#Gianni please notice me

[rextherob0t]

Full drawing + Inspo(s) below the cut :D

I am obsessed with this game please help.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

The Gray Woman 1

Warnings: non/dubcon and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

Character: Lloyd Hansen

Summary: You meet a man who tests your patience. (grumpy!short!reader)

Note: To those who didn't help me resist this beast, I blame you.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging ❤️

"Five thousand." The man slaps his card down and flicks it through the slot of the plastic window.

"Five thousand," you repeat.

"In cash. Hundreds, sweetheart. Oh, actually, do about five hundred in ones," he winks.

You don't humour him by reacting. Your skin crawls nonetheless. The implication of the last part of his request is clear. You merely stare back at him. He's not unusual. Executives strut in all the time with their demands. It's never a request, no please, no thank you. They only tell you what to do.

"Yes, sir. I would need your ID," you take his card from the counter and feel the embossed letters on the matte black plastic.

He scoffs, "my ID? I gave you my damn card."

You don't flinch. Not for him. You've worked this desk long enough not to even feel his anger. He's just another spoiled brat in an overpriced suit. The metropolitan bank is an ocean swimming with the likes of him; hair slicked with smelly pomade, feet bedecked in tacky designer loafers, and jackets lined with silk. You couldn't pick him out of a batch of your usual clientele.

"It is procedure, sir. For security. We must confirm your identity and make note of the large transaction--"

"Large transaction? It's pennies," he scoffs.

"Sir, I'm only following protocol. For your safety." You insist.

He snarls as you remain placid. Your lack of reaction doesn't please him. He jabs his finger onto the marble ledge on the other side of the plastic window. "Manager. Now." He pokes again. "Get me your manager."

"Yes, sir, a moment," you slide forward in the chair and step onto the lower bar of the tall legs.

"While you're at it, why don't you crack a smile?" He snipes.

You climb down without response, his card still in hand, and turn to find Veronique. You've been told to do so many a time. You don't give in. It's not that you don't smile, you just prefer to have a reason for that. You're not grim by any measure, just reserved. You don't believe in exhuberance.

As you cross the floor, you look down at the card in your hand. You can just make out the plastic letters; Lloyd M. Hansen. The name might be familiar, you may have even helped him before, but you can't recall.

You long-legged supervisor with her auburn red hair, waved to compliment her long oval face, stands with Gianni, giggling at the Account Manager as he postures. You approach and steel yourself for the interaction. She doesn't notice you as you stand right by her elbow.

You clear your throat, "Excuse me."

"Oh, pardon me, Gianni," she peers over at you, "what is it, dear?"

"A customer is unhappy. He does not want to show his ID." You say.

"Oh, gosh, forgive me, Gianni," she looks back to the manager and preens. "Gotta make sure everyone's happy, don't I?" She spins and nudges you away from the man in his pin-striped arrogance. She lowers her voice as she stomps in her heels, "do I have to do everything around here?"

"I tried--"

"Zip it," she warns and looks ahead. "Bonjour, Mr. Hansen, comment ca va?" She puts her on her faux French accent.

Your chest hollows out. Of course, she would know him. You already know how this goes.

"Well, Ronnie, this pinch-faced brat you got working for you won't give me my money," he crosses his arms and leans them against the ledge. Brat? You're probably not that much younger than him, and likely more mature.

"Oh, my, I'm so sorry. Forgive me, monsieur," she trills and rears on you, "go get his money."

You blink, "yes, ma'am."

Her lip curls slightly. She doesn't like that. It makes her feel old. It's as much rebellion as you have in you. Subtlety always does better.

You turn and go to the safe. You put the bills through the counting machine, taking your time, then return to your desk. As you approach, Veronique lets out another of her high-pitched giggles.

The man on the other side, Hansen, stands straight, his arms still folded, and coughs. It's nothing in his throat, you know what it is. You push his card through the slot then climb up calmly into your chair.

You count the bills by hand as Veronique hovers like a hawk. You record the withdrawal as you pause.

"Once again, Monsieur Hansen, we apologise," she fawns, "it is only that she did not recognise you." She lowers her voice and leans into the window, hiding her mouth even though you can obviously hear her, "we think her hearing is going a bit."

You continue to count and state the total evenly as you slide it under the window, "five thousand, sir."

"Great," he checks his watch, "only took ten minutes out of my day to do what could be done in ten seconds."

He clamps his hand over the money and shakes his head. You close out of his account as Veronique lingers.

"I will be sure this does not happen again," she avows. "I hope you have a wonderful day."

He grumbles and says nothing else. He catches your gaze and his eyes narrow. You calmly reach for your pen and turn back to your computer. The next client steps forward and blocks him out.

"How can I help you today?" You ask, moving onto the next without another thought. It's just another day. Always the same. Good and bad.

[runyou-clever-boy]

At the mention of Little Gianni’s, Zach automatically unlatched the landline phone attached to the kitchen wall, becoming more accustomed to muggle technology the wizard could now successfully use a television as well as handle his very own mobile phone. Zachairas sieved through the hefty takeaway leaflets pinned to their notice board while balancing the phone on the crook of his neck and shoulder. “What do you fancy?” Asked the blonde finally looking up after finding Gianni’s, “it’s on me -- I get paid at the end of the month soon.” Passing over the leaflet, Zach dialed the number fiddling with the long curly cord that kept the phone. 

“Hiya, yeah . . . I’ll have a large sardine pizza with a side of garlic bread please . . easy on the cheese --” he smirked, wrapping the wire around Jett, handing over the phone to them to complete the order. 

" i'm proud of you. "

(roommates thread thing we had going)

send " i'm proud of you. " for receiver to react to yours in a moment of vulnerability. | @runyou-clever-boy

It had taken months, no, a couple of years of research and hard work, but everything was finally coming to fruition! Jett had found a publisher willing to take a look at his first book! Their initial response was positive, but they said that they would get back to him with an offer after a more thorough read-through. All that was left to do now was wait.

One day.

Two days.

Three. Four. Five.

By the end of the week, Jett was a nervous wreck. His entire future was riding on this book, and he hated not knowing whether he’d succeeded or failed miserably. High anxiety had him pacing around their shared kitchen, starving but unable to focus long enough to decide what he wanted to eat. Actually, he couldn’t recall the last proper meal he’d consumed. Judging by the incessant rumbling of his stomach, it had been at least a couple of days. Upon being asked if he was alright by his roommate, he’d finally crumbled, telling Zacharias that he was convinced that the publishers were never going to get back to him because his writing was trash and so was he.

In the midst of his breakdown, however, Zach uttered four words that shook him to his core.

‘I’m proud of you.’

Such a simple reassurance, yet it was exactly what the aspiring author needed to hear. Enough to slow his racing heart. Averting his gaze, Jett tried in vain to dry the tears that had begun spilling down his cheeks, but they just wouldn’t stop. Still, he gave a flustered smile and a quiet “Thank you.” It would take a while yet for him to calm down, but Zach’s comforting words were greatly appreciated. “You’re very kind. I’m sorry for being such a miserable wretch these past few days. Can’t have been easy to share a space with me.” The sheepish apology was somewhat difficult to get out, but he managed it.

[alinastracker]

hi, bonnie, my beloved!!! I don’t know if you’re still taking those college prompts but if you are, it think 21 is pretty cute <3 it’s definitely got malina vibes

ASK AND U SHALL RECEIVE MY LOVE<3 

prompt: I get stuck with a late class that doesn’t end until 9pm and I’m always anxious about walking across the campus to the dorms, so you offer to walk with me and one night, I find out that it’s in the exact opposite direction that you need to go in

it’s nice to have a friend

"And please everyone, actually read the assigned chapters for next week!" Professor Yerwei sighs as the class dismisses. "Miss Starkov can't continue to be the only one of you raising her hand."

Alina can't help her smug little smile as she packs up her things. At first, her classmates were quite happy to have someone else participating so they didn't have to. Their groans seem to indicate that won’t be working for them any longer. Pity. 

Her smile fades, however, as she takes out her pepper spray, clutching it tight in her right hand. Slinging her backpack onto her shoulders, she files out with the rest of her classmates. 

Alina loves her art history class. She's learned so much about Ravkan art throughout her years, which is fine, but this class actually focuses on the rest of the world, art from Kerch, Novyi Zem, and even Fjerda and Shu Han.

She just hates that the class is only offered at night.

It doesn't surprise her. The class itself isn't very large, mostly filled with students of mixed backgrounds like herself. But there's something cozy about the class. She feels safe there.

That is, until she steps outside and has to walk across campus to her dorm at nine in the evening. It's late September, which means the sky is nearly pitch black by the time class ends, and while the campus is fairly well lit up, there are a couple paths with burned out bulbs that need fixing, a few shadowy areas that give her cause to quicken her steps. Her roommate, Genya, has offered to make the trek just to walk with her, but she couldn't ask that of her friend. She would just have to grin and bear it.

Alina grips her pepper spray a little tighter and is about to step into the night when someone calls her name.

No, not someone. She knows the voice, even if he is new in her life. Malyen Oretsev. He sits in front of her and a little to the left, giving her the perfect angle to stare at the side of his beautiful face. Any time she's not answering questions, she's looking at Mal.

"Way to show us all up in class," he says, a teasing smile spread on his face. He moves with such ease, such surety, wearing an army style jacket that fits him in all the right places.

"Well, I can't help it you don't read the book," she teases back, momentarily forgetting her dreaded walk. She's made it three times now, but it has yet to get easier.

"Hey, who said I haven't read it? Maybe I'm just shy."

Alina laughs. "Good one, Oretsev."

He grins, and for a second, his eyes flash to where her hand rests at her side, locked around her pretty purple pepper spray. "Heading to your dorm?" When she nods, he says, "Mind if I walk with you?"

She's not sure if he's asking because he genuinely wants to walk with her or if he's just noticed how shaky she gets after class, holding her one line of defense close, but it makes her all warm inside regardless. "I'm not out of your way? I'm in Sankta Lizabeta Hall."

Mal shakes his head and drapes an arm over her like it's the most natural thing in the world, and oddly enough, it feels that way. "Not out of my way at all."

On the walk to her dorm, they talk about how refreshing it is to take a class taught by a professor from Shu Han, the plans they have for the upcoming weekend. Alina smiles the whole time, surprising herself with how at ease she feels. At some point, she stuffs her pepper spray in her coat pocket, forgetting all about it.

From that day on, Mal walks with her after class each Tuesday and Thursday night, with Alina almost always tucked under his arm. She tells herself she likes being close to him because the weather is getting colder and colder, but really, he just makes her feel safe and giddy and good.

One night in mid-October, they come out of class to a downpour. Groans pass between the two of them and the rest of their classmates as they make their way out, some of them going back inside to wait it out, others making a mad dash for their dorm or nearby car.

"Should we wait?" Alina asks.

Mal pulls out his phone and brings up a radar map. "Doesn't look like it's stopping anytime soon."

They share a look, and then, almost in unison, pull up the hoods of their coats and dash into the night, the storm swallowing the sounds of their laughter.

~

"My brother is always forgetting his things when he visits my room," Tamar is saying as she leads them up the stairs in Sankt Juris Hall. She has yet to meet Tamar's twin, Tolya, but from the pictures she's been shown, he appears to be a giant with absolutely gorgeous hair.

Once they're in her brother's dorm, she adds gentle to the front of giant, as they walk in on him in the middle of crocheting, a podcast playing from his phone.

"Ah, my book," he says, pausing his podcast and setting his work aside.

"Yes, yes, your book. Now stop leaving your shit in my dorm."

Alina laughs, and it brings Tolya's attention to her. "You must be Alina." He stands to his full height, and she has to look up to meet his eye. Saints, he seems tall enough to make two of her. 

"That's me," she says, and lets out a soft oof when Tolya wraps his large arms around her. Admittedly, his size compared to her own makes for a pretty great hug.

"Good to meet you. Tamar says you're a very talented artist. You'll have to show me some time."

She beams and nods to his abandoned yarn. "You seem to be something of an artist yourself."

Tamar groans. "Don't encourage him. I have so many scarves from over the years. Thank the Saints he's finally moved on to making things for his roommate."

"At least my roommate appreciates my work."

As the twins bicker, Alina walks further into the room. Tolya's side is neat and orderly, bed made, a basket beside it for all his crocheting, not a piece of trash in sight. The other side of the room . . . not so much.

She's seen worse, especially when it comes to boys, but the contrast is hilarious. His roommate's bed is a mess, pillows strewn and blankets hanging off like he left in a hurry. There's a few empty wrappers and water bottles on his desk, a pile of books stacked haphazardly. Then there's the heap of clothes shoved in a corner on his bed — clean or dirty yet to be determined. Her eyes linger on the pile, and she's not sure why until her eyes zero in on the hoodie on top. A very familiar hoodie.

Alina grabs it and turns to Tolya. "Do you live with Malyen Oretsev?"

Tolya pauses mid-bickering, glancing over at her. "You know Mal?"

She nods. "We have art history together."

"Oh! You must be the little friend — his words, not mine — he walks with after class. Lina. Huh, I should have put two and two together."

Alina scoffs. "Little friend?"

Tolya shrugs, and Tamar says, "I mean, he's not wrong."

She huffs, throwing the hoodie back onto Mal's bed, but says nothing, knowing she doesn't have an argument.

Just before they leave, Alina ducks her head back in and says, "Hey, Tolya? Don't tell Mal I was here."

If he finds her request odd, he doesn't show it, already going back to his crocheting. "Sure thing, little friend."

~

"So then, after doing all that catchup, they practically let Jrue steal the ball, and he runs down the court and tosses it just high enough for Giannis to dunk it in. It was incredible!"

"Uh huh."

Mal sighs. "I get it, you don't care about American basketball."

"Or American football, or our football—"

"Hey!"

"Okay, I care about your games."

"Thank you," he says, looking proud. "Anyway, you're saved."

They've reached Sankta Lizabeta Hall. Alina sighs, fiddling absently with a loose thread on her gloved hand. She’s wearing only one, because at some point today she had lost her pair, so Mal had offered up one of his — a gesture her heart has still not recovered from. She looks up at the building, then back to Mal. Admittedly, even when he rambles on about sports, she's always sad when their walk to the dorms after class comes to an end. Even though it's near freezing most nights now, their walk seems to take longer and longer. If Mal has noticed her slowing her steps lately, he hasn't said anything.

"Saved indeed," she says. But there's one more thing she has to do tonight before parting ways. "Though, I was thinking. You always walk me to my dorm, but I never do the same."

"Oh," Mal says and shrugs. "It's fine. It's not much further, no sense for you to backtrack."

Oh the irony. "I know, but still." She takes his hand, somehow warm despite the frosty air around them. Her heart skips a beat as she realizes this is the first time she's held his hand. "It's really only fair."

"Alina," Mal grumbles, and she can almost see the wheels turning in his brain, trying to figure a way out of this.

"What? It's not like you live much farther."

He groans. "It's late, and cold. You should get inside."

"What's the matter, Malyen?" She's grinning now. "You think I can't survive another minute or so out here? It's not like you reside in, oh I don't know, Sankt Juris Hall or something far like that."

She sees on his face the moment it clicks. Mal curses under his breath and asks, "How did you find out?"

"Tamar took me to meet her brother, and I just so happened to notice some very familiar clothes on a very messy bed. You're not quite as tidy as your roommate, Malyen."

"If you say my full name one more time, I'm going to bury myself into the ground."

Alina laughs and it’s just a little maniacal. "So what gives, Malyen? Juris Hall is like, a minute from class." Her own was around ten, longer if the sidewalks were icy or they took their time.

Mal's eyes turn downcast, and he kicks the pole of a streetlight. "I don't know. You just looked so uncomfortable leaving class each night, holding your pepper spray like your life depended on it, and I just — I didn't want you to be alone." He shakes his head. "I'm sorry, it probably sounds weird and creepy and everything you're trying to avoid."

Her heart is thumping so loud she's afraid he might hear it. But he's still not even looking at her. "Mal," she says softly, and finally he looks up. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me."

He's unsure for a breath longer — the first time, she realizes, that she's seen him be anything but certain — before finally, he smiles. Shyly. "Really?"

She nods. "It’s ridiculously kind of you, especially since you barely knew me then. But I’m okay, really. I don’t want you to keep going so out of your way for me.” 

Mal pauses, shuffling on his feet, and she can tell he’s choosing his words carefully. “And if I said I wasn’t only doing it for you?” At her frown, he adds, “If I told you these walks are the best part of my week?”

She’s momentarily speechless as her brain scrambles for something to say, so she ends up blurting out, “Football practice is the best part of your week.”

His smile is sly as he says, “Football is the second best part of my week.”

“Oh, well.” Saints, she wants to jump his bones. She’s wanted to since the first time she laid eyes on him. But she hesitates still, needing to be sure before she can let herself leap. “Certainly there’s better places and times to go for a walk.”

Mal shakes his head, and there’s amusement in his tone. “Come on, Alina, are you really going to make me spell it out for you? It’s not the walk, it’s the company.”

“The company,” she echoes in a small, but pleased, voice. Her dark eyes are sparkling with something giddy — like she’s fifteen again, tripping over a smile from her crush.

He just shrugs as if to say, take it or leave it, and she knows her answer. 

Alina grins and shrugs in return. “Well, then I guess you can keep accompanying me.”

He snorts. “Oh, you guess, huh?” Mal suddenly drops dramatically to one knee, and in that moment she can see his confidence has returned, the easy way he moves, like he’s singing his favorite song and knows every word, every beat. “How generous of you, oh honorable Alina Starkov, for granting me the privilege of walking on the same pavement your very feet grace!”

Alina’s laughing, she’s been laughing for the whole speech, but now she crosses the distance between them and tugs on his arm until he stands. “You’re the worst,” she says, and before she loses her nerve, she kisses him. She can tell he’s surprised, but he recovers fast. His arms wrap around her waist, tugging her closer. One of her hands is on his red scarf — one of Tolya’s making, she knows now — while the other dares to run through his hair, a fantasy she’s had all semester. Suddenly it’s not so cold out anymore.

They pull away breathless, sharing careful, sheepish smiles of two people exploring something new; something exciting, but fragile. 

“I think we’ll have to find a new excuse to hang out once class ends in a couple weeks,” Alina says, looking up at him through her lashes, cheeks flushed. 

“Agreed. Maybe something involving food, or drinks.” He pauses, then very delicately brushes his thumb over her bottom lip. It’s somehow more intimate than the actual kiss. “Maybe more of this.” 

She bites down on the spot his thumb had just been. “Definitely more of this.”

Mal smiles, and this time, he’s the one to initiate the kiss, the one to tangle his fingers in her hair. They kiss until they’re dizzy and frozen — on the outside, anyway. On the inside, she’s all heat. They say their typical goodnights, but this time, they part with the promise of so much more than walking on the horizon. 

[defensefilms]

The NBA Finals Are Evenly Matched At 2-2

The NBA Finals have delivered a high standard of play despite the injury to Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Suns made this look like it might be a walk over in game 1 but a lot of that was early series overreactions. If we’ve learned anything about the Bucks this post season, it’s that it take them and head coach Mike Budeholzer, a few games to get in to the series. Their sweep of the Miami Heat in the first round, may be the only exception to that as far as wins and losses go.

Game 1 may have been the Phoenix Suns at their best. When you get 27 points, 6 assists and 2 rebounds from Devin Booker and Chris Paul leads the way with 32 points, 9 assists and 4 boards, that’s hard to beat. That was all round destruction and it’s this kind of performance that had many fans and media saying that this would end in a sweep.

A sweep looked even more likely after game 2 of the series. The Suns actually managed to shoot 50% from 3 in game 2 and Devin Boooker was 7-13 from beyond on a night where he had 31 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

Game 3 and finally the series goes to Milwaukee’s home court and I gotta admit game 3 is my favorite game of any Milwaukee Bucks series. The Nets dealt with it, the Hawks dealt with it and now the Suns are getting their dose too. 

Every Bucks opponent has had to deal with the question of what happens when the officiating allows the Bucks to do what they do best? The Suns found out the hard way. Giannis had 17 attempts from the free throw line. 

Game 3 was indeed a great game for the Bucks collectively, 5 Bucks players would score in to double digits.

Devin Booker was the biggest casualty. Scoring just 10 points on 3-14 from the field. Monty Williams would pull him from the game. 

The Suns were far more ready in game 4.

The major adjustment being their interior defense was a much bigger focus for the Suns and the Suns actually led for most of the 4th quarter. 

However a series of great defensive plays down the stretch by Giannis Antetokounmpo, as well as some absolute clutch plays by Khris Middleton gave allowed them to snatch the game from the Suns. 

The game was tied 99-99 in the final 2 minutes of the game. Giannis made a brilliant play on Ayton as Booker attempted set him up with an alley-oop and when the Suns came down the court after Middleton scores on a pull-up jumper, CP3 would get the ball stolen by Jrue Holiday resulting in a easy fast break for the Bucks..

ESPN’s Mike Wilbon went on to Scott Van Pelt’s show and said that the Suns beat themselves with turnovers. He’s right. That game was a huge missed opportunity for Phoenix and now we have a series on our hands..

I want to acknowledge former Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach and now current Phoenix Suns head coach, Monty Williams.

 Please believe, I would not be dapping him up if he was coaching trash but dude is actually the great equalizer in this series. Bucks might have the most unstoppable player in the series but Monty knows how to use his guys and how to trust them. The play that he’s gotten out of Cameron Payne and Cam Johnson has been nothing short of commendable.

I actually think the Suns need a cool headed approach from their head coach more than the Bucks do. It’s weird to say this because the Suns have veterans like Chris Paul and Jae Crowder but you can tell that the rest of their team is really young. 

They were not ready for how the series changed in game 3 and they were kind of shell shocked by how different the officiating would be once the series went to Milwaukee.

The thing is Milwaukee are actually one of the clunkiest and at times clumsiest teams you’ll ever watch in an NBA finals and I’m dead serious. This team is quirky and eccentric. It’s not all poise, precision and finesse with these guys, even when they’re playing well.

Let me break it down.

Giannis is the out and out best player on the team and he’s carrying most of the weight. The guy can’t shoot. That’s not an indictment but it explains a lot of what you see on a possession to possession basis. He’s their star players despite what former San Antonio wing and podcaster, Stephen Jackson might tell you. Stack might actually be the most annoying person in NBA media right now.

What Stack is likely allowing himself to be swayed by is that Middleton is the most interesting player on the Bucks and I’m not talking about hype and fandom, I’m talking about his performances on a game to game basis. 

See Khris is without doubt their best shooter and closer and he’s more than capable of doing what he did in game 6 against the Atlanta Hawks and scoring 23 points in a single quarter. However look at his performances on a game by game basis and you’ll notice a huge disparity in his best and worst games.

It’s literally the first question on anyone’s mind before a Bucks game. “What kind of performance will the Bucks get from Khris Middleton?”. Dude is a walking, breathing game of Russian Roulette.

This isn’t a new trend either. Since the Brooklyn Nets series in the 2nd round, the speculation, and sometimes even pressure, has mounted. “Giannis needs help” is actually code for “what the hell is Middleton doing?”. 

If I’m a Suns fan, the guy I’d be worried about is Deandre Ayton. Dude has been a monster level contributor throughout the Suns post season but he hasn’t scored more than 20 points in this series since game 1. Ayton was the key to beating the Denver Nuggets by outplaying Nicola Jokic and then against the Los Angeles Clippers, where they couldn’t match up with him.

To be fair Deandre is also a big part of the reason that Brook Lopez isn’t getting as many minutes as he has until now. Point is, the Suns don’t have the same inside scoring presence before and the block by Giannis in game 4 illustrated that perfectly.

Game 5 awaits on Saturday night.

[barbasbodaciousbeard]

IF You Love Someone, Let Them Go: Part 5

Summary: Since starting with SVU, Sonny hadn’t kept much terribly close to the chest. The squad knew about his family, growing up on Staten Island, the classes at Fordam. What was hidden was why he didn’t date. Sonny Carisi was also separated from his childhood sweetheart, a separation neither ever took to divorce. They had the same haunts. They’d grown up neighbors. Their paths crossed every few months, and divorce talks would turn into reminiscing would turn into a night spent together, sometimes sex sometimes just talking until the early morning. It always ended with one of them waking up alone however. How will that change when the squad finds out?

Pairings: Sonny Carisi x Original Character,

1 - 2 - 3 - 4

March 2015

“You’ll see me two times in three weeks,” Victoria smiled, wine in hand as she settled in the seat beside Sonny. It was Tommy and Bella’s engagement party, which Gianni was treating as a bridal shower. The whole engagement would only have been three months, and it seemed the two younger Carisis had cost her the months of parties and planning Gina and Teresa had given her. At least Sonny and Victoria had gotten married in a church a year after they eloped. Tommy and Bella would be getting married outdoors, while she was pregnant. Everyone pretended not to notice the slightest bit of a bump, easily confused for weight gain if you didn’t know, when Gianna was around before fussing over Bella the minute she left.

“I’m a lucky bastard.”

“I hope you told your squad.”

“We’re all going out the Saturday before. I’m doing it then.”

“Really pushed it off, huh?” she asked, and he didn’t like the hurt she was trying to hide. 

“The cases got heavy during the holidays. And then we busted up a sex ring and I was undercover. That also felt like a weird time. I kinda realized there wasn’t going to be a good one.”

“Yeah. Tommy and Bella inviting them kinda twisted your arm, huh?”

“Yeah. But it’s good. The last step.”

“They all coming?”

“Olivia for sure. I think Rollins and Amaro are coming together, and then honestly? Barba will when he finds out there’s gossip. He’s kind of a dick, but an amazing attorney. I really wanna shadow him sometime, but I’m too green to ask, y’know?”

“Yeah. I’m sure it’ll be nice when the time comes. And I think it’ll make Bella and Tommy happy. If it weren’t for them, it coulda been bad.”

“I got brother brain instead of cop brain, so yeah. I still can’t believe she’s having a baby.”

“It’s wild. And I know you don’t like Tommy, but he’s got a good heart.”

“And got locked up.”

“Everyone has their own problems.” 

“Yeah,” he muttered. “Same deal as Gina’s wedding? No marriage problems talk. Just have fun and be sentimental.”

“Deal. Though if your squad asks, I’m not ignoring it.”

“Fair. But also tell the cute stories.”

“I’ll bring the photo albums.” He laughed, arm settled around her shoulders. When they’d moved out, she’d taken to collecting all the pictures of them and adding them to a photo album. She’d gotten copies of dozens of pictures from his mom, who had always kept them organized by year in boxes. When she left, Victoria took them, and he missed being able to thumb through the pages. There were multiple volumes at this point. The pages got harder to find. She didn’t scrapbook. Instead, she used the pages with four slots each, keeping them up as time went on. He wouldn’t be surprised if there were pictures from Gina’s wedding in the most recent. Maybe there were even pictures of them separate from each other to bridge the gap. 

“Please don’t give Rollins and Barba that ammo. They’ll steal the really bad ones.”

“I like the ones from prom the best. Could we look any more 2004?”

“We looked damn good.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s not super dated.”

“True. It’s okay. We got the pictures from Gina’s wedding. We don’t look like we’re separated in them.”

“True. You got the dimples on full display.”

“I seen the dresses Bella picked. I know you hate it. You won’t like this one so much.”

“I love it.” He raised a brow at the feigned enthusiasm. “Dom, that pink is gonna be so bad on a pale red head.”

“I like you in pink.”

“You like me in anything.”

“Because you look good in anything. Dark green’s my favorite though.”

“Mine too. Thank God for Gina. I’ll wear that dress again.”

“I’m sure I’ll have to go to some fundraising thing…”

“You asking me to be your date before you even know?”

“You’re always who I ask to be my date.”

“I better be. We’re married.”

“Gettin’ awful territorial, Mrs. Carisi.”

“You put your ring on your hand today.”

“And you put them both on the right finger.”

“It’s almost like we’re making progress.”

“I want to tell you. I’m ready. But not until after the wedding.”

“Why then?”

“In case you don’t look at me all happy anymore.”

“Literally nothing you could tell me could make me not want to work on it. Unless you cheated on me.”

“You’re the first, last, and only.”

“You are too.”

“We oughta stop being sappy. People are coming and we got put with people we don’t know.”

“Gross. It’s like ma is mad at me.”

“I’m just glad she knew better than to try and make us sit apart. I’m sittin’ with my wife.”

“You two aren’t even pretending to be awkward,” Bella teased, leaning to hug Victoria and then her brother. “This nonsense almost over?”

“Butt out,” Sonny warned, but he was still smiling. “Strictly married talk.” 

“Two weeks and ya can’t use that excuse.”

“Then it’ll be strictly talks with my wife.”

“Stop, Dom,” Victoria laughed. “You look beautiful, Bella. How you feeling?”

“Kid’s making me tired as hell. I’m excited though. Tommy talks to her every night. It’s been hard, after what that bitch did. But he’s doing so good.”

“I can tell. I’m just glad you’re so happy.”

“I really am, T.” 

“You look beautiful. I like this dress a lot.”

“Thanks. I like feeling all bridal.” Sonny was content to watch Bella and Victoria catch up. Over the last year, he’d come to realize every time they talked came around to when Victoria was taking him back. He probably hadn’t helped that any, constantly acting like he didn’t know why she’d gone. Thanksgiving had changed that. He stood up to his mom more, told her he was in therapy, and openly defended Victoria. The last part wasn’t new, but this time it was specific to her decision to leave. He’d told his family in no uncertain terms that, while he thought she should’ve told him earlier instead of letting the hurt fester, he had done something wrong and he was trying to fix that so they could start over. His mom and dad didn’t like that. Generationally, bottling up feelings was more acceptable to them. His sisters, on the other hand, hugged him tight and told him they were proud of him. 

Their table filled up quickly as guests arrived, and Sonny was happy to help Victoria keep conversation moving until his parents spoke. That was the plan for tonight. Appetizers, speeches from the bride and groom’s parents, dinner, dessert, and finally dancing and cocktails. It was quickly apparent all the family’s required-but-barely-liked invites went to the table they’d put Victoria and Sonny at, a sure sign Gianna was over dealing with their drama. He was thankful his sister wouldn’t be having assigned seating at the reception for anyone, the bridal party included, though the thought of having Victoria joining his squad at a table made him nervous.

“I thought they’d never go dance,” she said softly against his ear, and Sonny smiled more from the closeness than the sentiment. Damn, it felt good to have her on his team. She wasn’t there day in and out, so these events felt more valuable to him now.

“Right? He’s from dad’s work. Known each other forever. I don’t know why the hell they invited him.” Her hair tickled his cheek as they gossiped, watching the people around the room and nursing their drinks. He decided they didn’t have a heavy case, so he’d tell the squad the next day, that way the giddiness of the evening would still be fresh. When they’d both finished their drinks, he took her hand, pulling her towards the floor. 

“I was comfy,” she protested half heartedly before she realized he’d pulled her up for Sinatra. One hand on his shoulder and the other in his, she let him lead the few moves they’d learned in a ballroom class they’d taken. It had only been a couple years into their marriage, and they took it because it made them feel older and less like imposters. Now, all either could really remember was a boxstep, and their frame was terrible. That didn’t matter though. What did matter was Sonny resting his temple against hers to sing softly against her ear. When one swing tune melted into another, she was grateful Gianna had picked the music for this wedding event. 

“Looks like we get to dance all slow again,” he teased, giving her a spin before holding her close.

“For someone getting mad when we get along, your ma worked real hard for us to get along.”

“She’s just mad it isn’t like when we were kids. If we fought in middle school, she’d give us a pizza, and we’d be over it.”

“Very true,” she grinned, looking up at him. He looked handsome, and after what came out to two years of seeing him deteriorate, she was grateful he was actually getting back to himself. She wasn’t sure if therapy, the job, or the slow progress they were making was the reason, but he was her Sonny again. He kept his hair cropped, face shaved, and smile present.

“You’re staring,” he teased before tightening his grip to dip her. 

“You look good. Like not just handsome. Happy.”

“Thanks,” he smiled softly when he pulled her up again. “I’m learning to process stuff better.”

“That’s good.”

“It sounds messed up, but thank you for leaving. It made me go to therapy. I really wasn’t being good to you, Tor. And I’m sorry for that.”

“I forgive you, Dom. I wasn’t doing a good job talking to you about it. I’m sorry for not pressing until we hit the point of no return.”

“It’s okay,” he said, forehead resting on hers. “I think we’re gonna be okay.”

“Me too.”

“Can we get somebody to take pictures of us?” 

“Bella got a photographer, and he has definitely taken several.”

“This camera shy Sonny or detective Sonny noticing?”

“It’s Sonny seeing Gina tell him to.”

“You ever feel like the kids are trying to get us back together?”

“All the time, doll. You know how often Gina or Teresa go after me? Then Bella meddles. But Mia? She’s 17 and bound and determined she’s going to be the one to talk sense into me. And she kind of is. She actually talked to me about therapy.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. She doesn’t know why but knows my brain shuts down when I try to open up. Heard me tellin Teresa. Said it’s toxic masculinity makin’ me feel like talking about feelings is girly and I gotta get over that if I wanna stay married and making you happy.”

“I ever tell you Mia’s my favorite?”

“She’s got a good head on her shoulders.”

“How long until we can run away and go to a bar?”

“Anybody else left yet?”

“Your cousin Lauren and some of Bella’s friends.”

“What bar you thinking? Because you look too pretty to not take to some classy wine bar.”

“That works for me.”

“Then let’s go tell Bella and Tommy bye.”

“What about Gianna?”

“It’s not her engagement.” Victoria almost felt like they were back in high school and cutting class as they said their goodbyes and got their coats. Why the hell his sister was getting married outdoors in winter was beyond Victoria, but she was grateful for the fact they’d probably end up rained out and inside for the ceremony. Sonny hailed a cab, waving when he saw his mother watching them from a window. 

“She’s pissed, Dom.”

“Too bad. Taking you to a nice wine bar. Ordering a cheese board.”

“You’re making it sound like a date.”

“I been shit and ain’t taken you on one in two years. Can it be?”

“I’d like that.” She was nervous, but it had become apparent he was trying. From what he said, in a couple weeks he’d be willing to open up. He was also communicating with her as it was. Maybe treating the next two weeks as a trial run could be good. Ease into the heavy discussion. He’d mentioned being afraid how she’d react. Maybe if she was always there again, he’d realize she wasn’t leaving. 

“C’mon, whatcha thinking Tor?”

“Just that I’m happy we’re making progress,” she fibbed, lacing their fingers. He looked to their hands and smiled, squeezing her fingers gently. 

“Me too.” Soon enough they were settled at the bar, and Sonny, true to his word, had ordered a bottle of wine and a cheese board. She was turned to face him, legs carefully crossed. He had the leg towards the room on the footrest around the base of her stool. She was boxed in, but it felt reassuring when paired with his hand on her leg. 

“So what’s this new squad like?” Sonny had never quite settled in anywhere since he’d become a detective, and he seemed smitten with his spot in Manhattan. 

“So Barba is the ADA. Covered him. Liv is Lieutenant. Nobody ever really gave me a shot before. Apparently I can be abrasive.” He threw the hand not on her leg up in mock affront, and she laughed. 

“You? Never.”

“I know,” he said, ignoring her sarcasm. “Rollins is cool. She’s been through a lot. She’s from Georgia though. I know you mostly grew up here, but you get that same Southern catty as her. Means it doesn’t get to me, because I know the secret. That she doesn't really mean it. Amaro is cool too. Had some problems too. Come to think of it, I don’t know why I’m acting like they won’t understand or accept our marriage. Fin’s been there longest, other than Lieu.”

“They treating you well?”

“They are. I think I’m finally not just a newbie. Barba gets mean. He’s not southern snarky though, so I think he means it.”

“I’ll fight him.”

“You’d win. He’s got a big mouth, but I don’t think he’d be scrappy.”

“I’m just real proud of you.”

“That means a lot to me, Tor.”

“You worked real hard. I watched that. And you’re going to be an amazing attorney.”

“I think I wanna try for the DA’s office if I pass the bar next year.”

“You’ll pass the bar.”

He rolled his eyes, pouring her another glass of wine as he topped off his own. When the night was over, he walked her to her door, kissing her goodnight and going to his own apartment. Sonny had decided that if it was going to be a date, he’d be a gentleman. Things were still delicate, and he had to leave early when she had a day off. He did text her the next morning to say he’d enjoyed their date, not wanting to have the wedding be the next time they talked. When he arrived at the precinct, he went to Olivia’s door, knocking. 

“What’s going on, Carisi?”

“Since the squad’s coming to my sister’s weddin’ now, I felt like I gotta tell everybody I’m married and it’s really confusing.”

“Since you hadn’t mentioned it, I assumed you were getting a divorce.”

“You knew?”

“I did get sent your file when you started here. You know, I do read those.”

“I messed up bad, y’know? She’s a baker, right? And I’ve known her since I was five. Got married when we were eighteen. It was all good until I got to homicide.” Oliva gave him a sympathetic, knowing smile. “What I told you guys? How the women got to me? I was scared if I told her, I’d, like, tarnish her. Make her see all the bad stuff we see. It’s amazing talking to her, Lieu. She never stopped seeing the best in people. And I stopped acting like her husband because I thought just being close to me would transfer all of it. She left me, but we’re in a weird limbo. She’s in the wedding, and we act married when we see each other. This’ll only be the sixth time in a year and a half. But I don’t want her to meet everyone and they’re all like who the hell are you.”

“This job can make that part of life incredibly difficult, Carisi. I feel the same way sometimes about Noah. What if they take him? What if I’m so paranoid he grows up paranoid? Or god forbid he sees pictures? I try to refocus it. I think about how he can make light in those bad times. I don’t know much about her, but I’m guessing she does too?”

“She does.”

“Tell her, Carisi. If she knows something is wrong, she’ll be able to get through it.”

“I’m telling her after the wedding. My therapist said it might make it less stressful. I’ve been afraid she’ll change her mind when I tell her.”

“It’ll work out. It is a smart idea to make sure everyone knows. Barba’s coming with me, so I’ll make sure he knows and keep him in line.”

“Thanks Lieu. For this whole talk, but also giving me a shot.”

Tag List: @cycat4077 @fear-less-write-more

[living-dead-parker]

New Girl

Summary: Request - Can you do an imagine where your Tony’s daughter and there’s this new girl intern whose trying to outdo you so u feel like the avengers don’t really need you because you think she’s smarter and prettier than you .. thanks :)

What? I actually wrote something??

Warnings: cussing probably, slight angst, real ooc shit but idc man

Word Count: 4.5k ooh she long

You're not a jealous person. Really, you'd always felt jealousy was an ugly color. Unfortunately for you, everybody would describe you as such at the moment. Though in your defense, it's not jealousy. It's a case of fraud!

"Good job, Ally," your dad congratulates the intern. she'd originally been a temp. A seasonal temp for the Spring. Well, spring was over three months ago. In fact, Fall is approaching and it seems like she'll still be here for at least another three months. You scowl inwardly, tired of hearing her name. " We're all meeting in20 to discuss the Halloween charity event," Tony says and your eyes widen. She was definitely not invited to that meeting! "Meet us in conference room B, please?"

It's not that you don't like temps or interns. In fact, you've become great friends with a lot of them over the years. It's just something about Ally. She's a total suck up and she's totally stealing your place. Before she came along, the team would come to you for suit and tech upgrades. They'd go to you for advice on combat in regards to their suits or tech. But ever since Ally came around, she's taken over that. The team goes to her now and they seem to like her better for it as the last person to have stepped into your lab was your dad, three days ago to ask you if you could consult with Ally. Before that was Peter about a month and a half before that to hang out. It's been a while. Then you'd been placed to work on some SI renewable energy source project but then that responsibility went to Ally as well. Ultimately, you didn't have much to do, so you started, unknown to anybody but yourself, dabbling in the fashion industry and took up witchcraft because you have the time.

Before you even hear her response, you turn around and head out towards the elevators. Along the way, you find yourself bumping into Peter. He's quick to apologize despite the fact that you were the one not watching where you were going.

" Peter?" you call out confused. Why he's even on that floor, to begin with taking you by surprise. He has his own lab on the same floor you, your father, and Bruce do. Nowhere near this floor. "What are you doing here?"

" Uh," he pauses, nervously scratching his neck. "I was gonna meet with Ally. Gonna ask her if she can help me repair my web shooters, hang out a bit too."

You almost visibly deflate at that. Great, even your crush would rather go to Ally for something than you. You've helped Peter with his web shooters before, and he'd usually always hang out with you. What the hell? " Oh," you finally respond. "I can help you! After the meeting, I mean."

" It's fine, Y/N," Peter responds. "Don't wanna put a lot on your plate. Go work on your pitch."

Before you can say anything, Ally is walking out with your dad. The two are laughing like they've known each other for years. She calls out to Peter and he tells you he'll see you in a few. You watch him walk up to Ally and you pick up on how she bites her lip, tucking a strand of her long, black, straight hair behind her ear. Her green eyes stare into Peter's and you suddenly feel self-conscious as Peter stares at her.

"Hey Y/N," your dad calls out, walking next to you. "Why are you down here?" He presses a button and the elevator opens, allowing both of you to step in.

"Oh, you know," you start, waving him off. " Just practicing for the meeting. you know how I am."

Tony nods as the elevator goes up two floors to the conference floor. Upon arrival, your phone dings, showing an email notification. You open it and see it's from someone named Alex Gianni. A fashion designer on the come up. Not too unknown as his clothing is all the rage with teens and internet influencers. However, the biggest thing about him is that his father, Arlo Gianni, is one of your father's biggest critics. The two have a mutual dislike for each other and it's kind of hilarious. Nonetheless, you're acquaintances with Alex.

' Y/N Stark, It's in my interest to ask you if you're available to direct my winter line's fashion show. I'm well aware of your eye for design and fashion as well as the mixture of applied sciences into your practices. In short, I grant you creative freedom over the show, based on the looks should you decide to accept this offer.'

Initially, you didn't think much of the email and decided to ignore it for the time being. You'd decline his offer later, for the sake of your dear old dad. However, the offer is very tempting. You've been wanting to do a show before, but you never really got the chance. Nonetheless, you push the thought behind and decide to focus on the subject matter of the meeting.

"Where's Parker?" you find yourself asking, seconds before the meeting is set to start. Everyone shrugs but Tony says to just start without him, that he'll fill him in on the information. So you commence the meeting. Most of your bit is the introductory stuff. Pepper would begin discussing the meat of it all. Halfway through your speech, Peter and Ally walk in, laughing obnoxiously loud. Their eyes widen when they see you and your upset face. Being the professional you are, you continue like that never happened. However, as you continue, you notice the unprofessionalism of the others in the room. They all managed to start some kind of conversation with Ally and even Pepper and your father managed to ignore you and to join in. Peter couldn't seem to keep his voice down and that was the final straw. "And I have a big announcement to make!"

The loudness of your voice gained all thin attention. With a smile used to hide the anger and the heartbreak, you speak up. "I've decided to drop out of the charity event organizer committee. Pepper will be fine on her own, I know she will be."

With that, you head out the conference room and into the elevator. Once the doors shut, you let the tears fall. The anger and the sadness of having everybody forget about you and Choose the seemingly smarter and prettier girl finally coming out. Through teary eyes, you unlock your phone and decide to email Alex back.

' Hey Alex, I would be honored to direct your show! I'm so glad you chose me, please let me know when you'd like to meet to discuss plans.'

Two days passed before you got a sudden response. You'd spent those two days in bed crying and listening to a lot of Fleetwood Mac. No one even tried looking for you or talking to you for those two days given that you haven't gotten a single knock on your door, nor a text or call, not even a message from FRIDAY. When you opened the response, you saw that it was a text from Alex asking if you could meet in two hours. You were quick to respond, jumping up to get ready. For the first time in 48 hours, you were up and smiling.

You were quick to throw on some jeans, a top, and a coat over that. You asked FRIDAY to do a scan where everybody was so that you could avoid them all for now. Deep down, you feel like you're exaggerating, but at the same time, you know you're not. Everyone has been forgetting about you, often ignoring you for Ally for the past six months. Some you've gone that amount of time not seeing. It's depressing. Their unprofessionalism was just the thing that made you break. So, FRIDAY gives you the best route to take so you don't have to see any of them and you take it. You're in a car withing ten minutes and you're driving off toward's Alex's house to meet up.

That's how the next couple of weeks went, without anyone noticing. You'd wake up at 9 AM, get ready for your day and head out as soon as you were ready. You'd go to the nearest cafe, get some breakfast, and eat. Then, you'd get to Alex's house by 10:30. Then, you'd both convene for a while, bouncing ideas off each other, and get to drawing or writing plans. You'd try on the clothes, feel it, look at it. He'd take you to the stores, spend some time with the die-hard fans of his and his brand. You truly delved into the world of the clothes. By the time you were done, it'd be dinner time. You'd have dinner with Alex's family, and it was those moments that you got the familial attention you'd been craving for some time now. Sure, Arlo made comments about your dad, and usually, you'd refute them, but not this time around. Instead, you ignored them and just pretended they were never said. It felt wrong but it felt nice to have someone actually ask you how your day was despite spending the day around you. On days where you weren't over at Alex's house, you'd spend some time watching videos or pictures from influencers who wore his stuff. You'd be in your own rabbit hole for hours on end, listening to music that could serve as a possible soundtrack. You'd even go into your lab and find ways to improve on the show through engineering and science.

Then it all came crashing, in a sense, one day. There were about three weeks until showtime, and you were at home in your lab. You'd gotten the notification. You were expecting the news to come out, it had to at some point before the show. However, you weren't really expecting the backlash from those around you. It started with Alex's brand posting the picture on the brand's account. It was a black and white picture of you, Arlo, and Alex standing in Alex's office. You're all looking at a rack of the new clothes and you're all smiling and laughing. A candid picture. Around it had the words 'Lexicon Couture x Y/N Stark Fall and Winter 19.' It had the date of the show and the time it would happen. The caption read, 'Something big is coming. #LexiconxStark #GiannixStark'

Everyone was freaking out in the comments, the post becoming one of the brand's most liked. Next, came Alex's post. It was the same thing, except he tagged you in the post and he even added a red heart emoji. A most exclusive emoji. Then finally came Arlo's post. It was a repost of Alex's and he added something along the lines of 'my basically new daughter has teamed up with my son for his line.'

Not too long after the posts went viral, you got the email from the company to repost the pictures to gain even more viewership, so you did, leaving the caption as simple yet ominous as the brand's caption. Not too long after you posted it was there a knock on your door. You were too busy adding some finishing touches to the design to care that it could be something not good, so without hesitation, you tell the person to come in.

"You're working with Arlo Gianni?" your dad asks, bursting through the door. You look up from your tablet, seeing Tony's totally devastated look. Without thinking about it, you nod, looking back down at the sketches on your tablet. "The Arlo Gianni? The one who's one of my many enemies? Y/N, how could you do this to me?"

"It's not that serious-"

"Not that serious? He called you his daughter, in his post, Y/N. I take offense to that."

"Look, I didn't take offense to you calling Ally 'like a daughter' okay? Plus, he's not that bad once you get to know him. I was only working with Alex at the beginning but much like all his other kid's ventures, his dad got involved because he cares. Plus Arlo feeds me and asks me how my day has been. I'm just finally trying to set foot into the fashion world like I have been for the past couple of years and my good friend Alex is offering me an outlet to do just that by allowing me full artistic and directorial creativity over his line's show."

Tony stays quiet, noticing how you don't look up at him. "Well, Peter seems devastated that you're so close to Alex. He ranted to Ally the other day that the girl he likes, you know you, has disappeared for days and suddenly she's shown hanging out with Alex Gianni. So...."

"I don't know what you want me to say, dad," you respond, hoping he gets the hint that you're upset now. Hoping he'll react in one of two ways; leave you alone, or apologize for being a dick. "I'm just chasing my dreams here since I have nothing to do here. So, if you're gonna keep chastising me, please go away."

Without another word, he exits your room. When the door shuts, you ask FRIDAY to lock it, feeling the tears come out. Suddenly, you're friends with the enemy and that's when Peter and Tony decide to come around to realizing that they want you? That's when they decide to come around? All for the wrong reasons too? Well, now you plan on rubbing it in that you don't really need them. Yeah, sure it's mostly spite speaking, but deep down you're pissed. How dare they think that they can cast you out and then get mad when you find something of your own to do?

So the next day when Alex asks you if you want to go on his family's vacation for the week, you're quick to respond yes. They'd claimed it would be a celebratory trip to Italy for finishing the show ahead of time. You'd spent the next week teasing your father, the Avengers, and Peter by making them jealous. A post about how Alex is your most handsome best friend at the moment for Peter to see, an Instagram post with Alex's whole family, calling them the best and most supportive team on earth aimed at all the Avengers, and a Snapchat post with Arlo pouring you a glass of champagne to stab your own father in the chest the way he did to you. It was petty, it was ridiculous, and it was everything you felt like doing at the moment. Then at some point in the week, your intentions became sort of clear to Alex, who found it rather amusing. He admitted that he wasn't attracted to you in that way because he's gay, but he'd help you in the part of making Peter jealous by posing with you in various promising poses.

The week was over and you were back home. Now there were only two weeks until showtime and it was time to do some press. Alex had been in interviews all day and you were meant to be working on a guest list for the show, and you weren't so sure if you wanted to invite your dad or the Avengers. On one hand, you've worked on this on your own. This was your thing and you wanted to enjoy it as such. However, you do want them there, even if you currently are upset with every one of them. Plus, it could be a good way to rub it in their faces.

So with that, you add them all to the list. You go on about your business for the next couple of hours, until you see that Alex has sent you a link to a video of one of the interviews he did. In the interview, he reveals that he wanted you to do the show because you inspired the line. He'd based most of the line on your style but gave it a more urban and even modern spin for the youth to wear, as he claimed. Essentially, you were his muse. It all kind of made sense why it all came easy to you. It was based on you. You found it flattering and that made your heart skip a beat, joy filling every fiber of your being. Someone did notice you when everybody else did not.

So, you did some press and eventually, the show came around. You'd been at the venue all day, helping prepare and get everything accounted for. You were running this thing and it was a tight ship, so nothing could go wrong. Everyone got there in time, everything got put together in time, and by the time it was an hour until showtime, you were beyond tired. You had a total of thirty models, a great variation of everything and you felt proud. You cooled down before the show, deciding to get yourself sort of ready for post-show pictures and interviews. When the show started, the sound of Rico Nasty's Roof began to play and the crowd began to cheer. Then the first model walked out; donning a pair of acid-washed distressed jeans with a cropped multi-color jacket, a white Lexicon tee, and some platforms. Her hair was in messy space buns and she wore some neon-pink sunglasses to match the jacket. Right as she reached the end of the runway, another model came out, wearing more from the fall line. You watched from behind the walls of the facade to see the Avengers, your dad, Pepper, and Peter all sitting front and center. Nowhere in sight was Ally. Good.

People seemed to enjoy the fall portion of the show, and it was probably the most fun part to direct. The fall line was more of a modern urban thing, something the cool kids are wearing today and it's very in your face. It's very 'break shit and rage' as you've explained before and you've always had a knack for alternative dress styled. It was punk meets hood and you've always thought that was a cool style. Eventually, after a good twenty minutes, that portion of the show was over. Alex came out and announced a short five-minute intermission, wanting to prepare and transition into the second portion smoothly. In that time, you ran around making sure everyone was good to go. Once the five minutes were over, the sound of Fleetwood Mac's The Chain begins to play. This was the fall portion, which to you was a more formal style. It was warmer in tone and in use, and it was more sophisticated. It still had a youthful feel, but it was more formal than the other stuff. Nonetheless, everyone at the show seemed to dig it. By the time the show was over, everyone was giving the models a standing ovation. At the end of it, you and Alex came out, earning the loudest cheers of all.

At that moment, you felt the rush you'd been searching for. You found your calling and it was everything you expected it to be and more. Once the crowd silenced, Alex wrapped an arm around your shoulder and hugged you close as he took the mic and took the time to address the audience. You watched him proudly as he spoke, one of the biggest smiles on your faces.

"I especially want to thank my best friend, my partner, my muse, Y/N Stark," he speaks, looking back at you as the crowd cheers. "For taking up the job as director of the show. She did an amazing job with everything and through this process, we became closer. She's so creative and I'm glad she agreed to this. My show wouldn't have been the same, and it probably would have failed if it was anybody else."

He hands you the mic and you take it, watching as everyone silences down. You begin your speech, just saying thank you to everyone and it makes you feel emotional deep inside.  "I also want to thank the Gianni's for taking me in during this process, making me feel like family and taking care of me during all the long nights and early mornings," you say, taking your father by surprise. "I also want to thank my father Tony Stark and the Avengers for unknowingly fueling my necessity for this show, otherwise, I don't know if I would have done it," you continue. "Most of all, I wanna thank Alex," you pause and notice the way Peter looks jealous as you turn to Alex. "For putting me on this project, for trusting me to do this, and for being the best friend a girl could ask for. For encouraging me to do my own thing after this and for helping me realize some things. Anyways, thank you all so much!"

By the time everyone is off stage, all sorts of people are coming up to you and to Alex, asking you all sorts of questions. All you want to do at this time is get to the afterparty and get a drink or something. Maybe get a burger or some tacos on the way, but you just want a meal and a drink. So, you get through it all as quick as possible and by the time you're done, the only people left are your dad and the Avengers. They're all standing together, some of them holding flowers, others holding cards. You chuckle, feeling a little nervous to approach them. However, you do it anyway, because you can only ignore them for so long. Apparently that limit was about two months. So with that, you walk up to them, a small smile on your lips.

"I have a feeling we're all in for a lecture," Tony speaks up, handing you some flowers. Your nod, eyes wide and words ready to go.

"Yeah, thank you, you whole bunch of actual assholes," you say, making them all go wide-eyed and gasp at your bluntness. "For ignoring me for nearly eight whole months over some intern who was just supposed to be a temp. I don't know if any of you notice, but Ally? I hate that bitch! And I rarely hate anybody! So, the fact that you all ignored me for her at some point in time? That's kind of annoying."

"We didn't ignore you for her-" Steve begins.

"Yeah, we didn't mean to, at least." Natasha comments.

"Hm, let me think," you say, letting it all out now. "Natasha the last time we talked was literally four months ago. Steve, you haven't talked to me in six. Peter, you've ditched me for Ally, which was kind of heartbreaking because I liked you and I kind of thought you liked me back, but ya know, and she's so much prettier than me, so that doesn't help either," you ramble. "Pepper, you basically wanted me off that project and then you got Ally's help, so that was fun. Bruce, Thor, Sam, Bucky, and Wanda, all of you immediately ditched me for Ally, so that kind of sucked. And most of all, my dead old dad. That little argument with you kind of hurt because you were so betrayed that I was working with Arlo Gianni, but behind closed doors, he'd been taking care of me better than you had for the past couple of months since Ally came around. Plus, you only ever talked to me to tell me that Ally would be taking over one of my projects or that I'd have to cover for you in a meeting."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Tony asks, mirroring everyone's guilty frown.

"I wanted you guys to realize you were shutting me out," you say, the tears you'd been holding in for the better part of eight months now finally coming out. "I was always initiating interactions with you because no one paid me the time of day. But then I finally decided to stop, see if it made an impact, and apparently, it did not, because no one sought me out for so long. But that day of the Halloween Charity meeting, Alex emailed me right before it, asking me to direct this for him. I was initially going to decline, but once the meeting was in full swing and then Peter was walking in laughing with Ally, and then everyone began to tune me out to start talking with her, that was what caused me to snap. You all shut me out, so I took the hint and fucked off. I accepted Alex's offer and for the first time in months, I'd felt happy. I felt happy, I felt needed, I wasn't alone, I wasn't someone's second or last choice. And it felt good."

"Y/N," Tony whispers, stepping closer. "We're so sorry, sweetie," he says sincerely, pulling you into his arms. Everyone begins piling around, hugging you as well. "I'm sorry we didn't realize that earlier. I didn't know we made you feel that way, it wasn't anyone's intention to make you feel worthless or anything. I just told everyone to back off a bit because I didn't want you thinking that SI or Avengers stuff was all you had to do all the time."

"But did I ever complain?" you ask, and everyone goes silent. "I didn't mind helping with that. I loved doing all that work because it meant that I was always hanging out with one of you guys. So you can only imagine how shitty I felt when suddenly, no one was talking to me. Trading me in for Ally."

They all stay silent for a few seconds. Then the wave of apologies came around and you find yourself laughing.

"Look, it's fine. I'm over it now, my grudge has gone away because I found my calling, I found my thing and I'm happier now. I found my best friend in this world, and I found my group of people away from my initial group of people and I'm just over it. But please from now on, no ignoring me? Or else I'll pick up a new passion out of spite."

Everyone is quick to agree, hounding you in another giant group hug, assuring you that they all still cared. After that day, Ally didn't become much of a problem. She still worked at SI, still in her current position, but you managed to stay away from her. Everyone would talk to you like normal and Peter went back to hanging out with you again, making sure to always comment on how he likes you and not Ally. You'd hold it over him for some time, opting to torture him with his crush just a bit longer, just because you're a sadistic spiteful person. In the end, it all worked out as you began to take the fashion world by storm.

Leave feedback, requests, and asks, please!!

[cloudhayato]

Greek Yogurt Melancholy

Happy @khrobscureshipweek guys

Lancia/Giannini

Lancia jerked awake from his nap. His heart was pounding and his face was drenched in sweat. Looking down, for a split second he expected to see blood on his hands, but there was nothing. Just the calloused and scarred skin after years of use. He blinked, needing a moment to process all this, and then let out a heavy sigh.

Nightmares again, huh? Even though it was all over, he still couldn't get a good night's sleep. He probably never will, and he doesn't deserve it. Even if Mukuro made him do it, all their deaths are still on him. He's the one who slit their throats and crushed their skulls and-

Yeah, he needed to do anything other than think right now. Getting up to his feet, he felt the weight of exhaustion push down on his shoulders, and dragged his feet towards the kitchen.

His apartment wasn't anything big or stylish. It was a small space with only a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. That was all he needed though, he wasn't one for excess amenities.

Opening his fridge door, Lancia glanced at the almost barren shelves and felt a migraine coming on. Reaching towards the back, he grabbed a carton of greek yogurt and went to his drawers to pull out a spoon. The sour taste would help him feel more awake, and it was one of the few things he genuinely enjoyed.

After he sat down at his table, he popped the lid off, and felt his heart fall. Empty. Why would he even put the empty carton back in the fridge? Did he really hate himself that much? This was the sole event that almost made him consider therapy, but he pointedly ignored those thoughts and forcefully got up.

He'd just go to the store and buy more greek yogurt. It wasn't the end of the world, no need to be dramatic about it.

...Except he didn't have a car, and glancing at the clock, which said 7pm, he knew the store would close two hours from now. He wouldn't make it on foot. There was another option available for him, but he didn't feel good about it. Asking for things made him feel weak, and this would put him in the vicinity of another person, when he really would rather be alone.

Swallowing his pride, which was almost as sour as the yogurt he was craving, he walked towards his rotary phone and slowly inputted the numbers.

"Hello?" The familiar voice of Giannini said from the other line. "Mr. Lancia, is that you?"

He still didn't get how Giannini always knew it was him. Technology just never made sense to him.

"Yeah, Giannini, it's me." He answered. "I'm sorry to be asking you this so late, but could you drive me to the store?"

God, he sounded pathetic. He would never willingly learn how to drive one of those deathtraps though. Last time he tried to stop a plane from crashing, let's say the plane still crashed and his presence didn't really affect anything.

"Oh, yes of course Mr. Lancia!" Giannini chirped, as bright and chipper as always. "I'll be there in five minutes, just hold on one moment!"

"Yeah, thank you, Giannini."

Lancia waited for the familiar 'click' to signal the end of the call, and then put the receiver down. Pressing his forehead against the wall, he was already regretting this decision. Just thinking about it was draining, and he sounded so pathetic asking someone to come pick him up just so he could get some yogurt.

There was nothing he could do about it now though. He'd dug his hole and now he had to lay in it, no changing that now.

Lancia stayed like that the entire five minutes. His mind raced through constant mental turmoil, but that was his default state so it was fine, until he heard the doorbell ring. Finally removing his head from the wall, he steeled his face in a default expression that looked like it could kill you, and answered the door.

At first, Lancia was confused. He had to look down to speak to everyone, but he wasn't expecting to look so far down. He also wasn't looking at Giannini. On the ground was this little metal disk thing. A hand had come out of the top, and was still hovering by the doorbell, before receding back into what could only be some kind of machine.

"Mr. Lancia!"

He didn't expect the machine to shout his name. It took him so by surprise that he almost crushed it under his foot on instinct, only stopping himself at the last moment. That voice was Giannini's.

A high pitched shriek erupted from the disk at this attempted murder. "Please wait a moment—"

"Where are you?" Lancia interrupted, looking around the hallway in confusion before back to the disk. "Is this thing like a phone?"

"Exactly that! This is a roomba I've modified to have a variety of extra uses than just vacuuming." Giannini gushed, before calming down and sounding a bit more sheepish. "I'm sorry to have startled you, I should have given you fair notice beforehand."

Most of that flew over Lancia's head, especially the roomba part, but the moment it came up, he stopped caring. Not that he'd say that out loud, Giannini sounded excited and shutting him down would be rude.

"It's fine. Where are you?" Lancia asked, trying not to sound too exhausted.

"Ah, I'm parked outside." Giannini answered.

The 'roomba' turned around and pointed towards the stairs. He lived on the second floor so just at the bottom would be the exit.

Lancia just grunted in affirmation.

He stepped over the roomba and doubled his pace. This already felt like it was taking forever. He literally just wanted some Greek Yogurt, that was it. If only life itself didn't hate him with a burning passion.

The staircase went in a circle pattern. Not really a spiral staircase, but how most stairs in a small space worked. Lancia just jumped the railing and fell perfectly through the middle part where no stairs touched. It was just the second floor after all.

He landed on his feet, knees bent a little, but he barely felt the landing anyways. The building manager behind his desk was looking at him with wide eyes, but he pointedly didn't make eye contact as he walked past. He really didn't need to deal with that right now.

Opening the door to the parking lot, Lancia recognized Giannini's car immediately. It was bright yellow, and the mechanic had told him it was a 'buggy' as if that meant anything to him. It was small and cramped, and Lancia could barely fit himself in it, but it's not like he was going to make Giannini make, yes he made that buggy, a whole new car just for him.

Giannini excitedly waved at him through the windshield. Lancia was grateful he remembered not to honk the horn this time. The loud noise activated his fight or flight, and he was hardwired to always choose fight. He still felt bad about completely crushing the engine, but Giannini assured him it was fine and he could fix it.

None of that mattered now though, and as Lancia opened the car door, he finally felt like he was getting somewhere. The roomba jumped in after him and crawled behind the seats. He didn't have anything more to say about the invention so he just didn't acknowledge it.

"It's been awhile." Giannini said conversationally as he started the engine. "What have you been up to?"

"Mulling over the sins of my past." Lancia answered honestly.

"Okay!" Giannini smiled uncomfortably. "I was working on upgrading my microwave in order to stabilize isotopes."

"Hm. Did it work?"

"No."

The conversation quieted down to an awkward silence after that, both unsure where to go from there. It was difficult for them to relate to one another. Giannini was the son of a brilliant inventor trying to live up to his father's legacy, and Lancia spent most of his early life possessed and forced to kill. Finding common ground was a challenge.

"What kind of greek yogurt do you like?" Giannini spoke up after a while, sounding nervous.

"...Regular." Lancia mumbled, feeling a little embarrassed talking about this.

"Oh, an excellent choice!" Gianni said, with a little more enthusiasm than necessary. "I'm a big fan of vanilla myself."

"Vanilla's fine. I just prefer it more sour." Lancia responded, and from there they descended into a very thoughtful conversation about flavours and their own preferences.

It was the most Lancia had spoken since returning to Italy.

Before they knew it, they arrived at the store. Lancia was actually genuinely surprised that the car ride wasn't another long, agonizing ordeal to go through. He actually felt a little energized, as strange as it was to say. He'd need to ruminate over this later when he got back to his apartment and was trying to sleep.

"Well, we're here!" Giannini said needlessly, since they'd been parked for around two minutes already.

"We are." Lancia repeated in his gruff voice, and then opened the door and stepped out.

It was a small little corner store that was several corners too far. Still, it was cheap and never too busy, and that ticked all of Lancia's boxes. Only one automatic door worked and Lancia had to step around the frozen one. He walked through the aisles, not making conversation with the cashier and the one other customer present.

After a bit of searching, he found what he was looking for. The long sought after prize, Greek Gods Greek Yogurt, and in this moment he'd never felt so happy before to finally buy some gross dairy product.

As he went to grab the yogurt from the fridge, something else caught his attention. A little notice advertising a sale. 'Buy one get one free!' it said, and after some hesitation, he grabbed a second one.

Quickly, he paid for them and left the store. Giannini waved at him again as he stepped into the parking lot, and Lancia looked away, feeling kind of embarrassed. Hurrying over, he opened the door and took his seat beside Giannini.

"Did you find what you were looking for, Mr. Lancia?" Giannini asked, looking at him curiously.

Without saying anything, Lancia handed him the second greek yogurt. It was vanilla.

Giannini let out a small gasp as he took the yogurt, and out of the corner of his eye, Lancia could see the mechanic's lips quirk up in a delighted smile.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Lancia!" Giannini sounded so happy it was almost ridiculous.

"Yeah, no problem." Lancia said, and after a moment of hesitation. "It's just Lancia, by the way."

Giannini's eyes softened at that, as he handed over plastic spoons he had in his glove compartment along with various tools.

"Okay then. Thank you, Lancia."

Maybe this outing wasn't as bad as Lancia thought. The greek yogurt tasted a little sweeter on his tongue, and he found that he didn't mind as much.

It was nice.

[comfysocksfirst]

Chihayafuru as NBA Players!! Part 1

Oh Man!! Two of my great loves Chihayafuru and basketball. Finally they meet. No one asked for this. This is most likely an incredibly small venn diagram of converging interests.Nonetheless here it is which NBA player is the real world equal of which Chihayafuru character. Note: I tend to skew more current with my NBA picks mostly cause that’s what I’m most familiar with but also because it is much more difficult to know those older players’ personalities. One more note I just now decided to include runner-up choices for some people I think it will mostly be a jokey runner up. Wataya Arata: Oh boy let’s start hot! My second favorite character in the series he is the Karuta God and the True soul-mate to Chihaya. Disagree? Fite me. He is STEPHEN CURRY. Karuta is the family business. He is the legacy one born to devastate. I could see Nicki Minaj dropping Arata’s name in her songs calling out to him all at hours talking about those eyes, that accent, and that water-like play style that has her downing gallons of his essence. He’s also perfectly chill to outer appearances. Everyone thinks he’s having a good time win or lose but they don’t notice how he’s smiling at them while he is steadily inching closer to dropping 50 on them. Shinobu Wakamiya: I’m not letting up with this second name. My all time favorite characther in the series.Sharpest dresser in the hemisphere. The youngest Queen of all. You know this. She is KOBE. And not one to be fucked with. She brings that Mamba Mentality to all she does whether it’s destroying her opponents 25-0 or slinging them pastries she takes no prisoners. She’s eked out every drop of potential she possesses with constant practice and total devotion to Karuta. She’s all about that grind and sees the game in a way only she can some would even say it’s crazy??? Anyone and everyone trying to take cards from her is her enemy and she’ll cut them if given chance when they take some of her favorites. Runner-up: Michael Jordan. The GOAT. I like that the similarity that they both pushed away and oftentimes used the people around them in order to get better. But ultimately didn’t go with MJ cause he walked away from the game at his peak for a year and change and I don’t see Shinobu ever doing that. Chihaya Ayase: The protagonist. Lady Big Eyes. Mrs. Daddy Bear. President/Founder/(Only Member??) of the Chitose Appreciation Society. She’s gotta be GIANNIS. A physical freak who’s sheer athleticism catapults her puts her in the realm of Class A. Everywhere Giannis goes he draws them eyes and the same can said of this beauty who can rattle her male opponents with a smile or even just eye contact. Who else is on Giannis’ team? What? Can’t name anyone else cause you’re not a basketball fan? Well let me tell you even if you were a fan you might struggle cause he’s carrying that team on his back! And so is this young lady. They got some good players on this squad but this Ace knows well that is she don’t win and cruise through to victory it could adversely affect her team’s psyche so she is unstoppable on her own much like Giannis’ fast breaks. Runner-up: Ben Simmons was my first choice for her but ultimately I decided against him cause I think he’s not a great team player and I don’t think he’s serious enough about improving his deficiencies. I thought these runner ups were supposed to be funny??? IDK Kanade Oe: KENDRICK PERKINS. I’m kinda running out of steam here. And I got a long list to go. Kana-chan and Kendrick both top heavy. I never really noticed until they made it a topic of discussion in the mini-comic. But damn yeah definitely carrying a lot of weight on top.  She’s also the team enforcer. Hear me out on this. Sure she’s small but she’s probably the most serious of all the team. Serious about life, about how people should behave, about the beauty of Karuta. And if anyone is disrespecting the poems--You better hold her back!! She will get into the face of anyone lowkey Empress in the making. She’s also a big small voice in the locker room a different type of leader than Ayase and Taichi. She knows what poems people need to hear to click back in into the present. Perk is an old-school kind of player and Kana-chan has an old-school mentality and while both were important members of their title winning teams they weren’t close to being the focus. Midori Tamaru: I actually forgot I wrote a write-up for her! Cool I’m glad I did. She is LUKA DONCIC. She is a shit-talker supreme. She wants all the smoke and she got all the weapons. Big-time potential. Everyone saying to her Wait your turn. But Fuck It she says and is ready to shoot her shot. Drop a cold 3 at the buzzer to win a playoff game in front of a 10 year vet who’s desperate for a win. They’re both missing one critical aspect of their game. For Luka he needs to increase his stamina for Tamaru she needs to get mentally tough. Right now she can most definitely be fucked with and she may be the only one that don’t know it. But any team with her is going to be in the conversation for best in their region and they should be looking to book a hotel by the big red shrine every year. Dr. Harada: Da Big Bear. Brown Bear? Black Bear? Daddy Bear? He all da bear. A walking a build-a-bear-workshop. What’s that mean? I have no clue. This guy. There’s a reason he was Ayase’s first love. He cuddly af but he still got that tenacity and overwhelming physicality that keeps him happily married decades later and a Karuta vet to be feared. I went with a non-contemporary player for the Dr. and no not Dr.J but rather his teammate MOSES MALONE. Nicknamed the Chairman of the Board cause he throws his body into every rebound lunging wildly at each miss cause he KNOWS that every rebound is his by right. Yeah that sound our friend the bear. Moses played a looooong time longer maybe than one might think considering the era he played in and how physical his game was. But that incredible body of his allowed him to stay in the game as long as wanted throwing elbows to clear out any close competition. Alright I’m tired Part 2 to come soon. It’s already written out I just HATE transcribing. There’s another 9 characters to come! Let me know what you all think please. Am I alone in my dual NBA and Chihayafuru fandom??

[likesomekindofcheese]

At the Opera (Part one)

Pairing: Brian May x F! Singer! Reader.

Fluff! Lot’s of fluff! A bit of angst!

Word Count: 2,000

Content warning: swearing, mentions of boners, Reader and Brian being twice shy, nervous little beans

Context: Brian see’s you make your first big opera debut at school. He falls immediately in love with you. He’s scared of seeming like a creeper, though, and hopes he doesn’t...Switches between his perspective and yours.

Note: I am so excited about this fic I can’t stand it!!!!

First off, I imagine this takes place in the early seventies after Queen I or Queen II and before A Night at the Opera (heh) is released. Secondly, though is written to identify as female, use she/her pronouns, an opera singer, a student, and a soprano, if requested, I can make and send a different version to you. Maybe a reader who is in a musical! Or a straight play! Or is singing a mezzo role! Or a male reader! (etc.). Message me ASAP and I will message a version to you! with your desired version! A second part will be up in time and will probably stop there unless another idea comes. Enjoy and please leave feedback!

Brian had absolutely nothing else to do on a Friday evening except go by himself to an opera by a local University. It was a night where nothing was happening. No work. No papers to grade. No rehearsal. Nothing planned between the band members or his friend. He had those nights before. He was unusually restless. Instead of dwelling in his loneliness he thought he might as well go out. Get his mind from any sadness. And something a little different then heavy drums would be appreciated.

He looked down at the program once he got his seat. “Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi.” According to the summary in his encyclopedia it was only an hour long. If he didn’t like it, it would be over in a wink. After all, when he visited Freddie’s place once he noticed a record of it standing on top of a pile. If it was good enough for Freddie, then it was worth the ticket.

 (You)

“Five minutes until the top!”

“Thank you, five!”

You stay still. You don’t really feel like talking to the other cast members. You smooth some of the white skirt and pray that the food crumble from the pre-performance snack doesn’t show. You were nervous. Tonight you were singing Lauretta in Schicchi for the first time- Lauretta! All of the sopranos in the school who it could have been and it was you! It didn’t matter that it was  not one of the mainstage operas put on with a budget of millions and the biggest stage offered. It was one of your first major roles and you were doing everything you could not to burst. You had barely slept last night from the anticipation and the toll of exhaustion mixed with excitement were bubbling. 

Any wishes of good luck from the cast and crew were forgotten.

“What if the high c’s at the end sound like crap because I was stupid enough not to be able to sleep last night and what…”

“Places for top!”

You took a deep breath, listened to the slow beginning of the overture, and did your best to focus on the story and telling it.

You could still smell the hairspray from your curled hair. The director asked for a more “natural” look to contrast Lauretta from the more exaggerated commedia-esque stock characters and yet it took you longer to do your hair and make-up because your hands were shaking so bad. You wanted to look like the flawless ingenue, but you felt briefly that you were just a toad in lipstick. How could anyone onstage believe you?

It was a while before you entered. Yet you stayed backstage, focusing on the meaning of every last note and word. The singer playing your onstage father, the titular Schicchi, walked up to prepare for your first entrance.  You both didn’t appear until twenty minutes in, but it was getting close.

He smiled and winked at you and then went into character with his smart, cynical frown. You took my place next to him, held the skirt of your white medieval gown as demurely as you could muster, and prepared for the sound cue to enter.

Once you entered, you carried on, just like in rehearsal. Reacting in the moment and singing with the clearest Italian you could and with as much focus on breath as possible. At one point, when Rinuccio, your onstage lover, held your hands, you both began to wail beautifully about how you both could not be married on May Day. You indulged a look away from the conductor to the audience. 

 It was a smaller theatre-actually the smallest theatre on the campus that could still allow a piano and a string quartet.  Plenty of old couples, college girls with long hair and red lips, and close to the middle, there was a very tall, thin, young man with a lion’s mane of curly, brown hair. Ironically, he seemed to be more into the opera than anyone else.

You were back in a second to the opera. You heard  Schicchi’s “Non! Non! Non!”

Naturally, you begin singing your aria, “O mio babbio caro...”

(Bri)

Though Brian was delighted by the opera by the first note and laughing at the onstage family’s antics and allowing the music to charm him.

Then you entered onstage.

“Her eyes are so pretty and expressive…and she’s so small, she’s like a baby bird, oh, if only she was a little bird or even a cat I could hold in my hands for just a minute and her hair seems so soft, and, oh…that smile, oh she’s smiling, that fucking smile, she’s so beautiful and adorable, oh hell, oh hell. Oh fuck, and that voice, oh fuck, that voice. It’s so gorgeous and warm and genuine, oh, I’m so sorry Fred, but oh fuck, that voice, if only she could look at me, please look at me, please look at me and sing for me, just one word, please”

You crossed to a man - who was supposed to be her lover. Brian suddenly felt his stomach drop and his face twist to a frown.

“You git, it’s make believe. They aren’t together in real life...I hope they aren’t

He tried to peel his eyes away to another cast member to see what else they would do onstage that would amuse him. But he kept finding he was stealing quick glances.

When you began your aria, he felt tears well up in his eyes. It was so sweet sounding. 

“O mio babbino caro! Mi piace, e bello, bello!”

He looked down at the translation program:

“Oh my dear papa! He pleases me, he is handsome!”

Brian had a sudden wish he was that boy. He felt the tears fall once he heard of Lauretta’s wish to die if she could not marry him.

“No , no, not you, the boy…”

(You)

You finished the aria. Looking into the audience, You were shocked to see a standing ovation.

Well, that is, one standing ovation. From the tall man with curly hair. And he was applauding like his life depended on it. A few others decided to follow suit and stood up to applaud and cheer. You did your best not to smile. Then once it had died down, Schicchi continued with his line- “Datemi il testamento!”

(Bri)

Brian sat down. He was flushed with embarrassment. How could he have been so…so much? But it was just so wonderful. 

He was sighing once Schicchi sent Lauretta away and you left the stage.

He kept staring at the space where she left. He liked the plot of the opera well enough, but he felt himself leaning forward in his seat with impatience.

Once you  appeared onstage for the last duet of triumph with Rinuccio, He was wondering if that man realized how lucky he was. 

 “I would wrap my arms around her l. I would hold her so tight that she would know she is safe, and everything is alright, now. I would look into those eyes looking up at me, I would pull her in, and then I would lean down so I can reach her lips and kiss…”

He pinched his own hand. “Focus, focus, the story is ending…wait…oh god, what if I have a stiffy! Shit! Shitshitshithshitshit!”

He looked down at his pants. Nothing was showing…that was obvious, at least. He had stopped himself before letting his fantasies go further. Still, he undid two buckles on his belt, just to be safe.

He looked down at the program, flipping to the cast list on the second page.

“Lauretta…(Y/F/N Y/L/N)”

(You)

The cast and crew gathered in the lobby for everyone to say their congratulations. You felt a ping of sadness that your family and friends could not make it. The most they could do was send some flowers, dangling in your arms.

You saw him stand a little in the corner, awkardly. He seemed very quiet. You glanced up at him and felt him glance up at you and your eyes shot back down. Then you looked back up and saw him look down. He was definitely close to your age. 

Finally, you locked eyes for a bit. He swiftly walked to you and the flowers trembled in your arms. You wanted to run behind the stage door and slam it shut, yet at the same time you didn’t.

He walked up and said “Hi, I’m Brian, Brian May.”

“Hi Brian, I’m Y/N.”

Is someone actually approaching me???? And starting the conversation?? 

“ I just wanted to let you know, you were astounding. Your song was my favorite part…and this was my first opera!” Brian said

“Oh wow! Schicchi’s a great first opera.” you say, swallowing. “It’s a comedy, after all, and most people don’t think of opera’ as funny.”

“I loved it! I laughed so much! How do you keep from laughing onstage?”

“I breathe really slowly and focus, Brian.” You dropped his name and froze.

Wow, I must seem forward. But I don’t want to forget it...

“That’s wonderful, and the music is just, just incredible! What is it like to sing it?” he asked.

Your brain began to spiral from your shyness and desperation to seem confident.

“It’s very…it’s, I don’t know, it’s intimidating. My voice is rather small for Puccini, he likes bigger voices, so I was really nervous doing this role. My legs were shaking all the time onstage.”

 It struck you how handsome Brian really was. His height and hair made him seem intimidating, but his smile and eyes were soft, nonthreatening. His hair framed his cheekbones in a way that made him beautiful, in his own way. And when he reached his hands out and stretched out his fingers, they moved as fluidly as a dancers. His speaking was gentle, almost quiet, but clear. Like a kindly fairy prince.

“I couldn’t tell!” he said. He added a smile that made you feel like you were hit by a train.

“It’s the dress! Really! Our costume people were geniuses” you say.

You began feeling self-conscious-didn’t want to appear weird or snobby or ugly to him.

“But you seemed so…so calm and confident. I’m a musician, but uhm…I’m not a classical musician, you could say. But my friend loves opera, so I decided to try it. So I know what it’s like to be nervous about how you do, you were incredible.” Brian adds, folding his arms.

“A musician! Do you play anything or sing!?” You say, it would be polite to steer the conversation towards him.

“Both…uhm…” he crawled in a little “I do sing, and there’s a lot I play, but the guitar is my favorite.”

Guitars, guitars, what can I say to him that would be interesting about guitars? 

“I…I like guitars. It’s such a soothing sound.”

Brilliant, you idiot girl 

“Do you play?” you add, hoping for a save.

He just said he played, crap,  he’s gonna laugh at me.

“Er, yes, yes I do!” He smiled genuinely  

“I play in a band, and I do lots but usually it’s electric guitar. Is there any instrument you play, Y/N?”

“I struggle with piano. I love the sound, but I don’t know how to really play it. Most of the time, I pluck out melodies. It’s partly how I learned this role.” you say. Your face got hot and you felt red as an apple.

“I could maybe…”

There were some clicks, the lights in the back were going out. People were clearing out of the lobby. 

“Well, it’s closing…we have another performance tomorrow.” you add on.

“Any others?” Brian asked. He began to stroke his chin in fascination.

“No, just two… You could tell your friends about it.” You said,

“I will” Brian said.

“Same time, same place.” You remind him, feeling a tiny, shy grin on your face.

There was a little pause.

“Thank you for talking with me, Brian, it means a lot, since it’s my first big role” you blurt quickly. You didn’t want to get locked out of the theater by accident.

“I enjoyed tonight a lot, Y/N...”

“Goodbye, Brian.”

Goodbye Y/N.”

You turned around and walked out.  You realized you were the last to turn in your costume, change, and leave the theater. You were happy with how you sang, but you felt sad. You wished you could see that kind, handsome man again...Maybe you never would. 

(Bri)

Brian couldn’t go to sleep and kept tossing and turning in his bed.

Just one more performance…

He had to go. But he was… was frightened. You were so beautiful and  caring that he didn’t know if he could survive a second meeting without exploding from nerves. You would think he was a creep and the thought of it made him nauseous. He couldn’t go.

At least, not alone.

There was rehearsal tomorrow. He could leave a little early and still arrive to the theater on time. There was enough time to talk one of them, at least, to go...

Deacy would shy away. He would be too worried and his worry would pile onto Brian’s worry until they were a mess.

Roger?

- rather be shot than go to an opera.

 Besides, Roger would guess the real reason Brian wanted to go. The thought of Roger wolf-whistling at you during your aria made him want to crawl under a rock.

That left only one member of the band, then. The one that could help him.

And naturally, the opera fan among them.

[multiverseanimecrossover]

Untitled Story (BSD Inspired Story)

18 years old Li Zheng waited around the station nervously as someone bumps into him and he bows his head. “Sorry! A thousand pardons!” He said loudly. However, the person moved passed him without any acknowledging his presence. “Well, that was rude.” Thought Li Zheng. “Hey there Zheng!” A voice called out. Li Zheng jumps and turns to see a boy with a big smile on his face. “Yuan Can? Is—is that you?” Li Zheng asked. With a flourish swept of his arms out in a dramatic pose; Yuan Can announced, “The one and only~! How’s it hanging?” Li Zheng forced a tiny smile. “Oh, you know—Been here, been there. I’m doing well.” He replied. “Awesome, let’s go! We’re going an adventure from here~!” Yuan Can said, leading his best friend down to the escalators to the city. “So…You know your way around here?” Li Zheng asked. Yuan had a hand behind his head, “Yeah, I’m no expert. I just know most of the cool places but still be around here OK?” He warned. They walked into the sidewalk to see there was four people standing around with books and reading but saw Yuan Can as they waved to him. “Sup Yuan.” The boy greeted. “Nothing much, Naota. How you guys been?” Yuan Can asked. “Hanging around, who’s your friend?” The other guy asked. “Ah, sorry! My name is Li Zheng.” Li Zheng introduced. The second guy was surprised. “Crap, did I say something wrong?” Li Zheng wondered. “Is that, like, the name of a monk?” The second guy inquired. “Maybe it’s an alias or a pen name, he probably doesn’t like to reveal his real name.” The girl with glasses suggested. “No, no, no—that is my real name.” Li Zheng confirmed. The four of them looked shocked. “What? Seriously?” asked the girl in glasses. The first guy was excited, “Wow, sound like the name of an anime character or something!” He claimed. “Ah, where are my manners? Li Zheng, these are my friends—Naota Makioka, Iwase Sugimoto, Tomiko Goldfield and Opula Coldmoon. By the way, Naota and Tomiko are lovers---Spoilers~!” Yuan Can clarified teasingly. Iwase looked irked, Opula laughed while Naota and Tomiko blushed. “Shut up, virgin ass! You’re just jealous ‘cause you don’t have a girlfriend!” Naota retorted. “Not yet but soon I will.” Bragged Yuan Can. “Uh-huh, in your dreams!” snapped Iwase. Opula and Naota laughed but not Tomiko. She glanced at Li Zheng carefully. “You’re Li Zheng right? You must be named after the protagonist from one of Atsushi Nakajima’s works.” Tomiko clarified. Li Zheng was astonished by this, “Atsushi Nakajima? Who’s that?” He asked. “You know, the author. He wrote ‘The Tiger Poet’ and ‘Moon Over the Mountain’, he’s quite talented.” Tomiko explained. “Oh, I never seen his work but I have heard of Dazai Osamu, Ryonosuke Akutagawa and Akiko Yosano.” Li Zheng clarified. That got Noata’s attention, “Really? You heard of Dazai Osamu? Have you heard of ‘No Longer Human’?” He said. “Have I? It’s one of my favorites!” Li Zheng exclaimed eagerly.

“Hate to cut this short but we should get going.” Yuan Can said. “Oh yeah, my bad! It’s nice talking to you.” Li Zheng called. “You too, Li Zheng, bye!” Tomiko hollered, waving. “Catcha later! Stay safe!” Naota exclaimed. “See you soon~!” Opula piped up. “Take care!” Iwase hollered. Li Zheng waved as he walked alongside his friend. That’s when they saw something strange: There was a cheerful boy handing out flyers when he noticed Yuan Can and Li Zheng approaching. “Hey Yuan, how are you doing?” He asked. “Great, and yourself?” Yuan Can asked. “Splendid actually.” The boy said. “Cool, I want you to meet someone. Gianni? This is my best friend, Li Zheng. Zheng? Meet Gianni.” Yuan Can introduced. Gianni’s eyes twinkled, “The same one you grew up in the orphanage with?” He said. “Mmm hmm, that’s him.” Yuan Can validated. Gianni gave a polite bow, “I’m Gianni Rivera. As a member of a respected family; I welcome the lonely and battle scarred.” He addressed. This made Li Zheng smile a bit. “Thanks.” He replied. They bid him goodbye and were on their way. “Never realized you were friends with such cool people around here.” Li Zheng noted. “Yeah, they can be weird but if you’re cool with them—they’re cool with you.” Yuan Can reassured. “Very funny.” Li Zheng rejoined. “I’m not kidding, there’s some people you really should stay away from.” Yuan Can cautioned. “Like who?” Li Zheng questioned, curious by his comment. “Hmm, let’s see…” Yuan Can said. He was quiet for a moment, then he replied: “....People who aren’t terrible however you don’t want to piss hem off. There’s Shosaku Katsura, polite to a fault but he’s got a temper so bad—you’ll be begging for mercy! As long as you keep your nose clean, you’ll be fine. And then there’s a guy name Yozora Obari.” That name threw Li Zheng off! “Yozora Obari?” He asked. “Yeah, I don’t know much about his past though he’s a pretty chilled dude however make him your enemy and he’s bad news to ya. He’s the strongest guy you’ve ever met.” Yuan Can informed. “Wow, sounds cool.” Li Zheng managed to say. “Uh huh, just be wary of them all right?” Yuan Can requested. Li Zheng nodded, “Got it.” He replied. Once they were done having a good time; Yuan Can walked Li Zheng to his apartment. “You had fun Zheng?” Yuan Can asked. Li Zheng grinned, “Yeah, thanks man.” He said. They fist bump each other when all of a sudden, there was a loud piercing sound that made Li Zheng covered his ears. The noise stopped, Li Zheng dropped his hands and glanced over to a horrifying scene: His best friend on the ground, his throat torn open. Tears filled Li Zheng’s eyes and looked up to see his adoptive guardian standing over with an insidious grin! “WHY?! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!” demanded Li Zheng. “You can’t escape from your past, he can’t escape from his past…No one can! You’re too weak!” His guardian spat. “YUAN CAN!!!” Li Zheng screamed, tears dropping to the ground.

As he was working at the coffee shop; Li Zheng was reading the poem of Akiko Yosano’s Thou Shall Not Die as a way to cope: “O my young brother, I cry for you. Don't you understand you must not die! You who were born the last of all, Command a special store of parents' love. Would parents place a blade in children's hands? Teaching them to murder other men. Teaching them to kill and then to die? Have you so learned and grown to twenty-four? O my brother, you must not die! Could it be the Emperor His Grace Exposeth not to jeopardy of war. But urgeth men to spilling human blood, And dying in the way of wild beasts, Calling such death the path to glory? If His Grace possesseth noble heart, What must be the thoughts that linger there?” He placed the poem back in his pocket as he wondered to himself, “The poem is ‘Thou Shall Not Die’, it sounds like it’s from the Ten Commandments in the Bible. It should be one of the Commandments, it’s a sin to die but would it be a crime to live forever?” wondered Li Zheng. Just then, the door opens. This triggers the chiming of the bell attached to the door. Li Zheng looked up and smiled. “Can I help you?” Li Zheng asked. “Yes, I’d like a coffee. Make it black.” Said the man. “Cream or sugar?” Li Zheng said. “Cream, please.” The man replied. Li Zheng nodded. “Coming right up.” He answered politely. He managed to get the cream and coffee ready. Li Zheng gives the coffee cup, but Yozora stops him. “Kid, I’m not going to cause a scene but…I heard what happened to your best friend, Yuan Can. I’m so sorry.” He said. Li Zheng was terrified, he remembered the memories of his best friend! It was then Yozora tells him there’s twelve houses out there, he is from the Venus Orchestra Agency, known as Twelfth House. He tells him there’s others out there such as the Beast of Shadows Mafia that consisted of the most dangerous members within it: Tajomaru Ryosai, Michio Tayne, Chinatsu Midorikawa, Zenkichi Hirata, Akemi Naigu, Kanaya Ryosai, Remon Sakurano, Ichiro Kure, Omiya Kwanichi and their leader—Elisha Sumeru! Beast of Shadows is known as First House. Then, there is the Nighthawk Star Guild that include of Jaythan ‘Jayin’ Gatz as their leader and the rest of the crew—Valda Sherman, Geomar Kino, Hatim Milovan, Courtney Jimeno, Edison Canty, Perseus Simpson, Amaya Barnard and Ishmael Redburn. Nighthawk Star Guild is known as Second House! Also there was a guy who went by the name of Rodion Rashard of the Dreadful Hollows Army. His crew consists of Demetri Vruyx, Arkady Luzhin, Fyodor Karam, Dunya Rashard and Sonora Amaram. Chinno Kurami is from the Spider Needle Government and his second in command, Akagi, works under him. Just before Li Zheng could ask anymore, a member of the Beast of Shadows name Sohar attacks Li Zheng! He appeared behind, Sohar then had Li Zheng on the floor. “You little bastard! You think you can get away from me that easily?” She yelled. Li Zheng blocks his punches but could feel them pressing on his face. “You have no idea how much Yozora screwed you over! He’s just rucking with you! When I bring you to the boss, he’s gonna rip you a new one!” Sohar exclaimed. He peers over to Li Zheng with a grin. “Any last words you die? Because Yozora is going to pay for rucking us over!” Sohar said with a laugh. “Please no! Please!” Li Zheng begged. Yozora saves him when he took out a gun and shot Diana in the shoulder! He screamed when Yozora pushed him on the ground and had the gun at his head. “Sorry, did I step on your moment? Give the boss my regards, farewell.” Yozora remarked as he pulled the trigger, killing Sohar! Li Zheng couldn’t believe what Yozora done. “You…You’re Yozora?” He managed to say. Yozora turns to him and smile, “I won’t hurt you, I promise kid. I treat Yuan Can as if he were my son. And I will treat you the same, now come along Zheng.” He said.

A girl name Ayana Yukisada sat in the first row of the boss with a book in her lap as she mumbled the words to herself. Then, the bus stops and Ayana gets off. The man trails behind Ayana, a smile plastered on his face. He readies himself when he toppled over legs first and looked up to see Ayana standing over him with a smirk. “You’d think I was that stupid? Hm? You underestimated me? What do you think Melor?” She asked to the shadows. There was a low growl coming from the darkness. Ayana sighed, “Fine, have it your way. Now hurry up—I’m itching to see blood flying everywhere.” She said, her voice dripped with malice. Meanwhile; Li Zheng and Yozora met up with the others at the hotel for they were on a mission. Just then, something caught his eye; Li Zheng looked over to see the girl staring out at the ocean, she seemed to be fourteen years old, wore an embroider kimono. A hand touched Li Zheng’s shoulder as he turned to see Yozora. “It’s your lucky day, Zheng~! You and I are going to be sharing a room together.” He stated. Li Zheng managed to smile. They settled into the room with Li Zheng wanting to read when Yozora was still concern about him. “So, you want to tell me what’s bothering you?” Yozora asked. “I saw a girl, she looked sad and lost.” Li Zheng said. “Why are you so worried about her?” Yozora inquired, concerned. “Well, I was wondering…Do you think she’s like me? A surviving victim of a vice ring?” Li Zheng speculated. Yozora was determined, “Don’t worry, we’ll find this girl and rescue her. I promise you that.” He vowed. “Thanks, Mr. Obari.” Said Li Zheng. “Anytime kid~!” Yozora answered. And that’s when they went into their own bed to get some sleep however Li Zheng couldn’t sleep so he decided to walk around the hotel. While walking; Li Zheng heard a voice singing a song, he looked over to see that same girl again! She was balancing on the wall. The girl then noticed Li Zheng watching so she slowly ascend towards him, floating against the dark sky twinkling with stars. The girl reached over although Li Zheng shrieked and fainted. The girl, Ayana, looks over him. She reached over to nudge him. As he opened his eyes; Li Zheng gasped but Ayana put a finger to her lips. “Hi, are you Li Zheng?” The girl asked. “Who are you?” stammered Li Zheng. “Ayana Yukisada.” The girl said. Li Zheng was shaken in fear. “Don’t be scared, I won’t hurt you.” Ayana reassured. “Wha—What do you want?” Li Zheng insisted apprehensively. “I was wondering if you’ll be my friend.” Ayana said. “That’s all you want?” Li Zheng inquired. “Yeah…I also want to know if you want to go to the Magic Carnival with me?” Ayana requested. “I…I don’t know.” Li Zheng said. “Are you sure? I just want you to see something beautiful, that’s all. I mean no harm really.” Ayana reassured him. Li Zheng wasn’t sure but he was curious so he takes Ayana’s hand as they glide to the Magic Carnival that twinkled like a theme park as they got on the Ferris wheel! “Isn’t it beautiful?” Ayana asked. “Mmm, it is.” Li Zheng responded. They had a wonderful time before they head back to the hotel. “I had a fun time, thanks.” Li Zheng said. “I’m glad, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ayana promised. “OK, have a good night.” Li Zheng replied, waving goodbye as she glided away into the night.

The next day; Li Zheng saw Ayana at the tea gardens, dancing under the cherry blossom trees. He made an excuse as he hurries off to see Ayana but then, the tea gardens were under attack by Lotus Eaters! Everyone was in fear, Li Zheng was terrified as he tried to get away when he saw Ayana slaying the monster! He cowers but the sight of blood. Then, Li Zheng looked up to see the Maniken at his feet and saw Ayana standing before him. She smiled sweetly. “Don’t worry, you’re safe now.” Said Ayana. Later, Li Zheng was sitting across the table from Ayana. “You’re staring again.” Ayana reminded. Li Zheng glanced away, “Sorry.” He apologized. There was an awkward silence. Li Zheng took a bite of an apple he brought to snack on. “What did Yozora told you that made you upset?” He inquired. “Next question.” Ayana said. “That’s the easiest one!” Li Zheng protested. “Next. Question!” snapped Ayana. Li Zheng sighed, this girl was difficult but he really didn’t like confrontation. “I think this makes us even, guess we can start trusting each other.” Li Zheng reminded. “True but…” Ayana said. She reached over and took a bite of his apple and put it in the middle for them to share. “…But you’re too curious. What do you want to know? Why are you so interested in me?” Ayana asked. “I—I was wondering if you were part of a vice ring, maybe a victim.” Li Zheng replied anxiously. Ayana was quiet for a moment. It was like she was taking her sweet time. “Perhaps, but I don’t want to talk about it if that’s all right.” She finally responded. “Sure.” Li Zheng said with a nod. “Where are your parents?” Ayana asked. “I don’t know, I don’t remember them…They died when I was born, I was an orphan. And then I was raised by someone I thought I could trust…” Li Zheng replied. “He hurt you?” guessed Ayana. “Mmm hmm, and he hurt another boy name Yuan Can….He was my best friend….” Uttered Li Zheng, his voice was choked up that he could muster out those words. “I’m sorry. I think…that’s something you and I have in common.” Remarked Ayana. Li Zheng is surprised by this comment, he looks down. “I don’t know why I’m even here, I’m not special.” Li Zheng assessed. “You may not think you are but I know you are. The problem is that some hapless, wreteched creature made you think you are worthless and destroyed your innocence. Would you like to know why I’m here?” Ayana explained. Something in Ayana’s eyes screamed predator, it’s like her face was saying, “Walk into my trap little boy”. He knew asking anymore questions would make him regret this. “No….Why are you here?” Li Zheng whispered. Her chair fell back as she stood up. “I’m here because….I’m out for revenge.” Ayana rasped. Her appearance changed as Li Zheng bite his tongue from screaming. “Pray that the Beast of Shadows don’t find us, you’re the one they want.” Ayana hissed in that sweet, lovely voice of hers.

“You’re new here.” Remarked the girl. “So are you, I’m Li Zheng.” Li Zheng introduced. The girl smiled, “Valda Sherman, people call me ‘Val’.” She replied. “Nice to meet you, Val.” Li Zheng said. Valda circles around him. “What?” Li Zheng asked. “You’re the weirdest guy I’ve ever met!” remarked Valda.“Yozora told me you’re from the Nightwalk Star Guild.” Li Zheng stated. Valda shrugged, “So?” She said. “What’s the building like?” Li Zheng asked. “Not as quiet as here.” Valda said, gesturing to the building of Venus Orchestra. Li Zheng smiled at that, Valda noticed his grin. “What? You want to be my sweetheart?” teased Valda. Li Zheng shook his head, “No thank you.” He said politely. Valda nodded, “Let’s keep things honest between us.” She suggested. Their friendship grew stronger as Li Zheng wanted to help Valda but then, she got moody by his cheerfulness. “Why? Because I’m this privileged, lonely hearts girl?” mocked Valda. Li Zheng was taken aback by her moody behavior. “I thought we were friends.” He reminded. Valda scoffed, “I lied.” She retorted. Li Zheng was hurt, “That was heartless you know that?” He snapped. Valda smiled that didn’t reach her eyes. “Yup.” She managed to say. She then went to the roof and dared Li Zheng to jump across. He hesitated however Valda mocks him, “I knew you were such a coward!” This triggered Li Zheng as he runs back, ready to jump over. This horrified Valda! “NO! DON’T! YOU’RE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT!!!” hollered Valda. But it was too late, Li Zheng leaped over as he nearly fell from the roof but Valda caught him in time. She helped Li Zheng get on the roof safely but her eyes were widened with surprise. “You’re crazy…” stated Valda. “Easy, I’m out of breath.” Panted Li Zheng. Valda sighed, “All right, boy. But it’s my roof, my rules! Got it?” She clarified firmly. Li Zheng nodded, catching his breath finally as he made his way with her. Li Zheng could see Valda having violent fits as he tried to calm her down however she wouldn’t. “KILL ME!!!” screamed Valda, attacking him but Li Zheng dodges her as she continued to ranted loudly while attacking him. “KILL ME! KILL ME! KILL ME!!!” Li Zheng finally stopped her. “No…You’re afraid of dying aren’t you?” He asked. Valda gasped. “It’s OK, I’m scared too.” Li Zheng reassured. Meanwhile; leaders from different organizations are coming together for a private conference assembly. There was Hansuke Sancho from the Venus Orchestra Company, Elisah Sumeru from the Beast of Shadows Gang, Jaythan ‘Jayin’ Gatz from the Nighthawk Star Guild and Chinno Kushami as his second in command assistant name Akagi was in the room!  

Li Zheng felt dizzy in the head as he tried to compose himself and stands up, brushing the dust away. Li Zheng decides to explore but she didn't see the shadowy figure until she bump straight into it. "Hey, what the--" Li Zheng started to say but he was stunt to see that it was a tall, teenage boy with light complexion, brown hair, and he had such dark eyes. "Where did you come from, big guy?" Li Zheng asked in amazement. The tall boy turned and looked down to see the young strange boy, "Who are you?" asked the boy. "My name is Li Zheng, who are you?" introduced Li Zheng. "I'm Kenren Taishou." said the tall teenager. "Do you know where we are?" Li Zheng asked. "Uh, no. I'm not sure where we are....Let's look around and see what we can find." replied Kenren. "'Us'? Together? Sure! Let’s go!" beamed Li Zheng, "I like to get to know you, Kenren Taishou." He grinned with earnest interest. And so, Li Zheng and Kenren started to explore around. In the meantime; another teenage boy and his friend was wandering around the strange world that wasn't their home. "Um Alyosha?" The first guy asked. "Yes, Nedran?" The other boy asked. "I don't think we're in our world anymore." answered Nedran. "Nope, we're not." agreed Alyosha. Just then, something pop out and jump scared them! It was Rokuzo. "AH-HA! GOT YA!" He exclaimed. Nedran and Alyosha jump back in fear however they were astonished by the boy's apparel. "What are you man?" Nedran asked. Rokuzo look a little, "I'm Rokuzo Taguchi, I'm a--" He started to say. "Oh! I know! I know! You're a ninja!" exclaimed Nedran. "Uh...Yes." said Rokuzo. Nedran glomped him happily, "Oh my! That is so cool, Finally! We get to meet a real life ninja, Alyosha!" exclaimed Nedran. "Get off! Get off!" gasped Rokuzo, he and Alyosha managed to get Nedran off him. He then panted and tried to catch his breath. "Geez! Tryin' to kill me or something?" snapped Rokuzo. "But we never met a ninja in all of our miserable lives!" complained Nedran, dramatically. “I’m sorry, Nedran. I know that excites you but you could’ve crushed him.” Reminded Alyosha politely. Rozuko stared at them when all of a sudden, there was a torpedo force that caused Rokuzo, Nedran and Alyosha to levitate in the air. "Ahhhh! What the heck is going on here?" cried Nedran. "I don't know!" shouted Alyosha. "Get us down from here!" yelled Rokuzo. There was laughter, it comes from a young man who appeared out of the shadows. He was the one responsible for all this! "I'm Cyrus, I’m an alchemist." But saw the others don’t look pleased. "Hey, can you get us down from here?" Rokuzo said, impatiently. "Sure can." Cyrus said. As Cyrus let the three go, they fell, there was confusion. Nedran and Alyosha stared at the other two, "How in the world did we get stuck with these weirdos?" wondered Nedran. “I wouldn’t know.” Alyosha admitted. Cyrus and Rokuzo turned on him: "WHAT?!" And they attack him until a voice cry out to break up the fight. “HOLD IT!!!” Rokuzo, Nedran and Cyrus stopped to see Li Zheng and Kenren standing there; looking out of place at the scenario. "What are you idiots doing?" asked Kenren. "Who are you guys?" asked Alyosha. "Kenren Taishou." answered Kenren. "And I’m Li Zheng." replied Li Zheng.

There was silence in the air when Nedran blurts out, "How did I get stuck with a bunch of freaks?!" Kenren, Rokuzo and Cyrus turned on him, crying out: "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A FREAK?!" Then, Round 2 of the battle starts. Li Zheng and Alyosha stared at them before Li Zheng sighed deeply. He dashed in and used his powers to impede the battle while shouting, “STOP!” The boys were on the ground. Kenren, Nedran, Rokuzo and Cyrus stared at the strange boy. Li Zheng planted his hands on his hips, "So, do you wish to continue or would you want to talk this out?" he asked. The other boys stared at him in awe, "Whoa..." they chorused.

[matrixaffiliate]

A Twist of Fate

Co-written with @hufflepuffmarlenemckinnon

FFN and AO3

Chapter 13

Marlene awoke with Sirius' arms wrapped tightly around her, and a soft smile crossed her face as she sighed contentedly. She hadn't been this happy since…

Marlene felt her heart rate increase and the familiar closing of her throat that came with her feelings of panic. She hadn't felt like this since she was last in love. Finally, everything fell into place. She was more comfortable around him not simply because he didn't fear her, but because she was falling for him. She took comfort in his presence because of how she felt about him, not simply because he was not repulsed by her. Interestingly enough, her powers had never flowed as easily when she loved Kyril as they did currently with Sirius, though she couldn't bring herself to consider this might be love.

She was supposed to marry Giannis. She was supposed to finish this task, choose to be human, and then marry a mortal and fix all her problems. She wasn't supposed to fall in love with an equal. In the mortal world, she was already betrothed by her father's word. In the world of the gods, well, Hades and Persephone were the best examples of commitment they had, Zeus was their polar opposite, and everyone else fell somewhere in between. So if she wanted to choose her mother's world she could pull just about any example she wanted to justify her actions. But did she want to?

Marlene's father was so certain that she would be happier without the added pressure of being a demi-fate. He was positive that she would have a good life with Giannis. But Marlene couldn't deny that she had felt uneasy about the prospect of becoming human since her father had brought it up. And now that she knew she could feel at ease in the arms of an equal, well, now she was even more torn about becoming human. Her father had already promised her though. Was she willing to let him down?

She realized that those questions really didn't matter because he probably didn't reciprocate her feelings. The children of Dionysus were just as physical as their father, throwing their arms around everyone and anyone, kissing whatever cheek presented itself in the moment, the fact that Sirius had willingly laid with her as they slept was scant indication of any sort of more-than-friendly feelings. He was fated to kill the Minotaur with her, not to love her.

Sirius stirred and for a moment he pulled her closer and all her concerns seemed to briefly float away. He ran a hand over her spirals of black curls and trailed it down her arm. He kissed her head again, and Marlene almost turned her face up, just to see what it would feel like to kiss him, just to see if he would kiss her back, but she prudently decided against that level of embarrassment. They had a task to complete, and if she made it awkward now, she might also create a situation where not only she and Sirius died, but all those poor tributes as well. It was best to keep things professional, to remain in their good-natured realm of teasing and making fun of the gods. Within that realm they could both keep a clear head, they could probably make it out of this alive in that realm. So Marlene pretended to stir and turned to smile up at Sirius.

"Good morning," she chuckled as he yawned through his response.

"Good morning," he stretched and pushed the two of them up to sitting.

Marlene, now keenly aware of her feelings, was also suddenly aware of the way Sirius's muscles pulled under his skin. The fringe of his hair fell into his face making his eyes seem darker somehow. His smile acted as a balancing counterweight by bringing a glimmer of light to his eyes that drew her in towards him with a powerful force. She had to focus very hard on not succumbing to the tug of his eyes.

"We'll make port in Crete within the hour," she forced herself to start talking about their task. She needed to think of almost anything other than how attractive the demi-god before her really was when she allowed herself to notice.

"Destiny calls," he teased her and Marlene couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Let's hope our fates are happy ones," she laid her head on his shoulder and chose to just enjoy that for the moment there was no beast to kill, there was no destiny waiting for them, there was only them.

Their cell lock rattled and Sirius jumped back from her and Marlene sighed as she stood, it was time to take the next step in their task.

The port at Crete was filled with people, eager to see the tributes for the Minotaur. People made Marlene's stomach turn some days. She spotted King Minos and suddenly her foresight kicked in. She turned sharply to Sirius, who stood by her side.

"King Minos is there and he is going to do everything in his power to keep us from joining the other tributes, whatever you do, do not yield."

Sirius looked down at the King critically as the sailors secured the ship. "Has Minos ever met my father?"

Marlene shook her head, "Not that I'm aware of, why?"

Sirius smirked, "Watch and learn Miss Fate, Minos is about to find out the wine tastes as good as the grapes."

Marlene wanted to say more, but just then the sailors were shoving the tributes towards the gangplank to be presented to King Minos.

King Minos looked at the Athenian tributes with a satisfaction that made Marlene want to smack him across the face, but she was pleased to see the fear that crossed his face as his eyes beheld her.

"What is the meaning of this!" he demanded of the captain. "I will not be sending Moira down to the beast! What idiots are you to have brought Fate from Athens as tribute!"

The captain began to stammer, and as Marlene was just about to respond, Sirius threw a friendly arm around Minos.

"Minos! My dear dear King Minos. You really need to make it up to your father's place more often. Didn't you know that sweet old Fate went and found herself a luscious mortal? This pretty thing..." he reached out and pulled at one of Marlene's spiral curls, then released it so it would spring back for effect. He was playing his father to the tee. "is her daughter Marlene." Sirius made grapes grow on his necklace in a matter of seconds and pulled a bunch from it, handing it to Minos. "I'm Sirius, one of the many sons of Dionysus, by the way."

Minos looked like he had just been smacked across the face. "I don't understand, why are you here?"

Marlene gave Minos a stare that was as close to her mother's penetrating glare as she could muster. "Your games are finished. Fate has spoken, it is time to end this ridiculous sacrifice."

Minos sputtered, "My father supports this justice for my dead son!"

Marlene gave him a cold laugh, "Your father bows to my mother as we all do. The conflict between your two kingdoms is finished."

Minos was as crafty as Zeus, "Fine, give me these twelve and you and the son of Dionysus can return to Mt. Olympus assured that they will be the last."

"Do not lie to me," Marlene said in a deadly quiet voice. "If you will attempt to undermine Fate, then you will lose more than just this ridiculous display of cruelty."

Sirius sighed, "Now why did you have to go and do that?" He gave Minos's shoulder a shove, then popped a grape in his mouth. "She's a right ray of sunshine little Fate is, until you make her angry - then she's as scary as her mother." Then he leered at Minos, "Me on the other hand, I'm ever so forgiving. Unless you'd prefer to be put in your place? I wouldn't mind telling you how very naughty you've been, King Minos." He kissed Minos on the cheek and Marlene had to use every divine level of self-control she had to not start laughing right there.

"The Book of Fate declares it, and it is the task of Sirius, son of Dionysus, and myself, the daughter of Moira, to end your pettiness, in whatever way may prove necessary." She left the threat hanging in the air as she stared Minos down and Sirius popped another grape in his mouth before discarding another bunch on Minos' shoulder.

"Well," Sirius yawned before speaking almost as fast as his father. "I don't know about the rest of them, but the floor of that ship was so uncomfortable, and I certainly hope your accommodations will be better. Maybe I should have tried to sleep in the form of a dog, have you noticed that dogs seem perfectly comfortable to sleep on the floor? Do you have dogs, Minos? They've always seemed like nice creatures to me, though father always favors the Bull. I suppose that's why Fate sent me, don't you think? Do you have any wine by chance? That seems to be the only thing I can't do, I can't manage to pull wine out of thin air, but I'm sure you can't throw lightning bolts, we all lose a bit to our mortal nature, don't we? Take little Miss Fate, she's got a temper." Sirius took an enormous breath and paused. King Minos looked completely flabbergasted.

"We'll talk of this more," he looked directly at Marlene. Then he spun on his heels and stalked away.

Sirius fell into step next to Marlene as Minos' soldiers marched them to the dungeons to await their fate.

"You were amazing!" She reached out and took his hand. "I could kiss you!"

"Don't do that! I just put in way too much effort to paint you as your mother with a temper! You kiss me in front of all these people and all that effort will be wasted!" Sirius laughed but didn't release her hand. Marlene rather liked holding his hand.

"I'll play my part if you keep playing yours." She reached up to his neck and plucked a few grapes. "Because he's not going to let this go so easily."

Sirius gave her hand a half-hearted smack away from the grapes hanging from his neck. "Hey, those are part of my aesthetic!"

Marlene chuckled, "Careful, Fate's daughter has a temper."

Sirius winked down at her, "That's ok, she got me a goblet of wine the other night, I think I'm on her good side."

Marlene laughed, he definitely was on her good side.

[exploringgreekculture]

Verbal Messages

In the country of Greece, the official language is, according to the CIA Factbook (2022), Greek. This language constitutes for 99% of the population while the other 1% are made up of English and French speaking residents. A lingua franca is a common language adopted by two people who speak different native languages. Using the English language as a lingua franca in Greece would greatly improve my ability to communicate with someone of the Greek culture. This is, obviously, because English is my native language, so if someone of Greek culture understood English, I could easily hold a conversation with them. This is also a very likely possibility as English has gotten a lot of its roots from the Greek language. In fact, according to Matsaidoni (2014), Greeks most common second language is English, with 51% of Greeks being able to speak it. This would make my chances of being able to communicate with people in Greece much higher. 

Greek Translations 

 • Hello! - Γειά σου! (Geiá sou!)

 • Yes - Ναί • No - Οχι (Ochi) 

• Please - Σας παρακαλούμε (Sas Parakaloúme) 

• Thank You - ευχαριστώ (efcharistó) 

• Can you help me? - Μπορείς να με βοηθήσεις? (Boreís na me voithíseis?) 

• I don't understand - δεν καταλαβαίνω (den katalavaíno) 

• I don't speak (name of the language) - δεν μιλαω ελληνικα (den milao ellinika) 

• My name is (your name) - Το όνομά μου είναι Σαβάνα (To ónomá mou eínai Savána) 

If Google translate did not provide the pronunciation below the direct translation, I would have had no idea how to pronounce any of these words. The Greek alphabet is very complicated and something I usually have only seen in math formulas. I think these would be very important words and phrases to learn prior to going to Greece so that I can get some basic messages across and inform people that I may not speak Greek but I can still be respectful. 

Greek Website Translation:

Οι Χειμερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες του Πεκίνου ανήκουν στην Ιστορία και, όπως οι περισσότερες αντίστοιχες διοργανώσεις, δεν γνώρισαν στην Ελλάδα τη δημοσιότητα των θερινών. Πρωταθλητές μας, προπονημένοι σε αντίξοες συνθήκες, έδωσαν τον καλύτερό τους εαυτό, αλλά οι χορηγοί και οι φίλαθλοι δεν έσπευσαν να τους αγκαλιάσουν. Η αθλητική ζωή των Ελλήνων χιονοδρόμων βρίσκεται μακριά από τα… φώτα της δημοσιότητας και τα «παιδιά του χιονιού» έχουν συμβιβαστεί με αυτό, και όπως μας λέει ο Γιάννης Αντωνίου συνήθισαν να είναι «μοναχικοί καβαλάρηδες». 

TRANSLATION: The Beijing Winter Olympics belong to history and, like most similar events, did not experience the publicity of the summer in Greece. Our champions, trained in adverse conditions, gave their best, but the sponsors and the fans did not rush to embrace them. The sports life of the Greek skiers is far from the spotlight and the "children of the snow" have come to terms with it, and as Giannis Antoniou tells us, they used to be "lonely riders". 

After translating this article from the Kathimerini (2022) news site, I noticed that the writing became a more condensed paragraph, and the English is a little choppy but it all makes sense. Additionally, comparing the alphabet changes is very strange and makes me appreciate Greeks who take the time to learn how to speak English and how difficult that must have been for them. This phrase, to me, means that language serves as a driving factor in understanding the world around us and the different cultures within it. For me, when I hear someone speaking a language that I am unfamiliar with, it reminds me that the world is so large and vast and filled with people who use an entirely different method of speaking than me. This effects my view of reality because language is our only method of communication, and without communication, the world would not be nearly where it is today. 

References 

Central Intelligence Agency. (2022, January 18). Greece. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved January 23, 2022, from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/greece/ 

Matsaidoni, T. (2014, January 25). Half of the greeks speak English. GreekReporter.com. Retrieved March 13, 2022, from https://greekreporter.com/2014/06/12/half-of-the- greeks-speak-english/ 

 Σπανέα, Σ. (2022). Παιδιά του χιονιού στη χώρα του ηλίου... Η ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ. Retrieved March 13, 2022, from https://www.kathimerini.gr/athletics/561758407/paidia-toy-chionioy- sti-chora-toy-ilioy/

[softlofty]

Hey :) could you maybe write something about Kira visiting Köln and seeing the change in her brother and how soft and happy he is with Easy? Thank you :)

I can! Hope you enjoy.

—-

He doesn’t notice it at first. The way you’ll sometimes look at something and realise it’s new, even though it feels like it’s always been there. Because it feels right, like it’s always had its place.

Ringo is standing behind the counter in the gym, looking at the schedule for the upcoming week, when the door opens. He hears the sound but doesn’t look up.“Hey.” When he raises his head, Easy is standing in front of him with a big grin. Ringo doesn’t know anyone who smiles as freely as Easy does. There’s few things more irresistable than when Easy full on smiles, teeth on display and dimples popping out.It makes Ringo feel as if there’s nothing wrong in the world.

“Hey.” It comes out a little breathy, and soft. He sees that Easy notices, but he leans forward nonetheless, planting a kiss on Easy’s lips that lasts a little longer than normal.“Are you nearly done here?” Easy asks.Ringo checks his watch. “Yeah, in about ten minutes.” Easy smiles at him.“I think I could squeeze in a workout before we go out though.” Easy’s smile falters at that.“Yeah, sure.” Ringo walks around the counter and steps in front of Easy, lifting his chin with his finger and firmly placing his lips on Easy’s, slightly sucking on his bottom one.He pulls back but stays close. “A different kind of workout.” He whispers, enjoying the way Easy stares back at him as if he could spend the rest of eternity doing just that.

They both grin at each other and Gianni walks past them, rolling his eyes and squeezing Ringo’s shoulder. “Just go already.”Ringo nods at him as a way of saying thanks, and they start making their way outside.They take the elevator up to Easy’s apartment, because Ringo is still in his work clothes and even though neither of them have said anything about moving in together, Ringo has some of his clothes at Easy’s place and Easy washes them and puts them back in a pile in one of his drawers.

They’re waiting to go up, and Easy lifts one of Ringo’s arm and moves next to him, letting Ringo’s arm fall around his shoulders. It feels natural, Ringo doesn’t even think about it as he presses a kiss to the top of Easy’s head.

They walk to Easy’s front door like that. “Is Tobias home?” Easy shakes his head no.Ringo walks in a straight line to Easy’s bedroom and lets himself collapse on the bed with a dramatic sigh, hearing his boyfriend laugh from behind him.“You can laugh but I had a very tiring day, I’ll have you know.”The bed dips as Easy sits next to him on his knees, flipping Ringo over until he’s on his back and moving over him so Easy’s sitting on Ringo’s waist.“Not too tiring I hope.”

Ringo grins from where he’s laying. “I might let you do all the work you know.”Easy smiles softly. “I don’t mind.” He leans over Ringo, hands at either side of his head, and places a kiss on Ringo’s forehead, Ringo’s eyes fluttering shut.“It’s okay to be taken care of.” He hears Easy whisper, and then Easy’s tugging at his shirt.

Ringo raises his arms up, letting Easy drag the shirt over his head. He lets his head fall back onto the pillow, eyes closed.The air is cool on his bare chest but Easy kisses him on the lips before moving down, gliding his mouth over every hook and curve of his chest and stomach.Two large warm hands hold Ringo’s torso, and Ringo revels in the intimacy of Easy’s affections, feels like he’s floating with how Easy is perfectly content taking his time.

Easy moves to the side of Ringo’s stomach for a moment and he can feel the muscles pull there. “If I gave you a hickey here, you could at least hide it.” Easy murmurs lowly, and Ringo chuckles.Easy waits, but Ringo doesn’t protest. Easy stays quiet long enough that Ringo’s eyes open again.“You would actually let me do that, wouldn’t you.” Easy says, eyes soft.Ringo sits up, hands on Easy’s thighs, and brushes his lips over Easy’s. “I would let you do anything.”

The softness and delicacy of their moment is interrupted by a knock on the door. “I don’t want to, but I should get that.” Easy admits, and he gets up with a sigh. Ringo sits back a little, waiting for Easy to come back when he hears: “Ringo!”Ringo grabs his T-Shirt and walks to the door. “Kira?” Ringo’s eyes widen, and he smiles broadly before enveloping his sister in a big hug.“What are you doing here?” He says, moving to the side to let her enter the apartment, quickly pulling his shirt back over his head.

“I had to be back in Köln for a few appointments and I didn’t want to leave without having seen you.” Kira says, face friendly but her eyes flitting between her brother and Easy.“Coffee?” Easy offers, and after Kira’s nod he sets about making some.“So how have you been?” Ringo asks, sitting down on the couch, his sister next to him.

Kira starts telling him about her job and her life abroad, and Ringo looks at her, seeing how she grew from his little sister to a grown woman. He sees how her independency has let her grow and flourish, and his heart bursts for her, especially knowing how much they both miss their parents.

“And how have you been.” Kira says with a sharp grin just as Easy’s sets their mugs of coffee on the table. “The both of you.” Kira adds.Easy spins one of the dinner table chairs around and sits down, meeting Ringo’s questioning look with a nod. “Well. Easy and I have been together for nearly 5 months now.” Ringo says, and the embarrasment he expects to hit him at those words doesn’t come.Kira’s mouth twists into a pleased smile and she congratulates them both.

“So then how are you holding up.” Kira says as she turns towards Easy, who laughs.“I’m suprisingly good actually.” He jokes. “It’s been the best 5 months of my life, and I feel really lucky.” Easy says softly, and he can almost see Ringo melt, and Kira sees it too.“Well that does sound positive.” Kira says, and there’s a fondness in her face as she looks at Ringo.

“I’m just going to go get some groceries for dinner tonight.” Easy says after a few moments, feeling like it would be best to give Ringo and Kira some time alone.“Feel free to stay for dinner if you want.” He tells Kira with a smile. He stands up and pats his pants, checking if his wallet and keys are there.He grabs his coat and walks towards Ringo. “Need anything?” Ringo shakes his head.“M'kay. Bye.” Easy leans down and kisses Ringo. “See you later.” Ringo calls out as Easy closes the door behind him.

When Ringo turns to Kira she’s smirking at him. “What?” He says with a laugh, taking a sip of his coffee.“You could not be more smitten.” Kira says, and Ringo does not have it in him to go against it and lie.“I really am.” “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this soft.” Kira says, and for a moment she looks like she’s remembering the ghost of a brother who did not want to like boys.“I still fuck up plenty, don’t worry.” Ringo reassures her with a smile. They stay quiet for a moment.“But now, I have never wanted to try harder to be better.”

[my-job-is-to-fangirl]

“You know disgrace isn’t that bad. Once you settle into it.”

SO. I was watching TV one day and as I was flipping the channels, I saw an ad for a new show, ‘American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace’. I was sold just on the fact that it said Versace, I love fashion; and crime, (if you know me, you know I love crime) and then I saw Darren Criss. That’s all. I had to watch it. I did a bit of research and found out that he was playing the killer, and I had no clue that Versace was assassinated. So I began watching it, and the premiere episode itself, I was hooked; I knew I’d be dedicated and watch religiously. My mom watched it with me too, because she also likes crime (at times, when I’m not forcing her to watch something like Hannibal while eating dinner).

Anyway, I missed the second episode itself <rolls eyes> So much for being ‘dedicated’. I went to my best friend’s house the day after the 5th episode aired, and I made her watch. She was hooked too, so we watched the first two episodes together. I realized then, that TV was censoring out some important scenes that added to the plot line, so I switched to watching online. But yes, bottom line, watch it online, make sure you have subs, or earphones on with the highest volume. None of the characters speak very loudly. I dont even know why this paragraph is here, I apologize.

NOW, COMING TO THE ACTUAL SHOW. It was brilliant, I thought. Like, really. It is based on the book ‘Vulgar Favors’, which I really want to read now after watching the show. The gist of the show, in my words: The first shot is set on July 15, 1997. Gianni Versace is currently in his Miami house (mansion) and he goes out to buy some newspapers. The mansion faces the beach by the way, and the show was shot in the actual Versace home. As he goes back home, he is shot by a man (Darren Criss) and collapses at the gate of his house. A man (Antonio, his partner, played by Ricky Martin) comes out from the house and screams for help to the bystanders. Criss, who plays Andrew Cunanan (the killer, and part of, apparently, one of FBI’s biggest failed manhunts), is an unreliable narrator, to say the least, making up stories to tell each person that he meets throughout the episodes. The plot, as such, goes backwards, and shows all the other murders that Cunanan has committed, along with character backstories.

Thats the gist, and I have a lot to say about the show, so get some food or a beverage (no alcohol, kids) and sit if you want to actually read through this whole post :p

Okay, first off, the casting. I cannot cannot cannot get over the casting on this show. I will insert pictures to prove that the casting was impeccable and almost scarily, uncannily similar to the real people. I will talk about the casting as well as the characters themselves here.

Young Andrew- Darren Criss as the older Andrew- the real Andrew Cunanan

Edgar Ramirez as Versace- the real Gianni Versace (is this not freaky)

The real Donatella Versace- Penelope Cruz as Donatella

The real Antonio D’Amico- Ricky Martin as Antonio

I HAD TO INCLUDE THIS PICTURE BECAUSE LOOK.AT.THE.SIMILARITY.ITS.UNCANNY.

//// Andrew Cunanan is the main lead of the show, not Versace, as the title might suggest. But the reason for the show being named after Versace makes sense, because that’s the incident that finally brought Cunanan into proper notice, and what pushed him over the edge, maybe. Darren Criss, I cannot explain in words how good his acting was. His charm, his little dimples, his attire, the way he spoke, everything seemed to match 100% with the details given about the real Cunanan, as given by his family and friends.

His character, from the very first episode, is shown to be charming, intelligent (IQ of 147) and subtly at first, but then clearly- a prolific liar. He lies his way through things, he seems to have suffered from antisocial personality disorder, which according to what I read, causes the lack of empathy, which is exactly what Cunanan has. More on this later. He lies about his personality (he says in the first episode, ‘I tell people what they need to hear,’ insinuating that he told gay people he was gay, and straight people he was straight. He was, in fact, gay, and also an escort). He tells his friends, Lizzie and another guy (unnamed) in the first episode, how Versace invited him to his Opera show. This scene, set back in 1990, is explained further, as we see that in reality, Cunanan had faked an Italian background, just to talk to Versace. But he really did go to the Opera, and that night was what made Cunanan do what he did, which is explained in the last episode.

It’s also cool how they added some small details, to add to his character- he ends up eating in times of distress, or after a killing, or before a killing. He always tells people the same lies- this really stood out to me, because its hard for someone to keep up the same lies all the time. It was always that his father owned pineapple plantations in the Philippines, and that he was writing a book, and that he had a lot of money from all his clients. He also always tells people he is better with older men, and not people his age, which shows as the show progresses, how many older men he has as clients.

Cunanan essentially started his killings way before Versace, killing 4 other people. I get the feeling that the smallest of things were what triggered him to kill.

Jeff (Jeffrey) Trail, the first victim, was his close friend, and an ex- US Navy Officer. They got into a small fight, and Cunanan killed him with a hammer, in front of their mutual friend, and Cunanan’s ex-love interest, David Madson, who is the next victim.

David tells Cunanan that they cannot live a happy life together, not after what he did to Jeff, and Cunanan tells him ‘We could have been happy’, before shooting him. Cunanan really did love David though, which is clear till the very last episode.

Lee Miglin, the third victim, had probably the most horrific end. He was a 70+ year old famous architect, one of Cunanan’s clients, who tells him that their relationship cannot be real, and indirectly says that finance is the key point in their ‘relationship’, if thats even what it can be called. Cunanan, as revenge, or for whatever reason, gags Miglin’s face with duct tape, throws bags of cement on him and uses a hacksaw to kill him. He kills and leaves the body in the garage, after placing several gay pornographic magazines around him, to prove to the world that Miglin was not who he said he was. Possibly, I think, because Miglin says their relationship cannot be ‘real’ (because he was married to a very successful businesswoman), and Cunanan knows that the world doesn’t know the real Lee Miglin.

The fourth victim, William Reese, was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Cunanan kills him and takes his car to go to Miami. Cunanan is polite, even in the case of a killing. He asks Reese- ‘Is there a downstairs? Can I lock you in there?’ He may have hesitated for a moment, but makes his decision to shoot him once Reese tells him that he has a family that he would like to see again. Its possible that Cunanan made up his mind, because of his strange and strained childhood.

Gianni Versace, the final and the most famous victim. He, on the night of the Opera, tells Cunanan that they cannot be together, and that rejection finally pushed him to the edge.

What is so different, in a very strange way, is that you cant help but empathize for Andrew Cunanan. Yes, he was a serial killer, but some scenes honestly just b r o k e my heart. In one episode, where him and David are on the run, he sits in a cafe, listening to the live singer there, while David is in the bathroom. The woman sings about who will be home when you call, will you have someone to go home to; and Cunanan sits, in the middle of the cafe, and just silently cries. Another scene that made me want to punch something (out of sadness and anger both) is in the last episode, where, Cunanan, currently hiding from the police (after Versace’s murder), calls his estranged father from a payphone, and tells him that he is in trouble and that he needs help. He sobs while talking to his father, and the father promises him he’ll be there in 24 hours, and also tells him, ‘Men don’t cry, remember?’ By the time Cunanan goes to his hideout (a houseboat) after packing his bags, his father is giving an interview on tv, insisting that Cunanan isn’t gay, and can’t be. I wanted him dead. There are some scenes from his childhood, where the father (Modesto), treats Cunanan, the youngest of four siblings, like a Prince, and on the side, calls him out for ‘not being a man’. Modesto keeps calling him weak because Andrew cries. He blames him for being weak minded like his mother and calls him sissy, slaps him and says ‘be a man’ and repeatedly telling him, ‘you don’t have it in you’.

(sorry about the blurred face, I panicked)

Some iconic scenes of Andrew Cunanan- (THE FIRST 2 ARE LINKS PLEASE OPEN THEM) 1. Pump up the jam– Till 45 seconds. This scene is right after the murder of Jeff Trail, and you can see how he has no empathy. This is my all time favourite scene from the entire show, I think Criss is genius. 2. Gloria– Till 45 seconds. 3. All the scenes where he dances in parties and/or other places too

Lastly, there are two more iconic scenes I’d like to talk about. Last episode, he watched as the news channels talked about him being the only suspect in these murders on TV, and a bottle of champagne pops open while he’s watching. He laughs in shock, and ends up laughing his head off, clutching his stomach. I found that scene genius. And he eats dog food out of desperation in the last episode, because he is holed up in that house boat for days. It was so sad, but so real.

The last few minutes of the show have live coverage of the hunt for Cunanan, broadcasting live how the police is going into the house and everything, and the last thought that Cunanan has before he shoots himself is- ‘I’m so happy right now’, which is what he says to Versace the night of the Opera.

Now, lastly for my lecture on Cunanan, I think Darren Criss was genius, and I think he fit the role perfectly, and I’m not saying it just because I love Darren Criss (I love him, if you can’t tell already), but genuinely, he moulded and fit the character to a glove. I read a lot about the real Cunanan, and I think the show did complete justice to him. Ryan Murphy, thank you for this show.

NOW. THINGS OTHER THAN CUNANAN THAT I LOVED:

// The show dealt with real problems such as homophobia; as seen in the case of Antonio, Versace’s partner, who doesn’t get any understanding from the people, or even Donatella, about his love for Gianni; they lived together for 15 years but there is still no consideration for their relationship. The most harrowing scene is when the priest at Versace’s funeral service let’s everyone kiss his hands except Antonio. This leads Antonio to attempt committing suicide by overdosing on pills.

There is a scene in the last episode where Ronnie (one of Cunanan’s friends and fellow druggie), gives the police some statements. All his lines have a sinister undertone, and gave me goosebumps, showing the real situations back then in the 90’s.

“You were disgusted by him, long before he became disgusting. You’re so used to us lurking in the shadows, and, you know, most of us, we oblige. People like me, we just, we drift away. We get sick, nobody cares.”

Here, he is talking about how the police, and society in general, never cared for the homosexuals, and how they never gave them a second thought. He speaks for the entire LGBTQ+ community back then, I feel, when he says this, talking about how nobody cares about their condition. There is a scene in the beginning of the show where the FBI has flyers printed with Cunanan’s details, but doesn’t actually distribute them, because they think its unimportant. They also don’t listen to the local police officer, a woman, who insists that they check all the gay clubs around Miami, seeing as Cunanan was a gay prostitute, which the FBI dismisses. Turns out, that is where he goes most frequently, and the police could have caught him earlier, but didn’t. Versace and Antonio being partners is also treated as a huge deal, along with the fact that they had escorts frequently visit the house.

Ronnie also tells the police: “Andrew is not hiding, he’s trying to be seen.” This is one of truest things said on the show, among several others. Cunanan is desperate for attention, and doesn’t want to be hidden in the shadows, he wants the world to see him. Everything he does, he does in plain sight; he uses his real name and identity, never tries to hide it, almost as if he wants to be caught, and the world would know who he was. He always tries to be the center of attention, whether it was in school, college, or later in life. He uses his real name everywhere he goes, and in a pawn shop, he gave his ID, but the woman never paid attention, because the police never put out the notice for until after a week of the murder spree. There is also a scene at a party at a gay club, where amidst the loud music, a guy asks him what he does, and Cunanan replies, “I’m Andy. I’m a serial killer.” He also calls himself a stockbroker, and several other things. He reveals his entire name as well. The guy laughs it off, not knowing anything about manhunt, because it was still not out in the media.

He always wanted to be (and was voted in high school) ‘A name to be remembered by’.

// I loved how the show took its story backwards. The first episode began with the last killing, and each episode showed flashbacks with Cunanan’s older victims and their backstories, adding so much clarity to the plot. It was different, and something I’d never seen in any show before. It really left an impact, and made sure you didn’t miss the next episode, because you’ll have to watch it to know what happened earlier. I also loved how the last two episodes were when we found out about Cunanan’s childhood, showing us why and how he became what he was.

// The scenes with Modesto, Cunanan’s father, were so frustratingly good. I hated the character with all my heart, which was obviously the intention. There is a shot with Modesto telling Andrew about how his mom was sick, and he was the one who took care of him when he was growing up. At this point, Modesto gets Andrew a car. Andrew closes the car window and the moms reflection shows up, perhaps symbolic of how he cut her out from his life, piece by piece, memory by memory. I’ve inserted the screenshot of the scene here:

// Another character I loved was Mrs. Miglin. Her acting was so real. When Lee dies, she refuses to look at the body, or to hear anything that the police had to say. Whether she knows about him being gay is unknown to the viewers. Her reactions to the public wondering if she was even sad about her husbands death were brilliant. She always has a made-up face, looking calm and normal, and a few days after the death, she removes the makeup. If people see her makeup coming off when she cries, she wonders about their reactions, which is why she kept a cool, composed face until now. I found this entire sequence brilliant, showing how the media and the public generally portray and see celebrities, and never leave them alone in peace.

// Cunanan’s best friend, Lizzie, gives a statement on television, in the last episode, when he is in hiding. To me, these are the words that pushed him to surrender and kill himself. I think the fact that the words came from the only person who loved him in the entire world really made him realize how much trouble he was in, and that he saw no choice but to kill himself. This is what she says: “I know that the most important thing to you in the world is what others think of you.” This is so true, considering the fact that he always wanted the attention, and constantly wanted people to know things about him, and the fact that he needed to get feedback and know what people thought of his actions and his background.

He feeds lies to Versace as well, about him writing a book, and that he was going to publish it soon. Versace believes him, and tells him about how he needs to finish writing the book, and that he was sure it’d do well. Cunanan asks Versace if he could be his protege and help him out, but Versace declines politely, telling him he didn’t need any assistants right now. This also adds to Cunanan’s rage against Versace.

// You can see how Andrew got the compulsive lying. Modesto, in the last episode, while being interviewed about Andrew, lies on tv saying they discussed movie rights to his life story and that they’re talking to several studios about releasing it soon. He was also the one who taught Andrew to always be polite, and to be good mannered. It is shown in the last two episodes where Modesto gives him books about manners, and even sends him to a prep school.

Now, coming to small descriptions about the other characters. Small, I promise. Promiseeeeeeee.

Gianni and Donatella Versace- Both these characters were well rounded, and wonderful actors. Edgar Ramirez and Penelope Cruz did a brilliant job in portraying the Versace siblings. The fights, the affection, the remorse, the love, everything was so real.

Antonio D’Amico- Ricky Martin!!!! I also watched the show because I saw his name in the cast :p* His character was such a sad one. He was never accepted by society, as Gianni’s partner. Donatella hated him and said that he never gave Gianni anything, no family, no kids, nothing, and if he had, she would have had some respect for him. It was also speculated that he gave Versace HIV, which wasn’t true in the end. Antonio was really nice, because he really loved Gianni, and he proposes to him too, saying they should get married, and forget the world around them.

David Madson- Ohmygod, my poor heart. David was genuinely the sweetest guy, and it felt like he ignored the voices in his head saying bad things about Andrew, because he really liked him. It was almost as though he had Stockholm Syndrome when practically kidnapped by Cunanan. He had a chance to escape from the bathroom (in the cafe), but he chooses to come back, showing that maybe he still had a soft spot for Andrew. His childhood and youth was sad too, and the strained, but very happy relationship with his father plays in the back of his head when he is shot.

Jeff Trail- His character was also so so sad. He was gay and in the Navy, which was something that was unacceptable at the time. The Chief in the Navy gives out handbooks to all the officers about informing higher authorities if they knew that someone was gay. One night, Jeff is seen comforting another man; the next morning, the books are handed out as a warning. The man, after being beaten up, tells the Chief all the people that he knows are gay, and he mentions a man with a tattoo, meaning Jeff (no one knows). He tries to cut his tattoo off but stops because of the very apparent blood, and later tries to hang himself, but stops.

Lee Miglin- An old man, who is very well known for his architectural abilities, has some secrets. When his wife is out of town on business, he calls his escort, Cunanan. Explained above^^

Extra admiration for the young Andrew Cunanan, he was genius. He took on the smallest of details that Darren Criss had in his character; things like a small smile, a smug look, and the polite charm of someone who you would never have thought to be a psychopath.

‘What if you had a dream your whole life that you were someone special but no one believed it?’

// Andrew Cunanan //

Here are some very cool articles and videos that I found about the whole incident. 1. Facing death 2. Five lives cut short 3. Video (Who was Gianni Versace’s killer?)

Here are some screenshots I took from the show, that I liked.

These are both from the last episode, the one on the left is after he hears on the media that he is the only suspect, and the one on the right is of him eating dog food.

Sorry for the bad quality, but this is one of my favourite shots in the entire show.

// The entire show was shot beautifully, and the locations were shown in all their grandeur, especially the Versace mansion. The characters all looked the part, and certainly played the part. I found that adding subtle hints of symbolism in the episodes really made a difference.

Thats all :p* I hope everyone who reads this enjoys. I don’t even know if anyone will read this but I really wanted to talk about the show because it impacted me so much, and the characters really shone. Simply brilliant show. I would highly recommend it to everyone. There are a few scenes that are a little hard to watch, but you’ll get used to it. Bye now 😀

P.S. Darren Criss said this in a first look video I found, I think it encapsulates the entire show:

“Truth is, you know, fear and prejudice, unfortunately, is always in fashion.”

ACS2: The Assassination of Gianni Versace "You know disgrace isn't that bad. Once you settle into it." SO. I was watching TV one day and as I was flipping the channels, I saw an ad for a new show, 'American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace'.

[acsversace-news]

“We must be talked about, or we are nothing.” —Donatella Versace, to the Versace staff

“For me, being told ‘no’ is like being told I don’t exist. It’s like I disappeared or something.” —Andrew Cunanan, to Jeff Trail

“Is this normal? Is this normal enough?” —Gianni Versace to his sister Donatella, on creating a less unique version ready-to-wear version of the haute couture dress they designed together for her

“It’s just a name they made up to sound special.” —Andrew Cunanan to his mother Mary Anne, on Häagen-Dazs ice cream

“It needs confidence.” “It gives confidence.” —Donatella and Gianni, on the dress

“So you can hold your own at a dinner table conversation.” “I am the dinner table conversation.” —an escort agency owner and Andrew Cunanan, on Andrew Cunanan

“I want the world to see you in a way that you have never been seen before.” —Gianni to Donatella

“Oh, if they could see me now.” “Who?” “Everyone.” —Andrew Cunanan to Norman Blachford

“This dress is not my legacy. You are.” —Gianni to Donatella

“He’s a good boy. He’s always been a good boy.” —Mary Anne on Andrew Cunanan

“Ascent,” the seventh episode of ACS Versace, is the one where my admiration for what writer Tom Rob Smith has accomplished with his scripts and structure for the series shifted into something approaching awe. Returning to the Versaces’ world of high fashion for the first time since Episode 2 (their appearance in Episode 5 centered on Gianni’s coming out, not their work as designers), it creates a series of parallels between the the artist and the man who would murder him that are all the more striking for how different they are in intention and affect.

When Donatella tells her employees “We must be talked about, or we are nothing,” it’s a demand that they raise their collective artistic bar, creating things that are bold and new. When Andrew tells his friend and future victim Jeff that rejection makes him feel like he doesn’t exist, it’s a cry for help that neither Jeff nor Andrew recognize as such — a sign that if who he is isn’t working, he’ll simply steal ideas from others to create a man who gets told “yes” instead of “no.”

And that’s exactly what he spends the episode doing. When his Filipino heritage costs him a job with an escort agent who cloaks anti-Asian racism in capitalist realism — she says her clients don’t want “Asians With Attitude,” then mocks his promise to work harder than all her other escorts with “this isn’t a sweatshop, sweetheart” — he rechristens himself Andrew DeSilva, Portugese-Italian-American. When he hears a beautiful story about promising to build a loved one in pain a house where they can be safe from his new flame David Madson, he claims the story for his own and repeats it almost verbatim to Norman Blachford, his latest rich older conquest. Donatella and Gianni busted their asses to shift the fashion paradigm; Andrew works just as hard to shift into whatever paradigm other men have already created for him.

“Andrew DeSilva,” meanwhile, echoes the Häagen-Dazs incident, in which Andrew throws the off-brand ice cream his mother bought for them to the floor rather than eat an inferior product, even though he knows every last detail of how the name “Häagen-Dazs” is a fugazi selected by the company’s Polish-Jewish immigrant founder to sound vaguely Danish (it doesn’t, but you can convince people it does), both in tribute to Denmark’s actions in protecting Jews during World War II and to sound like a high-end dairy product to American consumers.

His angry shout of “I WANT THE BEST!” when he destroys the cheaper ice cream (which his mother, heartbreakingly, eats off the floor without batting an eyelash) shows that he feels as strong about this as Gianni does about the integrity of his showstopping design when Donatella suggests making a simpler version to increase sales to women who are less bold about being “the center of attention.” “Well then this is not a dress for them!” he yells, in part because he’s angry, and in part because his illness has begun to affect his hearing to the point of near-deafness. (When he breaks down and cries after realizing he suddenly can no longer hear his sister and his partner Antonio talking to him, it’s a magisterially upsetting performance from Édgar Ramírez…as is Darren Criss‘s performance when Andrew breaks down after his mother covers for him when he shoves her into a wall and breaks her shoulder blade.)

Both men are obsessed with having the best, and suspicious of normies. But Gianni is intent on creating greatness himself; he resents the faking of greatness to please the masses. Andrew, by contrast, will happily accept fake greatness if that’s what it takes to separate him from the hoi polloi.

Here we reach the nature of their statements about how others see them and their loved ones. Andrew weasels his way into the life of millionaire Norman Blachford, encouraging him to move to San Diego, purchase a preposterous house, and let Andrew live in and decorate it with him. When he stands on the balcony he didn’t buy, he believes it’s his ticket to the place where, as he told his mom, “They all look up at us, and we look down on them.” The triumph and the resentment are inextricably linked. That’s a world apart from Gianni, who genuinely doesn’t care how other people feel about him. He simply wants to express himself and celebrate everything he finds wonderful about his sister — her talent, her intelligence, her drive, her looks, her power — so that others can celebrate it too.

Gianni isn’t kidding when he tells Donatella she is his legacy. She’s his muse, his business partner, his co-creator, and (as we see in an adorable anecdote about holding her on his shoulders so she could watch a performance) his kid sister. If, as it seemed at the time, he might succumb to his illness, this brilliant and beloved woman will take their shared name and make it her own, carrying his company into the future by transforming it into her company. To quote another great show about a killer, family is everything.

Andrew thinks so, too. He brings up his father in conversation constantly, but tells a different story every time. He dotes on his mother, when he’s not leaving her behind or berating her ice-cream purchases or shoving her across the room. In a very real way he’s his mother’s son: He has all of her desperate need to be needed, but unlike her he has the cunning and charisma to do something about it. And given how different things might have gone had she reported the true origin of the injury she sustained at his hands, she winds up being just as crucial to the Cunanan legacy as Donatella is to Versace’s.

There’s one more thing to say about this remarkable piece of work, once again directed with stately elegance by Gwyneth Horder-Payton; one last parallel to point out. This one doesn’t involve the Versaces. It involves Lincoln Aston, the real estate and oil mogul Andrew hooks up with the night he first tracked down and made a move on his intended target, Norman. (Norman had a business trip to make the next night, and Andrew decided to make the best of it.) It also involves a drifter Lincoln picks up at a gay bar and brings home, who then does this to him:

Andrew witnesses the attack, and the killer witnesses him, but neither wind up saying anything about their encounter to the police after the killer flees and turns himself in. There’s a potentially obvious reason for that: the encounter most likely never happened, and it’s an invention of the show that rhymes the macabre coincidence of Aston’s murder by a stranger with the similar bludgeoning death Andrew inflicted on Jeff Trail years later.

But ACS Versace only invents when all the parts are right there in front of them. We spend the entire episode using the resonating frequencies of Andrew and the Versaces to illustrate how Andrew would do anything to be noticed, admired, loved, remembered, special; how fury kicks in when he isn’t; how he’ll lie, cheat, and steal ideas and identities to ensure his success. Why wouldn’t his career as a murderer require a little outside inspiration, just like everything else he does? Which brings us to the final parallel, a callback to an event that hasn’t even happened yet. The ambition, the ego, the anger, the chameleonic ability this episode portrays — they’re what transforms this…

…into this.