#I haven't written song lyrics since I was 16 and it shows

[toastling]

see you at my seance!

dearly beloved we are gathered today to say our goodbyes to fucks gone away

fuck!

(verse 1)

hey there my man its been quite a while, so tell me my dude, just how have you been? i'm sorry i vanished into thin air like that man but i swear to god it'll happen again

you see i've been dead inside quite a while, my whole life i think, but that's fine i suppose so anyway here's something that might make you smile, i'm holding a seance and channeling my ghost (and you're invited!)

(verse 2)

my doctor once told me im far too committed to patterns of thought that paint pictures of graves but i thought that maybe that's something to leverage so i looked it up and i learned something strange

the dead are not gone they're just poorly connected but cut through the static and look past the screams and the veil draped between us isn't thick as expected just know what you're doing or you'll dial palpatine (looking at you, jj!)

(chorus 1)

so im holding a seance for dreams long forgotten, texting the ghost of only sons begotten, number not found? well i guess that's all nonsense, now have a stirring rendition by sarah maclachlan of all of the reasons my soul has departed, gone, left the building, my body black-hearted, watching the rot overcome what i started, if this rhyme's left unfinished would anyone care?

(verse 3)

see i've been in-and-out the zone of the ended, fucked out my mind with chronic depression, but all that's behind me after this latest session i got home from work and i got the impression i should-

well it's all metaphorical so there's no need to fear, despite all my wailing i'll still be here next year, so please do not worry if i should disappear, i just got prescribed a hobby and i chose spiritualism

(ghosts just seemed neat at the time, i don't fucking know!)

(chorus 2)

so dont take it literal, my heart will go on - fuck wait a minute that was celine dion well whatever the case i feel like a dead dog, can sarah still eulogize me in a 3 minute spot? because there's too many reasons that my soul's departed, gone, left the building, no grieving imparted, did you even notice that I had un-started? why sing a song that won't be well-regarded?

(chorus 3)

now im holding a seance for dreams long forgotten, texting the ghosts of lonely sons begotten, they're nicer than lifers when you're at rock bottom, sleep in the arms of an angel by sarah maclachlan it's no great surprise my soul is departed, we all saw it coming, just not when it started, from birth until death i tried my damn hardest, but the twist of the story is i've been dead all along

(outro)

i just think that if ghosts are real, they might need a friend they were people too once, so we should speak to them the same i'm half-there already so i don't much fear the end, i just think that i'd vibe with with the phantom's pain you know? if it's all the same to you.

[eliotquillon]

16, 17, 33, 36?

16: What is one of your favorite words or phrases to use in writing?

i really like the word 'prepossessing' as a way to describe beauty! Haven't used it in a while, but it used to be one of my most-used adjectives lmao. i also love a good well-timed 'fuck' for emphasis. Phrases is trickier, but i like to use a 'too (something), not (something enough)' structure when doing character studies - i've been writing a lot of witherward fic lately, and a lot of it feels very same-y bc I tend to fall back on it whenever i'm characterising cassia (my beautiful insecure princess....)

17: What trope is your favourite to write?

IDK if it counts as a trope but 'messy blurring the lines between friendship/romance' is UP THERE for me. i find a way to work it into most of what i write tbh. more concretely, i loooove writing fake dating and friends to lovers. I am a lover at heart!!

33: Which of your fic titles is your favorite?

HMM i take most of my fic titles from songs/poems i like already so this is tricky. 'push notifications on' is probably up there as one of my faves (even if the fic itself isn't) bc it fits nicely with the social media au and it's catchy. for comedy reasons i could also nominate 'for the rain it raineth every day' because i wrote and titled that fic years ago and it came back to haunt me recently when i was in a production of twelfth night + was also writing one of my coursework essays on it and i kept jumping out of my skin whenever i saw that line in the play because i associated it solely with my silly ouran high school host club fanfiction. my actual favourite probably is 'culled a new excuse' though. i love the franny choi poem it's taken from + i think it fits the contents of the fic so well + that fic is one of my favourite things i've ever written (which shouldn't give the title extra points, but, yk. It does!)

36: Have you ever written a fic because you were inspired by a song?

YEAH. see above for the fact i steal most of my fic titles from songs anyway. weirdly most of my 'inspired by song' fics happen to be alex rider ones (i say weirdly because i have multiple hive and witherward playlists) - 'the end's not near' takes its title from a song by the new year but the mood of that fic is specifically inspired by 'inside out' by duster, 'but it's your actions that speak louder' is basically a snippet from what was going to be a songfic (in the very class fanfiction.net sense of inserting lyrics to break up scenes) to i love you so by the walters, 'you know my heart (can't take the break)' takes its title and mood from loverboy by a-wall. outside of alex rider: 'apologies on the intercom' is semi-inspired by last words of a shooting star by mitski, although that's mostly because the snippet of aftg extra content that inspired it kinda lines up with that song in terms of vibe anyway; a lot of my ohshc fics are inspired by the show's score (most explicitly 'menuet of innocence', which is names after one of the show's instrumental pieces); much of my early 2017-18 aftg fic was inspired by whatever musical theatre i was into at the time. now that i look back on it i think the only fandom i write regularly for that hasn't had a fic explicitly influenced by music is HIVE, which is funny since it's my most written-for fandom. i think that's probably because i have enough permanent hive brainrot anyway that my brain tries to make space for other fandoms by saving songs Just For Them lmao.

tysm for the ask!

[angermetranslations]

I Turned 16！Matsumoto Wakana (23.09.01)

Good evening！I'm Matsumoto Wakana🙉

Thank you very much for your comments 😊

I haven't read all of your comments yet、but I'll make sure to read them tomorrow！

Thank you very much to everyone who left a comment！

Today、9/1 I turned 16！I'm Matsumoto Wakana！

Also、today I had my birthday event on my actual birthday ！！！

The cake I received at my birthday event was super delicious。。。🤤

⚠️Those of you who don't want spoilers because you're going to watch the broadcast of itー、please scroll until the next photo！⚠️

1,「Tropica〜l Koishite〜ru〜」

2, 「Kaite wa Keshite no “I Love You”」

-Bingo tournament & Question corner-

3,「23ji no Persona」/「Seishun Bus Guide」

4,「Pride Bright」

5,「Suki na Senpai」/「Panya-san no Arubaito」

6,「Kuyashii wa」

7,「Campus Life〜Umarete Kite Yokatta〜」

8,「Hiraki Naocchae！」

8 songs per performance（2 songs switched）

I chose these songs from your requests and songs I wanted to sing！！！

I thought long and hard about each one、so I'll explain my reasons for choosing each one、、、👇

1,「Tropica〜l Koishite〜ru〜」

↪︎I've loved this song since before I joined Angerme、so I often sang it karaoke style at home！It got everyone fired up from the very beginning which was fun！

2, 「Kaite wa Keshite no “I Love You”」

↪︎This was a request！I selected it because I wanted to sing a cute Country Girls-san song！

3,「23ji no Persona」

↪︎It's from our album 『BIG LOVE』、and it's a song I really love！It's super duper hard、but I'm glad that I could perform it！

「Seishun Bus Guide」

↪︎I received a lot of requests to sing a Berryz Kobo-san song、so Berryz Kobo-san lover Keronnu helped me choose！A cool song that I love！Thanks Kero！🐸

4,「Pride Bright」

↪︎I first heard and saw this song at Juice＝Juice-san's Budokan performance、and I fell in love with it！I really like the melody and lyrics of the 2nd verse、so I sang the full version！

5,「Suki na Senpai」

↪︎I seriously love this song、and I wanted to play janken with everyone、so I chose this song！笑笑lollol I went scissors✌️

「Panya-san no Arubaito」

↪︎A lot of people requested this！I wanted to sing a S/Mileage-san song、and I love bread、so I sang while holding some bread！Everyone cheered a lot and your dance copying was perfect！👍笑笑lollol

6,「Kuyashii wa」

↪︎I thought that even people who don't know many songs、would be able to enjoy an Angerme song so I went with “Kuyashii wa”！I'm so glad that I got to sing Takeuchi-san's parts！

7,「Campus Life〜Umarete Kite Yokatta〜」

↪︎I chose it because I wanted to hear “LOVE Lovely Wakanya!”！Your voices were way stronger that I imagined、I couldn't even hear my own voice!笑lol You're all so amazing！

8,「Hiraki Naocchae！」

↪︎A lot of people requested a Kobushi Factory-san song！I love this song because it's about always looking forwards。Everyone waved along、and clapped along、so thank you very much！

Also、「Bingo tournament & Question corner」！

A corner where I answered questions you'd previously sent in、while playing bingo!🤗

The 1st place winner、received a mini pouch handmade by Wakanya

The 2nd place winner、received a tissue case handmade by Wakanya

The 3,4,5th place winners、received a signed cheki

These were the prizes！

I hope、that the winners treasure their prizes😌

To those of you who unfortunately didn't receive a prize、and those of you who did、every single person、received a message card from me with a written phrase & drawing & signature as a present！

For both 1st and 2nd shows、I did my best to not write the same comment twice、so please treasure your Only One card😘

And And、I received a birthday comment from RokoRoko！　

She told me lots of kind words which made me really happy🥺

I want to hang out with RokoRoko！😍

Thank you for your message！！！！

Ahー I had so much fun！It was really fun！！！

I'm so glad I got to spend my actual birthday with you all！！！

All of your Wakanyaー! cheers、calls、claps、applause、penlights、all made me super duper happy！

Once again、thank you very much for always supporting me！🥹

Because you're all here、I can keep looking forward! And do my best！

Please continue to support 16 year old me too！

🐒Extra🐒

Prizes！

I searched for the fabric、measured it all、and made them using my mom's sewing machine😉

I'll end today's blog here (๑･̑◡･̑๑)

Kamikokuryo-san、Keronnu、Shionnu、and Moimoi can today！

They made me super happy😭

Thank you very much！

See ya！

Matsumoto Wakana

[myloveforhergoeson]

That's All She Wrote - Chapter 10

Chapter 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9

If you haven't read the wonderful alternate version of chapter 9 by @selangkir, you can find it here!

Find me on wattpad and ao3

Show: Big Time Rush

Pairing: James Diamond x Original Female Character

Chapter 10: Get the Party Started (1.10) ~ 10k

After a particularly boring school morning, Big Time Rush and their assistant were more perky than usual as they strode into Rocque Records for the day’s recording session. Since the boys had become the first official boy band signed under Gustavo Rocque in almost a decade, it had been much easier for Roxy to get the band to work on time the last few days. 

The boys, duffel bags full of their workout clothing in hand, casually walked down the long stretch of hallway to Studio A as the songwriter had her nose buried in her journal in search of any inspiration for her songs. She had been keeping a pretty accurate chain of events since their arrival in L.A. written down and had hoped something she had chronicled would help spark a creative melody or a new lyric. Having a songbook that doubled as a diary certainly had its perks.

Her hope for creative revelation ended as she abruptly slammed into Logan’s back in the middle of the hallway. 

Previously leading the way, the band had now stopped and begun to sniff the air, looking all around to try and find the source of the smell. Roxy cocked her head in confusion as she observed them, unable to smell anything unusual herself. 

They continued to sniff before coming to their final conclusion.

“I smell party!’ 

Like most 16-year-olds, Roxy loved to party, but her band had to be on a whole other party level to be able to simply sniff one out. 

To her, a party sounded like a wonderful change of pace, especially after a long, hard month of work in Hollywood. Being able to let loose and dance with a bunch of strangers sounded wonderful and like a situation that could spark a lot of inspiration for a new song. Excitedly, she followed the guys as they ran down the hall, lazily ditching the bags they had brought with them.

A million possibilities swirled in her head, who it could be for, who would be in attendance, who might have the most interesting story to tell… parties were an endless source of new faces and experiences. And, if Gustavo and Kelly were throwing it, it must be for an incredibly special occasion. 

Passing through the double doors into the dance hall of Studio A, the teens looked around to see a horde of black-clothed tables with beautiful white floral centerpieces being placed around the room. Covering the walls, as always, were all of their boss’ gold records, but in addition, were a handful of Big Time Rush posters filling in the empty spaces. At the back of the room stood a large buffet table, brimming with charcuterie boards, veggie trays, and multiple-tiered cakes letting off a sweet, enticing smell. 

Moving deeper into the room, they narrowly avoided a few people rushing around to set more items up. Roxy did her best to make a beeline for the cake, but the band she was using as cover stopped short of the table. 

“What’s going on?” Kendall wondered aloud, turning to face Gustavo and Kelly who appeared to be overseeing the setup. 

Beside him, James and Carlos bounced up and down in excitement, “Please tell us it’s a party!”

The talent scout smiled, setting her phone down. “This is the Big Time Rush party celebrating the making of your first album.”

“Wicked…” Roxy gasped, noticing more BTR decorations going up around the room, and around her, the boys began to celebrate. A few slaps to her shoulder and one hug from Carlos later, their festivities were interrupted by their producer.

“No! You’re not invited!” Gustavo yelled, cutting their celebrations short, as though it was an already obvious statement. 

Her eyebrows raised as the band protested. “What? Why?”

After rolling his eyes in annoyance, Gustavo held up a finger, adding more as he rattled off a list of reasons the teens were not allowed to attend their party. “One, it’s a classy party, for executives only. Two, I don’t need dawgs around playing with their food! Three, I don’t trust that Roxanne won’t try and market her songs to other producers in attendance.”

“What?” She jokingly questioned, before realizing that was a brilliant idea. 

Why didn’t I think of that?

To her left, Carlos and James had turned to the food table she had been trying to covertly reach and to her right, Logan and Kendall took much offense to their boss’ statement. Roxy weighed the options of fighting to get into the corporate party, but admittedly it was starting to sound quite boring - especially if her band wasn’t going to be around. 

“We don’t play with food!” Logan challenged, throwing his hands out as though that was the one major problem with everything their boss had listed off about them. 

Kelly grimaced, catching Roxy’s eye as she sighed, “James and Carlos, turn around.”

Before they did, the assistant rolled her eyes knowing exactly what the two were up to. 

Boys.

The pair growled, facing the group with carrot tusks and sushi roll eyes, almost exactly how the talent scout predicted.  

  When the assistant gave Carlos a slap on the arm, he gingerly spat out his food onto a large, black napkin.

“How can you have a Big Time Rush party without Big Time Rush?” She questioned, hating to give Kelly any more pushback than necessary. 

Softening her expression, Kelly sighed as she glanced down at her feet. “They’ll be here… in spirit. And in cut-out form!”

She pointed to the back corner of the room where a life-sized cardboard cut out of the band was being placed. 

Roxy shuttered. One set of four boys was more than enough for her. “That’s just creepy.”

The band conferred amongst themselves before Kendall decided to speak up. “Well, we’re staying!”

Each boy crossed his arms, turning back to back, leaving their assistant out of the loop. Quickly trying to match them, she placed her hands on her hips to stare their superiors down.

“Fine.” Gustavo grumbled before the band responded with their own “Fine!”

There was a bit of back and forth between the band and their producer before the older man snapped his fingers and crossed the room. An attention getting gesture like that was more than enough to get everyone in the room to turn their heads towards him. 

Squeaky wheels made their way across the floor as two men rolled a giant box behind Gustavo. It was lined with bright, flashing neon lights and had a color-explosion of an exterior. It looked large enough to contain all the necessary supplies for a party and had an inviting pop melody playing from the inside that was loud enough to be heard even with the closed door. On the side facing towards the teens it read in bright, bold letters “Super party fun box!”

Gustavo pointed at it before addressing the band members, “You can stay. But do not go in my super party fun box!”

Roxy didn’t need to be told twice, it was very obviously a trap, and if her boss was going through all this trouble to keep the teens out of the party there wasn’t much they could do to change his mind. Perhaps staying away from the festivities taking place at Rocque Records was a good idea after all.

Finishing saying his piece, Gustavo motioned toward Kelly, and the two  walked away in order to attend to the setup once more. 

It took everything in her not to burst out laughing as she noticed the guys looking at each other and looking towards the super party fun box. How they could be so dumb at times was nearly astonishing to her. 

The first to make his way to the box was Carlos, running his hands along its metal lining to find the latch to allow the door to swing open. Shockingly, Logan moved to join him. Flipping the case open, James joined the other two and pulled on the large door to open up a way inside, bobbing his head to the pop music. A new display of lights shone out from the interior as they danced around the box’s red velvet lined walls in all different shapes and colors. It was this that convinced Kendall to fully enter, the rest of the band following after. 

They danced in place a bit, looking around and admiring the smattering of streamers and confetti beginning to fall around with them. 

“Are you coming?” Carlos called, holding a hand out towards Roxy. 

The girl shook her head. “No thanks! I’m claustrophobic.”

It wasn’t entirely a lie, but she most certainly was not interested in entering the trap. She would just have to wait until the band was shipped off to follow them wherever Gustavo had instructed. At least now they had a day off work. 

The helmet wearer shrugged, looking around. 

“I don’t see Santa anywhere!” were his final words as the case was latched closed and the two men who wheeled it in began to push it out once more. 

Following them all the way back to the Palm Woods, Roxy was fortunate enough to hitch a ride with the nice men from the planning company who had been setting up the supplies and food in the studio. 

Entering 2-J faster than the box containing her friends could be wheeled down the hallway, she sat down on the couch and began to flip through one of Mrs. Knight’s magazines as the latches were opened and the band stumbled out. 

The four tumbled out as if they were dizzy, gasping for air. Catching their bearings, they let their eyes adjust to the newfound light only to find their assistant learning a recipe for blueberry muffins in the newest edition of Mouthwatering Monthly.

“How could you?” Kendall spat, a look of hurt and confusion crossing his face as if she had shoved them in there and closed the latches herself. 

She shook her head, not lifting an eye from her recipe. “I can’t believe you idiots fell for that.”

“Well you’re here too, aren’t you?” Questioned James.

Snapping the magazine shut, the assistant placed it back down on the table. “Yeah, because for some unknown reason, hanging out with you four sounds way more fun than trying to get into Gustavo’s lame party.”

Before the boy was able to come up with a retort, Katie and Mrs. Knight emerged from the side hallway, each carrying a full backpack. 

“Hey!” Mama Knight called, waving to the teens. “I’m taking Katie on a day trip; we’ll be back late.”

“We’re going to Vegas!” The young girl yelled in excitement. 

Her mother rolled her eyes before correcting her, “San Diego.” 

“But I get to drive!” Katie quipped, jiggling the keys on the ring she proudly held. 

Though it wasn’t true, Roxy had no doubt her small friend would be able to manage a car with ease. That girl was scarily good at picking up on tasks and way more devious than she let off. 

Unfortunately, her mom snatched the keys out of her hand as Kendall proposed a question. 

“Hey, Mom, would you mind if-”

“No parties!” She firmly stated, waving her pointer finger back and forth. “It’s a Palm Woods rule and if we get another strike Bitters kicks us out, remember?”

The girl thought back to the two events that had landed the boys of 2-J in a bit of hot water with the Palm Woods hotel. After organizing a hotel-wide extreme pillow fight in the lobby and kidnapping a giant octopus from the ocean and putting it in the pool, they had earned two strikes from management. They were big, red X’s with a sticker of Bitters’ disappointed face in the middle. Each time one was earned, it was placed on the resident’s front door as a reminder to align with the hotel rules. 

“Be good! I mean it.” Mrs. Knight requested after giving her son a kiss on the cheek as she and Katie took off, leaving the teens alone in the apartment. 

Seconds after the door was closed, James stepped forward. “We have to throw a party! We’re teenagers! If we don’t party, we could die.” 

It was a bad idea, especially if Bitters caught them, but Roxy had never been to a Big Time Rush house party. The prospects of them getting busted seemed low in comparison to their need to party. As long as they kept it on the down-low, management would never know.

“Party, party, party!” Roxy and Carlos began to chant in hopes of enticing Kendall and Logan. 

The blond shook his head, striking his hands down in an X motion. “We can’t party at the Palm Woods.” 

Chanting ended as the four cast their heads to the floor in disappointment. 

“But… There’s nothing saying we can’t have a ‘get-together’.”

At this twist of words, Logan finally came around to the idea, bouncing off what the frontman said, “Or a social gathering!” 

“Social gathering! Social gathering!” The remaining three sang rhythmically, swirling around and dancing in place in celebration. 

Now, it was time to divide up party responsibilities. Kendall pointed at two of the boys. “James, Carlos, Roxy, you three transform 2-J into a cool club atmosphere. And get some snacks and pop!” 

“And we keep the guest list short,” Logan advised. “Say, two people each?”

The boys nodded while Roxy tried to work out some mental math. “Well if Kendall invites Jo and you invite Camille, the only other person I would invite would be Dak. So one for me, three for the rest of you? Those are normal get-together numbers.”

“Get-together! Get-together!” James and Carlos chanted, now holding a few bags of O’Chippiagans and a case of Peppy Cola they’d pulled from Mrs. Knight's pantry.

Kendall agreed to the three people each ruling with a nod as he held up a strange metal spring. “I’m gonna go down to the pool right now and invite Jo, ‘cause Roxy is right, I kinda got a thing for her.” 

“Tell us something we don’t know!” His assistant joked, practically shoving him out the door. “Let her know I’ll be looking for her tonight.” 

After him, Logan ran out to invite Camille under the same instructions from Roxy. 

With just her and the other two boys left, she shifted into party mode to help get 2-J set up for the ultimate get-together. 

“I’ll be back in just a second,” She let the pair know, pulling out her phone. “I’m gonna lock my side of the door, text Dak, and then grab any spare decorations I have.”

There was no protest from the guys as they also checked their contacts list, trying to figure out their three guests. 

Once she was in her apartment she made sure that their connecting door was shut tight. If any of the get-together-goers were to hop onto her side, that could spell disaster. Her apartment was too small to comfortably hold 14 people and she had some personal items out on her display shelves she didn’t want to risk getting broken. 

Next to her TV on its small stand, she took note of a framed picture of her and her father, one of her, Jo, and Camille out by the pool, and another one she had taken with the guys on their official contract signing date. All things too precious to lose along with the smattering of musical instruments in her bedroom. 

Checking off the first thing from her list, she unlocked her phone and shot a text message to Dak. 

R: Hi! The guys and I are having a get-together at 7 tonight

R: It would mean a lot if you could make it

His reply was nearly instantaneous. 

D <3: Sounds good, I’ll be there.

R: 7 pm! Palm Woods! Apartment 2-J!

  After, she felt her phone buzz again. This time, her screen showed a text from Carlos.

C: Social gathering @ 2-J tonight @ 7! Be there or be square :)

Hm. Weird. She thought, but ultimately she decided to ignore the message. 

Knowing that she would finally get to introduce Dak to Camille and Jo made her heart soar. It was important to her that all her friends get along, but who couldn’t get along with the teen idol? He was just so personable. Maybe he and the girls could bond over acting, maybe he was into sports and the guys could talk about hockey, maybe she could dance the night away with him by her side… Tonight was shaping up to be perfect. 

Nearly shaking with excitement, she pulled a few packages of shiny, colorful streamers she had saved from past parties in a box shoved under her bed. Besides that, she had nothing in the way of decorations or supplies. The boys would have to provide a bit more to achieve that club atmosphere Kendall was talking about. 

With materials in hand, she made sure to lock her front door as she headed back over to 2-J. 

Standing in the middle of the living room were Carlos and James. The pair were pointing at various pieces of furniture, talking over each other, in an attempt to find out the best layout for the get-together. Every club had a dancefloor, which was what they seemed to be making right now, but as they talked out the different ways they could shift the furniture, nothing seemed to be working.

“Just push the couch back towards the swirly slide and move the coffee table into one of your rooms.” She interrupted, seeing her grand vision of a clear space in her head. 

The boys looked at each other, trying to decipher how they couldn’t come up with such a simple solution themselves. 

Wordlessly, James strode over to their stereo system and popped in their demo tape, turning the volume dial all the way to the right. The sound of “City is Ours” filled the room, giving the teens a big enough boost to begin setting up for their gathering. 

Moving the couch and table as she had suggested, James and Carlos did the heavy lifting while Roxy began taping up various decorations the pair had laid out in the kitchen. Party lights were placed, a disco ball was hung, snack bowls and pop cups were filled to the brim - the space was coming together beautifully. A V.I.P. area was even set up towards the back of the room, something the assistant could only guess was some ploy for Logan or Kendall to have some alone time with their dates, complete with a velvet rope and a guest list Roxy wasn’t allowed to see. 

From there, the guys insisted on changing into the most ridiculous outfits to have ever been made. They matched in nice black slacks and white button-up shirts, but the suit jackets they had picked out were covered in a loud cheetah print pattern; James’ purple, Carlos’ orange. 

Roxy did her best to not make any comments on it, they were having fun after all, but how they thought they’d manage to snag a girl dressed like that she had no idea. The thought to change crossed her mind, though she ultimately decided against it. Her shoes were more than comfortable to dance in and her clothing was easy to move about  in, all that was left was a touch-up of her makeup and she would be get-together ready.

Finishing with her portion of the decorations, she popped on a few strands of string lights she had hung up around the apartment, lining doorways, windows, swirly slide, and walls. She had even changed the TV to a fun video of a lava lamp-like background sloshing around. The colors melded together once the lights were off to give off a club atmosphere, just like the frontman had requested. 

And thankfully, it was much to his liking. 

After inviting Jo and Camille, the other band members had stopped by to see if they could help with any setup, but the trio had everything in the bag. Showing off their work, Roxy crossed her arms while James and Carlos leaned into her while popping their jackets. They had truly outdone themselves. 

Both newcomers stood, admiring the apartment transformation before Kendall held his hands out in defense. 

“Guys, it’s just a small gathering get-together.”

The assistant cocked her head. Does he want us to take everything down? 

It seemed like he had been in awe of the lights, music, food, and streamers when he walked in and there was no doubt 14 people could certainly have a small gathering get-together in a space like this. By Logan’s facial expression, it seemed like he agreed with Kendall. 

“Dude!” James cried, looking to Carlos and Roxy for help. “We’re not in Minnesota anymore! This is the big leagues.”

“Our big-time Hollywood party-cred starts tonight!” Carlos added. “We start small, but we start hot!”

In front of her face, the boys fist bumped, blowing it up as they looked out towards their friends. 

Roxy jumped in, “Besides, in all the things I’ve done for this band when have I ever half-assed it? I had an entire basketball court built inside of Rocque Records!” 

“Yeah!” The cheetah print duo backed her up. 

“And before you know it, we’ll be known as the Hollywood Super Party Kings of Hollywood!” Declared James.

Roxy cleared her throat.

“The Hollywood Super Party Kings and Queen of Hollywood!” He corrected. 

“Whoo, whoo!” Carlos rhythmically chanted, raising his hands in the air. 

Logan blinked. “You said Hollywood twice.” 

“You bet I did.” The long-haired boy deadpanned, still trying to gague what his friends wanted to do about the decorations. 

Thankfully, it wasn’t long after that the guests of the get-together began to arrive, so no changes were made to 2-J. The assistant had practically run around the entire apartment space to make sure everything was in place. Food bowls flowing, pop on ice, doors to bedrooms closed… Checking off a million things on her mental list before she was able to settle into a party mood.

When the doorbell rang signaling the arrival of the guests, she finally allowed herself to relax. Taking a cup full of Peppy Cola she followed James and Carlos over to the door. It felt silly, trailing after them as she had been for most of the afternoon, but she felt no shame in wanting to help throw an incredible party - especially if it was an excuse to see Dak again.

After their date, their communication had been pretty sparse. She called him the morning after to thank him again and texted him a couple of days later when she enjoyed her leftover steak and potatoes for dinner, but other than that the two hadn’t found time to connect. His words from the car ride home had stuck with her, she just wasn’t sure when he was planning on talking about it again. 

“Welcome to the get-together!” James greeted, throwing open the door in excitement. The two strikes from Bitters were less-than-proudly displayed on the other side. 

A group of around 8 people entered, Jo and Camille trailing toward the back.

Carlos pointed towards the inside of the apartment, “Snacks to the left, and the dance floor is straight ahead-” 

“And good times all around!” Roxy called as she pushed the door closed, running after her girlfriends. 

She knew that tonight was supposed to be a fun night for them and the boys they were crushing on, but she had to deliver the good news that Dak would be arriving any time now. 

Pushing them towards the kitchen, she brought out her phone and showed them the text messages she had sent earlier. 

“First of all, you two look gorgeous.” She gushed to her friends. “Second of all…”

The girls silently scrolled through her messages.

“No way…” Camille trailed off once she was done reading the little blue bubbles, jaw dropping. “We get to meet Dak Zevon!” 

Jo’s eyes widened. “Maybe he’ll ask you to be his-”

“Shh!” Roxy whispered to her. “I don’t want to jinx anything. God, I’m so nervous!”

“You know… I was thinking about asking Logan to be my boyfriend tonight.” Camille confessed. “I’ll send some good luck your way. Hopefully, we both walk out of here with boyfriends.”

“Speaking of Jo…” Roxy poked her in the side a few times. “I heard through the grapevine Kendall has something special planned for you tonight…”

Before Jo was able to process her statement, Carlos and James emerged from behind the two girls and tapped them on the shoulder. With their attention stolen, the most Roxy could do was curse her friends for being good wingmen. It was selfish to think she could take up most of their time, but she was sure she could see them around. Once Dak arrived, she wouldn’t be lonely anyway. 

“Hey!” Smiled Camille, bright demeanor suddenly turning dark as she questioned, “Where’s Logan?”

The pair pointed over to the edge of the dance floor where the boy in question was quietly enjoying some potato chips and swaying to the music by himself.

Not even thinking twice, Camille took off to talk to him. Her walk exuded confidence as she flipped her hair over her shoulder before turning back to face her friends. With a wink, she mouthed, “Keep me updated!” and smoothed out her little, black dress. 

James turned his attention to Jo, “And you can find Kendall, thataway!”

Thanking him, Jo walked off as well, pep in her step. 

That left Roxy with the two Super Party Kings, who had been so preoccupied with setting up the party, they hadn’t had any chance to enjoy it themselves. An upbeat, electronic melody blasted through the speakers compelling the two to groove a bit as they made their way to the dance floor. Now, this left the songwriter as the only person present in the kitchen.

A thought to text Dak crossed her mind, but it was only 7:05. The last thing she wanted was to be seen as some clingy, obsessive girl who watched over and questioned his every move. For now, she was content to keep to herself and observe the partygoers. 

Kendall had surprised Jo by showing her the list to the V.I.P. area only contained her name. It was a sweet surprise as he opened up the red velvet rope and the two began to dance together in their own little section of bliss. It was a nice, domestic scene that made Roxy’s heart jump - seeing two of her friends make each other so happy made her happy in return. 

Near the dance floor, Camille had a beautiful pout covering her lips as she leaned into Logan, closer and closer. Her crush didn’t seem to be taking the hint as he pointed towards the entertainment system, probably pointing out the cool effect on the screen. Suddenly, she slapped his hand out of the way, grabbed his collar, and dipped him, deep and slow, almost like a scene from a dramatic movie. Once more she leaned in and… Logan twisted out of her grasp, confusing her. Moving along the ground, he crawled over into the kitchen, a shocked look gracing his features. 

Roxy followed him as he made his way around the breakfast bar, into the kitchen, and grabbed her hand so they could duck behind the counter and talk. 

With a humph, her butt landed on the ground. “You better have vacuumed this floor.”

“Don’t worry about it!” He cried, hands flying to the sides of his face. “Camille’s all over me and she says we’re in a movie together. Yay!”

The boy’s laugh was obviously sarcastic given his freaked-out demeanour. As the color drained from his face, she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“And the problem is…?” 

It took him a moment to come up with one. “I don’t know… She’s super cool, but she’s so confident. I’m nothing like her!”

“You don’t have to be just like her. How about you go back out there and give it another shot? Tell her exactly what you told me about how great you think she is!”

There was no chance for him to respond before the writer pushed him out of the kitchen. To her dismay, instead of going over and talking with the actress he snuck into the V.I.P. lounge to get Jo and Kendall’s opinions. Checking her phone again, 7:15, a small pit formed in her stomach.

He’s probably just caught up at work.

After a few more sips of her soda, she noticed both blondes in the V.I.P. area were seated on a beanbag chair. Upon closer examination, though the music drowned out whatever they were saying back and forth to each other, it looked like they were fighting about something with Logan uncomfortably wedged in the middle seat between them.

Maybe a get-together wasn’t a good idea.

Her thought was confirmed as she heard a crash. Someone had been pushed into the high-top chairs at the breakfast bar, sending them hurtling straight down to the ground, crumpling in pain upon impact. In a diagonal line back, was Carlos dancing with reckless abandon. 

Moving to help the partygoer she had never seen before up, and pick up the fallen chairs, she caught a snippet of the conversation from the lounge. 

“Logan, just tell her that you’re not interested and you want to be friends.”

Kendall’s logic always came in a pinch, but she wasn’t sure she agreed with him. Not wanting to be a busybody, she moved one of the chairs back to its rightful place and moved to grab another one.

“Or, just relax and see where it goes!” Jo suggested, definitely the authority on how to deal with the girls of the trio. “Maybe starring in Camille’s fantasy movie could be fun.”

Logan just doesn’t know what he wants.

“Hey,” A girl’s loud voice caught her off guard as she fought to be heard over the music, nearly making her drop the last chair. It was Camille, looking over towards Logan as well, a hint of longing on her face. “Can you hear what they’re talking about?”

Roxy put the chair back. “I think you might be coming off too strong.”

“Hm?” The ravenette cocked her head “Not quite sure what you mean.”

“Just… pedal backward a bit. How about you let Logan make the first move tonight?”

Taking a few pretzels from one of the bowls, Camille dumped her chin into her palm. Rolling her eyes, she looked at her friend. “Why are boys so complicated?”

“I wish I knew.” Roxy sighed.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Logan pop up from the beanbag chair he was on and do a couple of karate moves before hopping the rope and making a beeline to the kitchen.

“Oh!” She squealed, taking the pretzel bowl out from the counter under Camille. “Turn around!”

The actress did as she asked and Logan quickly whisked her away, onto the middle of the dance floor.

Ding dong

Roxy ran to the door, narrowly beating out James and Carlos. While she could see they desperately wanted to push her to the side, they allowed her a moment to collect herself before opening up. Even then, she waited a few more seconds; she didn’t want to come off as desperate. 

With a smile, she pulled the handle back. 

“Welcome!” The writer greeted, gesturing inside. To Guitar Dude. And two pretty girls. Not Dak. 

Guitar Dude began to strum out a chord, “What’s up, what’s up, what’s up!”

As he sang, he moved inside with his posse following. They exchanged high-fives with the two boys at the door before moving into the dance floor with everyone else. 

Checking her phone, the pit in Roxy’s stomach grew a bit larger. 7:35.

“All right, everybody’s here.” She overheard James tell Carlos. 

Normally, squeezing her book to her chest would relieve some of her anxiety but she had made the fatal mistake of leaving it in her room.

“Um,” She breathed out, trying not to worry herself into a spiral. “Not everyone.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The boy brushed her off, eying the dance floor and everyone on it. “All of our guests are here.”

“Let’s social gather!” Carlos cried, brushing past the girl, while beginning to dance to the music with James. 

That in itself nearly ruined her night. It was one thing for her date to be so late, but it was another to have her friends practically ignore her for the sake of a party. Slightly upset, she watched them bounce off to dance with everyone, wishing she could have that much fun right now. 

Moving back into the kitchen, she grabbed another pop. Her thoughts fluttered to Gustavo and Kelly, wondering if they were having as much fun as she was at their executive party. The party they were throwing in her head, while enough to keep her occupied in thought the kitchen for a while, was still super lame. 

Buzz

Taking her phone out of her back pocket so quickly that it nearly dropped into her drink, Roxy checked her lock screen - a picture of her, Camille, and Jo - to find a text message.

K: U ok?

K: [Sent a photo]

Attached to his message was an image of a small puppy dog with eyes so big they looked like they were about to spill over with tears. 

R: I’m fine

Glancing to the top right of her screen, she noted the time, 7:50.

K: Sure? Wanna talk about anything?

R: Nope, have fun with Jo

Looking up and across the room, she gave him a weak thumbs up which he didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy spitting his drink all over the floor at something Jo had said. Hopefully, it was just a really funny joke and not something terrible, like she hated hockey. 

Across from there, it seemed like Logan and Camille were hitting it off again. The girl had an entranced look on her face as she watched the boy she was talking to. He was displaying the same types of karate moves he had been doing earlier as if he were in some sort of spy movie.

Everyone was lucky in love tonight. Everyone except for Roxy. 

The last thing she wanted was to be dramatic, there had to be a simple explanation for why he was late. A reason that might have been too long to text. Maybe his car broke down or his phone battery died or he was on set longer than he had anticipated. All perfectly reasonable and perfectly understandable reasons why he was late.

Knowing this, however, did not change her feelings towards the situation at hand. As of now, she had been stood up by the boy she liked at a party she was looking forward to the entire afternoon. And it hurt. A lot. 

Grabbing the big bowl of Cheetos, she quietly made her way out of 2-J and headed over to her apartment. It would probably be alright if she helped clean up once the get-together was over, but for now, she wanted to be alone. 

Walking the short distance of the hallway between the two apartments, she noticed a pretty blonde girl walk down the hallway in a beautiful blue dress and a fur-trimmed coat. There was only one person in town she knew had a budget like that: Mercedes Griffin.

She had half a mind to warn the guys, but they had all ended on pretty good terms with her. After all, she was the reason they had been awarded a record contract. The least they could do was allow her access to their get-together. One more person couldn’t hurt, especially if it looked like her one guest wasn’t going to arrive at all.

Trying to get out of the socialite’s line of sight, she shoved her key into the door of 2-H and quickly made her way in. Inside her apartment it was dark and that was perfectly fine with the writer. 

The shared wall she had with the boy’s apartment shook a bit from the sheer volume of the music they had been playing, another thing she probably should have mentioned to them before their other neighbor called Bitters.. Thankfully it was blocked out once she closed her bedroom door. 

As she had on their first day in Los Angeles after nearly being sent home, she flopped face-first onto her bed with a groan. 

That day, the overwhelming toll of the cross-country move and trying to keep up with all of Griffin’s demands was immense. All she wanted to do was go to bed knowing that they would be safe and happy the next day. While it had still mentally painful, her heart hadn’t ached like it currently was. 

Overviewing the thoughts that ran through her head, there were so many that could explain Dak’s absence, though it was beginning to get a bit noisy; she couldn’t even focus on one. Her chest tightened, her cheeks were burning red from shame, and her hands were shaking at such a high velocity she could hardly grab one of the snacks she had smuggled out of 2-J and raise it to her mouth.

The whirlwind of emotions she was experiencing right now were feeling nearly impossible to place. Whether she should cry, scream, or throw her pillows across the room, she had no idea. Roxy was embarrassed and hurt, and she had no idea how to let it out. All she could do for now was sit in her thoughts and let them consume her being. 

Did I do something wrong? Does he not like me anymore? He said he was excited… That he would be here…

Inadvertently, that thought began to transform itself into a small verse of a poem. If there was one thing she could count on herself to do, even in an emotional crisis like this, it was write a song.

Reaching her hand out in the dark, she blindly felt for where she had hung her bag on her bed frame. Feeling out her book and her pen, she used her phone flashlight to illuminate a blank page.

I promised I would be there, 

I swear I’m on my way.

I know you may not hear me, 

but that’s the price I’ll pay.

Reading it over a few times, she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Normally she formulated the lyrics and melody in excitement, hoping to place together the pieces of the musical puzzle in order to craft something she was proud of. 

This song wasn’t from her perspective, it wasn’t even about a person or situation she had made up for narrative purposes. It was words she currently needed to hear. Things she needed Dak to say to her to make her pain go away. 

Ugh. She thought, tossing the book to the floor and burying her head in her pillows again. I can’t let him have this power over me.

Buzz

C: where did u go???

C: emergency! logan is ignoring me again

R: I went home

R: I think Dak is standing me up

C: hes probably just late, dont worry

C: come dance with me :(

C: either you come over now or ill bust down your door and drag you out of your room

R: Fine

She really couldn’t argue with Camille; the actress was absolutely crazy enough to do just what she threatened. So the girl took it upon herself to head back to the get-together, though deciding to bring her songbook this time.

Stepping out into the hallway, she was met with a horde of people she had never seen before. Maybe some other Palm Woods residents were having a social gathering as well. When they all began to turn into 2-J, she could tell something was up. There were far too many people. Perhaps Mercedes just attracted a teen party crowd wherever she went. 

Trailing behind them, she was finally able to enter the apartment, heading up the rear. Turning to James and Carlos she tried to ask them what was going on, but her voice was lost as someone turned the music louder. Through the dissipating crowd, she noticed Kendall making his way over as well. 

Their concerns were the same. 

“Who invited all of these people?” The blond cried, looking like he wanted to wring his friends' necks.

James shook his head, “I don't know! I only invited the three hottest people in my phone!”

Beside him, Roxy took a shot to his shoulder. “Be respectful.”

“Ugh, fine. The second, third, and fourth hottest.”

She punched him again, slightly confused by his statement. 

“And I couldn’t decide!” Carlos said, pulling out his cell. “So I texted the first three people in my phone. Abigail Aaron, Andrea Adams, and Al Contacts.”

“Oh, my God…’” She sighed, palm hitting her forehead. That must have been why he texted her earlier.

Kendall snatched the phone out of his hands. “It says ‘All Contacts’!”

“You invited your whole phone?” Screamed James, smacking his friend upside the head. 

A new group of people burst down the door and flooded the apartment, knocking the four to the ground on their way in. 

Great. Roxy thought. Now I’m in physical and emotional pain.

As they pulled themselves off the ground, the get-together throwers watched in dismay as half of the apartment began to fill with far more guests than they had ever anticipated having. If Bitters caught wind of this, their lease was definitely going to be suspended. 

“Okay.” The frontman breathed. “This is bad. This was supposed to be a small gathering and now it’s an uncontrollable party that gets us kicked out of the Palm Woods!” 

Dusting off her jeans, the girl stood up and walked a few steps away into the kitchen. Grabbing a few cups of pop, she brought them over to her friends before downing hers. She was starting to freak out. “We’ve got to find a way to fix this. One of you yell ‘Fire’ or something to clear everyone out!”

Behind the group, someone shouted. It just wasn’t the word the writer wanted to hear.

“Opa!”

A pair entered the apartment dressed in black and red show clothes. One of them, a short, stocky man, was holding a red-haired woman over his head. They looked like circus performers, something that would make any other party lively and fun. 

Upon their arrival, Carlos squealed with glee, seemingly forgetting all about the problem at hand. “Sergei! You made it!”

The performers smiled and waved at the boy with a “Hey!” before making their way over to the dance floor. Hopefully, this was an appearance they chose to make out of the kindness of their hearts, not one the band would have to pay for.

“You have Russian Acrobats in your contact list?” 

Kendall was just as shocked as she was. 

Carlos nodded, “I’m a people person.”

His friends nodded, taking in his statement as they watched the acrobats. Sergei gracefully lifted his partner over his head and began to spin her overtop the people on the dancefloor. It appeared as though the act was an instant hit; people were going to talk about this weeks from now.

“Halfway There” played loudly through the speakers, disrupting any ideas the girl may have had to end this party.

“Okay, I’m going to find Camille.” She finally decided, trying to walk away from the situation. The guys, however, had a far different plan. Kendall caught her arm and pulled her back.

“Emergency party plan!” He hissed. “I’m gonna go get my date, who doesn’t like hockey-”

At his words, James and Carlos spit out their drinks. Roxy’s “Stop making a mess!” overlapped with Kendall’s “I know, right?”

“Anyway!” He continued, eyes quickly scanning the crowd to find Jo. “We’re going to go downstairs and keep an eye on Bitters so we don’t get our third strike while you three get rid of this party!”

There was no time for confirmation before he stocked off in search of Jo through the large crowd.

Across the way, the acrobats continued performing to the amusement of the crowd. 

“Okay bossy.” Roxy sighed, looking to the other boys to see if they had any ideas. 

“We can’t stop a party this good.” Decided James. 

“We won’t be party royalty.” Carlos nodded in agreement. “We’ll be party killers. 

Drumming her fingers over her chin, Roxy watched as the female acrobat did a little flip in the air. “Yeah, but you’ll get kicked out of your apartment. What’s more important: stable housing or being party royalty?”

The long-haired boy huffed, “Teenagers should not have to make decisions like this!” 

No conclusion yet, the trio tried to think of a way to end the party without killing it. There had to be a way for them to change locations without Bitters finding out, so going through the lobby was not in the cards. Roxy would offer her place, she had no strikes, but her small apartment wouldn’t be able to hold this amount of people. It was also possible the manager could add their strikes together since the band and their assistant were technically under one lease paid for by Gustavo. 

Their thoughts were interrupted as Logan somehow parted an entire group of people, running over to his friends in an extreme hurry. Once he reached them, he grabbed onto Carlos’ suit jacket, panting.

“I’ve got a huge problem!” He shrieked, looking over his shoulder in fear. “There are two girls at this party who are in love with me!”

Roxy feigned shock, hands flying to the side of her face. Her remark was dripping with sarcasm, “Oh no! Whatever shall we do!”

Shocked, Logan blinked in confusion at her tone before he stuck his tongue out at her.

“Got it.” James mulled his statement over, not taking into account his assistan’s words. “Now, what’s the problem?”

Taking another sip of his drink before responding, Carlos giggled, “Dude, two girls have a crush on you at the same time? This is not a problem.”

Pigs. “Just go find Camille, she’s been looking for you.” 

The singer shook his head, looking over his shoulder once more.

“This is the best party of your life.” Mused the taller boy. 

His next comment was in sync with Carlos, “Think about it!”

And think about it Logan did. He stood there for a few seconds, staring off into space before his arms raised up. He moved his torso to the left and to the right, almost like two people were pulling on each of his arms. 

“Logan!” She growled, giving his shoulder a shove. “Go. Talk. To. Camille.”

“No, no, no…” He muttered despite his trance. “I think I see what the guys mean.”

“I really don't think you do.”

Without another word, he ran off. 

I’m so sorry Camille.

“Okay, seriously, guys!” She yelled over the music, reminding them of the real problem at hand. “Think!” 

As much as her thoughts were whirling right now, coming up with a way to dispel the party wasn’t able to break through her mental block. Spying her phone, the time was now 8:30 and there was still no message from Dak. 

“Ugh,” The girl sighed, taking Carlos’ drink from his hands and taking a sip. Now it was her turn to worry about herself before solving their other problem.

“What was that for?” He cried, trying to take it back from her. 

“I’ve officially been stood up, just let me wallow.”

The boy shook his head, reaching for his cup once more. “He’s probably gotten lost. This is a big hotel!” 

Evading his grasp, she took another long, slow sip. She was very poorly trying to contain her jealousy of Jo and Camille - at least their guys were here, regardless of how weird they were being. “Yeah, sure.” 

Despite the hordes of people around them, the music blaring, and a million different conversations weaving in and out of her ears, another idea for a verse popped into her head. With a groan, she slammed her book down on the kitchen counter and began to write it out. 

I promise you I’m gonna be there,

I wanna be there,

 No matter what happens,

No matter how tragic.

Hopefully, nothing tragic had happened, but she couldn’t think of a better word to use in its place. 

Buzz buzz

Incoming call: Kendall Knight

Picking it up, she plugged one of her ears with her finger to help drown out the noise. “Hello?”

His voice was incredibly frantic, it sounded as though he had been running quite a bit. “Rox, Bitters is roaming the hall now looking for our party.”

“Which floor?”

“We led him up to four. Did you get everyone out of the apartment?”

“Um…” A quick overview of the crowd told her no one was even thinking about leaving. The dance floor was packed, snacks were running low, and the V.I.P. area was chock full of teenagers trying to get to know one another. She couldn’t find Logan, but James and Carlos were lost on the dance floor busting out a few moves they had learned from Mr. X. “We’re working on it.”

“Are you alright? You sound upset. In fact, you’ve looked upset the entire party.”

Damn him and his brilliant observation skills. “What’s that? I can’t hear you over the music! Sorry, we’re breaking up.”

She pressed the end call button and marched over to the dance floor, dragging Carlos and James out by the lapels. 

“Kendall called, Bitters is hunting us down.”

Carlos scratched his head, “What do we do?”

The boys looked at each other, thinking for a moment before they let themselves feel the music playing. Moving to the beat, they danced away from her and back onto the dance floor. 

“Thanks for your help!” She called bitterly. This was shaping up to be the evening of male disappointment.

It was up to her, as usual, to get everyone out of the apartment without letting anyone know something was wrong. There were plenty of communal locations at the hotel where a gathering of people could naturally happen. The classroom was probably locked this time of night, along with the gym and lounges on each floor. Friend’s apartments were out of the question, they would risk getting a strike as well. Maybe she could get everyone over to Rocque Records, but the transport would take too long and the studios were already at full capacity with a party.

Think, Roxy, think.

One last glance over the room caused a brilliant idea to pop into her head. The one place in the Palm Wood’s large enough to hold a natural gathering of this size. 

Pushing past everyone on the dance floor, the girl struggled to make her way to the entertainment system. While she loved that it was playing one of her songs, she regretfully turned the dial to the left, completely shutting it down. 

The dancing immediately stopped with the loss of the music, and people looked around wondering what had happened. Then came the booing. 

“Hey!” Roxy yelled from under the TV, catching everyone’s attention. “The first person to reach the pool gets a signed copy of Big Time Rush’s first demo CD!”

It was a shot in the dark, there was no way to tell if anyone would go for it. Silence washed over the room before the party guests bolted towards the apartment door. One by one, everyone trailed out until the girl was left standing by herself in the room. 

Covering the floor were piles of trash, knocked-over furniture, and a multitude of dropped snacks and cups. Something the boys would have to clean up later after thanking her over and over for saving their party. 

Kicking some garbage to the side, she skipped over to the window and raised the shutter slightly. There were already a handful of people who had made their way down there, dancing to the lazy music that always played over the hotel speakers. 

“Thank God…” She sighed, walking into the kitchen where she had left her book. Flipping it open, she re-read the words she had written throughout the night and decided to change the narrative. No longer about Dak, no longer about the pain she had been feeling, the new tone would be one of love despite adversity.

I don’t wanna watch the world keep changing,

When I’m not with you my heart keeps shaking,

Cover up my eyes and just stop pacing

Take a shot in the dark, to be where you are-

Bang!

Roxy jumped, dragging her pen clear across the page by accident. 

“Okay, Everyone out! The party’s over!” A familiar voice yelled into the empty room. 

Kendall and Jo had burst into the apartment, ready to break up the party, only to find their friend standing alone in the kitchen bent over her book.

“Hey, guys!” Roxy greeted, gesturing to the empty room. “Party saved.”

Tenderly, Kendall slung an arm of relief at his date who smiled back up at him. “I can’t believe the Hollywood Super Party Kings of Hollywood actually got rid of the party.”

The assistant shook her head. “James and Carlos did nothing. I heard the Hollywood Super Party Empress of Hollywood was able to trick everyone into moving to the pool”

“Moving…” The boy ran outside of the apartment just as quickly as he had come in, Jo hot on his trail.

Trailing after her friends, Roxy followed them out to the pool. A myriad of colorful lights were flashing in different colors over the makeshift dance floor and partygoers were now enjoying the demo CD Roxy had promised playing through one of the boys’ speaker at the edge of the lounge area. 

Wiggling through the crowd, they were able to meet up with the self-proclaimed kings. 

“I told you to get rid of everybody!” The frontman shouted at his friends.

James shook his head, “No, you said to get everybody out of the apartment!”

It was hard to hear over the music, but she did catch Carlos saying, “And Roxy did!”

Looking around in fear, Kendall scanned the pool area to take in the large group that had now trailed in from other apartments that overlooked the area. It was only when he looked over to Jo, who was twirling Roxy around to the music, he decided to let loose. 

The group moved together to the beat, forgetting all of their troubles from the night and finally allowing themselves time to enjoy the party they had thrown. 

Eventually, Jo moved to dance with Kendall, leaving Roxy to dance by herself.

Behind her, someone cleared their throat and tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around, she found Carlos with an extended hand. 

“May I have this dance, my lady?” 

Roxy giggled a bit, shocked at his tender display of affection, before taking his hand and dancing into him, placing her arms around his neck. The song wasn’t even one that warranted a slow dance-like partner-style dance but he wrapped his arms around her waist anyway, pulling her close. 

“I’m really sorry Dak didn’t show up.” He whispered into her hair, almost intelligible over the fast pace beat surrounding them. 

She wasn’t sure how to respond as she hugged him tighter. “We wouldn’t have gotten the chance to dance if he had.”

She felt him nod before she leaned into his chest and closed her eyes, swaying with him for quite a while. Finding comfort in a friend who wasn’t concerned about romance for the time being was nice, allowing her to take her mind off her troubles as he lazily spun her around, ignoring the beat of the song. 

Checking her surroundings as she spun, she noticed a figure fly into the pool, splashing the outer edge of the party. 

“Aw, poor guy.” She said to Carlos, who had his head tipped back in laughter. 

Looking a bit closer, she noticed both Camille and Mercedes standing with their arms crossed on the other side of the water. After a few seconds, Logan’s head popped up for air.

Through his snorts of laughter once he noticed this, Carlos managed to push out, “Gonna… go… help…!” leaving her to either third wheel Jo and Kendall once more or hang out with James.

Picking the lesser of two evils, she danced over to the purple-suited boy. 

“Hey!” She called, trying to sync up with his dance moves. “Having a good time?”

“You bet!” He answered right as the music shut off. 

Collectively, the crowd groaned at the silence. Roxy spun around and peeked up on her tiptoes long enough to see her blond friends run off with a few noise-makers and the boom-box. 

When she turned back around to ask her friends what to do, James had already placed another stereo down, loaded up with the same CD the other one was playing. As it had earlier, “Halfway There” began to play and the crowd erupted. 

They really are prepared for anything…

Carlos danced his way back over to his assistant and the two began to move to the rhythm once more, screaming the lyrics to the song at each other as they lost themselves in the crowd. It almost felt like they were at a Big Time Rush concert, if they would even be lucky enough to have one someday. 

Somehow, as the night went on, Roxy had ended up on her friend’s shoulders, swaying her arms back and forth while singing “Any Kind of Guy” when she felt her phone go off in her back pocket.

Buzz buzz

She didn’t bother checking the caller ID before she picked it up. 

“Hollywood Super Party Empress of Hollywood! Party Empress speaking!”

“Roxanne?”

The assistant’s stomach dropped, causing her to involuntarily drop one of her hands down to Carlos’ hair to steady herself. “H-hello, Mr. Rocque. Is everything okay?”

His tone of voice implied a kind of urgency, with a hint of anger. “Get the boys over here now.”

“Um, no can do… Sir. We’re kind of having the greatest party of our lives right now.”

Carlos called out from beneath her, oblivious to the fact she was on the phone. “You crazy Russian acrobats!” 

It was loud enough for her boss to hear. 

“Like, super great. So I’ve got to go. See you at work tomorrow.”

For the rest of the night, Roxy and her friends focused on enjoying themselves. They had been working insanely hard for the last month and had barely any time off to just let loose and enjoy themselves. From her bird’s eye view, she noticed Kendall and Jo had rejoined the party, finally dancing with each other without fear of the hotel manager finding out about the party. Whatever they had done had put their minds at ease, allowing the assistant to relax as well. 

Camille and Logan had also managed to find each other and were dancing very intensely with one another. It seemed as though the girl was angry with him and he was regretful about something but they allowed themselves to express how they felt through dance. The writer would have to get all the details from her friends later. 

At one point, Carlos had set her down and pulled her and James to the other side of the pool. In no time, he had built a trio of thrones out of pool furniture and gathered up some loose streamers to make glittering party crowns. A group of tables held three chairs and a helping of pool noodles. 

Helping her up, the girl gingerly stepped onto the table holding their royal V.I.P. area and sat on the throne right in the middle, raising her head high while boys sat beside her, holding up two pool noodles as though they were swords. The three looked over their loyal party subjects, enjoying the guests enjoy themselves as “Famous” rang through the speakers. 

“It’s official-” James said after a while, allowing Carlos to finish his sentence.

“We’re the Hollywood Super Party Royalty of Hollywood!”

--

thanks for reading! your support is appreciated <3

[husbandograveyard]

Wootwoot! We made it you guys! May 4th is my one-year anniversary on Tumblr. With some ups and downs and over 300 requests written, I'm gonna go ahead and say it was a successful year!

Monday until next Sunday I will do another Mini HC event, like we did for valentine! Open for all my fandoms, with mystery prompts to choose from.

Until then, I wanted to do a sleepover event. Unlimited asks and interactions for the weekend cause I feel like I haven't talked to a lot of you in a long while!

You can send me any classic sleepover question

Kiss, marry, kill

Would you rather

Top 3/5/10...

Questions about me

Questions about my anime, writings...

Theories (keep em spoiler free though!)

For this event, I will engage in a little bit of selfship talk if anyone were to be interested. Ask me about my F/o's and tell me about yours! Dynamics, habits... anything!

Questions about OCs

If you need some inspiration, I have included a couple of lists below the cut with questions id be 100% okay with.

Also, if you just want to chat, tell me about your week, a funny thing that happened to you, or a fun fact (i love fun facts especially if it's creepy or an animal fact)... A N Y T H I N G is welcome! There is no limit to your asks, spam me if you want! ♡

Look forward to talking to you guys!

Ps, I'll tag these #1yearSleepover if you want to block something against spam

Questions for OCs - Specify which one! Taken from here

1. How many different places have they lived?

2. What is their dream vacation?

3. What is their favorite color?

4. What is their favorite book?

5. Have they ever cheated on anyone before?

6. Have they ever been cheated on?

7. How many partners have they had?

8. What is their favorite food?

9. Are they a liar? Are they good at lying?

10. Introvert or Extrovert?

11. Have they ever been arrested and why?

12. Who would they sacrifice their life for?

13. What are their spending habits?

14. Do they like hot or cold temperatures better?

15. Are they religious?

16. If they could describe themself in one sentence, what would they say?

17. Do they have any overused catchphrases?

18. What makes them laugh?

19. Have they ever lost anyone close to them? How did it affect them?

20. Do they have a fast reaction time, or slow?

21. How do they react to praise?

22. How do they react to criticism?

23. Are they indoorsy or outdoorsy?

24. What are their biggest pet peeves?

25. Do they have any type of handicaps? How do they manage them?

Other ask game - taken from here

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk?

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day?

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books?

4: how do you take your coffee/tea?

5: are you self-conscious of your smile?

6: do you keep plants?

7: do you name your plants?

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings?

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself?

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach?

11: what’s an inner joke you have with your friends?

12: what’s your favorite planet?

13: what’s something that made you smile today?

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like?

15: go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is!

16: what’s your favorite pasta dish?

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair?

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up.

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it?

20: what’s your favorite eye color?

21: talk about your favorite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces.

22: are you a morning person?

23: what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations?

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets?

25: what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into?

26: what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit?

27: what’s your favorite bubblegum flavor?

28: sunrise or sunset?

29: what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing?

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared?

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks.

32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends.

33: what’s your fave pastry?

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it?

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often?

36: which band’s sound would fit your mood right now?

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean?

38: tell us about your pet peeves!

39: what color do you wear the most?

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you?

41: what’s the last book you remember really, really loving?

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it!

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with?

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything?

45: do you trust your instincts a lot?

46: tell us the worst pun you can think of.

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe?

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today?

49: do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought?

50: what’s an odd thing you collect?

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them?

52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far?

53: have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them?

54: who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face?

55: what’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point?

56: what are some things you find endearing in people?

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics?

58: who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why?

59: what’s your favorite myth?

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves?

61: what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received?

62: do you drink juice in the morning? which kind?

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be?

64: what color is the sky where you are right now?

65: is there anyone you haven’t seen in a long time who you’d love to hang out with?

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like?

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel?

68: what’s winter like where you live?

69: what are your favorite board games?

70: have you ever used a ouija board?

71: what’s your favorite kind of tea?

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it?

73: what are some of your worst habits?

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.

75: tell us about your pets!

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t?

77: pink or yellow lemonade?

78: are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub?

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you?

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why?

81: describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of.

82: are/were you good in school?

83: what’s some of your favorite album art?

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones?

85: do you read comics? what are your faves?

86: do you like concept albums? which ones?

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives?

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy?

89: are you close to your parents?

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities.

91: where do you plan on traveling this year?

92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch?

93: what’s the hairstyle you wear the most?

94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday?

95: what are your plans for this weekend?

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot?

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house?

98: when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it?

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them.

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why?

[blondrichclosetwitch]

This morning’s list:

Play that funky music 11:00 am wild cherry—And just when it hit me

Somebody turned around and shouted Lay down the boogie and play that funky music 'til you die, heh heh

'Til you die, yeah (What?)

I tried to understand this (Yeah)

Heh, I thought that they were out of their minds

Heh, how could I be so foolish, how could I

To not see I was the one behind?—(well…….sometimes the music just speaks for itself. )

Happiness 11:04 Taylor Swift

Past the blood and bruise

Past the curses and cries

Beyond the terror in the nightfall

Haunted by the look in my eyes

That would've loved you for a lifetime

Leave it all behind

And there is happiness

All you want from me now is the green light of forgiveness

You haven't met the new me yet

And I think she'll give you that— (well, I’ll be honest. When this played this morning, I was feeling very generous. But it’s been a long day.)

11:11 the pleasure is all mine bjork—The pleasure is all mine

To get to be the generous one

Is the strongest stance

The pleasure is all mine

To finally let go

And evenly flow

Roots people 11:11 robin Williams—Hari Krishna, Hare Rama

Hare Rama, Hari Krishna

Monkey island 13th floor elevators—Well, here I am on monkey island

Hiding behind a rock

I'm all dressed up with my monkey suit

Pretending to be something I'm not

Well, there's one thing about these monkeys, baby

They don't know I'm around

But, uh, that's pretty good, 'cause if they knew

They'd probably come and put me down I guess I must be doing okay

'Cause they haven't come and got me yet—-funny, isn’t it? This song playing today.

Big love Fleetwood Mac 11:16–I wake up

Alone with it all

I wake up

But only to fall

Wouldn’t it be nice the Beach boys 1122–

You know it seems the more we talk about it

It only makes it worse to live without it

But let's talk about it

Harmony Elton John 1122 —Haven't seen your face for a while

Have you quit doing time for me

In any case I set my own pace by stealing the show

thom Yorke the axe 1125–

I'm pierced by long nails

I thought we had a deal

I thought we had a deal

I thought we had a deal

I thought we had a deal

I thought we had a deal

I thought we had a deal (uh oh, sounds like someone threw in the towel. And I think I know who.)

You wooden soldiers

I'm daring you to turn yourselves on

“Soldiers are, for the most part, given orders about when and where they should strike. Therefore, they need someone to “turn them on”. Yorke is suggesting those soldiers (whoever they may be) are as useless as toy soldiers because they are powerless without someone to guide them, and he is daring them to operate on their own and make their own decisions.”

11:33 deado Stephen Malkmus—Feel the work

Of the tooth-impacting jerks (reference to how I always clench the right side of my mouth since using the word pendulum. It’s written about with Lorde’s song, biting down.

Smoking in the fog

Set a trap in the mirage—this line right here

Well we'll never see the rights

That won't see the libel till you file the fine

Life’s a gas t Rex 1137

I could’ve turned you into a priestess—yes this song played twice today

1139 my winding wheel Ryan Adams—'Cause I feel just like a map

Without a single place to go of interest

And I'm further North than South—

(I actually had my directions mixed up and it was only last week that I realized I had them reversed; my tree used to be my point for the south, but it’s actually north, so this lyric is coming from her. Also when I went past her tonight, some fresh bark had been torn off and left for me to see.)

Porn songs Sarah Silverman 1144–You give yourself to

All of us

Sharing all your

Nakedness—This is a reference to all the sex stuff

The jean genie bowie 11:44–Talking 'bout Monroe and walking on Snow White—coke reference

Poor little Greenie— The things they’ve been doing to the earth

She loves him, she loves him, but just for a short while— this is about me and Jack, and how we only got a little time together

She’ll scratch in the sand, won’t let go his hand

And keeps all your dead hair for making up underwear—This is a comment about how they used my personal concerns to make dolls and workings. Probably Jack’s too.

Also; this song was Gina’s calling card, a fake spirit guide that the tarot reader made up

11:50 Duran Duran hungry like the wolf —

earth is afire—poison in the earth

Woman you want me, give me a sign—(me thinking blond was flirting with me )

And catch my breathing even closer behind

In touch with the ground

I'm on the hunt, I'm after you

Straddle the line, in discord and rhyme—(partially a comment about my ability to be in both worlds at the same time)

I’m on the hunt, I’m after you

Stalked in the forest, too close to hide (Who would think someone could be stalked in a park, right—You wouldn’t believe the things you can do to psychologically fuck someone up)

I’ll be upon you by the moonlight —reference to spells

You feel my heat, I'm just a moment behind— (wherever I went, there were things constantly left for me. For example I just went to pick up a salad, and a feather was left there on the floor. This has always been the case: they leave me feathers as a calling card everywhere. No one‘s going to notice a feather except for me.)

Scent and a sound, I’m lost and I’m found

Burning the ground (more poisoning the earth), I break from the crowd

I’m on the hunt, I’m after you(Sometimes this line is about them after me, sometimes it’s about me after them)

11:55 le fille a qui je pense—Je sais bien, je sais bien qu’autour de moi on dit

Que de jour en jour je me détruis

Car sans l’amour qu'elle m'avait donné

Ça ne sert à rien d'exister

John my beloved 11:57 sufjan —

Such a waste, your beautiful face

Stumbling carpet arise If history speaks of two baby teeth—this line is about the baby & stella being the way to shake me up

They said beware, Lord, hear my prayer

I’ve wasted my throes on your head

So can we be friends, sweetly

Before the mystery ends?

I love you more than the world can contain

In its lonely and ramshackle head

There’s only a shadow of me; in a matter of speaking, I'm dead

I’m holding my breath

Counting my cards down to one

Jesus, I need you, be near me, come shield me

From fossils that fall on my head

Some Kind of wonderful joss stone 12:01–He almost drives me out of my mind

I get these funny little feelings inside a me

Chills run up and down my spine— this is a reference to confusing malevolent spirits for psychic Jakk

Silver train 12:07 Rolling Stones—And I did not know her name

But I sure love the way

That she laughed and took my money

And I did not know her name

And I did not know her name

But I sure loved the way

That she laughed and called me honey—well this one hurts.

This song is apparently about a sexworker and a john who came to see her; then they showed me this super sad artist guy who came and saw me a few times. Apparently he was sent by blond. And he taped the sessions.

He came and saw me three or four times I think. Listed off a bunch of people who had died. Should have figured.

The Shadowlands Ryan Adams 1212–Reach out into the darkness

And find my little girl

Cause she's angry like a salesman

Who just couldn't make a sale—this is about me

Please lead her to the mountain

Most people never find a love

Sometimes you just can't be a man

Sometimes you just can't be a man

When you're living in the darkness

Of the shadowlands—addiction

1217 smash the mirror The Who—You don't answer my call

With even a nod or a wink

Can you hear me

Or do I surmise?

That you fear me, can you feel my temper

RISE

“As in “Go To The Mirror”, it’s Tommy’s psychological perception of himself that makes him deaf, dumb and blind. This image he has of himself must be destroyed – both figuratively in his mind, and literally in the mirror – for him to regain his senses.”

12:19 moon age daydream bowie—Keep your 'lectric eye on me babe—blond’s telepathy

Put your ray gun to my head

Press your space face close to mine, love—psychic Jakk is often called a spaceman

Keep your mouth shut, but listen to the word inside—(often my mind was shown pictures, other than hearing commands very strongly)

Keep your head on, but open up your eyes real wide—(open your eyes of perception)

Keep the change strong, let the things you've torn aside(kinda about how I let everything go and just fell

Into psychic communication and let it take everything over)

There isn't any room to hide—there was no getting away from it

Let it go—instrumental karaoke 12:22–once, Stella and I were on Skype and she had just seen frozen. And she did a dance routine for me with her little brother following along to this song. I have some screen shots of it.

I mostly know she’s always sending me counsel whenever it plays, like “chill out aunt tinka” or trying to help me put things in perspective.

12:26 Hannah hunt vampire weekend—And I walked into town

To buy some kindling for the fire

Hannah tore the New York Times up into pieces

“He doesn’t chop wood for the fire, he buys it. Hannah, meanwhile highlights this detachment from the city by tearing the Times to shreds.”

“Hannah is a Jewish name. In the Old Testament, Hannah is the mother of Samuel, and she symbolizes self-sacrifice in the name of faith. It might be a stretch, but maybe Ezra is not just singing about a girl. Maybe he means religion, too, and since he himself is Jewish he would be parting essentially with that religion, expressing his disbelief in those relationships, the one he had with Hannah and the one he had with religion.”

A man of faith said hidden eyes

Could see what I was thinking

I just smiled and told him

That was only true of Hannah

If I can't trust you then damn it, Hannah

There's no future

You and me, we got our own sense of time

12:34 everything now arcade fire—this also played at 8:26 tonight.

It has a lot of meaning; it was symbolic of my inner shift that began in 2017 where I understood that through Stella’s death I had gone through sort of my own rebirth, and my life had to be about seeking something else that was true to my core. NYC no longer made sense, I was deeply vulnerable, and I heard a call that was more about what could I do for the world.

I’ve said this before but arcade fire was my first show in a long time, and my first at msg. I was still far gone enough that I was holding 4 framed pictures of stella in my arms doing the show. This song is definitely a symbolic one for us, and it’s been a very long, strange trip since that night.

[twigstarpikachutroll22]

3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, and since you keep forgetting, when i send you an ask it is for both of you

"I've been mostly staying out of music asks because Twig and I listen to all the same songs so I keep wondering if I'd really have anything all that unique to put in, but y'know what? We can take this as an excuse to get in more than song per question! Which I KNOW Twig struggles not to do."

Ha. XD XD XD

3.    a song tied to a specific moment in your life

"Ooooh, a question I actually know I CAN give unique input on! Hmm. I do sometimes think The Middle of a Moment from James and the Giant Peach fits me deciding to leave my hometown."

For me, Imma say... Problem Child, by Simple Plan? Reminds me of some of my worst times in 6th grade.

"Yoof."

Yeah. Anyway, next question.

4.     a song that is not sung in your native language

That song from the end credits of The Cat Returns.

"H@ppy Together from Fresh Precure."

5.     a song over 5 minutes long

I feel like we know some showtunes that are over 5 minutes...

"Yeah. Like, isn't Beautiful from Heathers one of them?"

*i go and check*

Yeah! Clocks in at over 8 minutes!

"Heck yes! Now your turn, since I came up with that one."

Um... Oh! The Cell Block Tango! 'Bout 7 and a half minutes!

"Ooooooh, nice! ...Mine's longer though."

Shut up. *smirks and shoves her* XD

OH WAIT, I JUST REMEMBERED THE PERFECT POKERAP BY BRAIN DAVID GILBERT IS LIKE 9 MINUTES LONG

"TOO LATE, WE ALREADY DID ONE EACH, NO TAKEBACKS OR CHANGING ANSWERS!"

6.     a song under 2 minutes long

Look Who's Inside Again, by Bo Burnham.

"I Suffer More, by Elise Ecklund."

HA! XD XD XD

You really just heard "under 2 minutes long" and decided to go for a song that's literally 3 WORDS long and was written with the INTENTION of making the shortest song ever, huh?? XD XD XD XD

"Yep! What can I say, gotta go above and beyond!"

11.   something you’d give ANYTHING to hear performed live

I mean, the entire Hamilton soundtrack might be nice. We've seen the proshoot, but it's a totally different thing to see these things live onstage.

"Same sentiment goes for the entire Six soundtrack."

16.   something to SCREAM ALONG to

"Lesbian Ponies With Weapons, by Vylet Pony!"

Yeah! Listen, Lesbian Ponies With Weapons is the most brazen and unapologetic song in existence, it just goes "Imma CRASH through everything and everycreature in this town with ALL the chaotic energy and I don't give a pair of underpants what you think, make way for the hugs and arson monkeyflippers!!" If you're gonna sing it, you gotta sing it loud and proud and shove it right in the face of anycreature who'd call it cringey, or else it defeats the entire point.

"Could not have said it better myself."

Anyway, for mine since you already took that one, I'm gonna say... The Greatest Show from The Greatest Showman.

"Also good!"

18.   a song that demands lipsyncing into a makeshift microphone

Lip synching but not actually singing? Do we do that?

"I mean...you do that if you're feeling a little too shy or self-conscious."

Man, there's a LOT of songs that come to mind for this... Hmmm...

I dunno, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun maybe???

"You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift?"

19.   the last song you had stuck in your head

I've got I Dare You by Bea Miller stuck in my head right now.

"I mean, due to this sort of psychic bond we have and all, more often than not if she has a song stuck in her head, chances are the same song'll be in my head. So...same."

20.   a song you’re dying to master all the words to

"The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku!!"

HA!!!!!!! XD XD XD XD FJDKLGHFKLJGSDL okay YES, that would be absolutely EPIC and AMAZINGBALLZTASTICAL. KLJFLKGJFIK

"I know, right? Your turn now."

Hmm. I haven't QUITE memorized the lyrics to Don't Rain On My Parade yet, and it's one of those songs that's basically my theme song, and I think once I do get all the words down I could sing it super well, could be a pretty great karaoke or audition song to have in my pocket.

21.   a song that you could SLAY at karaoke

Okay, I'm gonna say we each have to say one song for ourselves as a solo and one song for the two of us together.

"Sounds reasonable to me. Also, you can't say Don't Rain On My Parade again. No using the same song for two questions."

Okay. Then, Imma go with...I'd Rather Be Me, from Mean Girls?

"My first thought was My Grand Plan, from The Lightning Thief, but I mean, I've said that SO many times already, it'd be too obvious and played out of an answer. So I'm gonna say...Secure.Contain.Protect., by Madame Macabre."

Nice!

One song for both of us could be Take A Hint from Victorious.

"Oh, totally! Also Rocks At My Window, by Bridgit Mendler. We've been thinking about that a lot, only reason we haven't made a karaoke post of it is because there's a part towards the end that gets sung OVER the chorus, like, one of us would be singing the chorus and the other would be singing some other lines at the same time, and it's like, hard to type out stuff like that, y'know?"

23.   a song that makes you want to dance on a table

CAN'T STOP THE FEELING!! by Justin Timberlake! I mean, duh. XD

"New Romantics, by Taylor Swift! I like, keep thinking of whole dance routines I can do to it."

25.   a song with a great music video

Ooh, I have a whole playlist of these! Imma pull that up real quick...

"Don't Make Me, by Malinda Reese!"

OHHHH yeah!

"Princess overhears her prince plotting with his friends to kill her, recruits her own friends-slash-ladies-in-waiting to help her, and when the prince comes to kill her in her sleep, she's ready with her own sword to fight him while her friends fight his friends, and she ends up killing him in the fight instead! What's not to love???"

Oh! Also ME! by Taylor Swift!

"OHHHHH HECK YES, I don't think anything can beat THAT honestly XD"

Hands-down, it is THE most color and imagination I've EVER seen in ANY music video that's not Trolls and I vibe with it so, SO hard.

"Yep!"

27.   a song with counting

TEN DUEL COMMANDMENTS, FROM HAMILTON!

*she starts singing* "One, twO, three, fOur, five, sIx, Seven eIGHT NIIIIINE!"

*i join in her singing, taking the lower part in the harmony* It's the ten duel commandments!

It's the ten duel commandments!

NUMBER ONe--

"Okay okay okay, we should probably stop for now, we still got a bunch of questions to get through."

Yeah.

"Okay, I still gotta give a song for this one, so... Paper Rings by Taylor Swift! End of the prechorus!"

Heck yeah, our second-favorite song from Lover! Top favorite is ME! obviously. XD

35.   a great song you discovered thanks to a movie

"I'm gonna say to make this a challenge, we can't say songs that are FROM a movie or written specifically FOR a movie, just ones that were featured in a movie and that's how we first heard it, or ones that some kind of domino chain starting with watching that movie ended up leading us to."

Sounds all right to me.

Hmmm... what about... You, by Hollywood Ending? Discovered that through a post saying it has broppy vibes.

"Oh yeah! Same story with Teenage Dream by Katy Perry, or at least the Boyce Avenue cover, which is the only version we listen to. So, that's another."

36.   a great song you discovered thanks to television

Same rule as the above question, I assume?

"Yes."

Hmmmmmm... Oh! Sweet But Psycho, by Ava Max! Found that through a Ducktales AMV!

"YES!!! Also One Woman Army, by Porcelain Black, we found that one through a Star vs the Forces of Evil AMV!"

37.   a song you’re ashamed to have in your music library

Hmm. Well, one guilty pleasure song is Made In America, by Cimorelli. Like, it's so catchy and fun and has such happy summertime vibes, but also, I can't help thinking on some level, these girls really didn't know how poopy this country is in a lot of ways when they wrote this, huh? :-/

"Yeah. Another one's God Made Girls, by RaeLynn."

OOOOFFF, yeah...

"Like, it's supposed to be female empowerment, not even in a corporate way, just like, genuinely from her heart, you can tell. But so many of the lyrics are just about what a girl can do for her male partner??"

Yeah! And some of them are so stereotype-y, and the whole thing just like, REEKS of cishet, y'know? Plus I'm kinda uncomfy with the sort of religious aspects of it.

"Yeah. Why does it also have to SOUND so GOOD? And have SUCH a pretty music video??? And why does the genuine heart behind it, however warped the message is, have to be so resonant???? Y'know????"

Right?!?!?!?!

38.   ok what’s the song you were too ashamed to even post for #37

Honestly, we don't have anything for this. I like. Legit can't think of anything.

"Yeah, there's like, barely anything we're ashamed of listening to really."

May edit this at a future point if we do remember something.

39.   the most played song in your music library

I have no freaking idea. We listen to SOOOOOOOOOOOO many songs, and SOOOOOO many of them have been listened to tons of times over, it's like, impossible to tell.

"Yeah. Although, I think if there IS a most played song, my money's on either Get Back Up Again or CAN'T STOP THE FEELING!! for that. Knowing you."

Mm. Fair.

40.   favorite disney song

Honestly, to this day, what comes to mind is Let It Go.

"Iconic. Truly a classic."

"Hmm. For me, Imma go wiiiiiiith... How To Believe, by Brigit Mendler?"

Huh. Didn't occur to me to go outside classic Disney animation, but...

"It IS from Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue. Which IS Disney."

Yeah, that's fair, I'd say it counts.

"Woop! That was fun! I really should participate in more of these XD XD"

YEP.

[marshmallowgoop]

I hope it's okay if I reblog this again with some additional info that I found thanks to your help!

For anyone else interested in textless openings and endings, I've now been able to put together a sort of guide for which ones you should be able to find. The main sources are the limited edition Best of Detective Conan albums listed above, as well as the limited edition Mai Kuraki x Detective Conan Collaboration Best 21 album, which I do think has clean OPs/EDs included on the DVD, since "non-telop" in this context probably refers to no onscreen text, lyrics, logos, etc.? But I haven't purchased the album yet, so I can't personally 100% confirm at the moment.

[EDIT: I have now purchased albums! Mai Kuraki x Detective Conan Collaboration Best 21 does indeed include a DVD with textless OPs and EDs. However, for songs that were also used as movie endings, only the clean movie ending is included. So, textless versions of show Endings 12 ("always") and 55 ("Togetsukyō ~Kimi Omou~") are not available on the DVD. A clean ED 12 is also not included on The Best of Detective Conan 2.]

Apart from that, as mentioned in the original ask, some of FUNimation's earliest English-language volumes include textless versions of OPs 1 and 3 and EDs 1, 3, and 4, but clean versions sadly weren't included on any of the seasonal sets; MagicBox has written about specifics here. Their releases also covered up 'til OP 4 (omitting OP 2), and while their openings do all have Case Closed or Detective Conan logos included, they're otherwise textless.

The same goes for the German dub openings—there are logos but no credits or lyrics. Crunchyroll Germany currently has episodes up 'til OP 15 available for streaming (omitting OPs 2, 3, and 6), and they've even released a video of all the German-dubbed openings on YouTube (but there are watermarks here that you won't actually find on Crunchyroll):

I also discovered that (non-rental versions of) Part 6 of the original Japanese DVDs do seem to include textless versions of a handful of openings and endings! For that one season, those videos were apparently the bonus instead of the postcards that are usually included with non-rental copies of those DVDs.

That's probably enough rambling, though! Lists are under the cut!

OPENINGS

1. Mune ga Dokidoki (FUNimation, German dub)

2. Feel Your Heart

3. Nazo (FUNimation, Part 6-5)

4. Unmei no Roulette Mawashite (FUNimation, German dub)

5. TRUTH ~A Great Detective of Love~ (German dub, Part 6-1)

6. Girigiri chop (Part 6-3)

7. Mysterious Eyes (German dub)

8. Koi wa Thrill, Shock, Suspense (German dub, Part 6-4)

9. destiny (German dub, Best 2)

10. Winter Bells (German dub, Best 2, Mai Kuraki)

11. I can't stop my love for you♥ (German dub, Best 2)

12. Kaze no Lalala (German dub, Best 2, Mai Kuraki)

13. Kimi to Yakusoku Shita Yasashii Ano Basho Made (German dub, Best 2)

14. START (German dub)

15. Hoshi no Kagayaki yo (German dub)

16. Growing of my heart (Mai Kuraki)

17. Shōdō

18. 100 Mono Tobira

19. Kumo ni Notte

20. Namida no Yesterday

21. Glorious Mind

22. Ai wa Kurayami no Naka de

23. Ichibyōgoto ni Love for you (Best 4, Mai Kuraki)

24. Mysterious (Best 4)

25. Revive (Best 4, Mai Kuraki)

26. Everlasting Luv (Best 4)

27. MAGIC (Best 4)

28. As the Dew (Best 4)

29. SUMMER TIME GONE (Best 4, Mai Kuraki)

30. tear drops (Best 4)

31. Don’t Wanna Lie (Best 4)

32. Misty Mystery (Best 5)

33. Miss Mystery (Best 5)

34. Kimi no Namida ni Konna ni Koi Shiteru (Best 5)

35. TRY AGAIN (Best 5, Mai Kuraki, Detective Conan Edition CD)

36. Q&A (Best 5)

37. Butterfly Core (Best 5)

38. Greed (Best 5)

39. DYNAMITE (Mai Kuraki)

40. WE GO

41. Nazo

42. Hane

43. Sekai wa Anata no Iro ni Naru

44. Ikusen no Meikyū de Ikusen no Nazo o Toite

45. Lie, Lie, Lie

46. Everything OK!! (Detective Conan Edition)

47. Countdown (Detective Conan Edition)

48. Timeline

49. Barairo no Jinsei (Detective Conan Edition (This also includes textless ED 59.))

50. ANSWER

51. Makka na Lip

52. JUST BELIEVE YOU

53. ZERO kara Hajimete (Detective Conan Edition)

54. YURA YURA

55. SLEEPLESS

ENDINGS

1. STEP BY STEP (FUNimation)

2. Meikyū no Lovers

3. Hikari to Kage no Roman (FUNimation)

4. Kimi ga Inai Natsu (FUNimation)

5. Negai Goto Hitotsu Dake

6. Kōri no Ue ni Tatsu Yō ni

7. Still for your love (Part 6-2)

8. Free Magic (Part 6-6)

9. Secret of my heart (Mai Kuraki, Part 6-7)

10. Natsu no Maboroshi

11. Start in my life (Best 2, Mai Kuraki)

12. always (only a textless version of the Movie 5 ED is included in The Best of Detective Conan 2 and Mai Kuraki x Detective Conan Collaboration Best 21)

13. Aoi Aoi Kono Hoshi ni (Best 2)

14. Yume Mita Ato de (Best 2)

15. Mushoku (Best 2)

16. Overture (Best 2)

17. Ashita o Yume Mite (Best 2)

18. Kimi to Iu Hikari (Best 2)

19. Nemuru Kimi no Yokogao ni Hohoemi o

20. Wasurezaki

21. June Bride ~Anata Shika Mienai~

22. Sekai Tomete

23. Thank You For Everything

24. Kanashii Hodo Anata ga Suki

25. Mō Kimi Dake o Hanashitari wa Shinai

26. Shiroi Yuki (Mai Kuraki)

27. I still believe ~Tameiki~

28. Sekai wa Mawaru to Yū Keredo

29. Yukidoke no Ano Kawa no Nagare no Yō ni

30. Summer Memories (Best 4)

31. GO YOUR OWN WAY (Best 4)

32. Koigokoro Kagayaki Nagara (Best 4)

33. Doing all right (Best 4)

34. Hikari (Best 4)

35. Hello Mr. my yesterday (Best 4)

36. Tomorrow is the last Time (Best 4, Mai Kuraki)

37. Jūgoya Crisis ~ Kimi ni Aitai ~ (Best 4)

38. Tsukiyo no Itazura no Mahō (Best 4)

39. Pilgrim (Best 5)

40. Your Best Friend (Best 5, Mai Kuraki)

41. Kanashii Hodo Kyō no Yūhi Kirei da ne (Best 5)

42. Overwrite (Best 5)

43. Koi ni Koishite (Best 5, Mai Kuraki)

44. Hitomi no Melody (Best 5)

45. Kimi no Egao ga Nani Yori mo Suki Datta (Best 5)

46. Ima Aitakute… (Best 5)

47. RAIN MAN (Best 5)

48. Muteki na Heart (Mai Kuraki)

49. Kimi e no Uso

50. Unmei no Roulette Mawashite

51. Futari no Byōshin

52. SAWAGE☆LIFE (Mai Kuraki)

53. YESTERDAY LOVE (Mai Kuraki)

54. Yume Monogatari

55. Togetsukyō ~Kimi Omou~ (only a textless version of the Movie 21 ED is included in Mai Kuraki x Detective Conan Collaboration Best 21)

56. Kamikaze Express

57. Sadame

58. Aozolighter (Detective Conan Edition)

59. Kimi to Koi no Mama de Owarenai Itsumo Yume no Mama ja Irarenai (Detective Conan Edition (This also includes textless OP 49.))

60. Sissy Sky

61. Sukoshi Zutsu Sukoshi Zutsu

62. Hoshiai

63. Reboot

64. Veronica

65. SWEET MOONLIGHT

So, I now know of ways to (probably) find textless versions of 36/55 openings and 37/65 endings, if I did my counting right 😅

Thank you again for your help! I had no idea where to even start looking for clean OPs/EDs, so I'm thrilled that I can pick up a nice chunk of them by just purchasing a few limited edition CDs. I hope these lists are useful for others who might be searching for textless openings and endings, too!

Happy New Year! I was wondering if you know where to find creditless openings and endings for DetCo? Aside from FUNimation's DVDs and the handful of German dub openings that are essentially creditless, I'm at a loss. While I do own many of the Japanese DVDs, none of them include clean OPs/EDs, though they are basically all old rental copies, so maybe they're missing extras that the regular volumes have? Do you know of any DVDs that do include clean OPs/EDs?

Actually, yes! As far as I know, even the non-rental versions of the show DVDs don’t contain creditless OP/EDs. However, the limited editions of some music CDs that have a DVD with them sometimes have them.

Limited edition CDs you should look into include:

The Best of Detective Conan 2

The Best of Detective Conan 4

The Best of Detective Conan 5

Mai Kuraki x Detective Conan Collaboration Best 21 (maybe? I don’t know what non-telop means)

TRY AGAIN

Everything OK!!

Countdown

These are the ones I could find for the moment, but there may potentially be others? Not sure.