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anika-ann · 4 years ago

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In the Strangest Place (We Just Might Find Love) - Pt.1

Type: two-shot, pretty much canon

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader Word count: 3700

Summary: You’re hiding from your boss in a supply closet, minding your own business, when a stranger joins you unexpectedly.

This is not a beginning of a steamy story; given the reason you’re hanging out in the dark, even a make-out session is honestly the last thing you want to fantasize about right now.

But that doesn’t mean that the nice stranger cannot make your day much better.

Warnings: mention of sexual harassment, a bit of angst, attempt at humour, language

You were on the verge of screaming – or crying, you honestly weren't sure anymore. But you knew you were done. You had worked your fingers to a bone just to get here; to become a little bee in the most famous hive in Manhattan. Stark Industries. The Stark/Avengers Tower. The beacon of the New York skyline. The dream coming true.

Yeah, not so much.

You hadn't expected super-important assignments – after all, you were just an assistant to the head of one of too many departments – but God, you had not expected to be handling coffee so often. To be running ridiculous errands. Your degree from MIT should actually mean something here! If nothing else than that you were not just some pretty face and that you fucking didn’t deserve the treatment you were receiving.

And that was the root of trouble, really. You could handle making your way up, it would be tiring but not surprising, it was pretty much what you had assigned for.

But you had not assigned for the sexist comments, disgusting innuendo and for the grabby hands of your sleazy boss. Thomas Gregory was a fucking nightmare of a man and you swore that you were quitting if he called you a ‘Dollface’ or slapped your ass one more time.

And that was how you had got here, into this very moment; hiding in a dark supply closet like a creep with two cups of overpriced coffee in a cup holder and a piece of organic carob-nut muffin.

You weren't about to come out any time soon, because you simply knew your boss still would be a pig and give you yet another reason to hand in your notice and you had fucking wanted this job for so long, worked for it so hard and sacrificed too much that you just couldn't make yourself to quit no matter how much your skin cringed and your stomach rolled over every time Thomas Gregory touched you. It was so frustrating you wanted to scream.

Or cry, you still couldn't solve the dilemma. Maybe both.

You barely registered the hurried footsteps – and then the door was yanked open, you glimpsed a tall blond male figure and suddenly there was dark again. Except there was one more body in the very limited room of the closet, making you press your back onto the shelf.

Something rattled with your movement and the newcomer hissed a barely audible ‘Be quiet’ as two columns of muscles that were probably his arms framed your head leaning onto the very same shelf, so you could both fit in here.

The little order leaving his lips broke the last seal inside you. You were tired, frustrated and were receiving enough humiliation as it was, you did not need some random guy invading your hideout, barking orders.

“Look, mister, if you have any problem with me trying to make a little space for you in this tiny-ass closet, I recommend you to-”

“Shh!” he hushed you and you thought you had never heard someone whisper so urgently; at least it sounded less bossy than before. It did not mollify you though, because this guy actually had enough impudence to-

“Don't you dare to shush me-!”

A hand went to cover your mouth and you let out an exasperated mumble of curses, while his voice continued.

“Please, just— I'm sorry, please, don't make a sound, my friend is trying to set me up and-”

Your eyes went wide and he suddenly fell silent. Before you could question his methods of shutting you up, his exclaim or the pause, and ask him to be so kind to find another closet, another male voice sounded somewhere behind the door.

“Come on, Steeeve. Man, don't be such a prude. Lillian is a great chic, okay?”

The man – the friend, you assumed – seemed annoyed and you couldn't believe that Steve had not been kidding you. He was actually hiding for the very reason he had offered you. You nodded as you heard the stranger behind the door move and the hand covering your mouth hesitantly disappeared.

“It's just a lip piercing, don't be such a tight-ass. It can actually be quite fun, you wouldn't believe what a girl can do with such thing…”

“Gross,” you commented soundlessly and you could feel your companion’s eyes burning a hole into your head in silent agreement.

“Goddammit, Steve!”

The voice and the footsteps slowly disappeared in the distance and you… you were face to face with a stranger named Steve in a limited space of a dark supply closet, his breath tickling your scalp, his cologne very much assaulting your nose; at least it was a pleasant assault.

“I'm sorry for being so rude. And thank you,” his voice caressed your hairline gently and hearing his suddenly polite tone and evaluating this whole situation, you could barely hold back a giggle all of sudden.

“You're welcome, Steve. How long has this been going on?”

“Two days-” That didn't sound too bad, he could probably take a lot more- “-at this level. With Lillian. It was Emily before that and Angelina before that. In smaller scale, it's been happening for about four months,” he recited dutifully as if he was reporting a status to his boss and this time you couldn’t help it – you giggled.

When you could feel the wounded gaze he gave you, you obediently made a sympathetic noise.

“Aww, poor you, your friend supplying you with no doubt great relationship material…”

“That’s what he said! But I don't want a relationship material. I don't want any material, not even his… one-night stand material. What does that mean anyway? These are women he's talking about, not a material-”

You let out a tiny pleased sound at his exasperation, which shut him up. You wondered if it was your turn to speak – it was hard to tell, supply-closet conversations weren't exactly your area of expertise.

“Kudos for that thinking,” you noted after short silence and the darker shadow of his figure tilted his head. “Did you try to tell him that you weren't interested…? Of course you did, why am I asking, that was a stupid question…”

“It's okay. I'm sorry, I got a little… carried away. It just… it's like talking to a brick wall.”

You hummed in sympathy again and the room fell into silence once more.

It was ridiculous how much your mind started working over hundred percent, trying to come up with something appropriate to say. The best you could do was:

“Hey, you want a cup of overpriced organic coffee? I happen to have two.”

The needy noise that let his lips was downright pornographic. Or maybe it was your mind playing tricks on you, the strange environment finally getting to you.

“I knew I smelled coffee here! I thought I went completely insane.”

You couldn't help but smile at that. Yeah, you knew the feeling all too well.

“Nope, your senses were not playing tricks on you. Help yourself. It should be around your left hand.” A rustling of a paper bag. “Oh. That's a carob-nut muffin – with carob instead of cocoa. You can have that too, I won't need that.”

“Alright, I gotta ask. Why are you hiding in a supply closet, with a muffin and two cups of expensive coffee nonetheless? And may I hand you one?”

“Such a gentleman. Thanks,” you murmured and accepted the cup. You weren't lying about not needing it – you wouldn't. Because you were about to quit; it was inevitable.

You sipped the warm liquid, its taste as bitter as the reason behind your actions.

“So?”

“I'm hiding from my boss.”

Your voice must have sounded terrible, because his own softened at the confession.

“And why is that?”

“Because if I bring him his coffee and muffin, he'll probably call me his good girl and— and slap my butt and-”

“I beg your pardon?” he growled, like honest to God growled, the strange sound warming your scalp.

And it was the righteous outrage in the sound he let out, the reaction that you needed, someone agreeing with you – a stranger, who wouldn’t feel obliged to do so just it was a duty of being a good friend to you – that made the levee break. Suddenly tears were streaming down your face, anger and humiliation, and your breath was hitching in embarrassing hiccups and the dark space felt so anonymous and safe at the same time that you didn't even care anymore.

“And if he does that I’ll have to– to quit, because I-I'm so fucking fed up with his dis-disgusting hands and si-sickening voice voicing his lizard thoughts a-and I ca-can't quit goddammit, I worked so fucking hard to-to get a job h-here and-”

You didn't realise your hands started trembling until the cup disappeared from them, placed back on the shelf, and a pair of much bigger and warmer hands gently enveloped yours, his body shifting just a little closer as he lost the support that had been keeping some distance between you.

“Hey, hey, shh, it's gonna be okay…” his voice washed over you soothingly, sounding almost at your ear.

Still, there was space between your bodies, a respectable distance – as respectable as possible in the limited space. It was as if he acknowledged it could make you uncomfortable – which probably wasn't exactly hard to figure out, given what you just told him.

“I'm sorry,” you sobbed and cleared your throat afterwards in attempt to compose yourself. “I didn't mean to load that on you, my problems are none of your concern-”

“Like hell they aren't. Sexual harassment on a workplace is everyone's concern, or it should be,” he grunted. His hands tightened their grip, not uncomfortably – reassuring. “This okay?”

You smiled through your tears. This Steve guy was really sweet to you. You almost forgot what it was like to be treated with respect.

“Y-yeah. Thank you for-- for asking. That was really nice.”

He huffed. “It should be a normal human decency. And I did grab you before that, sorry.”

“Something tells me you would let go if I said no more vehemently.”

“Of course I would.”

You gave him a watery smile he couldn't see and tried to calm your breathing completely. His thumb caressing your wrist helped. You wondered which department he was from; if his skills in comforting came with a job description or if he was a natural.

“Have you… have you tried to fill in a report?” he asked hesitantly, making your heart stop.

Oh yeah, you had. It had ended up in a shredder machine, because Thomas had spotted it. He had made you do it yourself, standing over you and watching, claiming the complaint had been baseless and it would pointless to hand it anyway, because he would explain the HR how it truly was. That you had made a move and he, the good father and husband he had been, politely turned you down, which turned you vengeful.

You whispered the story to Steve, your voice trembling, more tears escaping and you could immediately tell he believed you – because his grip grew steely strong, his teeth grinding.

“This is wrong. You should have never been forced to work for a man like him– objectifying you, touching you, threatening you, that's just--- you should talk to Tony,” he blurted out in the end and you frowned.

“Who's Tony?”

You had checked the whole HR department via their website when doing your research. You couldn't recall any Tony.

There was a short pause, broken by Steve's confused voice. “Stark.”

You blinked, wondering if Steve was joking. He didn't sound like he was joking, which was strange, because so far, he had seemed to be a smart and reasonable man.

“There's no way I'm scoring a meeting with Mr. Stark. And it's not like he’s dealing with things like that.”

“...Talk to Pepper then. I doubt she has bigger than zero tolerance for harassment,” he exclaimed confidently as if talking to Pepper Potts (this time you assumed whom he was talking about – did he call all of the big bosses their first name…?) was an option for a regular human being like you. Realizing that all over again though, that was tough.

“While I believe that’s her policy, it's not like I can just walk into her office.”

Steve seemed to consider that, while his thumb was still drawing patterns on your skin, almost subconsciously.

“I think you could. But if you're worried it might take a while and you’re scared to go back to your office now, let me walk you. I can explain him that every employee deserves to be treated with respect,” he offered finally, deadly serious, yet still sounding kind.

Your heart swelled. A guy you just met (in a supply closet, a good story to be narrated at parties, you supposed), suggested to help you out, no hesitation. God, wasn't he just too pure for this world?

“I… thank you, Steve. But… while you do have an impressive frame, I think it would only get worse. I think I'll just enjoy this extremely hipster coffee, which I'll later have to pay for no doubt and… and go face my boss to hand him my resignation. There are plenty jobs, right? I can as well serve coffee in a café,” you said with a sad smile, letting your hands slip from his comfortable hold.

“That's not right. Especially if you worked hard to– not to mention it's a matter of principle. You run away once and… running is a very hard habit to break,” he whispered, as if a secret, trying to reason with you.

You bit your lip when the truth of his words washed over you, along with the way he spoke; with such a strong believe in principles that should stand a standard. It… he made you forgot your own trouble for a second as you let yourself get lost in him. In the way he treated you, the protector's persona, yet not forced. He had suggested you to ‘let him come with you’, not even a note of command in his approach. This was not a man seeing an opportunity to be a hero when spotting the damsel in distress; this was a man who believed in what was right and wanted to fix things that were apparently broken. You wished there were more men like him, selfishly wanting one of them to be your boss.

“And men like these – they need to be put in line,” he added darkly, snapping you from your daydreaming of a better world. “Let me come with you. I'll—I’ll help you fill in the forms, walk you to HR. You don't have to deal with this alone.”

For all the comfort the dark had offered you so far, you wished for a little bit more light now, enough to see his face, his eyes. You knew they would be burning with honesty, you were sure of it, maybe a little rage aimed at a man who dared to treat another human being the way he did.

The offer was so tempting. But just imagining the security escorting Steve from the building for wanting to help you was enough to put out the fiery need to accept. It was ridiculous to care so much about his well-being after what could be minutes of knowing him, but no one could call you out on it. And if they did, you could always play it cool with ‘matter of principles’; good people only deserved good things.

You carefully reached out, hoping to find his hand again. Your heart skipped a beat when you brushed his thigh instead, but at least his hand was right next to it. He released a surprised breath when you took it into yours, way smaller one. You bit your lip when leaning in a little, blindly trying to meet his gaze.

“You’re a good man, Steve. I’m sorry your friend is giving you a hard time, you don't deserve that – even though I'm sure he means well. If you ever want to get him off your back...” you wavered at the ridiculous idea, but hey, why the hell not, he had offered to help you out first, “you can say you're seeing someone. Give him my card. I'll confirm we're together – he seems like a kind of a guy who would check.”

Shocked breathless laugh erupted from his chest and you assumed you hit the nail on the head. You fished out one of your business cards, handing it to him and releasing his hand then.

It was time to leave and face your fate, but Steve didn't make any attempt at moving out of the closet.

In fact, he seemed to examine the card for a while and then he quietly read out your name. You gasped in surprise. How the hell could he see anything? You could barely make out his silhouette!

“How-”

“I'm used to working in dark spaces,” he muttered absently. “Would you really do that?”

Slightly taken aback he was considering your offer, you nodded, only to realize he couldn't see it--- actually, he probably could.

“I would. Hell, I think I could handle one uncomfortable dinner with your friend vetting me,” you added, slightly amused at the idea. When you could hear his shocked exhale and wanted to take it back. “I didn't mean to-”

“Let me come with you to your office,” he repeated like a broken record and you frowned at the sudden change of topic.

“What-”

“It could throw your boss off your back for long enough for you to deal with the complaint. If you would be comfortable enough to play my girlfriend for a dinner time, why not now?”

Your eyes went wide and you almost choked on air.

“I-what? I told you it would probably only make it worse-”

“It will work.”

“How can you be so-”

The door yanked open and your eyes were hit by an unpleasantly sharp light, making you squint.

“Holy-” a ridiculously familiar voice you couldn’t place breathed out. “Wilson! I found him! You’ve gotta see this!”

You wanted to see the owner of the voice, but your view was completely blocked by the broad chest of your companion.

So you at least raised your head to meet Steve face to face so to speak. You couldn’t see much, your eyes still adjusting; with the light shining from behind him, playing a mysterious game with his blond locks, framing his impressive figure, he looked like a freaking angel, beautiful and righteous, bringing justice, yet wrapped in an aura of peace and serenity. You barely kept your jaw from falling on the floor.

You kept staring, focusing on his face, and slowly started realizing that his features too, were familiar. Mortification was creeping up your back as the puzzle pieces started falling into place, creating a horrifying picture, making you wish for the Earth to swallow you.

The voice from behind Steve’s back resolved the last doubts you had about your temporary mysterious roommate.

“Wouldn’t peg you as a get-freaky-in-a-closet kind of guy, Capsicle.”

You wanted to immediately protest that you had definitely not been getting freaky in the closet, but your brain was still frozen because of the big revelation – that you had just been comforted, hell, that you had just offered to be a fake date to Captain America.

You simply stared at him, unbeing able to hold your jaw from falling anymore. Because– because-- oh god.

Now it made perfect sense that he thought Thomas Gregory would be intimidated… by the idea of harassing Captain America’s girlfriend. You couldn’t really blame Steve for being sure it would work. Also, it kinda explained why he called Mr. Stark or Ms. Potts their first names – they were on the first name basis.

Which really was the least relevant thing right now.

A bashful smile appeared on Steve’s lips, a little guilty perhaps, and you just… giggled at the absurdity. You couldn’t help it. You had just spent minutes in a supply closet with Steve Rogers without having a single clue about it and while you didn’t do anything heated as someone would assume, it was one of the most amazing minutes of your life.

You must have looked like an idiot or something, because he chuckled too, completely ignoring another male voice growing in volume as the newcomer approached.

“Holy hell, man! I can’t believe what I’m seeing!”

At those words, Steve tentatively took your hand with an encouraging smile and led you out to the hall. You were met with two pairs of curious eyes examining you from head to toe. You lowered your gaze, now fully aware of the fact they belonged to Tony Stark – the Iron Man – and Samuel Wilson – the Falcon.

Well. Now the ‘party story’ finally got the right juice.

“Then don’t, Sam, because it’s not what it looks like,” Steve replied to his match-maker friend and took a deep breath, squeezing your hand tighter. “Tony, this woman would like to report harassment on her workplace.”

Your head snapped to Steve’s face with panicked gaze. What the hell was he doing?!

Tony Stark made a noise of disapproval.

“Couldn’t you try harder so she wouldn’t complain about you?”

“Tony,” Steve addressed him, his voice solemn just like his expression, which clearly surprised the billionaire. “I’m serious. It’s not about me. Her boss is the reason why she was hiding here.”

Without commenting any further, Steve handed him your business card and Mr. Stark hummed. You weren’t brave enough to look up. Was he going to wave it off? Was he going to fire you?

He said your name, making you gulp in fright. You had to look up now and you really didn’t wanna, too afraid of what you’d see. You were shocked to meet with a searching gaze, but not a mean one.

“It is true? Is your boss giving you trouble? Making sexist comments? Worse?”

You felt tears in your eyes, utterly taken aback by his sensitive tone, the inviting light in his eyes. It was too much to bear and you wanted to escape the kind gaze; and he wouldn’t let you. You only managed to nod when you felt Steve’s thumb caressing the back of your hand.

Mr. Stark sighed, adding a dark ‘goddammit’, and returned Steve the business card.

“Alright, kids. Let’s have a trip.”

And you just stared.

…what?

Part 2

I know, I know, Steve is a little bit of Knight-In-Shining-Armour here, but it made sense to me O:-)

Happy weekend!

Thank you for reading!

#fanfiction #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you #steve rogers imagine #captain america x reader #captain america x you #captain america imagine #steve rogers #captain america #steve rogers fanfic #steve rogers fanfiction #captain america fanfic #captain america fanfiction #civilian reader #in the strangest place we just might find love #anika ann

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newtonsheffield · 3 years ago

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Can you tell us how Edmund reacts to his son being a complete idiot in love ?🥺

Oh Edmund thinks it's VERY sweet that his son is such a human disaster around Kate.

(I'm gonna stick to my teen AU for this because we're actually getting some Edmund POV eventually in When Anthony met Kate)

Edmund cannot stop chuckling to himself when he comes home and sees Anthony studying for Geography, practically hanging off every word Kate says. It's only later that he remembers Anthony doesn't even take Geography. And it's really very sweet when Anthony wins his Rugby games and he happily spins his not girlfriend around as she wears his spare Jersey. And the way Anthony's ears go red when he puts her down and stands in front of her his hands in his hair nervously is very endearing. As Edmund finds himself whispering "Kiss her, mate! Go on, you can do it!" Supporting his son from a distance, wincing as Anthony slips on the wet grass, Katie Sheffield's arms darting out to catch him only to be dragged down with him. "Oh you've slipped over. That's okay too you can get her next time." And as sweet as it is that Anthony seems a little head over heels in love with Katie, it's also a little worrying because Anthony is the kind of kid who devotes himself 100% to something, and he will see t through until the bitter end. and that's a little worrying because Anthony's 17 and when he eventually does stumble out the words to ask the girl out they seem very... committed is probably the best word, and Edmund can hardly judge because he met Violet at 18 and they fell stupidly in love and everyone said they were too young as well. But it's very different to watch your child do the same.

now some of you were asking for Edmund and Violet's side of Anthony's impromptu little sleepover so here it is

At first, Edmund hadn't noticed anything amiss on Saturday morning. He'd risen early, to Hyacinth crying softly in her crib and told Violet to go back to sleep. He'd done, as he usually did and checked on his younger children as he made his way through the corridor, Gregory leaping from bed, his little glasses shoved on his face excitedly as he clambered onto Edmund's shoulders to go downstairs and make pancakes for everyone else. And maybe it made him a bad parent, but he usually left his older boys to their own devices until they meandered downstairs after 9. They were getting older, Anthony was practically an adult now, and they deserved some privacy, Edmund remembered a little too well what it was like to be a teenage boy.

And so until Violet walked downstairs and frowned when she saw him, he didn't assume there was anything wrong. "Are you here? I thought you'd gone out?" Edmund himself frowned, his voice bewildered "No? Why would you assume that?" "The car's not in the drive." and Edmund's heart stopped, his eyes darting around the kitchen looking for the keys he was sure he had left on the counter. Nothing. Panic rising in his chest as he looked for signs that anything else had been taken again nothing. "Fuck! have we been robbed?!" Edmund said gesturing around a little wildly with his spatula ignoring Gregory's chirped Swear Jar Daddy!

Violet shrugged calmly, she was always calm when it mattered, walked from the room, no doubt to look around and let out a noise halfway between a squeal and a sigh. Panic racing through Edmund, his heart pounding as he rushed through the house. "What happened?!" He said a little breathlessly, frowning a little when he saw Violet looking down at her phone of all things. "Well I think we know where the car is." She said lightly, passing the phone to Edmund. He looked curiously down at it, his stomach doing an odd little flutter when he recognised Anthony's yoda pyjamas, his hair sticking up in all directions in the most adorable embrace with his girlfriend Edmund had ever seen.

"I should be cross, but that's really very sweet." Violet said sighing a little, and honestly Edmund had to agree but even with the innocence of the situation he'd have to talk to Anthony. His own phone rang minutes later the name Tom Sheffield flashing on the screen. Edmund took a deep breath, bracing himself to deal with the irate father of a teenage girl who thought his son was some kind of sex pest.

"Hi Tom." Edmund said as he picked up the phone wincing a little. "Edmund, you need to have a chat with that boy of yours about respecting boundaries! And when it’s appropriate to be found in a girl’s bed by her father!” Thomas Sheffield said irritatedly by way of greeting. Edmund winced, well that wasn't ideal, Anthony would be lucky if he wasn't banned from the Sheffield home altogether. "Mate, I'm so sorry, we had no idea he was going to go over there and try anything. I'm sorry if you feel Katie's been disrespected. Do you think they were...?" He cut himself off unable to ask the question.

“No, they didn’t bless him he had his yoda pyjamas on and it was very sweet actually but still!” Thomas sighed. Edmund cleared his throat, a little relieved that he at least didn't have to apologise for his son having defiled his girlfriend (all normal teen behaviour of course) in an environment where her younger sister could have walked in at any time. "Right, Well I'll be talking to Anthony about this, Sorry again." Another sigh, "Obviously don't tell him I said this, I want him to be a little frightened of me, but he's a good kid and I don't think he was trying anything. Katie gets a little... stressed when it rains and think he was just trying to comfort her. You've raised a good kid Edmund." Edmund's heart pounding as he said "Thanks Tom, Your Katie's a great girl."

By the time Anthony arrived home, Edmund was waiting for him in the kitchen the rest of the family distracted by Violet upstairs, and the poor boy looked miserable. "Your Mother and I were worried sick, son." And they had been for 45 seconds, about the car mostly but even so. Anthony ducked his head his cheeks burning. "I wasn't trying to...It wasn't like that. Katie just... she called me and she was really nervous because of the storm and Dad, I didn't know what else to do I just wanted to help her." His voice sounded small, weak. and Edmund's heart ached at the innocence of it all. At the sweetness of the boy he'd raised. He sighed. "And I get that Anthony, it's very admirable. But Mate, you can't sneak into people's houses. Or out of this one without letting Mum and Me know okay? We were just worried something had happened." Anthony nodded, silence filling the room. Edmund cleared his throat awkwardly for the next part. "Anthony, when we like girls, or boys, or anyone, It's pretty normal to want to-" Anthony looked up a little appalled. "Dad, Please! I know all of this! And I'm- we're not-" Anthony spluttered his cheeks bright red.

Edmund cleared his throat again awkwardly. "I'm not trying to embarrass you, Anthony, but sex is normal but your Mother and want you to be safe so she wanted me to give you these." He slid a box of condoms towards his son, his own cheeks burning in embarrassment, almost as much as Anthony's. "Dad," He whined, "Why can't you just tell me not to like a normal Dad?!" His eyes were fixed on his slippers. "because that doesn't work Mate, and if you're going to be in a relationship, you're going to protect yourself and her." Silence again before Anthony nodded.

"Good. Now get upstairs but remember Anthony, we respect women in this family. You ask for consent before you touch her and you listen to what she says." Edmund finished firmly. Anthony, who had turned away his cheeks burning suddenly looked back at Edmund with an incredibly intense look on his face. "Dad, I respect Katie. I think I love her, actually, I'd never do anything to hurt her." And as he watched Anthony walk quietly upstairs Edmund wondered if maybe he wasn't such a bad parent after all.

#a slamming screen door #teenage!kathony #kathony #anthony x kate #anthony bridgerton #kate sheffield #kate sharma #edmund bridgerton #violet bridgerton #edmund and violet raised a respectful king #he had respect women juice for breakfast #every day #molly's asks and answers

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trashyswitch · 4 years ago

Text

Glam Times With Freddy

Gregory had quickly discovered that Glam Freddy was a loving robot rather than a killer robot. In an attempt to play with him and get to know him: Gregory discovers that the technology of the 2000's had gotten so advanced that Glam Freddy had been given special features similar to humans! One such: reaction to touch.

This fanfic is for @planet--venus. I hope you enjoy, my special owl!

Gregory stared out the small crack in the confined space to make sure the security guard didn’t find him. He was so nervous that the security guard would find him and get him in trouble. All he wanted was a free day of fun without long lines and crowded rooms. And what did he end up getting? A frightful night filled with animatronics that wanna kill him, and a security guard who he swears is secretly evil.

Well...the animatronic part wasn’t entirely true…

Gregory took a break from looking through the piggy hole and looked around at the orange space he was hiding in. It was small, but surprisingly more spacious than he expected. It was nice of the Freddy bear robot to let him hide here. He would’ve been caught if it weren’t for him.

He was happy to know there was at least one sparing robot.

Soon, the robot started to speak. “You doing okay there, pal?” Freddy asked.

Gregory nodded and hummed. “Mhm.”

“I think she’s gone. Would ya like to stretch your legs?” Freddy asked him.

Gregory took one last look at the mall through the piggy hole before finally agreeing. “Okay.”

Freddy opened up his orange stomach compartment and watched as Gregory climbed out. Gregory got himself back up and looked up at Freddy with a smile. “Thank you Mr. Freddy!” Gregory told him.

“You’re welcome, little bud!” Freddy knelt himself down on one knee in front of Gregory and held out a hand. “Could you please tell me your name?” He asked.

The kid smiled. “I’m Gregory.”

Freddy placed his hand onto his own knee and looked down a moment to process the name. Then, he looked up at the kid again. “Gregory! I like it!” Freddy reacted. Then, he stood up and held out his hand again. “Would Gregory like to go on a walk with me in my stomach compartment?” Freddy asked him.

Gregory widened his eyes and smiled excitedly. This was beginning to become a dream come true! “YES!” Greg quickly covered his mouth. He looked up at Freddy and nodded his head in slight embarrassment and worry.

Freddy opened up his stomach compartment and let Gregory hold onto his orange finger for balance. Gregory hopped back into the stomach and watched as the door cover closed to only let in a small amount of light through the piggy hole.

“All aboard the Super Glam Freddy Ride! Please keep all hands and feet inside the compartment at all times, and feel free to enjoy our joyous view from the smallest hole in history provided to you by Fazbear Entertainment!” Freddy announced as he poked the piggy hole.

Gregory giggled at the silly announcement and bursted out laughing at Freddy’s poke to the hole.

“Now on your left, we have Monty’s gigantic staaaAAAAGH!” Freddy jumped and grabbed his stomach. He looked down at Gregory. “Why are you poking me?” The animatronic asked.

Gregory giggled. “You poked me first!”

“I didn’t poke you, I poked my own belly.” Freddy mentioned.

Gregory just smiled and poked the inside of the belly again. Glam Fred jumped again and actually yelped in surprise! Upon hearing that, Gregory bursted out laughing!

“Hey! Quit doing that!” Glam Freddy ordered.

“But it’s fun!” Gregory reacted as he started rubbing the orange stomach walls. “And you feel so smooth!”

Freddy quickly covered his mouth and leaned against the nearest wall. “S-Stahahap!” Glam Freddy ordered. “Ihihis thihis nehehessessahahary?!” He asked.

Gregory didn’t really understand why Freddy was giggling and moving around at first. But, he wasn’t complaining in the least bit. Gregory moved to the other side of the belly compartment and felt the right side and the front of his belly with his palms.

Freddy quickly started tittering and leaned over with his arm across his stomach. This caused Gregory’s body to belly flop into the compartment door! The kid let out a surprised “Ouch!” as he pushed his head up a little. “Mr. Fred sir?”

“Hehehe- Huh?” Freddy looked down at his stomach and widened his eyes as he realized what had happened! He pulled himself back onto his feet again and listened as Gregory’s body flopped onto the ground of the stomach. “You okay there buddy?” He asked.

“I’m okay!” Gregory declared with a giggle. “Are you ticklish, Mr. Freddy?”

Freddy tilted his head. Ticklish?

Gregory didn’t end up with an answer. So, he tested it out himself: Gregory rubbed his hands around the compartment walls and let his hands move across the smooth, bright, hidden surface.

Freddy let out a surprised shriek and guffawed! “HAHAhahaha! Whahahat- NOHOHOHO WHAHAHAT IHIHIS THIHIHIHIS?!” Freddy shouted.

Gregory smiled excitedly, revealing a missing tooth. “Hey! You ARE ticklish!” Gregory declared.

Freddy’s hands were turned into tight fists while his one foot was tapping rapidly in an attempt to handle such strange feelings. Why did the kid feel the need to touch his belly?! And why did his touching feel so weird?! Is this normal?! Or was it a glitch? And if it were, why wasn’t it discovered during the testing period?!

“WhoOoOoOoOa! YoOou’s shaAaAaking around a LOoOt!” Gregory reacted, moving his voice up and down with Freddy’s wobbly movements.

Freddy was shaking, vibrating, and jumping around absolutely everywhere. He couldn’t keep himself still! He felt an overwhelming need to move around and shake all the wiggles and giggles right out of him! But the more he felt the kid’s hands, the more he wanted to wiggle and squirm!

Gregory was struggling from inside the compartment. Freddy’s constant moving and jiggling was making him dizzy and off balanced. In an attempt to get control of himself, Gregory pushed his knees and feet into the other side of the compartment.

Freddy froze up like a deer in headlights for only a second or two...before SQUEALING! “GREHEHEHEHEGOHORY BUHUHUDDYYYY!” Freddy had completely EXPLODED with plenty of quick movements and laughter! He tapped both his feet against the ground like a rabbit and finally leaned over and held his stomach before flopping onto his side.

Of course, this caused Greg to lose his leg grip and flop against the left side of the compartment. Thankfully, Gregory was not hurt. But unfortunately, this lack of injury would allow Gregory the time to grow mischievous and evil…

“Ooooh Freeedyyyy~?” Gregory called.

“Y-Yes? Are you O-Okay?” Freddy replied, hoping he didn’t hurt him.

“I’m fine! But yoooouuu...are in trouble~” Gregory started teasing.

Freddy widened his eyes. Oh NO! He was right! He IS in trouble! He’s gonna get deactivated for nearly injuring a child!

But all those worries about getting deactivated, quickly got thrown out the window the moment he felt the child’s hands tickling and spidering all over different spots in his belly compartment. Freddy guffawed and let loose all his laughter! He had quickly started kicking his feet and rolling around on the floor as he laughed, cackled and giggled to his heart’s content.

Gregory was ecstatic! The fact that such a large bear could be reduced to a big puddle of giggles and laughs, was mind-blowing to the kid! He knew all about the programming capabilities from playing video games and AI simulation games, but seeing this was just strange! And yet also exciting!

“GREHEHEHEHEG! YOHOHOHOU’RE KIHIHIHILLIHING MEHEHEHE!” Freddy yelled to him.

Gregory just laughed at that. “You can’t die! You’re a robot!”

Freddy held his stomach tightly as he realized Gregory was right. He couldn’t die. He can barely even overload! His hard drive was built to handle tons of action without overheating. So it would be a while till he started overheating from too much movement or thoughts.

Suddenly, a figure showed up in the corner of his eye! It looked like a bunny ear! Freddy looked towards it and desperately held his hand out. “HEHEHEHELP MEEEHEHEHE!”

The bunny looked like it had been skipping around the mall before it found him. Now, the bunny was just staring at Glam Freddy with its cheerful, yet dead-looking eyes.

Meanwhile, Gregory was just giggling at Freddy’s pleas. “Help you? Why help you when tickling you is more fun?” Gregory declared.

“HAHAHAHAHAhahaha! MEHEHEHEANIHIHIE!” Freddy yelled at him.

“Hey! No mean names!” Greg ordered. “Bad bear.” Gregory stopped tickling and finished off with a poke to the top of Freddy’s compartment. Freddy jumped again before finally falling limp. Freddy’s AI was rambling on and on from all the touch stimulation he just experienced. It wouldn’t stop going! It was like the codes were running super behind and were desperately trying to catch up.

Gregory soon knocked on the compartment wall again, surprising Freddy by accident. “Can I get out now?” The kid asked.

Freddy giggled at both the tickly knock and the kid’s question. It was just like him to get bored. If it weren’t for the discovery of Freddy’s ticklishness, Gregory would’ve gotten bored long ago.

Freddy nodded and opened up the compartment door. Out rolled Gregory, landing on his back with a big smile on his face. “That was fun!”

Freddy chuckled. “Fun for you.”

Greg tilted his head. “You didn’t like it?”

Freddy blinked in surprise. “I did, but I was worried I’d hurt you.”

Gregory smiled. “I’m not hurt. I’m fine! See?” Gregory stood up and presented himself proudly. But his pride quickly turned to fear as he realized there was a white bunny standing right behind Freddy. Gregory slowly started taking steps away from the two beings. The bunny looked evil and deceiving...and he didn’t want to fall into its trap.

Quickly, Gregory hid himself behind a pot and waited for the bunny to skip itself away. He listened for an interaction between the bunny and the bear.

“Hello Mr. Bunny! How are you this fine e-EEK! Uh oh! Wait! M-Mr. Bunny let’s talk about thihihis- HAHAHAHAhahahaha!”

Gregory widened his eyes and turned to peek at the scene. What in the world was happening? Gregory slowly smiled as he watched the scene:

Freddy was pushing his hands against the bunny’s shoulders while the bunny was skittering its white paws all over Freddy’s belly. He could guess that the bunny had been watching the scene from before and decided to test it out!

“Stahahahap ihihihihihit! Nahahat yohohohou toohohohoho!” Freddy begged.

To make things worse, the bunny had moved one of its fingers to his chin and started scratching there. Freddy let out lots of higher-pitched giggles and scrunched up his arms against his chest. The bear even started tapping his foot! And the further back the finger scratched on the chin, the faster Freddy’s foot would tap! “Stahahahahahap ihihihit tihihihicklehehehes thehehehehere!” Freddy tried to talk. But you could tell the words were coming out filled with giggles and not really making sense.

Not only that, but Freddy wasn’t even moving his chin away from the finger!

Finally, the bunny moved its paws over to the tapping foot and lifted it up a little. Curiously, the bunny fluttered a single finger on the bottom of Freddy’s foot. And WOW, did Freddy ever SCREECH! The bear was so taken back by the strong ticklish sensation he felt, that he nearly kicked the bunny in the face!

The bunny quickly jumped back to avoid injury, and looked at Freddy from afar. The bunny took the moment to scratch its head, almost as if it was confused.

Freddy looked back at the bunny awkwardly. “Yeah...sorry about that. My sensors are very strange.” Freddy admitted.

The bunny stared at Glam Freddy for a little longer. But right as it started to turn around and leave, Freddy started to wonder something: “Do you have sensors too?” The bunny turned bacl to face Freddy and was suddenly bombarded with pokes from Glam Freddy.

Suddenly, the bunny threw its paws out to defend itself and tried to push Freddy’s hands away. Gregory gasped quietly as Freddy continued trying to poke the bunny’s tummy. Despite the bunny’s blocking abilities, Freddy did manage to land a few good pokes. It was enough to make the bunny lean over and cover up its own sensitive belly.

Freddy smiled widely! “You have sensors too!” Glam Freddy had declared.

But before Freddy could land another single poke, the bunny turned itself around and sprinted as quickly as its legs could carry it. With an arm across its belly; the bunny sprinted all the way down the hall, turned to the right, and disappeared through a door frame.

The bunny was now long gone, and Freddy didn’t know how to feel about it. “Maybe the bunny doesn’t like being poked.” Freddy wondered out loud.

“But I know YOU DO!” Gregory added.

Freddy felt a pair of fingers poke his sides. He jumped and quickly grabbed his sides. “HEY! Well-”

“You already told me you liked it.” Greg casually reminded him.

Glam Freddy thought for a moment and widened his eyes when he realized: Oh yeah...He DID tell him that! “...I...Guess I did.”

“So do you like it, Mr. Fred sir?” The kid asked.

Freddy smiled and knelt down on one knee. He lifted Gregory up onto his wide shoulders and let him hold onto his permanently attached top hat. “Yes! I believe I do like it!” Freddy finally replied proudly.

Gregory threw his fists up into the air and clapped his hands. “Yay! I knew it! I knew it all along!”

“But no poking me while I’m carrying you in my compartment or on my shoulders.” Freddy ordered nicely.

But Gregory giggled and gave Freddy’s orange ear a little poke. “No promises.”

Much to Freddy’s surprise, the ear poke made him wanna giggle as well. He didn’t really understand why it felt so weird and why he was made that way. Maybe he’ll be able to ask his creator one day. But for now: Freddy happily carried Gregory on his shoulders as they walked around the mall for a while. And Gregory managed to keep his hands relatively to himself!

...Well, for the most part anyway. But, a few ear pokes never hurt anyone.

#ticklefic #ler!gregory #switch!glamfred #lee!vanny #background security girl #fluff

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tokyoghoose · 5 years ago

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nous aimons tous les deux jours

pairing: dabi x reader

playlist: things we never say - bad bad habits*, sincerity is scary - the 1975, love love love - of monsters and men, if i go, im going - gregory alan isakov, i dont know me like you do - low hum, if i get high - nothing but thieves ( alice kristiansen cover ), i dare you - the regrettes, problems - deathbyromy, fool of you - meltt, hell and you - amigo the devil, creature - it looks sad, tongues and teeth - the crane wives, hooked ( addicted you might say ) - eleisha eagle, nothings gonna hurt you baby - cigarettes after sex, a dream of you - far caspian, so alright, cool, whatever - the happy fits, a lovely night - ryan gosling

warnings: mentions of violence, brief mentions of drugs for expression, and suggestive themes

summary: we love every other day

announcements!

this is my first try at a enemies/lover thingy! Originally it was going to be an enemy to lovers but i liked the idea that they're just on opposing sides a little more haha. Lemme know if you'd like to see the other one though!

i know there are a lot of hero x villain fics like this out there 😌 this is my take on it, so please bare with me!

feedback is welcome and appreciated! requests are open!

"We really have to stop meeting like this."

An addiction. That's what it is. Either that or it's some kind of reverse psychology like you want what you can't have—because nothing else makes sense. If you knew him as a regular person, honestly you probably wouldn't have given him a second thought. If he was a hero you worked beside—or god forbid a villain—then you probably wouldn't have cared for a hookup or two, but then you'd get over it. It's not infatuation. It's an addiction. It's toxic and unhealthy and it just feels good even if it shouldn't. But the high; the high is unbeatable.

It continues on forever and more. From the moment his gaze pierces yours it's like snorting a rail of coke or taking a tab and the trip never ends. It's not even the fact you could get caught. You two are so damn obvious; anyone who stumbles into an alleyway at three in the morning would see the two of you doing more than what a fight warrants. It's just him. It's simply Dabi.

Romeo and Juliette's syndrome is probably a better term for it. But hell, it's not like he'd die for you. Right? It's not like you've known each other way longer than some days and nights and you certainly aren't teenagers and he's definitely not somebody who moves onto a girl and decides he's in love at first sight just because his 'rosaline' left him face down ass up. So maybe Romeo and Juliette is just lack of a better term.

But it's so unfair. How the hell are you supposed to escape him when it's like he's around every corner. With every breath you take, it's like he's an inch closer to crushing your chest with his. And maybe you want him to? This isn't very hero-like.

"You're the one always tracking me down, doll."

The pet name sends shivers down your spine and it makes you want him all the more.

Who am I? What has gotten into me?

You blame the pink tint to your cheeks on the brisk wind of the night, but the heat to them is a large contrast. You cross your arms over your chest and scoff, trying to look taller, stronger, and broader. Not in a threatening way, but more a warning.

This time you'll really take him out.

"In case you forgot, it's my job."

You tell yourself that every time.

And every time he gets away.

"I'm not doing anything but taking a walk."

He steps closer, the already short distance between you two getting shorter. The streetlamp that cuts the scene in half flickers, a moth flying away from the light and towards the moon. You count three squares in distance and you resist the urge to step back.

"You're a wanted criminal, Dabi."

He doesn't deny it but scoffs anyway, shoving his hands into his pockets leisurely. It's like he's never bothered. You're just a nat he's waiting to squash. You have to remind yourself of that: You're just prey.

"I think you just miss me." His tone is serious, but he's only teasing—no matter how true it is. You're starting to think that he can read minds—it's actually quite concerning.

You force a laugh past your lips, trying to show you aren't bothered by what he says. It's just a game of cat and mouse, and it's time the roles switch.

"Please. I could throw you in jail right now."

"But you wouldn't do that. Isn't that right, bunny?"

Your guard faulters and it gives him the opening he needs to corner you completely—and quite literally. It's a blink of an eye and he has you against the brick wall. It'd look rather suspicious to anyone passing, or maybe it looks endearing. But it doesn't matter, to begin with when it's a barren street. Even the crickets seem to have fled.

It's like wherever Dabi walks, everything else scatters. If it were the sea, you're sure it'd part red.

Dabi smirks, trapping you between his body and the cool, damp bricks. The mist from earlier rain seeps slowly into your hero suit, sending a violent chill down your spine. His other hand touches your hip, fingers grazing the fabric so faintly that it'd feel non-existent if it weren't for the heat radiating off them. You hitch your breath when his nose nudges your neck, his hot breath causes shivers and his eyes bore into your own with something mischievous.

"I-"

His lips ghost the skin of your neck and you subconsciously pull it taut, tilting your head to the side. You're beginning to hate how your body arches into his and how it reacts to the simplest of touches.

Like a brick to a window, your dissolve shattered easily.

Dabi quirks a brow, challenging you to continue as you sputter about. It's embarrassing. You can hear him say it now, just like so many times before: "Oh? A big hero like you getting flustered by a big bad villain like me? How cute."

Your walkie talkie comes alive with static and a voice cuts in asking for help to take down a gang of criminals a few cities over.

My saving grace.

"I-I have to go." You push him away by the shoulders with sudden confidence, but he doesn't seem to put up much resistance.

God, you want to wipe the smug smirk off his face.

He backs off and turns with an unbothered wave, proving his point that you wouldn't- couldn't touch him, much less win against him in any sort of battle. The untouchable.

"Until next time, right?"

———

It's like a new tide from the moon—how fast your feelings towards him change. He's awful. A criminal, a villain, a murderer. He's the literal icon of everything your against.. or of what you're supposed to be against.

But you understand him. You get his whys and you feel his emotion like you're apart of them. You empathize with him and it makes you so fucking angry at yourself because you know—as a hero—you should never side with a villain like him, no matter how much sense he starts to make.

Blame it on his tone and the smoothness of his words. He's just a swindler.

The next time isn't even a full week later. He technically protects you from some randoms in an alleyway and you catch him in the act of it all, turning to catch whoever was following you, only to be met with cold blue eyes and a pile of ashes in front of you.

Of course, it ultimately ends in the same place it always does; his bed.

His scent and touch linger a little too long after these meetings and you decide once again that this is the last time.

It's a real shame you have to blame it on his body heat and not the undeniable attraction you feel towards him. But you suppose that could count towards it.

His hands are anywhere—everywhere—and they leave a fire in their wake. It's too much and still not enough. All you want is to be closer. Fingers in his hair, pulling him into you until you can't, and then pulling him in more. It's like air, the way you breathe him in. When you finally give into dabi it no longer becomes a crime, but a necessity.

It's overbearing and messy and awful, but you can't help but slip into his embrace and into his warmth.

It's freezing and he's the sun.

Tangled in between cotton sheets, you feel him rub circles into your shoulder and you hear his heartbeat. It's reassuring to know someone like him even has one. Then again, he probably wouldn't have protected you if he didn't have one. How many times has he saved you from harm's way? Honestly, one time is too many.

It almost makes this fling of yours respectable. It almost makes you want to admit you're falling for that smug face and bad attitude.

"We talked about what we'd do if we ran into your league again, you know?"

Why on earth would you bring that up of all things, y/n?

He doesn't need to know anything about your career, much less your plans to take his team down.

"Hmm.. is that so?" Dabi's fingers move up to draw languid circles into your collarbone before shifting slightly to loom over you. His other hand comes to rest on your hip, sending a searing, but welcomed heat to the flesh. You hiss quietly at the sensation, already knowing there's a bruise forming from the activities not too long ago. His lips replace his hand on your neck and he removes his arm from under your head to hold himself up.

Your hand finds his messy hair, fingers delving into the raven locks and tugging gently as he makes his way to the column of your throat and to your ear. He nips at it, nose brushing against your jaw; his hot breath creating goosebumps that rise to your flesh.

"I like knowing you think of me when I'm not around, Angel."

The tone and raspiness of his voice makes you groan, feeling him kiss beneath your jaw. You just know he's smirking at the reactions he elicits from you because you can feel it. He enjoys watching your internal struggle. You can't act like you didn't choose to form whatever this is with him.

You tug his hair to look at him, bringing his face up and he almost looks annoyed that you disrupted his path heading down towards your chest. Your lips ghost over each other's and you lean in for a kiss, only for him to pull away and leave you chasing.

"I also like when you call my name."

Your hand falls from his hair to cup his jaw, practically pulling him forward into a kiss. It's rough to cover up the intimacy and need behind it. His fingers dig into the plush of your hip, thumb pressed into your stomach before his hand goes upward with an ulterior motive.

Pulling away from him before he can initiate anything more, you run your thumb across his lips and the silver bands that adore the lower half of his face. Surprisingly enough, it didn't take long to adjust to the different textures

"And I like how you kiss me."

This almost feels too domestic—not that you mind, but you're positive he knows you're wrapped around his finger, in the palm of his hand. It's impossible to hide it now. Your actions speak louder than the three words on the tip of your tongue, poisoning your mind.

It makes you cringe when you think about it all. How easily he can get into your head and twist your arm. Some nights you catch yourself thinking that maybe you'll be able to convince him to open his eyes a little wider to see your point of view, especially when you've begun to see his. They're horrible—the villains you go against, but he makes them seem so different. You hate how he makes you double think everything.

He playfully nips at your thumb when you push it gently between his lips, teasingly. His hands trail up your arms, pulling them off of him and above your head. You're the one who makes the move to intertwine fingers as he pushes them down harshly on the pillow underneath you. Insatiable. That's what he is. Is it so wrong to keep wanting more?

The sun beginning to rise over the horizon and spilling in through the window doesn't seem to stir him as he makes his descent from your lips.

You already know that by the next morning you'll hate him and that surrounds him. You'll hate yourself for listening to your heart instead of your head simply because it just 'feels so right.' It's a constant cycle between the two of you, and you're sure he feels the same. He doesn't agree with anything you stand by like a hero, but there's something that keeps him close enough.

There's only so much you can expect, even when you deny it over and over.

But god, you have to stop meeting like this.

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pendragonsandbuckleys · 4 years ago

Text

hold me like the moon holds onto the tide (3/3)

Summary: Kidnapped and locked in a cell with no escape. Alex and Michael are faced with an ex-Caulfield employee who is prepared to do anything to get alien powers of his own. (Inspired by the Daisy/Sousa scenes in Agents of Shield 7x06)

Word Count: 3,804

[Also on AO3] [Part One] [Part Two]

“What about the time he tripped over your guitar and smashed his head into the table?” Flint leaned back as he spoke. The hard plastic of the chair was digging into his back and it squeaked as he tried to get comfortable.

He’d never liked hospitals. The strong antiseptic smell that seemed to linger in the air. The rush of people in the day and the quiet hallways at night. The big scary words that made no sense but always seemed to mean something bad. The unnatural mix of cleanliness and death.

He didn’t mind them so much when he was younger. His mother had always told him that they were hopeful places, where illnesses were cured and lives were saved. Thinking back, it was probably just her protective way of trying to calm his nerves whenever a grandparent was sick.

But at that age, her positive nature imbued in him a childish hope that the doctors would be able to help his brother. That soon they would realise that that many broken bones and bruised ribs a year was so much more than just a clumsy child falling off his bike or losing his grip whilst climbing a tree.

He couldn’t remember when he’d stopped wishing for someone to work it out and just accepted that no one would. It was probably around the same time he’d stopped accompanying his brother on his too frequent visits and had left that responsibility for someone else.

The last time he had actually stepped foot inside a hospital was after his unfortunate accident during CrashCon. Healing up in the unwelcoming, lonely hospital room for a week wasn’t fun but at least he hadn’t needed to worry about the condition of anyone else during that time.

No, the last time he’d been on the waiting for news end was during his last tour when several members of his team had been seriously injured.

Until now. Which is why part of him was glad that he wasn’t alone in his vigil.

“He must have been about eight, right?”

“Oh my god, there was blood everywhere!” Gregory grimaced as he looked over at him, horrified that his brother was even bringing up that memory.

Flint laughed softly at how uncomfortable the recollection had clearly made his brother, ”You felt so guilty! I don’t think you even got your guitar out of its case for months afterwards.”

Gregory shook his head, a smile playing on his lips. He wasn’t sure when this game between them of who had the most embarrassing moments had just straight up turned into a list of which brother had managed to injure another the most.

It was true though. He hadn’t slept properly for days after that incident. Every time he had closed his eyes he had seen Alex’s poor little face covered in blood and tears and snot and he’d felt the guilt brewing inside him. He had avoided the guitar out of fear that he would somehow manage to wound his brother with it again.

To this day he still makes sure that the instrument is kept off the floor.

“You know, growing up, I think that was the last time he was in the hospital where it wasn’t dad that put him there.” He replied sombrely.

Flint hummed in response. He had run out of words to say on that subject. It was a topic that had slipped frequently into discussions between the two of them during their months of reconciliation and it always ended in the acknowledgement of their guilt and desire to do better.

Gregory pressed the heel of his hand into his eye. It had been a long day and he could feel the hours catching up with him. “I really hoped I would never have to see him in a hospital again.”

"Were you there after he lost his leg?” Flint asked.

“No, I didn’t even know it had happened ’til months later. Did you?”

”No. I think Dad went though.”

“Seriously?”

Flint nodded with an unamused look on his face.

“Why? It’s not like he went to go play the loving father.” Gregory asked, genuinely confused as to why his dad would even bother to take the time to go and see Alex.

Flint shook his head as he repositioned himself again. At this rate he was honestly considering going on a hunt for a pillow. “That man didn’t know the first thing about being a loving father.”

Gregory’s brows furrowed as he failed to hide his surprise at that statement. The expression was so familiar and Flint couldn’t hold back an exasperated eye roll.

“Don’t give me that look, I may have followed in his footsteps but I know exactly what kind of man he was.”

Gregory watched as his brother played with the cuff of his jacket, his thumb and forefinger running along the edge before tugging uselessly at the material. It was a nervous habit that he’d always thought their father had managed to train out of Flint.

“Do you regret it? Following him?” He asked delicately, noticing how Flint’s eyes remained trained on his sleeve as he answered.

“We all followed him.”

“Into the military, yeah, we didn’t exactly have a choice. But on his little homicidal mission? The rest of us hopped that train before it reached the station.”

“Umm more like he didn’t even invite you onto the train. You have no idea what you would have done.” Flint replied defensively and Gregory was caught off guard by how much the look in Flint’s eyes reminded him of their mother.

“Pretty sure I wouldn’t have done that.” He teased, a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“Yeah alright, well I’ve apologised, okay?” Flint rolled his eyes again as he leant over and gave his brother a playful shove.

Their conversation fell into a comfortable silence as their gaze drew back to the third presence in the room.

Alex hadn’t woken since Flint had found him but in the hours since they had brought him to the hospital his cheeks had gained more colour and he looked to be resting more peacefully.

Clean bandages hugged his various wounds, several IVs were in place to begin replenishing what Hughes had stolen and now all they needed was for him to wake up.

It was strange watching their brother sleep. The last time they would have had the chance was when they were all living under the same roof together, but Alex was always so guarded back then with their father in the house that he would never allow himself to be seen in such a vulnerable state. Starting after their mum had left, Greg could probably count on one hand the number of times he’d seen Alex sleep and they’d all been due to illness or injury.

The hospital ambience of the room, along with Greg’s wandering mind, was interrupted by a text alert on Flint’s phone. He slid his hand into his front pocket and pulled out the device, unlocking it with a quick tap of four digits. He opened the message and Greg watched as his eyes scanned the words.

“It’s Clay. He says he’s glad we found him and to keep him updated.”

Greg’s eyes crinkled slightly as he smiled. It had been a long while since he’d seen Clay in person but he was glad to hear that their brother was also onboard for acting like a family again. “Who would have thought it. It only took us until our thirties but we’re all finally learning how to be brothers again.”

Flint opened his mouth, ready to give a sappy reply about how he much he’d missed the bond they’d all had during childhood, when a small groan from the bed caught his attention.

Alex’s brow was furrowed as he poked his tongue through his lips slightly - a tiny habit that Greg could recall seeing him do all the time when he was younger. After a few moments his eyes blinked open as he let out another involuntary groan.

Greg couldn’t help but grin as he watched Alex slowly register his surroundings. Being closer to the top of the bed than Flint, he leant forward and gently placed a comforting hand on Alex’s arm.

“Hey.” He whispered, keeping his voice low as to not startle his brother.

Alex turned his head slightly, his unfocused eyes drifting to the left as he followed the sudden sound. “Hey,” he replied, his words slow and soft. “You’re here?”

“Of course we’re here.” Greg began to rub his thumb back and forth along Alex’s arm in a soothing gesture. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired.”

Greg was unsurprised at the answer. Alex’s eyes were already struggling to stay open. “Go back to sleep Alex. You’re safe now.”

Alex had only allowed his eyes to close again fully for a moment before they were flying open again, Michael’s name being drawn from his lips with a gasp.

Greg continued the soothing motion, bringing Alex’s gaze back to him. “He’s fine, he’s okay. He’ll probably be here the next time you wake up.”

Alex nodded as he let his body relax once more and drifted back to sleep.

Greg looked over to Flint to find him wearing a matching smile, nodding to himself in an unspoken acknowledgement. Alex was going to be okay.

The door to Alex’s room opened carefully.

Michael had noticed that the lights inside had been dimmed so he hadn’t wanted to wake anyone, though he was wholly unsurprised to find Greg and Flint watching him with raised eyebrows as he entered.

“Thought you were gonna try and get some sleep?” Flint asked in near amusement.

“I did get some sleep.”

Greg tilted his head sympathetically. “Michael, you’ve been gone barely an hour.”

Michael shrugged as he took a seat in the one remaining chair on the other side of the bed, “No one specified how much sleep.”

He had tried to get some rest but every time he closed his eyes it was like there was an invisible string yanking him back to the hospital.

Isobel had taken him home as soon as Kyle had assured them all that, in time, Alex would be fine. She had spent the drive spouting on and on about how he had been through as much of an ordeal as Alex had and he needed to rest and look after himself. Or at least let someone else look after him.

The words had been left hanging in the air between them for a good few minutes before he had fully registered her kindness. And then he had just felt a horrible pang of guilt deep in his stomach. Guilt that her compassion and protectiveness didn’t quite warm his heart as much as Alex’s had.

So he listened to her. He ate the small plate of food she had lovingly made for him. He drank the hot cup of tea that burnt his tongue. He showered, letting the scolding water wash away the overwhelming fear that had been building up inside him ever since he first woke up with his hands chained to a wall. And then he crawled into Isobel’s bed and tried to ignore the nervous energy that was still sitting heavily on his chest.

And he had slept a little, he wasn’t lying about that, but it was like his brain knew that there was somewhere else he should be and he just couldn’t take it any longer.

“How’s he doing?” He tugged at his bottom lip as he observed Alex’s still sleeping face.

“Better.” Greg nodded, taking a moment to hide a yawn with his hand. “The doctor came back while you were gone. Said he’s probably gonna be quite weak and achy for a few days at least. But the transfusions are helping and he should be fine.”

Michael ran a hand through his curls. It wasn’t much more information than Kyle had provided earlier but to hear that nothing had gone wrong in his brief absence was relieving.

“He woke up not too long ago.” Greg continued and Michael looked at him, somewhat horrified that Alex had woken without him. It must have shown on his face.

“Calm down Guerin,” Flint snorted, “it was for like thirty seconds, he probably won’t even remember it.”

Michael could practically feel the heat crawling up his cheeks. No matter how protective and borderline possessive he felt of Alex at the moment, it was still embarrassing for anyone but himself to be aware of that fact.

“No it’s good, I’m glad he’s okay.” Michael coughed as he tried to deflect the conversation.

But Greg seemed to know how to catch him off guard all of a sudden as he turned it back onto him. “And how are you feeling?”

Michael took a few seconds to process the fact that Alex’s brother seemed genuinely concerned in his questioning.

“I’m fine, my powers are back and everything.” He replied warily. With Jesse Manes gone, he knew that he wasn’t in any danger from anyone currently in the room, but it still felt strange talking about his alien abilities to any Manes man that wasn’t Alex. “I could probably do with a bit more sleep before I try to use them, but whatever Hughes did to me has worn off.”

“That’s good that it wasn’t permanent. We’ll still go through all the data that Hughes managed to collate though and find out exactly how much he knew.” Flint said strategically and Michael could practically see the mental to-do list he was creating in his head. “And as long as you’re aware that you should be sleeping, I think our job here is done.”

Greg smirked at his brother’s comment. It was very clear that getting Michael to rest was a battle they were not going to win tonight.

“Talking of sleep, you know you two look worse than I do and I was literally being held hostage a few hours ago. If you want to head home for a bit I can stay with Alex.” Michael said innocently as he watched Greg yawn once again.

“Greg, I think that’s code for he wants some alone time with our little brother.” Flint mocked in a hushed tone.

“Hmm I think you’re right Flint.” Greg joined in, watching as Michael’s eyes widened as he spluttered in defence. “Or do you think maybe it’s just our company he doesn’t like?”

“Oh definitely. He’s been waiting for the moment to get rid of us.”

“We must have done something really wrong considering the person he wants to be left with is still asleep right now.”

“That is so true Greg. I mean he’s clearly desperate so we should probably leave now before we make it even worse.”

Michael rolled his eyes as he failed to control his smile. It was a display of brotherly mocking that he never imagined he would ever experience from someone other than Max and Isobel and as embarrassing as it was, it was somewhat heartening to be on the receiving end of it.

Flint chuckled as he stood, his back instantly grateful to be out of the chair, and he took one last look at Alex before leading the way to the door.

“Text us if you need anything, okay?” Greg placed a hand on Michael’s shoulder as he passed him and squeezed reassuringly.

Michael nodded as he watched them leave, afraid to open his mouth incase no words came out around the sudden lump that had formed in his throat. Having seen the hateful side of the Manes men in action, there was something so heartwarming about seeing Alex’s brothers actually be brothers. And to be included in the familiarity was a whole new feeling entirely.

Michael looked out at the stars shining through the window. The lights were still dimmed which allowed the moonlight to fill the room around him with a soft, pale glow.

He still remembered all of the constellations that he had taught himself as a kid, back when he was so desperate to soar high into the sky to join them. Back when he’d give anything to find his home planet again.

But looking into the glimmering darkness now, he couldn’t remember how long it had been since he’d stared at the night sky in search of the home he was unwillingly torn away from.

In fact he couldn’t quite remember how long it had been since home, for him, had started to be a person again.

Michael made no attempt to stifle a yawn as he rubbed at his eyes. They were aching terribly and he could feel his body hopelessly crying for sleep but there was no way he was leaving until Alex was awake.

As if on cue, a small noise from beside him shook him out of his doziness.

He watched Alex’s throat bob as he swallowed reflexively before slowly blinking open his eyes.

“Hey,” Michael whispered. His voice so soft the word barely left his mouth.

Alex’s eyes wandered momentarily, seeking out the owner of the voice. Once his gaze locked with Michael’s, all Alex could do was stare, a small smile emerging as he took in Michael’s presence. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah,” Michael looked at him tenderly as he leant forward and laced his fingers with Alex’s. A somewhat casually intimate move that he didn’t regret in the slightest. “And so are you.”

Alex looked down at the touch and relished in the warmth of Michael’s skin against his. The act of their hands together feeling so natural.

“How are you feeling?” Michael asked, his tired eyes looking longingly into Alex’s.

“Sore.” Alex replied and Michael couldn’t hold back the huff of laughter.

“Well, that’s what happens when you offer yourself up to be a guinea pig for a crazy psychopath.”

Alex playfully rolled his eyes at the accusation. He could practically feel his head pounding in time with his heart but he did his best to ignore it. He’d willingly accept the throbbing of his muscles and the coldness in his bones right now if it allowed him to just stay in this moment.

A few aches and pains were worth it. He was just glad to be alive.

“Did he hurt you?” He asked, enjoying the way the moonlight was shinning on Michael’s curls.

“No, he didn’t touch me.” Michael assured him, “Isobel, Flint and Kyle got us out before he could do anything else.”

“How did they find us?”

“Turns out Sanders was still at the junkyard. Luckily he managed to catch the tail end of our little kidnapping so he called Isobel who called everyone and they spent the entire night trying to figure out who had taken us.”

Michael still couldn’t believe the luck they’d been in that the old man had chosen that night to stay late. They may never have been found if he hadn’t.

“Flint went to the bunker to look for possible alien connections when he found emails between Hughes and your dad. He recognised the name as someone he worked with in Caulfield so he followed the trail and it led him to us.”

Alex added another bullet point to his mental Project Shepard to-do list. If thoroughly digging into every email on the bunker’s computers was what was needed to prevent Michael being targeted again, then so be it.

“Of course he won’t tell me how it led him to us. It seems that’s classified.” Michael brought up the hand not holding Alex’s to do some one-sided air quotes.

“What about Hughes and his men?”

Michael shrugged, “Dealt with, apparently. Your brother is very secretive when he wants to be.”

“Must be a Manes thing.” Alex smirked sleepily.

“They were here earlier by the way. Flint and Gregory. They would have stayed but I used my charm to convince them that you’d much prefer to see my face over their’s any day.”

Michael winked at him and Alex felt butterflies. “Always.”

Michael gazed down at their locked fingers as he slowly ran his thumb up and down in a comforting gesture. He knew what he wanted to say next, but the words just felt so big and he needed to get them right.

“You shouldn’t have protected me like that. And I shouldn’t have let you.” He began sincerely.

“Michael-”

“But I’m grateful that you did.”

Alex’s lips parted but he couldn’t find the right words quick enough.

“We need to talk. Like properly talk. But what happened today, it made me realise how stupid it is to not be honest about how I feel.” Michael looked up and could see how intently Alex was listening. His beautiful brown eyes eager and hopeful.

“I can use as many excuses as I like. How we’re not good for each other. How it’s not our time right now. But you almost died, Alex. And if you had, it would have killed me. And if you had gone not knowing how much I care about you.” Michael shook his head as he looked away. The lump forming in his throat again. “I’m completely and totally in love with you Alex Manes. Always have been, always will. I can’t run away from it anymore and I’m done hiding it.”

Alex bit his lip as he felt the tears start to form in his eyes. He had been waiting to hear those words for so long.

He had been waiting to say them for even longer.

“I’ll never stop protecting you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I’m sorry I didn’t appreciate that before. I’m sorry I’ve pushed you away in the past and I’m sorry that I wasn’t ready. But I’m ready now.” Alex grinned, almost giddy at the declaration, “I love you Michael Guerin. Always have, always will.”

Michael could feel his heart hammering in his chest as his breath caught in his throat. He pursed his lips in an attempt to curb the ridiculous grin that was threatening to unfurl.

He gently unlaced his fingers, pushed himself out of the chair and leant over to delicately cup Alex’s cheeks, feeling the cool skin under his palms.

As dramatic love declarations go, tonights was pretty remarkable. But maybe it was exactly what they needed. They were here, they were alive and they were in love. That was the truth, spoken aloud with only the stars as their witness and there was no taking it back.

And Michael didn’t want to wait a second longer as he closed his eyes and met Alex’s lips with his own.

It was a gentle kiss. Slow and sweet and just as perfect as he remembered it being.

It was home.

#roswell new mexico #alex manes #michael guerin #malex #alex manes fic #michael guerin fic #malex fic #my fic

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honeyctzen · 4 years ago

Text

scarred leash [1] - m.l

words: 5.9k

warnings: alcohol, discussions of self harm

prologue: scarred leash (prologue)

Things had happened quickly after that. Moving in was entirely too painless, so easy that I expected a natural disaster to sweep the capital to punish me. But it hadn’t, nothing happened. No natural disaster or police showing up at the house to haul me back to my home town, in fact things actually got better. After my first night in my new flat with my new roommate, I awoke to the realisation that my job interview was in three hours. And even weeks after, I remembered the interview vividly. Each time I began my commute to work, my mind hauled back each detail of the meeting, every word I had muttered that grey morning. My own mind critiquing itself endlessly as I boarded the subway and found myself staring up at the larger than life building that I now worked in.

After an awkwardly uneventful interview, I waited two weeks for a phone call from the stock company. It had been painful, like staring at a splinter knowing that you would have to pull it out. I needed an answer, even if it was bad news. I spent days on the sofa with Rose, biting away at my nails, watching my mobile for any activity. Until finally, late on a Tuesday, the call came. I expected it to be a let-down, for a sorrowful older man to let me know that I was too young, too inexperienced for the job but in some sort of backward event, it hadn’t been unfortunate news. Instead the male voice on the other end told me that I had been given the place, that I had the proper equipment to handle it, that I had the job. My stomach had filled with bubbles, and nerves and so much excitement I could barely contain myself.

Each day on the train, on the courtyard of the business park, I try to remind myself of that phone call. When I feel the doubt begin to crawl over my skin like a litter of ants, I recall that I was able to do this job, that in fact, I was particularly overqualified as the man had put it. I could do this, I had been doing this for nearly a month now. Though somewhere, I still felt incapable, or subdued in some way. As if I would be pulled from this reality altogether and placed back in my more familial, dull setting. I’d tried not to think of home whatsoever, but thoughts sometimes seeped in, leaking through in the memories of home that I cherished. Each thought that dribbled through brought a sick feeling to my stomach and reminded me that I would always carry some of my old, pained tendencies.

I had only cut myself a few times since leaving home and by now the wounds that I did inflict were shallow and harmless. Luckily I had an abundance of long sleeves to cover them and so, no one was any the wiser. Aside Rose, who had figured it out within a few days of my arrival. I felt exposed to her in a way I only ever had with my mother or grandmother, something about sharing the same living space. Though it was peaceful with Rose, a sweet vulnerability that felt equal. It was my second day that she confessed her dreaded “secret” to me. Whilst sitting together on the sofa, I had seen the edge of the stuffing in her bra and though it was obvious I had seen, I felt too afraid to mention it. Later, after an awkward silence, Rose explained that she was born as a boy. I’m not sure I ever would have known, she seemed as feminine as I was, maybe even a little more but I could tell that me knowing made her feel better. I nodded along as she explained how she had known that she was different, how her parents didn’t approve but thankfully, her distant uncle had. That night, she flooded out all her emotions onto me and however overwhelmed I felt, I understood.

Something about having a roommate made me feel better around people, more enthusiastic, confident. Rose had told me that going in assertive was much better than appearing timid and allowing yourself to be torn to shreds. That advice seemed to help in my work place that was male dominated and barely had anyone younger than twenty-five. It was imperative that I remained level headed and completely in control of my work in the office and I had been able to keep up with that in my first few weeks. Each day keeping to a strict schedule and finishing the admin work that was piled on my desk stall when I arrived in the morning. As I threw my bag down that day, it was no different, in fact, the pile was even larger.

Most of my days were full of work and busyness and through that busyness, I had barely gotten to know any of my co-workers. Not that I minded entirely as most of them were old enough to be my parents and over half of them happened to be senior men. Though I barely had time to dwindle on that fact, my head crammed with statistics and data that needed to be typed up and handed back to my boss in time for him to pass it onto his bosses. It was tedious work, adding up logistical stocks and predicting sales for the coming weeks and yet it took up hours. By the time I had typed and printed the needed papers, I had only a couple hours left of work that no doubt, would be filled by another task my boss would set. As I huffed to myself, I watched a co-worker walk through the aisle that separated some of the stalls. The muffled steps that crunched over the dull carpet, the rubbing of suit trousers that travelled to me in waves. Out of trepidation and a desperate need not to interact with my heavy-handed boss, I called out to the person as their face came into view.

‘Mark,’ I said quite loudly, the first time his name had passed through my lips. It caught him off guard, his doe eyes widening as he turned to me. His face peeking over the walls of my desk stall, his arms cradling the velvet shield and he peered at me, waiting.

I’d only interacted with him once before, on my first day in the office. Another one of my co-workers, an older woman had introduced me to everyone on the fifth floor, she had made a point of mentioning that there was one other person around my age, only one. She whisked me up and down the aisles, pointing to unremarkable faces in the blurred crowd of the workspace, expecting me to remember facts she listed off about the faces. I did my best but after a while, everyone faded into one. Except someone who was entirely different.

Mark sat on the end of the aisle, four stalls away from where I would eventually work. The woman guiding me around motioned over to him as we reached his desk, her stature leaning against the wall of the stall and leaving me to awkwardly stand beside her. He only looked up as the woman began talking, her voice coarse as it surrounded the office, though as I looked to Mark, sound became muffled. I was taken back by how young he looked, how, familiar yet different. His features were delicate, soft, oddly shaped and yet confidently beautiful. Golden skin and ivory hair shining in the harsh office lighting, and as his eyes gleamed up at me, my chest burnt. My eyes kept tracing over his features, trying to grasp what is was that had enabled me so, enamoured, but I couldn’t understand it. The woman continued to ramble away, Mark glancing between me and her as he politely smiled. I waited until the woman went quiet, and as she finally told me the name of the boy, I listened.

‘And this, is Mark.’ She said, her voice silencing after his name. I smiled at him, lips pulled tight as I tried my best to appear gallant, my mind ablaze.

‘Hi,’ he mumbled, his voice low, deeper than I would have imagined his gentle face to own. He also owned a different accent to anyone else in the office, though I was unsure it was American, Canadian, or some kind of European. I continued smiling helplessly until I realised that I too should introduce myself.

‘Oh, I’m Ellie, hi.’ I reached my hand out, my fingers shaking slightly before Mark clasp them between his. A pulse ran through my stomach, his tanned skin contrasting over my dull complexion, his slender fingers consuming mine. It seemed to go on too long and after a while, the woman beside me choked out a cough and Mark let my hand drop back to my side.

‘Looks like Mark isn’t the baby of the office anymore then.’ Another male voiced called out from down the column of desks, a stifled chuckle following from the woman. Mark merely smiled and peered down, slightly embarrassed but somehow pleased, though I was unsure why.

‘Yeah, yeah.’ He mumbled as he stared at the ground.

‘Only just.’ The woman added as another identical chuckle came from the man who originally spoke. Mark glanced up, his lips still pulled into a smile, his eyes softer than before and fixated entirely on me.

‘How old are you then?’

‘Um, nineteen.’ I almost stammered, his gaze thick and palpable through its warmth.

‘Ah, yeah, just a couple years younger. You get used to the babying, its actually kinda nice sometimes.’ He spoke, his accent strong yet still hard to place.

‘Not gonna baby you anymore though, we have a new office kid.’ The woman chuckled as she began to walk away from Mark’s desk. My chest began burning again, I didn’t want to leave my spot, I didn’t want to leave the conversation with Mark.

She continued walking, leaving me no choice but to follow. My footsteps slow and purposeful as Mark called out to me once more.

‘It was nice to meet you.’

‘Likewise, I’ll, see you around.’ I muttered back to him, his eyes still following me as I turned to wander through the aisle away from him.

Though we hadn’t interacted since then, there was no anxiety that came from calling out to Mark in the quiet chaos of the office. There were no worries about whether he would be rude, or merely ignore me for I’d never seen him be anything but cordial. As he leant against the stall wall, he smiled, button like cheeks balling up until the grin met his eyes. My stomach churned as I became hyper aware that I still hadn’t spoken.

‘Oh, could you pass these papers onto Gregory,’ I muttered, lifting the stack of printer paper from the table, extending my hand over to Mark. They were heavy, thick with ink and logistical mumble, and yet Mark hitched a hand above the velvet wall and took them from me with no problems. I’d expected him to be a little weaker than he actually was, due to how thin and gangly his frame seemed underneath his casual suit. Although, I needed to understand that appearances were sometimes deceiving.

‘Sure,’ Mark mumbled in return, glancing down to the papers and grinning to himself as he stepped forward. His figure looming in front of my eyes, my papers pressing to his chest as he caught my gaze once more. ‘You scared of him?’ He asked.

I chuckled in defence, ‘No, I um, a little. It’s not that he makes me uncomfortable, its just the whole boss thing, kinda scares me.’

‘It’s cool, I was like that my first few months. You get used to it.’ Mark nodded as he spoke, the coil of anxiety in my stomach loosening until I could barely feel it anymore. His low voice eased something out in me I hadn’t felt in such a long time.

‘Thank you.’

‘No problem,’ he said, beginning to wander from my desk and toward the office that housed our boss. ‘And Ellie,’ he called back.

‘Yeah.’

‘This,’ he motioned to the papers, ‘is really good.’

‘Thanks.’ I grinned, my lips parting as my goofy smile pummelled through my mouth. Mark smiled in return and began to wander off again, disappearing through the door of the office until I could no longer see him.

Work had concluded for the day and I was entirely prepared to lie down on the sofa with Rose and watch whatever movies she suggested. However, after my long journey home from the skyscraper I worked in, I noticed a car parked outside our house. And as I unlocked the door and began wandering up the stairs, I could hear faint snippets of conversation and giggles. Through heavy, tired breathes I lifted my body up the stairs and opened the door to see Rose with a friend. She was smiling like I’d never seen her do so before, her eyes alighted by the company of this person, this man. I could see why, he was gorgeous and as they turned to greet me I could see his face a little better. It was kind, his features sharp and striking but his smile warm. I ambled over to the two people and placed myself in the sofa chair across from them, grinning as I did so.

‘Hi,’ the man said, almost standing up as he reached to shake my hand.

‘Hey.’

‘This is Andy,’ Rose muttered from her place on the couch, smiling widely as she nearly leaned into his side. I could see the obvious infatuation scrawled across her face while the two interacted, as she spoke.

‘It’s nice to meet you.’ I said politely, pulling my work jacket from my back and tugging my long sleeves back into their place. Strands of my pulled back hair dripping across my forehead, my head shaking to rearrange my bangs.

‘Likewise, Rose has told me so much about you.’ He muttered in a fraudulent tone, not that I minded as it was a rather sweet lie. I doubted Rose had said anything about me, beyond that I lived here. Roommates weren’t something you mentioned when trying to sleep with someone, even I knew that. I stifled a chuckle and merely decided to nod along to his lie.

‘So, me and Andy were planning to go to this club tonight, and I figured, maybe you should come along?’ Rose asked carefully, never directly handing it to me as a question and I knew why. I had been living in London for around a month now and I hadn’t explored anything other than work and home. Rose had been trying to pry me from the house on some nights, attempting to drag me along to late night raves that she enjoyed but I couldn’t muster the courage. I figured she’d give up, especially on nights like this when I was visibly tired but the fact that she was still trying brought out a confidence in me. Though my stomach twisted, I nodded.

‘Sure, when?’

‘Well, if you get dressed, we can go.’ Rose muttered happily, her smile pressing up into her eyes.

‘Oh, right, yeah.’ I smiled at Andy, wordlessly excusing myself to prepare for the night ahead. My feet trudging against the wooden floor as I pulled myself into my bedroom. I waited for a moment before sitting down, feet outstretching until they almost met the opposing wall. I heaved heavy breathes and began rooting for something to wear, anything that wasn’t work clothes. The breezy material of the shirt felt uncomfortable and though it was beautiful, I felt too open in it. I continued huffing to myself as I pulled on some jeans and hid my arms underneath a thick jacket. When Rose had told me to get ready, I hadn’t understood if she meant look good or merely change my outfit. As I inched my way back into the living room, afraid I would interrupt an intimate moment, Rose gleamed over at me. Smiling while she inspected my figure and stood up, hauling Andy along with her.

‘Come on then.’ Rose ordered the two people who joined her, my body trailing behind the couple as we left the apartment.

It felt different being out on the London streets after work, when the sky had faltered entirely black and stars lit up the roads along with the street lights. I listened as laughter poured out of bars and open windows, and the warmth of the night brightened with every step. I should’ve allowed Rose to convince me out a long time ago, I’d never felt so home, so alive. I found myself grinning as I followed behind Rose and Andy, watching as he held her hand in his. Fingers sweeping over the back of her palm, cooing her as they almost skipped through the streets. A deep warmth came to my chest, not jealousy or want but thankfulness, that someone was caring for Rose in that way. That she was happy with someone.

We continued along the road for a while, twisting as the streets curved and led us far from our home. My feet began to ache in the heels I had foolishly chosen to wear but thankfully, Rose stopped soon after the pain began. Her body halted outside a club, light seeping from the outside door along with strings of music and chatter. I felt nervous once more, my arms wrapping around my chest and I passively followed Rose and Andy. I worried that I wouldn’t be allowed in due to my anxious expression or the looming baby fat that lingered on my cheeks. I shuffled closer to Rose, almost grabbing onto her like a scared baby did to its mother. She chuckled, leaning behind herself and taking me by the hand.

‘C’mon dumpling.’ She mumbled to soothe me and as the three of us passed the security guard and hauled ourselves into the club, it began to work.

I had never been in a pub let alone a club, like a proper grown up one. I expected to see people passed out, sprawled over couches, bags of drugs scattered across the floor, men fighting in the corner. Though I soon realised, it wasn’t as explicit as my mother had warned me, in fact, the atmosphere was more akin to a school disco. As I watched the floor and pushed myself further into the club, I became more comfortable. Rose still held my hand, Andy walking beside us as she hauled me onto the dance floor. It was difficult to move at first, awkward as their were so many sweaty bodies pushing together, skin touching accidentally. I worried I would bump someone and be attacked though that thought calmed when Rose began dancing along to the techno music. Her hips swaying, arms knocking people who didn’t seem to care one fragment. Andy leant in and whispered something, a mumble about grabbing drinks before he disappeared through the crowd.

Rose took a hold of my other hand, lifting my arms as she swung them back and forth to the beat of the music. I giggled, following her movements, my cheeks aching from the wide grin. Through the guide of Rose, I began to let my body sway to the sound filling the club, my eyes closing and feet tapping against the floor. I couldn’t dance, I had never been able to but in this packed club where the music danced as though it were alive, it didn’t seem to matter. Nothing did; not work, not my hometown, not my mother, nothing except being free. For the first time in a very long time, I felt good about myself, I felt like I was glowing, shining on the inside.

I heard my own giggles glimmer into the air, my eyes opening as my body continued to move. I watched Rose move, her figure gliding beautifully as she became lost in the atmosphere. We danced a little more until Andy waved us over to the bar, Rose pulling me through the crowds until we reached him. He stood by three drinks in small glasses, one of them empty as I supposed he had already had his own. Rose grinned at him and grabbed one of the glasses, heaping the clear fluid down her throat in a single pained gulp. My stomach tingled from the mere sight of the liquid, but I knew drinking was part in parcel with clubs. My shaky fingers grasped the little container and my lips cradled it. The alcohol spewing down my throat as I careened my head back. It burnt, like cutting myself did, in a familiar, kind way, it was good, and my stomach began to churn.

‘Could I have another?’ I asked, my eyes flitting between the couple. Andy chuckled and nodded, leaning over to order the drink from the bartender. We waited a moment before three more drinks lined the bar, and this time I was the first to reach for mine. I sipped it slowly, allowing the burn to simmer out in my throat, spreading over the internal flesh. I groaned as I placed the glass back on the table, my lips wet from the fluid, cheeks flushed from the sudden wash of alcohol in my blood. I felt an urge to request another but figured it was best to let the two I’d already consumed settle.

‘First time drinking?’ Andy asked.

‘Uh-huh, I’ve never been in a club either, I, I love it. This is so great, thank you, Rose.’ I mumbled, leaning over and pulling my roommate into an awkward half hug.

‘It’s fine sweetie, you want to try a different drink, maybe something slightly, nicer?’ She proposed.

‘Okay.’ I grinned, watching as Rose leant over the bar and shouted over to the muscly bartender.

‘Two double sex on the beaches, please.’ She smiled; her lips outstretched perfectly as the bartender began to blush. I chuckled to myself, Andy placing his palm flat against her back. I felt my mouth widen as I stifled another chuckle down my throat, my hands flat on the bar and I pulled myself to sit on a stool. After a moment, two larger glasses were placed on the bar near us, a darker liquid filling the cups. It looked like any other fizzy drink I had seen and so, I lifted it from the table and began drinking. A wave of bitterness hit my tongue, scorching its way down my throat and sitting, still hot, in my tummy. I visibly winced and I continued to sip.

‘Slowly.’ Rose laughed, taking a sip from her own drink and allowing Andy to have some. I tried to do as she said but it didn’t seem as filling that way though I understood some people drank for the taste. I kept the straw in my mouth, continuously sipping as Rose grew bored of her drink rather quickly. Dipping her head nearer Andy, placing her forehead in the crook of his neck. I watched the two cuddle for a while before it seemed they were both ready to go back to dancing. Me, however, I was too entranced by the foreign warmth that bubbled in my stomach, a pleasurable dizziness coming over my head. The more I drank, the better it felt.

‘We’re going to go dance, you coming?’ Rose asked abruptly, her voice low and coarse.

‘No, I’m okay, I’ll come over in a minute.’ I muttered as the couple began wandering from me and my place at the bar. Their figures dipping between the crowd before they dissipated from my view altogether, leaving me entirely alone, sipping my drink as the music drowned out everything else. My feet tapped to the beat still, dipping against the metal frame of the chair, my throat stiff and aching from the heat of the alcohol.

As I continued to inhale the liquid through the thinness of the straw, I came to realise a few moments later than I’d drunk the entirety of it. I sighed to myself before my eyes loomed over the drink that Rose had abandoned, still sitting with me. I tried to locate the couple on the dance floor, but I couldn’t see them through the piles of people. My fingers tapped upon the bar for a second before I grasped the other glass as I had done with my own. This time gulping the fluid rather quickly and feeling as my stomach churned angrily in response.

I continued sitting by myself, soothing the drink into my mouth and watching over the dense crowd of people. By now, I probably should have joined my friends, but I didn’t want to interrupt the fun they were having together and so, I sat motionless. Every minute that passed was full of certainty that I was going to move but I never did until I was approached by another girl. Her frame passed over from the other side of the bar, short figure coming into view as she stood before me. At first, I expected her to ask if we had met before, that she had merely mistaken me for an old friend. Instead, she merely smiled, grinning until her sweet smile grew gummy. Her short hair barely touched her shoulders, dark eyes still somehow bright in the deep mellow of the club. And though I didn’t know her, I felt myself smile in response to hers.

‘Do you want to dance?’ She asked, leaning in to shout nearer my ear though I could hear her perfectly well. My smile grew with her question, my heart beating violently, and I called back in response.

‘Sure.’

Her eyes grew smaller as her smile widened, her hand reaching out and grabbing mine as she pulled me from the bar. I wondered if this was usual in clubs like this, people making friends, dancing with strangers. I wondered if perhaps she still thought I was a friend, that this was still an accident. Her flushed cheeks brightened underneath the strobe lights, our bodies pushing onto the dance floor as she guided me through the crowd. Her fingers intertwined with mine, the cool complexion of her skin shining even though my vision was clouded from alcohol.

She danced first. Lifting my hand up with hers as she placed her other palm on the crook of my waist. I felt shivers run down my spine, her pull tugging me in closer until our chests touched. She swayed her head to the tune of the music while I began to do the same, keeping my eyes open so I could watch her dance. I could feel her heartbeat through the connection of our chests, I could taste her breath on my tongue. She let go of my hand and placed her now free hand with her other on my waist, her thigh between my legs. I could feel her near me, so close that it burnt to breathe. My empty hands clasp onto her shoulders, holding them as we danced in sync, our bodies moulding into one. I felt myself linger into her, my longer hair brushing against her cheeks as she dipped her head near my neck. Every gasp she exhaled felt like razors on my skin, so palpable that I could see them like the shapes of daggers. My heartbeat sped up as she glanced up at me, her shorter frame standing below mine. A hand lifted from my waist, flat palm gliding out over my jaw before she pulled my mouth onto hers.

I had never kissed a girl before, in fact, I had only ever kissed two people, both boys who I had known. This was entirely different, not only was she a girl, she was a complete stranger. Though I worried about it later, in the moment, I was too caught up in the kiss. How she felt, how she tasted, how soft her hold on my cheek was. My stomach grew tight as she continued to kiss me, her tongue parting my lips and exploring my mouth. Darting around until she had felt every inch of private skin and soaked up the fragments of my drink that were left behind. It was only after we had run out of breath that she pulled back. I watched her blushed expression, lips moist from the kiss, though I figured my expression was more desperate, shocked, needy, flushed.

‘I’m Ellie.’ I mumbled loudly before realising that might have been the wrong thing to do. I didn’t know whether people would introduce themselves after kissing in a club or if they merely forgot about each other entirely the day after.

She chuckled, soothing my waist with her thumb before she finally spoke. ‘I’m Katy.’ And then she leaned in again and pressed her lips against mine. Her thigh flexing between my legs until I could feel her near my heat, my chest burning. I felt nervous, like a schoolgirl seeing their crush wander the hallways though I knew nothing about her. Katy lifted her hand and tucked stray hairs behind my ears, her mouth drifting off my lips, pecking small kisses on my jaw and neck. She travelled over every accessible piece of skin before returning to my lips and staying there for a while.

I could have gone home with Katy, I could have invited her back to the flat but instead, I said goodbye and left with Rose and Andy. We didn’t exchange phone numbers or anything, I merely left, and she merely disappeared like she had never really been there. But I knew she had been and that was enough. Beside, Rose had told me that I was far too drunk to go anywhere with anyone with that in mind. So I let Andy and Rose haul me back to the flat, my feet burning from the pain they were in, my lips still swollen from the kiss. My limbs felt weak, turned to jelly from the liquid I had consumed, liquid that suddenly seemed to take effect. I mumbled all the way home, uttering incoherent words to myself until I was back in the shelter of my flat.

Andy, who had been supporting my weight all the way home handed my droopy figure over to Rose. Her knees nearly buckled underneath my body, her arm underneath my armpit, her grip awkward and painful.

‘You can go to my room,’ Rose mumbled toward Andy and though I was almost blackout drunk, I knew what she meant instantly. ‘I’ll just put Lindsey Lohan to bed and then I’ll be right in.’

I groaned in response to her words while Andy merely chuckled and proceeded to follow them. His footsteps muffled and figure disappearing into the other bedroom as Rose lead me into my own. She placed my tired form down on my bed, grip disappearing from my body while she pulled the heels from my feet. I almost moaned in relief when the shoes hit the ground, Rose giggling as she pulled a blanket atop my body. Wrapping it around me to make sure I wouldn’t be cold and placing my figure in a way I wouldn’t find uncomfortable. I felt more cared for in that moment that I had with my own mother over the course of nineteen years.

‘Thank you.’ I drunkenly mumbled, my eyes already closed, sleep beginning to consume me.

‘You’re welcome, sleep well chicken.’ She said in return, leaning over my body to place a kiss on my forehead. I felt her lips press to my skin and then disappear altogether, her presence leaking from the room like the light of a candle. Though by then, my mind had fogged over into unconsciousness and I couldn’t see anything but darkening sleep.

The next noise I heard was swaddled from me, hidden behind the wall that separated the two bedrooms belonging to the flat. And then another similar noise sept in and it became clearer what that noise was. My aching eyes fluttered open, cold, icy orbs searching the room before I recalled being placed in there. More noises followed, my body sitting up as the sleep shook itself from my muscles. My balled fists came up to my eyes to rub the tiredness from them, my vision growing clearer as I looked around and realised it was still night. I huffed to myself, I had work tomorrow and now I had to sleep through the groans flowing from Rose and Andy. I waited for a while, hoping that they would finish and fall asleep as I was wanting to do but instead, it seemed they merely continued on and on. I burrowed my head beneath my pillow, plugged my ears with my fingers but nothing seemed to muffle it into obscurity. In fact, it appeared the more I tried to ignore it, the louder it became.

My exasperated groans joined in on the harmony of moaning and eventually it became so loud, it was near deafening. I found myself listening, head perking up from the safety of my pillow, ear nearing the wall. Rose still sounded entirely feminine, though most of the noise was coming from Andy who let out what almost sounded like growls. The more I listened, the more I was reminded of the nights I spent at home, watching those images on my phone. Watching foreign bodies make love until they appeared no more than living carcasses. I felt sick. My stomach tense, almost making me retch. I tossed myself over my bed and dug through a draw, pulling a blade I had hidden from Rose and myself. I hadn’t used it before, in fact, I had only bought it recently just in case I needed to and that night, I needed to.

I felt my eyes scrunch up at the noises, my throat burning, chest on fire from how nauseous I felt. With my eyes still closed, I pushed my blade down onto the inside of my forearm. Pushing down until it hurt a little too much and then moving onto to a different spot and continuing the pattern. It didn’t seem to help, not even the pain did. The more I pushed down on my skin, the worse I felt and that had never happened before. I began panicking, perhaps I had done it so much I was now immune. I wasn’t sure how I would find relief in anything but doing that, I couldn’t possibly mix this sort of thing with sex. Not only did I not have the energy to cut myself every time I felt like getting off, it felt wrong, gross to mix self-harm and pleasure like that. I bevelled the blade down on my skin once more to ensure that I was correct and low and beyond, it seemed I was. It didn’t feel good, it just burnt and stung like a deep wound was supposed to.

Through stifled breathes, I threw the blade back into the drawer and laid back down on my bed. I watched the shapes carved into the ceiling, my head dizzy from lingering alcohol and the fresh cuts dancing over my forearm. The only thing to keep me company was the moans that continuously poured through the paper-thin wall, other than that, I was completely alone. Tears began to drip down my temples where Rose had kissed, choked breaths exhaling from my lips, where Katy had kissed. I felt that had been ruined now, that kissing anyone would be tainted by that thing that was missing, the pain that I would need to enjoy it.

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nerianasims · 4 years ago

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Billboard #1s 1987

Under the cut.

"Shake You Down" -- Gregory Abbot -- January 17, 1987

The only reason I've heard this song before is because of Todd in the Shadows' worst hit songs of 1987 video. I do not entirely agree with his list, but this one definitely belongs on it. I don't think the song's writer knew what "shake down" actually means. This is supposed to be a love song about how the narrator is missing the woman he's staring at (um) and wants her back so he can "shake you down." It sounds creepy, and yet the music is so painfully bland it can't even rise to that. It's no surprise it hasn't gotten radio play since it was a hit. That it was a hit in the first place is mystifying.

"At This Moment" -- Billy Vera and the Beaters -- January 24, 1987

A rather good blue-eyed soul song. The narrator is singing to a woman who just told him she's in love with someone else. It sounds like she's acting scared, and he's upset by that as well as by her leaving him, because "I'd never, never hurt you." And he'd give up twenty years of his life if she'd stay. There are some massive blues horns, Billy Vera sings it well, and it's cathartically sad. The song became a hit years after it was first released because it was on Family Ties. Billy Vera keeps on chugging, and he's also a music historian. He won a Grammy for "best album notes" in 2013 for a Ray Charles boxed set. I had no idea that was an award category.

"Open Your Heart" -- Madonna -- February 7, 1987

Watch out. When Madonna says "I've had to work much harder than this/ For something I want, don't try to resist me," it's absolutely believable. She worked incredibly hard to get where she was. I guess the song is stalkery when looked at from a certain angle, but that is not the angle I choose. I hear it as I did as a teenager -- as something aspirational, because I got huge and powerful crushes on guys (mostly friends) and then did absolutely nothing about it, both because I had no idea what to do and because I didn't actually want a boyfriend yet. (That changed in college.) Musically and lyrically, the song is Motown mixed with disco and updated, as most of the True Blue album is. It's a lot of fun.

"Livin on a Prayer" -- Bon Jovi -- February 14, 1987

I wonder what I'd feel about this song if it hadn't been overplayed for years and years. I don't think it was/is played more than "You Give Love a Bad Name," but I have never been sick of "You Give Love a Bad Name." This one... meh. I don't want to run screaming from it, even after hearing it a zillion times, so that's something. It's about a working class couple who's having serious money troubles. It's just a snapshot of this difficult time in their life, and how they're holding on to each other. I'd be happier with it if the story were rounded out, and especially if they got a happy ending. The music is fine, acceptable rock, but nothing special.

"Jacob's Ladder" -- Huey Lewis and the News -- March 14, 1987

This song is a "fuck off" to televangelists, though if you only listen to the chorus you might not know that. I always appreciate anyone telling televangelists to fuck off. I could use it being nastier, but you can't expect real nastiness from Huey Lewis and the News. Genesis would go there a few years later, and I like that song much better. "Jesus He Knows Me" is also more interesting musically. This one's fine, but not memorable.

"Lean on Me" -- Club Nouveau -- March 21, 1987

The original "Lean on Me" is one of the great songs. This version is annoying. A go-go beat and a faux-reggae break. The original of this song is deeply emotional and touching. This one is not even a good dance song. I liked it when I was a kid, but that makes sense, because it's a very kiddie song.

"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" -- Starship -- April 4, 1987

This song is actually not bad. It's pretty good, even. It's a very slick synth-heavy drum machine love song, but I really like the way Grace Slick sings on it. Mickey Thomas, well, he hits the notes. Could be worse. If they'd gotten a male vocalist who could match Grace Slick on his part of the duet, this might be a great song. They didn't, so it's just pretty good.

"I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" -- Aretha Franklin and George Michael -- April 18, 1987

George Michael is an excellent singer, but he's no Aretha Franklin. But who is? He holds his own pretty well here. As both Franklin and Michael know how to push emotion in a song, they end up with good chemistry on this one. Unfortunately, though the vocal performances are great, the music itself is dull. The melody slips out of my head while I'm listening to it.

"(I Just) Died in Your Arms" -- Cutting Crew -- May 2, 1987

*silent scream of anguish* I wish this song would slip out of my head permanently. It is my personal most overplayed song in existence. My hate for it could end worlds. I have no idea about what qualities it might or might not have. I just want it to shut the fuck up.

"With or Without You" -- U2 -- May 16, 1987

I don't think U2 actually counts as "alternative," but the alternative stations were the only ones who played them where I lived. The song is extremely structured and carefully designed, but it feels somehow raw at the same time. It doesn't have the layers upon layers of synth that most of the songs on the charts did. It has a beautiful melody. The lyrics are thoughtful, heartrending poetry. I'm not sure what I thought of the song at the time -- I associate it more with a couple years later, when my family moved to a town near a huge state college and I started listening to the college station. It hasn't aged a bit. An amazing song.

Also Bono’s personality is somewhat insufferable if one is silly enough to look into it. But his voice is incredibly hot, and I very much appreciate that.

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" -- Kim Wilde -- June 6, 1987

Back to the layers of synth. This is the Supremes song updated as a 1987 dance song, and it sounds exactly like you'd think it would. It's okay.

"Always" -- Atlantic Starr -- June 13, 1987

This is the kind of song I made gagging noises about at age 10, when it came out. I'm tempted to now too. It's like corn syrup, both lyrically and musically. It sounds like it was written for weddings.

"Head to Toe" -- Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam -- June 20, 1987

I liked this song a lot when I was a kid. I had a lot of fun dancing to it. Now I hear Lisa Lisa's vocals in the opening and chorus, which are kind of like a police siren, and want to cover my ears. I can't listen to it without getting a headache nowadays.

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" -- Whitney Houston -- June 27, 1987

This is a Whitney Houston song I like. She doesn't oversing as much as usual -- she mostly, though not entirely, saves it for the chorus. She wants to dance with "a man who'll take a chance/ On a love that burns hot enough to last." It's a simple dance song that speaks to real emotion.

"Alone" -- Heart -- July 11, 1987

In the 80s, Heart did hair metal ballads. All the men who did the same were copying them. Including the hair itself. Heart did it first, and Heart did it best. So lyrically, why can't she get this person alone? Not even on the phone? Whatever, it doesn't matter. What matters is the emotion, the music, and that this is a great song to sing along with.

"Shakedown" -- Bob Seger -- August 1, 1987

Unlike Gregory Abbott, Bob Seger knew what "shakedown" meant. The song was written for Beverly Hills Cop II, and that's exactly what it sounds like. It's a good movie song, but doesn't transcend that box. Still fun though.

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" -- U2 -- August 8, 1987

This is a spiritual pop song. But it's very far from the sanitized happy clappy Christian-brand pop that's so foul. It's about a search for transcendence that's ongoing -- eternal, really. And while this song is explicitly Christian, it speaks to a universality that doesn't require religion of any kind. Also it's beautiful musically.

"Who's That Girl" -- Madonna -- August 22, 1987

I'm surprised this was a number one. Or even charted in the top 20. I'd have predicted #46 or something. The movie it was written for was terrible, and Madonna was particularly terrible in it. Like, aggressively terrible, when in most movies she was just kinda blah. I've never liked the song. I don't hate it either; I don't feel much of anything about it. That is very strange for a Madonna song -- "American Life" is awful, but it makes me feel things. (Mostly embarrassment.) But "Who's That Girl" is bland, which a Madonna song should never be.

"La Bamba" -- Los Lobos -- August 29, 1987

This is a nearly faithful rendition of Richie Valens' original hit, which was based on a Veracruz folk song. But where are the castanets? The original is better, a true classic, but this one isn't bad. It's simply... unnecessary. It was done for a movie about Valens, so I guess it was sort of "necessary" in that way. Skip this one and go for Valens' version.

"I Just Can't Stop Loving You" -- Michael Jackson with Siedah Garrett -- September 19, 1987

This is from the Bad album, which I did not like in 1987 and continue to not like now. I find this song extraordinarily dull. Whitney Houston and Barbra Streisand both turned it down, and I'm not surprised. This song weirdly makes me think of The Love Boat. Like it belongs in a television series. It's legitimately bad. When do we get to Janet again?

"Didn't We Almost Have It All" -- Whitney Houston -- September 26, 1987

I think the narrator in this song is trying to get an old flame back. It's a pretty melody, and the lyrics are wildly repetitive but not bad, but I can't get past Houston's oversinging. Anyone who doesn't mind that will probably enjoy this song.

"Here I Go Again" -- Whitesnake -- October 10, 1987

I wonder what makes one feel a song is "horribly overplayed" vs. just "played probably too much but I'm fine with it." This song is the latter for me. It's a really good song, so obviously that's part of it. The beginning is thoughtful and searching, with an organ and everything (or probably a synth on the organ setting), and has that same spiritual feel as "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." Then in come the guitars, which are awesome. It absolutely rocks, and the emotion is of "like a drifter I was born to walk alone" is amplified by the rock, rather than buried under it.

"Lost in Emotion" -- Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam -- October 17, 1987

Lisa Lisa does not sound like a police siren in this, thankfully. And I got frozen on this song because I listened to it over and over and managed to feel absolutely nothing about it. I guess she's falling in love with a friend and worried she's telling him too much, and I should identify with this because it's happened to me more than once. But I don't. I like the bass line, and it's updated Motown, so I should like that. But again, I feel nothing. Maybe it's the way Lisa Lisa sings it. I don't know, and I've wasted far too much time on something I cannot make myself care about in any way.

"Bad" -- Michael Jackson -- October 24, 1987

I think the Bad album is bad. Actually bad, as in not good. I was 11 when this hit #1, so everything in the universe embarrassed me, but this stood out. I no longer knew anyone who liked Michael Jackson. I certainly didn't. In my opinion, Jackson had exactly one good album in him, and that album was Thriller. Thriller is one of the greats. Bad is blah.

"I Think We're Alone Now" -- Tiffany -- November 7, 1987

I wonder what makes stations decide to play #1 hits and what makes them decide not to. I don't remember hearing this much at the time, and never after. It's a cover of a 1960s song that was never that great, and it's worse here. In 1967, the "ooh we're alone gonna do something naughty" idea was still edgy. In 1987 -- are you kidding? Madonna's tearing up the charts in 1987; what on earth is this thing doing on it? It's an annoying song, annoyingly sung.

"Mony Mony" -- Billy Idol -- November 21, 1987

I had to do aerobics to this in middle school. Next!

"(I've Had) The Time of My Life" -- Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes -- November 28, 1987

This is one of those songs I can't really evaluate because it feels like background music to my life. Not that it was ever particularly important to me -- it's not. But it's sort of like "Eye of the Tiger", movie song and all. Medley and Warnes are well-matched on the song, and they do a great job. I wish the music were more interesting, but well, movie ballad. It's a good one for what it is. By the way, Dirty Dancing is another movie I've managed to never see. For no reason -- I might even like it. But somehow, it's never come up.

"Heaven Is a Place on Earth" -- Belinda Carlisle -- December 5, 1987

Ooh baby, do you know what that's worth? Yes. I love everything about this song. It's a big and unashamed dance power ballad about how great love is, and the lyrics are simple but powerful. But I have a question: What the heck is up with the video? It looks like she's being inducted into a cult, not like she's in ecstasy over great romantic love. Well, it was the 80s, the videos usually didn't have anything to do with the songs. Still, weird.

"Faith" -- George Michael -- December 12, 1987

I've known the lyrics to this song since it came out, but I never registered them before. Only "I gotta have faith, faith, faith." I remember the video, though, with its prominent focus on George Michael's butt. I'm watching the video now, and huh, there's a basically naked woman in it too. That, I didn't remember, because it wasn't relevant to my interests. Anyway, the lyrics are about how the narrator needs a break from relationships so is not gonna have sex with this hot woman. Sure, George, that's why. Ahem. Sorry, we didn't know then, and it doesn't matter one bit anyway, because the singer is playing a role. It's a fun song for which the lyrics don't matter at all.

BEST OF 1987 -- "With or Without You" by U2 WORST OF 1987 -- "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" by Michael Jackson with Siedah Garrett

#billboard number ones

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iminyourhandskara · 5 years ago

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Chris Wood on FatMan Beyond with Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin. (Full interview transcript)

A MASSIVE, MASSIVE THANK YOU TO @bwaybenoist WHO HELPED ME A LOT WITH THIS. ❤❤❤❤

to the anon who requested this, and for whoever wants to read this, enjoy!

__________________

Kevin: One of my favorite people in the world, man. If you're lucky enough, you get to work with people you like, and I met this kid on a set and most people on sets, you know, 'not necessarily all likable and stuff like that.

Marc: Careful.

Kevin: Yeah. (indistinct) This kid ain't just likable, he's fucking lovable, man. I was like, goddamn it, I fell in love with him the way I fell in love with Ben Affleck, where I'm like "You should be in everything! Fuckin, you should play Fletch." I still to this day think he'd be the perfect Fletch based on the Gregory McDonald books. When we got lucky enough to work on Masters of the Universe from Mattel on Netflix, I, you know, there was always a like "We could probably get a big cast for this" and stuff, so I played very few cards in terms of like "Well, here's who I think you could get and stuff like that" because Netflix, Mattel, these cats putting up the money, they should tell us who they want and stuff and Teddy who's our Netflix exec, he loves MOTU, so like casting of course with Netflix, the ability to draw talent is gonna be right up his alley. But one of the only names I put forward in the process..I was like “I worked with Chris Wood, and he is SO good, like he would be an excellent Prince Adam and He-Man as well of course, but like, can I put him on the list?” and they put him on the list, and you know, I thought that was gonna be it, “Kevin made a suggestion and we’ll put him in there and then it will never happen.” And he got the job, legit got the job. Mattel loved him, Netflix loved him, boom, he’s our prince Adam! So, here tonight, you got him? Here tonight, man..*Skype sound* Making a little chit-chat, that’s the sound of joy. That means we’re gonna talk to a guest, we get to open the door and welcome to Fatman Beyond, uh, He-Man himself, ladies and gentleman, Prince Adam, I give you..Chris Wood.

Chris: Oh my goodness.

Marc: Look at that intro.

Kevin: And look at that pretty ass man, look at how pretty he is.

Chris: *Plays Jellicle Cats from CATS*

Kevin: Somebody’s been listening to the show!

Chris: Reminiscing about..the Winter Garden Theater.

Kevin: This is actually..I was gonna say..

Chris: My first Broadway show I ever saw, Kevin!

K: Was CATS?

C: Was CATS!

K: I totally forgot as we were sitting here, going “Nobody’s gonna care about us talking about Broadway.” There’s one guy waiting to be on the show who was like “I’d love it if it was all--”

C: I was having the time of my life! This was like Batman, Broadway edition, I loved it.

K: Give us the full rundown of every Broadway show that you’ve ever seen, and when you say Broadway, do you mean--

C: I mean, I mean Broadway.

K: You mean like seeing it on Broadway, not just live theater.

C: No man, that’s where I got my start, that was my whole...the stage was my whole thing. You’d have to sit here for like three hours to hear all of the shows I ever saw..

K: Are you serious? So wait you-

C: It’s got a soft place in my heart still.

K: You uhm, I remember when I was working on Supergirl, at one point Melissa was just like: “He was in Sweeney Todd!” and I was like “What?” Were you in Sweeney Todd?

C: It’s true, yeah.

M: With Victor Garber?

C: Yeah.

K: Yeah, it’s surprising, he was in Sweeney Todd and has worked on a Victor Garber adjacent show.

C: Yeah.

K: I (was) saying before Ben Affleck’s my last card, I’m turning to Chris Wood to make that Victor Garber connection.

C: Yeeees! Hey guys!

M: Hey man!

K: How are you sir?

C: What’s going on?

K: So wait, what- you were a musical theater guy.Correct?

C: That (was) my thing, man. All through college and high school and growing up, that was like-- aside from making movies on my Super8-- that was my, that was my other hobby.

K: What is uh- look, for those who don’t follow very closely: Chris has acted for a long time, I met him playing Mon-El when I was directing Supergirl episodes. Of course as I said, he’s playing our He-Man. What was the vampire show that Mewes loves that you were on?

C: The Vampire Diaries, yeah, yeah.

K: The Vampire Diaries as well and stuff, uhm, and he’s a wonderful actor and gorgeous human being but-

C: You’re always- you have the kindest intros in the world, Kevin. You’re- I come on just blushing every time I talk to you.

K: He’s wonderful (but) this is wanna lay out there: he is a fucking hell of a writer.

M: Outstanding.

C: Oh wow! It’s still going!

K: And you know that like I’m not just saying it’s a butter him up because we could totally just talk about He-Man and that’s it but like-- I’ve read a script that he wrote that took me back to 1994, where I was like-- This is what I felt like when I saw Indie Film. It reignited a love for indie film because the film was impressionistic and wonderful and original and singular in vision and stuff..

C: And nobody will ever make it..*Laughs* All of the qualities of a terrific independent film.

K: You got- you got some pushback on the movie. “Some people like this? What?” but he wrote- didn’t you write a script that went someplace legit or whatnot? Are you allowed to talk about it?

C: I did, yeah. It’s not public yet, but we’re--

K: That’s not public? That wasn’t in the trades or anything like that?

C: Not yet, man. It’s still like..under the table wheeling and dealing.

K: Alright, we can’t say what it is, but I can tell you right now, it’s like- it’s something that you and I (Marc) would work our Whole lives to achieve and we’ve been doing- all we have is writing. And this motherfucker has everything in life and he’s about to have that as well. But well worth it, because he’s wonderful at the written word. What do you attribute that to?

C: The written word?

K: Yeah. Where’d you- How come you’re such a good writer?

C: Well, that’s very- Thank you first of all. Uhm, writing, I always kinda did it. I think I was like you, Kev, when I was a kid I just- no one was giving me pages to shoot or to have my friends put on plays in the garage, so I had to write my own words. So, I kind of always done it. I remember writing plays and I’d write up thirty pages of a script when I was 13 years old and I’d hand it out to my cousins and we’d perform it for all of our aunts and uncles and grandparents. I kind of always done it, just never been paid for it.

K: Yeah, that’s the dream, to get paid for it at the same time. I saw when my man got married, he whipped out beautiful words as well. Like you know, where you get to like say something to your-

M: Your vows.

K: There you go. That’s that word, “vows”

C: “What do we call those *snaps fingers* those promises we make.

K: I smoked those away. *Laughs* Even his vows, were like beautiful, like incredibly well fuckin written, beautiful choice of words, look-

C: My missus..

K: I mean, yes.

C: (Blew me out) the water.

K: Who went first, was it you or her who went first?

C: She went first, that’s why I couldn’ t-- I couldn’t speak through mine.

K: Yeah, both of them got real beautiful.

C: Oh man..

K: The thing is, I knew Woody was a writer because I read his script and what not. Didn’t homegirl open with “I’m not a writer” and then dropped one of the most beautiful fucking speeches that you’ve ever heard in your life? It was really great, really special for me to be there for, man. The point is this kid here writes well, the point is one day he’s gonna take my advice and write himself his own fucking lead in the movie that he should make, particularly that one that I love and make a movie, ‘cause he’s got all the ingredients. Like you know, like me I was like “I wanna make a movie” but like I had to hire actors and shit like that. Well, not hire but beg them to be in it. Thank God they were. But like he could write himself a part and be that fucking part and direct himself in the part, because he’s been on enough sets so knows how the process works.

M: So what you’re saying is he’s unfair.

K: Yes, I don’t want to say it in front of him and embarrass the man but yeah.

C: I’m so sorry.

K: Um, take us into, for those watching at home uh, talk a little bit about Vampire Diaries. When did that, was that the first thing you did?

C: That was one of my early kind of like public roles, um, I had done some stuff before that, nothing really that caught on with a fan base. That was sort of the first thing I did where people got excited about a character I was doing, um and wanted more of them, so they wrote me more stuff, um, yeah that was, I guess, I started on that seven years ago? Eight years ago?

K: And what was the, did you leave? Did they kill you off gracefully? Did you leave because you were like “I don’t want to do this”.

C: Yeah, I was a bad guy, so with like all good villains in our favourite shows, they have to meet some sort of demise or just, you know go into a spin-off *Laughs*. It’s kind of either-or. Or they’re Skeletor and then they just exist forever as an equal force.

K: So after, how long were you done with that show before you went and did Supergirl?

C: So I did a couple of things after that, um, I did a mini-series and I was on a limited series called ‘Containment’ about a pandemic, much like what we’re living in now. A little too timely, I kind of don’t recommend it at the moment, but yeah I did that and then right after that ended, that’s when I went up to Vancouver.

K; So wait, and if I remember correctly, Containment, did Julie Plec do that? Didn’t she also…

C: Yeah, yeah, that was Julie Plec, who did Vampire Diaries. She kind of pulled me across, from that experience.

K: When you’re making it, are you like “silly fictional world this will never happen.”.

M: “I’ll never need to remember any of this.”.

C: You know what, I feel like in a way the show kind of prepared me for the quarantine because I read so much about the Spanish Flu and about outbreaks and what actually happened, so when this all started happening, I was like “guys no no no, this is real” you know like, when people who play lawyers think they’re lawyers? It was kind of one of those things, suddenly I thought I knew, I was like “send me in I’m ready guys”.

M: Was there any Containment swag that you got to keep like “oh they sent me all these masks, I got all of these masks!”

C: I wish! I think I have some uh, dog tags and that’s about it..

K: Alright so wait, did they come after you to come audition for Supergirl? How does that happen?

C: That was the first time in my career where I got offered something without reading for it. Which was kind of amazing. And I played hard to get for a second because I wasn’t sure if it was the right coloured spandex. I was always more of a Batman guy than a Superman and then eventually it clicked and apparently, there was some part of me that knew I was going to meet my future wife and the mother of my children. *laughs* So I guess it all worked out.

K: I mean, yeah, and aside from just getting to play a hero and stuff, it gave you the rest of your life.

C: The rest of my life, which is a pretty lucky thing to get from a job, usually the job doesn’t serve you that. So that was pretty fantastic.

K: And there are very few people who can walk away from the CW going “and that built the rest of my life”, you know what I’m saying?

C: *laughs* Well it does match, the network that matches my initials should promise me something like that. I think it’s somewhere in the rulebook, I don’t know where.

K: I just put that together.

M: Like the Wendy's girl walks into Wendy's and is like “I will take all of your hamburgers, I’m Wendy."

(all laugh)

K: When you, when they gave you the suit finally, which is something you know, for the run of the show was something you would look forward to and then finally they do give you the suit, looked tight. Was it as uncomfortable as it looked?

C: Oh yeah, they’re terrible. It’s the worst thing you’ll ever wear in your life. You know, it’s like a giant onesie. A onesie is known for comfort and relaxation and too many zippers. This is as few of zippers and you can have including no accessibility to use the restroom, and you really can’t move in them, it kind of squeezes your everything, if there’s a thing that can be squeezed by the spandex. So things are going like, your elbow is going up to your shoulder and you’re not really sure why. You know that you’re not controlling it. Uh, it’s an odd experience, but um, I’ll tell you what, those lunch breaks were always very, it was like a great release to unzip the spandex and just lay on the couch.*laughs*

K: Tell them what it’s like to be up on the harness thing man, when you have to do flying and shit, on the green screens.

C: The flying is fun, that’s one of the really, that’s when you feel like you’re on the trampoline in your backyard as a kid fighting the invisible villains. It’s literally the same thing, except someone is doing the jumping for you with a rope. But that’s when you get to play and feel like a kid. Those are my favourite, the big action sequences. They’re a bear to shoot because they take days to shoot two minutes, as you know. But when you’re actually doing the thing, it’s a great time.

K: How long before you think, because I know it ain’t happening now, how many years from now do you think it’ll be before you and Melissa are like “let’s watch the episodes and see if we can spot the chemistry, and see if I can see myself falling in love and blah blah blah.” Do you think you’ll ever get there?

C: You know, I think it’s probably all over every second of every frame *laughs*. You could probably just uh, start at the beginning and then the first second on-screen probably in some way, shape or form go “oh there it is, there’s the first bits of it”.

K: I believe that, Mr. Broadway.

C: Mr Broadway!!

K: Can I tell him [Marc] a quick Broadway story? I actually went to a Broadway show, where I got to sit next to Mr Chris Wood.

M: Did you now?

C: Oh man, yeah you did.

K: It’s beautiful. So we go see Beautiful, is the show, the Carole King musical.

C: It was also beautiful.

K: It was beautiful, branded and in my heart. The lead of the show that night is of particular interest to both me and Mr Wood, him a lot more. Melissa Benoist, "rhymes with moist", I learned that from Chris Wood.

M: That sounds awfully romantic.

C: He texts me late one evening..

K I used to say Ben-o-ist all the time, I don’t know why.

C: And then I shot you a text I was like “You know it’s Benoist like moist, like a chocolate, decadent chocolate cake”.

M: That was the most Christopher Walken thing I’ve ever heard: “It’s Benoist like moist”.

K: “And delicious like a chocolate cake”. We’re watching Beautiful and we’re watching Melissa open, this is the debut, the first opening night of the show, and Chris is there um, a bunch of people that love Melissa were there. Fucking Lynda Carter was there, Wonder Woman was there to watch Supergirl, how awesome is that? The curtain opens and it opens with Melissa, she’s up top like bang, singing, right at the top of the show and I’m sitting right next to Chris Wood who is crying. Crying those joyful tears of seeing his lady love’s dream come true. She always wanted, is that her first Broadway performance?

C: It was, first and last. *laughs*

K: *jokingly* She’s not going to do it again?

C: No, no, no, no, no I’m just kidding, no it was her first. Life long dream.

K: She was like, she’s like Chris, she’s a theatre kid. A couple of musical kids and stuff, drama kids.

C: You can say nerds, it’s okay.

K: Drama nerds, the idea of Broadway, that was the goal, it wasn’t like “one day I’m gonna be Supergirl”, that was the surprise and the delight where she met the love of her life and stuff, but the dream was Broadway and her dream came true and as you know, if the curtains open and Melissa was crying, of course, people forgive it because they’re like “Oh look at her dreams coming true” the fact he was bawling, I was like "oh my God, she’s got the right guy." All of the joy he felt for her joy, as she was concentrating on doing the very thing that she dreamed about doing, performing, so she can’t just stop the show and be like “can you fucking believe this?” which is how she feels inside, he’s expressing for her just by emotional, he was crying, it was one of the most beautiful things in the world.

C: I’m not ashamed of it.

K: No!

M: Nor should you be.

K: It was so fucking wonderful so supportive but he is a- point of the story, he is such a Broadway kid.

C: You could say I’m a Jellicle kid.

K: Somebody could explain that.

M: I too was sitting next to Chris Wood when he was crying, but it was in New Orleans, in a waiting room to shoot a scene for Reebot, and he's like "Listen, I gotta fly back to Vancouver and my flight is like twenty minutes from now and we haven't shot yet, and it's 4 AM and I'm a little bit daffy in the brain.

K: *Laughs* It's true.

C: Yeah, we were drinking- we were on coffee number four, at like 5 AM, and I looked at my watch and I went "Oh!! My flight's at 6:30." *Laughs*

M: "Anytime you're ready, Kev!"

C: But we got it done.

K: The boys were so sweet, they came out uhm- Chris and Jesse Rath came out and they're in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot during Chronicon, if you haven't seen it on Amazon Prime.

C: With the most extensive and detailed backstory that any limited amount of screentime has ever had in the history of film. There's a story in those eyes, if you look closely.

K: Oh my God, he's working. But he's sitting next to Mr. Marc Bernardin.

M: Yes.

K: Throughout the night, and it was- we ran up against- what time do we finally shoot you guys?

C: I don't even remember.

M: It must've been like 5:15 or something like that.

K: And then rush them to the airport so they could get on (a) plane and get back to Vancouver, correct?

C: That's right, I had to get back to work.

K: Such a special-

C: But it was such a blast, though. And thank you again for letting us come out and play. That was such a trip.

K: It just means that uh, one day your kids are gonna watch that movie and be like "They're both in this terrible movie? Who are Jay and Silent Bob? Was this before you guys met on Supergirl? Why would you be in a movie like this?"

C: *Laughs*

K: Let's talk He-Man. What-- Had you done voice work prior to He-Man?

C: So, when I was broke, living in New York, in between babysitting for three boys on the Upper West Side to make cash so I could support my acting aspirations, I bought a little USB microphone and I joined this- I can't even remember the name of the site. It was some like, some freelance voiceover site, where you join and you can record audio samples and submit auditions and that was the only voice work I had done. I would- I was making like 100 bucks here and there, doing a voiceover for a animated-- "Hey kids, don't run in the cafeteria!" Like a school PSA, or I did some military PSA teaching soldiers etiquette in the barracks and-- so strange. But that was all I had done.

K: Tell'em about how- what acting in front of a microphone is like, 'cause it is acting-

C: Oh yeah.

K: -And in some ways, it's way more acting than one can do on a camera, on a camera one can be subtle, you can't be subtle behind a microphone. You gotta communicate emotion just with the voice, tell 'em about it.

C: You know it's so funny, I actually would describe voice acting as incredibly physical work, whereas camera acting it's all- you know, it's what you're feeling, it's..they say it's through your eyes, which actually means they're seeing through your eyes, through your soul, right? If you're feeling something you'll see it. But for voice acting, we don't see anything, it's all voice, so you really have to take the feeling and elevate it, and sometimes it helps to physically express it, so people sweat in the booth and they, you know, they grit their teeth and they stomp into the ground, and really, you have to really dig in, to grab the emotion and kinda amplify it, otherwise *monotone voice* you're just kinda talking like you do on film and nothing's really happening, and no one cares. Which is sort of what American acting is a lot of the time, we kinda just try not to seem like we're interesting and care about anything. *Laughs*

K: Is that the secret to acting? Did you just let it-- Is that all acting or just CW acting? What kinda acting are we talking about?

C: I'm actually doing a master class series on early '20s acting and basically, the first lesson is to speak as monotone and enunciate as little as possible.

K: Fucking worked out, you married Supergirl for heaven's sakes.

C: Listen-

K: Mumble away, kids! That's what your future looks like if you can mumble your way through a performance.

C: Mumble core.

M: So what you're saying is, voice acting then is very much like theater acting? Where like you've gotta play to the back row, right? Like you can't see that person's eye from a hundred feet away.

C: This guy!

K: Right? This fucking guy, he made-

C: You've found a way to bring it back to CATS! Wow!

K: Thank you, fucking excellent job, now there's a writer. Marc Bernardin is a writer.

M: *singing* Midnight and the kitties are sleeping..

K: Yes, your theater training really comes in handy in that shit, I never fucking put that together!

C: Yeah! Because you learn how to take a truthful feeling and amplify it, that's what the best stage acting is, right? An emotion that an actor is feeling that can reach the back of the house and, with voice acting is that same sort of thing, but your relationship is with the microphone uhm, and it needs to go through the microphone and then into the character and then the audience gets to it. So it's a whole-- There's a learning curve, I feel like it takes a second. Hopefully we got it right.

K: Now you're way younger than us, so I don't know if like- was He-Man in your wheelhouse growing up? Or that was before you?

C: He-Man, yeah, He-Man was on uh-- we didn't have cable when I was a kid, 'cause we didn't have the money for it. So I was watching, they were rerunning it on-- I'm trying to think what network it would've been. I can't even think of the names of what they were back then, but they were running- it was the rerun after the original series had aired. 'Cause I would watch that and I would watch X-Men, those are my cartoons.

M: Where'd you grew up, in New York?

C: In Ohio. Yeah, Dublin, Ohio, home of Wendy's, yeah.

K: That's true, that's where Wendy's begins, is in Ohio!

C: Yeah and there's a callback to Wendy! So..

M: This guy!

K: There's a writer, there's a writer! *points at both Marc and Chris*

M: High five!

K: What uh-- you know, we gotta be very careful of course, when we talk about MOTU, all of us are NDA'd up the A-H. You gotta play two different characters, what was that like?

C: That was one of the fun aspects of Prince Adam slash He-Man. It's finding these very different placements for the same person, right? So it has to feel like the same character but that, their emotional states are- Prince Adam is sort of in a different place: he's covering, he's deflecting, he's more fun and goofy..And then He-Man we have to drop the truth of his core mission, you know, to save the world, so..I mean, it starts with registers, right? That was the easy part. Prince Adam is supposed to be full of youth so he's a little higher and a little more excited, and then He-Man, *lower voice* go down and be more heroic, down in the basement and use his big fighty-fight voice.

K: It's pretty awesome, like you join a tradition of storytelling in which performers get to be two people, like you know, whoever plays Batman gets to do Bruce Wayne, and then they get to do the Dark Knight, whoever plays Superman gets to do Clark Kent and then they get to do the Man of Steel, so you get to do Prince Adam and then you also get to be his heroic alter ego, man.

C: Right.

K: It's a wonderful fraternity that you join.

C: Although I hear I'm in deep trouble, because the internet has found out that I'm not bulking up--

M: You're not doing the work?

C: --for my performance.

K: Somebody on Twitter was just like "Chris Wood, he's not big enough to play He-Man!" and they meant in size!

M: "Have you seen his thighs? His thighs are not nearly there!"

K: "He skips leg day all the time" but oh my God--

C: You're right! "He can't possibly play the character!"

K: Yeah I had to point out, I was like "I better get in touch with Netflix and see if they'll send Chris some steroids and a fucking peloton so he could do the the voice in an animated series."

M: Also, Chris is not from another planet. That's also an issue. Could you not have cast an indigenous actor to play somebody from Eternia?

K: Who was it tweeted, somebody tweeted something about Griffin Newman, they were like "Oh, tell Griffin we gotta cut his fucking legs off". Maybe it was there, texted that, tweeted that. What uh, now that you've voice acted and led an animated series: is it something that you see yourself doing again? I mean, of course, hopefully we all get to do this one again, but other stuff. You got like one of them Disney voices and you can sing like a motherfucker, man.

C: Oh man, I would love to do Disney too. Let's uh, put that in the bucket list. I honestly, I get a real kick out of it, it's..like you said you can really go to a larger-than-life place, and it all, it always has to come from, you know, something sincere, that sense of play has to be grounded in something. You just kind of yell and scream, I think people can hear that..so there's a challenge to it, but it's also super rewarding because you get to, you know, play characters that fly on cats that are oversized and wear armor and..

M: Jellicle cats?

K: None of that Jellicle shit in our show, Marc! Battle cats!

M: What kind of Jellicle are you? I'm a cringer cat!

K:*jokingly* Somebody point a sword at me, quick. Yeah man, it's a..

C: It's a long life with He-Man too, 'cause this, I mean the character is so fun and obviously..I had the action figures when I was a kid and those toys..I hope to introduce my son to Masters of the Universe via the action figures, 'cause I mean they're so weird! They really went there-- have you seen that special that they do on the toys on the Netflix show?

K: Oh yeah, the toy, the wonderful-

M: The Toys That Made Us.

K: -The Toys That Made Us.

C: Yeah, yeah The Toys That Made Us.

K: Their He-Man episode is unbelievably wonderful.

C: Oh, it's great! And it just shows you- you know they were thinking "what weird crap would a little boy like, put together on a toy?" And then they end up with these wild names, and these characters who do insane things and it's part of why it's so fun. And the fact that they found a way to build a story around those bizarre toys, that was also compelling.

K: Thank God they did--

C: 30 years later, it's amazing.

K: Thank God they did, we all have fuckin jobs, all three of us.

C: *laughs* You're right.

K: Wait so before we let you go, it occurs to me that Melissa just had her episode air of Supergirl, that she directed.

C: Directorial debut!

K: That's right! Did you- Did the Wood-Benoists or Benoist-Woods- did you guys like kick back and watch it together?

C: You know, we didn't because *laughs* we don't have cable. So, no!

K: Don't let CW hear that, or perhaps do and they'll pay for cable! Why don't you have cable? Where are you quarantining?

C: We're in California, so we're home, but we're usually not home.

K: Right! Oh my gosh, that's right!

C: As a fortunate actor you move to California to never be there. I was shooting in New York and she was shooting in Vancouver when this all started and we were lucky to get home quickly but uh, but yeah I mean, we don't spend that much time in our house, so we don't have cable!

K: Tell 'em why you were in New York. Was it the- that's been announced, right?

C: Yeah, yeah for Thirtysomething, Thirtysomethingelse which is an ABC show that hopefully, knock on me, hopefully ends up going when we get out of this situation with Covid. Yeah, it's a reboot of Thirtysomething, another 80s classic.

K: Oh my God, that's-- you'll have two, you'll have fuckin MOTU and Thirtysomething. I watched Thirtysomething in real time when I was a kid, I loved that show, my mom watched it so I watched it with her and stuff, so I know all about Hope and Michael. I saw that they were redoing the show and I saw that fucking Chris was involved and I was like "What?!", and I texted him "Are you fucking for real?" and shit, and you're playing Hope and Michael's- did they announce that? I don't know

C: Yeah, yeah, I'm their son, yeah.

K: So he's tied in-

M: He's a legacy character!

K: Legacy character and like-

C: Legacy! This is what's all about.

K: That's fucking dope, man. So I mean, look I can't wait to watch that, but I have seen and heard four animatics so far of MOTU and-

C: Oh man.

K:- your performance..

C: I cannot wait.

K: It's wonderful, you did a great, great job and made me proud as the guy who was like "You know who'd be good? This guy." Put you forward--

C: This guy and they're like "who's that?" and you're like "hang on, let me tell ya!"

K: Yes, "Here let me pull up IMDb". They knew who he was, they know you, man.

M: If you did like The Music Man it wouldn't have been an issue: “You know who’d be good? Wood would be good, if he could do that, I bet you Wood could.”

C: *Laughs* Well, you got He-Man, my friends. (inaudible) city.That was a, that was a deep cut.

M: Hell yes.

K:Look at you, look at how you came to life with a little theater ref, man. Jazz hands all around.

C: Oh yeah, you can feel the jazz hands from there in the Cantina.

M: Touching us all over

K: Go back and enjoy the rest of your Thursday night, thanks for hanging out with us, say hello to the good lady Benoist and whatnot.

C: Thank you gentlemen. It was wonderful seeing you both.

M: Good to see you, sir. Be well.

C: Alright guys, be well.

K: Give it up for He-Man himself, Chris Wood, everybody.

M: *cheers*

K: Mon-El..flies away. He’s so good, such a good guy. I forgot he was such a fucking theater kid, that’s right, and we were like talking theater and shit. And I forgot his connection to Garber. One more we wrote in.

M: We have another point of entry.

K: That’s true, that’s good. Man, I’m telling you, I ain’t fucking around, his script was one of the most impressive thing I’ve ever read,

M: Yeah, that’s awesome.

K: It did make me feel jealous where I’m like “he’s that pretty and he can write like this? Like, all I had was writing, fuck!”

M: That’s a problem.

K: God, what a good guy.

#chris wood #kevin smith #marc bernardin #fatman beyond #melissa benoist #melwood #mon-el #masters of the universe #MOTU #he-man #prince adam #masters of the universe netflix

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boompowkablam · 5 years ago

Text

Favorite Fic Rec- List # 3

WALKING DEAD LIST

Just a list of some of my favorite stories. I’m gonna act like I remember how to link stuff it will be great. Pairings are going to be Daryl/Glenn and Daryl/Jesus. Maybe a Daryl/Rick thrown in IDK .

How These Days Grow Long By Never_Says_Die

This work is COMPLETE!

Written in response to a prompt on The Walking Dead kink meme:

Rick & Co. are finding it increasingly difficult to deal with Daryl's outbursts, his racist remarks, and easily-ignitable temper. They are in fact, considering just cutting their losses and telling him he has to leave when they come across another group of survivors...one of whom is very, very special to Daryl.

AU in which Glenn and Daryl have been in a relationship for a few years before the ZA, and were separated when Atlanta was overrun. Each think the other is dead, and Glenn ended up with a different group of survivors while Daryl ended up in the quarry camp. Story also assumes Merle would've turned his back on Daryl for getting involved with Glenn, so they parted ways long ago.

Action , Adventure, Love , Suspense,Sadness,Longing, Its just everything you want from a fic. Word count 100,538. Pairing Daryl/Glenn

The Diary of Glenn By ornategrip

Seasons 1 and 2, as seen through Glenn's diary.

This is so funny I love it! I wish I could make a podfic for it like whoa.

Word count 4,938. Pairing Daryl/Glenn

Ghosts Among Us By TWDObsessive

Daryl sees the dead. Not the walkers, the twice-dead once they become ghosts. It started since the turn and he assumes it’s his body’s reaction to the walker infection they all carry. One by one he experiences losses of loved ones and each of them come to visit him. And they all seem to be guiding him to Rick.

This was really good but also really sad to me. Mind the tags so you don’t read something upsetting . Word count 6,422. Pairing Daryl/Rick

Picking Up the Pieces By Riastarstruck

When Rick works night duty while recovering from the shooting, he becomes friends with Daryl, the young guy working community service as a janitor in lieu of prison time.

"If you found an animal in an alley and it was raining and you approached it, it would try to bite you. But if you could get it inside and feed it and take it somewhere warm, it would follow you forever. He's got that kind of vibe to him." -Norman Reedus on Daryl Dixon

This one is cute but also makes me feel sad even though it’s not sad.

Word count 21,161. Pairing Daryl/Rick

While the World Falls Down By oleanderedits @oleanderedits

They were supposed to have ten days to dispute the quickie wedding they'd had the night they'd been drunk. The world went to shit three days later. Part 1 of a series re-write focusing on Glenn, Daryl, Merle, and Maggie as what it means to be 'Family' is stretched, twisted, and redefined by circumstances no one should have to live through. Covers Seasons 1 and 2 and mostly follows the canon storyline.

This is hands down 100% my absolute favorite walking dead fic. It is so good I have read it so many times now. I seriously can not get enough of it.

Word count 48,284. Pairing Daryl/Glenn , Glenn/Maggie , Daryl/Maggie , Daryl/Glenn/Maggie.

Friction Match By vegarin

It's the end of the world. You can be anyone you choose to be." Daryl Dixon, at the end of the world.

I am not sure what it is about this story that makes me love it so much! I am working on a podfic for it right now so at some point I’ll have a link up for that.

Word Count 24,769. Gen no Paring.

Fall Into Your Arms. By doctorkaitlyn @banshee-cheekbones

“I am done with dating. And I mean it this time.”

Glenn is sick of his friends setting him up. He’s sick of going on bad dates and he’s sick of getting his hopes up and never hearing anything back. In all the time he spends not going on dates, he can do things that he actually enjoys, like sleeping or marathoning a television show or trying to find a better job.

He is done with dating. Seriously.

At least, that's what he says before he meets Daryl.

This is so cute and awkward I love Glenn’s bad luck.

Word Count 4,549. Pairing Daryl/Glenn

Dear Mr. Hawkeye By Psmith73

@psmith73

AU. Glenn is a struggling student neck-deep in debts. One day while trying to earn some money he gets himself in serious trouble. An anonymous benefactor offers him help in return for weekly emails describing events of his life. Jean Webster's "Daddy-long-legs"/TWD fusion. COMPLETE.

This is really good I dont know why I want to say human disaster Glenn but im gonna. I think its cause it references marvel hawkeye but also Glenn kind of is.

Word Count 20,552. Pairing Daryl/Glenn.

something keeps pulling me back to you By wardeness

Daryl Dixon sat on the steps of his porch, elbows resting on knees as he sharpened his knife. Katydids called around him in a chorus of chirping crickets, the sound only interrupted by the rhythmic scratch of metal on stone. The heavy air—a sure sign rain was coming, Daryl predicted—felt moist and honeyed against his bare arms. The evening was calm. Peaceful, even.

Peaceful, that was, until Jesus appeared.

AU after 6x11. Slow burn.

Super cute .Super fluff.

Word Count 64,037 . Pairing Daryl/Jesus

Daryl's Addiction By DestielHardcoreLove @bugandkitlove

Paul had no clue what was going on. It seemed as if every time he turned a corner he would find Daryl on his knees with someone different from the community. He didn't know what to make of it, what to even think but he did wonder how to get on it himself.

This was just really funny to me. Instead of talking I’m gonna make sure you catch me blowing the town.

Word Count 7,702. Pairing Daryl/Jesus

Against the Dying of the Light By LottaCharlene

After escaping Terminus, Rick's family is at their strength's end. When the walls of yet another community loom over their heads, they must decide if they take the risk to seek refuge in this new community. They are met with a strange tradition that they are still willing to follow through for the sake of their family's well-being. Soon enough, they realize that they found a place that they could call home again. But the peace is treacherous and yet again they have to fight for their freedom and the lifes of the people they love.

Unexpectedly, Daryl is the one that has to fight for more than just his family.

So very good and sweet and sad and Gregory is a nut sac but you already knew that. Also I fucking love arranged marriage fics.

Word Count 108,454. Pairing Daryl/Jesus.

Ripples on a Black Shore By Mugatu

For Daryl Dixon the world ended days before it did for almost everyone else, and it was heralded with a prerecorded phone message instead of a bang.

An AU fic where Daryl met Paul several years before the apocalypse.

Kind of sad but with a happy ending.

Word Count 200,540. Pairing Daryl/Jesus.

Cross Your Fingers By starclipped

Daryl finds himself wrapping his fingers around Paul’s wrist before a bandage can be pulled from the tattered box. And Paul peers at him when their skin touches, fierce eye to fierce eye, with… with such veneration. Daryl wouldn’t know that feeling if he saw it, he thinks he’s seeing it now and he can’t believe it, but he can sure as hell feel it; rolling off his hippie ninja in waves, seeping into Daryl’s soul. A gasoline soaked rag, simply waiting to be set aflame. That's what he's become. He swallows the foreign emotions that suddenly make him feel too big for his body.

So very good and kind of sad worth the read for sure!

Word Count 204,186. Pairing Daryl/Paul

Finders, Keepers By Joel7th

Jesus came to Alexandria to do trade and to see a certain grumpy hunter. However, he didn’t see said hunter; instead, just outside the walls of Alexandria he found a black cat – wait, was that really a cat?!

I found this so funny!

Word Count 10,148 . Pairing Daryl/Jesus

All you need is twinkling stars and ancient cities By TooRational @toorational

Daryl Dixon of all people turns out to have the Ancient gene.

Go figure.

Or: The unlikely tale of a redneck from Earth and a Runner from the Pegasus Galaxy, and how they fell in love.

I fucking love Stargate Atlantis Crossovers and this was amazing !!!!

Word Count 16,454. Pairing Daryl/Jesus

Help Wanted By Scababagorn

Daryl Dixon hasn't believed that he deserved to be who he really is. He hasn't ever felt safe enough. Is the reason that so many of the people he loves are dead. And then, suddenly there is a man named Jesus. And he likes to call Daryl "Dixie"

Cute,cute, cute I love it!!

Word Count 22,618. Pairing Daryl/Jesus

if the world should break By transstevebucky @gaydaryl

It's not like Daryl hates the guy. It's exactly the opposite.

Very cute. Be mindful of the tags daryl gets outed without his permission.

Word Count 36,343. Pairing Daryl/Jesus

Misunderstandings in a Car Crash By Neeka

Misunderstanding. [mis-uhn-der-stan-ding]

Noun 1. Failure to understand correctly; mistake as to meaning or intent

Warning: Does not mix well with love and may lead to heartbreak

Dude like super sad face for like half of this but it gets less sad .

Word Count 18,614 Pairing Daryl/Jesus.

Breaking the Cycle By AidaRonan @bisexualstarbucky

Daryl's life seems to follow a cycle of pain and violence. So when he starts falling for his new roommate, he's more than wary about what it might mean.

But sometimes breaking a cycle means making a choice.

So very cute a little sad also be mindful of the tags.

Word Count 7,416 . Pairing Daryl/Jesus

Fables of the Reconstruction By Mugatu

It’s more than two years after the end of the world and six months after the war with the Saviors when Daryl Dixon returns to Alexandria.

This is just so good holy crap and glenn lives which makes it even better!!

Word Count 91,918. Pairing Daryl/Jesus

You're Like Me (a goddamn idiot) By yellowhairedrobot

Jesus tilted his head to the side. “If I tried to kiss you right now, would you kick my ass?”

“Yes,” Daryl answered, way too quickly.

This is funny and gives me extreme second hand embarrassment.

Word Count 6,395. Pairing Daryl/Jesus

the streets are full of strangers By smilebackwards @smilebackwards

When Deanna asks Daryl to leave Alexandria, he meets Paul on the road a little earlier.

I would like to say cute-meet . lol its very good and very cute.

Word Count 11,563 . Pairing Daryl/Jesus

There is also a podfic for this.

[Podfic] the streets are full of strangers By Boompowkablam @boompowkablam

Length 1hr 7 mins

a heart that's on loan By smilebackwards @smilebackwards

Aaron and Daryl discover Hilltop on one of their scouting trips and find that the community has an interesting throwback custom for establishing alliances: marriage.

I LOVE ARRANGED MARRIAGE AND THIS IS THE BEST ONE!

Word Count 11,686. Pairing Daryl/Jesus

Just Another Day By PezzieCoyote

What if Daryl was the one in charge? How would things be different? And what secret is he hiding?

Supernatural elements you know besides the zombies .

Word Count 9,950. Pairing Daryl/Jesus

Escape By AbigailHT, TooRational @toorational @abigailht

By the time the song starts drilling into his head worse than the headache, he's come to the conclusion that he can't do much. There's no way to get out unless someone unlocks the door, and even if he could, he has no idea where he'd go once he's out anyway. Nor has he any idea who has him. Or why. Or where. Or where home is. Or—Basically, he doesn't know anything, and even the things he does know are mostly instinct and completely unverifiable anyway.He's contemplating sitting back down again — he'll have to do it at some point, if only to preserve his strength, but the cold, and the dirt, and he's naked, his skin crawls at the mere thought — when the song shuts off abruptly.

Or: The Saviors' latest prisoner isn't quite what he seems.

Its just like everything you ever wanted out of Jesus in the show. So good a tiny bit sad.

Word Count 6,894. Pairing Daryl/Jesus

There is a podfic for this.

Escape By Boompowkablam @boompowkablam

Length 45 minutes.

#walking dead #The Walking Dead #daryl/glenn #daryl/paul #daryl dixon/ jesus #daryl/rick #daryl dixon #paul rovia #glenn rhee #rick grimes #MY REC LIST #podfic

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bowieemeddow · 5 years ago

Text

TRINITY. (Queen Fanfiction)

Part 1 // Runaway.

Summary: Margaret McCullugh comes to the realisation that her life is a total mess. After an argument she realises she’s had enough; she grabs her bags and runs away.

Note:Hi guys this is the first chapter of my new fanfiction. I’m not the best writer and this is my first time so please go easy on me; there will be grammar and spelling mistakes throughout this chapter. Feedback will be greatly appreciated 🙂

Warnings; Swearing, sexual assault, bad writing, slight Scottish slang (I’m from Scotland and I write the way I talk sorry 😉✌🏻)

Enjoy.

Thursday // May 1970

"I've never wanted to punch him in the face more in my life than at this point of time." I thought to myself as I glared at him across the dining table. Even from what felt like a mile away; I could still see that smug look on his Greg's face.

"Margret! Are you even listening to me?" I tore my focus from my bastard of a step father to my bastard of a mother. "You'll be meeting Thomas next thursday remember. To talk about arrangements."

Ah Thomas Russel. Son to a millionaire family; him being a successful doctor in the making at 22 and is apparently a distant relative of some foreign royal family (to be fair I wasn't listening to the shit leaving my mothers mouth)

The cherry on top of it all; I've never actually met the boy and I'm his fiancé.

"Poor Thomas." Gina; my younger sister mumbled under her breath while eating her dinner.

"Mind your own business you little shit!" I spat kicking her harshly under the table. Believe me I know this makes me look bad but I promise you I'm not a bad sister; I was actually excited when I found out I had another sibling on the way. I loved her even when she was a newborn. It was when she started talking; she turned into a sneaky little bully and mummy's favourite.

"That's enough don't you dare kick your sister again!" She snapped at me.

I cringed at my mothers comment; more because of the way she said it. Trying to act as posh as possible; trying to mask the natural Glaswegian accent she's had her whole life; the same thick apparently "rough" accent I also have yet Gina never developed it as bad as me, my dad had the rough accent and I was a daddy’s girl... before he left us.

"Why do I have to marry him. I didn't him pick him, hell I haven't even met him! Marrying me off to becoming nothing but a trophy wife? Fully dependable on my husband with a big empty house full of loads of children. Nothing to do except cooking and cleaning-"

"Can we please change the topic?! I don't feel like sending you upstairs again." My mum sighed

"Oh mother!" Gina exclaimed making me jump; her bloody voice goes right through me.

"This dinner is absolutely amazing!" I chuckled to myself quietly, Gina is so far up mums arse it's embarrassing.

"Thank you darling I made it myself."

Yeah right did she make this shit, she doesn't even know how to use the stove, it was the cook that made it. All of it is vegan since "meat is the reason why your acne is so bad and you've starting to lose that figure Margaret, you simply don't take proper care of yourself."

“Oh god I forgot! I was meant to take you bra shopping today.” Mum informed Gina

“But she’s only 13 mum. I never got my first bra till I was 15?” I argued, Gina got everything she wanted without having to even lift a finger.

“You should go with them Margaret. You wear too small a bra better go up a size sweets." He smirked away as he took a drink of his wine that's likely more expensive than everything I own.

At that point I was so pissed off I grabbed the closest thing to me which was a potato from my plate funnily enough and threw it at his head. If I wasn’t so pissed off I think would’ve found it difficult to keep a straight face.

Friday// May 1970

While sitting in period 7 English I thought back to last night.

After successfully hitting Greg's big head with a potato for his inappropriate comment about his step daughter's breasts; Mum took his side and got sent upstairs without eating anything for the rest of the night; not like I wanted to eat any of that shit anyway.

"God he's so cute!" The girl next to me squealed to her friends who were both in front of her; their chairs turned from their tables to form a circle that I was sadly apart of. I wasn friends with the three girls; Tracey, Yasmine and Gemma were the popular girls, the best housewives in the making.

I looked down at the newspaper which Tracey had in her hands, it was crumpled up due to her "fan girl" moment taking over her senses.

"The Gregory Special." The newspaper was called;

Only rich wankers read it.

"Thomas Russel is ready to settle down but who's the lucky girl?"

It said with a picture of the boy himself below it . Wasn't his best picture; he was probably flirting with some random girl in while the photo was being taken.

"So who is the bitch huh?" Gemma spat as Tracey read away at the newspaper trying to figure it out.

"YOU! Mrs Reynolds wants to see you in her office.” My English teacher shouted pointing at me it made the three girls jump back to their original spots as if they were actually listening to the lesson.

Shit what have I done now; I usually lose track at this point.

While putting my things in my bag I looked over at the three girls to see them scanning back through the newspaper frantically to find out who the "lucky woman" was.

I accidentally let out a chuckle of sympathy which caught their attention.

“I’m sorry, is there something you want to say?” Jemma snapped.

"Yeah I do actually since you three can't read for shit. Page 24." I sassed back and waited a moment.

"Margaret McCullugh? Who the bloody hell is that?!" I rolled my eyes at the stupidness.

"Margaret McCullugh. Now." My teacher shouted across the classroom which I nodded to standing up and grabbing my bag and coat with a grin on my face.

The three girls had their mouths wide open once they put two and two together; it was me.

"Bye girls." I whispered chuckling while leaving the classroom.

...

"Please tell me you are joking Miss McCullugh?" Mrs Reynolds pleaded with me

"What's wrong with what I want to do once I leave here?" I argued back.

"Your mother is a politician; she could bloody well be the prime minister in a several years time. How is she gonna get there with her child wanting to do.... textile design?" She gagged at the though of me becoming something that wasn't a doctor or lawyer.

"Why does it fucking matter anyway I can't even do what I want. My mums already set up my whole life." I argued back slouching in my seat with my arms crossed over my chest.

Fuck being ladylike.

"Ah your talking about your engagement with Thomas Russel. Your mother wants you to just be okay, she's worked hard for where she is right now and it was a risky thing she done to get there. She doesn't want you taking any risks when you go onto be a politician or a lawyer-"

"Or a textile design artist." I corrected for her not giving in to her manipulation.

"Margaret I know you okay. Through these past 6 years that you've been in this school you've been very strong willed and feministic attitude to social issues and topics."

"Damn right-"

"But I'm sorry to burst your bubble but this is a patriarchal society we are living in. Woman will not change society. Ever."

I was beyond pissed at this moment of time. I shot up off my seat and slammed down both my hands on her desk in order to shut her up.

"Fucking watch me then!”

...

Saturday // May // 1970

"Hey chickadee." Tana smiled as she came into one of the private rooms of the pub, she lifted my feet and plopped herself next to me in the booth then put my feet back down to they were resting on her lap.

"Hi." I said stretching slightly as I shut my notebook over immediately and set it down on the table.

Tana was probably one of my only friends at this point of time; the moment she turned 19 she was allowed to decorate her parents bar; to which she called me up and asked to borrow my creative mind for help. Before it was just an old looking bar where young ones likes to hang out; now it was a modern neon, rock music bar.

"Glam Rock" it was called and it was placed in a more poverty ridden area of Glasgow. If my mum found out I was here I'd get murdered.

Every Saturday night people from everywhere would come here and celebrate a new "generation" as they called it.

"This new rock generation is gonna grow everywhere. Where men dress like women and women dress like men. Completely and utterly flamboyant!" I remember Tana saying to me when I first came across this bar; it was a Saturday morning and she was getting ready for a party. I was here because I was trying to find the record shop since they sell limited editions for half off.

"We just need someone to spread Glam Rock to every corner of the world."

"HELLO EARTH TO MARGARET!" She shouted snapping her fingers in front of me.

"Huh?" I said snapping back to reality.

"I said were you writing something?" She said pointing to my notebook, I didn't answer yet again because I was too busy admiring what she was wearing.

"For fuck sake! Have you took something?" She laughed trying to get my attention again.

"Sorry, sorry just had a long day. Thinking about what kind of punishment I'll get this time once I make my way home." I chuckled

"Anyways what did you say again?"

"Writing songs... oh and you've also got your camera."

"When am I not writing songs or taking photos Tana?" I said sitting up to grab my vodka and lemonade and down it.

"That's very true. So, let's see what photos you took." She said as she pulled off her slip on heels so she could fold them in a basket.

I put down the two photos I took on the table.

"Have you got a pen." I asked her as she admired the photos.

"Umm.. yeah I think somewhere in they drawers." She said turning her head to the left to show me where it was.

"This bar does look fucking amazing, you have to admit it."

"It's because I decorated it Tana. I hate to toot my own horn here but I'm fucking brilliant at decorating." I laughed as I took one of the photos and wrote the location and date behind it; then done the same with the other.

"You're good at everything you do it does my head in." Tana complained with a groan as she ran her fingers through her black long curly hair.

"I'm not."

"You are. You can paint, you create these amazing clothes, you can play the piano like no one else. You're an amazing singer..." my smile dropped as I grabbed both the photos from Tana's grip and stuck them in my bra for safekeeping before sticking the the pen back in the drawer; the room was so silent you could hear a pin drop, or more like you could here me slamming the drawer shut.

"Maggie-"

"I'm not a singer." I said interrupting her.

"Correction, your mum says your not a singer. But frankly love, you're the best singer I've ever heard. You should join a band."

"That'll never happen."

....

Sunday // May 1970

Walking up the driveway of my massive house barefoot with my heels in my hand, my make up and hair a mess I knew I was in for it.

I accidentally fell asleep at Tana's last night and now it's 8am in the morning.

I walked in the house and shut the door behind me.

"MARGARET BEATRIX MCCULLUGH!" I heard my mum screech as the sound of her heels became louder and louder.

"God don't say my middle name." I cringed with my face scrunched up; a massive migraine was starting to take its toll on me.

"Where were you?" She shrieked once again; I'm starting to see stars with how bad my freaking headache is. It's way to bright in this house.

"I'm sorry I fell asleep at Tana's I should've called you it's my mistake I won't let it happen again."

One thing to know about me; when I'm in the wrong I apologise.

One thing to know about my mum; she throws my apology right back in my face and calls me immature.

"TANAS!" She started to trail behind me as I clumsily made my way up the stairs to my bedroom door. Once I reached the door I got an overwhelming feeling that I was about to vomit so I stopped for a moment to calm myself down.

I leaned my forehead against the cool marble that the whole house was made from to cool myself down.

"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU! NO GOING TO ROCK GLAM, NO DRINKING, NO KISSING RANDOM GIRLS OR BOYS."

She caught a glimpse at my notebook; purple velvet and green floral exterior. She knew exactly what it was and snatched it from my hand.

"Hey!-"

"AND NO MAKING SONGS. NO SINGING SONGS I TOLD YOU NOT TO SING OR WRITE THEY DIRTY LYRICS."

I snatched the book from her and held it right to my chest. This book was my lyrics, my ideas, my thoughts, feeling. My whole life.

"ITS CALLED ROCK MUM! Get with the times, it's the Beatles that are popular now, not fucking hymns." I snapped as I walked into my room. Before I got the chance to shut the door over she was already invading my space.

"I don't give a shit what it's called. Stop it okay! That part of your life is over. It's time to grow up and face reality. You are engaged-"

"I'm not marrying him you can fuck right off." I looked at her through my full length mirror as she walked up to me. Her expensive heels clicking against my flooring as she walked closer to me.

"You're an ungrateful human being you know that. I found you a man; a millionaire who can take care of you for life you won't have to work a day in your life-"

"Yeah that's what I'll do, I'll go right ahead and marry a man I don't marry so that I'll birth all his kids and be his perfect dumb trophy wife for life. You worked hard to get where you are, why can't I work hard in something I wane you do. I don't need a man to do that." I said smothered in sarcasm making my mother roll her eyes.

"You and your bloody pride. Here's the real world Margaret; a woman's purpose main purpose in life is to get married and as the bible preached, have children. You'll never be anything different." She spat.

"You're going to the Russel's household on Thursday morning for you to plan the wedding with your fiancé with a big bloody smile on your face you hear me?"

I chuckled softly as I walked up so our faces our almost touching; her Chanel No.5 tickling my nose.

"I'd love to see you try." I spat in her face. I suddenly gasped as her hand connected with my cheek forcing my face to the side as my cheek started to warm up almost instantly.

"I hate you, you're not my daughter you know! I should've aborted you when I had the chance you know that! If it killed me oh well, as long AS YOU WHERE NEVER BORN." She screamed in my face, she turned to leave my room to meet Greg leaning against the door frame.

"Are you okay Darling?" Greg asked my mum; his voice all sweet and soft making my scoff and roll my eyes.

She ignored him and left in anger.

"Would you get the fuck out of my room?!" I asked, his head snapped from watching my mum as she made her way down the landing and down the stairs to me.

"Seems you need to be put in your place a bit huh?" He asked as he walked up to me, so close to my face I could feel his breath hit my skin.

"I don't see the bad thing about being a trophy wife Sweets? You'd be a damn good one anyway."He chuckled as he looked at me up and down licking his lips. His hands were resting on my arse ready to give it a spank. A sudden spur of anger and confidence caused me to push him back.

"Touch me again and I swear I'll rip your tongue out."

"You don't have the guts." He simply said before leaving the room.

He's right I didn't have the guts, I didn't have the guts to go to the police and ruins my mother's career that she worked so hard for when it got out to the media that her husband is a child molester.

So Ive kept my mouth shut for years.

I feel hot years fill my eyes, I take a long deep breath in an attempt to calm myself down while looking up at the ceiling to try and stop the crying; I didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

That's when I found myself packing a suitcase, grabbing my passport, some money I had. A couple of outfits to keep me going two or three weeks.

I grabbed my notebook, my Polaroid camera and my box full of Polaroid's and squashed it all into one massive suitcase.

I had to leave the rest so I could move quickly.

___

An hour later my family left to go out for lunch without me. I sat at the window and watched them leave.

I watched them get smaller smaller until eventually I couldn't seem them at all.

I would never see them again.

I grabbed my suitcase, grabbed the keys to my mums car and fucked off out of there with the intention of never returning again.

_____

I just had to put Harry Styles in there somewhere.

Sorry not sorry 🤪😩

#ben hardy #joe mazzello imagine #queen blurb #queen headcannon #queen imagines #queen fanfiction #roger taylor imagine #roger taylor #brian may #john deacon #bohemian rhapsody #borhap fanfic

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violetbeachpod · 6 years ago

Text

1x02 / incorporeal girlfriend

CHARLOTTE:

Hello Violet Beach! Charlotte Cranor-Liu here to keep informing the general public–or, the not-general not-public–about how terrible everything is!

So! Let’s talk.

I’m Char, I’m sixteen, junior at the Corielli Academy For Creative Youths, and your new best friend. Unless, like, we’ve already met, in which case, you already know what I think of you.

So. Where to start? Cuz I got stories. Uh. At fight call today, I hit Andrew Meyer for real, which was pretty satisfying. Cuz he’s the worst? AJ high-fived me afterward, and actually told me where he worked? Which was super satisfying, cuz I got kicked out of the Starbucks for fighting in the alley by it? In fairness, the guy stole tips, it was–it was morally an obligation. But the assistant manager was like, “oh, but now he’ll sue us, and why did you claim to be an employee,” which, like, has she never heard of getting into character to add more feeling to a situation? He would be more likely to give it back if he thought he was stealing my money? Just—whatever. I needed a new coffee-source and now I have one.

But, anyway, AJ took me to the Bean Zone today, which, cool, I didn’t know they were even open. Neither did anyone else, though, I don’t think because it was empty. Which might also be because their coffee is kind of the worst? Still.

I kept AJ busy, though. He used his employee discount, so, I only paid, like, ten bucks total for my thirteen drinks. So. After I was properly caffeinated and his two-hour shift ended, which, I didn’t even know they did those, we started biking to his place, and he–he fell. And I got nervous, and I grabbed his arm to help him up once I was sure he was okay, and when I made contact, the–

Well, Teresa talked about this last time, but the sky went that gross purple color. And I assumed tehat–I assumed that the glow was because of us touching, so I let go, and then–I couldn’t.

And then the breeze that’s always there happened again. And we were back on the road, on our bikes, and we were pedalling. Like nothing happened.

And he said, like, uh, “Nice grip,” or something, and I nodded, because my grip’s pretty nice, and we were just, in, like, a really weirdass situation, so.

Anywho. So we went back to my place and my sister was all like, oh, wow, who’s this, your–censored rude term that disrespects AJ, who is, like, maybe my only friend–and so I yelled at her?

I mean. He’s not my only friend. I–he is.

Why can’t I say that I have other friends? Like–I’m trying to lie, right now.

Um. Okay. Cool. So.

We’ll get to that later.

But, anyway, I did scream at her, yes. Cuz she was an ass. As per ush.

So. Anyway. AJ and I went up to my room and started watching a bootleg of—y’know? If this, like, truth serum thing going on’s a thing, I’m not gonna try to name the show. Cuz it’s embarrassing. I wanted to—no. Okay.

Can’t lie! That’s—

Ugh! That’s so stupid!

Um. What else? I think I saw a ghost during photography today, but that’s just how the woods are sometimes. AJ and I broke into some asshole’s beach house back there for this week’s project, because last year the guy who owns it was a creep to me. But I think that maybe his house is haunted? Cuz there was this, like, weird mist in the living room right by the TV.

But again, that’s just how the woods are. I think. That’s not really my zone. But, of all places in this town to already be haunted? That’s, like, top thirteen spots, natch.

Also: Gregory And Janet Wilson Who Live In The Beach House Development In The Woods From May To September Every Year But Who Live In Virginia Otherwise left three spare keys under the lion statuette in their uglyass overgrown garden. So, there. Make of that what you will.

But. It’s a supernatural occurrence, or whatever you wanna call it, so I should put it on here. The ghost sighting. Not his key location. That’s–that’s just a thing that I know. Obvi.

The mist was, like–it was kind of all-consuming? Like, in that way that people are always all-consumed by beauty, but not really, because I was also having heart palpitations. Or something. Not really sure what heart palpitations are, but, uh. I was overwhelmed by the beauty but also? Very, very afraid of it. I felt like I was frozen in place, like I was being swallowed by it–

And then AJ said, “Are you okay?” and I snapped out of it. I asked him if he saw it, and he nodded, was like, “uh yeah, but, like, we could agree before entering that the woods are super haunted,” and I agreed, but, like, he didn’t seem to get the vibes that I did. Swear to god, I heard horror movie music behind me.

Uh. The Corielli board is meeting tonight, and I’m supposed to talk about the theater program, just–I don’t like talking in front of the PTA, because I don’t know any of their kids, like, logically, I should know their kids. There are maybe 200 people in the high school, and I know most of them. I know all of their faces.

But the Corielli board’s faces don’t look like anybody. Like, literally. I’ve talked at Corielli board meetings, like, seven times, and I cannot tell you what a single parent looks like.

Which might be supernatural happenings also? Nice.

[faux-excited]

Mystery! Intrigue! Cool!

[a pause, a sigh]

At least this truth-curse-or-whatever-the-hell-it-is has room for jokes. That’s, like, legitimately cool.

Um. So, I have to talk to the board tonight, and I think that’ll be—that—shit. Shit, it’s in ten minutes.

I’ll record more later.

[static, and a click. CHARLOTTE is out of breath.]

Okay, I’m back. I’m—holy shit.

So, I think the truth curse is off, but—like, obvi, I’m not gonna—I can promise that I’m not exaggerating.

So, the board. The board.

So, I think I said that they might be paranormal activity? They super are. I’m usually late, when I go to meetings? But I was on-time, and, uh, I was supposed to stay in the auditorium, but I went backstage to check on the set, but. Whatever. I was backstage. And so were they.

The board, I mean.

And they were—they were silent, in a circle, staring at each other. All of them. No one said anything, for a minute—like, I started timing a few seconds in, and it was at least seventy-seven seconds.

And one of them looked up, and just—feedback and sirens came pouring out of his mouth, like during an emergency when you’re watching TV or—

And he looked at me, blinked, and said, “Miss Cranor-Liu, you made it!” and he pushed through the circle, and nobody moved, just—and he grabbed my shoulders, and I wanted to—I wanted to hit him, to—

He just said, “The meeting’s cancelled, dear, didn’t you hear?”

I tried to take in his face, just cuz, and—nothing stood out to me.

And I tried to pull away, to hit him, to—to, like, kick him in his balls, or whatever, and my body just—it froze. And then there was that stupid purple again, and—

And I was outside. And I checked my email, and I didn’t get a cancellation notice, so—uh.

Something’s happening at Corielli. And, uh, I think—four or five of us went to Corielli, like, Teresa and Elaine def didn’t, and Benji, like—I’ve seen him on campus before, like, when I was in middle school, but also, I’m pretty sure he’s omnipresent, so. Who knows, with him. But the majority of us involved went to Corielli, so—like. That’s relevant, I think? Put it on your conspiracy board, next to the seven photos of Avril Lavigne and her dopplegangers. Use green yarn, for, like—for my sake. S��a good color for conspiracy theory boards that you never see anywhere.

I watch a lot of conspiracy theory videos, just to—to laugh at that. Also, they’re so consistent to me? So they’re very relaxing. Good to fall asleep to. Like, some folks need white noise or ASMR or whatever, but a good ol’ Andy Kaufman death hoax ten hour loop, y’know? Or, like, a Sondheim is multiple people one. It exists. You have to look hard for it, but, like, it almost convinced me that there are eighteen of him, so it’s worth it. I watched a seven-part documentary on the moon-landing thing when I was a kid, and that thing just, like—it got me so interested. I’m not crazy or anything. But this is ringing major documentary alarm bells. Maybe I can hit up some clickbait site and they can send folks over here to wrap a nice bow on this whole weird situation.

[beat]

Nobody’s gonna listen to this, like—and AJ’s the only person who’ll care, so, like, might as well talk on here.

Mae Babson the new transfer student is hot as hell. Like—I try not to have crushes, because they’re dumb, and they keep my eyes off the prize, which is to say, y’know. College. My art.

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that feelings are pointless and that we’d be way better off without them, y’know? Especially when those feelings are for really dreamy girls who manage to look, like, at least 70 percent like she’s into girls, even though this is Corielli, so, like, she could be the straightest girl on earth, and also she’s weirdly nice, like—nicer than most people. And it’s kind of annoying how nice she is, like, she—she’s nice to everybody. Even to people who don’t deserve it.

But. Anyways. She’s super hot and I’m kinda sorta in love with her. Whatever. Rant over. I’ll edit that out.

So. Ghosts and mystery and intrigue. Woo.

Y’know, maybe Mae’s caught up in this mystery, actually, cuz—well, she only showed up after all that happened. Maybe she’s, like—maybe she’s a ghost. That’s the nightmare, honestly, being in love with a ghost. Like, second only to her being straight? Worst case scenario.

I could write a solid one act about being in love with a ghost and, like, protag comes to accept that she’s dead and is willing to make this work, but ghost girl’s like, “Oh, too bad, don’t like girls. Sorry, honey!” And that’s the plot twist. Sad ending. A tragicomedy for everyone.

But. Incorporeal Girlfriend and playwriting dreams aside, it is weird that she showed up, cuz—we never get new juniors, especially not midyear? So. It’s not entirely out there that she’s involved. Put her pic up next to the X-Files poster, connect ‘em with red yarn. For love symbolism.

Also, she’s like, otherworldly-ly attractive, so. That contributes to Benji’s alien theory. Also, Benji? I don’t care about your alien theory. Or that you wrote your thesis on aliens. Or that you—

Ugh. Just. The email thread is very long and you aren’t Agent David Duchovny On The X-Files I Don’t Know The Character Name But Oh Boy Do I Know Who David Duchovny Is. Also, use the goddamn group chat? Some of us don’t ever check our emails. And I know you’re gonna call me blasphemous or something for not knowing the X-Files guy’s name, which, yeah, I did that on purpose.

So, um, I was helping out the lighting designer—Ollie, the other day, because if the show looks like shit it’s my fault somehow, and they kept asking me about purple lights. I forgot about this, like—

Wait.

God, I can’t stop thinking about the board, actually. I don’t know why I didn’t say anything. I’m—I’m pretty self-aware, I would have said something. I’m me, for God’s sake, I would’ve said something half-charming and half-assholey, and then I would’ve been kicked out, and I would’ve, uh, maybe tried to pick a physical fight, and then—yeah. You know the deal. I told the Starbucks story earlier. I think—I think they somehow stopped me from saying anything, like—just like that force wouldn’t let me lie or let go of AJ’s hand or fight back—there’s always an inability to do something.

I swear, if this interferes with the show, I’ll fight God. Or whatever force is out there, like—I will press legal charges against fate or destiny or the passage of time or aliens or whatever the fuck. And also punch it.

The lighting designer stuff—that’s just me being paranoid, but the—the board, that’s real, and I’m scared as hell. I’m gonna—I’m gonna maybe do some recon, re: that, get those costume slash makeup design elective credits I’ve been trying for. I haven’t taken the class, because it’s seniors only and also because Ms. Dunkers hates me because her nephew accused me of selling him fake Rent tickets, which, I didn’t know they were fake, so, he can’t blame me, so she won’t let me in her classes anymore. She has explicitly told admin that “Miss Cranor-Liu is not to enroll in any of my electives no matter how much she complains to you.” So I asked admin, like, can I just do a bunch of independent studies, and I think they’re afraid of me? So they said yes.

Anyway.

I’m gonna sneak in on next week’s board meeting as an interested potential transfer student. Need an alias, and you know that it will be Faith Deathstrike. Which is an unfortunate last name, but a badass codename.

So. Uh. I’m signing off. Come to the show, week of February twentieth at the Corelli auditorium, and watch me get possessed by an actual ghost during my solo, or whatever. And if I get ritually sacrificed at the board meeting, now you know what led up to my disappearance! This is basically Serial, now, but in real time, right?

Anyway. Cool. Thanks. Bye.

#season one #script #charlotte

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blackbutler-readerinsertsandjunk · 7 years ago

Note

Could we see a list of the requests you got? Would that be okay?

Yeah, of course! Better to do that to make sure people can resend if their asks get eaten. c:

I’m actually super excited because I’m loving all the diversity, there’s some characters here I haven’t actually formally written yet!!

Ciel and reader having a prank war – whoever wins has to do whatever the other wants and reader wants Ciel to be her butler

college AU – Agni is a foreign exchange student and reader is his tutor

super sweet drabble of William meeting his S/O in the hospital – fluffy, angsty, or suggestive (or all three knowing me lol)

reader and delinquent (but gone soft) Ronald

scenario – Agni confessing to his crush

scenario – Gregory’s S/O likes to talk a lot but Gregory doesn’t mind

scenario – Wolfram’s first kiss

spicy Grell (fem pronouns) x Reaper!Reader – long day at the office and Grell is in the mood to play

fem Reader taking care of Gregory after the Music Hall debacle and they end up confessing to each other – super fluffy

pre-P4 Gregory with an overbearing but goodhearted older sister who encourages him to make friends at a school he’s dreading to go to

scenario – Lau confessing to his crush

scenario – Reaper!Undertaker falls in love with a woman he has to reap

Charles Grey, Cheslock, and Edgar with a really shy S/O

drunk reader (fem pronouns) questions Grell’s (male pronouns) love for her because he’s always flirting with every handsome guy he sees

Ash finding out his S/O is an angel, asking why she didn’t tell him earlier – she reveals a broken wing; he helps her tend to it and pesters her about what happened, she tells him it was a demon whose face she didn’t see

Reader comforting Soma after Agni’s death

headcanons – Alois and Soma trying to prove that their weird S/O is an alien

headcanons – Cheslock having a crush and confessing to them

Vincent arranges a marriage between Diedrich and his sister (reader) – at first they don’t like each other but then they fall in love

Herman with a S/O who did something similar to what he did for similar reasons

Joker x Reader – him doing reader’s makeup before their first show; reader’s nervous about performing so he gives them a pep talk

interaction with Mey Rin in the first day of her service, she hasn’t shaken her dark side yet

scenario – Undertaker and his S/O on Halloween

Soma’s lover telling him they’re pregnant

scenario – Edgar falling in love with a girl of a lower social class (maybe a maid?)

headcanons – relationship of Snake and a very quiet fellow ex-circus performer/Phantomhive servant

reader cooking with Agni and him trying to teach her how to make Indian dishes

scenario – Gregory’s S/O is a demon and she’s confessing it to him

headcanons (and possibly pics) – selfies with Ciel, Gregory, Sebastian, and Snake

Ash meeting his human S/O who’s very pure and caring

scenario – Soma’s S/O tries to comfort him after Agni’s death

scenario – Soma and his S/O naming their first child after Agni

headcanons – fluffy relationship with Agni and Soma

scenario – Soma seeing his S/O wearing his clothes (fluffy)

reactions – Beast, Hannah, and Mey Rin telling their male S/O they’re pregnant

Agni not knowing what French kissing is and the reader having to “demonstrate”

audio – Sebastian finds out his S/O is ticklish and teases them about it

first kiss (fluffy or spicy) with Cheslock, Edward, and Snake

audio – Grell finding out their S/O got seriously injured

headcanons – Edgar with a S/O who likes poetry and romance

Agni just after arriving in England, going to the marketplace with S/O who shows him around

audio – Undertaker and his S/O having a romantic cuddly day and he shows his eyes for the first time

scenario – Cheslock finds out a rebellious girl disguised herself as a boy in his dorm

audio – Charles Grey being calm and affectionate

scenario – Undertaker taking a bath with his chubby!S/O

scenario – Sebastian comes back to the manor after a long investigation with Ciel, is greeted by a tight hug from his S/O who’s become thinner and paler because she couldn’t sleep or eat while he was gone due to being so worried about him

Undertaker caught cheating on his S/O

Undertaker being nervous on his wedding day

reader with Stockholm Syndrome towards Aleister after having been kidnapped

reactions – Bravat, Cheslock, and Gregory with a S/O who gets snarky when she’s nervous and uncomfortable

reader doing something reckless and Agni getting worried, scolding them for it, leads to quiet, heartfelt angst

scenario – Soma and his S/O taking a bath together

headcanons – Charles Grey, Edward, and Soma with a S/O from Norway

Arthur Conan Doyle and sister!reader who wants to be a writer like him and frequently asks him for advice

audio – Finny talking to his baby in the middle of the night

audio – Soma asking and trying to convince his S/O to travel back to India to live with him

Sieglinde meeting the reader – an actual witch – who becomes her big sister; hilarity ensues when reader’s magic and Sieglinde’s science clash

Ronald with a S/O who’s William’s daughter

Alan, Eric, Grell, Othello, William, and Undertaker with children

Cheslock, Clayton, Edgar, Edward, Gregory, Herman, Joanne, Lawrence, and Soma taking care of their babies

scenario – poly relationship with Diedrich and Vincent

audio – S/O waking Snake up in the middle of the night because there are snakes all over the bed

reaction – Alan, Eric, Grell, Othello, William, and Undertaker finding out they have a teenage daughter who’s a goofball and a menace

reaction – Snake with a hybrid S/O (possibly human-Wendigo hybrid)

reaction – Claude and Sebastian finding out they have a teenage daughter from a human woman

reader comforting Herman because he feels guilty about what happened with Derrick and the other prefects

Joker with a shapeshifter S/O who changes into other humans which is their circus act

scenario – William finds out his S/O has terminal cancer that she’s kept hidden for almost a year and by the time she tells him, she only has a few weeks to live

fluffy Finny audio

Bard, Finny, Mey Rin, Sebastian, and Snake telling their S/O that they love them

Undertaker having a bad day and reader comforting him

platonic reader and Sebastian fawning over cats

spicy Vincent

Undertaker – enemies to lovers

Agni and Soma with their children

reaction – Agni with a S/O who got separated from him when he was going to be executed, when they reunite years later S/O has had Agni’s child, they’ve both changed but still love each other and just have to deal with the changes, their child, and dangers in London

scenario – Undertaker’s S/O is walking home at night and gets attacked, Undertaker steps in to protect her

Sebastian and William accidentally making the reader cry

audio – William and a stressed/upset/anxious listener

audio – Ciel getting angry, yells at listener without meaning to and apologizes

Sieglinde and Lizzie becoming best friends

reaction – after becoming a Reaper, Sascha seeing their best friend attempting suicide

Bard x reader being reckless with fireworks on the 4th of July

scenario – Soma proposing to his female S/O and a bit of the wedding day

scenario – Mey Rin teaching her S/O how to shoot a gun

depressed reader witnesses Undertaker reaping someone, finds him beautiful and fascinating – meets him again and again, and he becomes a reason to live because they’ve fallen in love with him

headcanons – Bard as a single parent

Claude and a really stubborn S/O

modern AU – Agni isn’t a good fighter and gets cornered by xenophobic thugs, is saved by badass reader

modern AU – Agni was adopted by Soma’s family and goes on a journey to discover his heritage, ends up meeting the reader on the way who’s running away from her “pure blood” status

Agni survived the attack at the manor but has PTSD from it, one day has a bad panic attack and is comforted by reader

AU – Agni is a well-liked kindergarten teacher who’s married to the reader, a wealthy genius, and was ridiculed for not being “good enough” for her; he keeps it hidden until reader finds him crying one day and tries to get revenge on the culprits

modern college/university AU – Soma is Agni’s adopted brother/wingman and tries to push shy Agni to “just confess already!” to reader at a loud house party; reader ends up saving Agni from doing something embarrassing

Soma x reader – going sledding/sledging with Agni, Wolfram, and Sieglinde tagging along

funny (??) story with favorite OC (probably will be something with Nadya and Alois)

reaction – Sebastian’s S/O (not knowing he’s a demon) is REALLY excited for Halloween

comforting the reader after a death in the family – Sebastian and Undertaker

happy Knox family fluff w/ Ronnie still alive

any canon x OC story (this is like a blank check to me and y’all gonna regret it hAH)

Charles Grey noticing his crush at a ball and asking her to dance

headcanons – Edward, Finny, Snake, and Soma having a nightmare about losing their S/O

Agni and Soma with their new families visiting India again

Frances and child reader – reader looks up to her as a role model and wants to be like her in the future

Grell x depressed!reader – reader covers up their depression w/ sarcastic and self-deprecating comments

William x fem!Reaper!reader – reader had an abusive childhood before becoming a Reaper, she’s paranoid about other people and always defends herself w/ harsh remarks; William sometimes has to calm her down and reassure her that everyone’s not out to get her

Grell x reader – reader is a wallflower who hates big gatherings and social interaction

Alois, Ciel, Claude, Sebastian, and Undertaker’s favorite lingerie on their S/O

Agni w/ a badass S/O (and bonus tender moments)

headcanons – Sebastian discovers his S/O is an angel sent to protect Ciel’s soul

Grell x fem!Reaper!reader – reader hasn’t gotten sleep in ages b/c of overtime and paperwork

William and S/O having their first child

Sebastian having a love-hate relationship with his S/O

AU – Agni is selectively mute after a trauma and communicates w/ assisting devices and sign language; Soma drags him to a party where a famous singer falls for him, then helps him get access to better therapy so he can talk again; the singer is known to be cold and badass and them doing that is completely out of character

scenario – Soma’s S/O seeing him in his Funtom Five outfit for the first time

AU – Agni survives but the blood loss caused severe brain damage, leaving him aphasic and unable to perform a lot of basic daily functions, he has to be cared for by his S/O and needs assistance w/ simple things; one day has a frustrated breakdown after realizing he can’t hold a spoon steady and is comforted by S/O and Soma

modern AU – Agni is kidnapped and finds out that his lazy S/O is a feared ex Special Forces agent; they’re shorter than he is but can literally lift a car

AU with Agni being sensitive to spicy food while his S/O can eat it without a sweat; they try to convince him to do a spice challenge with them b/c they think his reactions are cute

Agni’s S/O recently passed away and he discovers she was a powerful sorceress b/c their daughter shows magical powers and the magical council comes to take her away to their world

scenario – Vincent and Diedrich encounter a sassy servant during a party and mistake her for a boy

Agni’s S/O became depressed after his death and saw his spirit who talked to her about missing her and Soma but promised to always protect them

Agni dealing w/ his one-year-old daughter who woke up her (tired, sleep-deprived, grumpy) mother – Agni has to keep both sides calm

vegetarian/vegan Agni trying to fool his hunter and carnivore S/O into eating fake meat and fails despite his cooking skill

Agni on a date w/ a S/O who’s the epitome of cold and calculating – at the end of the date, they sing to him in their beautiful voice a song about how he is like the sun

Agni has a kindergarten teacher

Agni being taken out by a S/O who’s wealthy and doesn’t know he grew up poor; he gets flustered and almost panics at being in such a high-end place, S/O eventually realizes, then apologizes and takes him to a more humble place

headcanons – poly ship w/ Beast and Joker

Agni w/ badass S/O

headcanons – relationship w/ Doll

Grell x Irene Diaz

Soma w/ badass S/O

Doll x reader – dancing

reader saves the circus members and nurses them back to health

Harathi and younger Agni

headcanons – Alois and Soma w/ their S/O who turns out to actually be an alien

modern AU – Harathi is alive and is one day visited by Agni’s S/O to ask for permission to marry Agni, bringing w/ them a sizable dowry; Agni is later proposed to w/ Harathi and Soma dancing happily in the background

Agni meets his betrothed, who he’s had a crush on since he saw her being badass and backflipping from a mango tree – he’s tall, awkward, flustered, while she’s small and chill

#answered #mod post #update #when/if I get more requests I'll add them here too to make sure stuff didn't get eaten!#Anonymous

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starspatter · 8 years ago

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TimSteph & *inhales* 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11, 17, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27 aaand 29

ilu thank you for asking Again, this is DCAU only (i.e. for Timmy Todd). Spoilered for length.

1. Who is the most affectionate?Stephanie, since Tim still has an ingrained fear of physical contact/intimacy. While he rarely initiates, he feels comfortable enough around her that he appreciates the constant cuddling.3. Most common argument?Anytime one keep secrets from the other, and over the safety of their kids/how much freedom they should have, since Tim tends to be really strict + (understandably) overprotective with them.

6. What is their favorite feature of their partner’s?Gonna borrow a canon quote from the mainstream comics (Batman 12-Cent Adventure) and say for Steph it’s “his warm, shy laugh” (especially since it’s rare for Timmy Todd) and “clean-smelling hair”. I imagine the same holds true in reverse for Tim, since Steph’s million-watt smile and fluffy hair are my favorite things about her. ;P *shot* (Normally I’m not one for bubbly blondes, but goshdurnit she’s just too cute. 7. What’s the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other?

Ahh Steph’s cheerful energy is totally infectious so the more time Tim spends around her the more he starts to smile/crack jokes again. I pretty much picture her enthusiastically dragging him around to social events to have fun instead of staying cooped up in his room all the time with his computer (much like Ayano and Shintaro with the Culture Festival, although Tim is much more receptive/respectful towards her).

9. Who worries the most?

Tim, definitely. The anxiety and paranoia never does fully go away, and it often takes a lot of patient coaxing and consoling from Steph to calm him down from a panic attack.11. Who tops?

asdlkfjdl Steph would (at least at first to teach Timmy the Boy Virgin *shot*)17. Who says I love you first?Stephanie. It takes a long time before Tim can say it aloud without being embarrassed.19. Who tells their family/friends about their relationship first?Stephanie totally boasts about their relationship the first chance she gets lol. Tim is much more reserved about it, although everyone could already tell he liked her anyway (Dick and Barb totally tease him relentlessly about it). …Although no one bothers to directly contact Bruce until the wedding (Tim does send him an invitation, but ofc he doesn’t respond), he still keeps tabs on his son’s affairs from afar, in his secretive Batdad way.20. What do their family/friends think of their relationship?Dick and Barbara are obviously happy for their little bro finding someone who can help him to smile and be more outgoing again. (Dick might actually secretly be a bit jealous, since watching the two together reminds him a lot of when he and Barbara used to date.) Stephanie’s mom also approves of Tim, since he’s smart and polite and seems like a “very nice boy” (a marked improvement over other guys her daughter has dated in the past) - even if he seemingly has some… “difficulties” (although she might be able to sympathize with him/offer assistance and advice based on her own experiences battling depression and drug addiction). He looks to her like the loving mother he never had growing up, although he’s extremely nervous about her finding out his past. (Eventually they do tell her the truth, and she hugs and dotingly spoils him even more as her own son.)25. Who needs more assurance?Tim, although Stephanie has a tendency to get jealous. (Actually her first assumption when he started working longer nights and making strange/suspicious phone calls in RotJ was that he might be having an affair. *shot*)26. What would be their theme song?Ahh I have so many at this point so Imma just gonna dump a bunch (well, the first few are basically ones I couldn’t fit into my fic somehow ^^; ):“Alive” by Adelitas Way“What if I told you that I think you’re perfect?Beautiful sky in your eyes, it’s so worth it.I know you make me feel alive.‘Cause you make meLaugh a little louder,Love a little harder.”“Science and Faith” by The Script“Tried to break love to a scienceIn an act of pure defianceI broke her heartOf all of the things that she’s ever saidShe goes and says something that just knocks me dead:You won’t find faith or hope down a telescopeYou won’t find heart and soul in the starsYou can break everything down to chemicalsBut you can’t explain a love like ours”“We’ll Be the Stars” by Sabrina Carpenter“We are young, we are goldTrying things we didn’t knowLooking at the sky, see it come aliveAll our fears became our hopesClimbed out every locked windowLet me in, hold me closeFill my heart with simple notesSo when it’s hard to see,They are there, reminding meTake my breath, and hold me highSo I can feel the city lightsGlowing under me”(This one might actually apply more to their comics counterparts, but let’s just say it’s a happy AU where they met as Robin and Spoiler and neither of them dies/gets tortured mmkay.)“Landslide” by Oh Wonder“I know it hurts sometimes butYou’ll get over itYou’ll find another life to liveI know you’ll get over itI know you’re sad and tiredYou’ve got nothing left to giveSo when you’re caught in a landslideI’ll be there for you, I’ll be there for youAnd in the rain, give you sunshineI’ll be there for you, I’ll be there for youAnd every time that you’re lonelyEvery time that you’re feeling low, you should knowI’ll be there for you, I’ll be there for youI know your hope is heavy butYou’ll get over itAnd I know you feel like everythingIs falling to the windBut don’t you let the thunder in”“Superheroes” by The Script“All her life she has seenAll the meaner side of meThey took away the prophet’s dreamFor a profit on the streetAll his life he’s been toldHe’ll be nothing when he’s oldAll the kicks and all the blowsHe won’t ever let it showShe’s got lions in her heart, a fire in her soulHe’s a got a beast in his belly that’s so hard to controlCause they’ve taken too much hits, taking blow by blowNow light a match, stand back, watch them explode” “Second Chances” by Gregory Alan Isakov”All of my heroes sit up straightThey stare at the groundThey radiateI’m running from nothing, no thoughts in my mindOh my heart was all black, but I saw something shineThought that part was yours, but it might just be mineI could share it with you, if you gave me the timeI’m all bloody knuckles, longing for homeIf it weren’t for second chances, we’d all be aloneI’m a shot through the dark, I’m a black sinkholeIf it weren’t for second chances, we’d all be alone”“Rush Together” by Quietdrive“They grew up in the same old townNever knowing the other was aroundRead from the same damn booksNever gave each other looksBut one day the sun will shineI know, for their eyes have told me soChasing advice from those who say ‘I’ve lost my mind’Rush together to find each otherNow it’s too late, you can never wait for luckForever bound by the same instrumentWe all adhereThat’s guilt”“Start the Machine” by Angels and Airwaves“I grew so close to all the thoughts I had to leave forever I left the chill and voice of screams and kids and ran for shelterThe pain has a bad reaction A blend of fear and passionYou know what it’s like to believeIt makes me wanna screamI see the stars, they’re in your eyesA playful kiss, can you tell I’m excited?A fast escape in the nick of timeIf you lost your wish, can I help you find it?I’m on my knee, just one to startA fresh new start, don’t be undecided”(Bit of a starry theme here, eh? XP I feel it works for them, whether they’re nighttime vigilantes or not.)“Heroes and Thieves” by Vanessa Carlton“Well, disaster it strikes on a daily basisI’m looking for wisdom in all the wrong placesBut still want to laugh in disappointed facesHeroes and thieves at my doorI can’t seem to tell them apart anymoreJust when I’ve figured it outWell darlin’ it’s you I’m withoutWell I’m stubborn and wrongBut at least I know itKeep moving along until I can get through thisBut maybe this song is the best I can do itWell, it seems like I’m getting closer somehowA flicker of peace that I’ve finally foundThank you for believing in me now‘Cause I do need it” “Come to Me” by Goo Goo Dolls“I’ll be kind, if you’ll be faithful You be sweet and I’ll be grateful Cover me with kisses dear Lighten up the atmosphereCome to me with secrets bare I’ll love you more so don’t be scaredI caught you burnin’ photographs Like that could save you from your past History is like gravity It holds you down away from me You and me, we’ve both got sins I don’t care about where you’ve been Don’t be sad and don’t explain This is where we start again”(This is so cheesy but the couple in the video resembles these two so much it makes me want to cry. Even the lyrics video has some striking parallels to my upcoming fic, which I swear was just a coincidence.)“Diary” by Ken Kamikita“I forget all painful things, those blue words spilling out, the end of a distant spring The city in sunset, as if oblivious of the crimes committed today, rings out sounds of the bell signalling the end.Back alleys, laughing voices, at the other side of the window, sight of a happy familyMy heart ached as I looked up, the first star was shining brightlyThe moment I realized, there was nothing left, I spent today in regrets and threw everything away, What’s left behind, all the time, is the me, unable to changeI recoil from love, the wind still blew, throughout the city I left behind, the end of a hot summer Burdens piling up, memories of the days we could laugh together, I desert them all and begin walking Even though I can’t see what’s ahead, even though you’re not thereI take a detour, a swing in the park, water garden, vanishing lives Citizen hall, piano sounds, you flashed a fleeting smile As I laugh, ‘since it’s you, everything’s going to be fine’”(Translated lyrics from here.)”A Page Is Turned” by Bebo Norman”A page is turned by the wind to a boy in curly grin With a world to conquer at the age of ten But as history unfolds and the storybook is told He finds salvation but not at the hands of manThe God of second chance Will pick them up and he’ll let them dance Through a world that is not kind And all this time, they’re sharing with the one That holds them up when they come undone Beneath the storm, beneath the sun And once again, here you standYour day has come” 27. Who would sing to their child back to sleep?Stephanie, being the more musically inclined of the two thanks to her piano lessons. Tim might join in if he’s feeling particularly at ease though (however his real specialty is telling the kids bedtime stories, based on his Adventures as Robin). I can actually picture them singing the “Dango Daikazoku” song together. (Incidentally, I have a headcanon of Ayano singing the song to the Meka Trio, since she and Nagisa share the same voice actress. ;O)

29. One headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heartSteph blames herself for not noticing her husband was being possessed by the Joker (although she sensed something was clearly off), and wasn’t able to prevent RotJ from happening. Tim of course feels even more guilty about it, but she helps keep him from falling too deep into despair by still accepting him despite it all.

#detalesz #starspeaks #long post #sorry can you tell I've been waiting to songdump #*shot*#actually this reminded me of a song I'd forgotten for the fic so thanks for that #was just trying to think of it the other day

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