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sawyerconfort · 3 years ago

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I See Stars | Cady Heron x Reader

TWO POSTS IN A ROW! YEAH, I KNOW, I KNOW! I'm just trying to make up for the fact that I haven't posted anything this week. Well, this one isn't a Heathers imagine, but since we're talking about musicals too, I thought I'd write a special imagine with Cady from the Mean Girls musical.

In those days that I was away, I've been listening to the Mean Girls songs and I fell in love, especially with this song that gives the title to the post, so why not write an imagine about one of them?

Erika Henningsen lovebots, this one is especially for you (I already consider myself part of this team hahaha)

This one is especially for you, who are suffering or going through some insecurity, anxiety or a problem that has let you down. I'm also having a hard time these days, but writing has helped me a lot.

If you want to talk, dear reader, I'll be here to listen. I hope this picture helps you too. Remember, you are not alone, there are people who love you and it's normal to not feel good sometimes!

Enjoy!

Any request or suggestion (can be from Mean Girls too), send me an ask or comment on one of my posts, or send me a message. I'll do my best to write it!

Prompt: When the whole world seems to come crashing down on top of you, there's still a burning hope that goes by the name of Cady Heron to help you.

"Hey, did you guys see (Y\NN)? I didn't see her when we left the room..."

Cady was getting worried about you, and she confided that to Janis and Damian when she got the chance. You had been down all morning, and had quickly left the room when the lunch bell rang. Since you usually told Cady, Damian, and Janis everything, and this time you'd kept it a secret, that was reason enough to be alarmed.

"She told me she was going to the bathroom, but so far she hasn't come out..." Janis replied, making Cady's eyes widen in fear. She started to run, alone, to the bathroom, but Damian pulled her back, confused.

“Wait, where are you going?”

"I'm going to see (Y\NN), maybe she needs help."

And before they could even say anything, Cady had already gone to the bathroom to find you. She went through every little door that was there, but there was no sign that you were inside. No breathing, no clues, let alone shoes.

Cady's heart nearly popped out of her mouth, and without thinking too much, acting more impulsively, she opened every door to the North Shore girls' bathroom, trying to find you, her heart pounding in her chest. All the doors were empty, however, there was no one.

Until she opened the last one, and found you there, sitting by the toilet, legs spread and head leaning against the wall, eyes closed and chest rising and falling rapidly, face wet with tears.

“(Y\NN)! I was worried about you! Why did it take so long? What happened?” Cady was looking over at you, but realizing that something was wrong, she quickly changed her expression and sat down beside you, in the small space between your body and the toilet. “Hey, did something happen? Are you okay?"

When she came to, you realized you were shaking, your fingertips white, like your blood pressure had dropped or something. Staring at Cady, you let an involuntary sob escape your throat.

“Hey, hey, what happened? Talk to me, (Y\NN), it's okay now."

The crises you had were like that. They left you speechless most of the time, and you could barely express what you felt until she calmed down, until you calmed down.

This was the most frustrating part of having an anxiety attack, but the most ridiculous part was definitely feeling terrible about yourself. You felt like you were never going to be happy, like you weren't good enough, like you were alone and no one really liked you.

People saw countless qualities, but you couldn't see any.

And that was extremely frustrating for you. That's why you hated having crises.

"Talk to me, (Y\NN), please..." Cady pleaded, and you felt her voice break mid-sentence.

Not knowing what to say and feeling guilty, you hugged her awkwardly while her body shook. Cady hugged you back, pressing your body against hers without straining, so as not to hurt you. She touched your face carefully, making you look at her.

“It was another one of your crises, wasn't it?” Cady whispered again.

She'd known your struggle with those insecurities since she'd arrived at school. Although you hid it very well — and you could at first, because they weren't as bad as they were now — Cady seemed to have a sixth sense that told you when you were okay or not.

"I...I feel..."

She brought her index finger to your lips, silencing you. “Shhh, it's okay, okay? I'm here with you, I'm not leaving here until you calm down, but I need you to breathe and not think about anything, okay, (Y\NN)?”

Her words and commands helped a little, because you obeyed without hesitation. Cady was still holding you, the touch gentle, accompanying your breathing so you wouldn't feel alone. Suddenly, she stopped breathing with you, letting you finish the process.

“Are you calmer now?” she asked, smiling slightly when you nodded. “Fine.” Cady moved her touch down to her face, wiping away a few visible, glistening tears on her cheek. “Hey, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay not to feel okay every day, it happens,” she whispered. "But it doesn't mean you have to suffer alone."

“Sorry for making you miss part of your lunch with the guys.”

“No, (Y\NN), you don't have to apologize for that,” she confirmed. “By the way, you don't have to apologize for anything, right? None of this is your fault. I'm here to help you, and I would be here for anyone. I'm not even that hungry, right now, you're more important.”

You smiled slightly, making an effort to stretch your lips.

“It's okay to not feel good all the time, (Y\NN), you're human, and humans don't have to be perfect all the time. It's okay to break sometimes, it's okay to cry sometimes, it's okay to fail sometimes. This is how we are made, this is what we came to this world for. We can't always get it right, and it's okay to be that way, isn't it?”

"I feel so weak, Cady..."

“You're not weak, honey,” she smiled. “Actually, you're one of the strongest people I've ever met in my entire life.” Cady looked up, trying to hold back the tears that wanted to well up in her eyes as well. "No matter what Regina or those girls say, that's not you."

Cady knew more than anyone how much you suffered from the taunts and comments of Regina and her faithful followers.

“(Y\NN), you are a star. You're beautiful, so beautiful, too bad you don't see yourself as I see you, as we all see you...”, she lamented. Cady reached out to touch her fingers, hold her hand. “You are strong, you are amazing, you are good at what you do, you deserve to be happy. You deserve to be seen, and I see you. I see you and I can say that you are all that and more.”

You smiled through your tears and hugged her again, this time closer. Cady kissed the top of your head and held her lips there until you lifted your head so you could see her up close.

“Everyone has their moments of insecurity, and that's more normal than it might seem, I assure you. Never ever, ever, ever let anyone tell you otherwise.”

“Thanks, Cady. You don't know how much this is helping me.”

“I know,” she sighed. “I'm glad I could help.” Still touching your hand, she squeezed it tightly. “I will always be with you, I will look out for you, I promise. I won't let Regina and the girls bring you down anymore,” you nodded. “But now, we have to make arrangements. I promise I'll take care of you, but you have to promise me that you'll tell me whenever something's wrong, okay?”

“Okay,” you replied quietly. “I promise I will tell you everything.”

And the two of you hugged again, until Cady pulled away from you so she could help you up, and the two of you walked out of the bathroom together, her holding you tightly beside her, willing not to let go until you felt better.

#cady heron #cady heron x reader #imagine #oneshot #lgbt #fluffy #angst #drama #mean girls #mean girls x reader #erika henningsen #she's too precious #i need a cady heron for me #hope you guys liked it #i'm emotional bye

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damonjuicyscock · 3 years ago

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The New singer-Chapter 1

Pairing: Dilf! Damon Albarn X Reader

Warnings: Language, maybe a few spelling mistakes (but as always, I hope not)

Words: 3094

A/N: Hello ! Here I am with this new fanfic with Dilf Damon ! Hope you'll like it. Smut will come sooner in this fan fic (On the fourth one). Enjoy !

My name is Y/N Y/L/N, I moved in London in 2012 when I was 18 to try to finally start a career in what has always been my passion: Music. I think I probably started singing when I was still in my father’s balls, because as far as I know, even my close friends always knew me singing. I was even singing so much that sometimes, people had to tell me to shut up. My parents were born in the 60’s and 70’s, respectively from hippie parents, and themselves became hippies. That’s why I was raised listening to some Jefferson airplane, The Doors, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix… But also with music like Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Tears For Fears, Oasis, Blur, Radiohead, Nirvana… Anyway, I was raised listening to some good stuff

Before telling how it all began, let’s talk about my absolutely not normal parents, who created who I am today. When they met in 1991, my mum was in total New Wave emo mode. Ya know, like Robert Smith from The Cure? Well, nearly the same haircut, with some new romantic clothes like in the early 80’s. My dad was kinda punk and tried to look like some 1986 Dave Gahan. Them and their music taste met, and boom, 2 years later, here I was. 5 years later, my sister joined us. A real troublemaker, but a very good dancer, that’s what she is. When I was 6, they enrolled me in a music conservatory. It was a pain in the ass. But I learned a lot, even how not to sound like a nowadays Mariah Carey who has a lot of voice issues when singing. Why? Because my singing teacher made me sing some opera, so I sound more like an Amy Lee from Evanescence who can sing everything except some hardcore metal. At 15, I said bye bye to the conservatory to focus on my studies without having to care about anything else. I kept practicing every day, alone. But I also started to learn to play guitar on my own after discovering a fabulous Muse song called “Knights Of Cydonia”. I loved rock and had the fashion style that came with it. I wasn’t a girl coming from the city, I grew up in a small town where not a lot of people knew about some singer or band… London was the cradle of New Wave, Glam rock, also some punks if you forget a minute about the US and Germany. London had great artists; it was worth trying my luck in here. And only after 2 years of hardworking and trying my luck in pubs and other, with my mic, my acoustic guitar and my electric guitar, I signed with Universal. Oh, I was going to forget about the most important part. I said previously that I was raised listening to some good stuff like Blur. Well, I’m a big fan, but also a Gorillaz fan and a Damon Albarn fan. This man is talented, has a really beautiful voice, he’s a model to me. I can’t deny the fact that yeah, he was and is still a lot attractive. And that’s in 2016 that I knew how much, when he tried to get in touch with me.

Late 2016:

My phone rang. It was my best friend and also manager Thomas.

-Oi Tom!

-Oi Y/N, are you available right now?

- Well, you woke me up, but yes, why?

- I have something really important to tell ya. Can you meet me at the Starbucks coffee near Carnaby Street please?

- Well now that I’m awake yeah, when?

- Well let’s count you and me taking the underground… let’s say an hour?

-It’s okay with me, see ya!

I hang up and went to put some clothes and makeup on, tying my hair in a simple braid before picking my sunglasses, my bag, and locking my front door before going.

But once outside, I saw someone taking a picture. Another fucking pap, trying to have his pictures of the day. I was acting funny with them at the beginning, making pouts to troll their pictures, but after nearly two years of them tracking me, I was starting to be fed up. So, at this very moment, I decided I couldn’t control my middle finger anymore, and imitated Chris Pratt in the Guardians of the galaxy, before putting a big smile on my face. Yeah, okay. I was still trolling them in a way.

I entered the underground station, going to the Oxford Circus station. From here, I walked to the Starbucks coffee in Great Marlborough Street. Tom wasn’t here yet. So to recap, this idiot calls me because he has something urgent to tell me, and doesn’t bother to be on time. I was even afraid I was the one to be late!

For your information, He arrived 43 minutes after.

-Oi lovely, sorry for being late. He said out of breath

-Oi sir let’s-meet-in-an-hour, traffic jam? Oh no, sorry, you took the train, What the fuck were you doing?

-Masturbating. He answered sarcastically

-Verry funny Tom. Well, I’m used to you being late anyway, you are even capable to be late for your own birthday party you dumb fuck.

-It was 13 years ago Y/N. I am an important man since I’m your manager.

-And it goes to your head. Isn’t it supposed for the artist to be the one who becomes big-headed?

-S’not like I’ve never been before…

-maybe, but it’s getting worse. I interrupted him

-ANYWAY!

-What’s so urgent then?

-There’s… some singer who contacted me because he’s interested on your music, and he would be glad to collaborate with you on a song. He would like for you to sing the backing vocals on it.

- Oh cool! Who is it?

-Damon Albarn.

I spat my tea back in the paper cup and coughed.

-WHAT?

-Yup, I knew you would react like this.

- Damon Fucking Albarn wants me to do the vocals on one of his songs?

-Actually, I don’t have a lot of details ‘bout that, he just called and left me his number.

- He called himself? Not his manager?

-No, Damon Albarn himself.

- Then I guess I have to do the same and call him back by myself like a grown-up girl.

-You sure?

- I have to.

-As you wish, But as I know you by heart, I know you’ll get really nervous.

He was definitely right, but it was like pouring oil on the flames, so my only reaction was to slap him on the shoulder.

-Shut up Tom!

He laughed

- I also knew you would do that. I’m leaving you his number then?

- Of course you do! I answered

- Okay. Oh also, before I forget, Glastonbury, Reading, Lollapalooza and Coachella wants you.

- What are the dates?

he took out his little notebook from his pocket

-Glastonbury from June 21st to the 26th, Reading August 25th to 27th, Lollapalooza July 22nd and 23rd, Coachella April 14thto 23rd.

- Say yes to all of them and negotiate with Coachella. They have to give me a date that is before April 20th.

-Why?

- I’m taking my dear mama on a trip to celebrate her birthday in Mauritius. Thought I already told ya.

-You did, I just forgot to take a note.

He handed me a little piece of paper

-Here’s Kellogg’s all-bran’s number

-Hey, respect him!

He laughed again

We finished drinking our tea, talking about the coming gigs, our lives, and also about me writing my new album.

Tom had been right. I was on a verge of a panic attack before calling him. This man was all I admired, he was one of my favourite artists and definitely my idol. He had accomplished a lot in nearly 30 years. And I was so honoured, but didn’t understand why he wanted me, the new singer, to collaborate with him. I would be really lucky to work with him. I decided to light myself a cigarette before pressing the call button.

-Hello? I heard a male voice say dryly

-Hello, is this mister Albarn?

-Huh, yes?

-Hello… I’m…I’m Y/N Y/L/N, you called my manager Thomas. He… He said you wanted to get in touch with me?

His tone changed to a happy one

- Oh hi Y/N! How are you? Yes, I called your manager. Listen, I'd really like to work with you on a song for the upcoming Gorillaz album, you have a lot of talent, and after listening to your songs, I knew you would be perfect for a song.

- It would be a great pleasure to work with you! When do you want us to meet? I asked

- When are you free?

- Tomorrow if it’s okay with you, my remaining gigs are only in two weeks, so I have a bit of time.

- You seem like a hard worker, I like it! I’ll be at the studio at 11 am, can you be there by 11:30?

- I’ll be there!

- Alright. I can’t wait to finally meet you! oh and please, bring your guitar.

- Huh which one? Electric or acoustic one?

- The acoustic one, we have plenty of electric ones at the studio, and you wrote the best songs with it.

- Okay. Huh, could you just give me the address please?

- Of course! I was going to forget about that. I have an old man’s brain. I’ll text it.

- Okay.

- See you tomorrow then Y/N.

- See ya!

He hang up first, and I jumped in joy around my living room, until I heard someone knock at the ceiling. Fuck, I forgot I had neighbours. I decided to call Thomas.

-Did you call him? he said when answering

- I did, we meet tomorrow, I’m just waiting for him to send the address now.

- Well count at least 10 minutes before receiving it, he has a Nokia 3310.

- Stop mocking him mate! I know he doesn’t really like technology and he’s far from being wrong! Apart to work, I don’t have a lot of technological stuff myself.

-Said the one who’s addicted to social medias.

-I’m not addicted! it’s part of my work.

- Never mind, I’m happy you can meet him this quick. Oh I also called Coachella, you’ll be on stage on the 16th at 7pm.

The next day, I was on my way to the studio, but I was stopped a few times by fans who wanted to take a picture with me or for an autograph. Happily, I left early to arrive early. When I finally arrived at my destination, I was welcomed by Jamie Hewlett himself.

-Hello young lady. I suppose you are Y/N?

- I am. Mister Hewlett. Nice to meet you, I adore your work.

- Thank you miss. And call me Jamie, you’re my co-worker now. Damon is waiting for you in the other room. We’ll see each other during lunch.

-Alright, thank you co-worker, see you during lunch!

I took a deep breath before entering in the other room and I saw him. Last time I truly saw him was during a live near my place and I was only 5 years old. Yeah, my parents took me to a Blur gig in 1999, and my mum was a lot pregnant with my sister. But even if I was this young, I knew their songs by heart and had one of the best times of my life. Not every parent would do that.

- Hello… I said shyly

- Ah here she finally is! I was impatient to finally meet you Y/N! He said turning to look at me

He came towards me and went to hug me. I was a bit surprised; I didn’t expect that. But it was his way to welcome people. A pure sweetheart. I also had been told he was a simple and humble man.

- I was impatient to meet you too mister Albarn!

- Oi, there’s not mister Albarn with me love, call me Damon.

- Okay Damon. I wouldn’t like for you to think I talk too much but I feel it’s important for me to say that you are one of my favourite artists and inspirations, and that I’ve been dreaming of this collab since…well…forever. I said, with an embarrassed smile

- I’m glad to have such a meaning for you. Oh, you brought the instrument that creates such beautiful songs!

- Yup, here it is

I pulled my guitar out of its case.

- It’s a beautiful Fender you have here. Can I try it? he asked

I handed him the guitar

- Be careful, it’s my baby. I joked

He looked at me and pretended he was about to let the guitar fall on the ground.

- No worries, it’s in safe hands. He answered winking at me

God, he was going to be the death of me.

He started playing one of my songs to test the sound my guitar had, and I blushed.

- Didn’t know you even knew my songs by heart! I chuckled slightly

- - I’m your number one fan! He answered

- Oh… sorry to disappoint you, but my mum actually is.

- I’m the number two then!

- That’s adorable. Okay… should we start working?

- Absolutely young lady! Before we start, would you like a cup of tea? or maybe a coffee?

- No thank you Damon, but it’s really nice of you to ask.

We worked for about an hour and a half on a melody, and when Damon heard me singing the vocals, he decided that finally, I would sing on the whole song. What started as a collab would end up as a duet. It would be a featuring. No sorry, I’d be singing with 2D, but it means the same thing to me.

Lunch came, an occasion to get to know everyone, even if I was the one who had been the most questioned.

- So, Y/N, tell us about you! Jamie said

- Well, what do you want to know?

- Where you grew up, our childhood, your love for music… this kind of stuff. He answered

- Oh! Well, I grew up at first in the south of France where my mum was working as a college teacher, she’s teaching ethology. So, it’s like I was a bit French. I speak the language fluently. We came back in England when I was about 5. On the second part of my childhood, I grew up in a town around Dover, So I was going back to France often. I even studied there in high school; I was in a high school in Calais. I have a French baccalaureate, with a music speciality.

- Interesting! you may have heard of my wife then! She’s a French actress. Jamie said

- Emma De Caunes? Of course, I only saw her in one movie, but the family who was hosting me during my high school years were often watching extracts of a formal TV show her father was in. It was really funny. I even saw the extract when she called him live to tell him she graduated from High school!

- What movie did you watch? Jamie asked

- Mr Bean’s Holiday. In this movie you can even see the city where I grew up in the first part of my childhood.

- Cannes? Damon asked

- Nope, Avignon. It’s sunny and beautiful when you are in the old town. People are really nice in there.

- And so, where does your love and talent for music comes from? Jeff, the guitarist asked

- As far as I can remember, I was three, and three songs made me fall in love with music. There’s Beetlebum by Blur, Stand By me by Oasis and Bittersweet symphony by The Verve. I grew up with parents who loved the new romantics era, New Wave and Britpop. I was singing a lot and my parents decided to send me to a music conservatory to take voice classes. It was their way to tell me “We like you when you sing, but you’re singing too much and you’re giving us a headache”. My singing teacher mainly taught me how to sing opera. But I can thank her today, because she is the one who gave me all the right techniques. After graduating from high school, I came in London to try my luck and here I am today. Also, my parents took me to a lot of gigs.

- Which ones? Damon asked

- My first one was Blur in 1999, then I got to see Tears for Fears, Oasis, Gorillaz, Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order…There is actually a lot!

- Wow, that means you were like 5 when you saw us live with the guys?

- Yup. You sang a particular version of B.L.U.R.E.M.I.

- The danger of drugs. Jamie said

Damon threw him a dark look

- I was so little, but I can still remember I had one of the best times of my life!

- Well, I’m glad you did. Damon answered

- Who are your inspirations Y/N? Jamie asked

- As you can tell, I’m a lot into rock. I’d say many artists from different eras. Probably some David Bowie, Joan Jett, Blondie, The Clash, Oasis, Blur, Nirvana, The cure, The Smiths, U2, INXS… there’s so much. Oh, and also Queen. I’ve always been in love with Freddie Mercury’s voice.

- And you’ve probably been fancying Roger Taylor like every girl. Jamie added

I blushed

- I absolutely don’t know what you’re talking about.

Damon laughed seeing me blushing

- ‘S nothing love, we understand. He said

- I had the privilege to meet Brian May, he is really a nice man.

- And so… yesterday, you told me on the phone you had a few gigs left? Damon asked

- Yes, in Paris and here, in the U.K.

- Does it mean you’ll be back in the studio for some more masterpieces?

- I’ll be back in the studios yes. Don’t know yet if it’s going to be a masterpiece though. I have a few ideas, like a ballad, but here, I have no idea where to start.

- I can help you. Well only if you want to. The singer said

- Really? I said, sparks appearing in my eyes

- Of course! I’d love to! he answered

#damon albarn smut #damon albarn #damon albarn x reader #damon albarn fanfic #gorillaz #alex james #jamie hewlett #fanfics

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joshstambourine · 4 years ago

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What Friends Do pt. 2

Warning: Cursing

Word Count: 2954

Synopsis: Josh and Jake are surprised when an old friend stumbles back into their lives, taking their world by storm with old feelings, new feelings, and problems they never would have expected.

Josh Kiszka x Fem!Reader x Jake Kiszka

Jake laid in his bed, blankets wrapped around him tightly as his eyes just lingered on the ceiling above him. He didn’t want to be awake. He didn’t want to be continuously stuck staring. Something though just wouldn’t let him sleep tonight. In a smooth movement Jake turned to lay on his side with his eyes closed, it only lasted for a moment as they soon opened again to look at the clock beside him reading 2:42 AM. Not all that late no but certainly late if you cuddled into bed at 10:30 pm, this fact made Jake let out a low groan in annoyance.

‘What is going on with me tonight?’ Jake wondered to himself, as he moved to sit up straight. He began rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. Jake never had this much trouble sleeping usually, of course he wasn’t quite like Josh who was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, but he’d normally be out within twenty minutes.

Looking around the dark room, Jake eventually reached out to turn on his side lamp. The light blinding for a brief moment, but Jake's eyes adjusted as he made his way to his feet. In nothing but boxers he made his way from his bedroom to the kitchen, if he was going to be awake he was going to enjoy it at least. Jake opened a couple of cupboards and began to pour himself a glass of whiskey.

Back against the counter he began to take a small sip, but was interrupted by the sound of his phone chiming from the living room where he normally left it to charge. His brows furrowed a little, ‘Why is someone texting me so late…?’ He wondered to himself, moving towards the living room. Jake planted himself on the couch and his legs kicked up on one end with his head at the other.

Unknown Number

(Received 1:43 am) Hey Jake! It's (Y/N) sorry to text so late, but I just wanted to make sure I sent you a text before I forgot. It was really nice to see you guys today! Hopefully we can get together sometime soon!

Clearly an email was what the notification sound was actually for but Jake chose to ignore it. Jake moved to take another sip of his whiskey as he contemplated whether or not he should bother responding. It felt like forever since they had seen each other let alone spoken; he knew well that he had changed as a person and that more than likely she had as well. This (Y/N) wasn't the same girl he had fallen head over heels for in high school.

It was easier to tell himself that than to really believe it unfortunately; his mind quickly pulled him back to how her eyes had met his earlier. Jake felt like (Y/N)’s eyes were full of so much love as she looked at him… but was he only imagining it? Jake felt like he had been staring at the text for hours by the point he decided to toss his phone back to the side.

Taking a bigger swig of the drink, Jake began to push his hand through his hair, thinking about the few memories her scent had trudged up into his mind. To Jake’s surprise he could still envision the old her when he closed his eyes, he supposed that old habits were harder to get rid of then he would care to admit.

A small memory slipped into view of (Y/N) as she walked ahead of him down a beaten down path in the woods. Summer sun making her skin sparkle, she lightly turned to look back at him with a small laugh. A ratty black Janis Joplin t-shirt hung over her shoulders, it was something that Jake could always remember her wearing. A lit cigarette smoldering between her fingers as she cheerfully took a drag. The sight made him wonder now if (Y/N) still smoked, Josh and her had started around the same time after a friend of theirs stole a pack from his dad. Josh had since quit knowing how much it was ruining his voice. With how crisp (Y/N)’s voice was he had to imagine that she must have given the terrible habit up.

(Y/N)’s smile brought him to another moment, he could see clearly in his mind’s eye as Josh spun her in the middle of the kitchen while they were trying to make dinner. Jake was there, but at the time he kept to himself… leaving Josh alone with her to enjoy their time. (Y/N)’s eyes were always so full of joy when she was with Josh.

The laugh that left (Y/N) soft lips was slowly drowned out by the sound of heavy rain, his view becoming one of her standing in the middle of the rain, completely drenched but laughing as she danced alone to the music she seemed to always have playing in her head. A sudden picture of (Y/N) standing before him in a drenched floral gown, her voice filling his ears, “Jake?” He could picture her uttering, with a saddened look in her eyes.

"Jake?" Called her sweet voice again, this immediately caught Jake's attention, he quickly turned to his side. Music played loudly overhead, his gaze fixing on (Y/N) who was suddenly dressed in a black lace dress that fell just below her knees. “Are you listening?” (Y/N) asked him.

"Huh? What did you say (Y/N)?" Jake quickly responded with a shake of his head.

(Y/N) let out a little laugh, "I asked you if you wanted to dance?" She repeated to him, wearing a soft smile. (Y/N) was so beautiful at this dance. Jake could remember that he had a hard time keeping his eyes off of her, the way her dress fit, the way she had done her makeup, even the way she chose to wear her hair, it was all so perfect.

Ah… Jake was at the spring dance again.

His eyes moved to take in the sight of her outstretched hand. Jake could recall being a little frazzled, though he couldn’t quite remember what he had been looking at beforehand that made this gesture so surprising. It took a second but soon a wide smile came across Jake’s lips, "I'd love to!" He said eagerly. Taking her hand as he felt his cheeks go a soft pink, "oh… wait, what about your date?" He slowly asked. Both (Y/N) and Jake came with different people to that dance,

"Ah, he went to find a spot to smoke a little while ago." (Y/N) softly mused, tucking her hair behind her ear. “He’ll probably be back soon but I just wanted to take this opportunity.” They would find out later that both of their dates had ditched the party together to hook up. Right now however, (Y/N) held tight to Jake's hand as she led him out to the middle of the gym that doubled as a dancefloor when the school saw fit.

Looking back, it was beyond cliché that it was the song that played, some might say meme worthy but of course it was Wonderwall by Oasis playing over head as Jake had his first slow dance with (Y/N). Jake could remember how nervous he was as he placed his hand on her side, unsure if he was holding her too tight. (Y/N) seemed to have no issue placing her hand on his shoulder with a friendly smile across her lips. It was a lot of awkward shuffling at first, Jake unsure where to look, and (Y/N) only smiling when their eyes did meet.

Jake realized now that she could tell how nervous he was, the way she had begun to sing along with a serious look in her eye was all to make him chuckle a little. Even back then (Y/N)’s voice was something magical to listen to. The sound of it made Jake relax a little; he was completely caught up in the way her lips moved. His own lips would curl into a smile when she would close her eyes and become entirely enthralled in the music. Jake always frowned when he remembered just how sweaty his palms had gotten, and even more wistful when he thought about just how much tighter he wanted to hold her hand in this moment.

This wasn’t the last slow dance Jake had shared with (Y/N). In fact he always made a point of dancing with her at these kinds of things, because frankly, the times Jake shared with (Y/N) were some of the best moments he'd end up having at the school dances.

Of course also getting to watch Josh and (Y/N) pick the most outrageous songs to dance poorly to was also an astounding highlight of everyone's night.

As that dance came to a close, neither of them pulled away very quickly. Jake just stared down at (Y/N) with gentle eyes, and she stared back up at him with a warm smile. Jake knew that he didn’t want to let go of her hand yet, that he loved the feeling of her fingers being laced with his. “Hey (Y/N)?” Jake lightly started,

(Y/N) was already looking at him, and responded with a light, “Yes Jake?”

“I…” he started, trying to muster up the courage to tell her how he felt, but Jake just couldn't do it. At the time he was so filled with self doubt that he couldn’t imagine her ever feeling the same towards him, “I’m… sure Josh would probably love a dance too.” He tells her weakly, immediately beating himself up on the inside. 'What was that…?' He remembered thinking to himself; when Jake was laying in bed later that night he would think about all the suave things he could have said instead.

(Y/N) gave a nod in agreement, "Yeah you're probably right…! His date seems to be off with every other guy tonight." She utters, looking across the room at a blonde girl dancing with someone who clearly wasn't Josh. "Thanks for the dance, Jake!" (Y/N) said in a sing-song way, her hand lightly running down his arm, "I'll see ya in a little bit?"

Jake gave a weak smile, and an enthusiastic head nod "y-yeah, of course! See ya later…." He uttered. Finally releasing (Y/N)’s hand just to watch her walk off through the crowd. Even then Jake felt like he could never compare to Josh; that (Y/N) would choose Josh over him every single time.

Those memories were always difficult to even just graze over, especially after everything else that would happen later. Jake could feel his heart get heavy as the scene began to change. The music was still playing loudly in the gym, he could hear it despite standing in the middle of the parking lot. Jake had come outside to look for his date, she had never come back from the washroom and being as naïve as he was, he hoped that maybe she went outside for a smoke. Instead he found a tearful (Y/N) sitting on the hood of his car.

(Y/N) sat slumped over her one knee while the other leg dangled down, she was smoking a half finished cigarette and looking at the ground. All Jake could remember thinking as he approached her was. ‘Where on earth are her shoes?’

(Y/N) was almost always barefoot and this was no exception.

“Hey (Y/N)!” Jake called out lightly, gaining her attention rather quickly.

“Oh… hey Jake…” she responded in a half hearted way, returning to take another drag of her cigarette.

Jake frowned as he heard her say his name in such a sad way, “What’s up? You sound upset…” He lightly asked, coming to sit beside her on the hood of his car.

(Y/N) shook her head a little, “Ah… Alex is gone.” She stated, referring to her date whose car was indeed missing from the parking lot now. Jake furrowed his brows a little, he couldn’t believe that Alex would just take off without a word --- of course he figured out why later, but at this moment it burned him up a little.

“Oh… I’m sorry.” Jake told her honestly, beginning to scratch the back of his head, “If it makes you feel any better I think Lindsay is gone too…” He muttered, referring to the girl he had asked last minute to the dance.

(Y/N) was quick to look at him with her brows furrowed, “No that doesn’t make me feel any better!” She exclaimed, “I have to beat up a bitch now.” She was quick to say. (Y/N) despite being the same age as Jake always seemed to be so protective of him; Jake really couldn’t say that he hated that fact even now.

Jake laughed a little as she said this, “It’s okay (Y/N)...” he sighed, “I knew she wasn’t really that into me from the beginning.” He shrugged, trying not to seem all that bothered. Jake always tried to seem put together when it came to being around (Y/N) but things like this always were a blow to his self-esteem.

(Y/N) shook her head clearly unhappy with this news, “Jake, you definitely deserve better than her anyways.” She tells him, taking another deep inhale from her cigarette. “You’re way too good of a guy to be treated in such a shitty way.” She tells him with smoke pouring from her lips, still slightly shaking her head.

Jake watched (Y/N) with a small smile, he was happy that she thought that of him anyways. “You really think so…?” He lightly asked.

(Y/N) gave an enthusiastic nod, “Of course I do! You’re handsome, funny, and charming.” She tells him seriously, turning her focus to him. “You deserve someone who loves all that about you--- someone that loves everything about you.” She told him with a smile.

He gained a little bit of courage, his gaze becoming focused on the moon. “Do you love everything about me…?” Jake asked, it was a forward question of course, but he wanted to know.

(Y/N) seemed to raise a brow, surprised by his asking. Her arm quickly came out to pull him into a headlock, “Of course I do! That’s what friends are supposed to do!” She laughed, “And then make fun of you mercilessly for being such an amazing person.”

Jake had to stop himself from frowning in that moment, giving a weak laugh; he should have known that would be her answer. “Yeah I guess it is huh…” he uttered, moving to place his hand over hers, his thumb brushing over her soft knuckles.

(Y/N) looked over at him, she must have been able to tell that her answer didn’t quite suffice as she began to give a lopsided expression. She just couldn’t resist taking another puff before saying anything though. Jake couldn’t help but shake his head a little, “Why are you doing that?” He lightly asks her, causing her to look at him quizzically.

“Doing what?”

“Smoking.” Jake said sternly, he always hated seeing her or his brother smoking. “You know it's terrible for you.” He continued.

“Well fuck Jake, I didn’t realize you cared so much.” (Y/N) laughed, as her arm on him lessened its grip. “They're just addicting, I don’t know what to tell you.” She admitted, tossing the remainder to the ground.

Jake would shake his head at that moment, “You’re an idiot.” He told her.

“Hey! I just told you I loved everything about you, you don’t need to be so mean about it.” (Y/N) responded loudly, she clearly knew he was right… but oh how she hated being wrong.

“If you’re ever going to get into music you’ll need your voice you can’t just fuck it up by smoking that garbage.” Jake continued to scold, recalling the look she gave him. It was a look that really expressed how she felt about getting into music… a strong disdain.

“Y’know Jake… not everyone wants to get into music like you.” (Y/N) told him pointedly, “Some of us have other dreams.” She continued, with a hate filled look. Thinking about it made Jake upset still, he knew how heavily (Y/N) was being strong armed into music by her family at the time… she didn’t need him to add to it. (Y/N) recoiled her arm, bringing it to sit on her lap.

“I’m sorry (Y/N), I just don't---” Jake could recall starting, hand moving to take hers.

All of a sudden Jake’s eyes had snapped open staring at the ceiling of his apartment, sun pouring through the curtains in an inhumane way --- he had fallen asleep. Sluggishly he sat up, running his fingers through his slightly knotted hair while he searched for his phone with the other, ‘what time is it…?’ he wondered, knowing he had to meet with Josh for eleven… or twelve Jake’s time.

Jake cradled his phone in his palm, seeing the time was 10 am. That was a relief at least. He also noticed a new text.

Josh

(Delivered 9:30 am) Okay so hopefully it’s cool but I invited (Y/N) to tag along at 11! If it isn't… well sucks to suck I guess.

The sight of it made Jake let out a light drone, falling to lay back on the couch again. “...Well fuck.” He uttered.

#Greta Van Fleet #greta van fic #greta van fleet roleplay #josh kiszka #josh gvf #jake kiszka #jake gvf #jake kiszka x reader #josh kiszka x reader #josh kiszka fic #gvf fanfiction #sam gvf #danny gvf #greta van fleet fan fiction #gvf fic #gvf imagine #gvf roleplay #gvf rp #what friends do

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gabbysdawsons · 3 years ago

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i hope it’s okay but what are your thoughts on a crossover between audrey and abra?? 👀🙈

yes! no it is absolutely okay!!

okay honestly i feel like their dynamic would be just a lil weird because i mean... there is so much going on there

ah okay this is very complicated to approach given Harvey

eh whatever i'll figure it out

this kind of turned into a crossover with Audrey, Harvey and Abra. Whoops.

Abra, who's job it was to know anything and everything about Clint Barton, upon finding out that Audrey exists: oh they should have fired me. how did i miss this?

so i guess assuming Clint gets his mind wiped like I believe you were planning here Abra and Clint would still get together

so by The Winter Soldier they've been married for a year, and Janie is a couple months old so his ex suddenly reappearing complicates things just a little bit

and the fact that they have a daughter? complicates everything just a little bit more

anyway now we've gotten to the actual Audrey part

okay, Abra would love Audrey so much though. weird situation be damned she would love her

I think Audrey would be just a touch resentful of the fact that Clint is pulling himself together to raise Janie, she would never bring it up but Abra picks up on it pretty quickly and makes them talk it out

tbh I can really see her being a good middleman for them because she speaks Clint and she understands Audrey’s side of the story too

also Audrey attempting to help Clint teach Abra how to use a bow and arrow and it goes so badly they all agree to never, ever, try that again

I’m just gonna skip to Hawkeye now because that is really where I think they’ll click best

Abra gives her a song by song recap of Rogers: the Musical because she missed out on going

Abra just going “aw what the hell?” when Audrey basically threatens to shoot them when they go after Kate to get the suit back

I just… cannot stop picturing Abra and Audrey finding out Clint is Ronin and going “well then.”

also Abra going into mom mode immediately and zeroing in on Audrey and Kate, she would be so obnoxious about it because she hasn’t had someone to gossip with in y e a r s

dhdhdh this is probably so messy I’m so sorry, but the gist of it is that I think they would be a Very Good crossover my thoughts just make no sense

and now please enjoy some gifs to make up for how nonsensical this is

#c: abra & audrey #answer #ask: abra #crossover #ch: audrey barton #fic: damage control #stanshollaand #i really do love them though #like this crossover is >>>>

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sprnklersplashes · 3 years ago

Text

songwriter!janis fic (unrequited crush, no-very-happy-ending)

also on ao3

It all started because she loved Taylor Swift when she was in middle school. Who is she kidding, she still loves Taylor Swift, but that’s where all this began. A middle school girl’s obsession with Taylor Swift. A confused, sad girl with a broken heart and smudged black eyeliner, finding refuge in lyrics about loneliness and anger and revenge. They became anthems for her, mantras to mutter when the warzone of middle school became too much for her.

“Someday, I’ll be living in a big old city, and all you’re ever gonna be is mean.”

“Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in.”

“I can still see you, this ain’t the best view.”

It amazes her. It’s honestly as if Taylor Swift has managed to look into her life and given her a bundle of songs for whatever she needs. For when Regina has thrown her one too many snide looks, for when she’s standing at the door of North Shore High on her first day, for when she eats lunch alone, for when her mom is the best mom she could have asked for, for when she and Damian are lying on the grass in her backyard, staring up at the sky, laughing at absolutely nothing. The songs become the soundtrack to her life, the chords and those raw, honest lyrics an emotional outlet she so desperately craves. Taylor, and her songs, become a confidant, almost a close friend who always knows what to say.

With all that in mind, perhaps it was only a matter of time before she asks for a guitar for Christmas. She’s fourteen, braces and a slight lisp, and jumps up and down like a mad woman when she sees it under the tree.

She practices for three days straight, until her fingers bleed, but Should’ve Said No is the first song she learns off by heart. She yells the lyrics with maybe a little too much passion, but her parents applaud her nonetheless.

Like she said, that’s how it all started.

Because that same Christmas, she realises that screaming her feelings while playing guitar actually feels pretty cathartic. And that if it worked for Taylor Swift, it could work for her. So she writes stuff down, plays around with chords and strumming until the beat on the guitar matches the one in her head. She grabs a page and a pencil and writes and re-writes her innermost thoughts and feelings on the page until they sound the way she wants them to. She plays around with rhyme schemes and structure and everything she’s been taught about in English class, and a thrill runs through her as she does so. It’s the same breathless high she feels when she paints or draws, the rush that comes from creating something.

Her parents sit on the other side of her bedroom door, no doubt exchanging worried glances as she repeats the same verse, same chorus, with only a word changed. She watches them when they think she can’t see, peering through the crack in her door. The conclusion they seem to come to is ‘well, as coping mechanisms go, it’s pretty good, and she’s happy, so who are we to stop it?’.

It takes her four days to finish her first song. And it sucks. But she keeps it, writes down the lyrics and chords in one of the few empty notebooks she has, and there’s no going back from it now. She writes, and she writes, and she writes, near enough every day. She likes to think she gets better with each one. She learns more chords, buys a cheap ukulele the summer after freshman year, tries her hand at piano during a particularly difficult few weeks. She doesn’t plan on doing anything with them. They’re just her little pieces to hold on to. Her therapy sessions outside the carpeted office.

No-one knows about it. She has a reputation to keep up, after all. The loner-by-choice, too-cool-for-school, aloof art freak. Everyone has their roles to play in the ecosystem that is high school and, much as she hates the entire system, that is hers to play. And she plays it well, if she may say so. The fact that hardly anyone knows her past that facade suits her just fine. After all, if people think she doesn’t care, she can’t get hurt. No-one needs to know that Janis Sarkisian actually has feelings.

Even less need to know that she writes songs about said feelings.

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By the time she reaches her junior year, she’s onto her third notebook. She keeps them tucked away in her sock drawer, expertly hidden so only she can find them. Damian teases her about it, calling her “the protagonist of a Disney Channel Original Movie”. She just rolls her eyes and reminds him that “if either of us is gonna be Disney’s first openly gay character, it’ll be you”. He can’t argue with that.

It should be noted that when Janis said that no-one knows about her songwriting, Damian was the obvious exception. He found out just weeks after she started. There’s no keeping secrets from him.

Between all her notebooks, she’s written around forty songs.

Then she meets Cady Heron one day. The human embodiment of a labrador puppy, complete with wide, lost eyes. She likes her instantly, decides to take her under her wing because Lord knows the girl needs it. Cady’s smile is infectious, her laugh like a summer breeze. She has dimples and caramel-coloured hair and really likes maths.

She meets Cady on a Monday.

By that Saturday, song number 41-titled “Dimples and Curls” is more or less complete.

She plays it for Damian, hands only slightly shaking as she changes chords, the strumming short and upbeat, the melody strangely happy for such a bittersweet song.

He applauds her, but the subject of the song hangs in the air even after she’s played the last chord and the music fades. Unsaid, but not unknown. Just like her songwriting, Janis couldn’t keep a crush from Damian if she tried.

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“Hey, check it out.”

Cady drops onto the seat across from Janis, the whole table shaking as she does so. Like a small meteor just hit Earth. Janis looks up from her lunch, pretending like she had been doing her own thing and not watching the door until Cady came in. Pretending like her stomach doesn’t do little flips at the sight of her crossing the cafeteria. She pulls the flyer towards her and hums in amusement.

“The winter talent show,” she reads before chomping off a carrot stick. “Oh, is it that time of year already?”

“Seems like only yesterday we was welcoming the young’uns into this brave new world during the harvest season,” Damian sighs, putting on a delightfully over the top Southern Belle accent, no doubt influenced by their reading of Streetcar Named Desire in English class. Janis cackles, and nearly chokes on her lunch as she does.

“And now the cold winds of winter are descending upon us,” she replies, her accent equally heavy. She bats her eyes for good measure, because she can and because it makes Cady laugh. “Oh but I pray the children will survive this season, it is often rough for them.”

“I am never showing you two anything winter related ever again,” Cady says.

Janis just shrugs and runs her hand through her hair before her eyes go back to the flyer. Clearly, whatever sophomore they got to design it this year did their best; found the prettiest looking snowflakes on Google Images to put on the cartoon stage, decided to write in some swirling, slanted font rather than the start-studded block lettering they usually went for. It’s still the same as it is every year, meaning just as mockable, but she’ll give them points for tying.

“Well, anyone here going for it?” she asks. She looks from Damian to Cady and back again, a teasing smirk on her lips. “Last year and all that.”

“Not sure I can,” Damian sighs. “I mean, I’m booked up with Spelling Bee rehearsals and spring cabaret auditions happening next semester.” He drums his fingers against his throat. “Gotta give the little vocal chords some rest, you know?”

Janis’ response is to sing the lowest note she possibly can before turning to Cady and giving her a pointed look, the corner of her mouth quirked up.

“Who? Me?” Cady’s cheeks turned crimson and she shakes her head so much that the caramel curls bounced around her shoulders. “No way. Damian can take the stage, I’m fine with my calculators and textbooks.”

“You could always solve equations in front of everyone,” Janis says. “I could call out college-level questions from the audience and you solve them in under 30 seconds.”

“I think I’ll pass,” she giggles. She leans forward slightly, eyes glittering, and Janis does her best not to squirm. The effect Cady Heron’s eyes have on her should be studied by scientists. “What about you, Janis?”

“I don’t know.” She thinks back to when she helped on stage crew last year, as well as helping out (or taking over) with the set design. It had been fun, the kind of challenge she needed to keep her mind off the slowly-going-off-the-rails plan. And she was told it looked good on her college applications, because all people can think about apparently is college, college, college. “Maybe. They might need another genius stage manager.”

“And you’ll step in if they can’t find one?” She digs Damian in the ribs for that comment.

“But not performing?” Cady asks, and Janis freezes. Performing had never even crossed her mind before. She’s used to backstage, hell, she likes backstage. It’s not that she has stage fright or anything, and if she had, her stunt at Ms Norbury’s little healing session would have squished it. She had just never thought about it.

But Cady had, apparently.

“I-No, I-I don’t think so,” she stammers out. “Um, I might do backstage again, but not actually doing something, you know, talent related.” She bites her tongue and clamps her lips shut before anything else can come out.

“Okay then,” Cady replies slowly. She gets up from the table, her little empty water bottle in her hands. “I’m going to go for a refill, save my seat.”

“No problem,” Janis says, but Cady’s already jogging away.

She doesn’t know if it’s good or bad that Cady’s known her too long to think of her as cool, and so this kind of awkward babbling isn’t really surprising to her. Instead of thinking about it, she just sets her head on the table and lets Damian rub her back.

“You were nowhere near as bad as you think you were,” he assures her.

“Title of your sex tape,” comes her murmured reply. Damian chuckles and runs his fingers through her hair, like she’s his pet cat. It helps.

“So you’re definitely not going for the talent show then?” he asks.

Her first instinct is to say no, because of course she isn’t, because she never has before and she sees no point in breaking a three-year streak, but the answer catches in her throat. At the same time, something begins forming in her brain, pieces of a melody she’s already known, words filling in blank spots in her brain, and her fingers twitch involuntarily, playing the chords on an invisible guitar. Without a word, she grabs a notepad and pen from her bag and scribbles the words down before she forgets them, quickly becoming breathless just by sitting there. She forgets, for a moment, everything else, the talent show, Cady, even Damian next to her, and just revels in the task and the quick buzz she gets just from writing. Just like that she has one eye on the clock, itching to get home and put her notes into the rest of the song.

But with those notes came an idea, an idea so completely out of left field she almost laughs at it.

“Janis?” Damian asks, just slightly unnerved by her. If anyone else were at this table, even Cady (especially Cady), she would have had to excuse herself and run to the bathroom, or just hope the words stayed in her head long enough for her to get a quiet moment. “Did the Goddess of Music just possess you again?”

“Maybe,” is her response. He doesn’t know it, but she answered both the questions he asked in the past minute.

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She sits on her bed that night, her homework half-done and strewn across the desk, abandoned in favour of the guitar sitting in her lap and notebook open on her bed. She’s been working on his song for the better part of a week, inspiration and motivation seemingly striking and then fading whenever she gets a free moment. Abandoning it has crossed her mind-she’s no stranger to abandoning things that aren’t working-but for some reason she hasn’t quite been able to shake this particular song off.

Maybe it is Euterpe, the Goddess of Music, descending upon her because this song has to be finished, it has to be, Olympus willing it so.

Or maybe it’s because this song is one of the most personal things she’s ever written, a love letter she’ll never send, and the idea of it sitting unfinished drives her crazy.

She plays another chord and sings the line again, changing the ending slightly, and makes the adjustment in her notes.

She’s crazy. This is already crazy, her secret double life as a wannabe T-Swift, but now she’s gone beyond that. Thinking of actually playing it. On a stage. In front of people. She doesn’t care what people think of her, she stopped caring about that a long, long time ago, but holy shit what will people think of her after she does this? Life isn’t like the movies, she knows that much. It won’t be some pretty, softly-lit moment where the crowd sits with teary eyes, Cady runs onstage and kisses her and she’s offered a deal by some big shot producer, and they all live happily ever after the end. What could happen is people think she’s even more of a weirdo than they do now.

Or she gets tomatoes thrown at her head and she’s booed off the stage. That’s a possibility.

She calls Damian, because that’s the only way she sees out of her little thought cul-de-sac. She puts the phone on speaker and props it up against a pillow, keeping her hands free for her guitar and her pen. He picks up on the third ring, just as she’s strumming out a G chord.

“Oh, is someone prepping for her Grammy?” he asks. “You’re still taking me as your date, right?”

“Only if my dog can’t go,” she replies. She taps her nails against the wood, the rhythm too fast and frantic to just be a habit. Yes, she can tell Damian anything, and being nervous in front of him is laughable, but sometimes her body forgets that. “So, I was thinking about the talent show.”

“Oh? You’re going for stage crew again? Cool.”

“No-not exactly.” She knows he can’t see the smile creeping across her face, but she’d wager he can hear it through the phone. A small swarm of butterflies flutters in her chest, leaving her just slightly out of breath. “I… I. think I’m going to try performing in it.”

A burst of laughter comes through the phone, slightly tinged with static, and Janis wishes he were here so she could slap him. Even if it’s not malicious in intent at all, and she’s laughing right along with him. Slapping is kind of a love language for them.

“Okay, okay cool. What’re you going to do?”

“I’ll give you a hint,” she says, and then she plays the opening chords to her latest experiment. She doesn’t add in the lyrics, not yet. Still, she sits back and basks in his applause when she finishes, cackling into her hand. He might be one person, but he’s got enough enthusiasm to match a packed auditorium. “What do you think?”

“I’m into it,” he tells her. “So… that’s the one you’re doing?”

“Think so.” She tosses the pick between her fingers. Like he could feel her smile, she can feel his raised eyebrow through the phone, the elephant in the room poking her with its trunk. “Yes, I know.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You thought it,” she tells him, and he doesn’t deny it. She looks back over the lyrics she’s written and re-written. Despite some adjustments, it’s still in essence the same. Still about a girl with pretty hair who smells like vanilla and cinnamon, who has a boyfriend and is unknowingly breaking the heart of a girl with black eyeliner and paint stained fingers. Because her boyfriend is pretty and clean and smells like soap and can do math, and how is the poor art girl even meant to compare to that?

“Yes,” she says after a while. “It is about Cady.”

“Aw, my poor lovestruck songstress,” he sighs. He shifts then, and the air shifts with him. “You sure that’s the one you want to sing? I mean you have dozens of other non-Cady related songs. I’m sure Mr Duvall would love to hear Angry Teenage Lesbian Anthem.”

“First off, I gave that one a title, it’s called Shattered,” she reminds him. “And-” She freezes, the rest of her sentence catching in her throat. He’s right. She could perform one of her other songs, that are already finished and therefore removing the pressure to have this one finished, polished and stage-ready. And of course, it would mean she wouldn’t be standing in front of her entire grade and telling them all how badly she’s in love with her best friend. Showing her deepest secret to the people who have already driven her out of school once. It’s a far safer, potentially less traumatic option for her.

But…

“No,” she says. “I know it sounds crazy but I feel like… I feel like I need to do this.” She swallows thickly and picks softly at the guitar strings. “It’s like… like this way at least I’m telling her, you know? Even if she doesn’t know it.”

Of course, Damian gets it.

“That’s beautiful, babe,” he tells her. “So you’re actually doing this?”

“I’m actually doing this,” she replies firmly. “And tomorrow, I need you to make sure I don’t chicken out before I sign up.”

“Got it. I’ll just order you to do it as Senior Co-Chair of the Student Activities Committee.”

“That’s an abuse of power.”

“Then consider yourself abused baby.” He laughs and she laughs with him, and then she hears something on Damian’s end. “I have to go. A certain little sister of mine has a princess costume that needs attending to. See you later.”

“See you later,” she replies before he clicks off the call. She looks down at her paper, then at her guitar, and thinks about what she just committed to. “I’ve got some work to do.”

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The song goes through four rewrites in the weeks leading up to the talent show. The whole first verse is changed, the chorus scrapped and replaced with a new one, then that one is scrapped and she goes back to the old one. She sits hunched on her floor with a pencil in her mouth, wondering if what she’s written is too personal or not personal enough. If it’s too obvious that Cady, smart cookie that she is, will work it out and that’ll lead them down a new, scary path. She cuts some lyrics that give the game away, opting to replace one about love for numbers with love for learning, because that opens up the pool to half their grade. She writes about Cady’s blue eyes rather than specifically those double dimples that make her melt. Maybe she’s compromising her artistic vision, but it might be worth it if it’ll keep her crush a secret. She keeps the old lyrics tucked in the back of her notebook, just to have them.

Meanwhile, she’s also dealing with the fact that people know she has signed up for the talent show. That Miss Too Cool For School Loner Art Freak Janis is actually performing at a school event. And she doesn’t even get extra credit for it. They’re surprised, and curious, and none more so than Cady. The other girl appears at her side almost instantly after first period, skinny little arms wrapped around her bicep and blue eyes alight.

Oh, the things those eyes do to her.

“Janis!” she squeaks. “I saw-on the sign up sheet-your name! Oh my God, is this a joke? Did Damian put you up to it?”

“No, no, I signed up of my own accord,” Janis tells her. That only makes Cady bounce more, ponytail bobbing up and down.

“Oh wow, that’s amazing!” she says. She stops then, her mouth freezing in its place and her cheeks turning pink. Slowly, she comes down to Earth, like a balloon that had the air let out of it. Janis can almost hear the wheeze. “I mean um, it’s pretty cool, I guess.”

“It’s pretty grool,” Janis replies, and just like that Cady bounces back up again.

“Oh my gosh, what are you going to do?” she asks. “Or do you want it to be a surprise?”

“You think I have some secret knife-throwing talent?” she grins. She hesitates for a moment, looking down at Cady’s excited face, because even if this isn’t telling her… it’s telling her. “I’m… I’m going to sing.” She pulls on the strap of her backpack and avoids Cady’s eyes. “Something I wrote.”

“Okay,” Cady says. “Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”

“Hey!” she laughs. “I can write stuff. I can be deep.”

“Oh, I have no doubt about it,” Cady says, bumping her arm against Janis’. “But for real, Janis, I can’t wait to see it. I know you’ll be amazing.”

Warmth spreads across her pale cheeks, a pink blush no doubt colouring her face, and she somehow manages to choke out a “thanks” as her brain turns to static. Her only thought is ‘Cady thinks I’m going to be good’, and it’s written in glitter pen across her brain.

“This is going to be great,” she goes on. “Oh, wait until I tell Aaron. He’s got a break in his schedule that week so he’s coming up to see the talent show! Isn’t that great?”

And just like that, Janis’ good mood falls. Her face stays the same, because she’s trained to do it, but everything behind it crumbles.

“Yeah, that’s great,” she replies. Cady squeezes her hand, oblivious, and drags her along the hallway, chatting away about some lion documentary she had watched last night.

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She finishes the song that night. She arrives home with a heavy chest, so full of complicated, messy feelings, and her conversation with Cady still so fresh in her mind, her ears still ringing from the emotional whiplash. Her parents barely get a ‘hello’ as she enters and bolts up to her room, her hands shaking, the thoughts swirling around her brain desperate to be let out.

And let them out she does. She writes so quickly they look more like smudges than words, her fingers flying over rapidly changing chords, her voice broken and panting as she sings. The words almost write themselves, like the song has taken on a life of its own and she’s just along for the ride. She barely remembers to pause, to breathe, so wrapped up in the storm she’s created with just her guitar and pen.

It’s only when she finishes and falls back on her bed that she notices the tears in her eyes. She blinks them away and pulls herself up, her notebook in her hand. It’s done. The perfect blend of her own honest feelings and just enough smokescreen to keep people from knowing who it’s really about.

There’s no backing out now, she thinks. Her stomach drops, like she’s on the top of a roller coaster about to go down. A laugh bubbles up in her throat and leaves her breathless, her head spinning while she’s still laying there.

If holy shit were am adjective, she'd use it to describe how she feels. Because holy shit.

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Being backstage when she’s not on crew is a strange experience. She stands with her guitar slung around her body, in the middle of a current of students moving around her, half with the clunky microphones and walkie-talkies she’s used so many times before. She asks five of them if she can do anything to help-because they’re her people and she needs to do something to occupy her time-until she finally takes the hint and leaves them to it. Stagehands are the most efficient parts of any production, as she told Damian once. They’re a well-oiled machine at this point.

“Yo!” For a second, Janis thinks she imagined the whisper, just one in a jumble of backstage noises, until Damian appears at her side. A tiny ‘shit’ escapes her mouth, her body jerking. Barely anyone bats an eye at her, except him. “Sorry, didn’t mean to spook you.”

“Don’t worry. I think at this point a small breeze could knock into me and I’d crumble.”

“The great Janis Sarkisian gets nervous?” he asks, eyebrow raised.

“Only when she’s doing something incredibly personal and scary in front of her entire grade,” she whispers back. She swallows past the lump in her throat. “Aside from that I’m a beacon of confidence and unshakable will.”

“Hey.” He taps his knuckles against hers. “Remember how scared you were at Norbury’s assembly?”

“You mean after I had my picture all over the school with the d-slur written underneath it?” she mutters. “Yeah, I was shitting myself.”

“And yet, look what you did there,” he reminds her. “You were amazing. And you’re going to be amazing here too. Once you get on that stage, all those butterflies are going to make you fly, kid.”

She smiles, her heart warm, and pressed her face into the crook of Damian’s neck.

She doesn’t know how she got so lucky to have him, but she knows better than to tempt fate.

“Janis Sarkisian?” She lifts her head to find a freshman girl with a headset around her neck looking at her. “You’re up next.”

“Okay.” It’s only now she becomes aware that the last minute of Fairytale Of New York is playing, the notes will soon fade out, and that’s her cue. She turns to Damian and lets him straighten her black cardigan and fiddle with the collar of her shirt. “Wish me luck.”

“You don’t need it.” He drops a whisper of a kiss to her nose. “But good luck.”

She holds her half-heart necklace as he goes, the twin to the one around his neck. It’s as close as she can get to having him with her. Her chest tightens as she makes her way to the stage and she tries to breathe through it, because the next thign she knows, Mr Duvall is announcing her name, and she’s being greeted by a blinding spotlight that thankfully obscures most of her peers’ faces.

“Uh, hi,” she says into the microphone placed out for her. It’s just people , she reminds herself. Somewhere in that crowd, second row, seat 14, is Damian, and she breathes easier. And next to him is Cady, the girl this song is about, and for some reason that straightens her spine and irons out the shaking in her voice. She takes the pick out of its holder and tosses her hair back. “This is a song I wrote about being in love with someone who doesn’t love you back.” She blinks and hopes no-one sees the tears in her eyes. “So sing along if you get into it, because we all know it’s a shitty ass feeling.”

She plays the first chord, and then any and all doubts she had about this flee her. As cliche as it sounds, the song takes over her, and she blows through the nerves in the first verse. The experience becomes cathartic instead, like releasing a pressure valve on her soul. Even with the little diversions she threw in, she hasn’t felt this open and god damn free since last year, paraded on her peers’ shoulders with both middle fingers up. Except now she’s not flipping anyone off, or proving a point, she’s just finally telling someone how she feels, and holy shit, it’s amazing. Whatever the aftermath of this is, she won’t care, it’s worth it just for this feeling.

As she sings the last word, and that final note rings in the auditorium, her hands are shaking, her cheeks wet with tears and her hair sticky with sweat. She touches beneath her eye and her fingers come away stained black. She hasn’t cried in front of people since middle school. She doesn’t care.

The cheers of her classmates ring in her ears, Damian’s whooping the loudest of all, and as she takes her bow, she hopes she’ll remember this moment for a long time.

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“Oh my God!” she’s barely into the auditorium when Cady launches herself at her, arms wrapped around her neck and legs circling her waist. Janis nearly topples over, digging her back leg into the ground just in time, and hugs Cady with the same ferocity. “You were amazing!” she yells into her shoulder, the sound muffled by Janis’ hair.

“Really?”

“Absolutely.” She sets Cady down, but the other girl keeps a tight grip on both her arms. Janis wonders if it’s to keep herself from flying away, given the amount of bouncing up and down she’s doing. “I can’t believe you wrote that! It was so good! You need to record it, Jan. Do you have any other songs?”

“Just a few,” she says. “And I don’t know if I’m in the business of making an album any time soon.” She swings her guitar case a little. “This might have been a one-time thing.”

“Well, even if it was, it was awesome,” she says.

“Thank you, Caddy,” Janis replies. “That means a lot.”

Her mouth runs dry as Cady smiles, all baby pink lipgloss and sparkling eyes and full cheeks. If this were a movie, she thinks, this would be the part where they kiss. No need for talking, or an explanation. Because Cady would have just known. The music would turn soft and twinkly, and the lighting would match it and it would look like they’re in a dream and they’d just kiss, and it will fix all of Janis’ problems. Maybe a single tear will run down her cheek. And then they’ll run off into their new lives as the end credits roll.

How sweet that would be.

But her life isn’t a movie. If she wants anything, she has to go for it herself.

And that includes-

“Caddy.” Her name is delicate on her lips, handled with care. Cady looks at her, giving a simple ‘mm-hm’ in response, and Janis’ heart beats out of control. “That song I just sang, it-”

“Hey, guys.”

Also if this was a movie, Cady’s sweet, lovely, nice boyfriend would not be barging in right now. He’d either be a douchebag who she doesn’t feel bad about hurting, or he’d be nonexistent.

Unfortunately, this is not a movie, and Aaron Samuels exists and is the human equivalent of a squishmallow.

“Hey Aaron.” He slings his arm around Cady’s shoulders, and she leans into his touch almost instinctively. “Janis, you were great up there. I didn’t know you wrote songs.”

“It’s a bit of a new hobby,” she says, her voice hoarse. She clears her throat, and finds a bottle of water being handed to-thrown at-her.

“Hydrate those chords,” is Damian’s greeting.

“This is what I get for being friends with a theatre kid,” she sighs before she takes a drink. She hadn’t realised how dry her throat was until now.

“Okay, so we’re all going for pancakes,” Aaron says. “I take it you two are coming?”

“How can I say no to pancakes?” Janis asks. “Uh, you guys go ahead, I have to get my stuff from the green room.”

“Okay, we’ll wait for you,” Cady says. “Aaron brought his car so he can drive us.”

“Grool.” Cady and Aaron turn around together, Aaron spinning his eyes around his finger and Cady lacing her fingers through his, talking about something she can’t hear. It’s like watching them through a sheet of glass.

Not a movie. Not unless it’s one of those really, really sad movies. Sad homophobic movies.

“You okay?” Damian asks. She snorts at the question. Nothing has changed, so of course she’s okay. But then, nothing has changed, so she’s not really okay.

“I did it,” she sighs. “It’s out there. I told her, unofficially. Whether or not she works it out…” She runs her hand through her tangled hair. “That’s something else entirely.” Damian hums in agreement, a sympathetic look on his face that soon morphs into a grin.

“Hey,” he says. “I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks Mom.” They snort, Janis caught between a laugh and a sob, and squeezes Damian’s hand. She’s not optimistic about any romance in her future, at least where Cady is concerned. She and Aaron are still rock-solid and she’s happy for them, whenever she isn’t angsting about it. It’s a weird combination to have.

And at least she’s done this now. Despite a future for her and Cady not being in the cards for now, she’s glad she did it. The secret isn’t out, not entirely. Just written on the walls in invisible ink.

“Come on,” she tells Damian. “I actually do have to get my bag, and you can use this as an opportunity to double check the ghost light is on.”

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Cady and Aaron keep their promise and wait for them, waving off their apologies as they jog across the parking lot. Cady lets Damian take the front seat with Aaron and slides into the back with Janis instead. Janis frowns, confused as to why she isn’t taking her normal seat up front, and Cady rolls her eyes.

“There was a draw on the way here, and we lost,” she explains. “And now Damian has control of the aux chord,” She gestures with her head to the passenger seat, and Janis turns just in time to see him open his Spotify and scroll through his playlists. As the opening notes to Waving Through A Window fill the car, it’s met with three loud groans. Damian only turns it up louder, and adds in his own backing vocals.

“So, that song you sang,” Cady asks, leaning back in the seat. “Was it about anyone in particular?”

Janis looks down, her hands pressed together in her lap. If this is the moment the universe decided to give her, it’s a really terrible moment. Not only is Cady’s whole boyfriend sitting an arm’s length away from her, but she left her nerve back in the auditorium. Clearly, her and fate aren’t on each other’s wavelength.

“You wouldn’t know her,” she says. “She doesn't even go here.”

“Oh,” Cady replies. Her face falls, but she’s not too put out by it. Why would she be? She nudges Janis’ shoulder, a proud smile on her face, and squeezes Janis’ hand. “Well, if she has someone like you into her and she hasn’t taken the chance yet, then she doesn’t know what she’s missing.”

Janis only thanks her, and quickly changes the subject.

Someday she might tell her for real, but for now she'll stick to the songs.

#mean girls broadway #mean girls fanfic #cadnis #janis sarkisian #cady heron #cadnis ff #cady x janis #space safari #mean girls musical

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girlactionfigure · 3 years ago

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"Stars, they come and go, they come fast, they come slow They go like the last light of the sun, all in a blaze And all you see is glory Hey, but it gets lonely there when there's no one here to share We can shake it away, if you'll hear a story . . ." These was the first lines of the Janis Ian song Nina Simone sang that night in 1976. It's all recorded in a video, which started recirculating a few years ago. Before she started the song, she asked the audience whether anyone had seen her friend. Some in the audience thought she may have been having a breakdown, looking sad and seemingly upset. She continued asking for her friend, then explained: "David Bowie is my dear friend . . . if David were here, he would tell me he was here." Simone had been having a difficult time back then, with her career on the downside. Two years before, "she had largely stopped performing and recording, and was facing charges from the IRS," according to Time Magazine. Her last album was "It Is Finished" in 1974. “The most prevalent view was that she was being tremendously harassed by the government,” Andrew Young had said at the time. She didn't even know David Bowie, had never met him. But, then, her daughter had asked her to take her to a David Bowie concert at Madison Square Garden. A week after that, Simone had stopped by a night club. Bowie and his small entourage would arrive at the same night club later. Not knowing Bowie personally, Simone was on her way out, when Bowie stopped her and asked her to sit down next to him. He may have read or heard the rumors about her, being depressed and even being called "crazy" for her erratic behavior. They talked briefly, then he asked for her phone number. Simone figured as big a star as Bowie was then and the fact that her star was diminishing, he was just being polite and he would never call. But, he called her that night, around 3 a.m. According to Simone, "he said, ‘The first thing I want you to know is that you’re not crazy — don’t let anybody tell you you’re crazy, because where you’re coming from, there are very few of us out there.’” "For a month, he called her every night and they would talk for hours," according to Time. Then, he paid her a visit, telling her she was gifted and encouraged her to continue singing. "Your genius overshadows the money," he told her. He also explained to her he wasn't a genius like her, but he worked at his success and he just got lucky. "What Bowie was affirming for Nina was her true calling as an artist, a sensibility that he could recognize as something different from that of a pop star. At a period of such turbulence, it was a lift that she needed," according to writer Alan Light, the author of "What Happened, Miss Simone?: A Biography". In 1976, as a tribute to Simone, Bowie would record for his own album Simone's version of "Wild Is the Wind". This was the only cover song released by Bowie during this period of his career, according to James E. Perone, author of "The Words and Music of David Bowie". Bowie would later say that Simone's version "really affected me... I recorded it as an homage to Nina." Simone would return to the recording studio in 1978. She would be diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the late 1980s. She then moved to Europe. The Peace Page has honored Nina Simone before, but this story is for David Bowie, about strangers uplifting each other, like many people do on this page. Bowie, of course, became one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, acclaimed by both critics and musicians. He remained musically active until his death of liver cancer on January 10, 2016, two days after his 69th birthday. Not many people outside of their inner circle knew Bowie had been courageously battling cancer for the past 18 months. His producer Tony Visconti said of his passing, "He always did what he wanted to do. And he wanted to do it his way and he wanted to do it the best way. His death was no different from his life – a work of art . . . He was an extraordinary man, full of love and life. He will always be with us. For now, it is appropriate to cry." Simone never forgot David Bowie's kindness, remembering him that night in 1976. She would say later of Bowie, “He’s got more sense than anybody I’ve ever known. It’s not human — David ain’t from here.” Bowie's wife Iman would say, "Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory." As Bowie would himself say, "Make the best of every moment." . . . . . "Ground Control to Major Tom Commencing countdown, engines on Check ignition and may God's love be with you..."

The Jon S. Randal Peace Page

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woodrokiro · 4 years ago

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Do It For the Band, Part Three (fic)

Fandom: Bleach

Pairing: IchiRuki

Summary: When Tatsuki said she wanted their sophomore album to be the next Rumours, this is NOT what she meant. Band AU. Read Part One here and Part Two here

Here’s the thing: Ichigo is not an asshole.

He’s not a misogynist, he doesn’t believe in that men-are-better-than-women bullshit--and that includes the topic of music. Yeah, he loves Jim Morrison and David Bowie and Bob Dylan something fierce--but he’s also a sucker for Nina Simone and Stevie Nicks, for Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell. Does he hide a tear or two when A Case of You comes onto his “For Mom” Spotify playlist?

None of your damn business. (But yes.)

And maybe this is all to over-explain: he doesn’t have a problem with women challenging him. Look no further than Tatsuki for proof.

… He just has an issue with Rukia challenging him.

And--okay--look. She’s excellent. The stuff that she’s written is so well-crafted it makes his teeth grind in envy, and what she can do with the piano is incredible. She’s talented, she’s brave, she knows a good melody when she hears one, she’s got an electric stage presence, not to mention she’s insanely pretty--

… Talented. She’s insanely pretty talented. Did he already say that?

But all of that does not give her the right to drive him this up the wall.

“I’m telling you,” she repeats coolly, so slowly like she’s explaining something to a child, “I’m telling you, those bars do not work here. It clashes with the lyrics--here, do it again on your guitar, I’ll sing. It sounds clunky.”

“That’s the point! It’s not supposed to be clean!” He runs his hand roughly through his hair, but grabs the guitar from beside him anyway. They’re sitting on the ground in his garage, an hour or so before practice with the rest of the band.

They’ve been at this for a week already, and they’ve had a collective collaboration of…. One. One song that was Rukia’s original creation, and it was like pulling damn teeth to make his own edits. With a song from Chad, that leaves two for their album, and… Six more to go.

Six more to go when they’ve only got three weeks left to make them.

“I understand you weren’t classically trained like I was--”

“Thank God for that, boring shit isn’t my style--”

“How dare you!”

“All right, all right! Look I’m sorry.” He puts his hands up defensively as she huffs, and he is sorry. Kind of. He might enjoy riling her up as much as she does him, but that’s beside the point.

“What I mean is…. I chose these bars with the lyrics because it’s messy. Hear me out: it’s a heartbreak song. Right? This important person in this kid’s life died, right? And he’s trying to get through it. He’s trying to comprehend how something so fucked can happen to the best person he’s known, and--he’s struggling. To understand, to go through his life the same way, whatever. And it’s beyond him. So… This bridge is his having these overwhelming emotions, and stumbling through each individual thought because nothing makes sense. So… It’s not supposed to sound pretty, if that makes sense? Like, the point of the song is it sounds good, just not in a traditional way. Because that’s doing an injustice, to make it sound nice.”

She’s staring at him with an unreadable expression, and Ichigo tries to rewind and remember if he said anything about the song being about his mom’s death. He didn’t--but then he realizes he may as well have.

He clears his throat, looks down and plucks a couple of chords on the guitar to distract himself. “Okay, fine. It’s stupid, let’s just move on to--”

“The line ‘What distracts us from losing someone when they were everything?’ That’s good. I like that a lot. What if you expanded on that, in the bridge?”

“... You got any ideas for that?”

“No. It’s your song, your experience. You do what you want with it.” She shrugs, and rifles through the rest of her notes. He realizes he should probably say something, something like “That’s it?” or “When my mom died I played her favorite album, Jodi Mitchell’s Blue every day for a whole year,” but he’s stumped.

“... Rukia--”

“Just give me the edits and I’ll tell you everything you did wrong.” Her eyes glint, and he rolls his own.

“Yeah yeah, now let’s see what you’ve got, Mozart.”

Tatsuki doesn’t know what they’ve been up to for the past three weeks, but whatever’s been going on: it’s working.

The first week was a rough start, when all the vocalists could present her and Chad was a song that--while good--was… One song. Tatsuki thought she was gonna have an aneurism, Rukia looked down sheepishly, Ichigo tried to argue back but looked guilty anyway, and Chad sipped his tea.

“You’re not worried?!” She spun around to her bassist while the lead singers sauntered off, thoroughly chastened. “We’re about to be out of jobs because of those two, how can you just sit there drinking tea?”

Chad shrugged. “No, I’m not really worried. Actually, I think your plan is working a lot better than you think it is.”

She’s about to go off on Chad. Plan? What plan? You’d think I was playing some cupid matchmaker, not maintaining our record deal the way you say that!

But she took one good look at him and sighs. Fighting with Chad isn’t really a fight.

Especially when she’s proved yet again that he’s always right.

The two have just acoustically performed all seven songs that they’ve created, topped off at the end with a song called Sun and Moon that’s bound to be their first single, no question about it. It’s a duet about falling in love with someone who challenges you, and while Tatsuki can easily pinpoint the lyrics Ichigo wrote for it--wow. Somehow in just three weeks the quality of his writing has gotten exponentially better, and she can’t help but feel proud of him.

His strong, gravelly voice with Rukia’s delicate warble ends the last note with a haunting harmony, and the others of the team--Tatsuki, Chad, and Urahara--are silent until Urahara lets out a low whistle.

“Well shit.” He adjusts his hat, chuckling. “I think we’ve got an album, team.”

Tatsuki grins and agrees.

Besides the occasional scuffles, Ichigo and Rukia are both rather civilized in the recording room. No storm-outs, no stony silence as they all tune up. The process is….Cordial?

In fact, Tatsuki thinks as she watches them, heads together with the producer, sharing a pair of headphones, If I didn’t know better, I’d say they’re…

She doesn’t hear the conversation, but Ichigo’s turned to Rukia and says something with a snide sideways smirk, and Rukia slaps the back of her hand to his belly with a hard THWAP. Ichigo doubles over, but he’s laughing and she’s shaking her head but she’s smiling and--

Well shit.

The drummer doesn’t have much time to panic about this, though, as just a few seconds later the two ask if everyone’s ready to record the next song.

She breathes in, breathes out. Soul Vibes really is shaping up to be an awesome album, at least.

#ichiruki #bleach #my stuff #ichigo kurosaki #rukia kuchiki #not me unable to resist doing an Ichigo POV!!!!!#I can't help myself

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drproximo · 3 years ago

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Original Versions of Songs You Didn’t Know were Covers

Originally published for Geeks and Beats, August 2017.

https://www.geeksandbeats.com/2017/08/songs-didnt-know-covers/

I love a well-done cover song, and I especially love a well-done cover that deviates from the original. There’s something endlessly fascinating about how two different people can arrange such dramatically different interpretations of the same source material. What makes this especially fun is when you discover that a song you’ve been enjoying for years is itself a reinterpretation. Sometimes it even goes a step further, and a song that you knew as a cover turns out to be a cover of a cover. Researching this list became a much more involved “rabbit hole” than I ever anticipated, and I am delighted to share my findings with you. I’m confident that, like me, you’ll have more than a few “whoa, I didn’t know that!” moments.

Bruce Springsteen – Blinded by the Light

youtube

When a WatchMojo video got me digging into this awhile back, this was the one that surprised me most. This is one of those songs that I feel like I’ve been aware of for as long as I’ve cared about music. So it was a bit of a shock to discover in my 40s that, not only is it a cover, but it was originally by The Boss. There are differences in the arrangement and the lyrics, but the Manfred Mann version is generally considered the definitive rendition.

Tina Turner – Don’t Turn Around

youtube

While “Blinded by the Light” was the big surprise on my first dive into this topic, this next one blew me away even moreso. Ace of Base’s third most successful single was originally a Tina Turner song, the B-side of her 1986 single “Typical Male”. Bonnie Tyler, whose repertoire of covers is expansive and impressive, also did her own interpretation on 1988’s Hide Your Heart.

I’ve Got My Mind Set On You – James Ray

youtube

Time for a little history about “Weird Al” Yankovic. In 1988, Al released his album Even Worse. The title had two meanings. First of all, the lead single was “Fat”, a parody of Michael Jackson’s “Bad”, and the album cover was also a direct parody of Jackson’s Bad cover. In other words, since Jackson was declaring himself to be “Bad”, Al decided he was “Even Worse”. Second, all of the other parodies were of covers that had recently been hit singles, by Tiffany, Billy Idol, Los Lobos, and George Harrison.

The last one was the one that surprised me. Harrison’s most solid 80s hit was actually a cover. I owned 45s of the originals of all the others, but I had never heard James Ray’s original of “I’ve Got My Mind Set On You” (which Al turned into “(This Song’s Just) Six Words Long“).

The Tide is High – The Paragons

One of Blondie’s most distinctive qualities was, and still is, a blending of several sounds and moods. As such, this reggae ditty, which was their third #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, didn’t raise many eyebrows. So, few at the time knew that it was a cover of a 1966 rocksteady song by The Paragons. Although, the fact that the gender-swap screwed up the rhyme scheme could have been a clue.

Torn – Ednaswap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OoEdfB7l18

This one’s a little weird. Shortly after Natalie Imbruglia had her breakthrough hit with “Torn” in 1997, there was a short-lived minor controversy. Apparently, some people were upset when they found out that Imbruglia didn’t write the song. It was a cover of a 1995 song by a relatively unknown alternative act called Ednaswap. Nobody claimed had that she wrote the song, however, and there was nothing new about singers having a cover be their first hit. So the “controversy” was quickly reduced to a footnote, whose most prominent documentation is a mention on Pop-Up Video.

Adding to the weirdness, Ednaswap’s “original” wasn’t technically the first recording of the song. Two years before they got around to releasing it, a Danish translation,“Brændt” (“Burned”), was released by Lis Sørensen.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – Robert Hazard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aLNwOxPsjg

I almost didn’t include this one because, quite frankly, the original is awful. And, let’s be real, there’s something creepy about a guy breathily singing about what girls want. Thankfully, Hazard’s recording never got past the demo stage, so I’ll choose to consider Lauper’s version “technically a cover but sort of not really”.

Downtown Train – Tom Waits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLtZKkCIVmI

If you asked a random sampling of people around you, there’s a good chance that many of them wouldn’t be able to name a Tom Waits song. On the other hand, it’s almost a guarantee that they’re familiar with at least one of his songs, but covered by someone else. The Eagles, Alison Krauss, Sarah McLachlan, Bruce Springsteen, and The Ramones are among the many big names to contribute to this. Heck, actress Scarlett Johansson recorded an entire album of Tom Waits songs (it was kind of awful, but I digress).

One of the most successful Waits covers is Rod Stewart’s “Downtown Train”. The original was a standout track and minorly-successful single from Waits’ 1985 masterpiece Rain Dogs. Stewart’s 1991 cover starts off with a similarly restrained sound, but gradually swells into a much “bigger”, almost celebratory sound.

Piece of My Heart – Erma Franklin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0QAxIKf8G4

First off, the more well-known recording, with Janis Joplin on vocals, is properly credited to her band Big Brother and the Holding Company. Second, covers generally draw from that 1968 version, but the original was by Erma Franklin (Aretha Franklin’s older sister). Faith Hill’s 1994 atrocity seemed to be an attempt to destroy the song’s legacy, but Melissa Etheridge managed to restore it a little bit in 2005, even though it was a clumsy attempt at a comeback for Etheridge.

The First Cut is the Deepest – P.P. Arnold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1-g5VG2pWg

This is one of my favourites. With many of the entries on this list, it’s fun to play the original for someone and watch their face as they slowly realize what they’re hearing. P.P. Arnold’s original recording of “The First Cut is the Deepest” (written by Cat Stevens) also happens to be a fantastic song in its own right.

In 1977, Rod Stewart (him again?) released what most would consider the definitive version, and in 2003 Sheryl Crow covered it as one of two new songs recorded for her best-of collection.

Nothing Compares 2 U – The Family

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZlzN0Gtpp8

In the 80s, there were a lot of Prince side projects and spin-offs. Morris Day and The Time may be the most memorable, with their mega-hit “Jungle Love“. Wendy & Lisa, Vanity 6, and Apollonia 5 also enjoyed a little time in the spotlight. One of the lesser-known projects, however, was The Family. The Family was often tasked with bringing life to songs that Prince wrote but wasn’t interested in doing himself. So even if you knew that Prince wrote Sinéad O’Connor’s 1990 breakthrough hit “Nothing Compares 2 U“, you might not have known that The Family had recorded it 5 years prior.

Prince would eventually record a live version as a duet with Rosie Gaines, which was included on the various iterations of his 1993 compilation The Hits. Also included on this compilation were Prince’s originals of “I Feel 4 U” (covered by Chaka Khan in 1984), and “When U Were Mine” (covered by Cyndi Lauper in 1983).

Killing Me Softly – Lori Lieberman

youtube

In 1996, the Fugees released their breakthrough mega-hit, “Killing Me Softly“. Not everyone knew it was a cover of a 1973 Roberta Flack song, but many did. Even fewer knew, however, that Flack’s rendition was itself a cover. The original, by Lori Lieberman in 1972, was a soft acoustic rendition of a poem. “His song” was Don McLean’s “Empty Chairs”.

The first cover could have turned out quite differently; according to Wikipedia:

Helen Reddy has said she was sent the song, but “the demo… sat on my turntable for months without being played because I didn’t like the title”.

Roberta Flack’s successful 1973 cover is still soft, but with some defining chord changes, and a slightly more soulful sound.

Further mutating the tune, The Fugees laid down their hip-hop version in 1996, to much acclaim.

If you poke around YouTube looking for versions of this song, you’ll probably find about a dozen copies of a crooner version credited to Frank Sinatra. It does kind of sound like The Chairman, but he never actually recorded it. That’s Perry Como, from his 1973 album And I Love You So.

Some Guys Have All The Luck – Persuaders

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3NWbvFsBVo

First released in 1973 by R&B group The Persuaders, Rod Stewart’s cover of “Some Guys Have All the Luck” served as one of the important hits of his 80s comeback (and his third time appearing on this list, what is it with this guy and covers?) In between those two versions, Robert Palmer also recorded his own version, with significantly altered lyrics and arrangement. Palmer’s version is probably the strangest, kind of a gritty new wave thing, reminiscent of Pete Shelley’s “Homosapien“.

There have been several other covers, including a gender swapped country version. Of special note is Maxi Priest’s 1987 rendition, which (mostly) returned to the original lyrics and arrangement, but with Maxi’s signature “reggae fusion” sound.

Tainted Love – Gloria Jones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSehtaY6k1U

When Marilyn Manson covered “Tainted Love” in 2001 for the Not Another Teen Movie soundtrack, it was fairly common knowledge that he was covering a Soft Cell song. Soft Cell’s 1981 arrangement, however, was not the original. American soul singer Gloria Jones’ Motown-influenced version was a B-side for “My Bad Boy’s Comin’ Home”, which failed to make a lasting impression domestically. Jones herself, however, had very much made an impression in England, where she was dubbed the “Northern Queen of Soul”.

Eventually the song entered the radar of the synth-pop duo Soft Cell. Their 1981 version became their only major hit in North America, and one of the defining songs of the 80s.

Side notes and honorable mentions:

You might already knew that The Isley Brothers recorded “Twist and Shout” a year before The Beatles, but did you know that a group called The Top Notes recorded it a year before that?

“I Love Rock n Roll” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, arguably one of the most ubiquitous and recognized songs of the modern era, was originally released by The Arrows in 1975.

Animotion’s “Obsession”, unofficial theme song of the fashion world for more than 30 years, was originally recorded by Michael Des Barres & Holly Knight.

Madonna’s “Ray of Light” was adapted from “Sepheryn” by Curtiss Maldoon, though it’s not a direct cover.

Led Zeppelin have a storied history of borrowing, adapting, and straight-up stealing. A cursory Google search will provide many articles and videos discussing this, but the two examples which I think best fit the theme are “Dazed and Confused”, originally by Jake Holmes, and “Stairway to Heaven”, adapted from “Taurus” by Spirit.

Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” was adapted from “Crescent City Blues“, written by Gordon Jenkins and sung by Beverly Mahr. Also, more than half the songs on Cash’s 5 American Recordings albums are reinterpretations of a diverse selection of songs.

#music #cover songs #madonna #weird al yankovic #tom waits #beatles #cyndi lauper #bruce springsteen #killing me softly #twist and shout #johnny cash

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babs74 · 5 years ago

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Sunshine of your Love

Hallo! So this is my STL valentine for the lovely @anotheronebitestheskye. It’s my first ever go at writing, so please be gentle with me! But I’ve also actually really loved it! This is defo the start of a beautiful habit.

(I may actually be tempted to continue this story. It defo has legs!)

Fem!Reader x Ben Hardy

Mention of drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, but otherwise pretty vanilla.

It was the ocean y/n would miss most about this summer. The ocean and the music. Something about the way she could feel the cool spray against her face made everything feel that little bit more like an adventure.

Although to be fair, tonight was an adventure! Bernie had come to the ranch at the beginning of the summer to see the horses, and y/n had hoped he’d be back. Not that spending a summer in California wasn't her absolute dream, but after her first few weeks it was so lovely to hear a British accent again.

Not that she could even remember the quiet homesick girl from a few months ago. Maybe it was the ocean. Maybe the fact that months working outdoors made her legs look amazing in her tiny suede skirt (the one she was always too scared to wear back home, but had packed just in case…). Or maybe it was the music.

There has never been much of a music scene back in her quiet seaside hometown, but California in 1970 seemed to breathe music. Y/n had been reluctant when the other girls on the ranch had tried to drag her out to the Troubadour, but they said there had been this act last week called Elton John who was absolutely incredible, and they’d heard he might be back for more shows.

And he was British!

Well, she had been feeling low, so maybe something familiar would lift her mood.

It turned out Elton wouldn’t be back to the end of the summer, but the band that had played that night had blown her mind! The melodies, the lyrics, she’d never heard anything that felt so much like it was made actually for her. Definitely not the easy listening that seemed to constantly be on her parents radio back home.

Soon all her earnings from the ranch were going straight to Tower Records. She started to worry how she was going to get her ever growing record collection home! But she’d figure that out later.

She had one week left of this magical summer, and Bernie had been back at the ranch to invite her and the rest of the girls to the Troubadour where his ‘band’ were back to play. There was something different about him. His hair was that little bit longer, and he had definitely grown in confidence.

Maybe with some music and liqueur in him, he might actually have the confidence to make a move, y/n hoped.

*******

“Y/N! You came!!” Bernie shouted across the rammed bar.

“Bernie! Why the FUCK did you not mention you ‘band’ was Elton John, you sly little git”

Y/n made her way over to Bernie giggling and gave him a hug. As she broke away, she became painfully aware that in her enthusiasm for the set Elton had just played, she’d totally sweat through her gypsy top, and Bernie must have noticed. She cringed slightly.

She needn’t have worried though.

“Y/n, this is Heather. Heather, y/n. She works out on that ranch I was telling you about. It’s so beautiful out there, there are horses, and its all so wild, and...”

Y/n could see this wasn’t going to be the night. The look on Bernie’s face talking to this absolute goddess was enough for her to realise the battle was lost before she’d even managed to get a drink out of him!

Ah well, nothing lost I guess, thought y/n, so she grabbed herself a beer and was about to head back to her usual table when Bernie turned.

“Hey, you coming back for the after party? Think we’re going to head up to some cabin in Laurel Canyon, its meant to be amazing!”

Old y/n would have said no. Old y/n would have been worried she wouldn’t know anyone and been too nervous and just slink off home. But new y/n? California y/n? She had music in her soul, beer in her belly and a pack of smokes in her bag. Fuck it.

“Yeah sure! Will Elton be there? I can only imagine how crazy he is in real life. Shall I grab the girls as well?”

But Bernie was already back to swooning over Heather, so y/n grabbed the girls from their table and headed out front. She quickly spotted Elton’s band by their van, and was about to rally herself to go say hi when Penny, her closest and wildest friend at the ranch launched herself at them.

“Dee, hey baby!” She purred, wrapping herself around the bassist. Of course she had hooked up with the band when they first played here. Obviously. It was Penny. God y/n was going to miss her.

They piled into the back of the van, and two joints were sparked and handed round before they even got the door closed.

*******

Smoke and musicians tumbled out the van as they reached the house in the hills. Y/n had no idea whose place it was, but right now she didn’t care. She’d had a few swigs of Southern Comfort on the drive up, and in her head she was basically Janis Joplin, if only with slightly less hair.

She swung into the party with a gaggle of funsters; musicians, writers, groupies; no one could tell any difference now. You certainly wouldn’t have picked her out as a farm girl, but then that skirt really did work wonders!

But as y/n saw Penny disappear off with the bassist, she realised she didn’t actually know anyone here! She tried as best she could to imitate her best friend’s swagger, but the SoCo was wearing off, and she’d need some more Dutch courage if she was going to brave the party alone.

Drink in hand, y/n headed to the porch for a quick cig to calm herself before she threw herself headfirst into the hedonism. She fumbled a Marlborough light in between her lips (maybe the SoCo hadn’t worn off as much as she thought), but couldn’t for the life of her find her lighter in her small fringed bag.

“I swear I threw it in here before we…”

“Need a light?” Came a deep, gruff voice from behind her.

“That would be amazing, tha...oh...thanks!”

Y/n stumbled over her words as she spun around to be faced with the most beautiful, piercing eyes she had ever seen. She wasn’t sure if it was the booze coupled with the fresh air, but she suddenly felt quite dizzy.

She finally managed to get her sense back together.

“Yeah...yeah, thanks, I thought I had mine...but I must have...sorry you don’t care. Hi! I’m Y/n.”

“Hey y/n” he chuckled, “I’m Ben. Nice to meet another Brit out here.”

He looked down at his feet then fixed y/n with another mesmerising stare. God it felt like he could ruin her just with a look. But also, that kinda felt like...a move? Was that deliberate? Was he...flirting?

Y/n let out a giggle she wasn’t particularly proud of, but this man made her feel like a teenager! Get it together girl.

“Yeah, I’ve only met a few since I’ve been here. Came here with one actually, do you know Bernie?”

“Taupin? Yeah he’s an old mate! Reason I’m here actually as well. So...you’re here with him then?”

Those goddam eyes suddenly became incredibly puppy dog, and y/n couldn’t help but melt a bit. But also… “hang on”...she thought… “is he disappointed I might be taken?”

Y/n took it as a boost (along with another swig of her drink), and went for it.

“No no, not at all. I’m here by myself. Well, with you now I guess!”

Y/n tried to shoot Ben a flirty glance over the rim of her glass, but she suddenly felt incredibly inadequate in her eye-fuck game! She giggled to herself, but thought hell, we’re here now!

“So why are you here for Bernie?” Y/n continued.

“I’m a photographer. He asked me to come here with his band. I’ve been following that lot around all summer. It’s been great, but if I’m brutally honest, I’ll be glad to get back home. No one here can make a decent cuppa, and I know it sounds ridiculous...but…” he trailed off, smiling to himself and looked down at his feet again.

“What’s ridiculous? I’m sure it's not!” Y/n tried a tentative stroke of Ben’s not-insignificant arm as she started to feel really warm around him. And she was fairly sure this wasn’t just the booze anymore!

“It’s just, I miss my dog! She’s so cute, and...ah shit, I’m trying to come off as cool…I’ve ruined it haven’t I! Shit…” he trailed off with a chuckle.

“Not at all! I love animals. I’m actually working at a ranch down in the valley for the summer. I love working with the horses, hoping I can get a proper job in it one day. Need to finish uni first though. God, now I’m the one blabbering…”

“No, no way! I love hearing people talk about what they love. Girls always like the idea I’m a photographer, but they switch off as soon as I actually start talking about lenses and stuff.”

He’d gone full puppy dog again, and y/n couldn’t help but stare. God he was beautiful.

“Well!” She broke the silence, just on the verge of becoming awkward. “I can’t do anything about the dog, but you can definitely come by the ranch for a proper cup of tea! Might even have some custard creams my mum sent me left.”

Ben’s eyes lit up. Y/n could tell if it was the invite generally, or the biscuits in particular, but she knew that her stomach was suddenly doing backflips at the sight of his cheesy little smirk.

“Yeah definitely, sounds amazing! It’s a date.”

Those last few words nearly knocked y/n to the floor. She could feel another school girl giggle coming if she wasn’t careful.

Thankfully she heard the muffled opening riff of ‘Sunshine of your Love’ coming from the party inside. Cream was one of her favourite discoveries of the summer.

“Great! Come on, I love this song!” Y/n grabbed Ben’s hand and dragged him inside to enjoy the music. She thought she just might have discovered her best favourite yet...

#stl event #stlevent #my first fic #GAAAAAH #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy #elton john #bernie taupin #california

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handsofdarkness · 4 years ago

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Within Temptation’s singer Sharon den Adel …” I love vocalists who are emotional”

1. Tell us a little bit about the band and how long you have been together for some of our readers that may not know about the band?

We started as a band in 1996, but there was another band before Within Temptation, called ‘The Circle’. Most members who are in Within Temptation, have been in ‘The Circle’ as well and it was the exact same kind of music. So we’ve been together a little longer and started out early nineties. We’ve actually known each other since we were teenagers.

2. What got you into music and what keeps you going night after night playing?

When I look at the band, most of our parents have all been music lovers, so everybody has had a dose of good music coming from their families when growing up. I always had and I know a lot of others that had it too, so that got us into music. What keeps us going night after night, is just the fun of being together with band and crew, the joy that we have of playing live and the interaction with the audience: that is the best high you can get!

3. So, what is new with the band?..New Album out? New Videos?

We have a new single out called ‘Entertain You’. It’s about people being different and being treated that way: There’s always a group of people that don’t fit in and somehow we always have a need to emphasize that they do not fit in by singling them out, cornering them in all sorts of ways – think of viral videos, fights on the streets et cetera. These people didn’t ask to be different, they didn’t want to be different: people are just different. And that’s beautiful! The beauty is that by being different, these people bring so much color to our society, since our society is so uniform! These people are not here for our entertainment. If we don’t realise that, it’s maybe time for bit more self reflection and wonder why you are participating in such behaviour.

4. If you didn’t become a musician, what would you be doing right now?

Something with fashion, because I have a bachelor’s degree in fashion.

5. What is the weirdest or funniest question you have ever been asked?

To sign the weirdest stuff – body parts mostly!

6. If you can have your fans remember you for one thing, what would that be?

I hope they’ll remember us for our passion and the energetic interaction with the band – connected to beautiful personal memories that’ll last a lifetime!

7. On a scale of one to 2593, How good is your new single compared to your last single? (my attempt at humor, but please still answer)

Don’t ask me, ask the fans ;-). It’s like choosing between your favorites!

8. What do you feel is the best song you have released to date and why?

I like our newest single of course and at this moment, but there will always be a new one.

9. Do you think you can get any better as a musician/singer? And if so, How would you achieve that?

I think you never stop learning actually. I am still learning and I love it every single day. If you stop learning, then you stop living: nothing becomes relevant when you’re not developing yourself and I think that’s the most boring and depressing thing ever – if I have nothing left to learn!

10. If you could give your fans one random fact about you that you think they should (or should “not” know) about you what would that be?

As a kid I lived in different countries all around the world: Indonesia, Surinam and Yemen. I’ve also travelled with my parents in a super cool Volkswagen van in Australia & America!

11. You’re a new addition to the crayon box. What color would you be and why?

Turquoise, since it’s my favorite color!

12. Who are you inspired by?

I’ve been inspired by many – starting with a lot of country music artists like Olivia Newton John, The Eagles straight into Janis Joplin and then came Kurt Cobain/Nirvana and Tori Amos. I love vocalists who are emotional, vocalists that have a certain kind of melancholy, pureness or rawness to them.

13. What’s an average day like for you?

There are no average days in my life. Also now with quarantine, everything has turned upside down! But I like to go day by day.

14. Please discuss how you interact with and respond to fans?

I’m very easy to approach to my opinion, but I do find it important to be respectful both ways always.

15. Have you ever dealt with performance anxiety?

I’m still battling that haha ;-)! Especially at the beginning of a new tour I really have to get into it. My guitar player Ruud always reminds me of the fact that this is has always been always our biggest dream, to perform live as a band for a huge audience. It all starts with the fact that we are in the position to perform for so many people and every time he mentions that, it helps me relax and I enjoy every single second of it!

16. Tell me about your favorite performance venues?

It’s different every time. I like small venues because its more intimate but I also like bigger venues because then you can do more live – have flames and implement all kinds of stuff on stage that will make the show visually more interesting to watch. ‘Black Symphony’ is one of the most beautiful shows we’ve ever done: we’ve implemented street theater and collaborated with The Metropole Orchestra and Pa’dam Choir in front of 10.000 fans

17. What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?

It’s important most that when you start a band and you want to stand out from the crowd, that you add something unique to your music. Something that no one has done before and is very rare. So your own identity is the most important thing that you can add to music.

#Sharon den Adel #within temptation #2020 interviews

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sprnklersplashes · 5 years ago

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Ask and ye shall receive, the fic in which Karen decks a Republican in the face. Gretchen x Karen. Trigger warning for homophobic language.

There are a lot of really, really great things about being able to drive, Gretchen has come to realise. For one, she’s found it’s a really effective way to kick her anxiety in the ass. Slow down, focus on the road, and the little grey cloud starts to drift away. Two, it means she no longer has to walk to school, or get the bus, or even worse, get the car with Regina. It does mean she can no longer get rides with Janis, but they can carpool sometimes and it’s worth it for number three… She can drive Karen places. To school, home from school, out to the mall, home from the mall.

Or like now, when she’s picking her up from her yoga class. While it was initially something Karen’s mom signed her up for to keep her from getting bored and restless in the house, she’s taken a greater liking to it than either she or Gretchen could have anticipated. Especially with the array of outfits she now has, courtesy of a month ago when Gretchen let Karen drag her all around the sportswear store. Her Instagram is now filled with photos of her in her various colour coordinated outfits, completing the pose with her yoga mat and sticker-covered water bottle. Many of those photos were taken by Gretchen herself, both fulfilling her duty as girlfriend and making use of the photography skills she’s picked up over time. Except this time she’s doing it without a certain someone snipping at her every five seconds, so it’s even better.

Sitting on the hood of her car, she opens up the email about the photography course her dad had sent her. ‘Seems like something you’d like’ he had offered. ‘You know, you’re always taking pictures one that phone of yours and they turn out nice. Maybe you could do even better with a real camera’. Despite her protests over who would pay for a camera, she hasn’t stopped being tempted by it since her father proposed it. The more she read, the better it sounded, spending three weeks learning how to take the best shots, play with editing, practice with models (meaning drama students from the same art college, but hey, maybe she’d run into Damian there). As the last days of school approach, so does the deadline and she finds herself running out of reasons to say no. Something she’s used to, but in this context, it’s for once not a bad thing.

“Gretch!” When she looks up, she’s greeted to the sight of her girlfriend, sunshine hair and sunshine smile, scurrying across the parking lot to meet her. Her hair is held off her face in a high ponytail, the perfect style for kissing her neck later, but for now it’s perfect for yoga, and videos on her Instagram of the post-yoga ice cream she and Gretchen always get (she earns it, after all). She bounds up to Gretchen and throws her arms around her, giggling into the crook of her neck. “I missed you.”

“You shouldn’t miss me,” she replies. “You should be busy having fun.”

“I can do both,” Karen grins. “So are we getting ice cream?”

“Of course we are,” Gretchen replies.

“Oh wait, I need to kiss you first!” Gretchen barely has any time to laugh before Karen pulls her against her and presses a sweet kiss to her lips, tasting like strawberry lipgloss and mint-tinged water. A thrill runs down her spine and it banishes any bad thoughts that could lurk in her mind.

“Excuse me?” a voice says from behind them. They pull apart for Gretchen to see a girl around their age, maybe younger, a yoga mat also thrown over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow at the two of them, eyes narrowed. There’s something in her gaze, the contempt in the curl of her mouth that makes Gretchen instinctively want to pull away from Karen.

“Oh hi Molly!” Karen says brightly. “Gretchen, this is Molly, she does yoga with me. Molly this is Gretchen, my girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” Molly echoes flatly, her eyes flitting over Gretchen. While the sun doesn’t disappear overhead, but the parking lot gets colder. “You’re…. a lesbian?”

“Oh, I’m pansexual,” she corrects, her voice still sunny as ever. “See?” She taps the pan flag sticker on her bottle. “Gretchen’s a lesbian though. So’s our friend Janis.”

“Okay,” Molly says sharply. Karen’s smile dips. Gretchen wraps her own shaking hand around Karen’s. Molly flicks her ponytail off her shoulder and marches towards them, making Gretchen’s heart pound. Luckily for her, she maintains a little distance between them. “Look Karen, I don’t mind your lifestyle. In fact, I respect it. A lot. But for God’s sake….”

Gretchen tries not to visibly cringe, but the words cause a hurt in her chest that’s not unlike her usual anxiety, but there’s a cold undercurrent to it, the words sickeningly familiar and picking at her skin. She tries to swallow pas the hard lump in her throat.

“What’s wrong?” Karen asks, beautifully oblivious.

“Karen,” Molly scoffs. At that moment, Gretchen bites the inside of her cheek, her chest flushing and while it’s not the first time she’s gotten angry, she’s still unused to it. She hasn’t gotten into the habit of letting it out in the moment rather than her usual “put it in a bottle, push it down and let it fester” tactic. But she doesn’t think she can push it down this time around. “Karen… there are kids here.”

“Yeah I know!” she goes on, glancing at the kid’s ballet class two doors down from her yoga studio. “They’re cute aren’t they?”

“Yes. And they don’t need to be exposed to that kind of lifestyle.”

An invisible weight slams into Gretchen’s stomach, harder than any punch. She sinks down onto the hood of the car on cold legs. Her whole body is cold, her limbs feeling as though they’ve been detached from one another and float next to each other. When she tears begin to form in her eyes, she can’t even muster up the effort to blink them away. She’s not like Cady, who looks for the best in people, or Janis, who even when she gets hurt, follows it up with a middle finger. Where they make impacts, Gretchen just gets impacted.

Karen’s mouth falls open when she takes a look at her, and her gentle, warm fingers wipe her cheeks, kissing the wet tracks. Then her jaw sets, her shoulders tense underneath her tank top and she whips around to face the other girl, so quickly Gretchen is treated to a ponytail in the face.

“You know what, Molly?” Karen says, striding over to her. “You are really not nice.”

Molly whirls around and nearly falls to the ground, not of her own accord, but because Karen just punched her in the face. She shakes out her hand, wincing and checking for marks, meanwhile Molly looks at her with her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide and blazing. She stands there, frozen in that tableau, the only sound being the tiny, appalled squeaks escaping her mouth as she searches for the right words. Or any words.

“Don’t be mean,” Karen hisses. If Gretchen wasn’t watching the scene for herself, she wouldn’t even think that was Karen speaking. “Especially not to Gretchen.”

Yet when she turns around, all she sees is Karen, pushing a loose strand of hair away from her face and grinning at her.

“So are we going for ice cream now?” she asks, as if there wasn’t a dazed and shell-shocked girl holding her cheek, an angry purple bruise already beginning to form there.

“Sure,” Gretchen says, her eyes still lingering on Molly. Dazed, she follows Karen into the car and hops into the driver’s seat while Karen toys with the radio and starts humming and dancing along with the pop song that blasts out of the speakers. Her dancing is only slightly off beat, her humming occasionally punctuated with a nonsensical noise. As they pull out of the parking lot, Molly gets to her feet, still staring after the car in utter shock, fury evident in her tight fists. Her bag swings around just in time for Gretchen to see the red Trump sticker glaring out at them and she grimaces. “Oh, gross.”

“So gross,” Karen agrees as she applies lipgloss. “She’s really gross.”

“You took care of her,” she adds, smirking. Karen hums casually and shrugs, screwing the lid of her lipgloss back on tightly.

“She had it coming,” she says. “I don’t like mean people. Especially when they’re mean to you.” With pink cheeks, Gretchen lifts Karen’s hand in her free one and kisses it.

“You’re the best,” she says, meaning every word. “Though I really want to know where you learned to punch like that.”

“Janis taught me!” she says proudly and Gretchen has to hold herself back from groaning. There’s another conversation to be had later. “By the way, I might start taking up boxing. There’s this cool adults class my mom found.” Shaking her head, Gretchen smiles and heads off down the road in the direction of the ice cream parlour, trying to imagine Karen in kickboxing.

Well, if nothing else, it’s more ice cream dates for them.

#mean girls broadway #karen x gretchen #gretchen wieners #karen smith #laura leigh turner meet me in the pit

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hlupdate · 5 years ago

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He is the face of Gucci's new fragrance, an ultra-modern pop star and an exquisite young man, and Harry Styles may be content with his premature achievements. But he prefers to choose to be alone and fade out of the public eye, with curiosity or even greed to touch the music.

"So French!" The young man in a Mickey Mouse sweater smiled softly, facing the sometimes excited and blushing editorial team of magazines. On the day after the interview, his new song was launched, and it attracted more than 1.5 million followers in just a few hours. After a brief retreat, or after a breath-recovery process like holding his breath, a series of bumps began, and this was the return of Harry Styles. Harry, who has just soloed from One Direction (the band sold 50 million records over a six-year career and has since ceased indefinitely), achieved his personal career and released his first solo album in 2017. People saw him transforming. He was no longer the Harry of the 1D band, but became an independent artist, receiving reviews from music critics, and going in harmony with this era. He is fickle, he treats his sexual orientation peacefully, he defends equality, and supports same-sex marriage. The pop singer who has grown up in the greenhouse has now become a cocoon. Gucci's vibrant, poetic and destructive creative director Alessandro Michele, who is responsible for the styling of Harry's first tour after solo, has been selected as this fashion season Image ambassador for the new fragrance "Gucci Mémoire d'une Odeur". Soon before our meeting, he just spread some clear signals in an American journal, announcing some song samples of the new album: in recent months, he has been listening to McCartney, reading Murakami sang with Stevie Nicks in preparation for the new album. So on the day we met, we found two pieces of evidence that witnessed his creative journey over the past few months. The content of these songs is full, exquisitely arranged, delicate and at the same time rough and unruly, like an ecstatic intoxication, but also the sorrow of dawn and dawn, all of which show a large album full of color and temperature collision.

While anxiously waiting to jump into the vortex of public attention (album promotion, touring, and many things in celebrity life), the 25-year-old boy calmly told with restraint and enthusiasm throughout the day. Yourself. (To be honest, he did not try to avoid the eyes of passers-by. Instead, he walked in the panties between the two shots and ate Asian takeaway meals at the corner of the street instead of sipping healthy celery juice or eating Steamed tofu.) "The first smell I remember was probably the smell in her mother's kitchen, the smell of her roasted meat, and the smell of perfume on her." This is how this good son, also a contemporary superstar, is. Express his memory related to smell.

However, if one day Harry lives in your house by accident, who knows if this will happen? Never let him feed your cat, because he said: "I have been accompanied by cats every time I grew up, every time When I feed them, the taste of cat food makes me unbearable. "

It can be said that his cooperation with Alexandro Michele is not a pretense, and their creative lines coincide. "Alexandro is a free thinker, and his way of working is very enlightening. If he wants to do something, he will do it. It's that simple. It's impressive, especially for a big When working at a brand. This is great when you have the opportunity to participate in the work of a recognized master. He doesn't ask about class, age, or business. He does everything for everyone, everyone, I I think that any kind of art should be like that. "He talked about childhood again (yes, childhood seems to be yesterday in his eyes)": I like 'scent memory', I like its freshness, and it can be based on the user The different and changing characteristics. This perfume reminds me of the summer of childhood. Sitting with friends by the lake, where I grew up, smelling the fragrance of wild flowers ... "Today this Times exactly reflect the poem of Henri Michaux: "Night is not like daylight, it has great flexibility." That is to say, Michele's method is very suitable, even with this kind of abandoning the rules The approach is closely related. "Boundaries are gradually falling, whether in fashion, music festivals, film and television, or the art world ... I don't think people are still looking for differences in this category. Even if there is still a gender distinction in the world, they The line between them is also the subject of creation. People no longer need to be this or that person. I think that people are simply trying to get better. In fashion and other fields, these standards are not as strict as before, which brings Great freedom, exciting. "

"Although Michelle doesn't necessarily ask for my opinion, we will show some ideas to each other. It is cool to get opinions from people who are not necessarily in the same field as you, and you respect his work and taste "We noticed a new motivation, perhaps a new way of writing, which came from taking control of our careers. In short, when a seductive carefree and cruelly erodes talent, a serious mentality that a person shows ": writing songs is surfing. You can train as much as you can, and the waves Sometimes it doesn't. But we still need training to get better. It's impossible to sit down one day and think about writing the best song of my life. It takes a lot of effort. "

He worked in a bakery ten years ago, but now he has become the company's bet, the star and the focus of media attention. Whether out of fantasy or fact, he ca n’t help asking such a young man. How to get rid of this cobweb of public opinion. "Becoming famous is something I'm still learning and experiencing. I learn how to filter out what I like and dislike, pick out what can be integrated into the song, and what I don't want to share. Find a balance. Sometimes wondering how people think about this or that lyrics ... it means accepting to show off their fragile side, but at the same time, it makes the whole adventure exciting The reason. "He said.

Indeed, when he revealed some clues about the upcoming album, the excitement was obvious, hoping that he could express "a sense of freedom". This feeling is not completely new to some hot idols, especially some like "Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger, Stevie Niks, Janis Joplin Joplin) and Prince ". In contrast to this crowd is Nick Drake, whom he likes to listen to recently. The outstanding singer's music is full and well-crafted, giving people a joy. "When I look at them, I don't know what it is, but it's there. It's a strange thing. They transcend the limits. When it comes to songwriting, McCartney has always had a huge impact on me. I was lucky Some of them are strong, and in my eyes, they have always been awesome. "

He arrived in a special car (with a driver, a small freezer and dark windows), and instead walked to the corner bar for a beer, and the number of people accompanying him decreased.

Looking at the back of this millennial superstar, we think again of the teenager wearing an exaggerated cardigan, dreaming of standing out in the TV singer competition. Today, behind him is a gentle fragrance of wildflowers and Sunday lunch.

#translation via google translate #so very rough #please let us know if there are edits #harry styles #291119 #lofficiel hommes

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papermoonloveslucy · 4 years ago

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WILDCAT

December 17, 1960

Wildcat is a musical comedy about Wildcat Jackson and her sister who come to oil country in 1912 to strike it rich. She runs into the prowess of Joe Dynamite, and a battle of the sexes and the oil tycoons ensues.

Wildcat wasn’t written with the 48 year-old queen of comedy in mind so when she showed interest, the script by N. Richard Nash had to be radically re-written.

At the start of the 1960’s Ball’s career was taking a new direction. She was leaving her TV personae Lucy Ricardo (as well as her real-life husband Desi Arnaz) behind for newer horizons. It was their company Desilu that would produce Wildcat with Lucy having say over who would be cast as her co-star. After several of her first choices proved not available (including Clint Eastwood), she settled on Keith Andes.

Although Ball was not known for her singing (a fact she traded on in “I Love Lucy”) or her dancing (which she was far better at), she had the determination of Wildcat Jackson to attempt it eight times a week.

Director and choreographer Michael Kidd – known for his athletic dances – would put Ball through her paces. The score was by Cy Coleman with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, giving Ball the rousing anthem “Hey, Look Me Over!” and the tuneful “What Takes My Fancy.”

The out-of-town critics were mixed, but obviously adored the red-headed star. The show was headed up the New Jersey Turnpike in trucks headed for Broadway when a serious blizzard stranded the caravan, causing the opening night to be delayed.

With just two previews under their belt, the show opened at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon) on December 17, 1960. Box office sales were buoyed by audiences expecting to see Lucy Ricardo, not Lucille Ball as Wildy Jackson, so eventually Ball interpolated more and more of her trademark comic inflections into her character.

Then Ball took ill. She left the show for a bit with the idea to return and continue the run. But upon her return she collapsed on stage. Producers decided to close the show for as long as it took her to recover and resume when her strength and health had returned. But the musicians union insisted upon payment during the hiatus, which made the wait financially unfeasible.

All in all, Wildcat lasted 171 performances. It wasn’t Ball’s only musical, however. In 1974 she took on the title role in the film of Mame with mixed to poor critical reactions.

"Then I go to New York with the two children, my mother and two maids. We have a seven-room apartment on 69th Street at Lexington. I’ll start rehearsals right away for a Broadway show, 'Wildcat.’ It’s a comedy with music, not a musical comedy, but the music is important. I play a girl wildcatter in the Southwestern oil fields around the turn of the century. It was written by N. Richard Nash, who wrote 'The Rainmaker.’ He is co-producer with Michael Kidd, the director. We’re still looking for a leading man. I want an unknown. He has to be big, husky, around 40. He has to be able to throw me around, and I’m a pretty big girl. He has to be able to sing, at least a little. I have to sing, too. It’s pretty bad. When I practice, I hold my hands over my ears. We open out of town - I don’t know where - and come to New York in December.” ~ Lucille Ball, TV Guide, July 16, 1960

THE SCORE

Lyrics by Carolyn Leigh and Music by Cy Coleman

Act I

I Hear - Townspeople

Hey, Look Me Over - Wildy and Jane

Wildcat* - Wildy and Townspeople

You've Come Home - Joe

That's What I Want for Janie* - Wildy

What Takes My Fancy - Wildy and Sookie

You're a Liar - Wildy and Joe

One Day We Dance - Hank and Jane

Give a Little Whistle and I'll Be There - Wildy, Joe, The Crew

Tall Hope - Tattoo, Oney, Sadie, Matt and Crew

Act II

Tippy Tippy Toes - Wildy and Countess

El Sombrero

Corduroy Road

You've Come Home (Reprise) - Joe

(*) Songs cut sometime after opening night.

THE CAST

Lucille Ball (Wildcat Jackson) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon, which was not a success and was canceled after just 13 episodes.

Keith Andes (Joe Dynamite) was born John Charles Andes in Ocean City, New Jersey, in 1920. Andes played Lucy Carmichael’s boyfriend Bill King on “The Lucy Show” in “Lucy Goes Duck Hunting” (TLS S2;E6) and “Lucy and the Winter Sports” (TLS S3;E3) and played Brad Collins in “Lucy and Joan” (S4;E4) co-starring Joan Blondell. Andes took his own life in 2005 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Valerie Harper (Dancer, right) became one of television’s most recognizable stars as “Rhoda” (1974-78) a spin-off of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” She appeared in at “Kennedy Center Presents” honoring Lucy in 1986. She died in August 2019 after a long battle with brain cancer.

Paula Stewart (Janie) appears in the fourth of her six Broadway musicals between 1951 and 1965. Her only series television appearance opposite Lucille Ball was in “Lucy and Harry’s Tonsils” (HL S2;E5) in 1969. In 2017, she published a memoir titled Lucy Loved Me, about her friendship with Lucille Ball.

Hal Linden (Matt, replacement) became one of television’s most recognizable stars as “Barney Miller” (1974-82). He appeared at an “All-Star Party for Lucille Ball” in 1984 and at “Kennedy Center Presents” honoring Lucy in 1986.

Howard Fischer (Sheriff Sam Gore)

Ken Ayers (Barney)

Anthony Saverino (Luke)

Edith King (Countess Emily O'Brien)

Clifford David (Hank)

HF Green (Miguel)

Don Tomkins (Sookie)

Charles Braswell (Matt)

Bill Linton (Corky)

Swen Swenson (Oney)

Ray Mason (Sandy)

Bill Walker (Tattoo)

Al Lanti (Cisco)

Bill Richards (Postman)

Marsha Wagner (Inez)

Wendy Nickerson (Blonde)

Betty Jane Watson (Wildy Understudy)

Dancers: Barbara Beck, Robert Bakanic, Mel Davidson, Penny Ann Green, Lucia Lambert, Ronald Lee, Jacqueline Maria, Frank Pietrie, Adriane Rogers, John Sharpe, Gerald Tiejelo

Singers: Lee Green, Jan Leighton, Urylee Leonardos, Virginia Oswald, Jeanne Steele, Gene Varrone

MRS. MORTON

Lucy met Gary Morton while doing Wildcat on Broadway. She put off their first date due to her rigorous performance schedule. Eventually, he showed up with a pizza just when Lucy was craving one. They married on November 19, 1961.

Comic Jack Carter served as best man at Lucy and Gary’s wedding in 1961. A few weeks later he married Paula Stewart, who played Lucy’s sister Janie in Wildcat. He acted in “Lucy Sues Mooney” (TLS S6;E12).

“HEY LOOK ME OVER!”

On June 4, 1976 Lucille is joined by Valerie Harper and Dinah Shore on “Dinah!” to sing her signature song from Wildcat, “Hey, Look Me Over.”

When Lucille Ball was celebrated at “The Kennedy Center Honors” in December 1986, Valerie Harper, Beatrice Arthur, and Pam Dawber sang a song parody of the “I Love Lucy” theme expressing their affection for Lucy. The medley ends with a specially-tailored “Hey Look Me Over”.

In “Lucy and Carol Burnett: Part 2″ (TLS S6;E15) on December 11, 1967, Lucy, Carol, and the ensemble perform “Hey, Look Me Over” with specially written lyrics to suit the episode’s theme of air travel.

In “Lucy Meets Danny Kaye” (TLS S3;E15) on December 28, 1964, the opening of “The Danny Kaye Show” is underscored with the music to “Hey, Look Me Over.”

While David Frost is trying to sleep during a transatlantic flight, Lucy wears her headset and hums along to “Hey Look Me Over” while tapping it out on the glasses with her cutlery. The scene is from “Lucy Helps David Frost Go Night-Night” (HL S4;E12) aired on November 12, 1971.

In “Lucy and Petula Clark” (HL S5;E8) in 1972, Lucy Carter leaves the office singing “Hey Look Me Over.”

On “Life With Lucy,” Lucy’s grandson Kevin plays on the YMCA soccer team The Wildcats. The name of the team is probably a reference to Lucille Ball’s only Broadway show.

In the second scene of “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do” (1986), an un-aired episode of “Life With Lucy”, Lucy comes down the stairs of the living room singing “Hey Look Me Over.”

WILDCAT WILDCARDS

In April 1961, Lucille Ball played softball in Central Park for the Broadway Show League when she was appearing in Wildcat. Julie Andrews (starring in Camelot) was the catcher! The catcher was Joe E. Brown.

In the play Love! Valour! Compassion! Buzz, a gay musical theater aficionado (Nathan Lane on Broadway) breaks the fourth wall (a common conceit of the play) to tell the audience something personal about himself.

The song title was also the title of a 2018 revue about rarely produced musicals at City Center in New York City. Performer Carolee Carmello called it her “hair homage to Lucille Ball.”

~ From the memoir Under the Radar by Clifford David, who played Hal in Wildcat

#Wildcat #Lucille Ball #Lucy #Broadway #Musical #Keith Andes #Gary Morton #Paula Stewart #Valerie Harper #Clifford David #Cy Coleman #Hey Look Me Over #Alvin Theatre #Hal Linden #Richard Nash #Life With Lucy #Here's Lucy #The Lucy Show #TV

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