#yes this is something we’d do at stage crew too

[pacinosgf]

we had some nice years, going here and there, playing and working, and then we had the bad luck of meeting this awful guy, who you may know as dash burnett, but will always be daryl to me. fucking daryl. he needed someone to play with him and his wife, basically background playing, nothing special. we could do that, but i swear he hated me from the moment he met me. that happened a lot between me and men, for some reason. i didn't talk a lot to his wife, who is, you guessed right, brooke wellington, back then, it had no specific reason, i simply minded my business.

but if i had to say something, was that brooke was all warmth. i had the type of beauty that would scare people away, brooke had the type of beauty that would make people want to get closer, even though she was danger from head to toe. she intimidated me because of that. you couldn’t hurt her in any way, but she could hurt you. i just remember being astonished at her.

and we were all so different. me and jim were very much a traditional couple, dash and brooke weren’t and they rejoiced in shocking us everytime they could. the spineless lovely little thing that is my husband would simply smile and ignore, but i was unable to do that. there was no way our arrangement, us as a band, should last as long as it did.

after a specially good night he told me he had something serious to say, and i remember thinking he was finally getting rid of me. of us. you know. but he said a big record guy saw us playing and thought we had potential. and then it all started. rehearsals, fighting, threats that one would kill one another, all that stuff that made midnight mayhems known like it is today and hard work. our first real tour was in 1974.

we were ecstatic. it wasn't anything glamorous like our last tour, but glamorous enough for us back then. tour bus, drugs and alcohol always avaliable, women coming and going backstage for the boys. i was playing bass every night. who cares if i'm just background noise to the so-called leader of the band? me and dash would fight almost every day, then girls would come backstage and he saw brooke was nowhere to be found and he left me alone. i let jim do whatever he wanted and retreated to my hotel room, would spend the night playing records or reading, or would hang out with the crew. wasn't doing anything as crazy as the rest of the band, but i had my fun this way.

then i had this experience. with a woman. i didn't care about sex until then. did it because jim wanted it and that's what a wife had to do. but i liked having sex with a woman, and kept looking for one to kiss and caress every night, eager to have back all the lost time. i wouldn't retreat to my room anymore, i'd stay backstage, waiting for the first one to approach me. i didn't care that my husband or anyone else would see it. i wanted to have fun too.

jim didn't say much about it. something like is that your thing? and i said yes and nothing else. he accepted it. he probably thought it was a tour-only thing, just like i said he could fuck anyone else while we were on tour. he was being bad, it was only fair of him to let me be bad too. so we lived.

brooke kissed me. or i kissed her. one of the first moments we actually chatted. we made out in the corner of a hotel. dash caught us that night so nothing else happened, but after that, she started giving me the microphone so i could sing with her, instead of dash. we interacted on stage. she'd find her way to my bed and would mock me for being so pushy all the time. she liked it, though. we would spend the night together, until she got tired and went looking for something else. i didn't mind much, i wanted to not mind much. we’d fight during a rehearsal and fuck backstage. once again, i wanted to not mind much.

but everything was going well. we had turmoil all day, but now i can look back and know that we were doing well. there was always a crowd to see us, our songs were playing on the radio, the boys were fine, me and brooke were fucking daily. not hidden anymore, we’d greet each other kissing, we would care for each other, in front of everyone. news got out pretty fast. soon everyone wanted an interview with us, more to talk about whatever was happening between me and brooke and how could our husbands allow it than about the band, but we survived it: our name was famous! people knew us in the streets. not only young people, but also their mothers and fathers, who watched something about those dangerous women on tv. money was coming, we paid our debts, bought nice things, started dressing up for real, people wanted to take pictures of us. couldn’t be better.

i went back to venus so i could thank my parents for supporting me. dressed normally, in a pretty dress, nothing like the pants i liked to wear back then, took sweets and wanted to know what i could for them. they didn’t let me get past the door, though. i was a shame for them. they told me i was living my life in wicked ways, god would soon come punishing me.

but that’s a footnote and it only means something to me. the band was well. we were making another record, we had agreed to heavily play into the whole couple-fighting thing. i think we thought that, if we had a say in it, it was less real, you know? but not really. dash would come up with a song about pulling all the effort and losing his lover and no one caring. jim would get a line about being left behind by the world. brooke would talk about her addiction. i'd write about all these topics.

me and dash kept fighting, but now about brooke too. jim mostly avoided talking to brooke. me and brooke had our own problems. we became tired of each other pretty quickly, but then we had a break and would come back crazy for each other again. most of our less deranged hits came from that time, when we were still having fun exploring and getting sick of each other. when we wanted to think it was all just a game. the chain, the river, she’s a rainbow, i know i’m not wrong. you can see there’s not so much bitterness in those as, let’s say, in the great war.

i want to make it clear that me and brooke happening was not only because we were bored and away from home and life on road is just like that. i wanted a life with her. i wanted all the boring stuff. not at first, but we developed into it. that’s what love is about, to me. but it just wasn't possible for us. we didn't stop playing simply because me and brooke couldn't fuck anymore.

brooke wellington is the greatest love of my life. she was, i suppose. still is, because i'm still alive. and if you're here, interviewing me about this, she'll keep being the greatest love of my life, because people will know about it even after i die. it won't take long. and it's important to me that you know, because that fact shaped most of my adult life, and i couldn't go a day without thinking about her before she died, and now i can't go a minute without thinking about her [ . . . ]

@gllianowens

#barbara ann. #you think its bad amiga... #its only starting!

[countessofravenclaw]

It's the Graduation Day... On Wheels!!!

We never got the see anyone from the Roler Crew graduate from Blake, not even Luna herself graduated. why? We may never know, but its a good thing we writers can do something about it.

FYI, today is the graduation day in the Finland and this is to celebrate that

“Morning Luna!” Monica greeted Luna as she walked down the stairs to the mansion’s kitchen. “You’re up early.”

“I couldn’t sleep, because I was thinking about Roda Fest.” Luna hopped down on the table and grabbed a croissant that was on the plate in front of her. “Is Tino here?”

“He is driving Senorita Ambar today,” Miguel told Luna as he walked into the kitchen, “He’s doing that the whole morning.”

“But how will I get to the school then?!” Luna jumped on her feet in a panic. 

“Luna, you don’t have school,” Monica turned away from the stove and looked at Luna. “Your last day was yesterday. Today is the graduation day, that’s why Senora Ambar went there.”

“Yes, that’s what I meant,” Luna continued, “I need to go to the graduation.”

“You aren’t graduating Luna.”

“I know that. We agreed with the team that we’d all go support Delfi, Jazmin, Gastón and… Matteo.” Luna explained, trying not to stumble on Matteo’s name. Whatever was happening between them, he deserved support on this day as well. “But if Tino is really gone, how will I get there then? I can’t let them down.”

“I can drive you there,” Miguel put his computer down, “But you could have told us sooner. You would have been able to catch the ride with Senorita.”

“Yeah…” Luna mumbled. Maybe it was better that she didn’t share a car with Ambar at the moment, “I forgot. I need to set an alarm on my phone or something. But why are we just standing around? Let’s go!!”

“Luna, are you planning to go like that?” Monica stopped Luna before she was able to dash out of the door, “The Graduation at Blake is a highly formal event.”

“Yeah, whats wrong with it?” Luna stared at her mom.

“You’re wearing pajamas.”

“Oh.” Luna looked down and stared at her pink pajama bottoms that had unicorns on them. Mom was right. “Right.”

“We’d come too, But Senora Sharon has assigned us lot of work today. It would have been great to see how the graduating works before next year.”

*

Where was the auditorium again? Luna had been studying at Blake for two years now, but she still got lost in the place. 

“Luna!” She turned around to see Nina waving to her from a front of some big wooden door. 

“Nina! Hey!” Luna dashed to her and hugged her, “I thought I was going to the wrong direction for a second.”

“You actually were,” Nina laughed, gesturing to the auditorium door, “Don’t you remember when we had that history presentation here?”

“Not really,” Luna shook her head. She honestly didn’t. Must have been dreaming of some skating choreo or something during it, because if Nina remembered it, it must have happened. “What happened to your glasses?

Nina was wearing pink and white summer dress with matching sandals and jewelry.

“I got contacts,” Nina explained, “Figured I might try them out. I told you about this.”

“You did?” Luna stared, “I apparently don’t remember anything on this morning. Aren’t we going in?” 

“Sure,” Nina nodded, and they walked through the doors. The auditorium was big… but there weren’t that many people in there yet, “But we are quite early. I was surprised to see you here.”

“I got my schedules mixed up,” Luna explained, “Where is everyone?”

“Like I said, we’re quite early,” Nina explained, “I came with Gastón, and they had to be an hour early. I am sure others will be arriving shortly.”

Nina was right, after maybe fifteen minutes the auditorium was so much more crowded. Soon enough Jim and Yam showed up and were already taking selfies that, according to them, were going to be sent to Ramiro with a greeting that they hoped that he didn’t fall over while walking on the stage. They also said something about ketchup and eggs that horrified Nina, but Luna didn’t get it.

“So where are we sitting?” Luna asked while eyeing the back rows of seats in the auditorium. “Simon texted me to reserve him a seat.”

“I’m not sure,” Nina turned towards Luna, “Anywhere is probably fine. Gastón’s parents reserved a seat for me at the front with them, so I should probably go over there now. See you after the ceremony.”

Almost as soon as Nina had disappeared, Simon appeared next to Luna with Nico and extremely sick looking Pedro.

“Hi guys!” Luna hugged Simon, “What’s with Pedro?” 

“Apparently this is the first time he’ll be meeting Delfi’s parents,” Simon whispered to Luna, “So he’s a bit nervous, because they are some sort of high-end doctors.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that,” Actually, Luna barely knew anything about anyone’s parents, outside of Simon and Nina. “But don’t worry!” Luna turned to Pedro, “It’s gonna go awesome!”

“Where’s Nina?” Simon asked as they sat down. 

“Uhm, she went somewhere,” Luna scanned the crowd that had formed front of the stage, “There she is!”

“Who is she talking to?” Simon asked as he squinted his eyes while looking at the direction Luna pointed towards. 

“I don’t know…” Luna squinted in the same direction as well. Nina was with a couple, one that Luna had never seen, they were about her parents' age, maybe a little younger. The woman—who was really beautiful, Luna had to note—had her hand on Nina’s shoulder, “...those must be Gastón’s parents.”

That had to be it. When Luna looked again, she was sure of it. The man actually looked really much like Gastón, and biological children often looked like their parents… right? Simon looked like Diego a lot, with his hair coming from Carla like all Alvarez children. 

“Those are Gastón’s parents?” Simon raised an eyebrow, “Really fancy-looking people. Didn’t know he was rich.”

“Me neither,” Luna shook her head in response. It should have been obvious, but she still somehow unconsciously always ignored that most of their friends were probably quite rich. It just never came up in the casual conversation. 

Luna directed her eyes back to Nina and noticed that during the time she had been looking at Simon, two other people—another couple, Luna guessed—had appeared next to her and Gastón’s parents. A woman who was blonde and quite short, again about her parents age and a man who looked maybe little bit older. Something about the man looked familiar to Luna, she couldn’t put her finger on it… until she realized what it was. It was the hair, the small curls were almost identical to Matteo’s, minus the greys obviously. That was Matteo’s father, so the woman was Matteo’s mother. Luna realized that she had never heard Matteo mention his mom out loud…

But who else could it had been? Surely Gastón’s and Matteo’s parents knew each other. 

“So how does this work?” Simon leaned closer to Luna at the back row where they were sitting, as the headmaster, Mr. Ramirez walked onto the stage. “In mine we just got a piece of paper that I never read and went to the beach.”

“I don’t know,” Luna shook her head. She and Nina had looked up some graduation videos because Luna had been curious. Apparently, Blake was going to be quite different to what they had seen from American videos. No one was going to be wearing silly hats that looked like squares and weird ropes. Those had looked like that students were on their way to a costume party. “I guess we’ll just have to watch.”

“Welcome everyone to the graduation of the class of 2017 at Blake South College. This is our 53rd graduating class on our school's rich history where we hope to shape young minds for many years to come!”

Luna tried to stay alert as the headmaster talked… but it was so boring. Something, something, school’s rich history, blaa blaa blaa, alumnies accomplishments and something about expecting great things. She probably had dosed off for a second since, she jolted awake before falling off the seat. 

“Whats happening?”

“I have no idea,” Simon shook his head. “He just stopped talking about some sort of A-level score system… I don’t know.”

“So, without any longer of a speech…”

“That already was long.” Simon whispered, “How do you go to this school?”

“Well, I didn’t have an option.”

“Here are our 25 graduates of the class of 2017.”

“Only 25?” Simon turned toward Luna again, “Whos’ coming first? Is this in alphabetical order?”

“Probably…” Luna looked toward the stage. 

“Delfina Alzamenti.”

Yep, it seemed to be in alphabetical order. Luna and Simon watched Delfi walk to the stage wearing a pink dress and accepting a piece of paper from the headmaster. 

Luna found it very odd that no one was cheering. Shouldn’t they be cheering? Apparently not… Blake was boring.

“Matteo Balsano.” Matteo walked onto the stage after a few people had come after Delfi. “Honors in history and social studies.”

Luna kept looking at Matteo. He was wearing the same suit as in the Roller Jam. You’d think that Chico Fresa would have multiples… and maybe he did, but he had just decided to wear that one. That Roller Jam felt like ages ago now, another time, but things were better this way.

“Jazmin Carbajal.”

After Jazmin, there were at least seven people who Luna did not recognize. She had never been familiar with other students at Blake outside her team… She didn’t know why she never had.

“Gastón Perida. The second highest GPA of the graduating class, the Highest GPA of the Male student. Honors in physical and chemical science, advanced mathematics and literature.”

That was a lot of honors. Not that Luna really knew what “honors” actually were, but they sounded important. 

Ramiro came after Gastón. After that, bunch of people came that Luna didn’t recognize.

After someone called Samale, left the stage Luna perked up. If she had understood the order correctly, Ambar should be next.

At that moment Luna experienced a surge conflicting emotion. She had noticed that Senora Sharon was not here, so Ambar had no one to support her… and she had done lot of underhanded things… but everyone deserved some support. Right? 

Luna pulled her phone out of her bag and opened the camera… she could show this to her parents, since they couldn’t have come.

“Ambar Smith,” The headmaster announced her, and Ambar walked onto the stage. She was wearing a white dress with black detailing. “The highest GPA of the graduating class.”

As Luna recorded Ambar walking and accepting the paper, Luna got stuck wondering why she didn’t have any honors. The headmaster had said that she was the top student, wouldn’t Ambar have the most honors. Gastón had been the second to the top student and had had multiple honors… How did this work?

Luna glanced at Simon who wasn’t looking directly at the stage while Ambar was on there.

***

Nina clapped with everyone as the last student walked off the stage. Even with 25 students, the walking part had taken forever. She really had to admit that Blake had gone out of their way to make it as boring as possible. 

At least the most boring part was over now, at least according to the schedule that Gastón had told her about after the rehearsal on the previous day. 

“Now we have the honor to hear from one of our graduates.” Mr. Ramirez announced before leaving the stage once more as Gastón walked back up there. 

Nina suddenly felt herself becoming a little bit nervous. She had helped him with the speech and knew it inside out. 

“So, I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to let me talk?” Gastón started, “But here we are. You can’t stop me… not to scare teachers or anything.”

“Okay, now a serious topic. We all started here in 2014 and probably thought that we were never getting out. But through all the classes, final projects, that standardized test you made us do every year—I’ve seen students cry for less—getting reprimanded about lingering on the hallways, missing class if you were five minutes late and wearing those awfully uncomfortable uniforms, we still made it to this day. We’re free now, some like to say to fly, but I just personally like to keep my feet on the ground and walk towards my next goal. I guess you never forget where you came from.”

“Most of us were born in 1999, when the world was changing, and we were racing off to start the 21st century. World is pretty different now from when we were born, not that we remember the time before computers and electronic devices. Most of us will be out of college in the 2020s which hopefully will be the time for world peace helped by innovations, innovations that we are going to be part of creating.”

“I guess this is the time to thank you for everything. This school, which looks like a medieval castle from the outside, how this has not yet been used as a film set is beyond me, for providing a place for us to expand our minds. For all of our teachers for believing in us when we seemed like the most hopeless bunch in the world.”

“Four years here has taught us so much, not just about integrals or what happened during the first world war. We learned about life—” Gastón shifted his eyes to focus on Nina, looking her straight into her eyes, “—ways to find new meaning to it, what we can want from our future. I don’t mean just academics here. We’re all going into “real world” now, trying to be adults, but that doesn’t mean that we need to give up the things we love or the people who had been here along our journey this far. I know we are all going to miss the navy and emerald plaid.”

That last part, before the mention of plaid, was new. Gastón had added it in there. 

The headmaster said a view words after the applause and the audience was ushered out of the auditorium. 

The graduates started filing out of the door after about five minutes. Why they needed to wait, beyond anyone. 

Nina saw Gastón walk out of the door with Matteo, but they quickly separated as Matteo was dragged away by his parents. 

She tried to discreetly to step little bit further away from Isla and Marco so she could hang back and let them greet Gastón first. 

But Gastón seemed to have other plans, because he made his way directly to her and she was swept off her feet in an instance as he kissed her. 

“I’m proud of you,” Nina said after Gastón had put her back down. She was hyper aware that his parents were standing right next to them, and witnessed the whole thing, but she didn’t care about it right now. “You did it.”

“Did you like the speech?” Gastón asked as he brushed a lock of hair that had fallen on her face.

“You changed it.”

“Might have added some lats minute things. But how did it go?”

“You were amazing,” Nina ran her hands on his arms, “But, I should probably set you free because other people surely want your attention. I can’t claim you completely.”

“I mean you could if you wanted to.” Gastón briefly kissed her forehead before turning towards his parents. 

***

“You were great. Congratulations!” Luna hugged Ramiro who had joined, her, Simon, Pedro, Nico, Jim and Yam at the Blake’s Hall. 

“Yeah, you walked in a straight line,” Jim punched Ramiro on the arm, “Quite an accomplishment.”

“Hahh,” Ramiro snarked to her back, “You’re just jealous because you still have to go to school.”

“Either way,” Yam rolled her eyes, “We have ketchup and eggs on the ready.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“You’re right, we wouldn’t. Doesn’t mean we didn’t think about it.”

As Ramiro kept arguing with Jim and Yam, Luna noticed Ambar walking toward the hallway door.

“Ambar, wait!” On an impulse, Luna ran until she caught up to her, “Uhm, I wanted to say, congratulations. Senora Sharon must be proud of you.”

“Of course, she is,” a cool smile formed on Ambar’s face, “I have the highest GPA.”

“Mom and Dad wanted to come here but didn’t have time.”

“Okay,” Ambar stared at Luna, “I’m in a hurry.”

“Oh, I have this for you,” Luna started digging around in her bag. Last night she had cut these fabric flowers that she had intended to give to everyone as gifts.

“Thanks,” Ambar looked a bit confused, but took the flower and then without saying another word, walked out of the door.  

Nina, Gastón and Matteo had joined the group as Luna walked back up to the others. 

“You made this school sound much more exciting than it actually is,” Ramiro was saying to Gastón as Luna squeezed between Nina and Simon. “It really was a great speech.”

“Well, I had some help—” Gastón ran his hand on Nina’s arm, “—from the best writer I know.”

“Although,” Yam started speaking, “I would never say that I will ever miss the plaid.”

“Why did you give the speech anyway?” Jim questioned, “Isn’t that the top student’s job?”

“It is,” Gastón nodded, “But at this case, it would have been Ambar… and no one is forced to do it, surprisingly. So, if the top student doesn’t want to do it, it goes to the one with the second highest GPA.”

“Can I talk to you for a second?” Luna dragged Nina away from the group for a moment. “Why didn’t you tell me that you know his parents?”

“What?” Nina looked confused for a second, before her expression changed, “Oh, you mean Alexander and Sofia?”

“You know their names? You never told me!”

“I don’t know them,” Nina laughed slightly, “They were just talking to Isla and Marco.”

“Who?”

“Gastón’s parents. Isla and Marco Perida.”

“Oh, right,” Luna tried to process everything, “But how do you know Matteo’s parents’ names then?”

“I’ve met them before,” Nina explained, “Briefly. We ran into them with Gastón, during last fall at some point at his. They were having coffee or something with Isla and Marco. I surely told you about that.”

“No, you didn’t tell me,” Luna shook her head, “I have a bad memory, but I surely would have remembered that.”

“I didn’t?” Nina furrowed her brow, “I can’t believe it. It was probably during that Perception mess with your past or when Gastón was applying to Oxford or something, so it slipped my mind.”

Sofia and Alexander Balsano? Luna thought to herself as they joined the others. 

“There you are,” Gastón wrapped his arm back around Nina, “We should get going.”

“Going where?” Luna questioned.

“Our parents are taking us to eat,” Gastón gestured to himself and Matteo, “Thrust me, it's going to be boring but what can you do.”

“I’ll call you later.” Nina said to Luna before they walked away.  

“Hey!” Luna turned around and instantly bumped into something… It was Matteo. “Watch where you are going.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Matteo smirked while Luna crossed her arms, “I saw that you gave Ambar a flower.”

“Uh, yeah, I did that,” Luna nodded, “She deserves support too.”

“Even after she destroyed the rink?” Matteo raised an eyebrow at Luna, “Where’s my flower?”

“Don’t get delusional, Chico Fresa.” Luna huffed. She did have a flower for Matteo as well, but if he kept acting this way, he didn’t deserve it. 

“Matteo, come on!” Gastón was yelling to Matteo from the door, “Your dad will throw a fit if we’re late.”

“Gotta go,” Matteo spun around, “See you at practice Chica Delivery.”

Luna watched Matteo join Gastón and Nina at the door, and they walked out. So was Nina going to have brunch with Matteo and his family, because Gastón and his family we’re going to be there as well? Luna felt a small sting of jealousy. If things had gone differently, she’d be joining them too… but her and Matteo were over, so she shouldn’t wallow in that. 

“Pedro!” Luna turned back to others, as Delfi appeared on Pedro’s side, “Here you are! Let’s go!”

“Go where?” Pedro asked, bit startled.

“My place.” Delfi tucked on Pedro’s arm, “The food is being delivered as we speak, and we got cake.”

“Oh.” Pedro’s eyes were very wide from surprise or fear, Luna couldn’t determine which one. Simon and Nico seemed to be enjoying the show. 

“I told you all of this yesterday,” Delfi rolled her eyes, “Let’s go.”

“How are we getting there?”

“By using our feet. My place is really close by.” Delfi scoffed and started dragging Pedro away.

“Good luck!” Simon yelled after him,

“Have fun with your in-laws!” Nico continued.

“Are you coming to Roller today?” Simon asked Luna after they had finished laughing. 

“Yeah, I just need to change.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Simon gestured to the neon yellow dress Luna was wearing.

***

“I can’t believe that you forgot,” Delfi dragged Pedro along the street, “I guess I should thank you for showing up as it is.”

“I didn’t forget,” Pedro defended himself, “I guess I am just nervous.”

“Nervous for what?” Delfi asked as she opened a gate to a very well-kept garden. “Come on. Everyone is waiting for us.”

“You’re finally here!” Woman with dark brown bob cut greeted Delfi and Pedro as they walked in. 

“Sorry about that,” Delfi threw her bag onto an armchair in the lobby. Pedro tried not to stare at the surroundings too much. The house wasn’t that modern, but still integrally designed and put together, and big, very big. The ceiling was so high. “Where’s Dad?”

“Right here,” a man with slightly greyish hair from around the corner. 

“So, Mom, Dad. This is Pedro, my boyfriend.” Delfi linked her arm with Pedro’s, “Pedro, these are my parents. Dr. Serena and Dr. Daniel Alzamenti.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Mr. Alzamenti… or was it Dr.? Pedro for sure didn’t know how to address them, so he just kept his mouth shut and shook Delfi’s father’s hand. 

“We have heard so much about you,” Delfi’s mother continued, “You worked over at that rink?”

“Yes… I work at Roller.” Pedro nodded. 

“He also skates,” Delfi piped up.

“I don’t really,” Pedro scratched behind his neck, “I am not very good at it.”

“Always good to know your limits,” Mrs. Alzamenti smiled, “I always tell Delfi, that she can skate as dangerously as she wants, as long as she doesn’t end up in the ER. I spent all my time there as it is, so I do not want to see her there.”

Pedro tried to hide the confusion from his face. He had fallen off the wagon, but Delfi’s mother continued.

“I’m the head of trauma at Swiss Medical. I see people who push their limits to the max every day, and it isn’t pretty.”

“Extreme sport injuries are spinal and brain injuries leading to permanent nerve damage almost 5.5 percent of the time.” Delfi’s father added.

“Dad, lest not talk statistics today,” Delfi rolled her eyes, and whispered to Pedro, “He’s a neurosurgeon… Do not mention scoliosis at his presence.”

“No way!” All the sudden a head of a fourteen-year-old boy popped up from the stairs, and he ran the stairs down with just couple of jumps, “The boyfriend was actually real?”

“I thought I told you that you had no right to comment on the subject,” Delfi took a deep breath and rolled her eyes, “Pedro, this is Aaron, my little brother.”

“Hi.” Pedro gave a wave to the boy.

“You aren’t boring right?” Aaron asked bluntly.

“And how about you go back to your videogame?” Delfi snarked. 

The door opened suddenly, and Jazmin walked in with a woman who had red hair, probably her mother. 

“I have pictures for the next ten years now,” The woman said to Delfi’s mother. “Samuel couldn’t get out of that work trip… his partners really just don’t understand fathers who actually love their children.”

“Meet Clarion Carbajal,” Delfi gestured towards the woman, “Jazmin’s mother. Clarion, this is Pedro, my boyfriend.”

“So, this is the boyfriend?” Pedro felt Clarion eye her thoroughly, “I thought Jazmin once told me that you were after that Perida boy.”

Pedro could definitely see where Jazmin got her bluntness from.

“That is very old, and ended up being a train wreck,” Delfi shook her head violently, “Let’s not talk about it.”

“The speech he gave was really good.”

“It was,” Delfi agreed, “co-written by his girlfriend. No one utter another word about it… Especially you Aaron!” She shouted towards the upstairs.

***

“You still have a year left?”

“Yeah, I do,” Nina answered the question Sofia had directed toward her. “I don’t have any concrete plans for after that, yet.”

“Well, you’re not in a rush,” Gastón ran his hand, which he had been resting on the back of her chair, on her arm, “But I know we can all look forward to what you say in your speech.”

“I’m not gonna give a speech.”

“Well, Gastón tell us, you’re going to Oxford after all?” Alexander started speaking. 

“I did go back and forth—” Gastón pulled his arm off the back of the chair, “—but in the end, why not? It’s going to be an experience.”

Nina felt him place his hand on her knee under the table and she went to lace her fingers with his.

“You have a major picked out?”

“Yeah, energy technology engineering, for start anyway,” Gastón explained, “Interchanging is apparently quite easy if you do it inside the faculty. Gonna try it out and see.”

“How are you going to fare when he goes?” Sofia asked Gastón’s parents. 

“I guess we’ll have to make do, somehow,” Marco started speaking, “We know that Gastón has all capabilities of making it there. Doesn’t mean that we won’t miss him.”

“You two were the ones who wanted me to go,” Gastón rolled his eyes, “So you don’t really get to complain here.”

“We’re your parents, we’re allowed certain double standards,” Isla looked at Gastón, “I’ll get to know how my mother felt when we dropped the bomb on her that we were moving to Buenos Aires. She had a heart attack.” She looked down on her phone for a second, “Oh, Mía and Elise, both sent you congratulations. I sent them couple of pictures.”

“Well, tell then thanks.”

“And your grandmother would really appreciate if you called her.”

“Sure, I’ll do that in the evening,” Gastón turned towards Matteo as the adults kept talking, “You know you could open your mouth once in a while too, so we wouldn’t be only talking about me here.”

“Oh noh, this has worked for me way too well this far,” Matteo leaned back on his chair, “I’m gonna keep this up till dessert if possible. I’m sorry but you are just way too interesting than me right now.”

“—there’s a lot of jobs in England…”

“I don’t think I want to work there full time,” Gastón piped up, “I’ll just go to school, and then come back.” Nina felt him squeeze her hand under the table. “There are a lot of companies here that I can work for.”

“If the cards are in your favor, you could end up working for Castillo.”’

“Sofia, don’t give him ideas.” Isla shook her head. 

“Isla, I never understand what your problem with him is?”

“You don’t live a block away from that house. With everything that was going on there. I still think we should have taken it more seriously when he got targeted for fraud. That man is strange, and I don’t just mean the number of weddings he has had in the past years.”

“What are they talking about?” Nina leaned over to Gastón.

“It’s a long story,” he whispered to her back, “One of our block neighbors… Mom and Dad always told me and Matteo not to get involved with anything happening there.”

“Castillo Corporation is a highly renowned company, all over the world.” Alexander noted, “We had heard about it before we ever moved here.”

“Obviously, that is true. He is an innovator,” Marco nodded, “There is no question about that, but there definitely are questions. There must be a reason why the daughter is a singer and doesn’t want anything to do with the company. If she doesn’t get involved soon, I won’t be surprised to see the company on the market in 30 years. I see that a lot, stock exchange, shares distributed in a too-wide margin, bankruptcy, and thousands of people unemployed. Even the biggest businesses can fall if ownership business if not taken care of when the founder is gone.”

“The daughter who ran away from that engagement party?” Sofia questioned. 

“We never should have gone to that,” Isla sighed, “Just like that celebration couple years later. I never understood was it a wedding or not.”

“That was Pricilla Ferro, right? Strange woman… Who was the woman with the engagement party then?”

“Jade LaFontaine, I never really knew her, she has been much more junior on the field, but I think she’s now married to Nicholas Cortes. The poor girl appears to have gotten some help. Then there was the whole Di Pietro fiasco that resulted in that fraud case.”

“What ever happened to her? They were about to be married.”

“She…”

“How much longer do we need to sit here?” Matteo hushed to Gastón. 

“You know it is always like this when they get together,” Gastón whispered back, “I stopped paying attention as soon as they started.”

***

Splat!

As soon as Ramiro had opened the door, splash of ketchup was thrown into his face. 

“Oh yes we would.” Jim and Yam were grinning at him while juggling eggs with their hands, “We would do this, and so much more.”

“Well, then I have no other choice but beg…” Ramiro started to back away—

—and pulled a bottle of ketchup from a table next to the door and started attacking Jim and Yam. “...that you run faster than you talk smack.”

{}

So, apparently, the ketchup and egg thing is an Argentinian tradition that @weirdthoughtsandideas brought to my attention Shout out to Sara for coming up with a couple of the ideas. On another note, I did not timeline-check this, so there could and probably is at least some continuity errors with the last eps in S2. So I can't exactly pinpoint, between what eps this is actually happening, but after the last time we see them at Blake.

#Soy Luna #Soy Luna fanfiction #gastina #Lutteo #Pelfi #Graduation

[greatlyblessed]

Poll Propaganda (Reflection on winning)

Thanks guys for voting A Mixed Bag in round one!! I wrote a little something to celebrate-- and also to give a glimpse into the performance of my crew. (Spoiler: they struggled.)

@tmnt-crossover-polls

Leo stared at the screen in silent disbelief. His teammates were not nearly as quiet.

“WE WON!” Mikey whooped, doing a little jig in place. “Told you we could do it!”

“Yeah!” Raph crowed, stars practically, oh wait no, literally— how was he doing that— in his eyes. “I told you, we did awesome!”

…Had they been part of the same performance Leo had?

“I was a little worried about his version of me,” Donatello chipped in, gesturing at Leo. “He looked about ready to throw up.”

“At least my Leo had a bucket,” Raph said, nodding. “Not that he ended up needing it.”

“Yeah man,” Mikey agreed. “And that song was a lotta fun too! Hard-knocker living!”

“A Hard-Knock Life,” Donatello corrected. “From Annie?” Mikey stared blankly. “The musical about a plucky orphan getting adopted by a billionaire?”

“Oh man I hate billionaires,” Mikey said, making a face. “They taste awful.”

…Leo was fairly sure Mikey was mixing up his words again. Fairly sure.

“We could have used a little more consistency,” Donatello said. “Other than Michelangelo— my Michelangelo’s— team, none of us were really dressed the part.”

“I dunno,” Raph said, flexing. “I thought our costumes were pretty fun! Though all those bug costumes seemed to freak that little me out.”

“Oh yeah, Raph’s got a major thing about bugs,” Mikey said. “You should see him around real ones.”

Privately, Leo wondered what on earth had gotten his Raph to put on that whole get-up. He’d had an entire light strapped to his butt.

“I could have done without the screaming though,” Donatello said. “It made it hard to make sure I was in the right key.”

“Hey!” Mikey said defensively. “At least he wasn’t stealing somebody else’s part!”

Raph winced. “Yeah. Donnie can get a little… enthusiastic.”

Enthusiastic. Sure. Good word for tripping the squishy Raphael over and then stepping over him to take his place.

“I wish we’d had more time to go over the… movements,” Leo said.

“Yeah,” Donatello agreed. “It was a little embarrassing, watching the gap-toothed alternate of myself knock the bucket over.”

“I dunno, I think we did pretty good,” Mikey said.

“You had a mid-air collision with one of your counterparts,” Leo said flatly.

“Oh yeah we did. But bro, c’mon!” Mikey grabbed his arms and started to shake Leo. “Did you see the moves on that guy?!”

Leo planted his hand on Mikey’s face and pushed him off. “Yes,” he said flatly.

“It was real funny how your Raph ended up slipping in the puddle though,” Raph said to Leo, grinning. “And then you and the little Leo ended up waltzing.”

Leo’s shoulders hunched, his face getting hot. “That was why I wish we’d had more time to practice,” he mumbled.

“Ooooh ooooh!” Mikey waved his hand in the air. “And then there was my Leo and how he couldn’t sing like, anything!”

“At least he wasn’t like his Michelangelo,” Donatello said, jerking a thumb at Leo. “He just lay down in the middle of the stage!”

“Shell, I wish that were me,” Leo said under his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“And that throw looked so fun!” Mikey said to Raph, “Why did you throw him instead of me?!” he whined, gesturing at Donatello.

“Uh, well you were a little out of it after cracking your head on my Mikey’s. So, I, panicked?” Raph said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“I wish you’d had better aim,” Donatello said crossly. “I broke two spotlights, you know.”

“Sorry.”

“Hey at least portal-Leo making ‘em land on the sides of the stage made for an epic finale!” Mikey said cheerfully.

The four fell quiet for a moment, remembering the performance with varying degrees of fondness.

Then: “You know after discussing all this, I see what my Michelangelo meant when he yelled we were all a disgrace to musical theater,” Donatello commented.

#my stuff #a mixed bag fic #poll propaganda #I had fun writing this #I love chaos #also i'm trying to avoid emotional reunions in poll shenanigans to save it for the main fic #so while they were technically all on stage together y'all don't get to see any of the reunited feels

[natromanxoff]

Mercury Roadrunner's Interview about Freddie Mercury with Peter Freestone – Part I

Thanks very much to Mercury Roadrunner (Pavel Strashnyy) for letting me share his amazing interviews! Originally shared here. Check the tag "MR interview with Phoebe" to see the other parts.

Here are the 5 topics of this interview, beginning of each topic is written in bold:

1. Live Aid

2. The Works tour

3. "Mr. Bad Guy" album and recording period

4. "Heaven For Everyone", Freddie's habits about listening to music, opinions on Madonna, Montserrat

5. Swimming and memories about Los Angeles, Ibiza, Japan

Mercury Roadrunner: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We welcome you to the unofficial Russian Queen fan club special program. You can find our website at www.vk.com/queenrocks. I am knownn as Mercury Roadrunner. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Queen. And I’m very happy to say that this evening we have a very, very special guest here with us, and it is an opera critic, a book lover, biographer and writer, and close friend, confident and personal assistant of Freddie Mercury, Mr Peter Freestone. Hello, Peter. How are you? Peter Freestone: Hi. I am… okay. I’m good, I’m good. What can I say? I’m good. PS: You are good and you are very happy to join the other Queen fans who would be very happy to hear you finally talking. And the first topic is about your personal memories. It’s a historic date but what are your own personal memories of 13th of July, the Live Aid day, what were your feelings in general on that day? PF: For me, I suppose, it was just another show… [laughs] PS: Really? PF: Because I worked for Freddie and he was going to do a show. I didn’t separate that from all the other performers that were going to be there, that made it such an incredible day. And not only in London, when they were also performing in America as well at the same time. When the satellite was showing something from London, then it showed something from Philadelphia, then back to London again. So to say, for me it was… another day. It wasn’t even as though there were such a big show because we’d played stadiums in South America. So, it wasn’t the size of the audience. I suppose, when it really struck me what was happening was when the band went onto stage. And the roar from the crowd was absolutely amazing. Again, it wasn’t so different from normal shows because they’d actually rehearsed for their twenty minutes. You know, there was four days’ rehearsal. So to say, it was normal, it was normal work, it was a short show. But then, thing is, it was in daylight and Freddie could actually see the audience. And from the back of the stage, we could look through holes in the back, you know, the screen in the back. And we could see what the band could see. And… then it sort of struck me that, actually, this is something very special. And then I was really so very, very proud of them. At the end of their set, when, again, the audience reaction was indescribable. What they had done in those twenty minutes, they had picked up the whole audience, shook it around and put them back down again. PS: Indeed. PF: So, yeah, that was what I felt. PS: And do you remember some of Freddie’s jokes, maybe, during the day, the way he interacted with other superstars, like David Bowie or others? PF: The thing is, he [Freddie] was just one person amongst his peers, you know. All of the bands were names, they were bands. And the thing I have found, and this goes all the way – the real professionals are the most normal, approachable people on earth. It’s the wannabes who have the attitude of “Don’t you know who I am?” and who behave like stars, because stars behave like human beings. Real stars, they can be just like the rest of us. There was a time when Freddie just wanted to be on his own, you know, with just his friends, with his group of people. But I mean, there’s a few photographs of him chatting with various people, like Elton John and David Bowie. I remember seeing them with him, and Adam Ant. And, of course, he had friends along; I think Wayne Sleep was there as well. In his life, he [Freddie] needed people around him that made him laugh. And so, he still had that. David Bowie and he had been friends for so long. Elton [and he] had been friends for even longer. So, it was actually a chance for them to sit and catch up rather than, you know, being in front of the world press. They liked to spend time on their own, you know, talking to each other, really talking, not putting on a show. PS: So, I imagine that backstage on that day Freddie felt pretty much joyful and relaxed, right? PF: Yeah, on the day of the show, I never really saw Freddie nervous…

because, the thing is, it was too late by then [to be nervous]. You know, there was no point in being nervous anymore because the show was going to go on whether you were nervous or not. So, why be nervous? Just, you know, get on and do the show, enjoy yourself. PS: And do you remember, where did the idea of Freddie and Roger joining the Band Aid on stage in the final song, “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, came from? Or was it totally a spontaneous idea for them to join the others? PF: I think the idea at that point was that anybody who was around, who would stay on to the end – because don’t forget the show had started in the afternoon, so not everybody was going to be waiting – but then anybody who was left, who wanted to join, could go and join. There was no strict “You must do this, you have to do this, you have to be there”. It’s “If you want to, by all means come and do it.” PS: And we even have a picture of both of you, Freddie and you, on that day when Freddie wears a white shirt for “Is This The World That We Created”, and you stand right next to him and it’s a beautiful picture. PF: And Queen were the only band that actually kept their dressing room. Because all the other bands had to vacate their dressing room half an hour after they’d performed, so that the next band could come and use it. But because Brian and Freddie were performing “Is This The World That We Created” at the end, they got to keep their dressing room from the time they arrived. [laughs] PS: So they spent the rest of the day after the show in their dressing room? PF: Well, in or around their dressing room, yes. PS: They, like, had their Royal Queen place there. PF: That’s it. Anybody else had to go into the Hard Rock Café. There had to be a tent, you know, hospitality tent there. And most people ended up in there because they were not allowed into their dressing rooms, they didn’t have dressing rooms after that. So… that also helped Freddie relax. [laughs] PS: Like, his little bit of his own, right? PF: Yes. PS: All right. So, the second topic is about you, Peter. And you are credited as a “band party” member on The Works tour. Can you please clarify what a band party meaning is? Because I am assuming it’s like an entourage but it will be nice to hear the expanded definition from you. PF: Yeah, the band party, I think, was about ten or twelve people. It was the band members, their assistants – me, Chris Taylor was there, and Paul Prenter was there. If Jim Beach was on the tour at the time, he would have been part of the band party too. And some of the time Gerry Stickells was there. But often he would be ahead, making sure that everything was ready for when the band arrived. But that was it. There was about ten people. And there were baggage tags for each member of the band party. That’s why I know because I had Number 9, I think. And there were about twelve, I think, altogether, because at one point at the beginning I used to have to collect the band party baggage, so that’s why I always knew which were, even though I wouldn’t know whose bag was what. It would have one of these crew tags on it, so I just picked up and I knew that there were going to be twenty bags, so I just picked the twenty bags. But they were easy to identify because of these tags. PS: I see. And what is your own favourite memory about The Works tour and about this time, like, 1984, 1985? Maybe the Rio shows? PF: Yeah, I mean Rio was… amazing. The feeling from that crowd… you know, something like 350,000 people. Oh, you can’t beat that. And when you’re flying in a helicopter over that crowd, it was stunning. But the thing is, I know this sounds really, really stupid but [laughs]… one thing I will always, always remember from that tour was, remember, in the back of the stage you had these wheels that turned every now and then, not constantly but just every now and then. That was because there was… the guy looking after Roger’s drums and me who actually turned those wheels. And there was no set cue or anything that, “Oh, it has to start on this bar, on this song.” No, it

was when he wasn’t doing anything and I wasn’t doing anything, we’d say “Ok, let’s go and do it.” And we turned the wheels for a couple of minutes and then left them alone. He had then to do something for Roger and I would just sit there like I always did. And then you’d go back and you’d turn the wheels, like a hamster. We were like hamsters… So, that’s my memory of The Works tour. PS: And how technically did you operate those wheels? How was it possible? PF: With your hands. You just grabbed hold, you know, because it was like cogs on a wheel, and you just grabbed hold of them. Because we would be behind, I mean, I was always on John Deacon’s side, so I was hidden behind his bass setup. And you just pulled on the cogs because the whole wheel was on a metal axle and you just held there and you just pulled it down. PS: And the wheels actually were the real wheels, the big ones, right? PF: The very big ones in the back that moved, yeah. And they were made of, I think, polystyrene and plywood. So they weren’t very heavy. PS: So it was, like, actually you taking a part in the show, like, directing this? PF: Yes, I mean, you know, this is how things used to work in the old days before half of you were born. [laughs] You had to use your hands. I don’t think that a Queen tour as it is now is manual anymore. Everything is “push buttons” in it. PS: Yes, so it was indeed like the works, you had to work to make it work, right? PF: Yes, but nobody knew that’s how it works. They just saw these wheels turning every now and then. PS: It’s like a kind of magic indeed… PF: Yes, this was the whole thing with the Queen show – that people saw things happening but didn’t try and think “Oh, how do they do that?” If I see a big show now, I just think “How do they do that?” You’re not listening to the music anymore, you’re thinking “How do they get this to move? How do they get that?” But in the old days, you never did that, you just saw it move and it was part of the show. PS: You were just enjoying it, you didn’t have the time to analyse it. PF: Yeah. PS: I see. That’s a great memory, Peter. So, the third topic is about Freddie’s solo album, “Mr. Bad Guy” Freddie firstly wanted to name his solo album Made In Heaven and he even mentions that title in an interview with David Wigg. Why did he later decide to call it Mr Bad Guy? PF: I think he felt that Mr Bad Guy represented him more than Made In Heaven. And the lyrics to that song, everything. It sort of was very much about him. I think that’s why it changed. I actually love that song because it is real orchestra on it. And I was in the studio. I mean, it’s not a massive studio, so what they had to do, they had to record each section, so the strings section was there and recorded all their parts. And they went out. And woodwind recorded all their parts. Then brass recorded their parts. Then timpani came in and recorded. You know, they could not do everything together, so it was actually really quite complicated. But the end result, I think, is great. It reminds me very, very much of “The Carnival of the Animals”, the old classical piece. That was written by Camille Saint-Saëns. But that is what I’m immediately reminded of when I listen to “Mr Bad Guy”, you know. [starts to hum the song] You know, all the different pieces of the orchestra doing it, repeating it. Now, that for me is my favourite part. PS: I also enjoy it, I adore it. It’s truly a work of art from Freddie. PF: Yes, definitely, definitely. And I agree with him because it does represent him, multifaceted. You know, you never expect… He never gives you something that you expect. He always gives you something that will surprise you. PS: Yes. And why bad guy, why do you think Mr Bad Guy? Why bad? PF: Because… anytime in the press, there was never anything saying what a lovely man he is. So why not live up to his reputation? PS: Yes, it’s like “Yes, I’m everybody’s Mr Bad Guy,” yes. PF: Yes, this is it. This is what people want to believe, so this is what I will be. PS: Yes. And why do you think his first title was exactly not some

other track title but exactly “Made In Heaven”? Why was his first idea about exactly this song, to call the album this way? PF: I don’t know, I really cannot answer that one for you. I don’t know why he thought of that. Maybe he thought that would be the most popular track. A very popular track. PS: Yeah, it’s a hit song, totally remindful, yeah. And what was Freddie mostly like during the recording? What’s your favourite memory of him in this period? PF: That’s a lot more difficult because it was a difficult time. Munich. It took him far too long to create it. In the end, he was more interested in going out and spending time with Barbara Valentin than he was in creating work. I mean, the amount of time… he would turn up in the studio at two o’clock. Because he always turned up at two o’clock. It was pointless staying or coming at ten because he wouldn’t. And the thing is, it’s a singer’s voice, he’s not really ready to use [it] until later on in the afternoon. Once he’s warmed up properly and everything else. But the thing is, by four o’clock the phone would be ringing and Barbara was bored, so Freddie would run over and go out with her. So it was hard. And sometimes it felt like he was forcing himself to enjoy himself. Because he also felt bad, because he knew he should have been working, but he was letting his arm be twisted very, very, very easily. Yeah, I mean, okay, yes, he did enjoy himself when he was with Barbara, but he also had in the back of his mind that he was supposed to be working. PS: But the final result, I think, is totally great, he’s so much presented there. PF: It wasn’t the commercial success that people were expecting, but I think Freddie was happy with it in the end. PS: Yeah, it’s, like, his self-portrait songs. PF: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It got that music out of his system so that when he was back with Queen he was thinking more of the band stuff than, you know, things that the band would be happy with and just him happy with. Also, the thing is, Freddie did miss the rest of the band. He would never admit it but if you listen to some of the instrumentals on some of his solo tracks you could imagine Brian playing the guitar, you could imagine John playing the bass. You know, he missed having the band around him. PS: I see, I see. Even though it was his only first experience as his solo work, he already missed the other boys. PF: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because the thing is, all his recording before Mr. Bad Guy had always been with other people around. You know, even when he was producing the Peter Straker album, he had friends around him doing things. This was him on his own and it was all on his shoulders. PS: Yeah, and he worked on this album perfectly, it’s absolutely a masterpiece, yeah. So, the fourth topic is about Freddie’s and Roger’s connection. There is a story that Freddie heard Roger’s song “Heaven For Everyone” and he liked it so much that he wanted to sing it, and in the end The Cross, Roger Taylor’s band, released a version with Freddie’s vocals on it. And do you remember, had Freddie ever listened to Roger’s solo albums at home? PF: Freddie didn’t really listen to very much of anybody’s music at home. The only thing I remember... well, okay, yes, I remember putting on videos of Prince. But, musically, we would put on, we would buy every one that came out. It was a series of CD’s and albums, of course, before the CD’s, Now That’s What I Call Music. And what it would be, would be the sort of top hits of two months or something. And they would all be on Now That’s What I Call Music 1, then Now That’s What I Call Music 2. I think it’s on to Now That’s What I Call Music 373 at the moment. I don’t know. That was the music that he would put on, it was the music of the time. Because, you know, for his own music, for Queen music, that was work for him. And what concerns Freddie listening to Roger’s albums - probably what it would’ve been he would’ve listened to it when he and Roger met up. But it wouldn’t necessarily be at home they would put on the album. They would meet up and Roger would say,

“Oh, you must hear, listen to this, you have to hear this. This is something I’ve been working on,” you know, that sort of thing. PS: I see. And, you mentioned Freddie enjoying Prince, and it connects me with the fifth topic and it’s about the musician of the same age as Prince and it’s, like, a connection of Freddie Mercury from Queen and the Queen of Pop who is known as Madonna. What was Freddie’s attitude to Madonna? Because it’s almost impossible to imagine that he never ever mentioned her or never talked about her. PF: He admired her as… a woman surviving and winning in basically a man’s world. Yeah, because she was a power. And for that he admired her. Some of the music he quite liked. But there’s also the other side of the coin. Freddie, for all he was, had one security with him whenever he went out or everything. And Freddie felt that Madonna was actually attracting attention to herself rather than protecting herself. When she would go running in Hyde Park with ten security, you know, he said, “If she went with one person, people wouldn’t even notice her, but because she’s got ten people around her, then the whole world is going to notice. And you are best safe not like that but if you have just one person.” So, I mean, for that side he didn’t understand her thinking, but for her musical acumen and for her performance he thought she was fine, she was good. PS: And what is your personal attitude to Madonna? Do you like her? PF: Again, some of the things she’s done I think are very, very good. I don’t know, the more recent stuff I’m not so keen on. But all the first ten years or whatever of her stuff, I loved it. Yeah. Because, again, she never copied, she always did her own thing, and she never repeated herself. And I love originality. PS: And what is your own favourite memory about Freddie and Montserrat, Barcelona story in general? PF: I suppose it would have to be the actual recording of “Barcelona” because that was the first track that was completed. Freddie had sent Montserrat a tape giving her a guide vocal. Mike Moran had written out the music for her and sent it. So when she came in, when she arrived, she was fully, fully prepared for what was going to happen. But I remember being with Freddie after she’d done the first tape of her vocals for Barcelona, and… there were almost, almost, I mean, there were tears down his face. He was saying, “I now have the greatest voice in the world singing my music.” And that will always stay with me, always. PS: I see, so it was, like, very deep for him. And what is your favourite memory of Montserrat as a person? PF: Ah, a lot of memories. I went to pick her up at the airport, took her to the hotel, I would go and meet her at the hotel, go with her to the studio, all of that sort of things. And I was only in the studio when Montserrat was there. And when she was actually putting her vocal tracks down, the track was basically finished. I saw her so many times after the recording as well. You know, I went to see different performances of her. And it was because of her that I was actually at the Palais Garnier in Paris. You know, the opera house in Paris. Because she actually did an AIDS Gala there. And she invited me to go. I think… her laughter. It’s just like Freddie’s. Because whenever people ask me what’s my first memory, what is the memory that first comes to my mind of Freddie, and it’s always him laughing. And it’s the same with her. Whether she’s just finished a performance or actually when she’s doing a recital or a concert. And during her encores, she is always giggling and laughing. Amazing giggle. Because she likes to bring the audience in during the encores. And she’s got this infectious giggle. She invited me to the first night ever of her performing Isolde in “Tristan and Isolde” in Barcelona. And talking with her afterwards, I said, “You must know how wonderful it is for me to be coming here, to be seeing it, to be listening to you.” And she says, “Of course, you’re part of the family.” So, that really has always stuck with me. PS: So, the next topic for

today is Freddie spending time just making any kind of normal activities. And the question is firstly about his swimming skills – could Freddie actually swim, and if yes, did he enjoy it? PF: I never saw him swim. Never. I don’t know if he could swim. I’ve often thought about that and I never saw it. He didn’t… thinking about it, we went on a motor boat when we were at Pike’s hotel in Ibiza one time. And he didn’t look the most comfortable. So, I really don’t know if he could actually swim. I never saw him in a swimming pool or anything like that. Even when there was a swimming pool around, I never saw him in it. PS: But speaking of other activities, for example, you mentioned your staying at Pike’s hotel, he liked to play tennis there, right? PF: Yes. And, of course, when he was younger he was very good at table tennis. So, yeah, he enjoyed tennis. When we were living together with Freddie in Los Angeles, in that house, there was a tennis court as well and he played there a few times. PS: I see. And what are your other memories of Los Angeles? PF: Los Angeles. Also I remember in Los Angeles it was in L’Ermitage hotel when Queen were designing the Hot Space album cover there. They were there, maybe, even rehearsing for a tour or something. That’s the hotel I was staying in at that time. It was just this concrete glass and… stainless steel… and chrome. It was a very, very modern hotel. I remember, there were all band members, I was there, Chris Taylor was there, Paul Prenter was there. And they were throwing ideas around. And that’s where Freddie came up with the colours. “That’s the hot space, the space is the colours, hot colours.” PS: Ah, so it has something to do with image, with colour as you see it… PF: Yeah, yeah, yeah. PS: The hot like the bright one, right? A definitive one. PF: Yeah, yeah. PS: And he drew, like, a draught of the cover, right? Because he is credited as designer. PF: They were talking about which colours and then who would be which colour and then what they would put on each colour. You know, when they started talking about, not necessarily a profile but just picking out the aspects that people recognize from each artist, like Brian and his hair, Freddie and his moustache, you know, that sort of thing. PS: And so, each member chose the colour for himself by his own, right? PF: Yeah, yeah, yeah. PS: And how do you think, why Freddie chose the red colour? PF: Because it’s the colour that sticks out the most, although red was not his favourite colour, his favourite colour was yellow. But red is the one that you first look at. If you look at every sale, you know, big sale signs and everything, it’s always red on white. Because red is the colour you notice more. Apparently, whether it’s true or not, I don’t know, but in the old days police stopped more red cars than any other car. PS: Oh, really? PF: Yeah. Just psychologically red is the colour that stands out. PS: And Freddie being so outstanding wanted to strike everybody. PF: Yeah. PS: I see. And you mentioned Freddie and you spending time at Pike’s hotel. And what is also your personal favourite memory of this time. PF: I suppose the swimming pool was actually something nice. To actually think that we were in the swimming pool where Wham had recorded “Club Tropicana”. I mean, yeah, Pike’s. It was a nice hotel. They treated you well. They treated you personally, you know, they took care of you. And so it was a nice place. You really felt well-treated. PS: And what was, like, the top of the top on Freddie’s 41st birthday? What are your memories? PF: The most ridiculous thing is when guests went off into a corner and started smoking, so they weren’t smoking at the table and set light to the decorations. There were all these paper decorations hanging down the walls and everything. And people were there smoking and not looking at what they were doing, and they set light to them with their cigarettes. And then they started throwing alcohol to try and, you know, because it was wet they thought they would put the flames out. I mean, some people are not

very, very bright. [laughs] PS: I see. And what was your favourite memory of his previous one birthday, in 1986, the hat party? PF: Now, the hat party was a one-off, there was no other party quite like that, in Garden Lodge. Not with two hundred and something guests. Because the thing is, the thing that I loved about the fact was that nothing was put away. None of his vases or, you know, anything was put on tables. All the antiques and everything. Everything was left there. Because, okay, there were two hundred people but he actually knew them. He knew he could trust them. PS: And what was it like for him when he arrived back from his magnificent journey to Japan? PF: The thing is, it extended because he was then back home opening up all the packages that had arrived and the crates that had arrived. Because everything was sent over as soon as he bought it. So, the big room, the small room. Everything, all the rooms were full. And these, he had twelve of them. So, it was like Christmas. You know, a six-week Christmas. Because he was away enjoying himself and then opening up and putting it all around the house. PS: So, he was actually in Japan for six weeks, right? PF: No, no, he was in Japan, I think, for about three weeks. But then when he came back, he had three weeks of opening up and putting them all out. PS: So, he had a chance to enjoy his presents one more time, like, actually having them all. PF: Precisely, precisely. PS: So, it was, like, double joy – first to buy it and then to enjoy it at home. PF: Yes, yeah, yeah. PS: And mostly he bought antiques, right? PF: Yeah, I mean, he did actually buy some modern porcelain and things, but almost everything was antique. Almost everything. PS: I see. It was indeed a magic year for him. The Magic tour and the magic holiday… PF: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely. PS: I see, I see. So, as we are ending our first part by now, I’m saying to you a very, very big thank you, Peter. It’s amazing to hear all these stories about Freddie. PF: It’s been a pleasure, it’s a pleasure. SPECIAL THANKS TO VALUREX FOR CONTRIBUTION AND ASSISTENCE TO BE CONTINUED

#MR interview with Phoebe #queen #queen band #freddie mercury

[whump-a-la-mode]

Gilded Cage - Part 4

Once again, A won in a landslide. I hope the choices this time around will be a little more interesting. As a result of A winning, Journalist will help Villain.

Both of the options from last time around led to separate twists. It may be a little confusing at first, but I promise, it’ll make sense!

Again, the suggestions I received this time around were amazing!

I hope you enjoy!

CW// Imprisonment, collars, shock collars, villain whumpee, talk of torture, talk of blood, explicit discussion of injuries, medical discussion, deciding whether a person will receive medical treatment, mention of pneumonia, amnesia, panic, talk of law enforcement and criminal charges

The news segment began with its cheery jingle, starting with a light whistle, and crescendoing into an orchestral sound.

The video dawned on Journalist’s set. Behind the camera stood their crew. But the show’s usual host was nowhere to be seen. Instead, having been replaced by two other reporters, sitting behind their table. In their chairs.

“Hello, everyone.” One of the reporters spoke with a nod of the head. Their practiced, fine-tuned smile was present on their face, but there was a level of appropriately moderated sadness to their tone. “We hate to inform you that the previous host of this show, Journalist, has unfortunately left their post.”

The other reporter spoke with a similar tone, looking up at their cohost. “Shall we get right to it, then?”

“I suppose there’s no point in beating around the bush.”

“No. There’s not.” The reporter shook their head. “Your regular news for this segment will be moved to tonight’s News at 10. After much discussion, we figured it was only right to address the situation regarding this segment’s former host.”

“Yes. I am certain that many of you have seen this video on various social medias.”

In the corner of the screen, a panel faded into existence, showing a silenced video. Only a few frames long, looping every time it finished.

The video was of remarkably low quality, and taken in remarkably low light. The faces of only one of those in it could be made out-- that of a bloody, bruised, yet alive Villain. They who stood over the injured was little more than a shadow in silhouette, face never once turning towards the camera. After a few repeats, the video skipped around, showing different frames. Always in shadow. Never showing more than a hundred pixels or so.

The action within could only truly be seen if the viewer was to squint. Or, if they knew what to look for.

“This video was released by the Organization of Heroes, late last night.” One of the reporters spoke up, after the display was finished and faded away. “It was taken by one of the employees of their headquarters, shortly after this very news segment was filmed yesterday, in that very headquarters.”

“The Organization stated that it released this video to promote transparency regarding a current investigation. Though the exact details have yet to be revealed, this video is harrowing on its own.”

“We do not know why Journalist would do this.” The reporter’s gaze met with that of the camera lens. “We all have our own opinions about Villain, but no opinion can justify beating someone senseless. We all knew Journalist. We never thought there were capable of such a horrible thing. It is believed that, after filming an interview with Villain, Journalist led them to an unused room, and beat them severely. This video shows the incident.”

“The Heroes and local law enforcement have stated that they are currently pursuing a manhunt for Journalist on charges of assault and battery.”

“To dispel rumors that have been spreading: As of only a few minutes ago, the Organization of Heroes has reported to us that Villain is alive and well. Rumors of their death are greatly exaggerated. Journalist is not being pursued as a murderer.”

“Villain is currently under the care of in-house medical professionals of the Organization. They are in critical condition, but are expected to recover.”

“If you believe to have spotted Journalist, please call the number on screen. This is a tragedy, but together, we can at the very least bring this criminal to justice. Thank you.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Can they hear us?”

“No, no. They’re asleep.”

Villain’s eyes twitched, the voices above them hazy, coming from behind a layer of fog. Still, they thought they knew them... Maybe. The effort of recognizing who was speaking when made their head hurt, but their heart was beating far too fast to allow them to fade back into sedated bliss.

“Good.” Teammate muttered, their hand shifting the hospital bed ever so slightly as they placed it upon the bedrail.

“Yeah, good.” Hero’s grunt dripped with sarcasm.

“They need their rest.” Villain didn’t quite recognize the third voice, though they could only assume it was a doctor. “They’ve regained consciousness a few times, but they‘re somewhat sedated, right now. We can’t risk them choking.”

Choking. Villain knew that word. They remembered it being shouted, over and over again, next to them. Their mouth tasted so much like copper...

“I wish they’d choke.” Hero growled. Villain didn’t need to open their eyes to feel Teammate’s glare.

“Well, we’re not going to let that happen.” Doctor shook their head. “What we need to do is talk about... well, you’re in control here. We’re under your command. We have them stabilized, but if you want them to do anything more than lay in a hospital bed, we need to talk about what comes next.”

There was a moment of hesitant humming, before Teammate asked, tentatively:

“How bad is it?”

Villain had heard that question before, in a tone of panic and screaming. Who had said it?

Again, hesitance.

“Bad. Really bad.” Doctor sighed, straightening their tone to something more official. “We’ve seen some possible early signs of pneumonia, but, well...” Another deep breath. “Their torso sustained several dents. There’s risk of internal bleeding. That’s not to mention three snapped ribs, five additional broken or fractured ribs, and fractured clavicle. And the leg.”

For a moment, the nerves in the doctor’s voice turned to fury.

Villain knew that fury. The fury of someone who was watching the person they tried to protect die. Why didn’t they remember?

“A spiral fracture. I’ve never- I have no damn clue how you managed to do that. It’s generally only seen in falls, or industrial accidents, but... yes. There is a spiral fracture in their left tibia. We believe it’s shattered into five separate pieces, though we won’t be able to tell for sure until we can perform exploratory surgery. Villain will need to be a lot stronger before that, though.”

“Okay.” Teammate gritted their teeth. “And that’s all... bad.”

“Very bad.”

“Well, they’re not dead.” Hero hissed.

“They may as well be.” Doctor snapped back.

“Hey, who here is paying you-”

“Shut up, you two.” Teammate growled. “Are they going to die?”

“As it stands now... no. We have them stabilized. Any external bleeding has been stopped. But if our suspicions of pneumonia and internal bleeding are correct, then they could very well die, if we don’t act quickly. That’s what we wanted to ask you about.”

“Whether or not to save them?”

“Essentially.”

“Do it.” Hero’s tone was firm, though still frustrated. “At least for a bit. The edited video will go out on national news tonight. If this assault investigation turns into a murder one, it’ll be more scrutiny than I care to deal with. The less anyone looks into it, the better.”

“Having them back on camera so soon may not be a great idea, sir.” Doctor’s voice had practically turned to a whimper.

“Well, how soon can we expect them to be healthy enough for it?”

“A month-”

“A month?!”

“One month for the initial recovery. And at least four for subsequent physical therapy. They should not engage in any strenuous physical activity for at least that long.”

“We don’t have a month. Much less five.”

“Well, I’m a doctor, not a miracle worker.”

“I need them on the air tomorrow. Either tell me a way to make that happen, or I’ll find a better doctor.”

Doctor’s footsteps could be heard against the tile as they stumbled backwards.

“I guess there’s...”

“What is it?”

“The miracle drug. That’s what they call it. It’s certainly not a miracle, but... I’m sure you’ve heard of Hollywood medicine. An injured actor getting up the day after a car crash, looking good as new.”

“You can do that?"

“Well-”

“Then do it!”

“It’s not that simple. There’s no such thing as a miracle drug. Painkillers and steroids won’t fix their injuries, but with the right mix of them, they can be as good as new tomorrow. Well, along with some seriously good makeup work. Those injuries are... not pretty.”

“Then do that. The news is coming back at 9. Now, was that so hard?”

“Wait.” Teammate interjected. “It can’t be that simple. What’s the catch?”

“The catch?” Doctor began. “The catch is kind of the whole matter of the thing. This treatment, it won’t actually do anything. We’d be blocking pain signals to their brain, and giving them enough strength to press on despite their wounds. But that’s all. The injuries will still be there. And the longer they’re untreated, the worse it’s going to get. Especially if Villain is up and moving.”

“But they’ll be able to appear tomorrow night?”

“Yes. They’ll be good as new.”

“Then...” Teammate hesitated. “You treat them like normal, and we just give them some kind of miracle drug whenever we need them on stage?”

“Again, it’s not that simple. This treatment, it’s going to destroy any possibility of a normal recovery. It’s either or, not and. Either we treat them like normal, or we have them ready to perform tomorrow. It’s your choice, but I’m sure you know what I recommend.”

“They’re performing.” Hero spoke with such a force that it was known in the room that no one could hope to oppose the decision. “Get them up and moving. How long will this work? This miracle drug?”

“There’s no way of knowing, really. They run the risk of collapsing at pretty much any time. We’re tricking their mind into thinking it’s unharmed, but we can’t do that with the body. The wounds are still going to be very, very real.”

“Just give me an estimate.”

“I don’t know, two weeks? Less if the pneumonia gets bad.”

“And then?”

“And then they collapse. Kaput. Gone. The human body has its limits, superpowers or not.”

“I can work with two weeks. I want them back in their cell by tonight, understood?”

“Understood, sir. They’ll be as good as new. And, lay off the collar, please.”

“That depends on if they choose to behave, or not.”

��━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 

Villain wasn’t sure when the rough linen of the hospital bed turned to a duvet made of plush, laid atop an impossibly soft mattress that sunk several inches under their weight. They must have been moved at some point, they certainly didn’t remember walking. They couldn’t so much as feel their legs, so walking would have been an impossibility.

One hand curling around the plush on which they lay, they fought against their leaden eyelids until they finally relented and opened. The ceiling above them was one they knew far too well, having spent far too many sleepless nights staring up at it.

They blinked a few times, waking up their mind, which was rapidly beginning to panic.

Had they been dreaming? The day before, had all of it simply been a horrid nightmare?

Sitting up took only minor effort, and as their lungs filled with air, they felt no pain. In fact, their whole body was absent of any pain at all. Even their leg felt to not have lost an ounce of its strength.

It couldn’t have been a dream, could it have been? The pain had felt so real, but...

They raised a hand, drawing it to their ribs. Pressing down prompted no pain, only a vague soreness. But even with their limited medical knowledge, Villain knew full well that ribs weren’t supposed to fold inwards like that.

Nope. Definitely not a dream.

At least, that part wasn’t. Maybe? Trying to think about it was so difficult, causing a horrible, gnawing pain at the back of their mind. Closing their eyes to aid their focus, they did their best to recount.

They had eaten lunch, they believed. There had been others at the table. Visitors. Government representatives? The mayor, maybe? That sounded somewhat right. But then, no, that couldn’t have been right. They remembered the burning of stage lights so strongly, it must have been a news crew.

And then...

Then pain.

They didn’t remember the circumstances in any detail, but they remembered exactly how it felt for a boot to collide with their flesh, crushing all in its wake. They remembered how it felt to have every nerve alight in artificial agony.

After that, there was shouting. Someone was touching them, helping them sit up. It mustn’t have worked, though, for a moment after, they were on the ground, and there was more shouting. More yelling. Screams.

Then nothing. Next thing they could remember, they were swimming through sedatives and painkillers in a hospital bed.

And now they were here.

They looked to the clock, noting it to be late in the night. After the time at which the Heroes would have eaten dinner. There were never any appearances at night, so they would be left alone until it was time for lunch.

It probably would have been best for them to go back to sleep, to rest and recover, but now that they were awake, they couldn’t help but feel that such a thing would be impossible. Warmth ran through their veins like alcohol, making them feel more alive than they could remember having felt in quite some time.

Villain couldn’t sleep, but perhaps they could do the next best thing. They felt around their nightstand, finding eventually the television remote, and clicking on the TV mounted on the wall before them. It was what they spent most of their time doing, anyways. Staring at the screen and rotting.

The screen blinked on, displaying something that caused Villain to do a double take. They looked at the info for the channel, double checking its number.

It was the news. The Heroes had always kept every news channel, or really anything that talked about current events, firmly out of their reach. Yet, here one was, playing right in front of them.

They couldn’t help but feel a dull ache in their neck.

Still, who would catch them? No one would be coming in at this hour. Perhaps they could, at least, peek into the outside world. Hell, they would have been grateful to know the weather.

But what was playing was not the weather.

A banner on the bottom of the screen read, in big white letters, “News At 9.” Two presenters sat behind a table, a brief moment of silence hanging between them as a video played in the top right corner.

Villain saw their own face. Their own bloody, beaten face.

“It is believed that, after filming an interview with Villain, Journalist led them to an unused room, and beat them severely. This video shows the incident.”

Journalist.

Villain did not know that name, but it made their stomach twist in on itself.

Their nausea turned to panic in an instant as they heard a quiet knock, echoing against the door to their room. Already shaking, they lunged for the remote, tapping in a random number and willing the channel to change faster. By the time the doorknob twisted and the door opened, they were sweating bullets.

They looked to the doorway, doing their very best to pretend that they had only been innocently watching an approved channel.

They had expected Hero, or perhaps one of the others on their team, and they supposed that they weren’t entirely wrong.

Hero had long since stopped having a singular sidekick, stating that such a thing was horribly inefficient. Instead, they had multiple at any given time, training each for several months before sending them off to other duties.

Sidekick was one of the newer trainees. Villain couldn’t quite remember what exactly their powers were, though they remembered that this trainee in particular was one of Hero’s favorites. They were younger-- not a kid, but firmly college-aged, though their stature was far too muscular to suggest such a thing.

They had painted on their face the same smile that Hero always presented to the media. It made Villain shudder.

After flashing that bright smile a moment, Sidekick turned, closing the door with notable care and approaching their bedside. Villain turned off the television, shifting to face their visitor. Sitting up straight, drawing their shoulders back, showing all the respect that a trainee of Hero deserved.

“Can I sit?” Sidekick pointed to a spot on the bed.”

“Yes! Of course.”

They nodded, sitting down. There was a remarkable care in the way they moved and shifted, as if they were terrified of making even the slightest noise.

“Turn the TV back on.”

“Um- okay. I promise, I wasn’t- I didn’t mean to, it just turned on, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to, please don’t-”

“Shh, shh. I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m not going to hurt you. We need to be quiet.”

Villain nodded, turning on the TV. The noise practically drowned out Sidekick’s voice, and they couldn’t help but feel that that was rather the point.

“Villain. You know me, right?”

“I wouldn’t say that I know you very well.”

“That’s okay. I’m Sidekick, and we want to help.”

“What do you mean ‘we?’“

“Me and your friend. Journalist. They couldn’t be here, it’s too dangerous, but... I know you don’t know me very well. And to be quite honest, I don’t know you very well, either.”

Sidekick raised their hand, causing Villain to flinch back. But they were not struck. Instead, the hand was presented as if offering a handshake.

“Villain, I need you to trust me.”

They felt their mouth grow dry as they looked at the offered hand.

“I know we don’t know each other well, but what I do know is that you’re suffering, and you need help. In three days, you’re going to be at a live press conference, down on the East side. There’s going to be a signal. When the sun disappears, that’s your signal. You’ll know what I mean, okay?”

“I don’t know if I-”

“Please. When you see the signal, you need to cause as much chaos as you can, okay? I mean, don’t hurt anyone, or at least try not to, but do what you need to do to get them running. That’s all you need to do. We’ll take care of the rest.”

“W-Why?”

Sidekick moved their offered hand closer.

“Villain, do you trust me?”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 

What should our Whumpee do? It’s up to you to decide!

There are two options, each one leading to a separate story branch. Alongside each option is a question specifying what exactly will happen. Answering this question is completely optional, but it is great if you have any particular ideas! Otherwise, feel free to just put a letter.

To vote, feel free to use any means you would like to contact me. Replying or reblogging this post works just fine, as does PMing me directly or sending me an ask. I am unsure when I will be writing the next part, so as long as the next part hasn’t been posted yet, voting is still open!

I will choose the story path based on which option has more votes, and will choose whichever answer I find the most interesting to base the next part upon. The choices and questions for this part are as follows:

A) Trust - Should Villain go along with the plan? B) Refuse - Should Villain report the infraction?

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. This is my first time doing anything like this, so I apologize if it’s odd or confusing ^^

#whump #whumpee #whumpblr #whump community #villain whumpee #gilded cage #choose your own adventure #choose your own whump #hero villain whump #hero villain prompt

[themeowsticvigilante]

Orpheum's Tales: Music of the Night

[featuring the Shaymin crew from @shaymincafe ]

A morning breeze sweeps along the quiet forest of Floarama Town, Orpehum's usual abode when he is alone by himself. After all, the town was special to him, a second home. This town is where his constellation appears first every night.

The bard plucked a few strings from his lute, a morning routine he so regularly performed. A good note would be a blessed day but a bad one would be a tragedy … an omen even. Fortunately, the Victini deity would smile upon him as the lute produced a perfect note.

He sighed a breath of fresh air, relief overcoming him as the day would proceed as normal, for him at the least. Donning his trusty bard hat, off he went to meet someone, another Shaymin as he was taking flight towards the rendezvous.

The gentle breeze made the journey quite refreshing, after all … no one would knowingly dwell into turbulent weather, especially a deity like him. As he took flight, he was in the form of a wisp, vibrant green with wings similar to a Yanma for he wouldn't just reveal himself to mortals just like that.

Moments passed before he could finally see the rendezvous from afar, vaguely sensing someone waving towards him. Realizing it was a familiar face, he immediately went in and landed in front of her, giving her a bow as soon as he returned to his Shaymin form.

"Orpheum! Glad you could make it!" A Shaymin in a vibrant pink hue gleefully greeted the bard with a smile.

"Good morning, Rosemary. I too am glad to be here." He nodded to himself, his face a vibrant glee, and looking around the place. "So this is your ... what was the word … Cafè? Sorry, I have been too accustomed to the word tavern."

"Yes, it is! Shaymin Cafè~ not the most subtle name we can think of but it does attract quite the crowd." She giggles and motions for him to follow her. "Come! Let's introduce you to the others"

"Right now, you say?" He looked a bit nervous, his audience usually consisted of only one but to a few 'mon of his kind? He isn't used to that kind of stage but he internally reigned in his thoughts and smiled. "Sure! I am excited."

~~~

The doors to the cafè opened, immediately getting the attention of everyone inside. Rosemary was the one to enter with Orpheum following close behind, his lute perched on his back as an archer would their quiver. There was silence as the rest of the Shaymin staff immediately averted their attention towards Orpheum.

"Everyone, meet Orpheum! Better give him a warm welcome because he is a special Shaymin~" Rosemary broke the silence as she winked at them and gave him an introductory pat on the back.

"Greetings! Greetings!" He gave them a bow and a huge grin trying not to break the otherwise momentum that Rosemary had set. "Orpheum the Blossoming Bard, at your service!"

One of the Shaymin finally took interest, narrowing her eyes as she approached Orpheum. She circled around the bard as if to do a thorough inspection. "A bard, aye? … sing a song for us why don't cha." Shiso, the purple one, commanded as she crossed her arms and looked at him intently.

"A song? Yes yes of course! I actually have a short one I made en route here … it's supposed to be about this cafe." Orpheum's ears perked up, immediately getting his lute and clearing his throat a bit. "I hope all of you enjoy~!"

"Go ahead. We'd love to hear it!" Rosemary smiles, eagerly waiting to play his song as the rest of the staff.

"Okay here goes …" He plucked a few notes and began to slowly gain momentum as he started to sing the piece he created.

Come one, come all!

There is a place for all!

Come one, come all!

Everyone is welcome, big or small!

Smiles, smiles are all abound~!

With happy thoughts all around!

We are always ready to serve you.

For we treat you as family too!

Come one, come all! The cafè is open!

A place to bring family or a friend!

Come one, come all! It's a party!

When you join us at the Shaymin Cafè!

He gave a bow after he sang as he always did with every performance he made. Just before he did, he can already hear applause from the group, one even cheering gleefully.

"Woooh! Great song, dude!" Chicory, the blue one blurted out, eagerly waiting to request an encore.

"Impressive. Looks like you're an a-okay then." Shiso shrugs smirking as she hugged Pumpkin, the orange one next to her, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Pumpkin here seems to like it too." She looks over at Pumpkin with a nod of approval.

"Simply wonderful, Orpheum! Bravo!" Rosemary cheered gleefully, enjoying the performance wholeheartedly like the rest of the staff.

"Thanks, everyone! My heart is filled with joy knowing all of you enjoyed my song." He says, visibly blushing at his newfound audience. "It isn't new that I get applause but it always is overwhelming for me."

Rosemary stood up from her seat, looking like she was about to say something important. "Alright, everyone! Cafè is opening in half an hour, be sure to make this ready for the customers like you always do!"

The staff immediately started tidying up the cafè, with Rosemary on her way to put the specials on display outside and putting the open sign but not before she looked back at Orpheum with a reassuring smile.

"Welcome to the Shaymin Cafè"

He smiled for a bit while looking a bit conflicted on something as if pondering upon a certain thought that's been on his mind. He followed Rosemary and called out to her. "Rosemary!"

The pink Shaymin immediately turned to face him, looking confused at his sudden urgency and wanting to know what was up. "Yes, Orpheum? You need anything?"

"I was just thinking if I can take a stroll for a moment? Perhaps, more than a few moments to be precise?"

"Sure but … is everything alright? You maybe need some tea to help calm yourself down?"

"No no, please save it for your patrons. I may need some time for myself, worry not … I'll be back before you know it~" He gave her a reassuring smile as a small gust of wind blew around him.

"Okay if you say so. Guess I'll see you around." With Rosemary's wave, Orpheum immediately turned into a wisp and rode along with the wind, letting it carry him towards someplace else.

~~~

It was now nightfall, as the cafè was still bustling with patrons but no sign of Orpheum anywhere. Admittedly, Rosemary was getting concerned for him but she kept that to herself while she worked the tables and managed the patrons like the rest of her staff.

"Psst hey, Rosemary. Where's that hotshot Shaymin you were talking about?" Vetle was there as always, raising an eyebrow as he asked Rosemary about the supposed 'guest' she was advertising just outside of the shop. "I'm just waiting here."

"He'll be here soon, Vetle. Don't you worry." Her smile was hiding that concern still bubbling inside of her as she silently scanned the room for at least a teal-colored wisp. "Just sit back and rela- huh?"

She felt a gentle breeze going through her fur as she turned around, trying to spot someone from the crowd of patrons in the various tables laid around but there was still no sign of Orpheum. She can only do nothing but hum her worries away only, why does it feel like her hums had a rhythm to them? As if there was something or someone playing?

It seemed like she wasn't the only one that would notice it as a small crowd would soon form as almost everyone was turning their heads toward what seemed like someone plucking the strings of a lute effortlessly. Rosemary went towards the crowd of patrons and staff alike to see what was going and that's when she saw them.

A stranger was there playing a teal-colored lute with black-gloved paws as the crowd watched on in awe, daring not to say anything during the performance. They wore a black Venetian mask that covered the upper part of their face, while their body was adorned in a turquoise long coat laced with lacey green accents along with teal pants and black boots.

The stranger was just sitting by themselves on one of the tables and somehow inconspicuously slipped out of sight and started playing as if to make a dynamic entrance of sorts. Either that or the people were too busy minding their business to notice a well-dressed musician enter the shop and take a seat.

After a while, the stranger seemed to stop playing presumably because they were done with their tune and had a mysterious smile as he got up from his seat and bowed to the newly formed audience.

"Greetings, greetings! I am Favonius, Bard of the Blossoms! I'm sure you have been waiting for more than a moment for me but now … I shall now begin~"

It took a few seconds for Rosemary to realize what she should be doing but she immediately got up to the front of the store and called the attention of the patrons.

"Yes! Please settle down, everyone, and sit tight. Service will still continue while the performance is going on. Hope you all enjoy~"

Immediately as everyone did settle into their seats, all eyes were on Favonius as a mix of expressions gathered within the audience. Most were of course intrigued by his presence after all, if that initial introduction was what's to come what more could he show for a full performance? Favonius smiled as soon as they were now eagerly waiting for him in silence and with a single strum of his lute, he now started to a tune to which he would sing.

Lucete, Lucete Stellae …~

Our hearts flutter each night and day.

Lucete, Lucete Stellae …~

Beckoning to us the hallowed way.

When the night is cold and barren still,

With dark hearts of ill will.

Something within us will start to burn,

Igniting for what we really yearn.

We have triumphed, every one of us,

Our trials never left us in the dust.

Our stories, written in our memory,

As it was always meant to be.

Bless the light, as the torch ignites,

To our journeys and fights.

From within our grasp to far off lands,

Making every victory grand.

Even when fear looms and doubts arise,

Triumph comes at a well-fought price.

Even when we ourselves have faltered,

Sacrifices will be honored.

Lucete, Lucete Stellae …~

May the light bring us the way.

Lucete, Lucete Stellae …~

To brave the night and seize the day.

The room filled with praise from the audience as Favonius made a solemn bow, holding his hat to his side right after strumming the last tune to his song. He definitely felt satisfied knowing he would make everyone's night.

"Thank you, my fabled patrons. Thank you! I hope you all enjoyed the show for tonight but for now, farewell and have a good night."

Favonius immediately exited the stage and disappeared into the cafè exit giving everyone a swift wave and flew off towards somewhere else. A few patrons were able to witness Favonius exit but all they saw outside was a wisp that sort of disappeared into the wind.

~~~

Soon enough it was time for the cafè to close while the patrons were still talking about the performance earlier on their way out the exit. Rosemary and the other Shaymins were just cleaning up after such an eventful night as they too were talking about the performance but more importantly, Favonius themselves.

"Man, that thing earlier was pretty unexpected! Even my boyfriend agreed it felt almost like a dream …" Chicory exclaimed while he was sweeping the floors looking towards Vetle, a teal-colored Shaymin leaning against a wall. "But still, that was pretty cool! How did you even contact them, Rosemary?"

Rosemary was just as confused as Chicory when she was asked that, she was by herself and looking towards the windows when she was snapped out of her pondering. "Huh? Oh … you know, I have some connections." Rosemary smiled nervously knowing that she had no idea where he came from.

"Hmm …? You don't look so sure … was he just a stranger? Because it's not usual for you to just invite someone willy-nilly like that …" Chicory raised his eyebrow, stopping what he was doing as he was really eager to know.

"Umm you see … I …" Just as she was about to say something, a gust of wind blew into the inside of the cafè, the very same gust of wind that alerted them to a familiar presence but no tune was to be heard. This time, there came a knock on the cafè door followed by a greeting.

"Greetings, fellow Shaymins. May I come in? I hope I am not interrupting closing hours …"

"Not at all, Favonius. Please come in!" Rosemary breathed a sigh of relief, finally able to at least ask them about what happened, and crossed her arms. “Take a seat … you have some explaining to do.”

“Ohh … my apologies for the commotion earlier, madam~” He bows his head and removes his mask revealing who was behind it all this time. “I … tend to be nervous in front of a large crowd.”

“O-Orpheum!?! All this time, you were Favonius? Wh-why didn’t you told me …?” Rosemary was utterly shocked at the revelation, so was Chicory and the rest of the Shaymin present. “Wh-why did have to hide like that ...? Explain yourself.”

“W-well you see, I’m not really adept at showing my face to a large audience … and your establishment attracts such a crowd. I’m afraid I must don an outfit to appear mysterious. Otherwise, they will eventually know that I’m a deity…” Orpheum stammered in his words, really hoping that his act wasn’t a grievous fault.

“Wait am I hearing this correct? You’re a god!?!” Chicory was barely listening to Orpheum’s whole explanation and instead focused on the part where he mentioned he was a deity. “Are you kidding me!?!”

Chicory’s excitableness did make Orpheum at least for at least a little bit as he smiled. “Yes, I’m a deity. Perhaps it is time to let all of you know. Rosemary was the only one who knew.” He looked over at Rosemary as she gave him a reassuring okay gesture. “But if I did show my true face to a large crowd, there would be consequences. I hope all of you understand why I did that earlier …”

Rosemary would then put a hand on his shoulder and smile. “Of course it’s fine! Let’s just let be our little secret. Right, guys? Especially you, Vetle. Don’t you go around and spill the beans.”

“Yes! Me and my boyfriend here are 100% in it for this little secret! Right, Vetle?” Chicory piped in as Vetle gave a shrug, presumably as a way of approval. “Yeah yeah, whatever. I won’t tell if it means I get the front row seats.” Vetle added with a smirk on his face.

“Me and my girlfriend also agree. Your secret’s safe with us.” Pumpkin also added to the conversation as Shiso gave a nod. “Don’t you worry a thing.”

“See, Orpheum? You’ll be just fine. After all, Shaymin’s gotta stick together.” Rosemary then smiled, Orpheum shedding a tear and let out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, everyone … truly this has been an eventful day. But I am grateful for every one of your understanding. But alas, I must take my leave for now. Have a good night. It has been a pleasure meeting all of you.” With that, the Shaymin bard exited the café but not without giving a wave from his hat and letting the wind carry him back towards the forest.

#pokemon story #fan writing #orpheum the shaymin bard #shaymincafe #hey folks! have some fan writing for now while I finish writing the next story post

[amirajones]

The Pirate and the runaway Princess pt. 8

Pairing: Amira White x Captain Hook/Killian Jones

28 years in storybrooke maine was the worst that could of happened to all of us, me included. For one I was in the beginning stages of being pregnant and because of this curse nothing progressed! For the first 14 years my life in storybrooke consisted of a job working in Granny's diner. Regina had come in there frequently but I never worked the time she was in there until one day she noticed me working there and our paths crossed. Clearly she had it out for me cause she made me quit working for Granny and work for her as her assistant. In this town you didn't say no to the mayor no matter what. The first four years were a living nightmare doing all her errands and she didn't really care. Needless to say I was there when she had Henry growing up, I'd have to walk him to the school bus when she was pulled in for meetings or pick him up from school. Yes, my sister and I crossed paths but we didn't remember we were sisters after all her name was Mary Margaret Blanchard and I was Selena Marriott. Let's just say there isn't anything to really tell but the moment the curse was broken after my niece had been there awhile, My memories came back in a rush.

"Killian, Snow" Amira said softly as I dropped the papers

Regina wasn't there at least not at first so I set the papers down and I ran out going to find the crew. You probably thought I was going to find my sister first, right? Nope, I went to find the crew first knowing I needed to get my story straight on how I was going to tell my sister she was going to be an aunt. Needless to say i came across Smee first and even though I didn't have my pirate attire I had to keep my act on it.

"Smee!" Amira said

Smee looked at me almost as if in shock and went over "Selena, we wondered what happened to you and the captain." Smee said to me

"I saw him before the curse, he tried to break me out but my step mother interfere offering him a deal. Have you found him?" Amira asked

"I'm sorry Selena, when we were brought to this land he wasn't with us." Smee said

Those words went through my head several times, he wasn't with us here? All I could wonder is where was he and if he was alive. He told me he was a survivor so in my heart I felt he was alive. I didn't have to even tell Smee as he ran off and rounded up the men who surrounded me seeing I was there but our Captain was not.

"Selena, what should we do? Without the Captain we don't know." One of them said

"Your in charge Selena, it's your call." Smee said

'My call? I'm not the first mate Smee was.' Amira thought as she looked at her crew members "Wait why me? Smee your the captain's first mate." Amira asked

"Sorry Selena, but your the captain's girl now. You spent more time with him then any of us." The men said

'Spent more time with him? Oh yeah, we spent time but it wasn't always talking that's how I ended up the way I am now. Pregnant and unsure if I'll ever get to tell him.' Amira thought but she smiled at them "Everyone just stay local and for now keep updates." Amira said

I left them later to find my sister, to face what I knew would be probably disappointment. It was a little time before I found her and her husband hugging each other. Distracted as they were kissing I snuck up on them and laughed a bit. Snow was startled by what I did but I couldn't help it.

"Ami?" Snow asked

"Hi" Amira said

Snow embraced me and I hugged her back knowing I couldn't be more happy to see my only sister. We were the last living family members we had for the longest time and now she was married, her daughter was close in age with us. Talk about feeling old when you're still young and well there's Henry who's my Great Nephew.

"I was going to come look for you but I didn't know where you were." Snow said to me and I laughed a bit rubbing the back of my head.

"Yeah I know but I had to find some of my crew mates." Amira said

It was no lie I was a pirate, even now without my pirate gear I just needed to find the Jolly Roger or some portal to go home to get my outfit back. Snow could tell something was up, needless to say we always could figure out the other had something to hide and I had something to hide big time.

"What's wrong?" Snow asked

"Nothing's wrong entirely just well How do I say this?" Amira said and I thought about my next words to my sister. I chose the only words I could figure was logical "Your going to be an aunt."

I waited but Snow hugged me which was more than I expected but it was true. "I'm so happy for you, have you told him yet? Wait where is your captain?" Snow asked me

I sighed and shook my head "No I haven't told him yet, I never had the courage too. He's not here snow. I don't know if he's alive or dead cause of Regina." Amira said

I wished that was the least of my worries finding him, knowing where he was but it was only the beginning. A mist formed and everyone freaked out, true our powers were gone in this land with no magic. Yet there was a purple mist coming our way and well David pulled my sister to him and I hugged my sister knowing I didn't know what was going to happen as it went in the town. I felt my powers return, yes I'd practiced light magic for going up against my step mother.

Everybody gathered together and for the first time I got to meet my niece who I'd wanted to meet for a long time. You could imagine my surprise when she had blonde hair when both her parents did not and she was powerful I could tell that.

"Emma, right?" Amira asked

"Yeah and you're Selena." Emma said

"Well actually I'm your Aunt. Snow's my sister." Amira said

Emma was taking in all this and I couldn't blame her yet now that magic was returned. I knew there was a way to find Killian. I was going to find him, like he found me in the castle Regina locked me up in but I knew in my heart somehow we'd always find each other. I spent most of my time with my sister and some of it with my crew mates keeping the peace of what was going on.

Keeping my pregnancy secret from them was no problem, I'd come accustomed to lying to protect myself in any case necessary so they never saw anything past what I said. Still when a Wraith was in town I knew that was not going to be good.

"Hide! Stay away from the Wraith!" Amira said

The men followed my directions, one wanted to stay with me but I insisted he stick to the plan. We were lost without Killian and I was biding my time to find him. I didn't think much was going on in town after all it's only been two days of peace with Regina locked away.

The wraith was flying all over town, I didn't know what to do but just stayed in the shadow and follow it to see what was going on. Needless to say it was first led to the jail where Regina was locked away. Now I had two choices here let it take her and we'd be free or save her from what was going on. My answer was simple, I needed the answers about Killian so I helped in preventing it from getting her this time.

"What are you doing here?" Regina asked me

I used the key to unlock her cell and grabbed her by the shirt collar "Where Is My Pirate?" Amira said to her

Regina looked at me for a moment before she laughed knowing who I was talking about. "He's alive Amira. He did as asked but clearly he didn't get to you in time dear." Regina said

"So where is he?! He's not in town!" Amira sid

When I said that she wondered what that meant, still she didn't give me an answer so I had to find him on my own. We all had a plan now on how to catch the wraith and let's just say I planned to jump in with it. One way or the other I was going back to our home land and finding him, I had to do this for me and for my unborn child. So when the plan was started I didn't get the chance to act in time because the wraith grabbed hold of my niece Emma.

"Shit." Amira said

When Snow jumped in needless to say I jumped in after her but it wasn't entirely to help my sister. Partly I was being selfish for once in my life going for the thing I wanted most but if there was a way to get back what I lost I'd do anything. When we landed let's just say it wasn't an easy landing nor was it probably the best choice to jump in knowing you were only going to get the love of your life. I don't know exactly where we landed as I was unconscious with Emma and Snow but my magic changed my outfit without me knowing.

#Colin O'Donoghue #killian jones #killian jones x reader #once upon a time #ouat #captain hook x oc #captain hook #Once upon a time fanfic #Fanfic

[iwannaseeyainakia]

The Moonlight Circus

This was a story I was commissioned to write by an anonymous tumblr user. Thought it would be good to show my writing and see how it changes over time!

trigger warning: gore, smoking, religious and supernatural themes, death, minor profanity

The heel of Morgan’s boots clicked against the checkered flooring of the circus. She made her way to the center of the stage, her stride casual. She readjusted her gray beanie as she climbed up the steps. The plastic name tag below her collarbone wobbled with each step. The words “Moonlight Circus” in Courier New font rested above her first name.  The floor of the stage was filthy; ash and soot smeared into the once pristine black and white pattern. Her pale green eyes followed a line of ash leading to a rusted cast-iron cannon. The smell of burnt flesh lingered in the air.  

She exhaled softly, reached into the pocket of her ‘Metallica’ pullover, and pulled out a lavender lighter and a worn pack of Newport cigarettes. She yanked one out of the box and shoved it in her hoodie again. Her black bitten nails struggled to start a flame before she victoriously held it to her cigarette, finally lighting it. A pewter gray smog released from the very tip, emitting a bitter comforting scent. She lifted her hand to her face, the cig clenched between her middle and pointer finger. As the paper touched her pale lips, the once vermillion embers shifted to a startling violet and the musty gray smoke suddenly turned a mauve tone. Morgan took a long drag of the strange purple cigarette while taking in her surroundings.  

The massive tent surrounding her was a striped pattern of burgundy and eggshell white.  The fabric was contrastingly cleaner than the stage of the ‘Moonlight Circus.’ The seating for guests was discolored bleachers; the aluminum being stained and scratched away by years of usage and lack of cleanliness. Many hot dogs drenched in mustard and bags of popcorn must have been dropped on it. There were multiple stacked on either side of the tent. The elevated stage had an outer ring surrounded by dark crimson foam. A round indoor pool was 15 feet away from her, the bottom of the pool a dirty yellow tint. Scales and confetti floated at the surface of the tainted water. 

 Large LED stage lights were set up at the ceiling of the canvass. Each was about the size of a child and contained a lens of different hues. They dimly lit the stage white. The tent was held up by dozens of rods with a singular large black pole at the center. The fabric bunched together and pulled up; it looked almost as if the very top of the tent was a tunnel that led nowhere, the stripes creating a dizzying optical illusion.  

The circus itself was located in a cheap amusement park; the locals treasured this place. It was affordable and held plenty of memories dear to their hearts. The Moonlight Circus was the main event, the park's pièce de résistance if you will.  

They had crowds of people flood the show every day. Bright smiles beamed on the faces of children and content parents awaited a trip down memory lane, nostalgia a pleasant high. After all, who wouldn’t be entranced by real-life monsters? 

Morgan released a puff of amethyst smoke, gently laying the cigarette between her lips again and keeping it there. She proceeded to stuff her hands in her pockets before an elegant voice called out to her, disrupting her daze.  

“Are you ready for the next show Morgana?” The feminine voice was gentle and motherly. She spoke each word with a grace that held centuries of wisdom. Her thick French accent was gorgeous; her voice matched exactly how she appeared. Morgan casually turned around and sent the woman a closed smile. Guinevere was a being of beauty, a true spectacle to behold. She was a small woman, approximately 5’2, petite but with a stance that conveyed raw strength. Her billowing pitch-black gown strewn behind her as she sashayed her direction. Her arms gently swung at her hips, an opera-length cigarette holder between the dainty fingers of her left hand. The skin of said hand was a pale blue-gray. The center of the long pipe was a silver fading into an intense black; a cigarette burning blood red at the end of it. Morgan glanced at her long dark hair. It was bone straight and swung behind her waist. The fringe of her locks covered her right eye, but Morgan could still make out a piercing iris a startling shade of red.  

“Hey, Gwen. Yeah, pretty much. Is everyone in the dressing room right now?” She inquired as the monster woman stood in front of her. Gwen gripped the edge of her large ebony sunhat, cigarette holder still between her fingers. The brim of the apparel was big enough to cover most of her hauntingly beautiful face. Lace hung half an inch off the seams and thin royal purple sticks of dynamite adorned the outer ring. While the entire hat was an eye-catcher; a nod to her part in the circus, the true emphasis of the hat was the large skull littered with cracks and yellow stains from tobacco. 

“Yes, and they’re taking damn long if I do say so myself.” The skull quipped judgmentally. Morgan chuckled. Gwen was not so amused by her husband’s comment. 

“Hush Pierre. No need to be snippy.” Guinevere jutted her hip out and placed her right hand on it to convey her sass. The skull instead, haughtily laughed at his wife. She rolled her eyes but could not contain the fond smile that grew on her lips, exposing her sharp fangs.  Despite all the time that’s passed, she still couldn’t fight how easily Pierre made her grin ear to ear. “Don’t mind him, Morgana, we’d best be on our way to prepare.” Gwen gripped Morgan’s wrist and tugged her along in the direction of the dressing room. 

Guinevere was the owner of the Moonlight Circus. A wonderful boss indeed, she felt more like a friend she’d known all her life than her superior. She also was a woman with a dream: to unite humans and monsters through entertainment. Humans used to fear the supernatural, loath it with their very being, but in this day and age, they take great pleasure in the abnormalities of the differing species. Harmony is built in this circus; humans come for entertainment and to admire the beautiful, violent specters, and the monster women give it to them. Gwen, a vampire, found joy in making others happy with her performance and her performers. 

 She often sat with Morgan under the night sky, gazing at the stars with a fond expression, spilling her life story to her. 

As a young girl, Guinevere was dazzled by monster kind. Born human, she felt there was so much to be discovered in magic and mythology. She felt it a shame that humanity was so quick to turn a blind eye to something so beautiful due to its differences in appearance. Her inclination in performing arts made her dream of a world where she could use performance to change a deep-seeded ideal within the societal structure. She’d sit next to her window sill, eyes twinkling with delight, wishing upon stars that someday her dream would become reality.  

For a woman such as herself, an objective of that nature was unheard of; impossible even. Nonetheless, she persevered. She wanted to tell the world that as a woman she would create art like no other and she would make a change for the supernatural of all origins. With a cigar between her lips, she rolled up the sleeves of her dress and got to work. She specifically sought out other women of mythological backgrounds for her acts. By 1890, she’d created the “Moonlight Circus” with the help of supernatural people she’d met along the way. In a small corner of Paris, France, it stayed. Given that monsters were still looked down upon by mankind, they’d been spit on, leered at, and dismissed by the public. As decades passed without much luck, her hope slowly began to dwindle. 

Gwen spent many restless nights wandering the streets of Paris, desperately trying to spread word of the big top containing wonderous spectacles to no avail. Just as she was close to giving up an aspiration she’d clutched tight since childhood, an American traveling carnival approached her. The owner, a large man who was only ever seen adorning a velvet suit, believed there was promise in her bazaar. He saw something no one else but Guinevere considered possible: an opportunity for change. In a society where her family within the tent were nothing but social rejects, outcasts; they along with everyone like them could be so much more. The man, kinder than Gwen could have ever hoped, opened up about his beliefs and desire to have her circus as an attraction in his fair. And she accepted with insurmountable glee.  

So, a new chapter for the big top began. With this foreign carnival, she traveled and built up her crew from nothing but sheer will. She continued her exploration and found many monstrous beings with the same ideology to join as performers. Word soon got out of the fantastical bazaar that made its way around the world. As opinions of the inhuman began to evolve with new generations, so too did their desire to know more. And eventually, they had a crowd; an adoring audience astounded by the display of otherworldly figures. Now, the carnival has made its permanent home in New Mexico, USA, and the circus by extension.  

“Think it’ll be packed tonight, Gwen?” Morgan already knew the answer, but figured it would be polite to make small talk.  

“Yes, absolutely my dear.” Guinevere continued to drag her to a slit in the circus tent. She placed her cigarette holder between her lips and used her palm to gently spread the opening, revealing a backstage area. It was renovated to be a dressing room; gothic aesthetic to match the theme, for all the performers pre-show. It was a much smaller canopy structure installed into the side of the main show tent. Despite the ground being grassy terrain, the room itself was well done. Dark oak vanities covered the walls, steampunk and alternative costumes littered any free space, and makeup laid atop every flat surface.  The spherical bulbs lining the mirror of the vanities were all lit a dim white light, illuminating the room enough so it was not pitch black.  

Light chatter and giggles filled the room as everyone who performed in the circus continued to get ready. 

The first person to notice Morgan’s sudden appearance was Gwen’s daughter, Victoria. Her eyes instantly brightened and a large Cheshire grin grew to meet her eyes. Vicky’s poofy raven black dress bounced as she sprinted towards her. The ivory petticoat underneath made the lace skirt fuller and frilly. The undead theme seemed to run in the family; Vicky being the zombie to her mother's bloodsucker and her father's skeletal remains. Her skin and teeth were rotten and oozing. Her hair was almost floor-length, and unbelievably matted. The knots at the base of her skull were so large you could have mistaken them for golf balls wrapped inside her tresses. A pair of filthy copper goggles rested on her forehead, the lenses murky and caked in blood. Between her toothy smile was a large cigar. There was no way to pinpoint the brand, as it was only labeled with a strange rune Morgan had never seen before.  Apparently, she had been taking a drag from the cigar, because smoke began to leak out of the holes in her skin.

Vicky launched her small form into Morgan’s arms. Morgan struggled to grip her as the foul stench her rotten flesh emanated was near unbearable. Swallowing down an audible gag, she smiled at the little girl before placing her gently back onto the grass.  

“Morgan! You’re going to love my act tonight.” Victoria loudly claimed, holding her fists to her chest with a grin still plastered upon her lips. Morgan couldn’t help but return the expression. Vicky was a sweet girl. A demented undead one, but sweet nonetheless. “I’m sure I will, Vicky. You’ll kill it tonight.” She seemed to have chosen the right words, because Vicky’s grin only got wider as she bounced up and down, skirt floating with her movement. She made gestures referencing explosions and tried to explain how her act tonight would go, but her words were so jumbled they were not understandable in the slightest. Her enthusiasm continued to increase alongside her violent movements before her mother placed a hand on her small shoulder.  

“Now, now Victoria, you’re talking so fast no one can understand you, dear. She’ll get to see your performance soon anyway, so let's keep it a surprise.” Gwen chided her daughter sweetly. “Ok, mommy.” Vicky heeded her mother's words and scurried to the side to search for her favorite lighter, cigar bouncing between her decayed teeth.  Cigar smoke trailed behind her figure. Gwen shook her head at her daughter’s antics, gripping the cig holder between her lips to take in a puff of nicotine. 

Victoria was the product of forbidden love between Guinevere and Pierre, a formerly vampiric man she’d encountered while searching for spectacles to join her circus. The traveling carnival had traversed Europe and decided to take camp for a while in the French countryside. Gwen had been overjoyed to be in her mother country again. She languished in the smell of the air and the sounds of nature like music to her ears. On a particularly stormy night, a vampire man with hair as light as wheat and skin as pale as snow knocked at the door of her bedroom within a quaint little inn. She opened the door to see him drenched in rain. The revenant, Pierre, gave her a goofy smile and asked for a part in her monstrous sideshow. 

While puzzled, she wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity. Pierre and Guinevere grew close the more they worked at the fair together. They both had a passion for performing and magic. Romance blossomed; eventually, they eloped and she became pregnant. It was uncommon for vampires to conceive children, let alone with one of mankind. Guinevere was a woman of adventure and risk, so she took this new development in stride. In the excitement of her family growing larger, she decided to have Pierre turn her. Neither realized the possible problems that would arise from changing her into a vampire while bearing a child.  

And so, when Victoria was born, she was sickly and frail in every sense. Her genetics were corrupted by the change her mother took on while carrying her. Her personality, though, could be described as nothing but robust. Vicky as a toddler would often act as if she were not terminally ill; watching the acts in her mother’s circus with enraptured eyes, even participating in the choreography herself from time to time. 

Guinevere often spoke of a time in which Vicky had climbed into the cannon without anyone noticing and failed in trying to light it with one of her old cigars. She had rushed over in a panic, tearing her from the barrel before the flame grew closer. She checked over her body and, once assured she was not injured, inquired what she had been thinking. Victoria, the overzealous little girl she was, could only laugh with a large smile plastered on her face. “I wanted to fly mommy!”  

As she grew older, her body deteriorated. By age five she could barely walk. By six she couldn’t at all. At seven, she no longer had the energy to speak. At the young age of eight, she could only watch the performing women with a blank smile before she passed. For days they grieved over her. They left her cadaver laying on her satin bed sheets as she was before her death, in anguished hopes they could find a way to bring her back to them. After tirelessly searching for any form of necromancy that could revive her, Guinevere entered Victoria’s bedroom to adjust her as she did every day. Only to be startled by her daughter sitting upright and speaking to her.  

“Mommy, can I go play at the circus now?” Victoria bounced off the bed with newfound strength in her rotten limbs. Gwen could only rush to hug her baby who was with her once more. Undead, but with her despite everything. From that day on she allowed Victoria to become a full-time member of the bazaar. The human (zombie) cannonball. With a body that could be put back together, no working pain receptors, and a passion for explosives and theatrics, she fits the part flawlessly.  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The smaller tent was filled with a variety of supernatural women, the circus only having female staff. While most continued with their activities, some turned her direction and welcomed her. The parts in the circus were relatively small compared to most other acts, but the integration of monsters and mankind made up for it.  

Every single person handpicked by Guinevere herself, the cosmetologists, background musicians, and stage crew were all fairies. They each had varying sizes and shades of iridescent butterfly wings, and tight thigh-length dresses made from leaves and spider silk. While not as small as fae are typically depicted in human literature, they reached only about 3 feet and hovered above ground with a light flap of their appendages; they had the grace of hummingbirds. Faes are known for their artistic and musical capabilities. There were twenty-three pixies on set, all of them being gentle girls with a heart of gold. Their love of all life made them a wonderful asset to this circus promoting coexistence. Currently, they fluttered around tidying the room and freshening up the faces of the main performers.  

The ‘clowns’ of the act were all young shapeshifters. All fifteen of the women were from different cultures, shapeshifters being in a large majority of mythology; making them unique despite the similarities in capacities. Their abilities were used to shift them from playful clowns to dangerous animals to be used in other’s acts. While their personalities were all very different, each of them loved performing at the Moonlight Circus. Some spoke amongst themselves, shimmying into tight leotards and fixing their updos. A few of them, though, struggled to keep Victoria from swallowing handfuls of gunpowder. Especially with a lit cigar in her mouth.

“VICKY NO-” A wet splat hit the wall and a giggling head rolled at their feet. The shifters looked in disgust at their blood-stained clothes and scolded the decapitated head of the little girl. The others just laughed at the normally terrifying sight. 

 Morgana turned her eyes away, cringing internally, but knowing full well she’d be back on her feet in a few minutes. 

The main acts were very typical of a circus; the women enacting them were anything but. The designated tight rope walker was an Arachne woman named Magnolia. Her form was that of a tall human, her body could only be described as pear-shaped. Despite her form being humanoid, she had skin that was a smooth charcoal black and a spider abdomen attached to her lower back. The abdomen was a sunshine yellow covered in symmetrical white spots on either side. The pedicel connecting it to her body was the same tone as her skin. She also had eight spindly appendages protruding from the middle of her spine, each striped black and yellow. Magnolia had shoulder-length wavy hair a banana color with frayed strands of spider webs tangled within. Despite the frightening six extra eyes lining her temples, she was a kind eccentric woman. As the aerialist, the tightrope she walked during each performance was a magnificent braided rope made of her webbing. Magnolia was sitting on a cushioned stool, twisting her thread into a complicated bracelet, only glancing up to grace Morgan with a polite smile and greeting.  

Delane and Clio, however, wasted no time in rushing to make conversation with her. 

“Yo, Morgan! We’ve been looking for ya. Can you help me into this wetsuit?” Clio loudly proclaimed, simultaneously carrying her lover, Delane, in her arms bridal style. The duo is the aquatic performers of the show. Clio is a water nymph with connections to the Greek god Poseidon. She willingly took on a human female’s appearance, but that could not hide the divine aura that radiated off her very being. She had a lean build but still held all the strength a creature with holy connections such as herself should have. Her head was bare of hair and her ears pointed in an elf-like fashion. She stumbled around in a limp bedazzled wetsuit pulled up her hips halfway, the skin of her upper half an olive tan.  

“Seriously dude, I’m struggling here.” 

Delane was a mermaid, a perfect match to Clio’s Nereid. Her Prussian blue scaled tail hung limply over her girlfriend’s arm. The trawl half of her body closely resembled a koi fish. The caudal fin was long and thin, like fine silk flowing with the movements of Clio’s jerks. A dorsal fin ran down the back of it, getting smaller as it reached the end of her tail. She also had multiple pelvic fins running down the sides; the fins at the top were much larger than the ones at the end. They were all light cyan. The scales from her tail ran up her stomach, becoming much more scattered as they reached the dark skin of her breasts. Her hair was a short black pixie cut with a shaggy top, ending at the gills just below her chin.  

“Yeah, uh, maybe hurry before she drops me, please.” Delane nervously spoke. She wore a necklace composed of seashells and stones from the shore of her home, matching Clio’s own as a symbol of devotion between them. Together, they enacted a beautiful water-based act that captivated every audience we had.  

Morgan laughed at Clio’s predicament before moving to help her into the suit. Just as she got a grip on the neoprene material a strong voice halted them.  

“You could’ve just asked me, Clio. Here I got you.” Large calloused hands assisted her in her efforts. Morgan turned her head to Anastalia. Anastalia was the strong woman act of the circus. Like many of those hired here, a part of her resembled that of mankind, but she was very obviously not human. Her upper half was the build of a shredded woman: pulsing muscles, large bulging breasts, defined abs, intimidating biceps. She looked as if she was carved by the gods themselves. Her bottom half, while just as muscular, was that of a black stallion. Her four large hooves clapped against the ground in a deafening display and her dark tail broke the sound barrier like a whip. The hair atop her head was a dark brown with a sheen that made it glint in the light. Her long straight locks cascaded down the flesh of her shoulders a similar shade, reaching the small of her back.  

Anastalia peers up from the suit to bicker teasingly with Clio. She galloped gracefully in circles around them, admiring her handy work. “Eh, to be honest, I think it needs to be a bit bluer at the hips.” She quipped thoughtfully. Clio and Delane exchanged a glance and giggled in unison. Clio responded, “You’re one for detail, but let me tell ya, you don’t look it.” She lets out a boisterous laugh, keeling over slightly, causing Delane to screech in fear of being dropped and grip her shoulders tighter. Anastalia only rolled her eyes.  

“Har har, laugh it up, I’m not just a brute. I’m also an artist.” She struck a pose that had Clio cackling harder and Delane protesting louder. Morgan shared a laugh with them, her sides aching. Loud footsteps behind her turned her attention away for a moment. “C’mon Lanira, hurry!” Vicky, seemingly back to normal after spontaneously combusting, ran and jumped in a very abstract dance with her friend. Lanira, an incorporeal little girl resembling that of a cartoon witch floated around her at a much slower pace. “I’m going as fast as I can Vicky.” Lanira’s tone was much less enthusiastic. She had a slight cockney accent. 

Her dark flowing gown had no shape to it, more like a sack made of cotton. Her sleeves puffed out and tightened below her palms that gripped onto a translucent 19th-century broomstick underneath her. She twirled around with Victoria, who was still jumping around and flailing in her interpretative art form. Her wide-brimmed hat had a large peak at the top that dipped down at the very point. It was navy blue and held a wide variety of jewelry and trinkets that dangled down. Bits of cloth hung off the edge with pearls woven into it.  

Lanira had become a ghost after a ‘mishap’ with one of her spells backfiring. As the magician of the big top, she experimented with plenty of dangerous enchantments. One moment she was but a mangled corpse of a girl with crippling insomnia, and the next she was a spirit with large eyebags, continuing with her act as if death had not just occurred before everyone’s eyes. As the specter of a young talented sorceress, she must have expected this possible outcome and kept a few “tricks” up her sleeve. She kept with her act even after her untimely demise, even increasing the intensity now that death was no longer a possibility.  

Morgan took a long drag of her cigarette and continued to gaze in amusement. Lanira half-heartedly attempted to keep up with Victoria, the zombie child still lost in her own little world.  

“Alright, everyone! It’s time to get this show on the road once more, as they say.” Gwen chuckled at herself lightly. The room erupted in conversation and scrambling to get in costume in time. The pale woman approached her once more. “Will you please start allowing entry, dear?” She nodded at her, cig between her lips bobbing. “Of course.” She smiled and made her way out of the dressing room.  

The flap quietly closed behind her form as she made her way to her ticket booth. She could still hear the loud conversations and shuffling from inside the room. Her steps echoed throughout the stage. The entrance to the inside of the show floor was a large rectangular cut-out with a flap hanging to the side that could be zipped up. The outside of the tent was the same striped colors as the inside, illuminated by the setting sun. The tent performed almost all day, but their largest and most spectacular show was always right after the sunset. It was also the most packed of all their performances.  

The ticket booth was a wooden structure painted red and white. A gigantic sign in the shape of a ticket was placed on the roof displaying the name of the circus. It sat in front of a zig-zagging gate that led to the entrance. She opened the door and stepped inside, admiring the long line that had already formed. The crowd was a diverse amount of people. Some were singular people showing up alone for the show. Some were human couples on a date or parents with their ecstatic children bouncing with joy. There were even some couples that were interspecies; a human and a not-so-human person lovingly interlocked their hands.  

She opened the window of the booth and started accepting tickets from each person. One by one they approached the stall, handing in their crisp voucher, and making their way through the gates to pick up snack food and be seated. The sound of kids giggling and adults speaking with a grin in their voice was heartwarming. Memories were being made here time and time again; the atmosphere never changed. She never got tired of seeing happy faces coming to experience the wonders of the Moonlight Circus. A small crescent moon adorned each ticket that she received and stashed away in a box beside her.  

It took a good long while before each person who had previously bought a ticket was granted entry. She let out a sigh and sucked in some more smoke. She released a lilac cloud into the evening air. The sky was a dusty orange making way for the black of night. She continued to smoke while idly wondering if a storm was brewing. It seemed as if their best shows were when it was pouring rain and thunder broke through the cheers. The sound of Guinevere’s muffled voice over a speaker broke through the silence she’d been basking in.  

“Ladies and gentlemen! I thank you for coming to see our fantastical performers tonight! We hope to amaze you just as every crowd before.” Her words were a cue for Morgana. She laid the cigarette between her lips once more and strode her way into the tent. The tips of her fingers graced over the edge of the tent fabric for a split second. The control panels for the lighting were tucked into another miniature tent attached to the side of the main structure. She could see the sprites flying above and moving the large spotlight from the cameras beside the panels to follow Gwen’s moving figure. The stark white luminescence made her look more ethereal than before.  She continued on, cigarette holder still wedged between her thin lips. 

“We have an awe-inspiring act for you all!”  

“This beautiful lady here did most of the work.”  

Her husband quickly added to her dialogue. “Hush my love.” The crowd quietly chuckled.  

“It’s true.”  

“Pierre!” 

“Sorry, sorry!”  

The audience roared with more laughter.  

Under the dim lighting of the rest of the stage, she could make out the two fluffy skirts of the little girls waiting for their first part in the choreography. One was fidgeting and prancing around in the dark, not only disguised by the lack of light but the cloud from her cigar. The other floated just above the ground, flying around the other body in circles. Morgan placed her fingertips on the switches and pushed them up very slightly. The area brightened enough for the stage to be somewhat visible but kept the two hidden from their awaiting audience.  

“Each of our performers is a woman with grace, power, and most of all, a love for their part here.”  

Recovering from her husband's unethical interruption, she made her way up to the round platform on the stage. The spotlight followed in sync. She turned suddenly to face the stands, her skirt twirling above her feet.  

“We give you our best and only our best!” Gwen spoke into the microphone with glee, her visible scarlet eye piercing the crowd. “The Moonlight Circus has been our pride and joy for many decades. Tonight, we strive to show you exactly why!” She gave them a beautiful motherly smile.  

“Now please.” 

“Stay seated and enjoy the show!” She and the skull of her husband atop her head spoke in unison. She extended one arm behind her, bent the other in front of her middle and bowed.  

“Hey, hey! Careful please!” Pierre screamed as he slipped down slightly. The audience responded with laughter as before. The spotlight shut off and the stage was dim once again, other than the shine of Guinevere’s red cigarette. The crowd went silent. Her footsteps echoed on a different part of the stage. She could very faintly make out dainty shoes running up the steps and hopping into the cannon. One of the two figures was missing from their spot to the side. 

Morgan’s fingers danced on the panel, letting excitement coarse through her. She couldn’t fight the adrenaline rush before each performance commenced. She hadn’t been working there for more than two years, but this circus had become her family. Her home. Each person here has proven to her that the impossible is only so if you believe it is. And each show was a testament to how far they’d come. This circus act alone has been a large part of the progression that’s been made between the supernatural world and human society. They’re more than just a tent of sideshow freaks; they’re artists embracing their bodies and talents to better their lives, and many others.  

She grips the lever with resolve. She knows that to an outsider they may be passing entertainment. But that was progress by itself. This place is a part of her now. And she wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Morgana pushed the handle forward. It clicked in place. The stage lights flicked on in a magnificent spectrum of colors. Gwen’s right hand is extended to the wick of the cannon, holder lighting the end. Her daughter’s tangled mane of hair is just barely visible from the lip. A deafening boom shatters the atmosphere and the show begins.  

#original fiction #commisionwork #oc commission #oc #commission #short story #short stories #writing #fiction #gothic #circus #supernatural #monsters #gore

[itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto]

Sleeping with the director.

A/N: Hi everyone! This is my first Matthew Gray Gubler fiction, so I hope y’all enjoy it! This was requested by @hercleverboy​ and I made a few additions to your request bebeh so I hope you like it! I really enjoyed writing it!

It's another week on the set of Criminal Minds, and Matthew is back to being Spencer Reid. Despite what the press says, you fell in love with Matthew, for well, Matthew. You met him at a Halloween store a few years ago, when you worked there as a temporary store assistant whilst you were at University studying to be a film director. Skip to 3 years later, and after a year of dating, you are now Matthew’s girlfriend, but also his best friend. Before you were a couple, you actually appeared on a few of Matthew’s unauthorized documentaries as his ‘personal assistant’ and the only person Matthew was actually nice to on those documentaries. All of his fans adored you, saying how cute as a button you were and how Matthew just had to ask you on a date.

Today, it’s a big day on set, Matthew has to kiss a witness on a case, and as much as you know Matthew would never cheat on you, you can’t help but get jealous at the idea of Matthew kissing another woman, but at least the actress is married. It’s been on your mind since Matthew got the script, and even though you said its fine, part of it isn’t fine for you.

You smile to yourself in Matthew’s trailer, putting up some Halloween decorations to surprise him, and the fact you didn’t tell him you were on set visiting him. The cast have kept him busy all morning, and away from his trailer. “Okay, whenever you’re ready, send in the Gube.” You text AJ, who was the first person you told you were visiting today.

“Anyways, so see you at lunch and for the next scene.” AJ says outside and goes back to do a scene.

“Yeah, see you.” Matthew says, a little down as he hasn’t seen you in a few weeks. There’s only so much a Skype call can do.

He opens his trailer as you quickly lie on his bed, wearing one of his hoodies which could double up as a dress on you. He sighs not seeing you at first, but smiles at the lights assuming Kirsten did them, he then hears a cough and sees you lying on his bed.

“Hi Gube.” You smile, as a few tears form in his eyes.

“Hi pretty face.” He says and takes his shoes off, mis-matched socks of course and scoops you up and peppers your face with little kisses. “I missed you so much. What a lovely surprise.” He says

You giggle at the kisses, “I missed you too.” You say kissing his lips softly which he returns and deepens it quickly.

“Later Gube, I know you have tomorrow off so we can do whatever your dirty mind has planned then.” You wink as he nods just enjoying you being in his arms.

“Nice hoodie.” He says, as much as you’d both love to have sex, you prefer to enjoy it when Matthew doesn’t have a tight schedule and you can fully enjoy each other’s bodies.

“Borrowed it off my boyfriend.” You smile, as he continues kissing your face.

“Hey.. Y/N..” He begins, needing to tell you it’s the kiss scene today.

“Yeah Gube?” You smile, putting your hands on his cheeks, knowing he loves it.

“It’s that scene today…” He whispers as you nod looking down. “Hey.. You know I love you right? She’s just an actress... and you’re so so much more than that.” He says lifting your head gently. “I love you.” He says softly.

“You do?” You say, as a tear rolls down your cheek. Even though last time you saw Matthew you said ‘I love you’ for the first time, him saying it, either in person or Skype, never gets old.

“I do.” He smiles, rubbing your tear from your cheek with his thumb.

“I love you too.” You smile, kissing him again. “Can I watch the scene today?” You ask, you recently graduated and have been freelance directing a few small adverts and short sketches, but Matthew bravely asked the crew if you could direct a few episodes after showing them you’re work and they agreed to let you direct one every five episodes, as you did some work experience on set whilst studying, and formed close friendships with everyone.

“Of course, you don’t need to ask. Are you hungry beautiful?” Matthew asks as his tummy rumbles

“Yes. I didn’t eat breakfast this morning.” You say biting your lip. Some mornings you aren’t hungry, especially if you are due on.

“Aww.” Matthew says, knowing exactly what it is and stands up, holding his hand for you. “Just eat something now and we can get ice cream later, ok?” He offers as you nod.

At lunch, you chat with the cast members, mainly about the next episode you’re directing, and you have brought your big file with you with all of your notes. When Matthew directs, he does drawings of each scene whereas have about a page of notes for each page of the script. “It’s like looking into your mind.” Paget says admiring your handwriting.

“I can’t wait to see if you wear a director scarf.” AJ says, knowing Matthew always wears one when he directs, as do the fans of the show.

“I wear fluffy jumpers and hoodies.” You smile, snuggling into Matthew’s hoodie as a breeze hits you.

Matthew puts his arm around your waist and puts a slice of pizza in front of you.

“Here pretty face.” He says and eats his pizza.

You smile, and eat the pizza noticing he got you the piece with the most cheese on it. “Thanks.” You say kissing his cheek, as the actress who Matthew is kissing in the afternoon walks in. She’s perfect. You try to focus your mind on what Matthew said earlier, but it still likes to pop up every few minutes.

The set bell rings

“You ready lovely?” Matthew asks, holding his hand out for you.

You nod, putting your file back in his trailer quickly and skip over holding his hand.

“You got tomato sauce on your cheek.” You giggle wiping it off with a tissue.

On set

“Okay so Matthew, if you stand here.. Elizabeth.. Here please. So, remember she’s distraught about her terrible date and Matthew, Spencer, offers to make it better.. and you both kiss.” The director says, as you bite your lip to prevent you from saying anything you shouldn’t.

During the kiss, you notice Matthew seems a little off and a little nervous, which is strange as he has done this show for ten years, he knows what he is doing.

“ACTION.” He calls and the scene starts and finishes with the kiss. “CUT. Now, a different angle.” He says as everyone gets back into position.

“Can I suggest something?” You ask the director, Sam.

“Sure.” Sam smiled, always happy to listen to your thoughts. “Jemma, can you do Elizabeth’s make up please?”

“Don’t hate me.” You began as Sam laughed, “But what if I was the witness? Matthew looks really uncomfortable kissing Elizabeth, I’m not saying that because I’m Matthew’s girlfriend, but if you watch it back, you can see how tense he looks.” You say

“Now who’s a profiler in real life?” Matthew chuckled sipping his coffee. “But you’re right my queen… I feel a bit odd kissing a woman that isn’t my girl. Sam, can we give it a shot?”

Elizabeth kicks up a scene, and Sam rolls his eyes at her. The actress has a history of making a scene if things don’t go the way she wants.

After a quick change, you walk back on set. “How do I look?” You ask giving a twirl.

“Adorable but I do prefer you in my hoodies.” Matthew said

Sam gives you some stage directions and Matthew’s stay the same.

“ACTION.” He calls and after a few takes, “CUT!”

But you and Matthew are still kissing, Sam doesn’t say anything and neither does anyone else.

After a few moments, you break the kiss. “I’m sorry.” You say to Matthew looking down.

“Why are you sorry boo?” Matthew asks, putting his hands on your waist.

“Because I got jealous… and well, I didn’t like watching what I saw.” You pout.

“Hey.. When I kissed her, between us, it was awful, and I’d much rather get paid to kiss my girlfriend than some actress. But, kissing you is payment in itself.” Matthew reassured you.

“You’re an idiot, but you’re my idiot.” You smile

“I love you.” Matthew says

“I love you too.” You smile.

The rest of the day, you re-shot the scenes with you being the witness on the case and starting to go through your ideas of how you are going to direct the next episode. In the evening, you and Matthew had your ice cream date, followed by watching a film and having sex a few times.

“Wow.” You say lying next to Matthew and snuggle into his arms after you come down after your orgasms.

Matthew laughs, kissing your forehead admiring your naked body as you kiss all over his chest. “It’s adorable how you assumed we’d be having sex tomorrow... Not tonight.” He said

You roll your eyes and giggle, “Can’t help it when I’m dating a sex god who got horny watching me lick an ice cream.”

Matthew laughed kissing your forehead again. “I can’t believe I slept with the director!”

You roll your eyes, “Just don’t tell your girlfriend.” You say, giggling after trying to keep it together.

“I love you.” Matthew smiles, kissing your lips softly and he waits until you close your eyes before he closes his.

“I love you too.” You smile and go to sleep.

A/N: Well, I hope y’all enjoyed that! My requests are open if anyone has any requests for either Matthew or Spencer. Please comment below, or send me a message if you’d like to be on my taglist!

Taglist: @pumpkin-goob​ , @jpegjade​ , @andiebeaword​ , @hopebaker​ , @hotchsbabygirl​ , @hercleverboy​ , @cupcake525​ , @gubetube​ , @aperrywilliams​ , @cosmic-psychickitty​ , @marleyhotchner​ 

#Criminal Minds #Matthew Gray Gubler #Matthew Gray Gubler fluff #Matthew Gray Gubler fiction #my fics

[carmenxjulia]

Another Duane interview transcript, coming at you! This one was from a smaller Carmen Sandiego chatroom. There were several interviewers, so that’s why the name of the question asker changes. Get the details below the break! Stay tuned, more interview transcripts coming soon.

Duane Capizzi:

HI EVERYONE! I'M IN!

Sorry I'm late, I got lost on the way haha. Then got lost trying to change my PFP

Thanks for gathering! Shall we get started? Let's do some Q&A!

(as long as they are not geography questions haha)

Fuel:

What characters or plot points were cut from the final product?

Duane Capizzi:

Ooo, starting with a right hook to the jaw!

Let me think about that for a moment: I'm hesitant to give too much away because I'm really hoping we can tell more stories in this world at some point

Which is to say, we tend not to waste anything: if we don't use it when we originally planned, we usually find a way to use something later - and there's usually a "karmic" reason that we waited.

I'll also preface by saying this: I know season 3 was more of a mini-drop and some felt season 4 was rushed. But I wish EVERY season were longer. Season 1: ideally, i wanted the Pilot to be its own event and 10 more episodes after that (but we had to tell the post-Pilot story in 7. At the end of the day, that had its benefits: we got to the Shadowsan turn earlier and I think that's when a lot of viewers realized the ride they were truly in for). Season 2: we initially figured we'd need 5 episodes to have Carmen doing the ACME dance with Chief, and wound up doing it in 3 - mostly because it quickly became clear that Rio needed to be a 2 parter, and the Zack and Ivy backstory a rough 2 parter. So we squeezed 3 episodes worth of plot into 209. It was exhilarating!

So, we had hoped to have more episodes for Season 4 of course. We had a ton of ideas and had to compress things a bit. But honestly in many ways it was for the better. I know we all wanted to live in this world longer, but I think sometimes the flip side is true - when you have big ongoing storylines, it can get frustrating when some things drag out too long. But, we got all the "story" we wanted to tell in Season 4 - we just lost some "incident" if that makes sense. We would have taken longer to get there.

So, all that preface to answer the question: we wanted to do more musical numbers! We had a Bollywood dance sequence in a return to India caper with Paperstar. We wanted to do a famous Elvis suit theft in Las Vegas during an Elvis impersonator convention (Shadowsan's an early elvis guy; Brunt likes the Vegas "jumpsuit" era). We also wanted to do a thread where Gunnar gets captured by ACME so that Julia could interrogate him and he could play mind games with her a la Hannibal Lector and Clarice. CAVEAT TO ALL THIS: these were some ideas that were bouncing around, that may not have seen the light of day if we couldn't get them to work. But they were on our wish list.

re: "other stories" - I could live with these characters for another 32 episodes easily and there have of course been discussions. But alas, that is up to the powers that be. Let's keep fingers crossed - and keep the Carmen love alive online so that someone up there takes note

There is more of course, but those are some things that spring to mind.

Fuel:

Were there any scenes cut for time that were your favorite?

Duane Capizzi:

Not much springs to mind: our directors were amazing at getting everything in the scripts to fit naturally (and in fact, I was the one who was usually suggesting trims to let other things breathe, etc). We were limited to 22 minutes of episode time, NOT counting front and end credits so a little longer than the average show. We have a pretty good idea when the SCRIPT is too long, so the cutting usually happens at script stage before it gets to the board crew so that they don't waste efforts over-boarding material that won't be used.

We had hoped to build out Chase and Carmen teaming up for the first time, meeting at Carmen's hotel lobby etc for more scenes of them together; but had to reduce that to get that all to fit in the VERY packed episode 406. But again, tighter was fine considering. That's one area that leaps to mind. (note that when I say packed, I don't mean that in a bad way: we spend a lot of time pouring over details in editing to make sure everything gets its due).

If I think of anything, I'll circle back at a later point. But the simple answer is that scenes were usually trimmed or compressed at script rather than board or animatic. So nothing comes to mind. I know it's hard to believe, but "shorter is usually better."

except for my answers to fan questions of course

Fuel:

We saw that in s4 episode 6 that Julia's mother(?) is wearing a necklace remarkably similar to the one Julia wears all the time. Is this the same necklace and if so, why was it given to Julia?

Duane Capizzi:

Just when I thought I was detail oriented! Wow! You guys blow me away

I can't take credit for that: it was either the board artist or director who added that. They do slip things in! As I've said before, EVERYONE on the crew really brought their A-game and were as deep thinking and as passionate as I was/am about the show.

It's a nice detail and I would say your interpretation works!

It took me three or four reviews before noticing that the team had slipped in baby Carmen near the play set in Mom's front yard at the end of 408. When I caught it, I was like: bravo!

Fuel:

When they first met, Zack and Ivy said to Carmen that they were the only family they had, do you know what happened to the rest of Zack and Ivy's family?

Duane Capizzi:

I don't. At least, I don't yet until such a time that I might have the opportunity to explore that. It was important to their relationship with Carmen that they be orphans, so they had that common bond (aside from being "thieves who steal from bad guys" - even if it was only gonna be one time for Zack and Ivy).

I know there are writers out there who like to do entire bio's for characters up front but i'm not one of them. It could be a trap in many ways. I like to have a general idea but be open to the demands of the ongoing storyline. You discover things along the way - it's like you're taking a journey with the characters by writing them, and the longer you spend, the better you get to know them (that was not a prepared statement by the way - I just made that up but I'll have to use it again :). So in Z/I's case it wasn't important to the story or Carmen's relationship, we felt. Conversely, we STARTED with Shadowsan's family backstory with 203, but more important to me was that we use it as a platform to explain why he stays with Carmen and crew. He really has no home at that point, so it was relevant to the present ongoing story. Which is what made that especially powerful to me.

Also, there's always a push-pull between telling character back stories while balancing them with ongoing episodic plots. You have to service both. If you just tell back story, then you're writing a biography

Arden:

What was the biggest challenge when designing these characters, especially the pre-existing characters from the series in the 90's?

Duane Capizzi:

This is probably more of a question for Chromosphere, re: challenges. But from my standpoint overseeing that process, the first thing I'll say is that we weren't necessarily trying to be "true" to those characters since we reinvented nearly every one from the ground up. (with the exception of Carmen of course - her trademark red hat/coat weren't going anywhere! But mostly the update with Carmen was in the styling of her "outerwear"

ALTHOUGH: I will admit that I was pushing for Carmen to have shorter hair as Carmen. I thought it would be a cool update. Chromosphere were really passionate about giving her long full hair and I have to see that they were right. The short tomboy cut worked so well for Black Sheep anyway. We had a different hair style for each of her ages.

So about the reinventions: Gunnar is in spirit a similar character to the original (old colleague in Vile and an early mentor if I remember), but his presentation completely different. We weren't trying to be "in canon" with the original. The beauty of CSD is that every incarnation has been its own entity so that freed us to reimagine the characters. THE CLEANERS, for instance: gimme some Cleaner love! There were a pair of janitors from the original game named RICK AND NICK ICK. They were literally janitors, it was too silly for our purposes. But, it's one small step to make them "Cleaners" (in the sinister hit men sense) - and lo, our reinvention.

So to summarize the answer to your question, they weren't really challenges to me so much as FUN to creatively reinvent the original characters (many of which were from the game, so not really "characters" per se with dialogue and inner lives). Whenever we could, we tried to use character names from the originals and update their looks and personalities. Where we couldn't find an equivalent for what we needed, we created characters from whole cloth. For instance, it seemed a miss to do a heist show without a tunnel guy and a high rise climber guy. Hence, LC & ET, everyone's favorite taco truck vendors!

(yes, i've seen some short hair carmen fan art on Twitter - someone did a great one recently!)

Arden:

Are there plans to give us more of the characters in, say, novel/graphic novel form?

Duane Capizzi:

I know HMH has done a bunch and no doubt have more in works. There's currently a novelization of the Pilot with some additional material if anyone's interested. I consulted on the second one, Clue for Clue, because it falls in the timeline while Chase was still Interpol/pre-Acme so was tricky.

And depending on whether another series in this canon makes it to air, I may just approach them about writing one or two myself to get some "further adventures" our there. Anything is possible!

Arden:

If you could go back and change anything about the series, what would it be?

Duane Capizzi:

File under anecdote, but there was what I felt was an important expression on Gray that kept me awake at nights, from his graduation ceremony at Vile. When we revisited those flashbacks in the Gray arc in Season 4, I had them change his expression there (to be more evil less innocent). We had it corrected in 404 so was able to get permission to have Netflix "fix" the Pilot by adding that shot in. I am tenacious!

We really poured over everything, it's the series that I have virtually zero complaints with the end product to be honest. But the simple answer is: I would have gone back to 106 and "un-greek'd" Gray's nametag. It's sort of a rule for international that we scramble signage (which is weird for a show that takes place in many countries/languages, I know I know). It's mostly for localization/translation reasons. And I'm sure there are some countries where Gray's name might be spoken differently. But as a proper name, I think we could have made an exception and seen "Gray" on his name tag. See? Details! But that's about the worst of it

there's also like one small line from Chief in 208 where she indicates she knows Carmen is a good guy (something to that effect) which I felt was too absolute and would have tweaked the line to temper it a bit. It's tiny, but looking back it sort of bugs me and I kick myself for not catching it. But this is absolutely the series I wanted and couldn't be happier.

Carmen:

How did Carmen know she could trust Julia? As far as we know, she has not seen or heard Julia defending her, and in the Fashionista Caper, Julia even held up her gas gun to her, saying she was under arrest. Do you have any opinions on this? Was it just intuition?

Duane Capizzi:

I'm gonna go with intuition

Carmen was raised on an island with some hardened criminal types. I think she's a pretty good judge of character. Poor Julia, trying to be tough with Carmen didn't suit her.

But, great observation! I'd have to mentally step through everything to see if Carmen had any earlier indication but i think you're right there.

Yes, sometimes you just gotta follow your heart

Carmen:

Are there any characters that didn't actually interact that you think would get along well?

Duane Capizzi:

Amazing question! First, I'd have to think more about who DIDN'T meet - you're asking the hard questions haha. But "get along well" is very specific! Hmmm, care to volley anyone?

I'll also add that so many smaller moments get lost in the "binge" of it all, but I am surprised how few fans have noted the first meeting between Player and Julia. THAT was a good one IMO! Very sweet!

Before getting back to your question, I also want to add that we were originally going to find a way for Carmen to lose her earring in Stockholm so that Julia could pick it up and be communicating with Player. BUT, I cut it at treatment stage because I knew we didn't have room in that episode to service it. Circling back to questions 1 & 2, another case where it turned out better saved for later IMO (saving Player meeting Julia, not to mention the earring business in 402 with Ivy).

Oh of course, Julia and any of the other Vile members. It would have been Gunnar for my vote, as mentioned earlier. We probably would not have had Julia meet anyone else and mixed it up more. I like that Cleo sort of became J's personal nemesis.

YES, SONIA & XIFENG (and LUPE PELIGRO, if I can add). The intent was (and is, if we ever get to revisit) to see them again in Carmen's travels. We started to expand Carmen's world but when we finally learned the finite number of episodes we had to finish the story, we drilled back down into the essentials. Would love to see them some day!

I'm hesitant to share too many things I have in mind in this forum for hope that they will see the light of day one day. You know, "spoilers"

Julia:

Do you have any opinions on Zari? Just in general? Some thoughts on her backstory would be nice if possible

Duane Capizzi:

I love Zari! I really don't have any back story on her at this point. She was originally just "Agent B" but when the need arose to give story points to another agent, we chose her because she looked so awesome! And Sharon Muthu gave voice to her so wonderfully.

I love when we finally teamed her with Chase. Hopefully the anticipation was that she would give him a hard time. I love that we defied expectation (organically, of course) and had her respect him by the end of that episode (for believing that he foiled Carmen!)

Julia:

Do you have any thoughts on small facts about any character, major or minor, that you think are fun/interesting to think about, but don't necessarily add to the plot itself?

Duane Capizzi:

Bellum, like myself, likes cats. But you knew that!

I try to put everything pertinent on screen, doing double duty to service any given episode's story but also the overarching story. That "journey" thing I mentioned earlier - we had no idea Chase falling on his own car would be a thing when I first came up with it. But as other characters refer to the incident, it took on a life of its own and made the characters feel more real.

Sorta kinda related to this question and some earlier ones, I will say that I DO think there's more to learn about Shadowsan's past vis a vis Lady Dokuso: it's clear to me that they have a history together, and it's something I hope to explore someday soon (maybe in a book if not another series

Julia:

Are the Carmen Sandiego books a part of canon?

Duane Capizzi:

I only consulted on the first two or three (too busy with series!) and have not read them, so hard for me to answer in a definite way. They are definitely in the universe we've created, but not in the timeline that I know of (which would have been too hard to pull off with our script development running concurrently). But do know that the book team at HMH pays close attention to the series and world so they should be perfectly compatible. Look no further to their clever social media on the series for example.

Kenz:

We saw in season 4 that Julia and Carmen helped each other mid to long term; would there ever be a possibility that Julia would permanently or semi-permanently join team Red?

Duane Capizzi:

Of course there's a possibility. But in a sense, with ACME now finally on Carmen's side, in a sense if Carmen were back in the game Julia, Chase, Zack and Ivy would ALL be an extension of Carmen's crew. But, would J remain with ACME or literally come to Carmen's team at her HQ? As they said in an old radio show: "Only The Duane Capizzi knows ..."

Kenz:

Where do you see Carmen in her retirement (if she retires)? Do you think she would still travel the world or settle down somewhere? Similarly, do you have any thoughts on what some other characters could be doing years down the line?

Duane Capizzi:

That is a big question, and one difficult to answer without some potential future spoilers (and yes, I really want to tell more Carmen stories if you can't tell But I'll answer by giving you one "read" on our open-ended ending as seen in 408 (read no further if you haven't seen it - yeah, right haha). The ending suggests to me that Carmen settled down for a spell to forge that relationship with her mother, to make up for lost time. But, if that is indeed Carmen that we see on the rooftop, I think the ending suggests that Carmen doesn't stay still for very long. If Vile is back, there is work to be done! Carmen has a life mission - she's one determined lady.

But of course, it's deliberately ambiguous: "anyone with your heart, wisdom and courage can be Carmen Sandiego." Is it Carmen? Sonia? Someone we haven't met? I think both endings resonate: Caroline and I always said "Carmen is bigger than a person, Carmen is a movement" would be a great message to end the series on. And I think our ending resolves this chapter of Carmen's journey as a person, but also elevates her to mythic status. Which is why I love it!

And, that seems to me a pretty perfect question and answer to end our chat on. Thanks everyone! Again, I cannot tell you how moved I am to see that we have such a passionate, intelligent and talented fan base. THANK YOU.

Take care guys, thanks again for having me! 'night!

#Carmen Sandiego #CS Crew #Duane Capizzi #Interview #Transcript

[myfeetkeepdancing]

What if I requested a Tom fic where they’re at SDCC doing a panel and he introduces everybody to his lovely boyfriend in the middle of it 🥰 (also hi I love your stuff and you’re a delight skdhhsj) - jaws

"Babe, you're glowing." Tom looks at you with a caring expression. "C'mere." Encircling his strong arms around your shuddering figure, pulling you into his comforting embrace. Tom was the only one able to give such incredible hugs. So passionate and caring. It felt safe and so incredibly comforting. Something you could use right now. That feeling of the world collapsing under your feet right here was daunting. Your knees trembling, hands clammy, and throat dry.

 "Two minutes to go." The woman interrupted. She was just doing her job. Deep down, you knew that. But if a look could kill...

 You felt your heart racing like crazy. So many things were going through your mind. "Look at me, babe." Tom's calm, soothing voice brings you back to reality. Holding you by your shoulders. "This is going to be the best day of our lives. Trust me."

 "A-Aren't you nervous?" The words fall stuttering from your lips.

 "No, not all." His hands move down your figure, pulling you in by your hips. Your gaze captivated by his cheeky smile. "I… have been looking forward to his moment since forever." His loving eyes drawing you in. "Because I want the world to see-" Bringing your lips close to his. "-how much I love you." Kissing you soft and tender. "I don't wanna hide our love behind walls and curtains made of out of lies." He smiles. "No, I wanna be able to love you like anybody else can. Show it with pride."

 "T-Tom…" You're only able to mutter, feeling the tears well in your eyes. The pads of his fingers softly caress your cheeks.

 "Please don't cry." He mutters, trying to suppress his quivering lips. "You know I cry easily."

His eyes turning red as well. "I love you so much."

 Sharing a deep and passionate kiss. Before you hear his name being shouted over and over again. His lips part from yours, as you look into his loving eyes. "I love you, Tom."

He quickly rubs his eyes clean as the makeup artist corrects the last bits here and there.

 "I love you." Hugging you again.

 "It's gonna be fine, mate." Harrison's voice was barely hearable over the crowd, cheering. "You're meant for each other." He pats your shoulder. Hiding backstage behind the curtains, you peak at Tom walking onto the stage, waving and smiling. You feel the sweat gushing like a waterfall from your armpits.

 Although Tom and you had discussed it time and time again. Coming to the conclusion that this was the moment to announce your relationship to the world. On the one hand, an extremely proud moment. From day one, you wanted to shout it from the rooftops. Carve it into every tree, write it on every scrap of paper. Tom Holland was your boyfriend. But on the other, also a horrifying moment. Not everyone is as accepting as you'd hope. In all the years, coming out isn't as normal as we'd hoped. It's still being frowned upon. And the worst of all, being treated differently.

 But Tom didn't mind. Tom was always treated differently since being famous. Not in the wrong way. But he had warned upfront; nothing can prepare you for fame. It changes so much. Yet, Tom didn't. You admired him for that. You'd hope that you'd stay the same too. But Tom reassured you. He believed in you. He trusted you. He wanted the world to know. He wanted the world to see. And the moment was right around the corner. As the adrenaline pumped with vast quantities through your veins. Minutes go by — grueling minutes. As if you could hear every second tick on the clock.

 You don't pay attention to the questions. Nor the stories that were shared. Only the sound of your heart pounding between your ears. Gaze fixed on Tom. He seemed so relaxed. Until a moment of silence in the panel appeared. It happened naturally. And Tom took that moment with both hands. "Alright, everyone!" Jumping up from his seat. "I have an announcement to make." Gesturing the others to silence with a hand gesture. But the crowd began cheering and clapping, taking a while to calm down.

 "First of all, I want to thank everyone close to me that knew of this secret. And has kept it that way for a long time. Because, it has been difficult." Tom pauses for a moment, biting his lower lip as he peeks back at you. The crowd grows unusually rowdy.

 "This is about a person. A very special person. Which I have been together for almost two years now." And the crowd wasn't going to calm down any moment. Letting the moment sink in. "Sixteen days short, to be precise." He grins. "I can say that, we faced difficult times. It wasn't easy for both of us. I'm not easy. Believe me. I'm away quite a lot. Spend countless hours on set, traveled to many countries. But this person has always been there for me. Every step of the way. Day and night. Picked me up whenever I felt down. Helped me shape into the person that I am to this day. I owe this person everything." You see his smile stretching even further and further.

 "I do... And I truly hope, that each and every one of you, here and at home. That you will find someone that loves you as this person loves me." Followed by a ooh's and aw's from the crowd. "Because I want the world to meet (Y/N)."

 That was the signal. Your legs started moving without thinking about it. All eyes turn your way. But you only see Tom. Blinding flashes of cameras. The noise of the crowd was unheard of. And the crowd goes absolutely wild as you walk further onto the stage.

 "He-…!" He yells into the microphone, trying to speak over the loud crowd. Opening his arms up to you. "-is the love of my life. My everything. My true one. My boyfriend!"

 The response is overwhelming. You fall into Tom's arms. Struggling not to let your tears of joy run freely. You wave and smile. Before the crowd demands a kiss. And before you can react. Tom turns to you, holds you by both cheeks, and plants his soft lips onto you. Thinking the crowd couldn't get any louder, was absurd. It's deafening. The cheers and smiles of people. You can barely see the people in the front row. But the only faces you see are in tears of joy. You don't understand why. But they keep blowing kisses your way. It's all new and overwhelming. Together with Tom, you pose a few times. Before getting the microphone handed to you by Tom. "You wanna say something?"

 You nod and smile. Tom stays close to you. Like always. His arms reach around you. A lot of cheering and aahs followed. You scrape your throat, feeling the nerves race again. "I-… I wanna thank everyone for this heartwarming welcome. It's all a little overwhelming, but I'm relieved to be received like this. It means a lot to me. And ehm-..."

 "We love you!" Someone from the crowd interrupts your moment of stuttering. And you can't help but smile at this sudden reaction as the crowd cheers you on. Tom kissing you on the cheek.

 "Told you." He whispers in your ear, turning you back to the chairs.

 "Finally!" You hear the cast members shout in harmony as you turn around. "Finally, we're able to share the stories about the two of you." Anthony gasps in relief.

 Then you notice every seat had been taken. You gaze for a moment, where to sit. Did they forget? You feel the eyes of thousands of people burn into your back. Connecting with Tom's eyes, you notice that playful spark and smirk on his face.

 "No, no." He says, extending his arm around your waist, before pulling you in. "You're sitting on my lap, darling." Followed by a burst of laughter all around. "I wanna make sure no one runs off with you."

 "Never let go, Holland. Because you'll never find one like this again." RDJ smiles. "I tell you guys, you wouldn't believe half the things I've seen with those. Best couple!"

 "It's true." Chris piles on. "Tom is a good guy, in every way. But he-..." Pointing towards you. "Is the sweetest, kindest, and loveable person I've met."

 "Oh, you should have seen these two on set." Sebastian jokes. "(Y/N) even got us pizzas when we're shooting late."

 "And provided Tom with juice boxes, of course." Anthony grins.

 "Dont forget the coffees he brought, Anthony."

 "Oh! That's another thing! He remembers each and every ones preferred coffee. It's damn impressive."

 "The way we found out. It's so funny. (Y/N) came backstage. It's during a break, everyone having a coffee and such. Except for Tom, he gets handed a fresh brew of tea. And to thank (Y/N), he just turns in, and takes him right on the lips. At the time, we thought (Y/N) was part of the crew. We just didn't know!

 "I still remember that look on (Y/N)'s face. His eyes shot wide open, looking at everyone, face coloring red, and Tom not aware of anything. And we just sat there in silence, dumbstruck."

 "And then Tom's reaction, when Robert started clapping at the end."

 "Oh yeah, Tom completely freaking out, begging us to keep it a secret."

 "Come on, guys…" Tom protests, scratching the back of his neck.  "I eh…" He giggles and murmurs.

 "Finally, we're able to share those pictures." Chris pulls out his phone. "Check this one out." Holding his screen to the camera. All attention goes the big screen behind you, as the picture gets in focus. A huge picture of you and Tom fills the screen. You and Tom cuddled up together, somewhere backstage. Followed by one of Tom looking at you with big heart eyes, while you do something. Most of the pictures you can't even remember where or when they were taken. And so followed a slideshow of pictures centered on you and Tom. The first ones were awkward to watch, but a sense of joy and sympathy hang about. Sitting on Tom's lap. Your arm around his neck. Sharing stories and telling jokes. You barely noticed the crowd was there. You knew each one of the actors on stage. And had something in common or shared a story with. It felt like a family.

 "Conclusion, rainbows and unicorns are born when these two make love. Adorable!" Robert teases.

"And yes, Holland, I've seen those fogged windows of your trailer."

 You and Tom's face shoot bright red. "This is so embarrassing." Tom giggles, burying his face in your lap.

 "And it wasn't particularly cold outside." He jokes. "No, seriously. In all weirdness and awkwardness. They're the best. They deserve the world. And much more! I love 'em!"

 "Just to be clear, if anyone got a problem with these two…" Robert exclaims. "You better tell me right know, cause-..."

 "...-Tell us you mean." Benedict adds before letting Robert continue speaking. And all the rest of the crew nod in agreement.

 Tom scraping his voice. "Ehm…" His cheeks still bright red, biting his lower lip as he looks at you. Thinking about what he wants to say, suppressing half a smile. "Small announcement. After this, I'll be taking a break."

 "Not from filming." You chime in.

 "Not at all. But I'll be taking a longer break than usual. I've always wanted to travel the world. There is so much to explore. So much to see. So much to experience. It's fun to do with friends. But now, I'm finally able to this will the love of my life. Together with this beauty here." Kissing you on the cheek. "I can't wait." He smiles. "Thanks everyone! Thank you for everything! It means the world to me. I… mean us."

 And so began a trip during months. Stretching far and wide across the globe. Going on road trips and attending parties. Drinking and dining in the best restaurants. Discovering beautiful little hole in the walls. Breakfast in bed. Enjoying a relaxing moment on a quiet beach. A long walk through the mountains. Traveling by boat. A night out in a bristling city, or a drink in a local pub in a quiet little town. Diving at coral reefs. Sleeping in a tent. Or a remote log cabin in the dense forests of Mother Nature.

 Together you've seen it all.

 Experienced it together.

 Together.

#tom holland x reader #tom holland x male!reader #tom holland x male reader #tom holland imagine #tom holland #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #male!reader #male reader

[evergreenstringbean]

There Was Janus

Pairing: Logince, Past Roceit

Rating: PG

Word Count: 1,239 words

Summary: Roman and Logan get to know each other after working in the same touring production for the last month, when Logan asks how Roman got into acting.

Other Notes:  I never write Logince. I was reminded of this song and got Logince vibes. I highkey wanna make this a series but I got so many other series right now so I'll see how this does.This is based off of the song There Was John from Tootsie (btw Tootsie ain't problematic and I will die on this hill)

AO3

 Logan had been touring with the company for the last month and a half as a stage manager. He’d gotten to know most of his coworkers quite well, content to spend time in each new city exploring between shows and getting lunches with the cast and crew. One particular lead, however, he had waited to get to know better on purpose. See, Logan had developed somewhat of a fleeting crush on Roman over the last month and he had feared that speaking with him would either amplify his feeling or kill them entirely. And honestly, he wasn’t sure which of those possibilities were worse. Having crushes in general were cumbersome to Logan. He preferred the ease of friendships and acquaintances. But something in him wanted to see where it went. After all, although crushes were annoying, he did not enjoy the loneliness he often felt in his hotel room after each show was concluded or the times off when he was able to return to his apartment.

 It was the end of a matinee, and Logan decided after everyone had left that it would be a good idea to rest at the hotel before coming back for the evening show. He was just about to step out through the stage door before a voice called out behind him. “Hey, Logan!” He whipped his head around to see Roman, the brightest smile on his face as he approached him. “You heading back to the hotel?”

 “Uh- yes. I am. May I ask why?”

 Roman pulled his messenger bag over his head. “I’m going that way too. I figured we could hang out, maybe get some lunch? Unless you’re too tired or something.”

 Logan blanked for a moment, the fact that he crush was asking to do something with him short circuiting his brain. Eventually, he was able to answer, although his voice was a bit shaky. “No, that sounds perfect. To be honest, I had almost completely forgotten to get lunch.”

 “…How? You’re literally the one making sure all of us have had a good nutritional meal between shows. Isn’t that a little…uh…” he trailed off, looking for the right word until Logan helped him out.

 “Hypocritical?”

 “Yep! That’s it. You’re really smart.”

 Logan opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Roman laughed and pat his shoulder as he made his way up to the stage door. “Come on, I found this great place yesterday down the street.”

 They ended up getting takeout and walking back to the hotel, and by the time they’d made it to Logan’s room and eaten, the two had warmed up considerably to each other. Logan had told him about how he’d wound up as a stage manager, how he’d worked in a few productions in college and promptly changed majors, and how he lived in his apartment in New York City with two cats who lived with his mother when he was working tours. And Roman listened carefully, seeming to hang on to each word that Logan said. He still looked tired from the show, but he’d grabbed a coffee from the restaurant so that was keeping him alert for the conversation.

 “What about you? How’d you get into acting?” Logan asked him, stealing a glance at his watch to see the two still had about twenty minutes before they needed to start heading back to the theater.

 Roman leaned back on the bed, looking to the other on the other side with a reminiscent smile. “I decided to major in theatre in high school, but by the time I was in my senior year of college, I was starting to have doubts about everything. I didn’t feel like a great actor and everyone else in my classes were better than me. But in our spring production, there was a guy in the audience. Janus.” He paused for a second to shift his body, trying to get more comfortable to get further into the story.

 “He came backstage after the show. His friend was one of the ensemble members and brought him back to meet everyone. We hit it off immediately and he told me he’d connected most with my character because I played it so well…we dated for a year before moving in together. Not too long after I was offered a slot in the regional company. I was so excited to get away from a job I hated. I spent all of my time in rehearsals and performances. Janus came to every show, happy to be there to support me. He never complained. We’d go home and spend a few hours together before I had to get up for rehearsals yet again. It took everything out of me, but I loved it.”

 Logan was listened intently to the story, entranced by the way Roman told his life like it was a book. “I started tours a year or so later. Went on the road for month on end, spent an entire summer on the west coast. Janus tried to call every night, and that was the routine for a while. Until one night, he called me and laid everything out. Told me he wanted kids and a married life. That’s when everything clicked for me. This was my life. I’d made my choice long before, but never told him…and when I got home, can you guess?”

 “…Yeah,” he replied quietly, feeling deeply sorry for what he figure happened next.

 Roman nodded once and continued. “He was gone. All his stuff, his clothes, gone. I was alone in our house and I almost broke down. But thinking back on it, I’d do it all the same.” He grabbed a water bottle and took a long drink to get rid of his dry throat. “He lives in Portland now, with his husband and a kid. But here I am, in yet another tour just how I like it. So, that’s how I got into acting.”

 Logan didn’t know what to say. It was a whirlwind of information, but he had wanted to know more about Roman, and he got it. He just hadn’t expected to know about something this deep. “You’re amazing,” he blurted, mortified by the phrase the second it left his mouth.

 The blare of Roman’s alarm on his phone prevented him from answering. “That’s my ten minute warning. We should start heading to the theater.” Logan just nodded in response and silently followed him out of the room and to the elevator. “So, if you’re not ready to pass out from exhaustion after the show tonight, could I take you out to dinner?” he asked as the elevator doors closed.

 The stage manager froze in place, barely hesitating before quickly responding, “Yes-” the way his voice cracked had him clearing his throat and repeating himself. “Yes. I’d like that.”

 “Great,” Roman said with a grin, jumping out of the elevator when it reached the ground floor. “I’ll make sure not to annoy you during intermission, then.”

 Logan spent the entirety of the show more jittery than he’d ever been, both excited and terrified for the proposed date that got closer and closer with every applause from the audience. But oddly enough, there was that same little voice asking him to hang on to his crush that reminded him everything would be okay.

 And looking back years later, he was so grateful to have listened to that voice.

#stringbean drabbles #sanders sides #logince #Roman/Logan

[twokinkybeans]

The Arachnoids: ROCK BAND AU [Starker] - Chapter 4: COFFEE CONFUSION

READ “CHAPTER 4: COFFEE CONFUSION” ON AO3

Find the masterpost with all the chapters linked here!

Taglist: @crystallinecrimsonmoth​​ & @staticwhispersinthedark​​ (Let me know if you want to be added!)

-

Chapter 4: Coffee Confusion

“Goodmorning to our new rock star!” Peter groans when May flips the light switch. The brightness stings his eyes and he grabs the blankets to cover his face. “Morning,” he says groggily. He doesn’t want to leave his aunt standing there so he lowers the sheets after all and peeks at her. “Hi.” “Scoot over,” she orders him. “You gotta tell me everything.” Peter does as she asks and moves a little closer to the wall to create space for her.

May had been very upset that she wouldn’t be able to attend the show. She’d already signed up to help out in the local homeless shelter on New Year’s Eve. As much as she hated that she'd miss Peter's first big set, she couldn’t bail on that. “Well?” She asks, her eyes shimmering with pride. Peter chuckles and enthusiastically tells her all the juicy details. About the huge stage, great crowd and how he still feels that none of it is real. He drops a quick remark about Tony too, but he doesn’t want to spend too much attention talking about the man. Tony's simply not worth it.  “...And we stayed for three more hours having a good time with some crew members. Gosh, May, it’s been… I don’t even know how to describe it!” He chuckles in amazement. “It’s insane, like, what even?!" “I’m so, so proud of you Peter,” May says quietly and leans in for a tight hug. “Alsooo, did you know you made the news?” “What?!” “The reviews about the show are off the charts! And The Arachnoids are mentioned more than once, here lemme show you.” 

Peter turns to sit upright and he stares at May’s phone to read the article she’s talking about. His eyes widen at seeing the headline.

The Arachnoids: Will these talented youngsters make it to The Avengers’ World Tour?

Peter huffs. “As if! There are way more qualified bands than us.” “Yet they asked you for this show.” “Mh,” Peter responds, his lips pressing together. It’s slowly starting to be a little overwhelming. The attention, the praise, the success. When they started The Arachnoids for a high school project four years ago they never thought any of this was possible. “We’ll see,” he says eventually. May nods understandingly and ruffles through his hair. 

“If you go see your friends today, could you maybe hop by the shelter? I forgot my bag there last night.” “Of course,” Peter smiles. “Thank you. You hungry? I made breakfast!” Peter frowns. “What did you make?” “Oh, don’t be so suspicious. I know how to make waffles, thank you very much."

Peter chuckles.

-

“Peter! Hi!”  Peter waves at his friends and walks over to the small table they're seated at. He takes off his thick coat, carefully draping it on the backrest of the chair. He slumps into the seat. “So, how are my famous friends, mh?” He grins and wiggles his eyebrows. MJ laughs and shoves an extra large caramel latte his way. “Not that famous, no one in the shop knows who we are.” “Except for Brad, of course,” Ned chuckles and waves at the barista. Brad’s face lights up and he nods his head at them. MJ shrinks in her seat.

“Hey, you okay?” “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m fine,” she murmurs. Peter sighs and puts his hand on top of hers. She looks up. “Em, we can find a different coffee shop if you want.” “Yes,” Ned joins in. “I’m sorry- For a second I forgot about… Y’know. I’m sorry MJ.”

The girl shakes her head and presses her lips together. Her eyes clearly show that Brad is still a sore spot for her. “No, I’m alright. Really. I don’t want to change my life just because of the breakup. I like this place, and if he’s a part of it… So be it. Can we, uhm, talk about something else?” 

Instantly, Ned starts rambling on about this new Netflix series he and MJ are both watching and Peter smiles. Ned is sweet, knowing exactly what to say to distract her. Peter still feels bad for their friend. MJ and Brad made a cute couple. She'd told Brad that she’s demisexual and how she needed more time to figure out her feelings for him. Just as she started to realize that maybe she did like him like that; he got impatient and left.

It’s been nearly a year now, but it’s clear it still hurts her. Peter wishes he could do something to take her sadness and insecurities away. She’s so scared to meet someone new- scared they might dismiss her for her sexuality as well. That’s why he’d been so thrilled to see her interact with Harley last night. Of course, she doesn’t know the roadie even a tiny bit so any attraction is out of the question. It’s a step in the right direction, though. “Peter, have you started watching it yet?”  “No, not yet, I-”

MJ’s phone buzzes and she frowns.  “I’m sorry, let me check real quick.” She opens the message and Peter cocks his head curiously. She never checks on her messages in the midst of a conversation. MJ giggles and quickly starts typing back, shaking her head lightly. After she sends her message, she puts her phone down and eyes the boys. “What?” “You know what!” Ned teases. “Do tell?” “Guys! It’s just- It’s just, uhm, Harley? He sent us a couple of pictures from our show last night. Didn’t you get them?” Peter forces himself to not smile too broadly.  “I didn’t check yet.” “Me neither,” Ned adds. “Can we see them?” He reaches for her phone, but MJ quickly puts her hand over it, sliding it towards herself. She smiles at them sheepishly, knowing damn well they aren’t stupid.

“It’s nothing,” she stresses. “I swear. Y’know I don’t… Yeah. He wanted my number just in case. He's actually in a discussion with the managers now, lobbying for our band to be the support act on their new world tour.”

“World tour? Wait, so, the press wasn’t just saying things?” Peter is so confused right now. “Does Harley think we’re that good?” “Not just Harley, Pete. Everyone loved us.” “Except for Stark,” Ned scoffs. “He'll die of a heart attack if we join them.” “He hates everyone so I don’t think it matters that much who the support act is,” MJ sighs. Peter swallows, thinking back on his short talk with the man yesterday.

“He… He likes us though. He, eh, told me.” “He what?” “Peter! What happened?!” Peter sighs and wraps his hands around his large coffee mug. He shakes his head. “Honestly, not that much. When I went to get the van I ran into him outside. He… Said we’re unique and that he was having a shitty day. After that he went all asshole again, but… I dunno. I think there’s more to his behavior than we thought.”

MJ and Ned are quiet for a good second and Peter takes the opportunity to finally sip from his drink. The sweet and bitter mixture fills his mouth and he hums quietly to himself. This will forever be his favorite drink.  “Most assholes are assholes for a reason,” Ned finally adds to it. “But it doesn’t make them any less shitty.” “Oh no, for sure,” Peter agrees. “I told him he should get himself sorted out.” MJ laughs and pats him on his back. Peter grins proudly.

Just when he wants to take another sip from his drink, MJ’s phone buzzes again. She stoically ignores it, clearly trying to evade more teasing. Peter cocks an eyebrow at her. “You can look, don’t worry. We were joking, but we'd never judge you, I promise. Harley’s nice and it’s sweet that he wants to help us.”  “Exactly,” Ned smiles. “You know we love you. Completely.” MJ casts her eyes down, but she can’t hide the happy, yet fragile smile on her face. Peter hates how her sexuality makes her question herself so often. He makes a mental note to not tease her about Harley anymore. Not until she brings it up again.

Slowly she takes her phone and reads the message she received. MJ gasps, eyes widening.  “Holy shit, I’m-” This time, she shoves her phone toward the middle of the table. Peter and Ned immediately lean forward to read whatever is on there.

Good news!!!😱😱 I talked to Happy & Bruce and they’re gonna contact you, possibly tonight!! Ofc, nothing’s set yet, but they're super excited! If you wanna rock the world girl, take this chance! 💫🥁🎸

Peter leans back against his chair, utterly dumbfounded. Until yesterday, they never even played for more than 400 people at once. Now they're invited for a world tour, in front of huge crowds. He bites onto his lower lip. “I-I’m gonna have to discuss this with May,” he whispers quietly. “Do you… Do you guys want to do this? If we get the chance?”

“I think we all need to think about this,” Ned mumbles. “My first reaction is yes, of course! But God, I’m absolutely terrified.” “Yeah,” MJ sighs. “It’s a lot. What if we go home, think about it, and meet each other at my place for dinner?” “I think that’s a good idea,” Peter breathes and he looks into his cup. The brown liquid is no longer steaming. He brings the mug towards his lips and chugs it down in one go.

He’s got some thinking to do.

-

Read the next chapter >> 5: Denmark Daydream

#the arachnoids #starker #peter parker #tony stark x peter parker #tony stark/peter parker #peter parker x tony stark #Peter Parker/Tony Stark #tony stark #tony x peter #ironspider #spider man x iron man #iron man x spider man #iron man #ironman #spiderman #spider man #fanfiction #fan fiction #fanfic #marvel fanfiction #starker fanfiction #AO3 fanfic #fandom #fan fic #marvel #starker fic #starker fanfic #rock band au #au #kimwrites

[the-starless-sky]

BAE x cozmez / “DESIRE” voice drama part 2

Part 1 | Part 2 (here!)

Names K: Yatonokami Kanata N: Yatonokami Nayuta S: Sugasano Allen F: Anne Faulkner Y: Yeon Hajun I: Suiseki Iori Mx: Mobs

Nothing much to say except Allen is an actual angel 🤗💕

S: I'm home.

F: How's it? Did you find your metal?

S: I didn't.

F: Sigh. Geez.

S: Don't tell me Kanata really took it...?

F: That's what I've been telling you! What's up with your trustfulness!?

S: You've seen their stage the other day, right!? Someone who could compose such a song wouldn't ever steal!

F: So you understood Kanata so much you can assert that?

S: No, I don't!

F: What the hell, seriously! Aah, geez! We're going!

S: Where to...!?

F: Of course to cozmez's house!

S: But we don't know their address-

F: I've found their approximates. Don't underestimate my connections.

S: Oh... you're amazing, Anne.

F: Stop your gratitude and start preparing! Who do you think I'm doing this for!?

S: Y-yeah...! What about Hajun?

F: He went out. "It has nothing to do with me", he said.

S: That's so like him...

F: Seriously. He's heartless. If something happens to Hajun, I'll never help him.

S: You think Hajun will ever ask for someone's help?

F: Haha. Don't think so.

S: Right?

***

F: What's with this smell...? This place's more awful than I thought...

S: Well... 'cause it's the slums.

F: It's no use complaining. Anyways, we have to find where they are.

M1: God damn it. So noisy...

F: Ah!

M2: What the hell? This ain't a place for sight-seeing. If you don't wanna get hurt, get out, now.

S: We're only looking for someone. We've no intention to bother you guys.

M1: You wake us up from our sleep - you're already bothering us.

M2: Yeah. Leave the nuisance money. All the cash you have on you, and that pretty big sis there.

F: If we said 'no'... what are you gonna do about it?

M: Of course we'd just steal them then.

S: This is bad...

F: Geez, it's because stupid Allen stupidly got his metal stolen that we're in this stupid situation! What are you gonna do now, stupid!?

S: Stop saying 'stupid'! 'Til when are you gonna be angry!?

F: Of course I'm still angry, stupid!

S: You said it again, huh!? Phantoms are, in the end, just some kind of production, right!? It'll be fine if we put our all in the main dish, the music!

F: Then, what? If the taste is good, you think it's okay to serve high class french food on paper plates!?

S: Y-yeah! The most important part is the good taste of the dish!

F: Stop screwing around! If there's no production, then we can't draw out the good quality of the main dish!

S: No, the main dish is the most important!

F: Production!

S: Main dish!

F: Production!

S: Main dish!

M1: Umm... uh...

S&F: What!?

M2: No... it's nothing...

F: Hey, wait, you all!

M1&M2: Y-yes!

F: What do you guys think?

M1&M2: Well... uhm... uh...

S: Which!?

M1: ...Oh, that's right, weren't you guys looking for someone? How's that going?

M2: That's right, what are you looking for?

F: Oh, come to think of it, yeah, we were doing that. What's up, are you guys gonna help us?

M1: Yeah... if you'd get out of here.

S: Oh... I see. We're looking for these twins... the ones in this picture.

***

K: Hey... Nayuta.

N: Hm?

K: Are you still angry?

N: Huh? No, I'm not angry.

(voices from outside)

S: It's here, right?

F: I don't know. Anyways, just go.

S: But, what if we got the wrong place?

N: Huh? What's up?

F: Geez, you're so irritating!

N: Is something up?

K: Ssh! It's BAE...! How did they locate us?

N: Haah!? What are we gonna do!?

F: I know that you're in there! Return the metal to us, fast!

S: Oi! I told you, we still don't know if they actually stole it!

F: Shut up! Allen, you do something too! It's your metal, isn't it!?

N: Hey, Kanata? Isn't it better to just give it back?

K: There's no way I can give them back obediently just because they told me to!

F: Then what do you think we should do!?

S: We could talk it out!

N: Seriously, Kanata...! Sigh.

K: Anyways, we'll talk after we lose them.

N: 'Kay, got it.

F: Oi! What if you answer us!? Geez!! Do you want us to barge in!?

S: Wai-! Please, come out!

K: You guys are still here? Beat it!

N: If you really want it back, here, we'll return it!

(Nayuta throws an empty can towards Anne)

F: What the hell's this...? Ain't it just an empty can!?

K: A phantometal's a waste in y'all's hands.

N: Bring that home and just play house~

K&N: See ya!

F: Those guys...!!

***

K: Haa... haa... if we go through this back street, they won't catch up to us.

N: Yeah. There's not even that much people from around here who knows this route.

Y: Heeh...? I'm surprised. Slums' rats are very big, aren't they?

K: W-who are you!?

Y: I wonder who? At the very least, I'm not on your side, that's for sure.

N: You... aren't you 48...!?

K: Shit...! Why are you here!?

Y: Allen and the others barged into your house. Of course, you'd try to lose them by going through complicated routes. If so, then the only places where you both will appear is here... or the other alleyway. There is a tall wall there. If you want to shake them off easily, then... it's a simple deduction.

K: So you ambushed us... you dirty bastard...!

Y: Could you please look at the mirror and say those words once again? In both meanings... no matter how I see it, you guys are the dirty ones.

K: Bastard...!

Y: I thought that our two members are sharper than that, too... Ah, speak of the devil. You guys are late. Was playing tag fun?

F: Hajun...! Why are you here...!?

S: You came to help us...!

Y: Help? Please sleep-talk after you go to sleep. I came here for the sake of the stage battle. Don't misunderstand.

F: Haha... seriously, you're not honest at all.

Y: Well then. I don't want to be in a place with such bad air. Let's finish our business now.

K: What?

Y: Hm? You can't understand if we don't say it?

K: You don't have proof that I stole the metal, do you?

Y: Haha, hahaha!

K: What's so funny!?

Y: I don't even need proof... why would someone who didn't take it feel the need to run away?

K: That's...!

Y: Stop making excuses. For speaking without thinking, you expose your faults way too fast. If you return it now, I won't press further. Even though I do believe I'm being too kind.

S: Don't tell me, you really...

N: Kanata...

K: Say it. What's wrong with that!?

Y: Oh?

K: To begin with, naive kids[1] like you guys have no right to stand on Paradox Live's stage.

N: People who've lived all their lives in lukewarm water, all fulfilled like you guys doing hip hop? Hah, don't make me laugh. Who'll nod to people with that kinda upbringing!?

Y: To steal phantometals from fakes like us... what an admirable way to fight!

K: I have something to protect... something to get hold of. It's a waste of time to duck it out with you guys-

Y: In short, you have no confidence, do you? You can't see an image of yourself winning against us fair and square... that's why you stole! What miserable way of thinking. Did you pile up your past achievements that way, too? Haha. I thought you were at least mediocre... but you're actually lower than rats.

N: You're wrong! There's no way that's true!

Y: I'm wrong? Hoo...

N: Kanata... the songs Kanata made are the best! Your make-believe songs are nothing! We took the metal just to teach that red hair the harshness of society, just as how we were done in by the likes of you...!

Y: That's just an excuse for yourself, isn't it? Kanata stole the metal because he wants an insurance. Why does he need an insurance? that's because he doesn't believe in you! Am I wrong?

K: That's not...!

Y: How pitiful... Kanata who doesn't have crews he could trust... and you, who weren't even trusted by your only sibling...

N: N-no...

K: Don't lecture us about siblings! You don't even know the feelings we held our microphones with up until now...! And you're telling us we don't believe in each other!? Stop messing around!!

F: T-there's no way we know anything about how you guys went by up until now!

K: We don't even know our parents' faces!! We were made a walking wallet by garbage adults, and got screwed over!!

Y: Even so, it doesn't excuse your act of stealing the metal.

K: We have to win...!! We were treated like trash, and the one thing that made people finally recognize us was hip hop...! I don't care about teams or titles! I'll win the Paradox Live, shut all of the people who've made fun of us, and raise up!

S: If so, then!! We're also the same!

K: There's no way you guys are the same...!! Don't talk rubbish!!

S: It might be true that we were brought up on different environment! But, we were also betrayed, thrown away, and finally arrived at hip hop!

K: The weight is different, red hair!!

S: It's no different!! Hip hop is equal! It has nothing to do with who composes it! Put the things that pained you... the things that that you don't want to face into your lyrics and make it your weapon! Express it to mow down the person you were up until now! There's no difference!

K: ...!!

S: That's how I... how we've been expressing ourselves up until now, right? Us... and you both...!

F: Allen...

N: K-Kanata...

K: ...

S: Even without my metal, I intended to fight with my music. But hearing the exchange earlier made me want to do it with phantoms, too. As the same hip hop heads, I want to fight cozmez head on. I want you guys to crash your whack sound[2], your feelings, all of it into us! We also want to do that to you guys.

K: T-that part of you is what I called naive! Is every rich guy's head filled with flower gardens[3] or something?

S: Kanata... this is my request to you. Please let me fight you as we both go all out, with the hip hop we each think is the best. Exactly because we're all people who can do nothing else but to hold our microphones... that's why, please.

K: ...

N: Sigh. Hey, isn't it time to let go already?

Y: What are you going to do now?

K: Shit!

(Kanata throws Allen's phantometal back to him)

S: Kanata...!

Y: My, my.

K: Bring it on. I'll fight you, SUZAKU. Prepare yourself 'cuz I'm gonna destroy that super irritating face on stage.

N: Well, you won't have any chances of winning against us without that metal, after all.

F: Why are thieves like you guys looking down on us like that!?

K: What? You have a problem?

F: Of course I do!

Y: Anne.

F: What!?

Y: We've finished our business. Let's go home. Unfortunately, I don't have a hobby of staying too long in a dumpster-like place. Oh, sorry! This is your residence, isn't it?

N: Hah. Then go home, now. Because when we see guys like you, we really can't help but to want to send you flyin'.

Y: Aah, scary, scary. Well then, shall we go?

K: We're going home too, Nayuta.

N: Sigh. Yeah.

S: Kanata!

K: Ha?

S: I can't wait to fight you on stage!

K: Shut up, go die.

S: Haha... see you!

F: Hey, we're gonna leave you!

S: Sorry, sorry!

***

F: Aah, seriously. I was worried about what'll happen for a second. To think that Allen's hip hop mania actually had an effect on Kanata...

Y: I really cannot handle Allen's idiocy anymore, though.

F: Seriously. Seems like he'll even die for hip hop.

S: I would - if it's after I take the top!

F: Haha. Ah, Allen. I think you forgot 'cause you're an idiot, but I'm gonna get you to give me your gratitude in full, okay?

Y: That's true. At the very least, we should get Allen to clean up the house for three months.

S: O-Oi, Hajun! Before, you said you came for the sake of the stage battle!

Y: It didn't change the fact that in the end, I helped you. Physical exhaustion, plus mental strain due to having to go to the slum... and...

S: I got it!! I just have to do it, right?

F: Yeah, yeah! You just have to do it. Anyways, I'm glad that we got the metal back~!

Y: That's true.

F: We're gonna go all out to defeat those two, 'kay? With our song, we'll beat them to a pulp.

S: Yeah. Let's fight with our full strength!

***

K: That bastard SUZAKU... he said he can't wait for it? Looking down on me like that...

N: Kanata.

K: What?

N: You look kinda refreshed.

K: Wh... what are you talking about? I'm so irritated I can't take it anymore.

N: Hmm... I see. Haha.

K: Ah, Nayuta, you laughed just now, didn't you!?

N: It's better this way, it's more like us!

K: Shut up. Sigh...

N: You don't have to do something like that. After all, it's us!

K: You're right.

N: Yeah, with our lyrics, our track, and our staging... let's win against them.

K: Nayuta.

N: Hmm?

K: Thank you.

N: Yeah.

K: BAE, wait for us.

N: On top of the stage...

K&N: We'll show you hell.

***

I: It all ended well, huh? Haha, even though I expected an interesting development...

Notes

[1] Ama-chan = naive, spoiled child.

[2] Whack = bad as in 'cool'. I think?

[3] As in, full of good things and optimism.

I-I’m glad that ends well. My love for shounen protagonist Allen keeps growing by day...!! 😚

#paradox live #bae #cozmez #translation #Drama CD translation

[artxyra]

Lose You to Love Me | Song!Fic

So, I’ve been meaning to use this song for a while now and I finally have gotten to it. Once again my uploads are going to be once in a blue moon, I’m working on a script that I want to put into a competition and let’s just say original ideas take me the longest to formulate and write. 

The crowds grow wild as the music begins to play over the large pink speakers. Yells of excitement vary across the crowd. The chanting of a singular name, Reinette, chorus through various mouths of ravenous fans. 

However, little did the crowd of fans knew, their pop star is on the verge of a breakdown.  

It was the anniversary of her life crashing down around her. Everyone in her private circle thought they made it past this, but they were wrong. The cries of a broken heart echo through the walls. 

“Will she be alright, love?” I certain rock star ask his daring wife. The wife looks up to him and smiles softly. They may view the pop star as their daughter but even they knew the hardships she had to endure to get to where she is now. 

“I sure hope so, but you know how she is, Jagged. She’ll put on a show despite her wellbeing.” The wife answers, taking her husband’s hand into her own. 

“Maybe it wasn’t so rock ‘n roll to have a concert during this time of the year. Though, you are right. She wouldn’t want to disappoint her fans. They have supported her through so much.” 

“From the first video, she ever posted to now.” 

The couple shares a chuckle. 

It was then that the echoing cries fade into silence. Everyone behind stage waits with a sharpened breath.  

The door opens to reveal a dark-haired, pink low light, young woman in her early twenties. Her face caked with make-up but still able to look natural. Her performing out dazzling in the limelight. 

“Reinette?” The wife cautiously asks. 

Reinette turns to the woman, her pale blue eyes twinkle, though the wife believes it because of the tears that were once falling down her cheeks. 

The couple rushes over to the young woman and embraces her into their arms. 

“Marinette?” The rock star whispers knowing that no one would dare come near them. 

“I’m fine, I promise.” She replies with an uplifting smile, but the couple knew her long enough to know, that she wasn’t fine. 

“Do you want to go through with the performance?” The wife asks, looking between the singer and rock star, as she is hoping for answers. 

With a deep breath, Marinette--no Reinette, nods. “Thank you for everything, Penny.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Nettie.” Penny then turns to the crew behind, playfully pretending to work. “Alright, you heard the woman. There will be a concert tonight.” 

The crew burst out cheering. 

Reinette tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and goes to pick up a free-standing microphone. She quickly makes her way over to her guitarist, an old friend. 

“Hey, I was wondering, can you play…” She starts off asking only to be shushed by the guitarist. 

“Say no more, Rein, I got you.” He answers only to then puck a feel of the strings to create the melody of the song. 

Reinette smiles, but even he knew that it was fake. 

“Thank you.” With a friendly kiss on the cheek, she walks away to prep for her performance. 

It was long until Reinette enters the stages. 

Standing tall amongst all her fans, she brings the microphone to her lips. 

“Thank you all for coming. For those who have been following my journey to frame over the years, all know that this is the hardest time of my life. So, to start this off, with what started all of this.” Reinette speaks with a sincerest that her real fan had fallen in love with. 

“You promise the world and I fell for it…” As the words left her lips, Reinette could feel the familiar tug of forgotten memories. The pain, her suffering, the betrayal, all wash over her as she continues to sing. “I put you first and you adored it.” 

Five years ago, not a lot of time has passed since then. She remembers the feeling of being elected as the class representative ending the reign of Chloe Bougious. Making clothes, presents, banners, and even baked goods all for her friends at the time. Those were the days. Of laughter, of fun, no selfless act can beat.

“Set fires to my forest and you let it burn.” There were moments. The way her friends reacted to her crush on Adrian. Making her look bad if not worse than what she already was. Back then, those were laughable memories, but now just a painful reminder of her early teen years. 

“Sang off-key in my chorus 'cause it wasn't yours.” She never asked for anything in return, just their friendship and they took advantage of that. Advantage of her generosity her personality under the influence that it would help her succeed. Yes, at the beginning she may have abandoned them with her duties for Ladybug duties, nothing more than that. 

“I saw the signs and I ignored it. Rose-colored glasses all distorted.” She wishes she had seen the signs long before Lila came along. The expectation of her to do something. Mlle. Bustier asking for her to be the example. To be the leader when she wasn’t ready. She did so much for them. It only clicked when she opened her eyes and saw them for who they truly were. Childhood friends mean nothing to them as long as they receive a prize at the end. 

“Set fire to my purpose and I let it burn. You got off on the hurtin' when it wasn't yours, yeah,” They broke her nearly beyond repair. Made her question her existence. The fire became ablaze when her parents gotten involved. Not trusting their daughter, someone they raised over a psychopathic liar. They supported her, crazy ideas and all until that point only to question soon after. Nothing in that household felt the same. The fresh bake goods lost it luster. The business boomed only to slow down. They blamed it all on her. 

“We'd always go into it blindly. I needed to lose you to find me.” And lose them she did. Her parents, her classmates, they all had to go. It was toxic and no matter what people told her, she never looked back. Finding comfort in the man that made her an honorary niece, comfort in the friends--Luka, Kagami, Marc, and Aurore--she found the strength to be herself. Forgoing fashion designing as her career of choice. Becoming the psychologist, she wanted to be.  

“This dance, it was killing me softly. I needed to hate you to love me, yeah.” It took her years to find that strength. A multitude of therapy sessions. Various amount of covers to express herself. For the first time, she let out all the anguish she carried. The emotions she had packed up in fear of being akumatized. Nothing prepared her allies for the emotional breakdown. 

“To love, love, yeah. To love, love, yeah. To love, yeah. I needed to lose you to love me, yeah.” Opening her eyes, she can see the smiles of her friends fade away into terrifying smirks only to be blown away by the light. She repeats the lines one more time. A small smile sneaks up onto her lips. Her voice slowly becomes stronger, but it still holds it’s soft tone. However, a memory that she had long forgot tugs to the forefront of her mind. 

“I gave my all and they all know it.” It was when the lies that Lila was spurring became too much. This wasn’t like the time she was nearly expelled, no, this was much worst. It’s what finally broke the spell that Adrien had over her. Adrien Agreste, a simple rich-boy with no sense of a dangerous situation. He had been her hold, the person she could rely on. 

“Then you tore me down and now it's showing.” He hadn’t been the one to tear her down, it was the boy’s father that had done it, instead. Lila had used one her designs and gave it to the older Agreste, who then blacklist the younger designer. Adrien didn’t say a word, how could he. The one person who had been her rock finally shatters in a million pieces. 

“In two months, you replaced us. Like it was easy.” They had replaced her with Lila, as their everyday Ladybug and honest friend. She will never forgive them for that. At first, it was fine, but now it was a lost cause. 

“Made me think I deserved it. In the thick of healing, yeah.” Reinette could feel the tears trickling down her cheeks. The memories tied to this song always does that. From the good to the bad, and the ugly. Her only solstice is that of those that had supported her.

The closer she came to the of the song, that smile that had been hidden for far too long, slowly creeps onto her face. She turns to the guitarist; he’s smiling at her as if she should make a statement. Allowing the stress, the pain, and the sadness be lifted off her shoulders, her voice echoes through the speakers. 

“And now the chapter is closed and done.” She looks at the crowd before her. Everyone holding each other trying not to cry. Some waves their phones in the air creating a lighting effect that she has seen repeatedly. These are the people that help her grow stronger, stuck with her through thick and thin. 

“To love, love, yeah. To love, love, yeah. To love, yeah.” Let her message run deeper than any has done for her. Creating Reinette was the best choice she has ever made. Others would say Ladybug has made her stronger, but no, Reinette was the one who truly did it. Wallowing in the past has made her weak but it has made her stronger in the long run. It was time for her to close this chapter and move on. 

“And now it's goodbye, it's goodbye for us.” To Alya, to her parents, to Lila, to her peers that long have forgotten her, this is goodbye. Goodbye to the pain she has endured. Goodbye to the hard work she has done to prove herself to them. No more. 

Standing strong against her audience, applauses rings throughout the venue. Reinette swallows the bile that had built up in her throat. The butterflies in her stomach slowly dissipating. The applauses rings in her ears that she barely heard Jagged Stone walking up behind her. He places a firm hand on her shoulder. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Reinette!” His voice echoes through the speakers causing another round of applause.  

Reinette bows to her audience, pushing back of strand of hair that had fallen from her ponytail. Standing tall and with the mic closer to her mouth, she thanks the crowd for everything. 

#miraculous ladybug fanfic #ml fanfic #marinette dupain cheng #no pairings #artxyra one-shots #ml marinette

[austarus]

Mermay Headcanon: The Mermaid (You) and The Pirate Gentleman (HR Wells)

**A/N: The picture/edit/gif does not belong to me.

*My little and late contribution to MerMay month. @crazythoughtsandlove​ and I were talking about mermaid and pirate ideas lol. I tried, I really tried to do something. Honestly, this is probably shit and I can’t say anything other than I’m sorry I tried to make it funny and slow-burn-y and cute and I don’t know what happened. Anyway, this was the little Easter Egg that I had dropped in my HR x Reader fic Hidden Among The Fairy Lights. Obviously this is in headcanon form rather than a full fic because I’m too mentally exhausted from everything in my life. Anyway, enjoy? Remember to reblog and comment to support content creators.

Word Count: 2568

The fates seemed to have decided to toy with me today, HR thought as he ran through the streets of the Brazeeno Market Place

He dodged left and right, ducking past people and through alleys

The Pirate (Gentleman) as he likes to add on was on the run from a couple of ruffians who he maybe sorta accidentally provoked and got into a skirmish with

HR did it for a rock

Yes, you read that correctly. A rOcK.

But not just any rock, it was a cinnabar-fluorite-infused stone that was essential to his journey

His twin brother, Harry, who’s also a pirate, needed HR to fetch it while he retrieved the map for the Kjarni Flower

Both men were skilled in swordsmanship as well as improvising on hand in a fight

Harry: Go in, get it, and leave. Here’s the coins. Don’t start anything and don’t get distracted

HR: I’ll be in and out before you know it. I won’t start anything, scout’s honor

Harry: You’re not a scout

HR: Doesn’t mean I can’t use the saying

Harry: Yes, it does, you idiot

The crew just sheepishly looked at their two captains that argued like children

Anyway, back to HR who’s been cornered on the creaky and old harbor with vacant ships while you, the reader, were reading the background on him and Harry prior to this chase scene

HR held his ground, sword out and the stone safely tucked away in his pocket

A smirk on his face as he tried to play it cool, but inwardly he was panicked since there were no ships around at all

Reggie (Ruffian #1): End of the line, scum

Remy (Ruffian #2): Hand over the stone, moron

Roma (Ruffian #3): And pray to the gods that your spirit passes on to the other side safely

Now that’s a little harsh, isn’t it?

They took a step forward and HR took a step back, his foot slightly slipping back from the wet boards of the pier

Before any of them do anything, a wet yet firm hand had latched onto HR’s ankle, pulling the pirate off with great force

The dark-haired man kicked and tried to keep his eyes open as the undersea force dragged him away from the surface

HR’s eyes widened when he saw you under the salty sea, a mermaid with gleaming skin and seashells threaded in her hair

He saw the concern flood over your face, the gentleness within your dazzling eyes that he’d never heard of

Stories of mythical ravenous monsters under the sea that eat people of the land in a bloodthirsty rage

But the spectacle in front of him seemed anything but that

Still HR remained cautious, a hand over his pocketed knife as he eyed your colored tail

You put a hand to your lips, taking his hand gingerly instead of his ankle to bring him up to the surface

HR coughed out water and cursed at the saltiness of the sea, gathering his bearings before turning to you

You watched him with curious eyes as he shook his hair from the water before running his hands through his wet hair

Secretly you had always been intrigued by the land dwellers and their peculiar way of life

Even if the merpeople believed any interaction with humans to be forbidden by execution

You had overheard the exchange with the other humans and weighed in your thoughts before intervening at the most convenient moment

HR: Y-you’re beautiful- I mean a mermaid

He watched your cheeks darken at his words

You: *whispers bashfully* N-no’s really said that to me before. I’m not that pretty

HR: But you’re utterly breath-taking *shakes head and is astonished, blinking a few times* Wait, you can talk?

You: *cocks a confused eyebrow* of course I can, why wouldn’t I? I’m not some sort of animal that lives in the ocean

HR: I-I don’t know, the stories-

You: Stories?

HR explained to you the legends and stories, which you helped clarify the essence of the Merpeople

In return, HR did the same as he spoke of the human world and his adventures as a pirate

He oddly found himself confiding in you about the Kjarni Flower and its mystical powers to creating an elixir

You expressed the Merpeople’s legends regarding it, which provided to be beneficial to HR

The Pirate noticed your sparkling eyes in the midday sunlight, intrigued by every word you spoke

It particularly struck his heart when you expressed that your interest in the land-dwellers world

HR: Why are you telling me this? I’m a pirate, I could hurt you when you least expect it

You: I don’t know, I feel like I could trust you not to harm me

I don’t think I can to such a kind spirit, HR thought

Silence had filled the serene atmosphere between the two of you, waves rocking you and HR back and forth

HR noticed that the two of you weren’t so different, unlike the legends of the Pirate’s Guild

Everything down to your navel was regularly human. No webbed hands or fins for ears. The only exception was the gills on your neck and your majestic tail

The two of you remained there, floating in the sea before HR began to cough

You: I should get you back to land, you need to go back to your people

HR: Wait, before you do. My name is HR. HR Wells, the Pirate Gentleman

You: Gentleman, huh? Well, my name is (Y/N), Mermaid of Uquilnoah

You brought him back to shore behind some rocks, to which HR spotted his ship and his brother on deck with his back turned to him

The sun had fallen, expressing the evening time before night took its shift

You: I guess this is goodbye

HR: Why do you want to come to the human side? It’s corrupt and foul.

You looked down before gazing off to the laughter and lights and people on shore

You: I-I want to swim and walk. I want to go on adventures and explore what the sea cannot give me. I want to share experiences with others, a part of their stories and lives

HR: Come with me then. My troublesome hard hat of a brother and I go on adventures every day. We’d be more than honored to have you.

You: I-I’d like that, but how? I don’t have legs

HR pursed his lips in thought as he glanced back to his brother’s ship

HR: Stay here, I’ll be back. Here *hands you his knife* keep this until I get back

You took his knife, watching him swim to shore as your cheeks dusted pink at his words

No man or merman had ever expressed such interest in your or your thoughts

It was always someone else, some other beauty that held the center stage

You ended up being more of a background person

A hand ran over the faint scars over your body, trying to push away the hurt you had attained from others over the years

I just wanted to matter. I’ve always wanted my existence to mean something. Maybe in the human world, I can find that in my journeys away from Uquilnoah

HR hurried onto the shore and hurried onto his ship with his wet clothes chilling him as the wind blew

Harry shot his brother an incredulous look as HR ran onto the deck out of breath and speaking rapidly like a mad man

The twin dark-haired man stared at his brother before getting his attention

Harry: So, let me get this straight. You got the stone, ran into trouble, met a mermaid- who surprisingly didn’t bite your head off and now she’s waiting by the alcove shores for you because you promised her to be back?

HR: *catches his breath and smiles innocently* Yes :D

Harry: *facepalms* Are you fucking stupid or are you fucking stupid? That mermaid’s probably baiting you to sink this entire ship. We need to go. Now.

HR: She’s not lying to me!

Harry: How do you know that?!

HR: Because she told me about the Merpeople and their legends of the Kjarni Flower. She told me how she yearns for an adventure like never before, with people like us

Harry purses his lips and sighs roughly, rubbing his face harshly with calloused hands

HR: Don’t you see, Harr, she’s willing to come with us. Hell, she can even help us if we encounter something along the way.

Harry: Fine, but how are you going to get her to walk?

HR: Easy. Caitlin should have a potion or magic object.

Caitlin/Frost was the crews brilliant Ice-Witchdoctor, terrifying in batter but had sufficient magical abilities when it came to healing

Barry was the First Mate when both HR and Harry were off deck, quick on his feet for solo stealth missions

Cisco was the Quartermaster, distributing items such as a variety of guns/weapons, ammunition as well as coming up with the plans with the rest of the crew

Jesse was the pilot, manning where the ship sails because Harry doesn’t want his daughter doing anything dangerous, but she’s a badass gunner when it comes down to it.

Iris and Wally are the main Gunners for the group, their marksmanship impeccable through the harsh training they received from their father, Joe

Cecile and Joe typically fill in any role that needs to be filled depending on the situation that this crew runs into

Anyway, Caitlin manages to whip something up in which she’s enchants a necklace with the power to give you your legs and the ability to remain on land for long periods of time

However-yes, there’s a however, duh- there is a time limit

Every midnight strike, you fatigue and must recharge in the ocean overnight in order to not die from water deprivation

HR grinned widely head back to the covered alcove and waving you to come as close as possible

Explaining everything to you, the Pirate Gentleman handed you the enchanted necklace that held a single Golden Star Sapphire gemstone

Right as you pulled it on your tail transformed into legs in a blink of an eye, but… you were naked

HR had immediately turned around right when that happened, his cheeks flaring up as well as yours

You facepalmed before covering yourself, stuttering out that you’d need some clothes

HR went silent shedding his jacket off as well of his linen shirt and handed them to you with his eyes averted

You: Okay, I’ve put them on

HR moved around in time to see you stumble on your legs, leaning forward to catch you

The Wells twin couldn’t help himself as his eyes ran over your figure in his arms, his heart thumping louder than ever in his chest

HR: Come on, the crew’s waiting to meet you

You and HR returned to the ship, nervously giggling at each other while you got used to walking.

You: How did you learn to swim?

HR: By struggling. And a lot. You make it look so easy

You: Well you make walking look so easy

HR: Think about it this way, doll, now you’re ambidextrous for land and sea

You met the crew and got along with them nicely, with the exception of HR’s prickly brother

HR told you not to worry about him with a cheeky wink

You were mesmerized by the sights and sounds and colors of the world above the sea

HR guided you every step of the way

The fates pulling your heartstrings even closer together

Harry later secretly gave you his blessings and told you to watch out for his dorky brother who can’t seem to stop having heart eyes for you whenever you’re on the deck

Jesse was actually the first one to approach you, asking so many questions about the sea

She became your best friend from then on as you entertained her with stories of life under the ocean

Jesse and the other see what’s happening as HR beats around the bush with you, but obviously doing it in the name of friendship and Pirate-Mermaid truce

And they groan at the lingering gazes and soft exchanges between you and HR

Many times, Cisco has groaned “The thirst is real”

And many times, Iris and Barry have had to dial Cisco back to let you and HR to read the atmosphere

One night while hanging out with HR in his room

He was showing you how to read a map and use the items on board to read the stars

You ended up coughing

And coughing

And coughing

And coughing and gasping for air

Before HR realized that its time for you to hibernate in the water for the night

So, what did HR do?

Like the dork that he is, he picked you up and hurried to the main deck before throwing you off the ship

Yes, you read that right

The man panicked, ok? What should he have done, thrown a jar of water on you? That still wouldn’t help the problem

HR leaned over the wooden railing of the docked ship, watching aurora-like light emanate from the sea

Before you popped up from the water, breathing nicely and looking all refreshed

The puppy boy apologized to you so many times for losing track of time

But you waved it off

That night, HR stayed up with you as he lowered himself on a spare rowboat to be at the same level with you on the ocean water

You: HR you need to go to bed

HR: No I *yawns* don’t.

You: Uh huh *smirks*

HR: I like your company so I’m staying

You: I like your company too, but Harry’s gonna roast your ass if you’re not fully awake tomorrow morning

HR: Screw him, he can do it without me

You: You’re an idiot

HR: You wound me

That following morning, Harry did roast his ass when he found his brother sleeping outside in a boat on deck when the two of you finally bid each other goodnight

Frequently nightly swims with each other

Gentle laughs under the shining moonlight as the sea creatures rest

Getting so close to kissing one another

But pulling away because you both are just friends

After all, mermaids and humans can’t really be together because of the barrier of survival styles

Bottom line, because I’m running out of things to say and its 2 AM, you and HR slowly fell in love with one another as you journeyed with him to find the mystical Kjarni Flower

Unraveling its secrets with the crew you’ve grown so close to

Calling them family

Perils falling into every step of the way, elongating the pining the burned between the two of you who come from two different worlds

You had charmed your way into his heart and he in yours

The Pirate Gentleman taught his lovely Mermaid self-defense as well as the simple things in life to enjoy

You encouraged his secret talent for writing, something he hid from everyone

It’s no surprise that HR ended using his part of the elixir from the Kjarni flower to enable you to be on land without a time restraint

To be by his side all night as the days went on

Especially when there was a child on the way

But neither of you know that right now 😉

#harrison wells x reader #harrison wells #harrison wells fanfiction #harrison wells imagines #harrison wells imagine #hr wells #hr wells x reader #hr wells imagine #hr x reader #harry wells #the flash au #the flash cw #The Flash #the flash fanfiction #the flash imagine #the flash x reader #team flash x reader #team flash imagine #team flash #dc #DC comics #DCTV #dctv fanfic