#I wonder if they gave him a discount for wearing that merch

[twopoppies]

On a recent London outing, Styles dressed down in black Under Armour shorts, tortoiseshell Jacques Marie Mage aviators, worn-in Adidas Sambas, and a JW Anderson crossbody bag that Vogue suggested could be a token of interpersonal goodwill, given Russell’s ambassadorship at Anderson’s Loewe. Interestingly, the musician also wore a maroon crewneck printed with the small serif-font logo of Cadogan Tate, a London fine art logistics firm that specializes in transporting valuable objects.

Eagle-eyed Styles fans quickly surmised that the sweatshirt, which is not publicly available for purchase, must be part of the firm’s staff kit. And while an art-handling company like Cadogan would typically assist dealers and auction houses, it seems Styles may too have had some valuables that needed moving.

In an email to GQ, a Cadogan Tate representative confirmed the musician’s maroon sweatshirt “is part of our team-member uniform program. Mr. Styles acquired the garment after a recent project that our team completed with him.”

The rep declined to comment further on the specifics of the project.

Harry Styles is a big art guy. He posed for David Hockney. He gallery hops. He’s been collecting since he was in his early 20s, when his personal holdings reportedly included a small museum’s worth of taxidermy, gun sculptures, and paintings such as an Andy Warhol–style print of Kate Moss. According to UK tabloid the Daily Star, he once tried to commission the covert British street artists Bambi and Banksy to paint frescoes in his home, but was thwarted by the fact that going to a famous singer’s house would have revealed their identities.

x

Given that Harry moved at least some of his belongs out of Erskine last year prior to the renovation that happened there, perhaps it was the art from that house that they helped him with. But, who knows? I’m here for art collector Harry wearing random merch, though.

[thetoadghoul]

Volunteering: (Ohtani x Reader) <333 (Part - 2)

part 1!

plot: Wednesday’s game arrives which Ohtani invited you to, some bonding time before the first pitch <3 slowwwburn, long cause idk details are fun lol

Wednesday quickly arrived, made much faster by the crazy amount of work you were required to do for your ‘actual’ job. The last three days had been spent with you running around the LA area, as well as cyberspace, to serve your role as interpreter. It was hell, for more reasons than one. The biggest of all being that even though you were not in Japan at the moment, you were still required to wear a proper suit. That meant a tight navy skirt, stockings, and some blasted heels. Sexist men, long meetings, and endless paperwork aside, you enjoyed your job for the most part - but this aspect really wore on you. However, the pain in your feet wouldn't damper your excitement for tonight’s game. Today you were not actually volunteering at the Angels stadium.

The day before yesterday, when you were actually volunteering, a bashful Ohtani had tapped you on the back while you were picking up baseballs from the batting cages. When you turned around the giant man was holding out a lanyard with an attached document, marked ‘VIP Guest of Player’. It took all you had not to let your hands shake with nerves as you reached out and grabbed it gingerly.

“Uh, see you on Wednesday.” The man looked to the side awkwardly, running a hand through his hair.

“...Yeah.” You responded with a small smile, feeling stupid, but it was all you could think of.

“Well, uh, I better go...” He motioned behind his back with a lazy thumb, staring to jog backward.

You nodded quickly, rushing to go back to picking up balls before you said something super lame, or weird.

It wasn’t till you were on the way home did you take a look at the back of the stadium pass. It read ‘Guest of Shohei Ohtani’. So he had put in the request for you, that was just like him, so kind. It would be an understatement to say you weren’t excited for tomorrow.

-----

Currently, your heart was still racing, but for another reason other than a certain super cute and insanely talented baseball player. It was because it was almost three-thirty in the afternoon and you were running around your company-provided apartment, trying to get ready as fast as you could. Ippei let you know you should get there around four-thirty, by then the team would have been done warming up and starting to enjoy a pregame meal while the away team got the field to themselves. From that point onwards, pretty much everyone was free to relax in the clubhouse till just before the first pitch.

With little time to consider, not even enough time to take a shower after having just got off work, you went with an oversized red T-shirt, baggy jeans, and some cool Jordan’s. This was your go-to, and it was comfortable. You don’t have many clothes anyway, living out of a suitcase.

Right as you were about to run out of the door you remembered to grab your standard Angels cap, it had been provided to you as part of your volunteer uniform a while back, slipping it on over your tight work bun. You would let your hair down later.

All right, everything was in order, Uber scheduled, lanyard secured.

It took about half an hour to arrive at the stadium, and once it came into view, you instructed the driver to let you out in front of the ballpark entrance. It had been a long time since you got to go through the gates as a member of the audience, it actually gave you a wave of nostalgia seeing everyone in their gear, so hyped up for the game, tailing gating outside for what was probably hours.

Once you were through, you started walking through the concession stands and various other stalls, dodging around the fans that were already inside watching the warm-ups, as well as hanging out drinking and eating. There were pictures of Ohtani everywhere, people taking turns snapping pictures of each other in front of the various cutouts of him. The air was buzzing with energy, and it seemed like all for that guy. Honestly, you had worked for a couple different teams over the years, but you had never seen hype like this. It was surreal, seeing a legend in the making.

You smiled, gripping the lanyard around your neck, making your way through the stadium. Shohei was super nice to do this for you, really, you should show him your support. Maybe a quick peek in the team store would do? Plus, you deserved to spend some money on yourself. After all, this was the first time you had really been ‘out’ in the almost three months you had been in California. Your free time was either working, volunteering, video games, or sleep.

You took a couple moments in the Angel's merch shop, quietly perusing the aisles, keeping an eye out for any Ohtani-themed items. Unfortunately, there weren’t really that many, probably sold out by the fans. What was there, was way too small for you.

“Y/n, you here to watch the game?” A young voice sounded.

When you turned to see who addressed you, a familiar girl was standing there grinning.

“Hey Jordan! I didn’t know you were working tonight.” You grinned back.

Jordan worked at the store as a stock manager, she was close in age to you so the two of you often hung out. You had invited her over a couple times, both bonding over your love for crappy reality TV, beer, and of course, baseball.

“Yeah it was last minute, a girl was feeling sick and there wasn’t anyone else cept’ me.” She sighed.

“Bummer, text me if you need help?” You offered, to which she waved you off.

“Nah, you enjoy being here and NOT working.” She chuckled, walking over to organize a messy shelf.

“So, you looking for something in particular?” The girl glanced over her shoulder.

“Uh yeah, you recommend any cool Ohtani stuff? Or is there any at all... seems wiped clean in here.” You said while looking around.

“Ohtani? You here to cheer him on too then. Wanna catch his eye.” She teased.

“Don’t say it like I’m just here for my like, prince charming.” You snapped back playfully, but, maybe a little too fast.

“Aren’t you?” She pressed with an eyebrow.

“Okay, I’m leaving.” You pouted, fake walking away.

“I’m just kidding, actually, stay here for a second I might have something you’ll like.” Jordan yelled as she jogged off to the back room behind the counters.

You did as you were told and when she came back there was a large white Angels jersey in her hands.

“Ta-da!” She grinned, twisting it around to show the player’s name on the back.

“Oh, it’s in Kanji? That’s cool, I didn’t know these existed?” You questioned, running your finger over the ‘tani’ character of Ohtani.

“It’s the last one on the floor, had to grab it off the mannequin. Hope it’s not too big? It’s XL?” She questioned, passing it to you to hold.

“Nah it’s perfect, can’t you tell.” You joked holding the jersey next to you, while you showed off your oversized clothes.

“Figured it'd be fine, wanna get rung up? I’ll give you that ‘good good’ employee discount. But, don’t tell anyone.” She smiled, heading to the register, to which you nodded and jogged after her.

After you finished your purchase and waved bye to Jordan, it was time to head to the clubhouse. It was around five, so you were later than you planned but Shohei usually practiced batting in the cages a little while longer while everyone headed in. Slipping the plastic shopping bag into your purse, and ripping the tags off your new jersey, you slipped it on over your T-shirt, smoothing out the material as best you could. It felt great to finally have some real merch from the team, and part of you sort of wondered what Ohtani would think when he saw you. Hopefully, it wasn’t too much to just show up in his gear after he pretty much randomly invited you, let alone in the stadium-specific one, as you just learned from your colleague.

After you got to an employee-only doorway, you pushed on it hoping it was actually open. Ippei had also let you know via text that it would be unlocked for you. Another kindness of Shohei, not just inviting you, but making sure you had access to all the catering and AC inside the resisted area of the building. You slipped in and locked the door behind you, not wanting to encourage some intoxicated fans to follow. The hallway was empty and cool as you started making your way to the clubhouse.

You were admittedly a bit nervous by the time you got to the doors, feeling a bit awkward about strutting in as anyone other than a volunteer for the first time. Carefully you pushed open the door, making sure not to hit anybody. The room was full of chatter, some players eating, some playing cards, others watching TV on the room's monitors. You looked around for Ohtani, but he wasn’t there yet apparently. No matter, you strolled in and went for the snack area. Truthfully you hadn’t eaten since that morning, and that was just a toasted bagel. Turning your back to the rest of the room, you began filling up your plate with cocktail shrimp and grapes.

“Nice jersey.” Ippei said, coming up next to you, grabbing small sandwiches for his plate.

“Is that sarcastic?” You questioned with a smile, finishing your plate.

“Nah, I’m sure he likes it.” Ippei jerked his head to the left.

He? You leaned back to see around the man, meeting Shohei’s surprised face almost immediately. Had he been standing there the whole time? He had obviously been staring at your back, at his name, bashfully looking up to your face when you moved, blinking a couple times to clear his eyes.

“I uh, got it ten minutes ago.” You grinned awkwardly, pointing your thumb proudly at the jersey, hoping he wouldn’t think you were a weirdo.

The large player didn’t say anything, blinking more slowly this time before opting to just nod gently, with a quick “thanks for your support”, hurriedly leaning forward to start filling his plate with all kinds of foods.

—-

Once everyone had their food the three of you found a place to sit while you ate, it was at the back of the room away from the noise, and where the two usually sat before a game anyways. A small conversation started while the three of you ate calmly.

“Why... do you only have grapes, and shrimp?” Ohtani questioned suddenly, looking at your plate baffled. You looked down at it as well, pausing for a moment trying to find out what was so weird about that.

“Uh, well, it’s because... these things are... super expensive in Tokyo. It’s like a rich person food to me.” You smiled, eating a couple shrimps happily.

“Wow. That’s so sad.” Ippei chuckled before taking a bite of his sandwich.

Shohei on the other hand burst out laughing at your response, making you laugh a bit too at your pitiful confession.

“Seriously, I feel like a mega-rich, and very posh, Ginza lady right now - eating nothing but shrimp and fruit. So fancy right? ” You exclaimed, popping a grape in your mouth.

The Japanese player laughed even harder, tears building up as he wiped his eyes.

“Those people wouldn’t touch that stuff with a three-meter stick.” Ippei stated, letting out a small laugh.

“Just let me have my moment.” You pouted through a smile, shoving more shrimp in your mouth.

The other man calmed down finally and was now sitting there smiling while he ate.

“So, fancy y/n, are you okay to sit in the dugout tonight. Not too unrefined for you?” Ippei questioned with a smirk.

“That’s, allowed?” You asked, surprised.

“Yeah, if you want to. Can’t stay there the whole time, but.” The man responded nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.

“It’s the best place to hear, ‘the surprise’.” Shohei added, food in the process of being shoved in his mouth.

“Well, doesn’t seem like there’s any other option.” You smiled at the player, who nodded in acknowledgment.

“He’s batting first tonight, you won’t have to wait long.” Ippei spoke, starting on the next sandwich.

“Hope me being in there won’t be bad luck.” You joked.

“You believe in that?” Ippei smirked.

“My family ingrained it into me, wasn’t allowed to watch a single super bowl game in the living room till I literally moved out.” You frowned, stabbing a grape.

“Harsh.” The man smirked with a small laugh under his breath.

“You will be good luck, for sure.” Shohei leaned forward in a hunch to take another bite of food, smiling sincerely at you as he looked up from his food.

“Then, I will see to it that will become a very good omen. Please believe in me.” You responded in the highest form of keigo you knew, bowing rigidly from your seat for comedic effect. Since you never studied that level of grammar, it was really freaking bad, causing the two men to laugh again.

“You’re funny.” Ippei chuckled.

“Yeah, and your Japanese is so good though?” Shohei exclaimed, eyebrows raised, eyes wide.

“Nah it’s pretty bad, I fell off the study wagon a long time ago.” You laughed awkwardly, waving a hand in front of your face.

“You’d be there forever if you stayed on.” Ippei chuckled again, while Shohei nodded in sullen agreement.

“Writing would be nice though, having to look up every other kanji at the doctor's office, or like city hall makes me literally sweat, like, a lot. Buckets. But when I look around, I'm the only one.” You giggled.

“You’re so honest.” Shohei chuckled, wiping his mouth with a napkin, still leaning forward in his chair, you grinned back at him. Your eyes locked for a while, you had never noticed, but his eyelashes were sort of long.

At that moment Ippei had to take a call, letting the two of you know he’d be back in a bit, walking off. The two of you looked away and finished eating in silence.

When you looked up from your empty plate, the large player was now staring at you with a soft expression. The warmth in his eyes made you blush, he didn’t even break his gaze once he was caught like he usually did. You responded back to him simply with a shy smile, before being the one to avert your own eyes to the floor again.

Thankfully at that moment, a group of Angels came over, slapping the Japanese man on the back, starting up a conversion. They were going over strategies for the game and overall just getting hyped up. You didn’t have much to input, so you just kind of sat there enjoying the excited chatter. Shohei smiled merrily the whole time, inserting little jokes, completely affected by their excitement. The way he carried himself really reminded you that the essence of baseball was really just about having fun with your teammates and giving it your all. He looked simply happy to be there, and it made you smile too, just watching him goof off. It was charming to see his duality of being a just big kid with endless laugher, versus the super-serious, and seasoned player he was on the mound.

You were really trying hard not to but, you were rapidly developing feelings for Shohei. The last three months of volunteering here, you of course thought he was really cute and kind, classic boyfriend material. A simple crush, like many of the girls working around him, surely had as well. However the possibility of you two actually dating had always been a foreign concept, one which stopped you from even considering it, at all, you just didn’t know if you even could. With you both traveling for work, how would there be time? Plus, what about the media? His family? Yours? All those things seemed unscalable walls, that is, until this moment, when you could feel his gentle eyes on you once again.

Maybe, there was something? Or maybe, he was just a super nice guy, and you were treated no different than anyone else.

When you snapped out of your thoughts, Shohei was starting to stand up, grabbing everyone’s empties plates. He reached his hand towards you, asking for the one in your hand with a tiny nod of his head, to which you thanked him, stood up, and handed it over.

Well.

Either way, you were so screwed.

-------

Hope you enjoyed! <3

[fanatic-kay]

Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover

Pairings: Pre-romantic Prinxiety, brothers!analogicality Word Count: 1535 Rating: General Audiences Summary: Roman works at the Disney store when a shady looking person walks in.

Read on AO3 Here!

Roman Prince loved his job. Sure, the work of retail could be especially tedious at times, but at the end of the day, it was worth it. As long as he could see the young children coming in, eyes full of stars, as they tried to comprehend the overload of Disney paraphernalia staring back at them. How they would jump up and down, tugging at their parent’s sleeve before running towards something that caught their attention. How their older siblings, usually teenagers, would pretend to act cool or annoyed since they were ‘too old for this stuff’, but even they would let their inner child shine through as they perused through the racks. Sometimes they even got adults, never letting the Disney spirit die, excited to shop for themselves. No matter how old you got, everyone could relate to the excitement Disney lit in your soul. Well… almost everyone.

It was his turn to stock shelves, not that Roman minded. He was mostly left to his own devices, singing along with the music playing overhead, but sometimes a lost child or confused parent would ask him for the location of specific items.

“Thank you!” A charming young girl gushed at him as he handed her something from the top shelf.

“Of course, princess! Have a magical day!” Roman smiled, waving goodbye. He turned to return to his work, and that’s when he saw him.

Really, Roman wasn’t sure how he didn’t notice him walk in. The boy stood out like a sore thumb. Between all of the colors and happiness, he seemed to exude angst, wearing all black, like some sort of… emo nightmare. It was a punk, bad boy look. He would’ve been described as attractive by some. Roman couldn’t help but be suspicious, watching the other’s moves like a hawk. He knows he shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, Beauty and the Beast taught him that, but something about him was giving Roman a feeling he couldn’t quite shake.

He subtly watched him look around as if he were searching for something. He picked up a Lion King t-shirt, surveying it before placing it back down. His eyes, a deep brown, almost black, scanned his surroundings. His hair was dyed purple, and an eyebrow piercing glinted in the store lighting. Paired with his ripped black skinny jeans, studded leather jacket, and steel-toed combat boots, he seemed to be the depiction of ‘troublemaker’. Maybe he was trying to steal something? There was no other obvious explanation to his shifty demeanor.

Roman tried to focus back on his task while glancing at the hypothetical thief every few seconds. However, he must’ve not been as observant as he thought, as he nearly jumped out of his skin when someone cleared their throat behind him. He bit back a string of profanities when he realized it was the boy he had been watching earlier.

He mustered up his customer service smile, the one he used when he was dealing with a dragon witch of a Karen that demanded to speak with his manager, and in his best false cheer said, “Hello! Do you need any help?”

The emo raised an eyebrow unimpressed, “No, I just wanted to get your attention for the hell of it,” he snarked.

Roman immediately dropped the niceties. “You know, Hot Topic is just three stores down,” he gave him a once over, “they’re probably a bit more your style.”

“I have eyes, I can see where I am,” the other shot back. “I was just wondering if you had any Black Cauldron merch in here.”

Roman blinked, trying to process his question for a count of three before shaking his head slowly, “No, we don’t.”

He scoffed, “Figures, it’s one of the most underrated Disney movies of all time, even if it is the best.”

“Yeah,” Roman nods, “it’s a shame it doesn’t have a bigger fanbase.”

Out of nowhere, two boys, twins, Roman realized, sporting matching glasses, appeared. One attacked the emo’s middle and the other let out a long, sufferable sigh at the action. He took that as his cue to resume his restocking, involuntarily listening in to their conversation.

“Virgie! Look! I found the Winnie the Pooh stuffie! And Lo-Lo got a Baymax one!” one exclaimed. He was the complete opposite of his- older brother, presumably- dressed in a soft, pastel sweatshirt and a knee-length skirt. He pushed the stuffed bear up for him to see.

“Virgil can see that, Pat,” his twin stated. Despite the fact of being so little, he wore a collared shirt and blue necktie, like a mini businessman, though there was a light of excitement in his eyes too as he hugged his own plushie.

Virgil laughed lightly, “Patton’s just excited, let him be, Logan,” he ruffled Patton’s hair as he continued. “And it’s great, Pat. Are you both happy with what you found?” The twins nodded enthusiastically.

“Did you find what you wanted?” Lo asked, both looking up at their brother with large, expecting eyes.

“Uh, no, no Black Cauldron stuff here,” he replied, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Patton’s shoulders slumped, “No Gurgi or Hen Wen?” he asked, sounding so upset, as if he was the one who longed for the merch instead of his brother.

Roman felt his heart drop, he did take this job to see the smiles of kids- and the discounted Disney items- but mostly the smiles.

“It’s alright, kid,” Virgil gave him a half-hearted smile. “I’ll just get something else. Maybe a Nightmare Before Christmas poster.” Patton, however, seemed unconvinced.

Roman could sense Virgil’s gaze on the wall of posters behind him. He subtly tried to follow his gaze and saw it land on the matching posters of Jack Skellington and Sally. They were limited edition, Virgil obviously had good taste. All of the posters were almost sold out, the shelf where they had been, empty. Roman had managed to nab the last one, placing it in one of his boxes to purchase once he got off of work. Was it fair? Not really. But he had wanted them really bad! They would look perfect on his wall!

Virgil chuckled humorlessly to himself, patting the space where the item would have been. “Or not.” Patton looked as if he was about to cry, clinging to Virgil’s legs. Even Logan looked mildly upset by the outcome.

At that moment, Roman realized he had royally messed up. Virgil wasn’t trying to cause trouble. He, like most everyone else, grew up with Disney and was sharing the magic with his younger brothers. He should’ve known better than to judge him by appearance. Disney was never wrong in their teachings. He made the split-second decision to help make the twins smile, and perhaps even give a proper apology to Virgil.

“I’d hate to interrupt,” Roman started, ignoring the questioning look Virgil sent him, as he crouched down to address Patton. “But did you say you liked Gurgi?”

Patton looked at him with his big sad eyes, sniffling before nodding.

“Well, we don’t have any Gurgi plushies, but,” Roman pretended to tap his chin thoughtfully before brightening as if an idea had struck him. He searched through one of the boxes he had still yet to stock, and in his, rusty, but decent Gurgi impression he said, “Munchings and crunchings in here somewhere.” This got a small giggle out of Patton, even his twin seemed to brighten at the quote. They both tried to peer over Roman’s shoulder to see what he was getting, but he blocked the view.

He grabbed the poster he had put away for safekeeping. He supposed there would always be new posters he could buy later on. He dramatically turned on his heel in his crouched position. He pulled the rolled tube into view as if he were unsheathing a sword and held it out to the twins with both hands.

Patton gasped in delight before looking down a bit confused, his enthusiasm ever-present. Logan, however, smiled in recognition. “Virge, it’s the poster!”

Roman looked up to meet Virgil’s eyes with a small smile, standing up and offering it to him. “Lucky for you, it's the last one. Worthy for a dark and stormy knight like yourself.”

Virgil’s gaze softened considerably at Roman though he rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips. “If I’m the knight who’s the prince?”

He opened his mouth to speak, about to gesture to the twins when Patton beat him to it. “He is, silly!”

Virgil and Roman both widened their eyes, fighting blushes, realizing the implications of the statement. Virgil wouldn’t meet Roman’s eyes as the employee tried to remedy the situation. “I- I mean, I won’t deny that I’m a prince, but I was talking about you little princes right in front of me.”

Patton and Logan both grinned at that, as Virgil cleared his throat. “We should get going, Mom will be calling soon,” he said, rounding up his brothers and pushing them to the direction of the checkout lines. He looked over his shoulder, sending Roman a crooked smirk. “Thanks for the posters, Princey.”

Roman swore his heart skipped a beat. “You’re welcome.”

Taglist: @starry-knight-skies @space-captain-lars @viana-dascolli @wistful-wish

[keepseaveyweird]

Escape | C.B.

Requested: yes! by @coolkidcorbyn :you and your friends signing up to do an escape room right and when you get to the place the dude is like "oh there's actually five other people in your room" and it turns out to be WDW and like you’re wearing your hoodie and it's just so surreal but when the games starts you and bean take charge and he is so impressed by how smart you are and there’s cute little moments and you are solving the puzzles together and basically the boys and your friends are just letting y'all figure it out at this point 

A/N: I have literally never done an escape room in my life so please bear with me and my assumptions as to how escape rooms play out. I loved his idea so much, it was so cute, thank you for sending it!! I know you’re not on here much anymore but hopefully you see this because it’s been like a month since you requested it and I’m sorry.

Word Count: 2548

“Just pick a shirt, let’s go, we’re going to be late for our reservation!” her friend yelled as she shuffled through her closet for an outfit. Annoyed, she grabbed the first sweatshirt she could lay her eyes on, which so happened to be the sweatshirt of her favorite band. Slipping it on and rushing down the stairs, she couldn’t help but be a bit upset, as it was her friends birthday, signifying cute outfits, make up done and hair did, which she didn’t get a chance to do as they rushed her out of the door. Her ripped jeans and plain vans did her no justice compared to her friends, dressed up in skirts and blouses, hair blown out and lashes coated with mascara. She felt small compared to them, and she had wished she wouldn’t have spent  her time curling everyone’s hair if it meant drawing the short end of the stick.

A quick dinner and car ride full of singing later, they arrived at their escape room, which they had fully planned on beating within ten minutes. The three of them strutted up to the counter, as y/n hung back a bit, not feeling worthy of walking the same walk they were in that moment. It wasn’t that she felt inferior to her friends, intimidated or anything of the sort. In fact, it was quite the opposite, y/n had much confidence, could make anyone’s day, could make even the saddest of people break into a smile. Could rock a dress with heels, only to feel just as good in sweats and a hoodie in the same hour. But when everyone around her is dressed up, looking and feeling their best, she couldn’t help but feel a bit self-conscience as she stared down at her more-than-casual outfit.

“I’ve got some bad news,” the man at the front desk began, “we’ve overbooked ourselves, and have to put you in with another group of five. I hope that’s alright?”

“What?” the birthday girl exclaimed, “but we specifically requested a private room?”

“I know m’am, I’m so sorry, so did the other group. I can definitely reschedule your game for you if you’d like for a later date?” He asked, regret and guilt plastered on his face. Suddenly, the bell above the door rang, causing everyone to direct their attention to the group of rowdy boys entering the building.

Her heart stopped, her blood ran cold, eyes wide like dear in the headlights. She thought about her hoodie, the red one she had grabbed from her closet, which she decided was the worst mistake of her life. She thought about how her friends looked so good, so well-kept and gorgeous, as they barely gave her enough time to run a brush through her hair. Because when the blonde boy recognized his own merch, she couldn’t help but die a bit inside, just as red as her sweatshirt from embarrassment. There was no reason for her to be embarrassed, to feel ashamed of being caught wearing their merch, but yet she felt the need to bury a hole and conceal herself from the world.

“I love the sweatshirt,” Corbyn started, pointing to it as he nudged Zach’s side to get him to see it as well.

“I-” she started, at loss for words as her five greatest idols smiled at her, “thanks, but I don’t really like the band that much. Just kind of bought it because it looked comfortable,” she joked, using her charming personality in hopes to even out the playing field of her and her best friends.

“Oh,” Corbyn started, looking down at the ground, not sure what to say next.

y/n grabbed his shoulder, looking him in the eye as he brought his head up, “I’m kidding,” she laughed , “I’m a huge fan. I love you guys so much! What are you guys even doing here, you’re so supposed to be on tour right now?”

Maybe she was losing it, maybe her heart and brain were playing tricks on her but when she touched him, made contact with blonde, she swear she felt a spark. Swear she felt a tingle or small surge of energy ignite between his shoulder and her fingertips. Swear she could see the world through his eyes, could make out galaxies from the swirls of green and blue. Because though his eyes looked like the universe and wonders of the world crafted his two iris’ personally, she swore that the heat felt between the two of them could end the world, could lead to a rapid increase of climate change.

And when he smiled, laughed at her horrible joke, she swore this boy could move mountains, could control the tides of the ocean with the snap of his fingers. That his smile alone could bring world peace. And when he pulled her in for a quick hug, she felt at home, felt the confidence she usually felt blast through her body, as he didn’t pay attention to the other three girls standing behind her.

“We’re on the road to our next stop, needed a break and bit of fun,” he explained as he released his grip from her. She greeted the other four with hugs and hello’s, as did her friends, but could feel Corbyn’s eyes on her, could feel the intensity of them from across the room.

The man from behind the desk interrupted, coughing to grab our attention, “so would you guys be okay going in together? May be a bit cramped, but I’ll double your time and give you all a discount?”

The nine of them looked around, before all introducing themselves and entering the room. It was decorated like a home from the fifties; vintage rugs and old kitchen appliances with random objects scattered about. All of them searched for the first clue. Opening chests, cupboards, doors to nowhere. It was then y/n reached for an empty candlestick, only for it to be cemented to the mantle over the fake fireplace.

“Does  anyone see a candle anywhere?” she asked the group. They all shook their head, lost as to where to start. A couple minutes pass, when Corbyn opens a chest only to find a candle.

“Found it!” he announced to eight, a smile on his face as he rushed over next to y/n. As he handed it over, their hands brushed, fingertips momentarily tangled between one another. Corbyn swear he could’ve melted right then and there, as her touch made him feel a way he had never felt before. A feeling deep inside, unknowing, nerving, unsettling, and he didn’t know how to take, how to exactly feel about it, only that he didn’t want it to end.  

Their eyes met, a small smile on both of their faces as she took it from his hands and placed it on the candlestick. Instantly, lights began to blink. 12 lights on, then 15, then 22 and ended with 4. It repeated and repeated, 12,15,22,4. The ten of them began searching again, looking for any hint they could find.

y/n followed behind Corbyn as they passed by an old telephone.

“Wait!” Corbyn exclaimed, taking a step back, “seven digits, like a phone number.” He quickly spun the dial around to the numbers and listened to the line ring twice before the blinking lights came to a halt.

A phone on the other side of the room, next to Daniel, began to ring.

“Hello?” He answered, as if an actual person was on the other line. Eyebrows furrowed, he pulled the phone away from his ear and gave the phone a strange look.

“What’s that face for?” her friend joked. He put the phone up to her ear to let her hear, in which her face contorted into the same expression.

y/n walked over and took the phone from her hand, putting it to her ear. The Wheels On the Bus played over the line, sung by little kids and though it shouldn’t of been creepy, it most definitely was. Her eyes wandered around the room for a moment before quickly focusing on the toy bus on top of one of the shelves which Jonah was leaning against.

“Can you hand me that bus?” she asked politely, as she was much shorter than the tall boy, who reached for it. The moment she grasped it in her hands, the top popped off to reveal a key.

Jack sat down, a scoff leaving his mouth, “I’m done, you two can figure it out on your own,” he mumbled, pulling out his phone. The other seven did the same, sitting around the mock kitchen table as Corbyn and y/n continued to search for clues.

As they were stuck on the last one, a picture on the wall saying the phrase, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” they wandered side by side around the room. They began re-opening chests and drawers before looking at each other confused.

“I’m lost,” Corbyn admitted, defeated.

“I just don’t-” she cut herself off as she stared at the vintage oven, a shadow in the window of the door. She rushed to it, opening it up to find a fake apple pie, with the final key inside. She unlocked the door to reveal the check-in room they met in before.

“Okay smarty pants,” Corbyn smiled, “that was good.” The other eight rolled their eyes as they made their way back out into the parking lot but she couldn’t help the flush of pink that crept onto her cheeks as she thanked him.

“It was great meeting you guys!” she told them as all nine gathered around the birthday girl’s van, “sorry me and Corbyn ruined it for you.”

Her friend immediately laughed, “you didn’t ruin it y/n, we’re just dumb,” earning a laugh from all of them.

“Well, we still got a couple hours until we have to hit the road,” Jonah explained, “do you wanna go grab ice cream or something?”

As everyone agreed, the nine of you squeezed into her friends van, Zach and Corbyn illegally squeezed into the back of the trunk, y/n in the back seat in front of them.

“Are you guys okay?” she laughed. They both nodded before the van rolled over a bump, causing them to elbow each other in the stomach and groan.

It was half an hour later, the group squeezed into the large booth of a town favorite, the small ice cream parlor that had been around for decades, since their parent were their age. Jack had convinced the group it was only polite to sing happy birthday to y/n’s friend, in which all eight of them yelled the words, leaving her friend a shade of red while she laughed.

It was then she felt the familiar tingle, familiar surge of electricity she once felt before as she glanced over to see that Corbyn had draped his arm around her shoulder. And she couldn’t help but accept it, to lean into his touch, to melt into his side as their contact only created butterflies in the pit of her stomach. Couldn’t help but look up to see him staring at his friends with soft smile on his face, as though it was a normal occurrence, that it wasn’t the first time they’d met but as if they’ve known each other for a lifetime. So for the hour and a half they all sat there, talking about anything and everything they could think of together, Corbyn and y/n sat there in silence, enjoying each other’s presence, each other’s warmth and touch. The two didn’t need to look at one another to know that the other was smiling like an idiot, was the happiest they’d ever been while in that position.

So when the moment came and they had to stand up from the booth, as Corbyn slid his arm off her shoulder, he couldn’t help but feel the cool air rush to the side of his body where she once was, couldn’t help but want to shiver at the bitterness of their separation. The nine of them walked out to the van, laughing and giggling like they had been all night, as he tapped Daniel’s shoulder to beg him of a request.

“Please, for me?” he frowned, guilting Daniel into muttering a ‘fine’ before climbing into the back of the trunk with Zach.

Corbyn climbed into the van and into the back row of three where y/n sat in the middle, him climbing over to sit on the other side of her and one of her friends. Their shoulders brushed against one another, and immediately the warmth and good feelings came rushing back.

Suddenly, y/n took his hand into his, entangling their fingers as she looked up at him to make sure her actions were okay. He smiled, his eyes glowing and smile entrancing, before giving her hand a tight squeeze, indicating that it was more than okay. The short car ride was full of singing, full of dancing and bouncing up and down in everyone’s seat as they enjoyed their last couple moments together as group, and throughout the trip, their hands remained locked, as the two swayed into one another, as they rested their heads on each other’s shoulders from time to time.

A bit later, they all stood outside the large tour bus, y/n and Corbyn’s hands still tangled together as they said their farewells.

“Thank you for letting us crash your birthday party!” Jack cheered, giving everyone a hug as the others followed suit.

“It was really great meeting you guys, really. Thank you for everything,” y/n told Corbyn who was the last to board the bus.

“Of course,” he smiled, wrapping her in a hug and enjoying her touch for the last time, “I had a really good time, an amazing time actually. You’re amazing, brilliant! Um, do you think we could stay in touch? Like could I get your number? Just in case I’m ever in town again or you happened to be in LA cause you know-” he rambled as she laughed and cut him off.

“I thought you’d never ask,” she laughed as he handed her his phone.

“Okay,” he sighed, “we really need to get going, but I’ll text you!” Corbyn smiled, grabbing her hand and giving it one last squeeze.

“Bye Corbyn,” she said, a smile plastered to her face.

“See you later y/n” Corbyn beamed as he stood in the doorway of the tour bus, before turning around and heading it.

Her and her friends watched the tour bus take off down the road, a small frown on each of their faces.

“I can’t believe you actually got Corbyn Besson’s number,” her friend exclaimed as they loaded back up in the van again, this time less crowded.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed, a message popping up on her lock screen.

Corbyn: Hey smarty pants :)

“Yeah,” she said looking at her phone, a smile from ear to ear as she blushed, “I can’t really believe it either.”And she began to wonder why she was so self-conscious about her appearance at the beginning of the night in the first place.

[cecilbaldwin-fan]

Quick notes on the show, more later (probably tomorrow). 

I got a lot of good photos, so I’m going to do those photosets everyone does after shows. So look forward to that in the next few days! The only bummer is that I didn’t get to see Meg’s DYEB faces, because there was a stand with Cecil’s script on it, and it covered her face from our side of the room. So there won’t be a “that’s so DEB” tag, sadly. But I did get to see her do the Hailvale dance - it looks like a robot dance in the photos, but is actually an undulating thing. It was very cool. 

My Symphony and Cecil photos came out better, because she’s so much shorter that her face stayed under the stand, but even in those photos the stand can be seen right next to her head. I wish I’d been on stage right for those photos, but oh well. I have a lot of Meg MC’ing photos and Symphony being a curtain call cutie, so that’s good. 

Definitely the funniest show so far. I laughed so much! There was some audience participation that involved chanting, hand signs and hand-holding. It was just the right balance between staying immersed yet also feeling like a part of the show. Chanting is quite cathartic somehow. 

The story was not as moving as “Ghost Stories”, but the ending was very sweet. No mention of Carlos or Steve Carlsberg. There was a certain season one feel. After all, the Glow Cloud is one of the very first characters mentioned back in episode 2.  

This is getting very long, so I’ll use a “read more” tag. It’s not a spoilery post though, I’ll make some of those later. All the photos are on my phone right now, I’ll upload them on my computer and pick the best ones later. I just got off the train. I want to write down my impressions before I forget them.

Meg did a longer bit in the beginning, possibly because they had no guest stars this time. I enjoyed it a lot. Meg’s MC’ing is a magical moment in the show. As you may well know, she is one of my favorite cast members, but to most fans, she’s just the Proverb Lady - until they hear her MC the show. It’s a moment where Meg gets to shine as herself, with her own jokes, and she has a great charisma. I’ll talk more in another post, I don’t want to give away all of her jokes. I will say there was one slightly naughty joke, and half the audience didn’t get it, possibly because they weren’t expecting it. I think I laughed the loudest at that one. WTNV is pretty vanilla, but if you read Meg’s Twitter, she actually has quite a dirty sense of humor. It wasn’t crass, but it took a moment to register. 

Cecil was amazing, I don’t even know what else to say. He had to, OK I’ll do a spoilery post later, but he had to suddenly change his tone completely and he just did it with such ease, it was awesome. I’ve seen him live 3 times now (plus two times with the Neos). Every time, I’m impressed by his range. I’ve seen it before yet it still surprises me, because it’s magic. I got quite a few good photos with his expressions, including some where he’s looking right at my camera. He does so much with so little - inflections, hand gestures, facial expressions. He was wearing the suit with the quilt style look of patches with floral stuff and other stuff. (i’m great at writing about clothes, I don’t know what anything is called.) It looked even more dapper in person. Ditto Meg, Erin, and Symphony’s outfits, I’ve seen them before in photos, but you don’t really notice the fit until you see them move in the clothes. Everyone has a specific aesthetic and it only really comes alive in person. 

I got to see Symphony on stage! and also talk to her after the show!! She was every bit as joyous and energetic as I had expected. She had the same energy off stage and on, so it was fun to see her interact with the fans. She was like taking dance steps going from fan to fan, beaming with this big smile. I was actually able to say words to her, and we took a couple of rad selfies. We’re about the same size, which was cool. Cecil and Meg are so tall, they towered over me when we met in ‘14.

The Deb bit was very funny, up there with fyalconry gear. Like I said I didn’t get to see the faces, which sucks, but I did get to hear the voices and see the “hailvale dance”. It’s an unusually physical Deb bit, which makes it even more fun. We found out a bit about Deb’s family!

Erin’s set was badass and also included audience participation (with varying success). She has a great energy on stage. We got to sing along and clap - one time she said “this is a very long song, so don’t start clapping yet”. She talked about becoming a musician and it was actually very personal and moving. Her set had a feel of fun and I could tell people were charmed by her, and I was as well. She also did a very cool song about Donald Trump. She was very confident and calm onstage, and knew how to engage the audience. I feel blessed because I’ve gotten to see three live shows with three very different artists - Mary Epworth in ‘14, Eliza Rickman last year and now Erin.

I was helping Erin with merch, which she was very grateful for, although it wasn’t that much work. Erin looks very different offstage somehow. She’s a lot more casual. Her on stage attire and hair is very specific. It’s something like Meg’s big hair/fancy dress thing, where she looks completely different in the cast seflies. 

Merch manager Natalie was selling the wtnv merch, and she had a long line of people both before and after the show. She was very quick and professional about it. I remember Natalie gave me 50 cents discount in 2014, because I had to put my bag in the obligatory expensive cloakroom. Erin told me there wont’t be much sales before the show, and after the show it will be “crazy” and she will be helping out. This turned out to be true. I only sold one before the show; people would look at me and you could tell they were thinking “who is this and why is she selling her CD’s here?” They may have thought I was the weather artist. But after people had seen Erin’s set, they were queueing up to get the CD’s. We ran out of one album. I took the money and Erin signed for people and talked to them. A lot of people came up saying how moved they were by the show, and I realized that an artist hears that umpteen times a night, and it must feel weird after a while. The fans were all very earnest and sweet with her, and I could tell she appreciated them. The only problem was that we ran out of fives at some point, because the CD’s were 15 euros and everyone paid with 20′s. But everyone got their CD’s in the end. I got a free one with Erin’s autograph, so cool cool cool. 

I tried to take photos of Erin doing something other than singing into the mic while playing guitar, because everyone gets such similar photos of her, but then that is what she does for most of the set. Erin was stage left and right in front of me, but there were lights in her show that blurred out her face a bit. I did get some good shots though. 

I’ve always wondered why fan pictures show Disparition as this dot in the background, but the same thing happened to me. He sat stage right in a corner, and he just does the music, like he’s a creature of pure audio with no body. He didn’t even take a bow, until the second bow that I posted earlier. He came out after the show and he’s, like, Mr Casual. A lot of the fans didn’t seem to notice him. I saw one fan glance at him and her eyes went big like “!!! it’s you!” I got his autograph on my ticket. I forgot to ask Symphony for an autograph, but I’ve got the selfies. Could have taken a selfie with Erin and Disparition too, if I had thought of it. These moments with the cast are always so short and you don’t think of things in the moment. The point is though, I don’t think I said anything stupid and I wasn’t bowing to the ground going “I’m not worthy”, so it went OK. 

Meg and Cecil didn’t come out after the show, and to be honest I was relieved, because I feel so star struck around them, it’s difficult to actually have a conversation. I’ve had a chance to talk to all the major cast members now, except for Jeffrey, who left the first Helsinki show early and has since stopped touring with the show. And Kate, who did come out in Stockholm but I didn’t catch her. 

I was there with a couple of people, although I didn’t have a chance to talk to them much because I was busy merching. I sat next to tokoshu-desu, who is fun to sit next to, because he’s so excited and exuberant. He had a rad bird head cosplay (which wasn’t directly WTNV related but was very impressive). I didn’t see a whole lot of people in cosplay, but our party had a lab coat/Joseph Fink cosplay, so it’s like a Carlos-Joseph Fink hybrid. I saw many WTNV shirts, some home made, and a couple of people had a WTNV logo drawn on their foreheads. I feel I was in a familiar crowd, with nerds all around. 

I’ll put this at the end because at this point, most people have stopped reading. A couple hours before the show, I experienced what I can only describe as a gastrointestinal panic attack. I did what any grownup would do: call Mom and whimper that everything will be ruined, I will vomit all over the merch stand, etc. Mom talked me down and I took some pills and it went away completely. So I didn’t feel like vomiting and I also didn’t have bad flu symptoms. When the show was about to start and I thought that soon I will see Meg, not in a photo or video, but in the flesh right in front of me, I felt like vomiting again. But once she stepped on the stage and started the show, I felt nothing but joy and happiness. I’m so glad I got to see this show. What a blast!