not messing up. I didn't want to bring them down if I made a mistake. I just became a big ball of nerves for the rest of our promotional period.

(Moxy is handed a tablet with a video of 127 third Limitless performance. She click plays and immediatly starts laughs) I'm looking at myself and I'm not even enjoying the moment. I'm too focused on getting everything right. Not giving anyone a chance to speak ill of me or my performance. Nobody yelled at me but in my head I though they were disappointed. I went to Doyoung-oppa that night and told him how I felt and he talked me out of quitting. We watched the video together and he reassured about the whole thing. Telling me that it wasn't even noticeable. It truly wasn't."

Moxy walked up Limitless!Moxy and grabbed her hand.

"You did great." Moxy helps her younger self stand and dust herself off before the younger one runs off.

"And the last time?"

The clock ticked again and suddenly Moxy stood alone. When she turned around, she was facing Taeyong

It was starting to grate at me. Being in the group but not feeling apart of it. I started to isolate myself cause it felt like a better decision. They weren't making an effort to get to know me so why should I? You know? Because we didn't know each other, not like everyone else did, it made everything worse.

The camera cuts and the members are all standing together and performing Chain

(V.O) Chain has to be one of our hardest dances. Its alot. And I worked my butt off to perfect it but every time I was in the practice room with the members I screwed something up. The tension was high and.....everything...exploded

With their members surrounding them, Taeyong and Moxy begin to scream and shout at each other. The members flinching every so often.

We were just yelling at each other. Finally I told him I can take this anymore and I stormed out. My friend is in gymnastics and her coach never has a problem with me showing up to practice or let off steam so I took a cab there. I was tumbling for hours. No matter what song came on. No matter how much my body screamed to stop. I kept going. Then Chain started playing. And I hit every. single. move. It was like slow motion. When the music stopped, those bad thoughts came pouring in. I collapsed and I couldn't stop crying.

Moxy sits on the floor, sweat dripping from her face

(V.O.) All I felt was arms wrapping around me. I looked up and there was Taeyong.

Taeyong wraps his arms around Moxy. The younger curls into him wrapping her arms around his waist and burning her face in her leaders chest. Taeyong hid his face in her hair but the sounds of tears were heard

The real Moxy stands off to the side watching the two embracing on the floor, unshead tears in her eyes.

"Why did you stay?" mini Moxy"s voice rang out.

The tears spilled out, running down Moxy's face, "cause I wanted them. I stayed because I wanted them. Even if they would never want me."

A bigger hand wrapped around her smaller one. Moxy looked over and saw pale skin and tattoos. Her eyes met Taeyong's and he was smiling at her. He pulled her close and wiped her eyes with the edge of his sleeve. Pulling her forward, Taeyong lead her up the step to the empty wooden chair waiting for her. Moxy spun around meeting her members eyes one by one until she faced forward and took her seat.

"Hello, I'm Moxy of NCT 127." She spoke proudly, a huge smile on her face

~ Black Screen ~

Underwater, Moxy's first song written by herself, covey her feelings toward NCT 127 and how she plans to swim forward with them.

Moxy was sat, leaning back, on the bottom circle. Slowly she stood up as the music started.

I need you to move Show me how move When my world starts falling down, I need you

Johnny and Taeyong walk up and do a couple dance steps which Moxy copies. At the end, Moxy trips and falls forward but she catches her self. Johnny reaches over and help her stand.

Put me in a mood Put me in a mood With you, I'm finally breathin easier

Haechan and Mark replace their hyungs. The new trio continue the dance, ending with Moxy hug them both around their waist before they walk off screen

We're divin' deeper Way down, way down deeper We're divin' deeper I ain't afraid to drown with you We're divin' deeper Way down, way down, deeper We're divin' deeper I ain't afraid to drown with you

Through the prechorus the last five members joined Moxy in the center of the frame. They stood in a line behind her and played follow the leader within the dance until they fan'd out. At the last line, Moxy fell backward into them. They boy catch her then spin her body around in a semi circle (Think Haechan with the Dreamies during the bridge of My First and Last)

Let gravity pull harder We'll go underwater Baby, dance with me under the waves Weightless and unbothered We'll go underwater Baby, dance with me under the waves

All the members join in now and the group dances together with Moxy at the front leading them. The song repeats from there with more moments of Moxy having fun with the members. Even a moment when the male members form a semi circle around Moxy while danced in the middle. When Moxy sang the final note, the camera focused on her but seconds later the 127 members crowded around her. Hugging any part they could.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The song Underwater is by Meghan Trainor if you wanted to hear it.

I was watching the 127 doc and I KNEW I had to write Moxy's part. I hope you guys like this one. Have a good day!! ~ Author Izzy

Taglist: @alixnsuperstxr / @1-800-call-ria / @sophrodite / @sunflower-0180

#NCT AG #NCT AG.Moxy #NCT AG.Video #nct female addition #nct female member #kpop!oc #kpop!au #kpop addition #kpop!addition #nct female oc #kpop female member

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look-at-the-soul · 1 year

Text

Look at the soul -Part 7 Lady in red

Cillian Murphy x OC

Series Master list (Bonus photos in the end)

I wanted to post this part so so bad… @heidimoreton THANK YOU for creating the perfect moodboard for this chapter, you really can’t imagine how much it means to me, I treasure this image so close to my heart ♥️ you captured the essence perfectly and the fact that you decided to create this for me is beyond words, from the bottom of my heart! I can’t thank you enough for taking the time and creativity to make this beauty! These women, the quotes, the butterfly 🦋, the Hollywood vanity everything is breathtaking !

And we have two new characters @shelbydelrey @imichelle-l-rigby thank you for your constant support through this and other stories 💖🥰 it means so so much

Song Lady in red- by Chris De Burgh

Cillian needed so bad this walk, to clear his head. He had to leave rehearsals early that day because his in-laws decided to show up in his house unannounced to have dinner with the kids and were scandalized to learn he was working in a play and he wasn’t at home, the kids arrived a few minutes earlier than their aunt, but their grandparents were already there and not very pleased when he arrived almost an hour later.

That dinner left him a bitter taste and frustrated so the fresh air was the only thing keeping him from punching something. Andrew decided to play video games with their neighbors.

“Why was grandma so serious? She looked pissed.” Ben’s voice brought him back to present time.

“Well, it’s no secret they never liked the idea of me being an actor and the consequences of it.” Cillian knew his son was old enough to understand things better.

“Like what?”

“Like… being away for months while filming.”

Ben looked up at his father. “But you’re always around someway.”

He was relieved to learn his son didn’t have an image an absent father of him. “I know buddy, that’s why you don’t have to worry about it.”

Despite the differences he might have with his in-laws, he didn’t want them to look at his late wife’s parents differently, he wanted to help them being close to their relatives.

“When you go on tour with the play, who will watch us?”

Cillian handed his son Scout’s leash before hiding his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He still needed to sort that out.

“I’ll come and go as much as I can, probably my mum or your aunts the days I can’t make it.”

“And we can go on the weekends!”

“I’d love that.” Cillian smiled thinking how many times his sons had joined him while working away.

“Can you ask Heidi about the theater school?” Ben wanted to know, those plans were canceled due to his mother’s passing.

“I’ll, although I’m sure she will open her course once we finish the dates for the play.”

“I hope she does! Do you think she will make me go through the casting and all?” His eyes were wide open, the wind blowing his fringe.

Cillian chuckled. “What makes you think you don’t have to do the casting? Ey?” He ruffled his hair with one hand.

“Because you know her!” Ben rolled his eyes.

“Actually I’ll ask her to be tougher with you, no special treatment.” He laughed and whistled Scout to go back home.

Ben looked down, debating whenever to ask or not his father. “Dad… how did you and mum meet?”

Cillian felt like getting stabbed. Like the air was taken away from him. It was a strange sensation and something he didn’t feel he’d ever get used to.

“In high school.” He answered after taking control again. “We started studying together, then we got into college and eventually we got married.”

Looking up, he found the sky, Cillian found it was pretty dark and quiet now, the stars shining down at them and moon illuminating their way back home.

“Do you remember when Ma woke us all up and it was a holiday?”

He could swear his heart did a little flip inside his chest. The memories flowing like a wave.

“And we got you and your brother dressed in record time, only realized it was a holiday until we reached the school’s steps and it was closed.” Cillian swore he skipped so many red lights that day, trying to get the boys on time.

He felt like he was failing at keeping their mother’s memory alive, some days his own memories with his late wife seemed to be fading away.

***

“There’s my girl!” Enda wrapped an arm around her shoulders to show her acrylic mirror finally, her image would be projected from afar and it would break with the visual and sound effects, he was just making a demonstration with the remote. “So you won’t have seven years of bad luck.”

Marianne smiled pleased. “Love it!”

“And your image will be in the background too divided in two columns, when the mirror breaks, so will your image giving the sensation that the pieces will be flying to the public.” He explained excited.

She could totally picture the scene in her mind.

“Thank you for making my dream come true.” Enda gave her a hug. And it made her feel so emotional, that’s what she always wanted, to help someone else chase their dreams.

“Enda you’re going to terrified poor Marianne.” Cillian walked on stage to join them.

“If she didn’t ran off when you approached her with that homeless look, nothing will scare her.” Enda teased back, making both Marianne and Cillian laugh.

“Can you do that again?” She pointed at the remote, “so Cill can see it.”

“This is better than I thought.” Heidi had seen it from one of the seats and it was incredible, she was pleased with her work and the final result.

Cillian snatched the remote from his friend’s hand and pressed the button several times. Enda rushed to get it back before he could mess it up.

After making a few more switches in the scenography, they finally started working on the rehearsal of the day. But the cast couldn’t do much, since Enda had been making a few changes in the script so Marianne decided to sit on top of the bar to be able to take notes.

“If you had plans for today, you’ll have to cancel, rehearsal is about to get long.” Cillian admitted leaning against the bar. He offered her some of his spicy almonds passing on the bag.

“Homework and comparing equipment for the changes you want to make in the recording studio count as plans?”

“Well that’s much better than washing my kid’s smelly laundry and walking my dog. You can join me.” He got back his snack.

“To wash smelly teens clothes? No thanks, a walk with the dog sounds better tho.” She had seen photos of the black lab in his phone, he was lovely.

Snatching the sheets from her hands he asked; “what’s this?”

“Hey!” She protested out loud, Enda looked at them over the edge of his glasses. “I’m writing the corrections he’s making.” She added now in a low voice.

Cillian asked for the pen she was holding with his hand extended. “Here, you need to make a pause, take a deep breath before you connect with this.” He added a mark on the script.

Marianne admitted she was struggling to keep up with Enda because he was talking so fast for her. So instead of helping her, Cillian started talking in Irish just for fun to which she responded in Spanish and neither of them understood the other and they ended up chuckling.

“The only thing in Irish I know is eejit*, Lee shouted at someone who almost hit us with the car once.”

“In Spanish I only know hola and this thing they yell in the stadiums, ehhh pu…” she tried to keep him quiet, interrupting him.

“Don’t say that!”

Cillian laughed.

Enda looked at them again.

Holding the script in his hand, Cillian gave Marianne a little hit in the leg. “You should really pay attention.” He was trying hard to hold his laugh. Then, he shook his head trying to make evident she was the one messing around.

“You started laughing.” Marianne shot him a look of faked indignation.

“Sorry about these undisciplined foreigners.” Cillian shook his head and crossed his arms against his chest.

One of the girls from the cast that got in the play just because Enda owned her father a favor, tried to walk out from the theater pushing a door that had a huge sign that indicated they needed to pull, making some noise in the process. Cillian particularly didn’t like her, she was always showing off the luxury brands she wore with huge designer names all over her.

“And that’s why shampoo has instructions written down.”

Cillian laughed really loud this time by Marianne’s sarcastic comment.

“I didn’t know we had children among the cast.” Enda tried to keep the order.

Marianne took the opportunity to give Cillian a taste of his own medicine. “Sorry Enda, these locals are noisy.”

It was amazing to see how comfortable they were feeling, it surely made things easier.

“What’s this?” Lee asked walking into Marianne’s dressing room after the rehearsal leaning forward to take a better look at the images.

“Like a collage, Cillian suggested it could help me to build the character, I’ve been adding elements I think would be a good fit for Adria.”

Lee nodded, thinking it was a good idea. She found images of Adele, Audrey Hepburn, Julianne Moore, Elizabeth Taylor, a woman reflecting in a broken piece of mirror, quotes. Even a napkin with a kiss printed in a red lipstick with the letter A and an x handwritten.

“Adria is flirty, I like that.” Lee gave Marianne the thumbs up as Isa knocked on the door.

“Are we ready?” Isa was all smiles as she placed a huge and heavy make up case on the vanity.

“Don’t you dare start the fun without me.” Michelle arrived with the hair tools.

Marianne took a deep breath, feeling both excited and nervous about the outcome, but she knew Isa and Michelle were experts in their fields, the best in theater and films, they had worked in so many plays and created endless characters, they knew what they were doing.

“I heard the dress is ready, make yourself at home while I bring it.” She offered a box of snacks she kept in her dressing room and wandered to the theater’s entrance where they left the dress, covered from curious eyes. She thanked the woman at the box office and made her way back to her dressing room, greeting whoever she found in her way, during the last days these people had been her chosen family. Honestly the entire cast was a joy to have around, she had been learning a lot from everyone both personally and professionally.

Lee, Michelle and Isa left the dressing room a moment to allow Marianne to get changed.

The nerves suddenly appeared as she came to the realization of what was about to happen. The red dress was intimidating, beautiful, yes, the fabric was soft and the design was the ultimate dream. But she was about to step in something bigger than her.

She was about to transform finally into the amazing character, looking around she found the photos she had in her mirror of the women that provided some kind of inspiration for her. She was taking bits of each one to create something unique, strong, a breathtaking woman that was about to take the stage in a few weeks to tell her story.

Isa and Michelle requested strictly to not look into the mirror until she had makeup and hair done, so she was nervously smoothing down the fabric of the skirt as the girls walked back in.

“Is about to get noisy here.” Michelle stated as she took the hairdryer, she wanted to go for a mix between Lana del Rey and Adele’s curls, the hairstyle had such a glamorous vibe, and according to her, Marianne’s face shape was similar so it would fit just right.

“Relax, I’m going to pamper your skin first.” Isa covered the dress with a towel to avoid any stain.

Marianne looked at the ceiling as they started to work around. “I feel so spoiled, like a movie star.”

Lee snapped a candid photo of the process, of course she couldn’t post anything online, but she would blurry it for fun. “Well, you are a theater star.”

Marianne chuckled, still not believing how her life could be completely different to what she had planned originally.

To be completely honest, this wasn’t work or a job, with the amount of fun she had at every rehearsal, it felt more like a blessing. Like that very moment, Lee made sure to find the right songs in her playlist to make every minute seem like they were in a karaoke. Until Isa and Michelle shared a look in silence and took a step back, both lost for words.

“What?”

“Oh shit.” Lee mumbled, storming out to go and find Enda.

“No, don’t look yet.” Warned Michelle taking away the towel.

Isa squealed, it was impossible to hide her grin.

“Gurls, you’re scaring me.” Marianne tried to read their facial expressions, but she didn’t know what to think.

She stood from the chair, still not turning around to see herself, but there was definitely something different. It was so hard to explain, but slowly she could feel as if Adria was coming to life.

“Let me re touch the lipstick.” Isa focused in the bright color she picked and gave her the thumbs up. “Are you ready?”

Slowly she turned around, feeling how even her pose was different, her shoulders back, long neck on display. She never noticed the girls left the dressing room, to go and look for everyone.

And as she found herself in the mirror, her heart skipped a beat and a chill ran down her body. But she wasn’t looking at herself… it was Adria staring back at her.

“Are you sur-” Cillian knocked and rushed inside the dressing room, but his words where cut as the air escaped his lungs when he found Marianne transformed into her character for the play.

Time stopped and for a few seconds or maybe minutes, they stared at each other through the reflection in the mirror.

A heavy silence filled the small room as time stopped.

“Wow.” Cillian stammered taking in everything; the hair, the dress, make up, everything was perfect. She was. “You look stunning.”

This was the exact same woman he envisioned as Adria.

Marianne Adria turned around slowly and stared into his eyes, holding his gaze, something as herself she never dared to do because she found it so intimidating.

“Thank you.” She dragged her words slowly, tilting her head slightly.

They were both in silence, holding the other’s gaze. Saying only with their eyes so many things, keeping others to themselves.

The first encounter couldn’t have been any other way.

He knew she was kind, he caught her offering her lunch to a homeless man outside the theater since they started rehearsals, without telling anyone she just did it. He enjoyed a lot that she treated him like a normal person and not like a celebrity, and apart from that, he couldn’t deny that she was beautiful, but she didn’t seem to show it off, it was a natural charm of her personality, she was always well dressed and she liked to keep an effortlessly look.

Cillian cleared his throat. “I’m the narrator of this story and I’m at your feet, may I introduce you to the rest of the cast?” He made a little bow with his head in the end, as he held his hand out for her.

I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight,

I've never seen you shine so bright,

She smiled and he knew he was screwed. Any man who crossed paths with her would.

Adria touched him and it felt as if he was being given electroshocks.

And I have never seen that dress you're wearing,

Or the highlights in your hair that catch your eyes,

I have been blind;

It was like Marianne stepped back from her, this woman walked with a security as if she owned the entire world, shoulders back, slow stride, head held up. Making everyone she walked past turn their heads to give her one more look.

Edna’s mouth was hanging open as he saw her walking on stage from backstage. This was so much better than he ever imagined… a dream. As he saw her walking with her hand linked to Cillian’s arm, he was lost for words.

Isa and Michelle smiled pleased with their work, judging by everyone’s reaction, they totally nailed it.

“This is gorgeous.” Enda praised once more, making Marianne blush. “I’m going to get a heart attack.” He added dramatically.

“What’s all the fuss about?” Heidi appeared from one of the row seats. “Unbelievable. Are you kidding me?”

It was a bit uncomfortable and overwhelming after a few minutes to see them staring back at her with such intensity and little words.

“My job is done here, I can’t take it anymore.” Enda gave up defeated moving along the stage.

Cillian talked to someone from the lights department and asked Lee to join him. “If you don’t mind me asking, Adria… can we take a couple of shoots for the promo?”

I've never seen you looking so gorgeous as you did tonight,

I've never seen you shine so bright, you were amazing,

I've never seen so many people want to be there by your side,

Marianne frowned for a second, startled. Then she placed a hand on her hip again in character raising her eyebrow. “Of course a photo wouldn’t even do me justice, you can keep it in your wallet.” She smiled.

And when you turned to me and smiled, it took my breath away

If you could blend Audrey Hepburn’s innocence with Marylin Monroe’s devours-men look and Elizabeth Taylor intimidating gaze Adria would be the result.

Cillian felt like someone punched him in the gut and rushed to help Lee with the lights, it was a blessing that she took a photography course, she was a great support and it helped a lot the confidence they’ve been building lately as it is key to achieve what he had envisioned.

He had a dream outside the theater one night where he was walking and as he looked up the marquee, he found a huge poster of Adria divided half of her face like the defeated character with the look of disappointment as she went through all her troubles… while the other half was the made of the strong and brave woman completely transformed, when he shared that vision with Enda he was clapping even before he could finish, excited by the way it sounded.

The broken glass was set in the huge background, the lights on stage down, there was only one illuminating her from behind, Cillian captured that shot, it wouldn’t probably be used for the promo, but he loved the way it looked, then he walked around Adria and brought the camera up to his face adjusting the lens he requested her to look down and then slowly look straight to the camera.

She took her time, just like she always did, but when she finally looked at him through the lens of the camera… Cillian knew that she was the type of women that not only turns heads, but turns souls as well.

****

Next part

A/N: *remember the characters you see is not a reflection of them in real life… if you support me, your name will appear here or in another series ☺️

Eejit is Irish word for idiot, hola is hello and the ehhh up, don’t ask and don’t say it with someone from Latin America around 😂

Here are some photos in which I took inspiration to come up of the idea of Cillian taking the photo for the play:

And some of the faces that inspired Adria’s character:

Tag list: @lyarr24 @gypsy-girl-08 @cillmequick @zablife @prettylittlehoneyeyesxoxo @kettlechips3 @heidimoreton @forbidden-forest-witch @kaitebugg03 @thenattitude @forgottenpeakywriter @onlydeadcells @babaohhhriley @lonelyweeb0044 @lovemissyhoneybee @ange-thoughts @already-broken144 @shelbydelrey @cutecurly-hair @winchestergirl22 @moral-terpitude @elenavampire21 @lespendy @kittycatcait219 @stevie75 @esposadomd @sloanexx @shaddixlife @rangerelik @peakyscillian @woofgocows @cillianlove @imichelle-l-rigby @emmanuelle19 @sydneyyyya (can’t tag) @cljordan-imperium @mrkdvidal1989 @flippittygibbitts @adaydreamaway08 @so-she-reads

#That’s what Cill said #cillian murphy #cillian murphy imagine #cillian murphy fan fiction #Cillian Murphy fanfic #Cillian Murphy x OC #cillian murphy x you

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